Comix Strip:
Peregrine Besset In The Red World #1
by Marilyn Pride and Lewis Morley

Reviewed by Miriam

Cover of Peregrine Besset In The Red World #1 Marilyn and Lewis are two marvelously talented people who have a long history in the science fiction community here in Australia. I had the great fortune to meet and chat with them again at Melbourne's recent Continuum SF convention. They have produced a comic book about a parallel world which has apparently been growing inside Marilyn for some time. Both she and Lewis wrote the story, she drew the artwork, and Lewis did the layout, lettering, and coloring.

Even at 24 pages this lovely work is but a glimpse into the Red World. When reading this I couldn't help feeling that just beyond the edges of the story there was a large, complex world to be explored. Many things were just hinted at without being fully explained (a nice technique).

Don't expect any clichés in this story. It is a mix of cultures and time periods, from the Jurassic through ancient Egypt to a modern double decker bus from Lane Cove Rd in Sydney. It seems that all these things, and more, fall through some kind of hole in space to end up in the Red World.

illustration from Peregrine Besset In The Red World #1 The protagonist, Peregrine Besset, is an Egyptian Dwarf. She has gained the respect of the inhabitants of this world and its strange society. It includes dinosaurs, giant ground sloths, and many other creatures that I can't identify. Peregrine is completely alone in this world -- she is unlike even her fellow humans. Oddly though, this isolation is not really examined. And that is one of the things I really like about this story; the reader forgets that being a female Egyptian dwarf is anything other than normal. It is a lovely thing that Marilyn and Lewis have done. Only once does Peregrine exhibit regret, and that is at displaying human anger when she hits a man who insults her. No angst-ridden, guilt-soaked character, this. Peregrine is warm, human, and optimistic.

This is the first of hopefully a series of stories set in the Red World.

Want a copy of Peregrine Besset in the Red World - Red World Holiday? The Komic is available from RWK, 60 Martin Place, Linden NSW 2778 for $5 post paid (postal order, stamps, discreet cash, cheques) for which you will receive a hard-copy signed by both creators!