Wot? No Comix?

What withe getting a couple of books finalised and rushing to meet the deadline for the new American Vampires book for Career, I haven't had much time to think about comics. From what I can gather anyway, there's little happening on the comics front. Each time I go into the local bookstore which sells comics all I see on the shelves are the Avengers - prior to the film - Thor, marked as a film tie-in, the Hulk marked as a film tie-in and Captain America, marked as you've guessed as a film tie-in. All getting ready for the Avengers film which is out in April I think. So it looks like the only available comics are tied into the films that Marvel and Walt Disney want you to see. I'm also expecting a spate of Batman comics prior to the film. Other than that there appears to be very little - just the usual clutch of X-Men. I would assume that Marvel and D.C. have now killed the innovative market and all that's left for one or two artists is storyboarding for films. A sad state of affairs. Of course I could be wrong but nobody has been in touch with me to tell me that I'm not - in fact just the opposite. Comics as we knew and loved them are, by all accounts - and not just me - dead in the water. Of course you can download the latest Batman or Spiderman to your mobile phone or I-Pad but am I the only one who enjoys an ordinary comic that you can leaf through? In one of the rooms I have a couple of shelves of comics dating back to the 1950s and I still get a thrill out of sitting and looking through them. Am I out of touch? My son, in his kinder moments, refers to me as a dinosaur and maybe that's true. But I've a feeling I might give up talking about comics in this blog and talk about football instead. So what about 1949? Well Adrian and I are going to meet up around the beginning of April and sit down and have a talk about it - so watch this space. But I'm getting depressed with it all. Comics used to be new, vibrant and exciting and full of possibilities. But there's not any more. Like everything else. Is it just my age?

1949

I had been intending to do more on this blog before the end of February but a number of other things got in the way. First, I've been suffering from a minor chest infection deriving from a cold which my daughter kindly brought home from school - it only lasted for a day or so with her but it really took the feet from under me. Must be my age! Second, I've been trying to get the Lovecraft book finished - this is the longest and most detailed book that I've written but we're getting towards the end now. Only another short couple of sections to go. And of course I took a little bit of time off to celebrate my birthday on the 14th February - some Valentine baby, huh? With all this going on I haven't had much time to think about comics or how to take them forward. A number of people have been in contact with me about Space 1949 and have asked me if there's going to be any more. The plain and simple answer is that I don't know. I'd like to think that there would be and have a number of adventures drawn up for it as well as the spin-off Hal McLean - there's a couple of entire adventures already drafted out in lay-out form - but it's finding someone who will take them. As I've said, the markets are pretty static at the minute and seem to be completely resistent to anything that's new. However, I will be meeting with Adrian later this month to decide if there's anything that we can do. I appreciate that a number of people are interested in seeing it develop and thank them for their encouragement and support. As I said, I'd really like to take it forward but everywhere we've looked we seem to have hit a blank wall. If anyone has any ideas, they're welcome to get in touch with me and we can develop things. We'll see what we can do ourselves when we meet up but suggestions are truely welcome. Maybe sometime in the future we'll see 1949 out there in some shape or form. Now back to the Lovecraft book!

CIIF

I haven't been following this blog up of late as I've had a few medical problems around the start of the year - nothing major but time consuming - and I'm suffering from a ghastly cold which my daughter kindly brought home from school. She only suffered mildly for a day or so but it has floored me. And I'm still working on the two new books which are due in soon. There has been a bit of interest in the Italian comic and a couple of people have sent me very nice e-mails about it. This seems to be the place where there is an interest in comics and maybe it is worth exploring. Someone was telling me that Eastern Europe, South America and parts of Europe are an area to investigate but they are notoriously hard to get into - a bit of a "closed shop", mainly because of language barriers amongst other things. Another source was telling me that the CIIF - the Creative and Innovative Industries Fund - is also coming up again here in Northern Ireland. However, he was also telling me that there is little point in applying as the Arts Council and group have already decided who they want to get the money and it will be targetted within a specific way. That's the way they do things here in Northern Ireland. The main emphasis will be on technologies and the set up of digital networks - so the money will go to more technological and software manufacturers who are already established. At least that's what he's heard - he works with granting bodies - and I've no reason to disbelieve him. The Fund is not about genuinely creative ideas at all but feeding money to companies which the Northern Ireland government have decided that they want to fund. This is the way it was done the last time I think which is why so many statutory bodies such as local Councils received money from the Fund. I had thought of reapplying but there seems to be no point. Of course I could be wrong but I'm told that this is the way it is. A bit depressing really. Maybe it's time to look to Eastern Europe or South America and see what we can do there. Maybe I'll bursh up on my Spanish and Portuguese or even Serbian. Now that I'm feeling a bit better I'll try to keep his blog up to date. One can always hope

More About Comics

I haven't been doing this for a number of weeks as I've been trying to get a couple of things done and there's been really nothing to talk about. The comics industry seems to have gone completely flat with nothing of interest happening, The only thing I've even looked at is an edition of Heavy Metal which I get sent to me but even that now seems more of the same. Is there nothing happening out there? I seem to remember a comics press somewhere in Scotland who sent me some of their comics which remuinded me of some of the old underground stuff which used to be around in the 1970s - and nothing wrong with that. But they now seem to have disappeared and I haven't heard from them since. And of course there are Print Media Productions, I'm not sure where they are although I know that the publisher is in Bosnia which seems tobe producing stuff, although it's more for downloads. And that seems to be the future of comics. I'm old fashioned enough still to enjoy the comic you can hold in your hand rather than on your phone - but then I'm something of a dinosaur anyway. There's going to be a big comics and media convention in Belfast this weekend though. I can't go as things are really busy at the moment but my friend Adrian will be there and we're to meet up and discuss it. We'll see what comes out of it - though I would suspct that it'll be more about media and tv than about actucal comics. It might be good but it'll be busy and I don't think I would be able to sit down and really discuss things. But Adrian is helping to organise it so we'll see what it turns up. It's all very depressing but there might be hope. If anybody's out there willing to take a chance get in touch. Will head off and get something to eat, then it's back to writing the books. Sorry I haven't something more positive to say. That'll come I think - I hope. Will get back to writing this after I've the books finished

