John Paul Jones – Hero or Villain?
The Whitehaven Siege is a 24-page comic covering one of the town’s most notorious tales.
It’s written by Jack Harvey and takes a mirthful look at that fateful night while trying to dissect the mythology behind the man. Stories about American naval founder John Paul Jones are numerous and contradictory, none more so than the only US attack on British soil.
Was John Paul Jones a hero, pirate, idealist, criminal, murderer, revolutionary or merely an opportunist?
Locals are familiar with the raid but it’s often little more than a footnote in the pages of history, so when 32-year-old Jack graduated from university with an English Literature and Media Degree it wasn’t long before the local writer turned his attention to the tale:
“I always intended to create comics but when I came out of university you have the impression that you’ll send scripts off to publishers and before you know it, you’re writing Spiderman comics.
You realise you have to follow your initiative and tell your own stories, so I started piecing the story together from three perspectives – The Americans, the locals and the banal reality of history. While I was researching, I learnt a lot I didn’t know previously.”
It seems strange to say you could learn a lot from a comic book but Jack presents the failed attack in a clear, concise and humorous way. It’s a great angle and very clever in the way it covers a variety of perspectives but Jack is no stranger to storytelling.
In 2012, he won the World’s Biggest Liar competition at Santon Bridge with a yarn that involves Tony Robinson, Time Team, a Roman burial ground filled with Badgers and some late-night shenanigans that means many Cumbrians are at least two per cent Badger.
Jack’s hoping to create more comics in the future but in the meantime, you can pick up The Whitehaven Siege from The Beacon Museum gift shop and The Harbour Master in Whitehaven.
You can keep up to date with Jack’s work on his blog www.eljackscomicsblog.blogspot.com
