The Sunday Spotlight: The ‘Guards! Bring This Man Milk And Cookies’ Edition
by Richard Bruton
It’s the end to another long week. Incredibly, it’s already December. Which means it’s time for the Sunday Spotlight… and you should probably be thinking about presents for your loved ones?
The First Graphic Novel 2025 Award Competition Opens For Submissions…
The annual competition, sponsored by SelfMadeHero and London’s Cartoon Museum, is looking for debut graphic novels… with the winner getting a contract from SelfMadeHero. The 2025 First Graphic Novel Award will be open for submissions between 9 January 2025 and 22 April 2025.
The award is open to all UK based debut graphic novelists, resident in the UK, who haven’t yet had a full-length graphic work commercially published. This can be a single creator, or a team, with the winner offered a contract by SelfMadeHero to complete their book for publication and a £500 cash prize sponsored by The bks Agency.
The award is a partnership between the Cartoon Museum, the publisher SelfMadeHero, and First Graphic Novel Award director Corinne Pearlman. Judges for the award include SelfMadeHero publisher Emma Hayley, contemporary artist Janette Parris, and graphic novelists Shazleen Khan, Karrie Fransman, and Oscar Zarate. Long-listed entries will also have their work reviewed by literary agent James Spackman at The bks Agency and by chief book buyer Nessa Urquhart at Waterstones.
‘It’s a joy to be a part of graphic novel publishing in the UK, and the most exciting aspect about it is helping fledgling creators fulfil their vision. The quality and number of submissions for last year’s award is testament to the burgeoning pool of new talent in the UK. I am delighted that SelfMadeHero will be involved again.’ – Emma Hayley, publisher, SelfMadeHero
The First Graphic Novel 2023 winner was Alex Taylor (aka azbt), whose Bone Broth novel will be published by SelfMadeHero in 2025. Previous winners of the award (previously known as the Myriad First Graphic Novel Competition) are Gareth Brookes (The Black Project, 2012), Jade Sarson (For the Love of God, Marie!, 2014), Jenny Robins (Biscuits, 2018) and Veronika Muchitsch (Cyberman, 2022).
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Lucy Sullivan announced as new patron for The Lakes International Comics Art Festival…
The UK’s Lakes International Comics Art Festival does keep coming with the great names, and Lucy Sullivan‘s a really good add to their list of patrons, alongside Yomi Ayeni, Kate Charlesworth, Keli Lark, Michael Lark, Sean Phillips, Bryan Talbot, Mary Talbot, and Zoom Rockman. Lucy’s work will include acting as an advisor to LICAF, something that will only make it a stronger festival – and it’s plenty strong already! But having more diverse voices involved is always such a good idea.
If you don’t know, Lucy Sullivan is the briliant creator behind Barking, her debut graphic novel dealing with her own experience of a mental health crisis. It’s highly recommended, a powerful and beautiful thing. It was first published by Sullivan using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and co-commissioned by The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival. Since its publication, Barking has garnered plenty of awards and masses of praise from critics and is now on the required reading list for UCLA’s Art & Trauma Collegiate Program. A new edition of Barking launched from one of my favourite comics publishers, Avery Hill Publishing, in early 2024.
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Another comic shop lost to us… Mega City Comics of London to close…
I’m always keen to point out to you just how important comic shops are to the comics business, particularly here in the UK and North America. So it’s always sad when I see the news that another store is closing.
This week, we had the news that Mega City Comics of London is closing its doors at the end of January 2025, unless a buyer can be found for it.
Mega City Comics was established in 1981, and has operated from their Camden Town location since 1987. That’s 43 years in business and 37 years in one place, quite the achievement. But shop owner Martin Kravetz is retiring and right now there’s no one stepping in to take it over. Martin had this to say on Facebook…
‘We had originally hoped to pass on the mantle to a new owner, but a suitable candidate has unfortunately, not been forthcoming.
It has been a joyous ride (for Martin, all of his adult life), and we have had some great staff and some great customers (a crazy number who have been here pretty much from the start, and stuck with us throughout). So it is a bitter sweet event to be closing the doors.
The mail-order/standing order service will be winding up at the end of the year, and final parcels will be going out no later than early Jan 25.
We are not quite finished yet, and we will be going out with an upbeat BANG!, so if you can make it into the shop over the next two months, there will be some once-in-a-lifetime deals to be had. The back room back issue stores are being opened up, and the shop is bursting to the seams with comic goodness, ranging all the way back to 1940’s Golden Age, through classic Silver and Bronze, and right up to modern day books. We have always offered up a huge range, but for the final run, there is more on show and available than ever before! Fine tune those wants lists, raid the piggy bank, and head on in and fill your boots. The FINAL CLEARANCE SALE will be launched in early Jan, but we recommend you get in earlier than that, and get your choice pick of everything we have, as there are deals to be had NOW and negotiations to be made!’
So, if you happen to be someone in London or the UK who fancies taking over a great comic shop – get in touch with Martin!
As for other shops, be good, look after them. It doesn’t take too much for them to be lost. Perhaps the greatest thing you can do for your local shop is to head in and buy something for Christmas. Don’t head online, go direct. And if you’re a regular customer with a standing order or pull list, do the right thing before Christmas and go in/mail order to pick up the books you’ve asked them to keep for you.
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James Gunn on Creature Commandos and Killing Nazis…
As John McCrea posed the question last week, could Hitman be getting a TV show… there’s hints in this latest James Gunn YouTube interview via IGN.
The animated Creature Commandos is coming out on December 5 on Max, helmed by Gunn and Peter Safran. So the video covers that plus Gunn’s plans for DC’s movie world, including a little hint that Hitman might be making a debut.
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No Elon, you really haven’t understood Judge Dredd…
He does this every so often, does the tin-pot Tony Stark, dropping in a reference to Judge Dredd. But he always, always gets it wrong. Case in point, this from 18 November when he compares Matt Gaetz – then still up for the Attorney General job – as ‘the Judge Dredd America needs’. Oh Elon, Elon, Elon… you just don’t get it, do you? Dredd’s not someone to aspire to. The world of Dredd is a fascist state where freedom and democracy fell a hell of a long time ago. Although, then again, maybe that’s what he wants?
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And finally… that Ty Templeton Christmas Doom in full…
Loads of great comics at his site, a great artist, and a really funny guy… Ty Templeton.
