'SING, CUCKOO!' IT IS AND IT ISN'T WHAT YOU MAY THINK IT IS. IT'S MORE!

OVER the years, I have ordered and purchased just a few graphic novels. They were all illustrated adaptations of films, I had a particular liking for. Most stuck to the plot and also reproduced, what I saw on the big screen. A nice record of a great film, for me shelf. But THIS is very new to me! Any fan or lover of fantasy or horror movies, will no doubt be familiar with Robin Hardy's 1973 film 'The Wicker Man' starring #ChristopherLee, Edward Woodward, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt and Britt Ekland. Over the many years since its release, the tale of its production and the even bigger story of its struggle to get to the big screen, the fiendish goings-on's of the studio, #BritishLion, and its backers, the crooked loss of its footage along with the mystery of where the uncut print lay... was a saga retold in many books and documentaries itself! Well, here comes quite an original and fascinating graphic novel, beautifully illustrated by Keith Page, with a twisty turning and excellent story by Stephen Walsh.

 

KEITH has been extremely kind in sending me a few illustrated panels of artwork, in progress and Stephen shared the story behind THEIR unique graphic novel, using the close and very special friendship, on and off-screen, of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing... it looks fascinating, and sadly also VERY frustrating, as they are unbelievably, without a publisher at this time... Stephen Welsh took five mins, to tell me the background behind, 'Sing, Cuckoo!'

'....KEITH is a wonderful artist. I was aware of his stuff long before I got to work with him. He's the standard-bearer for an almost-extinct and particularly British form of comics storytelling. I place him alongside such greats as Geoff Campion and Joe Colquhoun. His feeling for character and atmosphere is almost without equal these days. Anyway: I gave him the briefest, vaguest summary of what I half-thought might be an idea for a book. Maybe. Something about Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. He thought about it for a moment and decided that there might be something in it. Now all we needed was a story....

 

WE'VE worked on quite a few books and stories together and most of the yarns we've spun seem to have had at least one foot in the world of the semi-forgotten popular culture of these islands. We've recently published a graphic novel, "Hancock, The Lad Himself", about the comedian. But long before that Tony Hancock was turning up in the background of scenes in some of our other stories. That's sort of how it works with us. Ideas squirrel in and take their own sweet time announcing themselves, but when they do we really know we've got something.

 

A SIMILAR thing happened with "Sing, Cuckoo!" I can't remember when it first took root, but I gradually realised that there was an image in my mind of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee motoring along a country road together. Where were they going? What were they up to?

 

CUSHING and Lee are two of my very favourite actors. To paraphrase Werner Herzog (who was talking about Klaus Kinski) anything they're in is compellingly watchable. At least while they're on-screen. Because of course not even Peter Cushing could totally redeem a film like, say, "A Touch of the Sun" (no more than Christopher Lee could single-handedly elevate an oddity like "Starship Invasions"!)

 

AS is the case with many others, the legendary BBC2 Saturday night horror double bills were my gateway drug. The gravity with which Peter Cushing anchored even the lesser Hammer films in which he appeared really impressed me. He never condescended to the material and often succeeded in adding a humanity and deep pathos to the "monsters" he often played (you know very well which scene in "The Ghoul" I'm thinking of!)

 

IN those far-off, pre-internet days, we had to be content with poring over Alan Frank books in the library or the occasional article in Photoplay magazine to learn anything at all about Cushing and Lee.  Most of the articles about Christopher seemed to stress that he was determined to leave horror films behind, while those about Peter alluded to the still-recent loss of his beloved wife and the quiet life he lived in Whitstable in between film assignments. 

 

BOTH of those themes feature in "Sing,Cuckoo!", so I suppose the story has been bubbling away in my head for something like forty years. Crikey.

 

IT was clear from the occasional behind-the-scenes photo of Peter and Christopher together that they shared a deep affection. But it was also apparent that they could really make each other laugh. So now I had an image of the two gents in a car, going somewhere, chatting away and entertaining each other as only friends can.

THEN I gave them a mission: The quest to find the legendary footage removed from "The Wicker Man" before it was half-heartedly released by British Lion. The adventure is initiated by Christopher as a ruse to draw Peter out of his grief over the loss of his beloved Helen. But then Peter jumps in wholeheartedly and pursues the investigation with a very Sherlockian enthusiasm.

 

PURE FICTION. But staying within the goalposts of real events. Mostly. The plot is just an excuse to drop the boys into one scene after another, of course, and see what they say and do; an attempt to draw a portrait of a very special friendship and express my fondness for a pair who have given me no end of viewing pleasure over the years. Think of the book, please, as a glass raised to Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee...' Stephen Walsh

 

'SING, CUCKOO!' what do you think? Over at the Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook Fan Page UK, I've shared this feature and asked followers, to openly share their thoughts in the comments thread, both Keith and Stephen are all ears, and would appreciate your input. Many thanks to Keith and Stephen for giving us this exclusive peep. We all wish them the very best and are open to any way we can help make THIS happen 😉 YES? - Marcus

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