Michael, 46, was back in Leeds from 2001 to 2011 and is now based in Oxford for his work. But Leeds holds a special place in his heart – not least, he says, because it is the home of comics in the North of England.

“The only thing that could tear me away from my favourite city was the ultimate job,” he says. “Particularly in Leeds, the comic scene has never been more vibrant and more diverse than it is now. And that's really fantastic. It's really been great to watch that over the last 20 years.”

Not only is it a student city, which fosters interest in comics, but it sustains three comic book stores – OK Comics, Travelling Man and Forbidden Planet International – which “all have their own identity and their own clientele,” says Michael. And lots of comic creators are from, or are based in Yorkshire, too, including Peter Doherty, Greg Staples, the late John Cooper.

“All the stars align over the head of Leeds and I know from my decade back that it always felt exciting to be in comics and to be around people who love comics,” says Michael, who is husband to Katherine.

It was in Leeds that he started to write freelance pieces about comics, going from consumer to somebody who worked in the industry. He has interviewed numerous names including Alan Moore, known for works such as Watchmen and V for Vendetta.

Now, Michael does have to “pinch myself” sometimes, he says, working for 2000 AD. He says: “I get to hang around with some of the most creative people on the face of the planet.”

But earlier this year, his own work was celebrated. In July, his book on the politics of Judge Dredd was named as Best Comics-Related Book at the Eisner Awards, in San Diego, California.

Blending comic book history with contemporary radical theories on policing, I Am The Law analyses how John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra’s character has reflected, parodied and predicted the rise of military-style policing.

For those who have never delved, what do comic books offer that other forms, such as novels, cannot? Michael sounds almost pained trying to answer what is such a big question for him. “People have quite literally written entire books about that,” he says.

So on this subject, Michael follows up by email. “There’s a great writer called Scott McCloud who has a lot to say about the way comics can mess with the illusion of time passing through the arrangement of different elements. That's comics’ central magic – the translation of space into time.

"Ultimately, comics gives your unconscious mind a workout by playing with symbols, images, and information to build a narrative. The effect of all that invisible mental effort is that the reader is so deeply invested that the emotional beats hit harder.

"The American cartoonist Will Eisner, after whom the awards are named, did so much to explore and expand on this idea. There really is no other artform like comics.

“The adult historical horror series Somna, by Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay (an Ilkley-based artist), is a great example of how two creators can write and draw together in a mutually supportive way that puts across two aspects of a single narrative.

"I can't see prose doing quite the same thing and it demonstrates how art styles can affect meaning – art style is to comics as prose style is to fiction.” He also highlights, for instance, how Yorkshire artist Zoe Thorogood's It's Lonely At The Centre of the Earth is a “complex and layered narrative response to her mental health, often switching from speaking directly to the reader to third-person narration,” he says.

“One particularly brilliant visual trick is where she covers her face with narration boxes, making the narration even more intimate.” And Thought Bubble is the place where these artists and themes coalesce. "Loads of people from across the world converge on Thought Bubble,” says Michael. “It’s the show that comic creators tell other comic creators to attend.

"I was in Portland in Oregon at a convention and there was this American artist saying to another American to go to Thought Bubble. I was just like, that’s so strange – these two people on the other side of the world going: ‘You must visit Harrogate’.”

For line up details and ticket, visit: www.thoughtbubblefestival.com

Archive

In the 1960s and 1970s the British war comic was big business. Titles including War Picture Library, Battle Picture Weekly and Battle Action, mainly saw the heroic Brits triumph over the evil Nazis. But these comics were much more than just a tale of goodies versus baddies.

Many of them depicted full battles and therefore were an historical record of the First and Second World Wars. Sadly, many of them and their remarkable artwork were consigned to the bin when the genre dipped in popularity at the end of the Seventies. But a dedicated team of comic collectors and researchers at Rebellion Publishing have tracked down the surviving pieces and the results are shown in an exhibition telling the story of the British war comic currently at York Army Museum.

“Britain has been publishing comics continuously for over 130 years. During that time, conflict has remained a staple of comic book storytelling and by the 1960s and 1970s war stories were the most popular genre,” explains Rebellion’s Head of Publishing Ben Smith.

“But British comics boomed and then busted in the late Nineties and the glorious history that had taken a century to build was put in mothballs.

"The owners of the various archives didn’t make that work available so consequently the story disappeared and at Rebellion, which has been publishing 2000AD the Home of Judge Dredd for 25 years, we realised that if we didn’t go out and acquire the rights and the catalogue and ownership of these comic archives the story and the history of British comics was going to be lost.”

They founded the Treasury of British Comics in 2018 to conserve, curate and present the history of British comics.

