Oh Salt

Archive, #21 Salt, #21 Art & Comics / By Kieran Mangan

Kieran Mangan is a retired comic artist working on novels and cooking the perfect gnocchi.

Comic. ‘Oh Salt’ by Kieran Mangan. This comic has two pages of drawings and hand-lettered words on a white background. It is drawn in a bold, energetic inked style. Page 1. The title ‘Oh Salt!’ dominates the top of the page. In the top left corner is text that reads, ‘Our history has been shaped by the need for salt.’ Below it is a drawing of an unrolled world map with Africa in the centre. To the right is text that reads, ‘Civilisations rose in Africa, China, India, and the Middle East around rich salt deposits.’ Above is a silhouette drawing of a camel caravan. Below is a drawing of crumbling stone buildings with pointed pyramid shapes and solid square gates. In the mid-left, text reads, ‘Salt bought slaves and at times was traded at twice the value of gold’. To the right is a drawing of two bearded people attacking each other with wooden staffs. The text below reads, ‘Men have fought over salt with clubs, arrows, and cannons’. Beneath this text is a drawing of a cannon being fired. The bottom left of the page shows a drawing of a sailing ship on the sea, and a person sitting on the shoreline with their face hidden in their hands. The text below reads, ‘Salt created and destroyed empires!’

Page 2. The text at the top left of the page is part of the comic’s narrative, but reads directly into a speech bubble as one continuous sentence. Combined, it reads, ‘In 1785, the earl of Dundonald wrote that every year in England ten thousand men are seized for salt smuggling and three hundred were sent to the gallows!!’ This speech bubble denotes what the Earl of Dundonald said. The bubble leads to the right of the page, which shows that the speaker is a person in British military uniform. Behind them is the silhouette of gallows and hanging bodies. Below this is a line of text which runs across the middle of the page. It reads, ‘but my father just prefers his steak covered in that precious salt.’ Underneath is a drawing of a piece of steak with potatoes and peas. A salt shaker is sprinkling salt onto the steak. To the left of the steak is a speech bubble which reads, ‘but there is no proof that salt is bad for your health!’ On the right is another speech bubble which reads, ‘ok dad.’ The comic is signed in the bottom right corner with the date 2021.

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