{"id":35646,"date":"2026-06-02T15:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T15:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=35646"},"modified":"2026-06-02T15:45:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T15:45:07","slug":"pride-of-the-decent-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2026\/06\/02\/pride-of-the-decent-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Pride of The Decent Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy T.J. Kirsch <\/strong>(NBM)
\nISBN: 978-1-68112-120-8 (HB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Although far too many folk still generally believe graphic novels dominated by smutty horror, frenetic, all-out adventure and outrageous high drama (often cloaked in weird metal, leather, rubber or plastic outfits) the truth is that the medium is simply a potently effective, but relatively inexpensive method of telling all sorts of stories in unified words and pictures.<\/p>\n

That means the heroes aren\u2019t always larger than life. Sometimes, in their own minds antagonists and protagonists are barely life-sized at all…<\/p>\n

T.J. Kirsch started out as a colourist at Archie Comics, before creating his own comics for Oni Press (Lost and Found<\/strong>) and Image (Outlaw Territory<\/strong>) and branching out into book illustration (She Died in Terrebonne<\/strong> with Kevin Church and So Buttons<\/strong> beside Jonathan Baylis).<\/p>\n

In this compact (235 x 156 mm) full-colour hardback (also available as an eBook), he skilfully demonstrates his own grasp of compelling visual storytelling in a seductively sedate, powerfully evocative and poignantly human-scaled fable of a guy with no hope and all the odds stacked against him from the get-go…<\/p>\n

In the hind-end of New England, Andrew Peters<\/em> is back in the old home town after time served in prison. He had escaped from an abusive home the way most kids do, falling in with the wrong crowd. Andy was always thoughtful and contemplative and moved himself beyond beatings and daily frustrations by keeping journals.
\n\"\"
\nAndy loved to write, and after he got caught trying to rob the local Safe-Mart he had plenty of opportunity. Girlfriend Jess<\/em> vanished about the time constant crony Whitey<\/em> talked Andy into pulling the job with him, but Whitey\u2019s dad had connections and only Peters went away.<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s back and just coasting, but everything changes when he thinks he sees Jess. It is, in fact, the daughter Andy never knew he had…<\/p>\n

Now utterly determined to do better and BE better, Andy resolves to start his life over, but even in the sleepiest of towns and armed with the best of intentions, sins of the past can exert an irresistible pressure…<\/p>\n

Sleek, simple and seemingly straightforward, Pride of the Decent Man<\/strong> offers a thoughtful and totally immersive glimpse of a life both remarkable and inescapably pedestrian: a reflection on common humanity and day-to-day existence with all the lethal pitfalls they conceal and joys they promise.<\/p>\n

A superbly enticing and sublimely rewarding slice of modern fiction that should quench the thirst of all \u2018mature\u2019 comic fans in need of more than just a flash of nipple and sprinkle of salty language in their reading matter, here is a real story of authentic people in extraordinary circumstances.
\n\"\"
\nPride of the Decent Man<\/strong> is the kind of tale diehard fans need to show civilians who don\u2019t \u201cget\u201d comics. Sit them down, put Bob Seger\u2019s \u201cMainstreet\u201d or some early Springsteen on the headphones and let them see what it can be all about…
\n\u00a9 2017 T.J. Kirsch. All rights reserved<\/p>\n

Today in 1895 Jimmy Swinnerton<\/strong>\u2019s landmark strip The Little Bears<\/strong> began. On a related note, on this date in 1902 the world\u2019s longest running strip syndicate Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) began doing business, and in 1940 Will Eisner<\/strong>\u2019s The Spirit<\/strong> supplement launched, whilst Harry J. Tuthill<\/strong>\u2019s The Bungle Family\/Home Sweet Home<\/strong> ended today in 1945.<\/p>\n

Today in 1918 Millie the Model<\/strong> & Patsy Walker<\/strong> creator Ruth Atkinson <\/strong>was born, as was Australian cartoonist Michael Leunig<\/strong> (Vasco Pyjama<\/strong>) in 1945; educator\/historian\/screen producer\/comics writer Michael E. Uslan<\/strong> (Swamp Thing<\/strong>, Batman<\/strong>) in 1951; author publisher Joe Gentile<\/strong> (Moonstone Books) in 1963 and Danish comics creator (A Seagull’s Life<\/strong>, Disney\u2019s assorted Duck comics) Flemming Andersen<\/strong> in 1968.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By T.J. Kirsch (NBM) ISBN: 978-1-68112-120-8 (HB\/Digital edition) Although far too many folk still generally believe graphic novels dominated by smutty horror, frenetic, all-out adventure and outrageous high drama (often cloaked in weird metal, leather, rubber or plastic outfits) the truth is that the medium is simply a potently effective, but relatively inexpensive method of … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Pride of The Decent Man”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[75,239,105,83,254],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime-comics","category-drama","category-mature-reading","category-modern-classics","category-young-adult"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-9gW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35646"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35650,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35646\/revisions\/35650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}