“This exhibition is a wonderful example of that,” says Smith.

“It tells the story of war comics across a century we go from the real boom in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies and then individual stories about what made those comics interesting to people at the time and into the present day.

...

And it seem the exhibition is already proving a massive hit with visitors young and old coming from as far afield as London and Scotland to see it and footfall up 25 per cent as a result.

Into Battle: The Art of British War Comics is at York Army Museum, 3 Tower Street, York, YO1 9SB until November 17

There are many reasons that American comics readers should know Garth Ennis, from his long run on Marvel’s The Punisher to his iconic Vertigo Comics series Preacher, to his more recently adapted hit The Boys. However, those who know Ennis best know him also as a writer of war comics, such as War Stories his Battlefields series at Dynamite Entertainment, or his graphic novel Sara at TKO Studios. He’s even infused that influence into his work at Marvel on characters like Nick Fury, most recently in the Vietnam War-set Marvel MAX series Get Fury, co-starring a pre-Punisher-transformation Frank Castle.

More recently, Ennis’ talents as a teller of war tales have served him well while writing stories appearing in British comics anthologies Battle Action and 2000 AD from Rebellion Publishing. In Battle Action, Ennis revived the character Johnny Red, a British fighter pilot leading a Russian Squadron during World War II, leading into the story of Johnny’s final flight. In 2000 AD, Ennis is penning stories featuring Rogue Trooper, the next 2000 AD character set to appear in a film, blending the genre line between war stories and sci-fi.

ComicBook had the opportunity to ask Ennis questions about transitioning from American comics to these storied British magazines, including what he has in store for this year’s 2000 AD Christmas issue. Here’s what he had to say:

After many years working with US-based publishers, you’ve been doing work for Rebellion for a while now. How has your experience working with Rebellion and on anthologies rather than ~20-page American monthly serials been? Has there been an re-adjustment period at all?

Garth Ennis: Not really, stories are stories. So long as there are competent people at editorial I’m happy to work for anyone, and Oliver Pickles and Matt Smith are among the best I’ve worked with.

I do enjoy the shorter episodes on Battle Action and 2000 AD– less space means more focus, and it’s nice to exercise that particular muscle again. That doesn’t mean I don’t write with the eventual collection in mind- that’s how stories like Rogue Trooper and Johnny Red are going to exist long-term, after all- but there’s still a particular pleasure to be found writing one-offs like Dredger, Hellman, or Strontium Dog/Robo Hunter.

You’ve been writing Rogue Trooper stories in 2000 AD and Johnny Red stories in Battle Action. Both fall into the “war comics” genre, of which you’re considered a master by many, but Rogue and Johnny are very different beasts, the former being sci-fi, and the latter rooted in real history. Have you found they offer unique storytelling opportunities or challenges compared to your other work in the genre? Is there any thematic commonality between them?

Not much beyond the fact that they’re both war stories. Johnny Red has its roots in actual history, as you say, whereas Rogue Trooper is out-and-out science fiction. The latter takes care of itself, with the broad parameters of the strip having been laid down a good forty years ago.

With Johnny Red the hyperbole of ’70s comics means the story is one step removed from my usual war stories; things like Sara or The Stringbags don’t ask the reader to believe in anything that didn’t happen. But there was never an Englishman in command of a Russian fighter squadron, and even if there was, someone with Johnny Redburn’s attitude would have been shot dead by the Soviet authorities inside a couple of weeks.

There’s also a larger-than-life quality to the original strip, with people and aircraft able to do things they simply couldn’t have. What I find interesting is that the old Johnny Red stories got so much right, in terms of setting and events, and finding ways of making the unreal a little more believable in that context is one of the things that keeps me engaged.

...

Your current Rogue Trooper story in 2000 AD, “When a GI Dies,” follows your previous story with Patrick Goddard, “Blighty Valley.” What can readers expect from this new Rogue story, and are there any thematic connections between this and last year’s story?

It’s much more specific to the original Rogue Trooper strip, rather than the notion of considering conflict in a wider sense that you saw in “Blighty Valley.” The new one looks at the origins of the Genetic Infantry regiment, their engineering- including the biochips and the implications thereof- and the people on Milli-Com who sent them into combat. It also considers the Dolls, and what they were left with once the dust had settled on the Quartz Zone massacre.

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We’ve also just found out that you’re working with Henry Flint on a Strontium Dog story this Christmas. Can you offer any hints as to what that’s about?”

