The Sunday Spotlight: The ‘Everything’s Going Great Except, You Know, Everything’ Edition
by Richard Bruton
It’s Sunday, it’s time to shine a light on the comics news for the week I spotted – yep, it’s The Sunday Spotlight…
Well, it’s the election in the USA this week. Nervous? Oh yeah, it’s like the whole world’s holding its collective breath right now. But let’s look at some comics news on this lovely Sunday. Just please, if you can vote, get out and vote. You can make a difference.
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More comic shops in trouble – support Close Encounters in Bedfordshire, UK…
As comic fans, we should all love comic shops – big, small, independent, part of a chain, it doesn’t matter. They’re an important part of the industry for this medium we love.
So, when a comic shop’s in trouble, it’s up to us to help out. It’s a tough, tough financial climate out there, and it’s damn hard keeping your head above water.
The latest to reach out for help is Close Encounters in the UK, which operates three stores in Bedford, Northampton, and Peterborough. Jeff Chalal’s stores need your help, and he reached out on the socials last week with this…
‘Well I might as well get the bad bit typed first. We are unable to meet our financial commitments this month. That’s more than a little embarrassing for me to type. Long story short over the 20 years in business we’ve always tried to have something aside for a rainy day, usually we’ve managed to weather any rainy days and continue on. This time, after what can only be considered a long period of consistent rain we’ve burnt through our buffer and are through the fumes.
‘My instinct was to keep quiet, buckle down and try and sell as much as I could and hope for the best. I then realised that I could be typing a much worse social media post in a few months time if I don’t fully address the situation as quickly as possible.
‘If possible please arrange for payment and collection of any stock you have on hold as a matter of priority. We literally have 1000’s of £’s of stock on hold across the 3 stores, if 60-70% of people arrange payment for their stuff we’ll be in the clear. Thank you.’
That’s a hugely important thing right there in the last paragraph. I’ve gone on before about how important it is, if you’re a regular customer, to be a regular customer. No shop can afford to be keeping months and months of stock in pull lists, especially not in these difficult times. So, if you have an order, get in touch with them and clear your order – go in person, phone them up, email them, get them delivered. Hell, now’s the time to pick up those couple of extra graphic novels you’ve been thinking of, or stocking up on Christmas presents.
And if you’re not a local customer – they do mail order. Give them the help they need and let’s keep this one going!
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65 years young – happy anniversary Asterix…
29 October 1959 saw the first appearance in Pilote magazine of Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo’s Asterix & Obelix – 65 years ago.
The much-loved series saw Goscinny and Uderzo eventually make 26 volumes (well, 26 canonical volumes anyway), before the death of Goscinny in 1977. Following this, Uderzo made another seven volumes before his death in 2020. Since 2013, Jean-Yves Ferri and Didier Conrad have continued the legacy of these two greats of comics. Indeed, the latest volume, Asterix and the White Iris, by new writer Fabcaro and Conrad, proved just as popular and was a welcome addition under the Christmas tree for me in 2023. Over the course of that 65 years, Asterix has sold upwards of 393 million as of 2023 (so who knows, it may well be over the 400 million mark by now), making it the best-selling European comic series of all time and the second best-selling comic series behind One Piece.
It’s also been translated worldwide into so many languages and dialects, had 10 animated and five live-action films (of variable quality, it has to be said), and a theme park in France.
Personally, like so many comic fans here in the UK, Asterix was, along with Tintin, Lucky Luke, and Raymond Briggs, fundamental in my discovery of comics in Dudley library in the ’70s. It’s been a constant source of joy and entertainment through all these years and long may this wonderful example of the greatest of comics continue to be loved, adored, and well-read by generations to come.
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Brian Bolland signing for Batman: Killing Joke and Other Stories Gallery Edition – 23 November…
After having to cancel a while back, it’s good to see that Brian Bolland will be out and about at Gosh Comics London for a signing of the Graphitti Designs’ Batman: Killing Joke and Other Stories Gallery Edition on Saturday 23 November from 1-2 pm.
The Gallery Edition might be yet another reprint of the Alan Moore-written classic Batman tale, but it sounds like a VERY lovely thing, another of those lavish oversized editions that do their best to break your bookshelves. Gosh as promising they’ll have very limited copies of the Diamond Exclusive cover available.
Quite sensibly, there’s a strict signing limit for this one, with Brian signing copies of the book and a maximum of three additional items.
More details here.
