The Sunday Spotlight: The ‘Wottaya Mean, I’m Too Old To Compete?’ Edition
by Richard Bruton
It’s Sunday; therefore, by a process of elimination for the other six days of the week, it’s The Sunday Spotlight. A little dance around the comics news and other stuff noticed this week …
Right, I am REALLY late on this one, and there’s my lovely editor standing over me (well, via email at least,) wondering where the hell the Sunday Spotlight is. So, let’s do this real quick …
The Arts of Eddie Campbell, Comicker — the art and career of the man himself, by himself, funding on Kickstarter right now! …
Eddie Campbell‘s got a new book out — well, it’s raising funding on Kickstarter right now. I mentioned it a while back when I just got a whiff of it coming out, and meant to do a lot more on it. But hey, you know, time… anyway, The Arts of Eddie Campbell, Comicker.
It is, of course, an essential read. Just like everything Eddie Campbell’s ever done is essential reading. Seriously, Eddie’s one of the greats of comics, and you should all be familiar with his work. Seriously, obviously, you’ve read From Hell, but you should also have Alec: The Years Have Pants on your shelf, just a magnificent thing.
The Arts of Eddie Campbell, Comicker is funding right now on Kickstarter here. But be aware, you’ve got a whole couple of days to back it, as it’s finishing on Tuesday 20th October. I mean, it’s Eddie guiding us through his life and work, in his own wonderful style. You need this.
Beano, Beano, Beano — fashion and Christmas…
Okay, so it’s a little early for the C-word, but this is the Christmas Beano, so I’ll make an exception. A 68-pager, with that typically wonderful cover by Nigel Parkinson, it’s out now. This is an annual tradition that I really miss, being out here in the wilds of the USA. There was nothing like settling down on Christmas Day with the big Christmas Beano issue and the annual (also out now), a pack of marzipan fruits, a large gin and tonic, and the Giles Annual. But given that the Christmas special only ships to the UK, maybe I’ll have to get my daughter of mine to post it to me! If you are in the UK, you can buy it at your local newsagent, or the Beano shop.
In other Beano news that I saw a long time back, and kept meaning to tell you about it, there’s been a wonderful, albeit rather pricey, line of Beano merch done by Paul Smith. You can see the whole range here. As an added incentive, when you shell out your $380 for a tote bag, $140 for a beanie, or $455 for the iconic Dennis jumper, there’s a copy of Rebel Revolution, a special edition Beano comic with every purchase.
Taking a look round the Rebellion/2000 AD Archives with Chris and Jason Kingsley …
A quick eight-minute watch for you here, as Rebellion co-founders Jason and Chris Kingsley, take you on a short tour of the Rebellion/2000 AD archives.
Rebellion stepped in and bought 2000 AD back at the turn of the last century, and has also gone about buying up the archives of much of UK comics, a huge history that deserved, and is now getting, properly looked after. The archive not only contains the entire history of 2000 AD, stretching back nearly 50 years now, but also a huge archive of British comics history, stretching back to 1888.
Metal Hurlant & Daft Punk — a very special Special …
Métal Hurlant, the acclaimed publisher/magazine, have announced a special 272-page comic coming in early 2027, published by Humanoids, focusing on the music and art of Daft Punk.
The special features 26 comics from 30+ creators exploring the unique appeal of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, the duo who are Daft Punk, all under a cover designed by Daft Punk’s longtime creative director Cédric Hervet and director/illustrator Warren Fu (who worked on Random Access Memories).
Here’s the bumpf …
‘The machines dream. The humans malfunction. There’s electronic romance in the circuitry and body horror beneath the chrome. And we’ve even dug out two rock-fueled classics by Mœbius and Philippe Druillet to synthesize and alchemize the past and future into this present. Each new short comic seizes a fragment of time in the duo’s narrative — sometimes directly, sometimes through metaphor — all punctuated by a slew of articles unpacking the lore, technology, and revolution of Daft Punk from those who know best. Contributors include Laura Pérez, Malachi Ward, Matthew Sheean, Édouard Cour, Jonathan Djob Nkondo and Zep. The exclusive cover is by Cedric Hervet and Warren Fu, the duo behind the cover art and illustrations for Random Access Memories.’
All of which means I can end this week’s Sunday Spotlight with one of my favourite Daft Punk songs, Giorgio by Moroder, featuring the legendary Giorgio Moroder espousing his ideas on electronic music at the start, something that always gives me goosebumps …
