The Sunday Spotlight: All The Stuff And Nonsense From The Week In Comics

Welcome to Sunday Spotlight, a round-up of things I noticed in the wonderful world of comics this week…

Another week, another load of things going on in comics. But this isn’t everything going on, there’s not enough hours in the day for that. No, this is stuff I’ve noticed, stuff I like, stuff you might like too. So, time for this week’s load of stuff and nonsense…

Owen D. Pomery on the link between Beastie Boys and Charlotte Perriand

Okay then, here’s one you that’s a little different. After all, how often is it that you find a great cartoonist bringing you a mini-essay on the stylistic similarities and links he sees between Beastie Boys and modernist interior designer and architect, Charlotte Perriand?

No, not that often at all. But Owen D. Pomery manages to make the link and make it in fascinating fashion. Go subscribe to his newsletter, Kiosk, for more of this sort of thing.

“Okay, it’s time for one of my famous case studies. I love the hip-hop pioneers, Beastie Boys and the modernist interior designer and architect, Charlotte Perriand, and furthermore, I think they share a sensibility. The link is not instantly apparent, but I think it’s seen in their response to the world, how it responded to them, and the creative and moral choices they made in the face of that.

I’m not going to recap either party’s work in any great depth, but after riding out the gates on a wave of controversy, Beastie Boys became know for their inventiveness, wide variety of influences and constant exploration. Sonically and lyrically, it was a delightful blend of taking things seriously and lightly, peppered with reference to the other interest in their lives. Charlotte Perriand put her initial pin in the map by creating an ultra-modern, industrial looking bar in her attic apartment. It attracted the attention of Le Corbusier, who brought her in to work for him, much in the way Madonna took the Beasties on tour with her in the early days. In both cases, neither should have been in either situation, and they knew it.”

 

It was 55 years ago this month – the UK’s very first comic convention – Comic-Con ’68

August 30th is a milestone in UK comics history – the anniversary of the very first comic convention in the UK; Comicon ’68.

That first comic-con, which took place August 30th to September 2nd 1968, might have only had 70 attendees, but its impact cannot be underestimated. And it’s all thanks to the organising team of Phil Clarke, the late Steve Moore, and Phil’s then girlfriend (later wife), Kay Hawkins. Clarke’s life in comics is full of major firsts; not only was he the organiser of that first comic convention, but he was also, again with Steve Moore, the creator of the first UK comic fanzine, KA-POW, in 1967, and later on, in 1976, opened one of the UK’s very first comic shops, Birmingham’s Nostalgia & Comics.

It’s now 55 years on from that first UK Comic Convention, so let’s give thanks to these UK comics pioneers, especially Phil Clarke.

In the pics below, you have some cosplay from 1968 – including Phil Clarke as Captain Marvel and Nick Landau (later of Forbidden Planet & Titan Books) as Captain Cold. Then there’s a more recent photo of Phil Clarke (thanks to Lew Stringer for that one) and the proposed Jim Baikie cover to the comic-con, a cover that never made it in time for printing thanks to the post!

And bringing us up to date – Thought Bubble 2023 events announced…

One of the best UK conventions, Thought Bubble in Harrogate has announced plenty of guests already, but now they’ve put up their events schedule, or at least a highlights teaser image.

If you do have the chance, Thought Bubble is a great, great show, right up there with The Lakes as Britain’s biggest and best.

 

Comic Publishers didn’t want to support Good Omens the graphic novel… oh, what a mistake

As we mentioned last week, the Good Omens graphic novel, with Colleen Doran adapting Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman‘s novel, has done rather well on Kickstarter.

It passed so many milestones, eventually topping off at £2,419,973. Yes, £2.4 million raised, making it the most successful comic project ever on Kickstarter. And this, of course, from the graphic novel that Neil Gaiman has already mentioned was turned down by publishers…

“Publishers were disappointingly uninterested in doing this, and definitely not interested in making the beautiful book the way we wanted it done, or paying Colleen to work on it for the two years it would take her to draw and paint and create it.”

Well, that does rather tell us how good some publishers, I’m assuming they were comic publishers, are at working out what sells.

 

Michael Carroll’s Rusty Staples – essential reading

Sure, you should go check out all of Mike Carroll’s online activity, with a website, Twitter, and all the rest, but he also maintains a massive comics blog, Rusty Staples, in addition to doing some great writing at 2000 AD.

There’s loads of interesting reading there, including his regular updates called Hatch, Match, and Dispatch, charting the comings and going in the British comics scene over the years.

For example, did you know it was 30 years ago in September when we first saw the great revamped Roy of the Rovers monthly, one of my favourite comics of all time? Also 30 years ago, we had the short-lived but rather interesting Vertigo-esque imprint from Marvel UK, Frontier? Or 35 years ago, Fleetway launched the 2000 AD sister title Crisis?

Go give it a look – well worth your time. And 2000 AD/Treasury of British Comics, please, please, please be planning a collection of the great ROTR Monthly!

 

 

RIP Arleen Sorkin, the inspiration for and the voice of Harley Quinn (1955-2023)

Another sad loss to comics, as Arleen Sorkin, the voice of Harley Quinn, passed age 67 on August 26, 2023. Sorkin’s career included acting and writing, including a stint from 1984-1990 as Calliope on Days of Our Lives. And it was her voice playing that character that led her old college friend, Paul Dini, to be inspired to create Harley Quinn for Batman: The Animated Series. According to Geek Tyrant, Sorkin gave Dini a compilation of her scenes on the show, including one in clown makeup and costume.

In an interview with Vulture, Dini said this:

“I had already decided to give the Joker a henchwoman in the script and thought Arleen’s screwball persona would be a good contrast to the Joker’s dangerous insanity .. I also liked the idea of putting Harley in some sort of colorful costume, harkening back to the molls of the 1960s live-action Batman series. Seeing Arleen in the jester costume around that time just helped fix that image in my brain.”

And that was that – Bruce Timm and Dini worked up the character, with Timm coming up with the final designs and Sorkin was cast as her voice. What was meant to be a throwaway henchwoman became a superstar and so much of that is down to Sorkin’s voice talent.

Happy Birthday Jack Kirby – Born this week in 1917

One of the true greats in comics, the foundation upon which most of what you know as Marvel Comics was built, Jack Kirby was born during this week, August 28, 1917.

He went on to have one of the most prolific and innovative careers in comics, creating so many of the characters Marvel and DC have profited from over the decades. Fantastic Four, X-Men, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Black Panther, Silver Surfer, the entire Fourth World saga at DC, and so many, many more over the years. Without Jack, there would be no Marvel Comics as we know it. And you certainly wouldn’t have been going to see quite so many superhero movies over the last few years.

Simply, Kirby was a creative genius, and we should always remember that.