The Witch Report

Comic artist and illustrator Lorna Miller on teenage sex, mad cows, blow jobs and Jack White.

Much in the manner of a doorman trying to coax you inside a Soho strip club with the promise of 'young girls naked!' the cover of the very first issue of Lorna Miller's comic, Witch, entices us to take a peek inside with the no less tantalising come on of 'woman alcoholics, Teenage sex and mad cows.' But while Soho strip joints are notorious for failing to deliver hat they promise, Witch doesn't disappoint. On the contrary, over four issues it serves up an intoxicating, refreshingly unpretentious cocktail of heavy boozing, blow jobs and high-rise dwelling bovines, liberally spiced with strange and surreal episodes, a dash of Catholicism, lots of earthy humour, phalluses aplenty and the odd fart gag thrown in for good measure.

Currently one of an ever-growing number of creative types living and working in Hastings, Lorna actually hails from Glasgow and studied at that city's prestigious school of art. However, after becoming dissatisfied with being forced to paint 'ugly naked people' on a daily basis, she became aware of the power of comics as a means of self-expression, drawing inspiration from the autobiographical work of Julie Doucet (Dirty Plotte etc) amongst others.

Her early minis were published as a collection in 1997, by the Brighton based Slab-O-Concrete imprint, which sadly ceased operations in 2002, leaving a void in British independent publishing which is yet to be filled. Happily for Lorna though, she was taken on by the Slave Labor Graphics in the USA. And in spite of the fact that Lorna's stories are peppered with Glaswegian dialect, she has earned herself a solid reputation in the states and had collaborated with major American artists such as Peter Bagge and Kaz. She also receives approving correspondence from no less than Robert Crumb. Yet, try to track down a copy of Witch in a British comic shop and you're likely to be disappointed.

In the UK it seems, the comic industry is still largely geared to selling superheroes to super nerds whilst the independent sector barely exists beyond self-financed, self-distributed minis. And so, I couldn't help but wonder to what extent Lorna felt hampered by being a female within what is still perceived to be a male dominated industry. After all, Lorna herself was once told that 'women can't draw comics.' 'A lot of the press I've had has focussed on that very thing, and at one point I think it was really important for women to come together to gain a kind of collective strength as artists, but I think now it works against us. It suppresses individuality. You become this kind of international vulva, and that's all you are - a woman comic artist and nothing else.' Besides, as she points out, most of her readership is male. And it is as just such a red blooded male reader of Witch, that I enquired about the preponderance of phallic imagery and blow jobs in the comic. 'That' s because I was meeting a lot of women who were doing comics and art generally, who were using imagery of naked women in that 'it's really empowering to take all your clothes off' kind of way. But I'm fed up to the back teeth of fanny everywhere. I find it more interesting to investigate how we look

As for the blow jobs, well in issue 1 there was a brief one-panel scene, and the rep from my American distributor, a Mormon, was like, 'Oh my God! There's a blow job scene in this comic!' And because of that they didn't push it. So with issue 4, I thought, I'll show you, I'm going to do a whole issue full of them - which is exactly what I did.'

Looking through any one issue of Witch, the thing that strikes you is Lorna's remarkable array of drawing styles. Indeed, as she readily admits, 'sometimes my style changes completely, right in the middle of a story, which could be taken as a sign of versatility or a real lack of talent!' she laughs. Another reason for the different styles is because initially I had difficulty in using the medium. This is why in my first book I did parodies of existing comics and comic genres, and it was really a way for myself to learn how to do it. But now I'm at the point where I can see that I've developed at least three different ways of working which is no bad thing. Suddenly now I can see that I'm creating something which is my own, and it's only because I've experimented so much that I've come to this point. And the other reason is because I got bored with just one signature

As a consequence of the eclectic mix of styles and stories, Lorna has found that some   people like some of the strips in Witch more than others. For what its worth, I prefer Angela sales assistant to the Beauvines, but Robert Crumb seems to enjoy 'the adventures of the British Isles cow people,' so what do I know?

'Angela is about a girl in Glasgow who's just come out of college with a degree in English lit, and doesn't know what to do with herself. The cows is a way of being a little bit sillier, more slapstick, more outrageous and anarchic. Of course there are parallels between Angela's story and what was going on in my life at the time, but people always ask 'Is Angela you?' But I'm a shy person and I wouldn't have the guts to write about my worst faults, failing as and experiences; elements which to me make for a good story. So I mix them all in with juicy stuff that girlfriends have told me; very personal things that have happened to them.

Nevertheless, I couldn't help but wonder to what extent Lorna shared her character's opinion of Jack White of the White Stripes as 'a fucking sexy beast.'

'Well when I saw him live, I thought, this must feel how girls felt when they saw Elvis; that primal urge that causes women to throw their knickers at the stage. Well, I've never quite had the urge to do that, but I have to say, I was getting close!'

Unfortunately, Lorna informs me that issue 4 of Witch is the last, leaving certain storylines hanging unsatisfactorily unresolved. She explains that trying to bring out a quarterly comic, as well as trying to earn a living as an illustrator for channel 4, is just too much for one girl. But by way of reassurance, she adds that she'd like to eventually develop some of the strips into books in their own right. In the meantime, Witch will be sorely missed.

© Nude magazine 2004. Originally published in issue 3 of Nude (May/ June 2004)