Friday, 7 October 2016

"This SHOULD Be Comics 101"

There is a book that I wrote that I assumed would be a good seller. People who have read it (outside the UK where copies have gone -none in the UK) in Europe have steeped high praise on it.

I had thought that all those claiming to be into "comic pop culture" and comic history might have been interested as the variety of creators featured in it cover a wide scope of comic interest. Also, it looks good on the shelf or coffee table!

"Which book??" I hear you snore.  Why, none other than.....


The Hooper Interviews


Dramatic, heh?  And, yes, that is a cover by internationally renowned Paul Ashley Brown -ME on the cover and drawn by one of the UKs top artists: you would think a sure winner!

It is a chunky book at 365 pages -an inch (2cms+) thick. Look!
That face should sell the book but....

But you are dying to get the details, right?  Well,even if you don't want them -I'm going to post them!

From a huge selection of interviews covering the Small Press,Independent Comics from the UK,Europe and US,here are a few of the best from over 25 years.

Paperback
Perfect Bound
A4 (cms=20.98 wide x 29.69 tall)
B&W
365 pages
profusely illustrated with art and photographs.
£20.00
ISBN 9781326210113
Prints in 3-5 business days

And who exactly is interviewed in this book?  Are you ready for a full list? Also note that the page images were taken quickly with a camera and are far crisper in print (the book was difficult to scan pages from due to its size).

Karen Rubins  -The Dark, The Witch and other books
Alan Class        -the man behind the Class Comics series
Kate Glasheen -the incredibly talented artist on Hybrid Bastards, Bandages and other works
Tom Pinchuck -writer of Hybrid Bastards
Dave Ryan       -the artist/writer behind War of The Independents
Jon Haward    -UK artist who worked of Tales of the Buddha, Dan Dare and more
Ron Fortier     -the man behind Mr Jig-Saw and Airstrip 27 books (below)

Michael Cho  -creator of Max Finder Mysteries and some really cool art (below)

Then there are a bunch of interviews related to The Black Coat that was published by Ape Entertainment -Francavilla may be a name familiar to DC and Marvel comic fans these days:
Jeremy Colwell
Ben Lichius
Adam Cadogan
Franco Frankavilla

The comic character Gumby also returned to comics and that created another series of interviews titled: The Gumby Interviews (Gumby, himself, was never interviewed)
Mel Smith
Paul H. Birch
Rick Geary

Joe Martino -from Ripperman to Shadow Flame
Yishan Li    -Seriously, do I have to explain who Yishan Li is? DCs Blue Beetle, the Buffy comic and much more!

Pekka Manninen -As far as I am concerned, Finland's top comic creator and I'm not saying that because I am the UKs top Kapteeni Kuolio (Captain Gangrene) fan!

Lauren Watton -Pink Apple Jam and Sweatdrop Studios
Willie Hewes      -Amaranth and Itch! publishing
Emma Vieceli     -come on. Star of stage and musicals not to mention one of the UKs top Manga artists -Manga Shakespeare, Dragon Heir and more.
Sonia Leong      -another noted UK Manga artist whose credits include Romeo and Juliet for Manga Shakespeare. (Sonia below)

Nick Defina -the man behind Septagon Studios and Scorn
Donna Barr  -The Desert Peach and so much more that you can check up on at her Midnight Library blog.  She's a comic book Goddess.
Roberta Gregory -The other comic book Goddess and pioneering female creator.  Roberta created Bitchy Bitch and many other characters.
Jeff Brooks  -the man behind the UK editions of Classics Illustrated
Matt (D'Israeli) Brooker -from zines to "proper comics" including Deadline in the 1980s (below)

Tania Del Rio -Sabrina the teenage Witch and more for Archie Comics
Holly Golightly -Broadsword Comics, Archie, Schoolbites and much more (below)

Vanessa Wells -superb creator of a comic I loved titled Shrouded and much more these days -http://www.vanessa.withbits.com/

Marv Wolfman -Yes. The Marv Wolfman. That's all I have to say about the only person I realled HATED to interview!
Morag Lewis -another UK Manga artist who worked with Sweatdrop Studios
The Etherington Brothers -if you've ever been to a good UK event you will have seen the duo behind Malcolm Magic, The 8th Moon Sketchbook,  Moon and more.
Nicole Damon -CBOs favourite fantasy art model. Nicole has worked with Ben Uriegas, Loprenzo Sperlonga, Greg Hildebrandt and others.
Olivier Cadic -the man who brought Franco-Belgian comics to the English language readers via Cinebook The 9th Art!  Everything you need to know.
Mike Western -"The Guv'nor" of British comics with strips such as The Wild Wonders, The Leopard From Lime Street and so many more to his name they would need a book to list.
John Cooper -Again, a creator who worked on many UK comic strips from Judge Dredd, One-Eyed Jack, Johnny Red and many others.

According to one professor at a university heading a pop art and culture course "This should be "Comics 101" for people interested in the medium and people working in it"....he had a free copy, of course!

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