Margaret Thatcher in comics

I’m trying, really trying (and to be honest, largely failing), to pay as little attention to the whole Thatcher farrago as I can.  But Paul Gravett has written a rather fine overview of Thatcher in British comics.

I disagree with Paul’s opening statement: “A generation of British people has grown to adulthood free from the shadow of Margaret Thatcher”.  Everyone born since about 1975 has grown up in the shadow of Thatcher and her policies, though those born since 1990 may not realise how much her ideology shapes that of the modern Conservative Party and New Labour (and Nick Clegg’s version of the Lib Dems).  But once we’re past that, Paul’s historian’s brain kicks in, and he picks out key portrayals of Thatcher in comics.

St. Swithin's Day: script by Grant Morrison, art by Paul Grist, colours by the late Steve Whitaker and edited by the late Martin Skidmore.

I’m particularly pleased that Paul draws attention to St. Swithin’s Day.  This 1989 comic by Grant Morrison and Paul Grist told the tale of a teenager setting out to assassinate Margaret Thatcher.  The fact that it was condemned by The Sun and prize twit Teddy Taylor alone makes it worth paying attention to.  But more than that, it remains, in my view, the finest thing that Grant Morrison has ever written, understated in a way that is not typical of his stories.  And it is pleasing to mention this here because the comic was published by this website’s founder Martin Skidmore, when he was editor-in-chief of Trident Comics, first in the anthology Trident, and then as a collected version.  The collection was coloured by another friend who is much missed, Steve Whitaker.

Anyway, go read Paul’s article.