July 12: Help! I’ve produced a limited edition by mistake.
These copies of Findlay Macbeth were printed by D2D/ Ingram (unlike the previous editions by Citrus and Lulu) and the art has come out way too small on the page.
I wasn’t going to sell them. But, having run out of proper editions and waiting for a new batch, I’ll be selling these at a bargain price of £4.99 at Frome Book Festival tomorrow. Signed limited edition of 10 only
(Buy the regular Findlay Macbeth here or oddly slightly cheaper here)
*****
July 14: In praise of The Flash. I watched this for the 2nd time last night (first time for Hev) and it really is excellent. I’d say it’s the best superhero film this decade, certainly giving Guardians of the Galaxy a run for its money.
It’s a shame Warner Bros couldn’t publicise it properly (because of the off screen activities of its lead actor) because he is an excellent comedy actor, this is a well structured movie, and though it goes really wild with the multiverse stuff and fan service in jokes, it pulls it back and ties things up beautifully.
It also features the two best Batman performances of the last decade.
A superhero movie that’s self contained, funny and unpretentious is a rare and marvellous thing. Recommended.
Twenty years ago I ran my last Comic Festival after five year of, essentially, boom and bust. The first year, 1999, was a novelty, which saw all the publishers and sponsors joining in and making lots of stuff possible. Then by the last one (in London in Nov 2004, up against a rival festival in Brighton) I lost so much money I couldn’t carry on and shyed away from even attending a con for a while.
In the subsequent two decades there’s been an explosion in comics events, or rather of events with the word ‘comics’ in the title. In my day we couldn’t get anyone to dress up for our costume parade, now you can’t stop kids doing cosplay.
In my day there was no manga to speak of. Now there’s nothing that’s more popular amongst teenagers, though to be honest I haven’t seen much of it at the cons I’ve attended.
At my events we had regular attendance from the big publishers DC, Rebellion and others, who brought editors over and ran portfolio sessions, and bought ad space and sponsorship.
So what’s the state of play today? The Big Three “pure” comics festivals (based on my first hand experience of them) are Thought Bubble, The Lakes, and Macc Pow. LFCC does a brilliant job of inserting a comic con event into a film and memorabilia fair, which is what I understand MCM also does (but I’ve not been to that yet). Then I’m aware of smaller specialised comic events (that I’ve also not attended) including Lawless and London’s Comica events.
Beyond those are the dozens of “comic cons” I’ve been attending as an Indy self publisher, run by UKCGF, Stars Of Time, Striking Events and others. These are memorabilia fairs with a scattering of comic creators. I’ve done classes and talks at some of these events, but mostly they are just for selling your wares.
So, am I getting a full picture of the state of comic events in the UK? And how are they all doing?
I know one gets Arts Council funding, one gets local council participation, one is so popular they have to turn away 75% of the comic creators who want to exhibit, and one attracts major sponsorship from big movie companies. But which one do DC and Marvel editors come to? Which is the one with the big awards ceremony? (I know at least three of these events have their own awards). Most importantly which is the one where a kid like me and my mate Steve can drink till dawn rubbing shoulders with the top comic creators (like I used to do as a punter forty years ago?)
State of the nation’s comic cons? Discuss.
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July 18: Launch of Batman & Robin Year One
Who is the audience for superhero comics these days? How does it compare to manga and other comic books, like Dogman etc?
And why is this comic given a title modelled on a comic from 40 years ago?
Batman Year One was a nifty original idea in the mid 80s, soft rebooting the ongoing title and creating a high profile focus for publicity. When the Tim Burton movie came out a few years later, many of us noted that Year One was a better story, and it remains in print to this day.
However they are all over Bunny vs Monkey and Dogman. And if they bring in their own comic book apart from those two, it’s always manga.
So, I ask, how well do superhero books sell? To whom? And how’s this compare to manga and funny books?
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July 13: Titles that work better as puns in French than in English, No97: A La Recherche De Tintin Perdu
Which begs the next question: how many copies do English translations of BD sell? Why is there so little crossover with our nearest neighbour?
And, given that some of us are taking part in an International rights market at The Lakes soon, what is the international market like? What sells? What doesn’t?
July 15: Re Schumaker comes out
“Schumacher’s decision is significant in that it demonstrates the extent to which motorsport is becoming more accepting and diverse…”
What? Seriously? I think you meant to say “demonstrates how homophobic the sport remains” given that you darent come out until after you’ve retired, and the only other out drivers had their heyday fifty years ago!
But please, the Guardian, don’t go bandying “diverse” and “accepting” around to describe a business that’s nearly as homophobic as Hollywood.
*****
July 16: And the winner of this week's Trying Their Hardest Not To Pay You Award goes to the council that replies to your invoice (which included Purchase Order and all relevant info) with this:
"No PO, No Pay Rollout
• From April 2024 xxx will be rolling out a no PO no Pay policy to all Suppliers, unless a written exception has been provided to you, invoices received without a VALID Purchase Order will be rejected.
• The Purchase Order must be in the header of the invoice under the heading Purchase Order: It must not be in the description or the body of the invoice."
Hoops jumped through, I send off an amended invoice (with the PO number in the title of the document).
They reply immediately.
With the same email.
July 18: Happiness is working in a library and finding a book with you in.
Yesterday at Market Harborough library they had this Dr Strange edition with pages inked by me. I think some kids were marginally impressed to see my name in a Marvel comic (though most didn’t know what a Marvel comic is).
