This week I was reminded that one of my all time favourite comics was published 46 years ago – Cheeky Weekly! At the same time I was also reminded about when the title was folded into Whoopee! It was the most devastating thing to happen to me as a 12 year old but I am convinced it helped me deal with disappointments later in life. Artist Frank McDiarmid was a talented genius (my Ken Reid or Leo Bexendale) and I’d love to see reprints of the title but I’m sure some of the jokes are incredibly un-PC these days!
I’ve been doing editorial and signing off design to the new ComicScene Magazine this week. It is different from what we did before but has kept some elements of why people enjoyed the magazine first time around. I’m very pleased we have been able to include a European style comic strip that appeals to all ages and pay a decent page rate for it in advance (thank you kickstarters!). The new format and distribution keeps costs of print production and posting down. This has been difficult to navigate for small press publishers over the last few years. Deciding to publish only three times a year takes the pressure off producing a monthly, it’s easier on your pocket (only £9.99 an issue rather than £28 for four issues!), it’s environmentally friendly and the design makes it easier to read, develop, produce and the ability to feature all elements of the comic biz. I think all comic fans, publishers and creators will love it so please give it your support!
On the website our new Newsagent section is proving popular. It’s like going into WHSmith online but you get more choice and can see each cover! This week we introduced some U.K. translations of European comics (which all look fab-u-lous) but I’d love more indie titles. Give us a shout if you want to be included. I was able to catch up on some updated news on the website which has sadly been neglected due to working on the magazine. I need more contributors to ease the load so give us a shout about that too, if you fancy it! A collective of eclectic voices sharing their passion for comics appeals to me so the more the merrier (maybe you even want to tell us about your comicy week for this Voices article!)
Keeping busy means I step back from social media. I am doing my best to only check it certain times of the day and certainly not last thing at night. It’s not a mental health issue although I think it is good for my well being. The exhibitionist in me just enjoys reading a comic in public as hundreds of people around me scroll through their phones!
What have I been reading? Well, last night I read through Commandoes and Zombies. I saw it in the newsagent and whilst I am not a regular reader of Commando (I think I picked up the first of these) I am glad to support DC Thomson Heritage Collection, particularly when it is in my local WHSmith.
Time Bomb Comics were on sale too, including Quantum 4 and Spectrum. I even discovered a ‘review’ from me in Quantum, which was a surprise. We get everywhere!
I read 2000AD on the app now but I still buy the Megazine which I think is on fire at the moment. In some ways I changed the editorial on ComicScene because I think the Megazine has filled that hole with articles on their own titles. I also read the recent RoboHunter collection. I promised myself I wouldn’t buy collections of comics I had read before (no matter how funky the format – sorry Apex Editions!). I’m not that sort of comic reader/collector (any more). I bought this as I didn’t read it in 2000AD originally and I don’t think I managed to get all the Eagle Comics at the time. Again it was through the App, along with the Misty Collection. I also picked up the Best of 2000AD and enjoyed the new Dredd by Wagner and the Order, which I’d never read. It’s a decent read and format and they are extending it beyond the original 4 issue run so it must be doing decent numbers.
It’s 50 years since the Tomorrow People started and I read the Chinbeard Book of Look-In reprints. Took a while and a week of bedtime reading! Some of the earlier adventures I know I didn’t read but I recognised some of the later ones in this book. Amazing what they fitted in two pages of story every week! I cannot wait for the second book.
The hardback of Ian Gibson’s Lifeboat popped through the letterbox this week. I nearly didn’t back this kickstarter. I realised it was going to be expensive for two books with only 22-ish pages of art. Despite the format it does feel a bit padded with creators waxing lyrical about Ian’s work and sketches. But, y’know, at the end of the day it is Ian f*****g Gibson whose art is just amazing, always has been amazing and it’s criminal he isn’t drawing more for UK & US Comics! The story isn’t linear, so has a movie like quality about it. If you haven’t got it yet I don’t know what to tell you – I’d imagine it will get collected in one volume eventually but it’s worth getting if Mr Gibson benefits from your purchase.
I also finished off the Bogie Man, which was a lot of fun. I’ve reviewed it on our website. Just paving the way for the new Smash! comic (one of the Treasury of British Comics best titles), a book on Radio Fun by Alan Clark, Comic Book Punks and Universal’s Dracula. I am about to start reading my first Jo Nesbo / Harry Hole book, if you are wondering if all I read is comics! Starting with the latest book, as you do!
Amongst all this I still do the day job! When I drive up to the Highlands I usually listen to a podcast or two. Normally the two hour Awesome Comics Podcast, which is often entertaining and makes me laugh (despite the swearing, double entendre tongue in cheek sexism and Vince sounds awfully like Ricky Gervais to me – sorry / not sorry!). The other hour is usually a Mega City Book Club – this one on the Light and Darkness War. Eamonn Clarke’s show is great. Both shows bring a great font of knowledge which puts me to shame. Sometimes it’s surprising on the podcasts the stuff they don’t know, but I guess that is the beauty of comics and your experiences with it.
Anything else this week? I am a bit of an optimist and where I see challenges I try and think of solutions. An idea is formulating for a project here in Scotland (where I am based) which may help comic creators, publishers and educators who do seem neglected by support initiatives based in England and overarching bodies where comics aren’t their primary focus. As I said earlier the beauty of comics is your experience with it – both culturally (where you live) and by age of when you were introduced to the medium. It’s ticking away. We’ll see if my ‘cheeky’ idea happens.
ComicsTony
ComicScene magazine 
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