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Comix Experience’s November 2024 Graphic Novel Club picks & in-store appearances…
We started this one with a plea to go and support your local comic shop. And that means all comic shops, which is why I’m always so happy to focus on Brian Hibb’s Comix Experience, a damn fine comic store in San Francisco.
Their latest Graphic Novel Club picks are out for November, not just something for their customers and for mail order if you don’t live that close, but a way for all of us to put another few books on the must look at list. After all, if Comix Experience rates them, they’re definitely worth a look! (You can see the full details and subscribe to their monthly mailing list here.)
Their new release adult GN pick for November 2024 is Drafted by Rick Parker, a memoir of Parker’s time in the US Army, drafted to serve during the Vietnam War, going from patriotic desire to do his duty to disillusionment and wanting nothing more than to get back to life out of the military. Parker will be livestreaming an appearance at Comix Experience on 24 November at 10am PST, you can watch on YouTube after the event here and get it as an audio-only podcast wherever you get your podcasts from usually.
November’s Kids Club selection this month is Monster Locker by Jorge Aguirre and Andres Vera Martinez, just your average, everyday tale of middle schoolers vs the Aztec gods. Again, live stream with Jorge and Andres on 17 November at 10am PST. YouTube here, pod about a week later.
A great store, doing so much, go and support their Graphic Novel Clubs.
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Quite a lot of Alan Moore things… The Bumper Book of Magic and The Great When…
Yes, after many, many years of waiting, we’re all getting to read Alan Moore and Steve Moore’s Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic, with illustrations and comics and so much more by Kevin O’Neill, John Coulthart, Steve Parkhouse, Rick Veitch, Melinda Gebbie, and Ben Wickey.
Needless to say, it’s essential reading:
‘one last graphic grimoire: a sprawling and stunning introduction to magic in all its timeless forms, brought to life by six wondrous and whimsical artists.’
‘Splendid news for enquiring minds, and guaranteed salvation for humanity! Messrs. Steve and Alan Moore, proprietors of the celebrated Moon & 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 for all the family. Exquisitely illuminated by a host of adepts including Kevin O’Neill, John Coulthart, Steve Parkhouse, Rick Veitch, Melinda Gebbie, 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.’
Of course, that’s not all, as Moore as has his latest novel, The Great When, the first in the Long London series, out as well, all of which means there’s plenty of press, plenty of chats, and plenty of listening to a great writer speak…
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First, this opinion piece from The Guardian – ‘Fandom has toxified the world’: Watchmen author Alan Moore on superheroes, Comicsgate and Trump. It’s a nice reminder that Moore, too often painted as a grumpy old crank railing at everything, has always been not just damn smart but also damn funny…
‘This boost in fandom’s age and status possibly explains its current sense of privilege, its tendency to carp and cavil rather than contribute or create. I speak only of comics fandom here, but have gained the impression that this reflexive belligerence – most usually from middle-aged white male conservatives – is now a part of many fan communities. My 14-year-old grandson tells me older Pokémon aficionados can display the same febrile disgruntlement. Is this a case of those unwilling to outgrow childhood enthusiasms, possibly because these anchor them to happier and less complex times, who now feel they should be sole arbiters of their pursuit?’
And despite the majority of the piece being about fandom and its effects, he also touches on the more dangerous aspects of things, getting into the really toxic nonsense of Comicsgate and Gamergate, even going into politics for one paragraph at the end…
‘Our entertainments may be cancelled prematurely through an adverse fan reaction, and we may endure largely misogynist crusades such as Gamergate or Comicsgate from those who think “gate” means “conspiracy”, and that Nixon’s disgrace was predicated on a plot involving water, but this is hardly the full extent to which fan attitudes have toxified the world surrounding us, most obviously in our politics.
‘Elections that decide the fate of millions are conducted in an atmosphere more suited to evictions on I’m a Celebrity …, in which contestants who are insufficiently amusing are removed from office. Saleability, not substance, is the issue. Those who vote for Donald Trump or Boris Johnson seem less moved by policy or prior accomplishment than by how much they’ve enjoyed the performances on The Apprentice or Have I Got News for You. And throughout the UK, we’re now familiar with what a Stephen Yaxley-Lennon fan convention looks like.’
A Stephen Yaxley-Lennon fan convention… perfect.
As for a couple more audio-visual treats…
Comedian Robin Ince talks The Great When and Bumper Book of Magic...
Rick Kleffel talks The Great When with Moore…