Strip Magazine

I stand corrected! There might be hope for some sort of comics scene and it might lie out there in Eastern Europe. I would guess, from what my friends in the US tell me, that the comics scene in the US and UK is either dead or stagnating or both. However, I was in Belfast on Tuesday for a meeting with Adrian and on the way home I stopped into Forbidden Planet and picked up a copy of Strip magazine which is a kind of comic anthology. I'm still reading through it - this week has been hectic, I'm not long out of hospital and I've been running round trying to get things done - but it looks interesting. The introduction says that the publisher, who's based in Bosnia, I think, has been a fan of strips like Adam Eterno and the Steel Claw. I can't fault his taste. He also can't understand why something similar is still not being produced in Britain today. Nor can I. These are the comics I grew up with and for better or worse I still think they're the best. There was a bit of thought and a bit of adventure with them - not the formulaeic material that's brought out now. I had a look round Forbidden Planet and do you know - for the the first time in a long while there was nothing there that I genuinely wanted. The American and British scene seems to be more or less petered out. So maybe the smaller publishers in Eastern Europe and I'm told South America may point the way to the future. So here's to Eastern Europe which I may explore further. Anbody who likes the Steel Claw can't be all that bad!

Sunday Supplements?

Just out of hospital where I had to go for tests - nothing major, just a few ulcers but it wasn't a pleasant experience. I took a few days off - well sort of - to recuperate although I have to go back in tomorrow for a few more tests to make sure that things are working o.k. It was not an experience I'd care to repeat. Just before I went in last week I was rushing around like a mad thing trying to get a lot of things cleared up. Consequently I haven't had a chance to see what has been happening in the comic world but I guess not a lot. All my friends in the US state that the comics scene there is completely stagnant and there's nothing worth having. I've spoken to a couple of people over here who tell me that they've cancelled all their comics at the comic stores as there's really nothing they want. And thanks to those of you who contacted me telling me that 2000 AD was still on sale but that it's pathetic and they don't buy it any more. I haven't seen a copy either here or even in Belfast for a long time - so much for the UK's leading weekly comic! Is it still weekly? Rob told me that it'll probably fold very soon as nobody buys it now. Not like the great old days when it was gone every Friday morning. There was one short-lived spot of light. I happened to lift the Times and there was a free comic in it. Great, I hought, maybe some of the newspapers are taking comics seriously - the way they used to. It was all syndicated stuffbut it was a start. But I haven't seen it since. I take it that the Times has ditched the idea. I hadthought that a nice Sunday supplement might be the way forward but it doesn't look like it. Oh well. Still thinking about 1949 and I have a meeting with Adrian hopefully this coming Tuesday in Belfast and we'll see what we can come up with. He thinks digitial comics may be the way forward and I would guess he's right. We'll see and I'll keep you posted. I'm supposed to be taking things easy for a while but there's some chance! I'll go on but let me know what you think of a Sunday supplement for comics - now that would be back to basics but it might be worth it. And would there be a newspaper that would be interested. Who knows?

Materia Osscura

A Happy New Year to you all. I hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year - although I think 2012 is going to be a really rough one, especially if you're in the creative market. All my friends in the States tell me that both the publishing and comics business as we know it is going downhill and they doubt if it will pull back. I tend to agree. Comics are now being digitalised and the choice is now so restricted that I don't see how it can pull back to what it was even several years ago. Having said that, on New Years Eve, the postman knocked my door and handed me a package. And when I opened it I can now truthfully say that I've got my name on the front of a recent comic. It was Materia Osscura which I'm told means Dark Matter, a collection of stories illustrated by David Lloyd who did the original V for Vendetta comic strip and it was published in Italy - in Tuscany I think. So it's sitting here beside me on my work desk as I write and it looks very well. But outside of Italy there doesn't seem to be much going on in the comic world. Certainly not here in Britain . Does anyone know if 2000 AD is still running? I haven't bought it for years and when I asked about it in one of the Northern Ireland newsagents I was told that they didn't bring it in from England any more as there was no in terest in it. I asked Adrian who works in Belfast and he said that he hadn't seen an issue for a long time, even in Forbidden Planet. So maybe it's stopped publishing. The last issue I saw of it was dreadful so I wouldn't be surprised. On the other hand, I lifted a copy of The Times today and found a weekend comic. However, it's all the usual stuff but it's good to see that some of the newspapers are taking comings a bit more seriously, even if it is The Times. I wonder how long it'll last though - I seem to recall that some other paper tried something similar a little while ago and the comic folded pretty quickly. It's aimed at children and how many children take an interest in The Times? So let's see what 2012 brings - after all it is a time when Britian is supposed to be investing in culture with the Year of the Olympics and so forth. And we'll see what American comics do - everybody I talk to in the States say that they're on their last legs, that all creativity's gone and merchandising has taken over. However, I live in hope. We can do little else. Have a great New Year and we'll all talk soon