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1996 · not illustrated yet

Basketball Summers

Illustration in the queue. New spreads are drawn every week — join the list and you’ll see this one the day it’s inked.

“Every hoop was too high, every court was cracked, and every game ended at A&E.”

For two whole summers, all we do is play basketball. The court is cracked and the hoop is too high, but we do not care. Every game is a battle for glory, and every game ends the same way: with a furious, deeply personal argument over the score, just as someone is about to shoot the winning basket.

That was not a foul... you are just rubbish at this game.

From the back cover

The cracked court on the rec is our court. Every afternoon in the summer of '96, we are there, playing basketball until our legs ache and our throats are hoarse from shouting.

We never actually finish a single game. Just as things get exciting, someone always disputes the score, and the whole thing descends into a massive argument. The grown-ups think we are just playing. They do not realise it is war.

Where
The cracked court on the rec
When
Two whole summers
Who
Me, Barry, Dale, Neil
Props
A bent hoop, Jumpers for lines, One good ball
The oblivious grown-up
The grown-ups were pleased we were doing sport
Got away with
The scoring argument was never resolved