Breaking the Law!

A Weekend at ‘Lawless’, Britain’s Friendliest Comic Convention!

By Mike Powell

2024 marks the tenth anniversary of the Lawless comic convention, perhaps the finest annual celebration of British comics. That might sound like hyperbole but just look at the guest list for this year’s event: Brian Bolland, John Wagner, Mick McMahon, John Higgins, Greg Staples, John McCrea, Chris Weston, Garth Ennis…Despite the array of stellar names, organiser Su Hadrell and her team have created a comic con that’s as welcoming and inclusive as it is impressive. From the panels and the signings to the incredible exhibition of classic British comics art curated by David Roach there’s a lot to enjoy at Lawless. Also, there’s a bar.

This year I decided to talk to a selection of the artists present and asked them a very simple question: who is your favourite comic character? I was lucky enough to speak to a real array of comic legends: Andrew Sawyers (The 77, The Cell, Jubilee), Mike Collins (Doctor Who, 2000AD, X-Men, Transformers), Glenn Fabry (Slaine, Preacher, Hellblazer, The Authority), Liam Sharp (Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Death’s Head II, Starhenge) and Mike Perkins (Captain America, The Stand, Swamp Thing, The Bat-Man: First Night)

Mike Perkins:

“My favourite comic character? Well my favourite British comic character would probably be any one of the 2000AD characters like Judge Dredd, Robo Hunter, Nemesis. Slaine… You know all the greats! It’s difficult to choose. Maybe even Harry 20 on the High Rock? That was wonderful: fantastic work from Alan Davis . But my favourite comic character I think is Batman. I think he means the most to me. He’s always interesting to draw. But then, Swamp Thing, Swamp Thing is so great and again, great to draw. And the original Luther Manning Deathlok as drawn by Rich Butler!”

Liam Sharp:

“I have to say, Man-Thing. He’s interesting because he’s like a blank slate in a way. He’s a character with an incredibly tragic backstory, but he’s got this really appealing look. It’s almost like Mr Snuffleupegus with his long… whatever that is! I also I did a series with J. M Dematteis back in the day (Marvel, 1997), which at the time sort of went under the radar, and it’s been much more actively sort of uplifted and reappraised in recent years. People find it and it’s kind of getting rediscovered. I was so proud of that work at the time. It was beautifully written and it was just so freeing for me. Creatively it was the first time I sort of felt like I was bursting out of the sort of confines of myself about being a mainstream artist and being a little bit more daring and free with the work. I feel like that set me on a different path and a much more creative path, as well as anything else so I love it for that as well. There’s loads of reasons I like Man-Thing I guess. He’s just a great, charismatic, enigmatic, strange, totally left of centre. just odd character. And that’s what appeals to me!”

Mike Collins:

“My favourite comic character and why? Judge Dredd: it’s simply because the strip manages to tell all kinds of stories. They can be really dark stories about a fascist state, or they can be ridiculous stories about space aliens! It’s the closest thing we’ve got in British comics to Will Eisner’s original The Spirit, and it’s a great vehicle to tell any kind of story you want to tell. Also he’s so strong a character, and it’s so strong a concept that you can push it so far in any direction. And it’s just a joy to draw as well!”

Glen Fabry:

“Arzach by Moebius (Jean Gerard). It’s just a thing. (Moebius’ ground-breaking, dialogue-free, beautifully illustrated series, originally serialised in Metal Hurlant, in which a character flies through a surreal environment having dream-like experiences had a massive impact on the European comics scene). There’s this bloke in a pointy hat who goes around, riding in the sky on a pterodactyl which is called Arzach. And it’s full of all of these very beautifully detailed crowd scenes with lovely colours. It’s also bonkers but Moebius is incredibly disciplined in his approach.”

Andrew Sawyers:

“I choose Captain Britain! For me, the reason being was despite being an American character by inception he was Captain Britain, and you can’t get more British than that! The original version (written by Chris Claremont) was probably the prototype but when Alan Moore and then Jamie Delano were writing the character we find he becomes the archetypal flawed hero, before Watchmen. I think it’s certainly germinated or planted the seeds of flawed characters as heroes, characters with limits on then. But as a young child or a younger me, the real attraction was the artwork by Alan Davis. Obviously, he was already fantastic from the start but with every episode and just got stronger and stronger and stronger to the point where I think he’s top of the pile, the king. He can’t be imitated. There’s no one else like him. And I think Captain Britain is his. So if you’re someone like me, an Alan Davis fan, you got to love Captain Britain!”