“Doghouse Roses” sees a pair of mutant civilians from Milton Keynes visiting the base of the Search/Destroy Agency, intent on making a fly-on-the-wall documentary about their Strontium Dog heroes. You’ll see all the old favourites- Johnny & Wulf, obviously, but also Middenface, the Torso from Newcastle, Evans the Fist, Spud Murphy, the Stixes and more- but from a point of view that may seem a little unfamiliar.

There’ll also be some odd goings-on in the showers, a CUR prisoner we’d all like to see the back of, and a brief discussion on the future of the ancient English county of Durham. Oh my poor heartses, etc etc.

And Henry is, of course, knocking it out of the park.

Two of weekly sci-fi anthology 2000 AD's most famous creations unite for the first time later this month in a new one-off strip from The Boys and Preacher co-creator Garth Ennis. Robo-Hunter Vs Strontium Dog, which will be published in October 30's 2000 AD Prog 2406, is a fast and funny tale that finds bounty hunter Johnny Alpha take on a job that will throw him into conflict – and perhaps an alliance – with Robo-Hunter Sam Slade.

Both characters were originally created by John Wagner (who also devised 2000 AD's most famous star, Judge Dredd, alongside artist Carlos Ezquerra) in 1978, in the very early days of the comic's run. Slade, particularly, holds a special place in Ennis's heart, as he explains to Newsarama in an exclusive interview, which also includes a first look at some of artist Henry Flint's unlettered pages from the new story.

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These characters share some similarities – they're both guns for hire, in a sense – but they also have some pretty stark differences in tone. So how do they get on?

What makes them similar comes from their roots – along with Dredd, they form the trio of all-time great 2000 AD characters created by John Wagner, and as such are born of the American pulp fiction/tough guy tradition that John loves so much. Really they're variations on that particular theme – the gunslinger, the private eye, the cop. That's why they work so well together (in terms of the narrative, not practical cooperation).

...

Both Johnny and Sam debuted in 1978, making them two very long-running characters! What do you think has made them so enduring

See above. Their pulp origins notwithstanding, John put enough original ideas into both characters that readers were constantly curious about them, we were always left wanting more. Their personalities, settings, supporting casts, technology and so on were endlessly intriguing, and their individual motivation meant we'd be getting plenty more – Johnny keeps on hunting bad guys because he doesn't know what else to do with his life, Sam will always take on another job because he's desperate for cash (even when he did eventually make his fortune and quit, bloody Hoagy and Stogie could be relied upon to ruin everything for him).

...

2000 AD Prog 2406 is published by Rebellion on October 30. The bumper-sized issue also includes new episodes of Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, The Out, Azimuth, and Brink.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18623090

Many readers of Alan Moore—the prolific and influential author of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Jerusalem, and, most recently, The Great When—are enchanted by the magic of his creative vision. For his next trick, The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic, Moore would like you to come away with a respect for, and perhaps even a belief in, magic itself.

The 400+ page grimoire, coauthored with the late Steve Moore (no relation) and published by IDW’s Top Shelf Productions imprint, combines a lively and accessible history of ritual magic, practical guidance on how and why to use such techniques as tantra and Tarot, and amusing summaries of the lives of magical practitioners through the years—from Hermes Trismegistus to Alistair Crowley—done as single-page comics. Moore spoke with PW via email about the Bumper Book, magic, superheroes, and more.

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On the matter of the comic strip medium and its possible links to occult consciousness, however, I think there’s a much stronger case to be made: I believe it was during the 1980s that a Pentagon study concluded that the comic strip medium’s combination of pictures and words in sequence was the most efficient way of passing on complex information in a way that was likely to be retained. Unsurprised, but wondering why this might be, it occurred to me that the image, being preverbal, is the prevailing unit of currency in what used to be called our right brain, while the word is the prevailing currency of what used to be called our left brain. Might it be that the way we read comic strips engages these two “halves” of our brain on the same task, both at once?

In the Bumper Book, we propose that it was representational markings, or imagery, that gave us the key to written language, which in turn provided the key to modern consciousness, which our gradually dawning minds interpreted as magic. I suggest that the comic strip form, used correctly, can be a near-perfect medium for transmitting magical ideas, a bit like the poetic “language of the birds” that the alchemists construed as the ideal way to communicate concepts pertaining to alchemy. After all, our earliest cave-wall comic strips were probably intended magically.

Historically and even today, most people's conception of magic involves invoking supernatural forces to affect the outside world, and people typically either believe in it credulously or dismiss it as mumbo-jumbo. In The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic, you make clear that the purpose and effect of these belief systems has mainly been to transform our inner selves and perceptions. How and why do you think these two distinct ideas got so muddled throughout history? Does magic have a PR problem?

...

