The Sunday Spotlight: The ‘Jesus Never Mentions Ice Cream In The Bible’ Edition
by Richard Bruton
The week drifts to an end, we relax a little, waiting for the nightmares of global politics to hit us again next week and wondering how groceries can cost that much. But, in the meantime, sit awhile and ponder the comics news in The Sunday Spotlight…
BRIAN HIBBS’ TILTING AT WINDMILLS TAKES A CHEERY TONE GOING INTO SUMMER… WELL, MAYBE NOT…
The 301st edition of Comix Experience, San Francisco owner Brian Hibbs‘ Tilting at Windmills column is up over at The Comics Beat, where he takes a look at the current situation for retailers in the wake of Diamond Distributors bankruptcy and buyout by Ad Populum/Universal. It’s not looking great, let’s put it that way.
To get a flavour of what’s in store when you head over and read it, here’s Brian:
‘So, you’ll forgive me for thinking that Ad Populum is probably just going to tear apart what remains of Diamond for spare parts, and is going to exit the distribution of comics and graphic novels as soon as they possibly can.
‘I am further guessing that most book distributors are going to follow Penguin Random House out the door, though I remain fairly appalled that most of them haven’t directly communicated to Direct Market retailers that our orders are not going to be filled, including, in some cases many books released over the last six months. The fallout and work to untangle the Gordian Knots we’re all wrapped in is going to eat a tremendous amount of time from working retailers, which just breaks my spirit.’
And if you’re not that interested in what’s going on in comics distribution, why the hell not? It’s going to have real and lasting consequences on your local comic shop. Sure, the medium will prevail, of course it will. But whether we’ll still have a thriving comics retail business dealing in comics is really up for debate.
JAMIE SMART’S NEW THING? FIND OUT (MAYBE) ON 7 JUNE…
The incredibly talented and, quite frankly, lovely Jamie Smart has a new digital comics workshop with the Phoenix Comic Club on 7 June. It’s all about ‘Draw Epic Heroes’, and according to Jamie, it all introduces his next ‘big hero-related project’ that he’s announcing soon. No more idea of it than that, although I can safely predict it will be a bestseller.
More info and tickets available here. Suitable for 7 and up, a 60-minute interactive digital tutorial, one ticket needed per viewing device, and if you can’t join live, all ticket holders get a full recording of the event to watch at their leisure.
THE LATEST IN HIBERNIA’S COMIC ARCHIVE SERIES – ‘THE EDITOR’S CUT’…
The Editor’s Cut is a collection of comic oddities, interviews, articles, and plenty of rare and unpublished artwork celebrating Brit comics gone by and even Brit comics that never were… all under a glorious 40-year old unpublished bit of art from Mick McMahon.
There’s interviews with Mick McMahon, Kelvin Gosnell, Roy Preston, and Brian Walker. You’ll also find articles on Garry Leach, looking at his BBC work, writer Chris Lowder reminiscing on his meetings with and the work of Solano Lopez, and a piece on Kevin O’Neill including some unpublished memories of working in Fleetway in the seventies.
Amongst the treasure trove of art on display, you’ll findO’Neill’s cover to a proposed 2000 AD spin off called Hyper Power, Mick McMahon‘s first published work in It’s All Lies, an unpublished try out for Star Wars from Solano Lopez, Rian Hughes and John Wagner/Alan Grant‘s Professor Questertester, plus rare and unpublished work from Massimo Belardinelli, Brendan McCarthy, Garry Leach, Jamie Hewlett, Brett Ewins, Brian Walker and a whole load more.
The 88-page book is available only from Hibernia here, with a limited print run that will, no doubt, sell out.
LATEST 2000 AD CREATOR TAPES – CHRIS WESTON ON STILL NEVER REALLY FEELING LIKE HE’S NAILED IT…
The most talented of artists often still have that nagging doubt, the imposter syndrome, that they’re not good enough. Evan an artist as good as Chris Weston, something he tells us all about in the new 2000 AD Creator Files podcast available here and everywhere you get your podcasts. Or there’s the YouTube version below…
As Chris says here:
‘If you want a two hour treatise on imposter syndrome presented by a stuttering oaf, today’s your lucky day! Thanks to Mike Molcher for the free therapy session.’
MORE GUESTS ANNOUNCED FOR THE LAKES INTERNATIONAL COMICS FESTIVAL 2025…
One of the big two UK comics festivals, along with Harrogate’s Thought Bubble, The Lakes International Comics Festival takes place this year on 26th-28th September, and is already loading up with some really big name guests from all over the world. It’s a great festival of comics, put together by a team passionate about the medium. If you happen to be planning a trip to see all that’s good about UK comics, the Lakes really would be a great choice.
This week we had news of the next tranche of guests – Charlie Adlard, Mehdi Annassi, Serge Bloch, Philip Bond, Chris Condon, Dagsson, Jacob Phillips, Will Potter, the Rickard Sisters, Mohammad Sabaaneh, and Alison Sampson.
These names join the already announced Shelly Bond, Simone Lia, Lorenzo Mattotti, Bill Morrison, Robbie Morrison, Mike Perkins, Sean Phillips, Chris Shepherd, Lucy Sullivan, Donya Todd and Craig Thompson. And you can bet they’ll be adding more and more guests in the weeks and months to come.
