Still Warthogs Run Deep by Simon Drew

Still Warthogs Run Deep Reviews

• 
  Gerry

  It is no surprise that Simon Drew is considered a good nonsense wordmonger and he demonstrates his skill to the full in 'Still Warthogs Run Deep'.
  
  He has compiled a series of poems, drawings and puns in this book that combine a sense of the ridiculous with a definite seriousness regarding our respect for the countryside and our environment. The book is in two sections, "The Wild Goose Chase" and ""Section Two". The former is a, one could almost say epic, poem about a farmer who fights against the odds - and it has a goose secreted in each picture, for, as the author states, 'no apparent reason' - and the second is, again in the author's words, 'Information about the countryside that anyone will find invaluable.'
  
  Although cartoon-like, the drawings are not cartoons for all the animals look like they really are, where possible that is! The result of this juxtaposition of quirky humour and semi-serious drawings is often hilarious, often just a little provocative and occasionally slightly warped.
  
  Even before we get to the main course the front endpapers set the scene with a delightful drawing of flying fish, two of them in fact, strapped into their bi-plane and flying away while, after it is all over, the back endpapers are just as entertaining with some serious looking moles in a drawing entitled 'Those dark satanic moles'! And mention of moles, there is a vignette of a tartan-clad 'Mole of Kintyre' on the reverse of the title page while the contents page carries a brilliant drawing of Neville Chamberlain holding a cage of geese captioned 'geese in our time'.
  
  Needless to say, the farmer's goose was running loose in "The Wild Goose Chase" and the farmer goes on a slightly surreal chase that involves a nun, a priest, a church organist and two grim brothers who run a home for stray animals. Finally the farmer 'hung his head, the trail was dead' and he feasts on pie and peas before making his weary way home thinking that he knows what was in the pie! The poem is adorned by Drew's suitable quirky illustrations, complete with that hidden goose [there's is one illustration in which I can't find the goose!].
  
  -"Section Two" is a real miscellany with a few play-on word illustrations such as 'a scene with a herd' depicting a country view with cattle and the alternative 'scene but not heard' depicting the same country view with no cattle in sight! There is also a pair of illustrations that remind me of the Two Ronnies with their 'Four Candles/Fork Handles' sketch in that the farmer walking through some farmyard pens finds 'among the geese and hens the three of spades' as three spade handles protrude among the turkeys, geese and hens.
  
  There are other play-on-word sketches before the book ends with a four-part drama in verse entitled 'A Farmer of Wealth' . The farmer is afraid of pigs, sheep and cows [some farmer he must be!] so much so that he 'always seemed ready to panic' so 'his doctors suggested he needed a rest with a trip on the SS Titanic' … well, you know the rest!
  
  It's a great fun book - which ends with a portrayal of 'The Hound of the Basketballs' on the back cover - and Simon Drew proves himself to be not only a superb artist but an excellent wordsmith to boot. It makes an invaluable addition to any book collection!
• 
  Peter Hall

  Odd, funny, entertaining and beautifully drawn.