The story is said by Morrison to be based on his diaries and is also said to be partly autobiographical. This story, is told from the point of view of an unnamed teenager living in 1980s Britain who plans an encounter with then Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher, a politician that the teenager hates, on July 15 (which is Saint Swithin's Day, the origin of the book's title).
It originally appeared in Trident (which was Trident Comics' anthology title) issues 1-4 in black and white.
Collected editionsedit
In 1990 it was compiled into a single edition and reprinted by Trident Comics in colour. This edition quickly went out of print and for many years it remained out of print as Trident Comics had gone out of business in 1991. It was later reprinted by Oni Press in 1998.
Plotedit
St.Swithin's Day tells the story of an alienated British teenager in the 1980s and in particular, Margaret Thatcher's time as British Prime Minister (her time as Prime Minister lasted for 11 years, including the entire 1980s).
We first meet the lead character, a teenager (who is not given a name in the story) shoplifting a copy of Catcher in the Rye from a London bookshop. He says, "I hate the rain. Everything bad happens in the rain." His reason for stealing the book is not clear beyond him saying they can find it in his pocket "when this is all over".
During the course of the story we find out that the teenager is from an unnamed northern British town or city, stealing his housemates' unemployment benefits to come to London to assassinate Margaret Thatcher while she makes a public appearance at a technical college. We see he has a gun to shoot her and she is due to appear on July 15, which is Saint Swithin's Day, hence the title of the comic.
Much of the strip is made up of the teenager preparing himself to assassinate Thatcher and exploring his own teenage angst. The final chapter starts with the teenager waiting for Thatcher after writing "neurotic boy outsider" on his forehead.
It is raining on the day and the teenager manages to get near to Thatcher and starts to pull out what the reader thinks is the previously seen gun. However we see it is actually his hand and as he points his hand at Thatcher he says "bang" shortly before her bodyguards leap upon him and begin beating him.
While being beaten the teenager thinks, "it was worth it just to see her scared". The last scenes are of the teenager traveling on a train on a sunny day and his final lines are "I don't care if it rains. I really don't care at all."
Reaction and controversyedit
Reaction to the story was hugely positive within the comics community. However, the story of its publication had been picked up by the British tabloid newspaperThe Sun, a pro-Thatcher newspaper.[1] They ran an item on the story under the headline "DEATH TO MAGGIE BOOK SPARKS TORY UPROAR," with quotes from MPs such as Teddy Taylor condemning the book. This even led to questions being asked in the House of Commons about the comic.
All this proved great publicity for Trident Comics and they took advantage of it, even going as far to reprint The Sun's article in advertising for the reprint edition.
swithin, comics, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, swithin, comics, news, newspapers, books, scholar, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources St Swithin s Day comics news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2010 Learn how and when to remove this message St Swithin s Day is a story written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Paul Grist in 1989 for Trident Comics St Swithin s DayCover of St Swithin s Day collected edition from Trident ComicsCreated byGrant MorrisonPaul GristPublication informationPublisherTrident ComicsScheduleBi monthlyTitle s Trident 1 4FormatsOriginal material for the series has been published as a strip in the comics anthology s Trident Publication dateAugust 1989 February 1990Creative teamWriter s Grant MorrisonArtist s Paul GristLetterer s Paul GristColorist s Steve Whitaker reprint Editor s Martin Skidmore The story is said by Morrison to be based on his diaries and is also said to be partly autobiographical This story is told from the point of view of an unnamed teenager living in 1980s Britain who plans an encounter with then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher a politician that the teenager hates on July 15 which is Saint Swithin s Day the origin of the book s title Contents 1 Publication history 1 1 Collected editions 2 Plot 3 Reaction and controversy 4 Notes 5 References 6 External linksPublication history editIt originally appeared in Trident which was Trident Comics anthology title issues 1 4 in black and white Collected editions edit In 1990 it was compiled into a single edition and reprinted by Trident Comics in colour This edition quickly went out of print and for many years it remained out of print as Trident Comics had gone out of business in 1991 It was later reprinted by Oni Press in 1998 Plot editSt Swithin s Day tells the story of an alienated British teenager in the 1980s and in particular Margaret Thatcher s time as British Prime Minister her time as Prime Minister lasted for 11 years including the entire 1980s We first meet the lead character a teenager who is not given a name in the story shoplifting a copy of Catcher in the Rye from a London bookshop He says I hate the rain Everything bad happens in the rain His reason for stealing the book is not clear beyond him saying they can find it in his pocket when this is all over During the course of the story we find out that the teenager is from an unnamed northern British town or city stealing his housemates unemployment benefits to come to London to assassinate Margaret Thatcher while she makes a public appearance at a technical college We see he has a gun to shoot her and she is due to appear on July 15 which is Saint Swithin s Day hence the title of the comic Much of the strip is made up of the teenager preparing himself to assassinate Thatcher and exploring his own teenage angst The final chapter starts with the teenager waiting for Thatcher after writing neurotic boy outsider on his forehead It is raining on the day and the teenager manages to get near to Thatcher and starts to pull out what the reader thinks is the previously seen gun However we see it is actually his hand and as he points his hand at Thatcher he says bang shortly before her bodyguards leap upon him and begin beating him While being beaten the teenager thinks it was worth it just to see her scared The last scenes are of the teenager traveling on a train on a sunny day and his final lines are I don t care if it rains I really don t care at all Reaction and controversy editReaction to the story was hugely positive within the comics community However the story of its publication had been picked up by the British tabloid newspaper The Sun a pro Thatcher newspaper 1 They ran an item on the story under the headline DEATH TO MAGGIE BOOK SPARKS TORY UPROAR with quotes from MPs such as Teddy Taylor condemning the book This even led to questions being asked in the House of Commons about the comic All this proved great publicity for Trident Comics and they took advantage of it even going as far to reprint The Sun s article in advertising for the reprint edition Notes edit Chapman James British Comics A Cultural History Reaktion Books December 2011 ISBN 9781861899620 p 249 References editSt Swithin s Day Trident at the Grand Comics Database St Swithin s Day Trident at the Comic Book DB archived from the original External links editReview of the Oni Press edition Bibliography listing The Sun s article Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title St Swithin 27s Day comics amp oldid 1158469941, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
