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THE BLOG AT THE CROSSROADS
Line of Fire: An evening with Barroux & Sarah Ardizzone
Posted: February 10, 2014
Amongst the many commemorations of The Great War this year, and several through comics and graphic novels, Line of Fire truly stands out as a remarkable piece. French writer and artist Barroux (above) rescued a old tatty diary from a rubbish skip in Paris and discovered it contained searingly honest and moving entries made by a First World War soldier. Barroux has adapted these into the graphic novel Line of Fire, published in English by Phoenix Yard Books at £10.99 with an intro by Michael Morpurgo. You can meet Barroux and the book’s translator Sarah Ardizzone in conversation this coming Thursday February 13th at Waterstones Piccadilly from 6.30pm. Tickets cost £5 or £3 for Waterstones Cardholders and include a glass of wine of soft drink. To book ring 020 7851 2400 or email events.piccadilly[at]waterstones.com
Barroux is also hosting a free drop-in drawing workshop at Heffers Bookshop, Cambridge from 2:30pm on Friday February 14th, and another workshop at the Imagine children’s festival on London’s South Bank on Sunday February 16th.
Article: PG Previews April 2014
Posted: February 10, 2014
Apologies once more, I am about to blow your budget and overfill your bookshelves with another of my monthly gleanings of what I suggest are the best in graphic narratives on the horizon. These continue to be amazing times we’re living through, as creators fulfil and exceed their ambitions, as great works from around the globe crossover into English, as masterpieces from the past come back into print, sometimes even better than before, and as studies of comics grow richer and deeper. Enjoy! Read my PG Previews for April 2014 here…
Fumio Obata Launch at Gosh Friday 7th 7-9pm!
Posted: February 6, 2014
I’ve already predicted that Just So Happens from Jonathan Cape would be one of the UK graphic novels of 2014. It’s the debut graphic novel by Japanese-born, UK-based comics creator and animator Fumio Obata. I first met Fumio when he was studying in London at the Royal College of Art and have followed his work ever since. The seed of this story was his four-page entry which was shortlisted for the ObserverCape/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize. Don’t miss the chance to get the very first copies and have Fumio sign yours at the Launch Party this Friday February 7th 7-9pm at Gosh! Comics, 1 Berwick Street, London W1F 0DR - see you there!
Virtual Memories Podcast Interviews Paul Gravett!
Posted: February 5, 2014
Gil Roth’s 80+ minute interview with me on The Virtual Memories Show went live yesterday. Take a listen - here’s Gil’s intro and some quotes!
“Comics is a medium that isn’t going to go away. It may just now finally be coming into its own in the 21st century. In this internet era, there’s something very special about what comics do, no matter how much they get warped and changed by technology.”
Decades ago, cartoonist Eddie Campbell immortalized Paul Gravett as The Man at the Crossroads of the British comics scene. More than 30 years after taking on that role, Paul remains at the center even as the scene has gone global. We had an in-depth conversation about the growth of comics as an art form, the surprise of seeing local manga in Algeria, why he considers himself less of a comics historian or curator than a comics activist, and how it feels to have been the first publisher of some of the finest cartoonists of our time! Give it a listen!
“I’m probably slightly insane for wanting to go on looking and searching and questioning and provoking myself, trying to find stuff that doesn’t give me what I know already.”
Along the way, we also talk about his new book, Comics Art (out this week in the USA from Yale University Press), the new exhibition he’s curating for the British Library, Comics Unmasked: Art & Anarchy in the UK, the history of the British comics scene and his history within it, and the way virtually every lifelong comics reader’s home winds up resembling an episode of Hoarders.
The new episode of The Virtual Memories Show with Paul Gravett is available on iTunes and at our website, where you can download it or listen through the in-browser player. This one’s about 80 minutes long. You can also visit the archives for past episodes, or subscribe on iTunes so you’ll never miss an episode! (or skip all that and download the 43mb MP3 file directly from here).
Article: Best of 2013 - An International Perspective
Posted: January 26, 2014
At this time of year, it’s a real privilege for me to hear from some of my international correspondents, long-time and first-time, several of them contributors to 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die, and share with you their choices of the best comics and graphic novels created in their respective countries over the past year. As you’ll discover, a couple are already heading for English editions very soon and others clearly cry out to be translated. How can anyone still harbour doubts or prejudices about the medium of comics, when so many diverse, captivating titles like these are being created around the world? Welcome to our Comics Planet! Read these global 2013 reports here…
British Library Announces Comics Unmasked Exhibition!
