The Sunday Spotlight: The ‘Likely Looking Show Specimen’ Edition
by Richard Bruton
Roll up, roll up, time for a little bit of comics news – it’s Sunday, it must be The Sunday Spotlight…
Alan Moore virtually launches The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic at London’s Century Club – 18 October 2024…
It’s been two decades in the making, but we’re finally getting our hands on The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic on 17 October, from Knockabout in the UK and Top Shelf in the Americas.
Soho’s Century Club is having a virtual launch event on 18 October, 19:00, with Alan Moore attending over Zoom and in conversation with writer and occult scholar Gary Lachman.
The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic is the work of Moore and the late Steve Moore (no relation), with artistic contributions from the late Kevin O’Neill, John Coulthart, Steve Parkhouse, Rick Veitch, and Ben Wickey.
It promises to be an exploration of magic and the occult through a blend of prose, illustration, and sequential art.
Or, as the PR puts it…
‘Splendid news for enquiring minds, and guaranteed salvation for humanity! Messrs. Steve and Alan Moore, current proprietors of the celebrated Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels (sorcery by appointment since circa 150 AD), have produced a clear and practical grimoire of the occult sciences that offers endless necromantic fun. Exquisitely illuminated by a host of adepts including Kevin O’Neill, John Coulthart, Steve Parkhouse, Rick Veitch, and Ben Wickey, this marvellous and unprecedented tome promises to provide all that the reader could conceivably need in order to commence a fulfilling new career as a diabolist.’
Tickets for the virtual launch can be obtained at the Century Club here.
.
Congratulations Jon Lock and Nich Angell – Tiny Hercules coming to Macmillan Children’s Books…
Jon Lock’s been featured here at Comicon by me as the author of the great Afterlife Inc. but he and frequent collaborative partner Nich Angell have big news – Tiny Hercules, a new comic series written by Lock and illustrated by Angell has been signed to a four book deal by Macmillan Children’s UK, with the first books launching in 2026. And it was all down to a chance encounter at MCM Comic Con that made it happen.
Books 1 and 2 launch in 2026, with books 3 and 4 following close behind in 2027. Each book is a full-colour, 208-page graphic novel for 6-8 year olds. Expect laughs, action, and Tiny God nonsense!
Jon’s announcement here, Bookseller article on the pick-up here.
.
Congrats to The Lakes, now it’s Thought Bubble time… 16/17 November…
We’re spoilt in the UK for comic shows. Sure, there’s plenty of ‘comic’ shows that are way more a chance to pay £50 for a photo with the Z-list actor who was once in the background of a Harry Potter movie, but there’s also a hell of a lot of great comic shows, all about the medium we love.
One of the biggest in the UK, The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival (LICAF) is happening right now, with Sunday 29th September being the last day of what was a fabulous weekend of comics (I’m presuming here as I’m away right now, but based on the years I did go and by all reports, it’s a damn safe presumption to make). And then there’s only a few weeks to go before it’s time for the other big show of the year, the fabulous Thought Bubble, taking place in Harrogate across the week of 11-17 November, with the two-day convention on 16-17 November. It’s BIG. Below is a handy graphic of all the guests. But add in another 500+ comic exhibitors and you have the BIG show of the year… and damn fun as well.
.
Double 2000 AD Thrill-Cast listening – Bisley, Eastman, Simone, Sherman…
Two audio-visual treats for you from 2000 AD now, both from SDCC. First, there’s Simon Bisley and Kevin Eastman chatting all things Heavy Metal…
‘Kevin was Heavy Metal’s owner/publisher for more than 20 years and in a candid and wideranging discussion, they talk about working together in the 1990s and the freedoms they and the title enjoyed, but Kevin divulges some fascinating information about the Heavy Metal movie and how it eventually became Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots.’
All the links here for audio.
And then there’s Bisley again, Gail Simone, and Hayden Sherman talking all things 2000 AD.
All the links here for audio.
.
Audio/Visual delights for you – Signals From The Hill #60 interview with J. Webster Sharp, creator of The Scrapbook of Life and Death…
The regular Avery Hill podcast gets to #60 here with a chat with J. Webster Sharp, creator of The Scrapbook of Life and Death, which came out on 3 September 2024. There’s talk of newspaper clippings, the secret lives of humans, and art as exorcism.
The Scrapbook of Life and Death is another one of those books that sits there in my ridiculously high reading/reviewing list looking at me with disdain. But I have flicked through it and it really looks great. Here’s the Avery Hill PR…
‘Dentist Robs Women of Teeth’ – ‘Death Chair for Nice Old Man’ – ‘Mother Feeds Son Like Bird’
The British newspaper clipping collection of egalitarian George Ives, collected between 1892 and 1949, ranged from murder and theories of crime to cricket scores. He was fascinated by the unusual, the gothic, the sexual, and the melodramatic.
In this graphic novel, acclaimed cartoonist J. Webster Sharp shares some of the most bizarre stories from the archives of George Ives in silent comics form. With often shocking, visceral black and white artwork, the strangeness and eccentricity of the Edwardian era provides a backdrop for Sharp’s own struggles with mental health.
The Scrapbook of Life and Death is a fascinating, personal window into forgotten historical views of eccentric and socially transcendent and disturbing behaviors — and their resonance in life today.
The interview is below on the embedded link or here on YouTube, for more audio, head here.
.
Streaming now – Mike Mignola’s Drawing Monsters…
Originally released in 2022, Hellboy: Drawing Monsters is a great doc about a great comics creator and artist, the wonderful Mike Mignola. Definitely worth a watch – find it on all your streaming services right now.
Jim Demonakos and Kevin Konrad Hanna, the documentary’s directors, are interviewed here at Forbes.
.
And finally… but it’s not even October… The Beano Christmas Special…
Is it me getting older or do these things come out earlier and earlier? I’m sure when I was a kid they only came out the week before Christmas? Anyway, here’s the cover of the 2024’s Beano Christmas Special, a 68-page magazine in addition to the Beano annual as well…
