A review by ellen_mellor
The Complete Phonogram by Jamie McKelvie, Kieron Gillen

5.0

I've just finished The Complete Phonogram by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie and oh god, it's so good. I had read it all in single issues but was absolutely compelled to buy the beautiful hardcover collection of the series (although I may have to go and pull out the singles to read the essays which, unfortunately, weren't included in the volume). But it's such a good series - three very different stories told in three very different styles with Gillen and McKelvie's usual artful experimentation. The basic concept reads very much like 'Hellblazer with Music' but it doesn't stay there for more than a moment before taking you off on a journey that uses the concept of music as magic (and vice versa) to explore the concepts of things changing as you get older and how trying to hold on to the past really fucks you up.
You don't need to know the music that the story is talking about - it is heavily based in Britpop - as the themes are pretty much universal. You get the idea and the musicality through the text and the images, which is not something that I get often in a comic that includes music. Although, saying that, when I first read it I bought at least one new album because it was mentioned in the comic. (And there is at least one more that I want to buy after reading this edition)
So, yeah, I enjoyed it and I think you should buy it.