I’ve collaborated with Tom Pomplun, publisher of Graphic Classics©, for several years, adapting stories by the best of British and American authors, but I always thought of myself as a part-time scriptwriter because at the end of the day I became a writer more by accident than design. When Tom asked me to look for a retailer in Lancaster (UK) who might be interested in distributing free copies of Graphic Classics during Free Comic Book Day, it wasn’t a problem for me. A quick search and I found a little gem of a shop called First Age Comics, run by Mark Braithwaite.

Young and with plenty of enthusiasm, Mark has a contagious smile, so when I went to see him he was more than willing to distribute free copies of Graphic Classics and even persuaded me that I could do a book signing session. He told me that Andy Diggle would also be signing on the day. Needless to say, with such a big name at the event I was puzzled as to why I should be there. However, things had been set in motion and I had to carry on.

I was supposed to be doing my signing session late in the morning. The big day came and I arrived at the shop ten minutes early. After a cup of tea, at 11 o’clock I sat down, ready to sign copies. There were two or three people hanging around waiting for the main event who, seeing as I was there, approached me for an autograph, after all, you never know one day…

I was so flustered that morning I forgot to wear my reading glasses, and was left wondering why I couldn’t focus on the point of the pen as I wrote my first signature. After the first one however, everything went more smoothly. Sort of…

As I usual I was puzzled as to why young people would be interested in something that was so far from superheroes and manga, but Mark did a good job of introducing me and Graphic Classics.

By midday, all the copies were gone. At one o’clock it would be Mr. Diggle’s turn. In the best English tradition, a queue was already forming.

At twenty past one, Andy Diggle arrived running, sat in the chair, took out his pen and started signing. His fans were over the moon. I was too shy to ask for a signed copy.

I asked Mark some questions. Here are his answers:

Superman or the Hulk?

Superman. Not to be dismissive of the Hulk, there have been some very good Hulk comics over the years. The Superman concept has endured for so long and survived so many changes in the comics industry over the decades. The material that Kurt Busiek and Geoff Johns have been writing recently are also definitely worth a read.

What’s in your drawer?

A seemingly endless supply of paperwork (it's a very big drawer), a calculator, two pens (one black, one red) and a diary.

On the road with…

My wife Lucy and daughter Katie. There's no-one else I'd rather travel with.

What was the first book you ever read?

I can't honestly remember the title but I do recall Meg The Hen being in it somewhere meeting with some accident prone pots and pans.

Comics or comix?

Comics. Definitely comics.

What would you read while travelling from Earth to the Moon?

I'd probably take a few carefully selected Green Lantern comics. Those and the Lord Of The Rings trilogy

Instead of taking sleeping pills, you would read a couple of pages of…

Currently I'm reading William Shatner's autobiography "Up Till Now" and "Showcase Presents Booster Gold Volume One".

It’s a waste of time to…

Regret. Always look at what you can do about the future. The past has already happened.

Never give up…

...never surrender!!!!

Why do you do it?

For the love of the game.

Sunday, June 08, 2008 5:12:57 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

"FRICANDEAU: 1. Slice of fried or stewed meat, esp. veal, served with sauce".

Saturday, June 07, 2008 5:55:50 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

"Humbug: 1. n Fraud, sham; deception; impostor. 2. Kind of hard-boiled sweet usu. flavoured with peppermint. 3. Delude (person into, out of, thing or doing). 4. Be, behave like, impostor". 

"Matrass: Long-necked glass vessel with round or oval body, used for distilling".

Friday, June 06, 2008 3:39:53 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

In an effort to generate some kind of creative impulse, I've taken to choosing words from the Concise Oxford English Dictionary at random, sketching whatever comes into my head, then going back to the OED and checking the definition to see how close I came. Here's the first two...

"JAGER: Var. of JAEGER:German or Austrian rifleman; kind of woollen clothing-material excluding all vegetable fibres as unwholesome; garment of this".

"RETROGRESSION: backward or reversed movement; return to less advanced state, reversal of development, decline, deterioration".

