The Spiral Cage - Softcover

Davison, Al; Moore, Alan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 185286222X ISBN 13: 9781852862220

Publisher: Titan Books, 1990

Synopsis

Born with severe spina bifida, doctors considered Al Davison a hopeless case, condemned to the 'spiral cage' of his own DNA. In Al's own words and pictures, this book movingly portrays his struggle to overcome 'disability' and the prejudice that surrounds it.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

The first time that I saw the work you are about to read, it was in colour. Dave Gibbons and myself, attending London’s Society of Strip Illustrators to talk about our experiences creating Watchmen, found ourselves talking to Al Davison and cooing over the hand-coloured version of The Spiral Cage that he was prevailed upon to show us. I would dwell at length upon the delicate hues and the sophisticated colour sensibilities that marked every page, except that I wouldn’t want anyone to get the impression that the work in question is any the less successful for being in black and white. It’s true that, dazzled by the iridescence of the first version I’d seen, I was somewhat apprehensive concerning the prospect of a monochrome interpretation. Such doubts however, vanished with my first glimpse of the volume in hand. If anything, the black and white presentation demonstrated even more ably the strength of Al’s artwork, sturdy and sensitive even without the cosmetic benefits of colour to enhance it. One thing I didn’t get a chance to do during that first, necessarily hurried overview was to actually read the thing, something I have since remedied more than a few times. In the course of those readings and re-readings I’ve come across a further pleasant revelation: not only does the art stand up perfectly without the exquisite colouring, but the storytelling and substance of The Spiral Cage is a match for either.

Let me elaborate upon that: To me, The Spiral Cage is an important work upon a couple of levels. Firstly, as the expression of a personal vision and personal experiences, it is clearly a work of the first water. I doubt I could read it without getting a very powerful sense of the protagonist’s situation and feelings. The way in which those feelings are articulated, and the tremendously uplifting sense of optimism that they engender would be a tribute to the power of even the most seasoned comics professional, and doubly so to an artist whose first published work is represented by the book in your hands.

Secondly, The Spiral Cage is an important addition to the ranks of comic books that strive to break out of the conventions of genre and establish a beach-head of work with genuine human worth and relevance. That Al Davison is a long-time comics fan is evident by the Batman costume his child protagonist is seen wearing. That he has chosen not to slavishly recreate the genre preferences of his childhood is equally evident, and should be applauded as such.

Many potentially good artists and writers, overjoyed to find themselves actually working in comics of any kind, allow themselves to become hidebound and institutionalized in the traditions of juvenile superhero comics, eventually becoming unable to imagine working in any other area. Speaking as someone who has worked fairly well within the tried and tested genres of superheroes and science-fiction and has reaped the obvious financial benefits of such a safe and conventional path, I have nothing but deepest admiration for those, like Al, who have had the courage to set their marques so far beyond the rigid perimeters of the comic book mainstream. Of course, the main risk of staking out such untrodden creative areas is a financial one; traditionally, a comic fan market weaned upon superheroes has been reluctant to try out any fare that varied too much from the diet that they were used to. I may be being optimistic, but this may not always be the case.

Comic fans themselves are changing, their tastes gradually widening. This year they can accept comics with superheroes so strange and different that they hardly seem to be superheroes at all. Next year, who knows? Perhaps the fan audience will actually be able to tolerate, en masse, the idea of comics without a single cape or mask in sight. Of course, the long-time traditional comic fan market is not the only audience we have to consider; I don’t know how the situation stands in America, but in this country comic shops have doubled or trebled their flow of customers over the last couple of years, largely due to the sudden attention being paid to comics by the media in the wake of Dark Knight, Maus, and so on. The trend would indicate that there exists out there an audience potentially twice as large as our existing one. More importantly, since this audience would seem not to have the same long-term grounding in conventional comic lore, it may be assumed that after a while they’ll get tired of seeing unusual slants upon the cliches of the superhero genre and start looking for more varied and sustaining fare. We’d better hope that such fare is there and available for them, otherwise they may simply wander away again, back to their VCRs and their Walkmans. In this last respect, it is the existence of books like The Spiral Cage that offers a real ray of hope for the future of the medium.

Beautifully drawn and written, expertly told, the story contained within these pages manages to talk about the things that many people still find it difficult to talk or think about, and do so in a way that is at once accessible, entertaining and elevating. By addressing the world upon the level of the all-too-human rather than that of the unreachably superhuman it manages to say something for all of us, able and otherwise, seemingly within our own bodies and circumstances; apparently locked forever within the inescapable spiral cage of our own DNA. Within the discipline of his craft and the patience of his work within these pages, Al Davison seems to have found a key to the lock of his own cage.

Try it. Who knows? Maybe it’ll fit you too.

ALAN MOORE

Review

The Spiral Cage is an important addition to the ranks of comic books that strive to break out of the conventions of the genre. --Alan Moore

Al Davison deserves credit for writing the most moving tale of triumph without falsely enhancing his heroic struggle, or demonizing his life's troubles. I cannot recommend this enough. It is flat out awesome. --Alex Ness, PopThought.com

Davison smashes misconceptions on every page, and he does so in a highly readable and moving manner. --Alan David Doane, ComicBookGalaxy.com

About this edition

• Publisher: Titan Books
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 185286222X
• ISBN 13: 9781852862220
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112