The Pope Was In Glasgow? Honest, I'd Never Have Guessed.

That's bullshit, of course. Needless to say, I did not take part in the Popefest. I didn't even go to work that day - much as they were anticipating an Epic Onslaught as they do on such occasions - although I did have two other excuses that conveniently helped. The first was an optician's appointment I had that morning in the ongoing saga of my contact lenses (I'm due new ones made of a lovely fresher material - thank fuck, cause I think I must have got soap in my current set since they keep burning my eyes). The other excuse, though, was a book launch - no, not another Cargo affair. This launch - held in the Sauchiehall St branch of Waterstone's in Glasgow - was that of Dougie's War, a graphic novel written by Rodge Glass and illustrated by Dave Turbitt. I may have mentioned this previously, but Rodge edited 'The Year of Open Doors', Cargo's recent short story anthology. As well as this, some of us at Cargo - myself included - studied under him at Strathclyde University, where he currently lectures in creative writing (and before that was writer-in-residence). So I'm trying not to be completely and utterly biased when I write this.

The story concerns Dougie, a young veteran of the war in Afghanistan who returns home to the southside of Glasgow. We find out about his experiences and his struggle to adapt to civilian life, made more difficult by the symptoms of post-traumatic stress he exhibits. Making it a graphic novel was a wise move - it's definitely more effective for this. The story itself is compelling (the author did his homework - kudos, Dr G), but the illustrations bring it to life massively, making it altogether more harrowing, and a lot easier to sympathise with Dougie and what he goes through. Overall, I would definitely recommend it.