But a Dream! by David Robertson

David Robertson was kind enough to send me a copy of his new collection But a Dream! This brings together some of David’s unpublished early work from the 1990’s. Like a good librarian David has kept his archives – maybe in some kind of Borgesian pocket dimension or possibly just in a cardboard box. From wherever they came, here they spill out. Re-tellings of Star Trek the Movie, Tartan Power-Ranger sketches and sci-fi short stories.

Autobiographical work is not neglected, as you might expect from the man they are calling the Dundonian Harvey Pekar (OK just me so far but I think it will catch on.) The tale of selfish TV hogging in the name of Jasper Carrot is maybe more horror though.

The central tale is Dave’s Dre Am Diary – a tale of the subconscious world of dreams, sometimes fantastical, sometimes mundane. This is my favourite of the collection – with the nightly trip to the realm of Morpheus something we all do but few write about.

As you would expect from early work the artwork is sometimes rough and naive. I struggled to read the tiny lettering of Cosmic Checkpoint. But this is a celebration of persisting with comics when there was not much community to speak of – real or online. Come for the reverie, stay for the tartan Power Ranger.