In Middlesbrough FC - The Unseen History, MFC's artist in residence, Richard Piers Rayner, has concocted a seamless blend of history, myth and his own unique art work to bring to life the men with whom it all began.
The founders, managers and early players of the game are faithfully drawn and fleshed out by Rayner's fertile imagination.
Rayner paints in big bold strokes and then fills in the detail with facts and flights of fancy. What is not known he imagines for us and transports the reader to a time when football was in its infancy.
Through the ever changing strips to the men at the helm of the club, every detail is lovingly crafted and faithfully recorded until, almost too soon, we arrive back in the present day.
A background in graphic novels and superheroes lends itself superbly to the monumental task of capturing the agony and the ecstasy that is the history of MFC.
His illustrations capture movement and emotion while his words weave a spell on the reader until they feel that, somehow, they were there when the first ball was kicked.
Peppered with personal anecdotes, every page is infused with Rayner's passion for the club and the beautiful game in all its forms.
A truly magical book which would grace any stocking this Christmas.
First published on www.ComeOnBoro.com on 27-11-08
No comments:
Post a Comment