The Sunday Spotlight: The ‘I Think Perhaps I’ll Create Some’ Edition

Once more into the breach, and all that… it’s time for more comic-related news bites that I’ve seen this week… yep, it’s The Sunday Spotlight…

COMIX EXPERIENCE GN CLUB PICKS FOR AUGUST…

Another month, another couple of excellent picks from San Francisco’s Comix Experience, one of the finest comic shops there is. Each month, they announce a couple of books for their graphic novel club, and those picks are always a sure-fire must-read for me. This month is no exception.

The adult GN for August is one I loved in single issues – Welcome to the Maynard – after all, you put James Robinson and J. Bone together, you know it’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun, all taking place around a strange hotel specifically for magical and mythical types. Time to join Philippa (Pip) in her new job as bellhop (and trainee house detective) at the Maynard! There’s a hotel thief to catch, before things escalate to murder!

It’s fun, it’s charming, it’s beautiful to look at – a must-buy for this month absolutely! Copies of the book shipped 3 August, and James Robinson’s going to be in-store on Sunday, August 31st at 10am for an interview and signing.

The Kids Club pick for August is Gus Gordon‘s Into The Bewilderness, following a couple of furry friends on an adventure to the big city for the first time. You’ve got Luis (the large furry one) and Pablo (the small furry one), who forego the comfort and calm of their lives and head to the city through the Bewilderness. Another great choice for all kids (and fun-loving adults too)!

Again, copies available now. Comix Experience will chat to Gordon in a video interview later in the month. As with all of their interviews, you’ll be able to watch them on the CE YouTube channel shortly after they take place.

THE MINDLESS ONES CHAT TO AL EWING…

Over at The Mindless Ones, authors Dan White and Fraser Geesin, in their alter ego roles as The Beast Must Die and Gary Lactus, have a new interview with writer Al Ewing. You should already be signed up to The Mindless Ones newsletter, giving you weird yet wonderful writing every week, but here’s a quick interview you should read, starting, as it does, with this…

Can you remember the first time you thought about alien intelligence?

“Probably last week. I’m doing at least one book about alien thought processes and how an alien philosophy might differ from our own… while still cheating it all completely by having that different alien philosophy say things about very real and destructive human philosophies that we can’t get away from. That said, I always enjoy a nice New Wave of SF story about navigating alien systems of being, so there’s plenty of that in the DNA.”

What are the chances of anything coming from Mars?

A million to one, they said! The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one – but still they come!

It continues in the same vein, taking in Metamorpho and Absolute Green Lantern. Read it here.

ANGOULEME IN CRISIS?…

The Comics Beat and Dean Simons have the story on the latest controversy to hit Angouleme, the biggest European festival of comics.

Simons has the news of Angouleme facing mounting problems and author boycotts of the festival, following a 2,000+ signature petition by authors and publishers following an article in Humanité questioning the festival’s administration by Franck Bondoux and 9e Art+. The allegations include “overuse of subcontractors, employee burnout, nepotism (via the insertion of Bondoux’s daughter, Johanna Bondoux, into key roles), growing commercialisation, and – most startling – the mishandling of an alleged rape of a contractor at the 51st festival in 2024.”

It’s a worrying yet essential read.

NEW SERIES OF KIERON GILLEN & STEPHANIE HANS’ DIE – DIE:LOADED – OUT NOVEMBER…

Out 12th November, a new series of the Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, Clayton Cowle series DIE, their fabulous fantasy/horror, horror/fantasy tale. DIE: Loaded finds them all back to the usual, quite wonderful, things you’ve come to love with the series so far. Plus, 12th November finds the DIE Role-Playing Game Quickstart version re-released in comic sized format.

You can read more over at Rascal, where they chat to Kieron, who has plenty to say as always – but it’s always plenty worth listening to. Like this…

‘Fantasy is infinite. There’s no end of things to say.

‘Yes, that’s me throwing my usual gnomic hyperbole around, but that was really what Stephanie and I were trying for. We wanted to make a device to do stories about fantasy (primarily through the medium of games) for as long as we wanted to do it. I sort of pair DIE with Phonogram (Jamie McKelvie and my book on Music) which had a similar remit. As in, let’s make a device robust enough to return to as often as we need to.

That’s really true in DIE — the main reason I wrote DIE RPG was I wanted to invite as many people inside this concept as we could. That we’re doing the DIE quickstart in comic format speaks to that as well. We wanted to have something relatively inexpensive out there when the first issue of DIE: Loaded drops which they can see on the shelves next to the comic, grab, and try out. There’s no end of stories in DIE. And, to lead back to the question, that includes for us. We’re not finished with DIE, and DIE isn’t finished with us.’

DAVID BARNETT COVERS JOHN CONSTANTINE AT 40…

Over at Prospect, David Barnett gives us a good overview of all things John Constantine, 40 years old this year – The most important British character in US comics – Alfred Pennyworth? Captain Britain? No, it’s a trench-coated, chain-smoking reprobate who this year celebrates his 40th birthday—John Constantine.

Yep, a fine read, celebrating one of DC’s great characters, as created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben, and later explored by the likes of Jamie Delano, Rick Veitch, Garth Ennis, and many, many more.

‘Just like when America took the Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks, the Who and other British bands to their hearts two decades earlier, US publishers suddenly couldn’t get enough of British comics writers. Moore, at the vanguard, went on to create complex, adult-orientated comics such as Watchmen and the controversial Batman-Joker story The Killing Joke —but, in the meantime, while still writing Swamp Thing, he created John Constantine.’

GO BUY – ANDI WATSONS PUNYCORN & THE PRINCESS OF THIEVES…

Andi Watson‘s Punycorn, released in 2023 by Clarion Books was, according to this review by, well, me, ‘Adorable, action-packed perfection.’ And that’s exactly the way the follow-up, Punycorn and the Princess of Thieves could be described as well.

It’s full of Watson’s wonderful artwork and some truly lovely characters, exactly the sort of thing you’d expect from one of Britain’s finest cartoonists, who’s equally at home creating great works for kids – Punycorn, Gum Girl/Super Hero Pink, Glister, and adults – The Book Tour, Paris, Sunburn, Breakfast Afternoon, Slow News Day, and so many more you should really be reading.