For the record, no, my Shakespeare books aren’t in any libraries (except when they’ve bought them from me). They are in the system, so you could order them. In theory.
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July 19: An all time classic from Bob Newhart, just died aged 94
When I was a kid there was a regular feature on Radio 1 called Fun At One, where Paul Burnett would play a comedy record, and we schoolkids got to hear it cos it was lunchtime. This was where I heard Bob Newhart, Shelley Berman, Nichols and May, Tom Lehrer and dozens more.
How do kids today learn about these classic comedians? Their stuff is all out there on YouTube, I hope we’re all pointing the kids toward it.
*****
In praise of open air Shakespeare. Here are three performances coming up next week really close to me, and because of work I can’t make it to any of them.
I love an open air Shakespeare. Who else is going to one?
I have fond memories of The Lord Chamberlains Men at Tyntesfield, recent shows in Bristol and Clevedon - Inc a Macbeth in Princess Gardens with a cracking sunset and unscripted bats - and a particularly challenging Tempest in Edinburgh Inverleith Botanical Gardens with Roger Lloyd Pack (Trigger) as Prospero. It was ironically so windy you couldn’t hear a word.
Anyone else seen, or like to recommend, an open air Shakespeare?
It’s that moment when you realise you’ve watched an Oscar nominated movie based on a book by the guy who’s now Trump’s running mate.
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July 21: This story about AI country songs on Spotify reminds me of two things. One is a YouTube video I saw a decade ago showing how the top ten country songs that year all had the same tune; and a Jasper Carrott routine from fifty years ago.
Carrott picked up on a news story that said 90% of country songs mentioned either prison, farms, trucks, trains or mothers, and wrote the following number:
“Since they took my momma off to prison,
When they went and let her out the jailhouse,
She drove her goddamn truck into a train”
Plus ca change.
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July 26: Woke up having written a movie in my sleep. If I ever release a movie called Mothballed which is a cross between a Cliff Richard teen flick and The Producers featuring a gangster musical in space, remember where you heard it first.
Just toyed with buying a Lego Star Wars comic, to use in my classes. It has comic strips in, after all.
Then I saw the price. Can you guess?
(Actually you can see the photo so no guessing required). £6.99!
£6.99 for a magazine as thick as The Beano and half as interesting? It had a toy attached to the front, but come on. Poor poor kids today.
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July 28: Robert Downey Jr is Dr Doom
I've got to say I'm about as excited about these new Avengers movies as I was about the Avengers comics of the 80s and 90s. That is to say I am not excited.
I guess I loved Avengers when, and because, I was aged 12 to 18 years old (and cos I was getting to read the classic reprints every week, with knockout art by everyone from Gene Colan and John Buscema to Neal Adams and Barry Smith). By the 80s it was the least fashionable comic, bringing a new meaning to the phrase "past its best".
In the comics, the characters were just a little old and tired. In the movies most of them are dead. Which I'm imagining is even more of a challenge.
And the dead Iron Man is now Doctor Doom. Good luck with that. (But, remember, I'm the guy who doubted Deadpool & Wolverine would do much business, so feel free to ignore me).
*****
July 29: Got olympics on in background. Watching the most anodyne corporate skateboarding you’ve ever seen.
If there’s no danger of hitting a pedestrian or skidding into traffic, what is there to watch?
Skateboarding without graffiti all over the place is like rock and roll without plugging the instruments in.
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July 30: Bringing new meaning to the phrase “you are shitting me” - Breakdancing is an Olympic sport.
So, when does ballroom dancing get a look in? Cos I can think of a couple of Italian contestants who are available (and take their training routines very seriously)
Oh hang on, I’ve just seen there’s Olympic shooting on the telly. Guys, you’re missing a trick. Here’s my prediction:
2028: Olympic drive-by shooting. Remember where you heard it first.
Update: I fear my original point (and unbelievably I did have one) was not that breakdancing and skateboarding were in any way un-athletic, but that I was struck by the contrast between those artforms as I remembered them (from my distant youth) and what they had become. Breakdancing was an urban street art, as rebellious as punk rock, as in a slightly less musical way was skateboarding. They went hand in hand with graffiti and street fashion as parts of the counter-culture of their time. So my comments, comparing breakdancing and skateboarding with graffitiing trains, carrying ghetto blasters, and doing drive-by shootings, was a reflection of that cultural clash, and how amusing it was that they'd come so far.
I do find, personally, that art for art's sake is me more "me" than arts for competition's sake. But that's probably the way people talk who've never won anything*. (*NB I've won a couple of things, but not for sporting achievements).
Anyway, its been nice to inspire debate. Sorry if Old Man Yelling at Clouds made himself misunderstandable again. Good job I don't try and communicate things with words for a living.
My Books and where to get them:
Richard The Third - Amazon - Etsy - Barnes & Noble - Waterstones
Findlay Macbeth - Amazon - Etsy
Prince Of Denmark Street - Amazon - Etsy - Kindle
Midsummer Nights Dream Team - Amazon - Etsy
Prince Of Denmark Street - Amazon - Etsy - Kindle
Midsummer Nights Dream Team - Amazon - Etsy
Shakespeare Omnibus Collection (all 3 books) - Paperback
Space Elain - Amazon - Lulu - iBooks - Barnes & Noble
Joseph, Ruth & Other Stories - Amazon
Captain Clevedon - Amazon
Tales Of Nambygate - Amazon
