2000AD: Prog 995 (1995); Luke Kirby - The Old Straight Track (p4)

Never been a huge fan of Alan McKenzie's Luke Kirby stories; they always seemed to be slightly uneasy adaptations of Susan Cooper's 'The Dark Is Rising' sequence.

However, I AM a huge fan of the work of Steve Parkhouse, a comics writer and artist who makes image-making seem as easy as breathing in and out. Figures are lightly drawn, expressive, with both an intense emotional realism and comic exaggeration. And with his water colour work here" just beautiful. I grew up near Silbury Hill, and the sacred landscapes of Wessex are very important to me; this page was a must-have. Notwithstanding that Parkhouse destroyed 90% of his original art, thus making these pages VERY hard to find. I'm told that kept this one because he fancied painting watercolour landscapes in his retirement...

Boy wizard Luke Kirby and Zeke are walking from Leytonstone to Lunstead for Beltane, and, as their iter progresses they encounter a mysterious horse...

Thank you to Mister Aston for the trade!

Pen, ink, watercolour/gouache on Schoellershammer watercolour paper
36 cms x 51 cms