Random Happenstance

I had a pretty good quarter book (well, dollar book nowadays, honestly) haul a couple months back: I'm 90% sure they were all picked up with the same collection. Lot of Nexus and Starlin Dreadstar's, some war comics, this and that. And three issues of this series, which damn near killed me: from 1994, The Tale of One Bad Rat #1, by Bryan Talbot. 

Although I had seen covers or ads for it, I'm not sure I knew what it was going to be about until I started in. Helen is a young runaway in London, with suicidal thoughts and a pet rat. She's withdrawn and completely averse to anyone touching her; but still bright and clever, with a particular fondness for Beatrix Potter. One evening she's accosted by a drunken souse, a small band of homeless teens help her out, incidentally robbing the souse, who turns out to be a local politician of some sort.

Glasses-wearing Ben offers her a room in their "squat," and after a night's consideration in the rain Helen takes him up on it. But she's not sure if she fits in, and memories of her home life still haunt her...

It's a dark book, to be sure--with the subject matter and London and all, it'd almost be more suited to a 90's Vertigo style, all shadows. But an artist like that probably couldn't nail the Potter style too. Helen's little rat is realistic, yet always friendly and charming-looking. I pulled the first three issues out easily enough, but after reading them I had to go back and scour the shop's quarter bins until I found the fourth issue! Knew it had to be in there somewhere...Absolutely worth reading.