The Sunday Spotlight: More Comics News And All Sorts Of Stuff
by Richard Bruton
It’s Sunday, which means it’s time for the Sunday Spotlight, taking a little look-see at the world of comics every week…
Another week goes by, the nights get darker, it’s a bit colder, and the entire comics world is at New York Comic Con this weekend. And Comicon have been covering all that (here). But there’s been other stuff going on as well, some of which I’ll be telling you about here. Well, some of it if I think it’s interesting at least.
So, pull up a chair, let’s begin…
Rob Williams talks writing Petrol Head…
Petrol Head by Rob Williams and Pye Parr is coming out on 8th November from Image Comics. First of all, it’s a great, great, great comic, one that I previewed here and absolutely loved, and also one that I have a real habit of calling Petrol Heads or Petrolheads.
Anyway, this high-octane, Mad Max meets Wacky Races meets Akira meets Cars meets… well, just name something else similar. It’s one of those first issues, the sort that really do the whole job of being a first issue and absolutely pulling you in, making you want more. So go and tell your local comic shop how much you want it and how they should order way more than they have.
Anyway, Rob Williams has written about how he and Pye put it all together here, From which this…
‘But you’re also aware that this is an issue one, and you can’t hang around before hitting people in the face with your core concept – in this case this is a book abour high-speed racing robots in a future city. And also, Pye is amazingly good at drawing cars, and racing, and kinetic speed on the page in a vaguely Akira-like way. So – play to your strengths. Quick.’
Daniel Clowes interview at the LA Times…
Daniel Clowes‘ new book Monica came out and it’s getting an awful lot of press and attention, as you’d expect. It’s a collection of nine interconnected tales and a lot more, sort of telling the life story or life stories of the title character, all of it playing with comic genres. It’s rather excellent. And of all of those press pieces, try this LA Times piece, from which this…
“I sort of imagine what a book would look like and then I start moving toward that. It’s almost like a sculpture more than a comic.”
And this…
“When I’m doing it, it’s like being in a dream. You get in a certain state and follow that path of logic. It has a certain vibration to it, where you’re like, ‘OK, this panel’s right, this panel’s right…’ It’s like a tightrope walk.”
Bill Watterson & John Kascht – collaborating on The Mysteries…
In the 2023 sweepstakes, I doubt anyone had Bill Watterson publishing something. But it was back at the beginning of the year that we got the announcement of The Mysteries, where Watterson writes and illustrator/caricaturist John Kascht draws this fable for grown-ups. It’s very different to Calvin & Hobbes, that’s for sure.
Anyway, there’s a YouTube video where both of them talk of the process of working together…
David Hathaway Price’s Fanscene Project…
David Hathaway Price’s Fanscene project is something that celebrates UK comics fandom and fanzines, and it’s a resource that all comic fans, UK or further afield should absolutely love, capturing all the joy and wonder of being involved. Price has been scanning and uploading a rather vast selection of UK zines over the last few years and it’s well worth a look at what’s there.
There’s also a Facebook page to have a look at, which goes wider than just fanzines, gathering together a lot of important relics from comics’ past, including convention booklets and other fascinating little time capsule things. You know, like this, the UKCAC 1993 convention booklet – the cover is by Dave Gibbons with colours by the late Steve Whitaker.
Anyway, go look, well worth it.
The Star Beast – new Doctor Who straight from the comics…
The new Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special is due to hit your screens in November. It’s all rather a big deal. The return of showrunner Russell T. Davies, the return of David Tennant to play the 14th Doctor, after previously playing him as the 10th Doctor, and the debut of Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor – yep, it’s all rather large, rather busy.
Three hour-long specials will air on BBC in the UK and Ireland and Disney+ internationally with Tennant joined by Catherine Tate reprising her role as Donna Noble.
The three specials are titled ‘The Star Beast’, ‘Wild Blue Yonder’, and ‘The Giggle’. And there’s a big comic connection with ‘The Star Beast’. It was one of the stories from Doctor Who Magazine (Doctor Who Weekly back then) from 1980, written by Pat Mills (it’s jointly credited to Mills and John Wagner but they actually took it in turns to write the tales) and drawn by Dave Gibbons.
So, Beep the Meep is coming back. Go look it up. And you can see Mills and Gibbons chatting with Tennant all about it in Doctor Who Unleashed episode one in November and there’s an interview in Doctor Who Magazine 596.
Posy Simmonds in Balises… one for the French speakers…
This via Paul Gravett…
‘The new issue of Balises, the free magazine of the Bpi – Bibliothèque publique d’information at the Centre Pompidou Paris is out now in print and a pdf. Posy Simmonds is cover-featured for her upcoming exhibition (November 22nd to April 1st 2024) in an 18-page dossier. This includes a brilliant new illustration with commentary by Posy Simmonds about a particular favourite object in her studio, two interviews with her French translator Lili Sztajn and myself, and four perceptive essays on aspects of her oeuvre.’
You can download the magazine (in French) here.
A little flash of Brian Bolland’s unused Wonder Woman cover…
From the Brian Bolland Appreciation Society and Ken Fries:
“Preliminary pencil drawing for the cover of Wonder Woman issue 96, featuring the Joker, from 1995. Not used for several reasons, and possibly thrown in by Brian just for a laugh. Part of the job of a cover is to tell a story and sell the book, and to make casual readers want to buy a copy. While this would grab your attention, it would be for the wrong reasons. All that being said, it’s a great drawing, and a funny image.”
Here’s the cover that Bolland sent in first…
So, here’s the cover as published…
Bolland had this to say in the comments:
“This was my serious attempt at a cover. Humorous but not done just for a laugh. The point was the Joker had a bomb strapped to his chest. The final used cover wasn’t half as good.”
He’s right you know.