When the Wind Blows (comics)

When the Wind Blows is a 1982 graphic novel, by British artist Raymond Briggs, that shows a nuclear attack on Britain by the Soviet Union from the viewpoint of a retired couple, Jim and Hilda Bloggs. The book was later made into an animated film.

Plot

The book follows the story of the Bloggses, characters previously seen in the book Gentleman Jim. One afternoon the couple hears a message on the radio about an "outbreak of hostilities" in three day's time. Jim immediately starts construction of a fallout shelter (according to a protect and survive brochure), while the two reminisce about the Second World War. Their reminiscences are used both for comic effect and to show how the geopolitical situation has changed, but also how nostalgia has blotted out the horrors of war. A constant theme is Jim's optimistic outlook and his unshakeable belief that the government knows what's best and that it has the situation under full control.

The Bloggses soon hear of enemy missiles heading towards England, and they just make it into their shelter before a nuclear explosion. They stay in it for several days, misreading the advice given in governmental leaflets: they believe they have to stay in the shelter for two weeks instead of two days. They do briefly go outside to get some fresh air and rainwater, exposing themselves to a large amount of radioactive fallout.

Jim and Hilda exhibit considerable confusion regarding the serious nature of what has happened after the nuclear attack; this generates gentle comedy as well as darker elements. As the novel progresses, their situation becomes steadily more hopeless as they begin to suffer the effects of radiation sickness. Hilda suffers the most, losing her hair, vomiting and has bleeding gums.

The book ends on an extremely bleak note, with them praying in their fallout shelter as death approaches.

Adaptations

Film

Main article: When the Wind Blows (film)

The book was made into an animated film by director Jimmy Murakami in 1986. The couple are voiced by Sir John Mills and Dame Peggy Ashcroft. The soundtrack consists of songs, many with an anti-nuclear theme, by prominent pop singers and groups, including Roger Waters, Genesis and David Bowie.

Radio

There was also a BBC Radio 4 dramatisation in 1983, with the voices of Peter Sallis and Brenda Bruce. A stage version, created at around the same time, has been performed several times since.

Other appearances

• Licensed images from When the Wind Blows appear in the short book Sussex After the Bomb - What Will Happen to Newhaven, Lewes, The Ouse Valley, Seaford, Eastbourne and Brighton published by The Profession for Peace (1984).

• The Iron Maiden song "When The Wild Wind Blows" from their 2010 album "The Final Frontier" is based on the graphic novel When the Wind Blows.