Thursday, June 05, 2008 10:30:26 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

Just a little something I've been messing about with, when I should have been doing something else. The lyrics are a single verse from Tom Waits' song Reeperbahn. As with the Team Sputnik version of Frank's Wild Years, I didn't get permission from Tom Waits, his agent or his lawyers to use his lyrics this way. Don't rat me out.

Monday, June 02, 2008 11:04:07 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

Because aparrently they've both been at it...

Monday, June 02, 2008 9:20:52 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

Talk about a shrinking world. When I was young (and I never thought I’d ever be old enough to say something like “when I was young”), making a phone call abroad or receiving one was a complex business. International phone calls had to be booked in advance; then a human operator with a strong foreign accent was the only link between you and the other party. Receiving an international phone call was a good way to increase your social prestige; it meant you had some important connection somewhere far from home.

The march of technology has cut us off from the romance of international calls but given us something more useful: we can get connected much faster; we can have videoconferencing and do business internationally without leaving our comfy rooms. Thanks to this technology I have had the chance to collaborate with somebody who enjoys Christmas Day on the beach, and who, when I am sweltering under a hot sun, is wrapped up in his winter clothes.

So, back when I was young, it never occurred to me that I one day I would collaborate with an Australian artist. But it happened. When I adapted King Pest, a short story by Edgar Allen Poe for Graphic Classics (c) , editor/publisher Tom Pomplun gave the job of illustrating the strip to Australian artist Anton Emdin.

I’m always on tenterhooks waiting to see the final art. It’s hard to describe the frenzy I get into whenever I receive a complimentary copy; for the first time, I can see how the artist interpreted my script. So when one morning the postman arrived with a parcel from the US, and I opened it and saw the cover of Graphic Classics©, the first thing I looked for was the King Pest strip.

Poe isn’t known as the most cheerful chap, and I was prepared for something gothic and dark, but Anton’s art threw me a curve: plenty of silliness and humour, I started to laugh. His art reminded me most of Jacovitti, one of the most famous Italian cartoonists, who drew salami with big feet, wasps with huge noses, fish bones, mixed with the art of Don Martin.

Cocco Bill, by Jacovitti

Mona Lisa, by Don Martin

Anton was able to turn a dark tale about the plague into a humorous, silly, funny story; every time I look at it I spot some new silliness, which gives a new twist to the story. If I’m feeling blue, it’s enough to flip through the pages of King Pest to cheer me up. Anton’s art is more effective than an antidepressant.

Anton has kindly written a few lines about the adaptation of King Pest and has answered some questions. Enjoy King Pest.

Anton Emdin, by Anton Emdin

Boo Boo, or Tasmanian Devil?

To make love with or just to hold? Can you please clarify?

What’s in your drawer?

Looking in my top right drawer right now I see:

One monitor cleaning cloth

Two of this month's *ahem* men's mags (my cartoons appear in them, I swear!)

One old notebook

Pack of obsolete business cards

Broken business card holder

Seven Mini DV's of family video footage

A Firewire cable

Nintendo Gameboy games (where the hell is the Gameboy?)

BB gun and pellets

Wad of US dollars (from selling comix through the post)

Old bum bag (god that sounds wrong. The yanks call them Fanny Packs. That sounds even worse.)

Three spare Wacom nibs

Skateboard stickers

Two old wallets

One Mini Mag light (broken)

The other drawers are full of spare drawing paper, printer paper, original artwork, random clippings and cards I've kept, plus boring officey things like staplers and hole punches.

On the road with…

...clenched knuckles, grinding teeth, and a tank full of whiskey.

What was the first book you ever read?

I'd love to say "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carl but more likely it was something dull like "Your first book of shapes".

If your life were a graphic novel, who would draw it?

Probably no one. I'm not too interesting.

It’s a waste of time to…

...try to think up funny answers to interviews. People just think you're a wanker.

What do you prefer to read in a waiting room?

Anything but womens' magazines.

Instead of taking sleeping pills, you would read a couple of pages of…

Doctor Zhivago

Never give up…

...learning new techniques. Getting comfortable is the end of an artist.

Are you there yet?

Hopefully not even close.

Sunday, June 01, 2008 12:18:23 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0]