St. Swithin's Day (comics)
Encyclopedia
St. Swithin's Day is a story written by Grant Morrison
and drawn by Paul Grist
in 1989 for Trident Comics
.
The story is said by Morrison to be based upon his diaries and is also said to be partly autobiographical.
title) issues 1-4 in black and white.
had gone out of business in 1991. It was later reprinted by Oni Press
in 1998.
's time as British Prime Minister
.
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 travelling 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"
, a pro-Thatcher newspaper.
They ran an item on the story under the headline "DEATH TO MAGGIE BOOK SPARKS TORY UPROAR" with quotes from MP
's 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.
St. Swithin's Day is a story written by Grant Morrison
and drawn by Paul Grist
in 1989 for Trident Comics
.
The story is said by Morrison to be based upon his diaries and is also said to be partly autobiographical.
title) issues 1-4 in black and white.
had gone out of business in 1991. It was later reprinted by Oni Press
in 1998.
's time as British Prime Minister
.
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 travelling 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"
, a pro-Thatcher newspaper.
They ran an item on the story under the headline "DEATH TO MAGGIE BOOK SPARKS TORY UPROAR" with quotes from MP
's 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.
St. Swithin's Day is a story written by Grant Morrison
and drawn by Paul Grist
in 1989 for Trident Comics
.
The story is said by Morrison to be based upon his diaries and is also said to be partly autobiographical.
title) issues 1-4 in black and white.
had gone out of business in 1991. It was later reprinted by Oni Press
in 1998.
's time as British Prime Minister
.
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 travelling 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"
, a pro-Thatcher newspaper.
They ran an item on the story under the headline "DEATH TO MAGGIE BOOK SPARKS TORY UPROAR" with quotes from MP
's 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.
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
and drawn by Paul Grist
Paul Grist
Paul Grist is a British comic book creator, noted for his hard-boiled police series Kane and his unorthodox superhero series Jack Staff.-Biography:...
in 1989 for Trident Comics
Trident Comics
Trident Comics was a comic book publishing company based in Leicester, UK, specializing in black and white comics created by new British talent...
.
The story is said by Morrison to be based upon his diaries and is also said to be partly autobiographical.
Publication history
It originally appeared in Trident (which was Trident Comics' anthologyComics anthology
Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for standalone publication.- U.S. :- UK :British comics have a long tradition publishing comics anthologies, often weekly...
title) issues 1-4 in black and white.
Collected editions
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 ComicsTrident Comics
Trident Comics was a comic book publishing company based in Leicester, UK, specializing in black and white comics created by new British talent...
had gone out of business in 1991. It was later reprinted by Oni Press
Oni Press
Oni Press is an American independent comic book publisher based in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1997 by Bob Schreck and Joe Nozemack with the goal of publishing the kinds of comics and graphic novels they themselves would want to read...
in 1998.
Plot
St.Swithin's Day tells the story of an alienated British teenager in the 1980s and in particular, Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's time as British Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
.
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
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
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
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
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 travelling 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
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 newspaper The SunThe Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
, a pro-Thatcher newspaper.
They ran an item on the story under the headline "DEATH TO MAGGIE BOOK SPARKS TORY UPROAR" with quotes from MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
's such as Teddy Taylor
Teddy Taylor
Sir Edward MacMillan Taylor, usually known as Teddy Taylor , is a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart and from 1980 to 2005 for Rochford and Southend East.He was a leading member and sometime Vice-President of the Conservative...
condemning the book. This even led to questions being asked in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
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.
St. Swithin's Day is a story written by Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
and drawn by Paul Grist
Paul Grist
Paul Grist is a British comic book creator, noted for his hard-boiled police series Kane and his unorthodox superhero series Jack Staff.-Biography:...
in 1989 for Trident Comics
Trident Comics
Trident Comics was a comic book publishing company based in Leicester, UK, specializing in black and white comics created by new British talent...
.
The story is said by Morrison to be based upon his diaries and is also said to be partly autobiographical.
Publication history
It originally appeared in Trident (which was Trident Comics' anthologyComics anthology
Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for standalone publication.- U.S. :- UK :British comics have a long tradition publishing comics anthologies, often weekly...
title) issues 1-4 in black and white.
Collected editions
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 ComicsTrident Comics
Trident Comics was a comic book publishing company based in Leicester, UK, specializing in black and white comics created by new British talent...
had gone out of business in 1991. It was later reprinted by Oni Press
Oni Press
Oni Press is an American independent comic book publisher based in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1997 by Bob Schreck and Joe Nozemack with the goal of publishing the kinds of comics and graphic novels they themselves would want to read...
in 1998.
Plot
St.Swithin's Day tells the story of an alienated British teenager in the 1980s and in particular, Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's time as British Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
.
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
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
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
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
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 travelling 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
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 newspaper The SunThe Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
, a pro-Thatcher newspaper.
They ran an item on the story under the headline "DEATH TO MAGGIE BOOK SPARKS TORY UPROAR" with quotes from MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
's such as Teddy Taylor
Teddy Taylor
Sir Edward MacMillan Taylor, usually known as Teddy Taylor , is a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart and from 1980 to 2005 for Rochford and Southend East.He was a leading member and sometime Vice-President of the Conservative...
condemning the book. This even led to questions being asked in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
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.
St. Swithin's Day is a story written by Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
and drawn by Paul Grist
Paul Grist
Paul Grist is a British comic book creator, noted for his hard-boiled police series Kane and his unorthodox superhero series Jack Staff.-Biography:...
in 1989 for Trident Comics
Trident Comics
Trident Comics was a comic book publishing company based in Leicester, UK, specializing in black and white comics created by new British talent...
.
The story is said by Morrison to be based upon his diaries and is also said to be partly autobiographical.
Publication history
It originally appeared in Trident (which was Trident Comics' anthologyComics anthology
Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for standalone publication.- U.S. :- UK :British comics have a long tradition publishing comics anthologies, often weekly...
title) issues 1-4 in black and white.
Collected editions
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 ComicsTrident Comics
Trident Comics was a comic book publishing company based in Leicester, UK, specializing in black and white comics created by new British talent...
had gone out of business in 1991. It was later reprinted by Oni Press
Oni Press
Oni Press is an American independent comic book publisher based in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1997 by Bob Schreck and Joe Nozemack with the goal of publishing the kinds of comics and graphic novels they themselves would want to read...
in 1998.
Plot
St.Swithin's Day tells the story of an alienated British teenager in the 1980s and in particular, Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's time as British Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
.
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
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
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
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
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 travelling 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
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 newspaper The SunThe Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
, a pro-Thatcher newspaper.
They ran an item on the story under the headline "DEATH TO MAGGIE BOOK SPARKS TORY UPROAR" with quotes from MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
's such as Teddy Taylor
Teddy Taylor
Sir Edward MacMillan Taylor, usually known as Teddy Taylor , is a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart and from 1980 to 2005 for Rochford and Southend East.He was a leading member and sometime Vice-President of the Conservative...
condemning the book. This even led to questions being asked in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
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.