Posted: January 22, 2014
It’s official and covered today by BBC News, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Financial Times, and more. The British Library announced today that their major lead exhibition for 2014 is on British comics and entitled Comics Unmasked: Art & Anarchy in the UK. Joining me for the press launch this morning were co-curator John Harris Dunning and Watchmen co-creator and illustrator Dave Gibbons.
As well as previewing several key exhibits like this original pencil artwork by Frank Quitely for a Grant Morrison Batman comic book (detail below) and Victorian comics in full colour from The Illustrated London News, the BL made public today the news that the exhibition is being designed by the amazing comics creator, film-director and creative visionary Dave McKean. A preview video of the BL’s 2014 programme is now on YouTube (below). Keep an eye on my website, blog, Facebook and Twitter for updates - this is a landmark event for comics in Britain, not to be missed! Prepare for sensory overload!
Paul Pope Comica Conversation at Foyles February 4th!
Posted: January 19, 2014
I am really looking forward to my Comica Conversation with the award-winning, American-born, truly international cartoonist Paul Pope, who is making his exclusive London speaking engagement at Foyles Gallery, 3rd Floor, Foyles Bookshop, Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0EB on Tuesday February 4th.
Paul will discuss his remarkable career, creative process, global influences and current projects and will be drawing live, answering your questions and signing his books. Pope’s works include his initially self-published series THB and Escapo. He went on to work for DC Comics, winning multiple Eisner Awards for his electrifying, bat-fanged future vision of Batman Year 100 as well as authoring Vertigo mini-series and graphic novels like Heavy Liquid and 100%. His latest release is the hugely acclaimed, all-ages action-thriller Battling Boy from First Second/Macmillan (below), now in development as a feature movie.
Seating is limited so early online booking is advised! Tickets are available online for £6 from WeGotTickets. Doors open 6.15 for 6.30-.8-30pm. Hope to see some of you there!
Article: Paul Gravett - Man at the Crossroads
Posted: January 19, 2014
Muchas gracias to the Spanish poet and comics connoisseur Ana Merino who has written this very kind, blush-making profile entitled Paul Gravett’s Love of Comics for the Spanish literary magazine Leer in their October 2013 issue, No. 246. Here’s my translation:
The British world of comics over the last three decades has found a key intellectual figure in Paul Gravett. The whole of sequential art needs to nurture not only the graphic voices of its authors, but also the reflexive efforts of its scholars and supporters. Paul Gravett is a model to copy for his transnational commitment, his energy and his activism, in dialogue with many of the territories which have now been consolidated by comics.
The canonisation of comics in the literary and cultural context has been a slow and complicated process. The Paul Gravett of the Eighties was a passionate young man who promoted the self-published work by new artists at alternative fairs. Eddie Campbell, for example, pays tribute to him in his Alec story How to be an artist, converting him at the decisive moment into “The Man at the Crossroads” (below), who provides the young artist the possibility to show his comics on the [Fast Fiction] stand at [the Central Hall Marts in] Westminster to reach a wider audience. Their friendship is confirmed, and we discover that Gravett’s alter ego has a very refined taste in comics, and he educates new generations artists by offering them key comics to read. Read the rest of this profile and Richard Graham’s interview with me here…
Free Fast Forward Talk by Nye Wright!
Posted: January 14, 2014
Animator, illustrator and graphic novelist Aneurin Wright is the next speaker in the Fast Forward events series on Thursday January 16th at City Lit, Keeley Street, Covent Garden, London WC2. American-born, UK-based Wright was the lead animator on the Short History of the United States cartoon sequence in Michael Moore’s Academy Award-winning documentary Bowling for Columbine. His graphic novel Things To Do in a Retirement Home Trailer Park…When You’re 29 and Unemployed was published in February 2013 by Myriad Editions to great critical acclaim. His free talk runs from 6-8pm in Room 124 - book your free tickets now online here…
New Deadline To Enter Adventures in Comics 4!
Posted: January 12, 2014
Great news! Adventures in Comics returns for its fourth fantastic year, inviting comics creators worldwide to submit their two-page comics for an exhibition at Marine Studios, Margate, Kent from April 1st 2014 and other venues to be confirmed. As well as appearing on the gallery walls, the best 50 entries will be published in the annual AIC magazine and on the website. The theme this year is ‘The Orb’ and the deadline has been extended till March 7th. So plenty of time to get your submission sent through - best of luck! To get an idea, check out my report on last year’s Adventures in Comics here…
