Gentleman Jim is a graphic novel by Raymond Briggs and was first published in 1980. Briggs is probably still best known for The Snowman (not least for the animated film it spawned which is still a fixture on television each Christmas) but he has produced much darker, adult oriented work and is probably still a little unappreciated when it comes to comic artists and writers. The brilliant Fungus the Bogeyman was a very dark children's book but the later When the Wind Blows and Ethel and Ernest were perhaps aimed much more at adults than children. The former depicted the aftermath of a nuclear strike on Britain through the eyes of a retired couple (obviously based on his ..  Read the complete review

For the past few weeks I have been reading a bit of Raymond Briggs' graphic novels. Briggs has made a career (one that I would love to have myself) of sitting at home drawing stories of things that interest him and then in turn hoping that someone else will enjoy them too. Luckily enough many people have enjoyed his work, most notably the Christmas classics 'The Snowman' and 'Father Christmas'. Briggs' later work has been more politically orientated with anti war graphic novel 'When the Wind Blows' and the biography of his parents in 'Ethel and Ernest' (well worth reading and well worth reading my review - selfless plug). Gentleman Jim is a graphic novel / ...  Read the complete review