Rumble Strip
Rumble Strip, the latest offering from acclaimed comic artist and writer Woodrow Phoenix is an illustrated narrative story highlighting the hazardous gambles that road users take – and pedestrians are confronted with – everyday. (ABOVE: Page from the end section of Rumble Strip). In Phoenix’s unique take on the comic book medium, there are no characters in the entire book; rather his sharp, densely inked graphics offer up a snaking ride via roads and motorways, through to a reimagining of his experience of a near fatal accident while driving on the M25 to Brighton…
“Sitting wrapped in your seatbelt with an airbag hidden in front of you, invisibly and silently waiting for the moment it may have to reply, you are more like a freshly laid egg in its specially contoured cardboard eggtray. What was the famous phrase they used to describe those mercury astronauts? Spam in a can,” writes Phoenix who is quick to back up his thoughts on the culture of driving with statistical evidence.
The astonishing fact that 1.2 million people are killed in road traffic accidents around the world each year is something Phoenix concentrates on; combing through personal experiences, research and observation to show how our increasing dependence on vehicles has led to a critical imbalance in power between drivers and pedestrians. ~MORE~
