PRIDE MONTH 2024! When it comes to building up a range of genuinely indie queer comics output there are few publishers the equal of San Francisco-based Silver Sprocket. They will be featuring multiple times during our Pride Month celebrations for material that spans the narrative spectrum, from abstract practice like Leo Fox’s My Body Unspooling to the genre fiction approach of today’s subject, Leeds-based artist Flo Woolley’s Skin Deep.
Set in a nocturnal dance house, Skin Deep begins with the club’s performers remarking on the apparent disappearance of lead dancer Soña. Only one person within its environs, though, is aware of the reasons for her absence. Shifting back in time observe Mareike, a character who exists in the shadows at the venue. When the outgoing Soña takes Mareike under her wing the shyer woman finds herself propelled into the spotlight. But as the two become closer Mareike soon discover that Soña’s standing comes with its own cost…
Skin Deep is a queer supernatural romance that pivots on certain body horror revelations that the reader needs to experience and interpret firsthand themselves. So discussion of plot details beyond an introductory synopsis would be doing our audience a disservice. What I can talk about in more depth here, though, is that as an introduction to Flo Woolley’s work this is a highly atmospheric piece of storytelling; one that deftly exploits its economy of plot to build up a haunting sense of environment and human connection instead.
There’s a sense of disparity between the seen and the unseen in Skin Deep that is perfectly evoked by Woolley’s choice of colour scheme. Surroundings are embodied in shadowy blues with Mareike notably fading into them to emphasise her almost forgotten otherness amongst her peers. Bright greens put the more ostentatious players in the story at the forefront of events with Marieke observing that even when she does come to the attention of others through her connection to Soña “They only see my because I’m reflecting her light.” Just as impressive, though, is the way that Woolley creates a sense of animated movement in their layouts, time spiralling ever forward in a single image or spread.
Skin Deep is soaked in a sinister beauty throughout its emotionally charged pages. It’s unsettling and discomfiting but in a strangely alluring, almost hypnotic way. Those in Leeds should note there is a signing with Flo Woolley at OK Comics on June 19th.
Flo Woolley (W/A) • Silver Sprocket, $9.99
Review by Andy Oliver
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