New Statesman: Interview with Mike Carey
You can read my latest interview with the lovely Mike Carey, writer of The Unwritten, Lucifer, X-Men and more, over at the New Statesman. Carey is one of my favourite writers - Lucifer one of my favourite series - and we chat about Vertigo past and future, The Unwritten and upcoming plans, creator rights and women in comics, internet trolls and his Felix Castor novels. And more!
Stay tuned for more upcoming interview with David Lloyd, David Mack, Tim Seeley, David Hine, and the one and only Neal Adams as I count down to the London Super Comic Con next month.
Mike Carey: "I’m not a fan of the way comics have been ghettoised"
The Independent on Sunday: Review of Gun Machine by Warren Ellis
First piece of the New Year to be published, a wee review of the fantastic Gun Machine for The Independent on Sunday.
Gun Machine is out now and I heartily recommend it, even to non-crime fans.
Full review here: IoS book review: Gun Machine, By Warren Ellis
Stay tuned for some upcoming big pieces! (Far too many, pass the caffeine...)
Why I’m Stepping Away From UK Indie Comics
November was an interesting time for me - I attended Thought Bubble for the first time, caught a fair amount of flack for publishing Grant Morrison's thoughts on Alan Moore over at The Beat, and had to take a short break from Twitter due to the aggressive reaction to a piece on the issues of gender bias and privilege within the UK small press comics scene.
The reaction, and to a much smaller extent the personal attacks following on from the The Strange Case of Grant Morrison and Alan Moore, As Told By Grant Morrison was not unexpected. From past experience alone I knew that writing anything that even remotely fell under a pro-Morrison banner would get me in trouble in certain circles. Some don't seem to appreciate he is a normal bloke rather than an anti-establishment demi-punk-god. The flack from the pro-Moore camp was a little more unexpected given that I spend a large percentage of my comics discussion time talking with the biggest Alan Moore fans around, all of whom have proved over the months to be lovely and gracious without feeling the need to fling their poo at me. But all in all, that was pretty much par for the course.
The next part I was hoping to have sink into oblivion. I've been asked for quotes on the matter enough now, and it keeps being rehashed on Twitter, that I'd like to write the following, and then have done with it.
Exclusive Interview: Hamish McHamish of St Andrews
As a writer, I occasionally stray away from my pet topic of comics to touch on gaming, cult television, guinea pigs, and whatever else catches my interest. One such book out this month did exactly that, celebrating as it does, the biggest celebrity to step foot in St Andrews. I speak not of the young royal couple, or the many famous golfers and celebrity fans that pass through every year. I'm talking about the one who OWNS the town: Hamish.
Cats of course are big business at the best of times. A cursory glance at our internet from any passing alien ships, once the porn has been dispensed with, would surely lead them to conclude that cats are at the top of the food chain on planet Earth, with their slave humans providing food, housing, comfort on demand, and posing them with their heads sticking out of slices of bread. Hamish is not that kind of cat. There are no videos of him sitting in cardboard boxes, no chasing laser pen dots down the back of the bed, and most certainly no renditions of "oh don piano". Hamish is a real cat, who turns up his nose at the idea of having one home and only one set of humans. He also has nearly 3,000 facebook friends.
Hamish McHamish of St Andrews: Cool Cat About Town by Susan McMullan launched on the 20th of October, and Hamish has been popping up all over the Scottish press, from STV news, to the various national newspapers. No one however had attempted to interview Hamish himself about all the attention he's been getting, and as his assistant in curating his "Hamish Recommends" book selection at the local Waterstones, I hoped that he would be willing to share a few comments with me...
Women in Comics: A Reading List
One of the questions that most often crops up in my e-mail inbox is, "so what comics created by women do you know of?", followed shortly by, "where can I find a list of all the comics created by women?". The internet, being the vast procrastination device that is, has plenty of such lists but none of them really seem to cover everything.
Undoubtedly this is because to attempt such a list would be madness. Fortunately, that means it's right up my street...
Behold, an always in progress browsable list of comics and graphic novels, strip compilations and webcomics, all written and/or drawn by the many talented women in comics.
Please add missing books (or corrections) to the comments and I'll add them at regular intervals. Cover artists do count but I'm unsure how to categorize them...
Many thanks to Lee Grice at Small Press Big Mouth for his contributions!
Full and Uncut Interview with Alan Moore
Last month I had the fantastic experience of interviewing Alan Moore for the Independent on Sunday. Restricted in print to 1000 words and with Alan chatting for an hour on the phone, there was a whole heap of material left over.
My full and uncut interview with Grant Morrison was received so warmly, I have once more slaved over a full transcript for my fellow comic geeks. You can read the printed article here, and the full interview after the jump!
Sadly I could have done with another hour at least to expand more fully on some of my questions, but Moore is of course tremendously busy writing his novel, Jerusalem, and a good interview for the Indie was my priority. Still, I managed some of the women in comics angle!
About a Grrrl
Freelance writer. Comic geek, film addict, metal head, book worm, gamer. I sell books and write. I'd prefer to write books and sell.
This is a collection of my writing, thoughts and interesting links about my geeky interests.
Oh, and I'm not a guy. A woman reading comics still surprises some people...
Recent Tweets
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RT @davidwynne: Tweeted this directly to a couple of people already, so, to save time- a thing that fully explains my issues with MCM http:…
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Only one Conservative seat in Scotland btw. I'm sure that's not at all related...
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Ahaha, yes - Scotland's dislike of the *racist* UKIP is totally down to them being English... not. RT http://t.co/XyBLCf3x2i via