The Sunday Spotlight — The ‘We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us’ Edition
by Richard Bruton
Oh yes, it’s Sunday, which means it’s time to do a little spotlighting of a bit of comics news I came across this week. Yep, tis the Sunday Spotlight …
Adventures in comics printing, and what happens when it goes wrong … 2000 AD delayed by a week …
Announced last week, 2000 AD had news of their printer going into administration, meaning the print edition of 2000 AD Prog 2498 was delayed by a week getting to the shelves due to the publisher’s printer going into administration. Not a position any comics publisher ever wants to be in, of course. Chaos ensued, no doubt.
Precision Colour Printing have been printing 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine for many, many years, as well as many other magazines. But last week they went into sudden administration, shining a light onto just how precarious the comic industry is. All it can take is one piece of the puzzle involved in getting books/comics to the reader, and everything can go tits up.
Thankfully, 2000 AD rushed out a statement explaining things, reassuring readers that normal service would be resumed, a new printer would/had been found, and that all it meant is that 2000 AD Prog 2498 would be delayed in getting to the shelves by a week.
UPDATED – Actually, things moved even faster than even 2000 AD thought, and there’s a new printer in place and no disruption getting the Prog to the shelves (although subscription copies will be delayed).
There’s been, no doubt, a hell of a lot of work for all those affected by the sudden loss of a printer, but things will continue. All we can do is hope that those whose jobs have been lost at Precision will be able to find gainful employment elsewhere soon.
As always, get out there, support your favourite comics, support your local comics shops. Things are always just one bad thing happening away from disaster.
Nick Abadzis and Angela Watson talk My Beloved Other at The Comics Journal…
Over at the Comics Journal, Mardou interviews Nick Abadzis and Angela Watson on their new book together, My Beloved Other, their new graphic novel detailing their nearly 40-year interracial marriage, bringing in their joint immigration tales, and their shared experience of moving from the UK to the USA. A great little interview for what promises to be a wonderful book.
The Lakes International Festival Programme Released, Full Guest List, Comic Market Lineup Revealed …
One of the two BIG comics festivals in the UK, The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, happens in Kendall on 2nd-4th October … which is getting rather close indeed (seriously, where’s the year gone?).
The headline guest this year is Bill Sienkiewicz, but there’s so many more, the best and the brightest of UK and foreign comics talent. And they’ve released the full programme for the festival, complete with the full line-up of guests and exhibitors at their comics marketplace. View the programme at the LICAF site or download it as a PDF here.
The events this year include the opening night Live Draws, this year it’s Asterix vs TinTin; An Audience with Bill Sienkiewicz; the NCS 80th Anniversary Bash, including talents from the National Cartoonists’ Society of America’s ranks; the Giant Phoenix Comic Club with James Turner and Robert Deas; Frankly Speaking, an audience with Frank Quitely; An Introduction to Poetry Comics with Chrissy Williams, and so much more.
Seriously, if you ever have the chance to go, you really should. It’s an international festival of comics that takes over the entire town, full of guests, events, and exhibitors, all taking place against a beautiful setting.
Guests this year include, (deep breath) … Charlie Adlard, Yomi Ayeni, Léonie Bischoff, David Blandy, Serge Bloch, Kate Charlesworth, Gemma Correll, Dagsson, Mike Derderian, Colleen Doran, Graham Dury, Louise Evans aka Feltmistress, Eve Greenwood, Emad Hajjaj, Luke Healy, ILYA, Marc Jackson, Khaled Jarada, Keli Lark, Michael Lark, David Leach, Sonia Leong, Joanna Lorho, David Lumsden, Marcos Martin, Joe McGarry, Luke McGarry, Steve McGarry, Joris Mertens, John Chalmers and Sandra Marrs (aka Metaphrog), Mobidic, Francisco de la Mora, Bill Morrison, Jacob Phillips, Sean Phillips, Nicolas Pitz, Gemma Plum, Pieter de Poortere, Quindrie Press, Frank Quitely, Jenny Robins, Nina Six, Zara Slattery, Faye Stacey, Byan Talbot, Mary Talbot, Simon Thorp, Muntsa Vicente and Chrissy Williams.
Don Simpson gives us the In Pictopia Alan Moore scripts …
In Pictopia is a magnificent piece of comics by Alan Moore and Don Simpson, originally published in 1986 by Fantagraphics in Anything Goes, their anthology intended to raise funds to fight one of their lawsuits, that time being one where Michael Fleisher was suing Fantagraphics and Harlan Ellison for defamation.
It’s a brilliant piece of meta-fiction, Moore satirising comics, portraying a world where the classic characters and strips struggle for survival in a new (well, new in the 80s) world of all that was grim and gritty. Here’s how Fantagraphics describe it, in their bit for the deluxe edition thing:
“Pictopia is the allegorical city inhabited by old, forgotten, but once famous and iconic comics characters, now considered pitiable has-beens by the popular new comics characters who are cheerfully and inevitably taking their places in the pop culture pantheon of celebrity. It is both a paean to timeless, beloved comics characters and a scathing critique of the then-contemporary comics sub-culture.”
Simpson did the art, expanding Moore’s initial eight pages to 13 and creating a piece of absolute wonder in comics. Unfortunately, as the years have gone on, things have gotten, shall we say, difficult between Moore and Simpson, as has often happened between Moore and his artists — such is the way of these things, Moore being Moore.
But anyway, Simpson has recently put up the original script to In Pictopia, on his Substack. Essential reading indeed.
Boxes Issue 5, Kickstarting right now, an excellent comics anthology…
I’ve covered Steven Ingram’s Boxes anthology before. It’s one of those vital things, bringing new and interesting voices in comics to a wider readership; short-form comics done so well,
Issue 5 is on Kickstarter right now. Only a few days to go, so go back it now.