Amidst all this, we felt that any real human importance or social use for magic was being lost in a sea of either fatuous make-believe or Master of the Dark Arts theatrics. So, with the Bumper Book, we wanted to present what we hope are lucid, coherent and joined-up ideas on how and why the concept of magic originated and developed over the millennia, a theoretical basis for how it might conceivably work along with suggestions as to how it might practically be employed—and, perhaps most radically, a social reason for magic’s existence as a means of transforming and improving both our individual worlds, and the greater human world of which we are components. And we wanted to deliver this in a way that reflected the colorful, psychedelic, profound and sometimes very funny nature of the magical experience itself. That, we felt, would be the biggest and most useful rabbit to pull out of the near-infinite top hat that we believe magic to be.

Picked up the Halloween special edition of Monster Fun in Sainos the other day. I don't recall seeing on supermarket shelves before but I only whizz into Sainsbury's for a couple of items these days (their fiery ginger beer does what it says on the tin).

I didn't read many comics before Star Wars came out which led me to the Marvel UK Star Wars comics and 2000AD but I would pick up old annuals at jumble sales so I have a couple of Monster Fun ones from back in the day (along with ones from Eagle, various Jerry Anderson spin-offs, etc). So while it doesn't quite hit the nostalgia button it might for others of my age I am happy to see it back and doing well - it went monthly in May 2023 due to popular demand. Also good to see it doesn't have some plastic tat on the cover that goes straight to landfill despite received wisdom being that you couldn't shift comics any other way.

Overall it's a great comic - nicely put together (large glossy pages) with plenty of stories running from 2-5 pages created by some top talent in a range of styles (getting Roger Langridge is a bit of a coup), all mixed in with activities and a page for reader's art.

Price: it is a quid more than the usual £3.99 but it does have extra pages.

The aim of this site is to create a digital repository of as many of the Comics Fanzines published in the UK as possible .

These fan publications contained work by artists and writers who would sometimes later move into, and shape, the industry that they loved.

Equally, they contain work by people who simply appreciated the sense of community offered by taking part in fandom, and who may now look back fondly on a hobby no longer followed.

These fanzines were printed in very limited numbers, sometimes as few as 50 copies, and have become quite rare over the years.

This site celebrates these publications, and the people who produced or contributed to them.

A collection of TV adverts for comics and magazines like the Dandy, Bunty and Jackie are being shared online, more than half a century after they were made.

The 99 films were found in the basement of a building in Dundee owned by publisher DC Thomson.

DC Thomson used the ads to persuade readers to become regulars. Free gifts were common across all their titles.

A record of social history of the time, they also offer insight into the early days of commercial television advertising. The films - which date back to the 1950s and 60s - were discovered still in their cans.

Thanks to a partnership between DC Thomson and the National Library of Scotland (NLS), they have been restored and digitised and can be seen online at the Moving Image Archive.

“When I went to comic book stores, I would've been the only girl there."

Comic books have been a huge part of Marianna Mooney's life growing up and in recent years she believes stereotypes have changed.

Originally from Kildare, Marianna moved to Belfast in 2021 and she is among a number of local artists to feature in the debut print issue of Low Intensity, a comics anthology.

...

Low Intensity's founder, Andrew Pope, said the publication's aim is to showcase comics and sequential art from this part of the world.

“Having it in print really felt important,” he said. “Now, market forces are against us, and it's totally understandable why print media has gone the way it has.

“But having comics in print; I like it, I really do like it”.

Andrew’s hope for Low Intensity is to eventually print older archived material to include in the anthology.

“I would love to get some stuff from the seventies, eighties, nineties and two thousands, reprinted and in the anthology to show to a new audience,” he continued.

Low Intensity is being published by Local Colour Comics, which also runs the Belfast Comic Jam, a collaborative comic making event, where many of the artists became involved in the project.

Rebellion/2000AD publishes a 40th anniversary of the horror comic book Scream!, as published by IPC Comics, in the eighties, with Alex Paknadel, VV Glass, Anna Readman, Torunn Gronbekk, Alejandro Aragon and Emily Schnall, as part of their November 2024 solicit and solicitations, though only making their way to the US in December. As well as plenty of Judge Dredd, 2000AD, Battle Action, Monster Fun and more.

Well, this may be the biggest plug that Judge Dredd has gotten since the last film. Elon Musk posted today to social media (guess which one) saying, "Judge Dredd Would Drive A Cybertruck". Alex Jones replied "No doubt". It's been seen by quite a few people.

And a few people, potentially quite close to the old Judge himself wanted to comment. And some agreed, possibly for reasons other than intended. After all, Judge Dredd is actually meant to be the bad guy, a point missed by a fair few over the years.

