PHIL ELLIOTT MONTH: Comix Reading List #84: The Suttons

 84. THE SUTTONS by Phil Elliott (Kickstarter) Phil Elliott

The Suttons, written and illustrated by Phil Elliott, ran for an incredible six years from August 22, 1985 to April 1991 in his local paper The Maidstone Borough News.

Microsoft bing

THE SUTTONS is very different from his previous strip collaborations with Eddie Campbell. Elliott does everything here and the attitude is mostly subdued and domestic, following the lives of Dave and Julie Sutton, daughter Lucy, and Julie's Brother Dean. A particularly poignant early strip depicts the birth of Lucy Dawn Sutton:

Elliott experimented with the format of the comic strip, this one pushes the limits of typography to preserve a little dignity talking about dirty diapers!

This one is just plain hilarious, with the dialogue and sound effects painting a naughty picture of...

One of the highlights of later years strips is Dean dreaming of lighthearted adventures in space, allowing Elliott to cut loose a bit.

A later example of experimentation with musical notes in service of a musical punchline.

I love the subtle breaking of the fourth wall in this strip from towards the end of the run.

These are some of the strips that stood out in my reading, there are scores of spot on slice of life strips that are very well done.