Ed Firth’s Horny and High is a dark series of tales of gay life in the city – sex, drugs and a pervasive sense of inevitable doom. It’s deliberately bleak, but undeniably compelling. Consisting of three stories, The Nightbus, Chillout and 🎵, this first volume is as visually stunning as it is depressing.
The Nightbus is a tale of a chance encounter late at night on one of London’s eponymous Night Buses. After a night out, a gay man’s evening goes from bad to worse. Running into his ex, drinking too much, vomiting on himself and being robbed while he asleep, he hooks up with a random guy.
The Chillout, the books most disturbing entry, is set in a West London chillout full of sex and drugs and a callous lack of empathy. Men hunting for connection and losing themselves in the process.
🎵 is a whistle heard in the bushes of a Beat – a quick encounter.
Firth’s stories are laced with nihilism and pain undercut with a yearning for connection, for hope, all told with sharp lines and a stunningly bold colour palette. It’s like watching Requiem for a Dream – vivid, intoxicating and equally painful. This is excellent story-telling.
The strength here is that these tales don’t wallow in their dank milieu, as dark as things get there is a yearning for light. Horny and High Vol. 1 will not be to everyone’s tastes but lovers of bold graphic novels and compelling art will find a lot to… maybe enjoy is the wrong word… a lot to admire.
Horny and High Vol. 1 can be purchased online here.
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