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And yes, if nothing else, it was an excuse for Judge Dredd writers and artists to call Elon Musk a creep, while in defensible character. He is the bad guy after all. Elon Musk wore Judge Dredd T-Shirts in his youth. We are not entirely sure how much of the subtext he got

...

Still, it's probably a good reason to plug Michael Molcher's book, I Am The Law, about the history of Judge Dredd and the cultural and social implications of the time that saw Judge Dredd emerge as a popular character, in which the police in South Africa, where Elon Musk, played a crucial part in his creation, and the future he pointed to. It just won an Eisner Award for Best Comic-Related Book on Friday night!

Given the character's enduring success, movie adaptations invariably surfaced, the first being 1995's Sylvester Stallone vehicle Judge Dredd. Unfortunately for fans, the movie was a commercial and critical flop, universally panned for marring the character. Following years of development hell, it wasn't until 2012 that an unrelated adaptation in the form of Dredd—starring Karl Urban—surfaced. Though still a financial flop, Dredd was far better received by fans and critics alike for its greater adherence to the source material. However, this movie still garnered criticism in some sectors for its depiction of Mega-City One and lack of 2000 AD's signature satire, leading to another uneven adaptation. As such, fans are still clamoring for a movie that encapsulates everything that makes Judge Dredd so special.

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Ultimately, filmmakers should learn from past mistakes in any future Judge Dredd adaptation by combining the successes of Judge Dredd and Dredd. Indeed, if Judge Dredd's depiction of Mega-City One were fused with Dredd's characterization of the titular lawman, fans would no doubt be deeply satisfied. Furthermore, Dredd could have benefitted from including the iconic antagonists of Judge Dredd rendered in a comic-accurate manner. Importantly, both adaptations lack 2000 AD's characteristic playful yet biting humor and satire, and this should undoubtedly be addressed to ensure the financial and critical success of any future effort.

Moreover, it is important to note that none of Judge Dredd's quintessential storylines beyond The Return of Rico have ever been adapted for the big screen despite now boasting two adaptations. The Day the Law Died, Judge Death, The Judge Child, Oz, and Judge Death Lives! are all iconic tales that are yet to see any semblance of adaptation, meaning there is still a wealth of source material to mine. In particular, having never seen Judge Dredd's arch-nemesis Judge Death grace the big screen seems incredibly perverse—imagine if no Batman movie had yet featured the Joker. By learning from the mistakes and successes of the past, filmmakers will hopefully one day grace fans with the Judge Dredd movie they deserve.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/14189934

Neil Gaiman — the best-selling author whose work includes comic book series The Sandman and the novels Good Omens and American Gods — has denied sexual assault allegations made against him by two women with whom he had relationships with at the time, Tortoise Media reports.

The allegations were made during Tortoise’s four-part podcast Master: the Allegations Against Neil Gaiman, which was released Wednesday. In it, the women allege “rough and degrading sex” with the author, which the women claim was not always consensual.

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According to Tortoise’s investigation, K did not file a police report. Scarlett filed a complaint to New Zealand police in October 2022.

Gaiman told Tortoise that the police did not pursue his offer to assist the investigation regarding the complaint, claiming that this showed the lack of substance of the complaint. But New Zealand police told the outlet it made a “number of attempts to speak to key people as part of this investigation and those efforts remain ongoing,” adding that there are “a number of factors to take into consideration with this case, including location of all parties.”

The Tortoise Investigates series

Co-written by Moore and his mentor, the late Steve Moore (no relation), it’s safe to say that The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic could be described as “long-awaited”; it’s been a project in the works for years at this point — Steve Moore died a decade ago, to give you an idea of just how this book has been gestating — and it’s easy to see why: a mix of prose, illustration and comics that spans 352 pages and features contributions from artists John Coulthart, Steve Parkhouse, Rick Veitch, Ben Wickey, and the late Kevin O’Neill, the Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic is nothing less than a guide to the supernatural and unknown from two writers who have firsthand experience.

The book will be co-published by Top Shelf Productions and British publisher Knockabout Ltd., with Top Shelf editor-in-chief Chris Starks releasing a statement saying, “One of the great honors of my publishing career has been to work with Alan Moore on so many monumental projects, like From Hell and Lost Girls. The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic represents an amazing capstone, created by Alan and Steve, and brilliantly brought to life by five unforgettable artists. It’s been a privilege to watch those magical minds spend years building this grimoire, and I’m proud to join Knockabout in finally sharing it with the world.”

The book, gloriously described by Top Shelf as a “clear and practical grimoire of the occult,” will finally be unleashed on the world in October.