Travelling Through Time!

Well what a fab fun time we had waay down south in the previously unvisited (by us) South of England showground in West Sussex showground for Battles Through History!

As previously mentioned this was the first of a new annual multi-period military living history show with many attractions from the fantastic arena battle and drill displays, encampments, vehicles, vintage village, traders market, wargames, steampunks, pirates & more!

I was invited to join their military authors upstairs in the fancy Norfolk Pavilion which had fab panoramic views of the arena showground below where we all had a fun time given a schedule of interesting talks and presentations in the well appointed facilities. 

For a first event it was very well organised but there were some unexpected late difficulties with signage which ultimately resulted in a reduced footfall for our area. That said we had a fine community spirit going and did what we could to make ourselves more visible and the situation improved over the weekend with those who found us being supportive of our work and leaving us positive about next year.

Karen & I helped fly the Steampunk Flag at the show!

 

With fellow Zulu inspired author DJG Palmer & Alec 

With Gentleman and 'Chosen Man' Jason Salkey!

We managed a couple of strolls round part of the vast showground during our lunch breaks and got a very small taste of the scale of the show and the varied sights and attractions on offer. Here then is a  snapshot of what we encountered which I'm sure doesn't do the event justice. All in all though, we really enjoyed the show and plan to return next year if we have the opportunity, Huzzah! 

Napoleonic War Display!

American Civil War Battle

WW1 Sussex Yeomanry in Action!

The Hampshire Pipe Band!

Deborah II on loan from Norfolk Tank Museum!

A small sample of the many military vehicles on display!

'The Thin Red Line' original army tunics (sadly not Zulu War)

A War game diorama of Tel-El-Kebir!

The UK Virtual Military Show!

"Spy Stories, stirring them up!"

Here's a page from my National Army Museum commission for their Society gallery a couple of years ago. The gallery was one of the new features of the museum's major refurbishment telling the story of how the army had been portrayed by Society over the years and how these views changed with the times, highlighting movies, posters, souvenir commemorations etc.

My brief was to show how comics had similarly changed over a broad 100 year timeline from the early Victorian story papers and their celebration of 'Boys Own, Death or Glory' type adventures to post World War One paranoias and subsequent 1970's realities creeping into the comics of my youth, changing my art style, layouts etc to match each era's publications.

This is the 'Inter-war' period between the world wars when paranoia and threats of foreign invasions  were rife, contrasting with glorifying stories of WW1 heroes as a way perhaps of maintaining or manipulating moral, depending on your perspectives.

Glorious colours provided by the excellent and adaptable, Matt Soffe.

It was a fun and almost perfect project for me and my interests but with a punishing deadline ahead of the Queen's official opening! 

Still a project I'm particularly proud of and received many fine comments about. The full project was displayed as a comic 'flip book' for permanent display by the Gallery's entrance. I've not visited since covid, but understand there have been further changes made to the galleries so not sure whether it is currently on view or not? 

My own comics are currently only available direct from me - see convention appearances on the right, or from contacting or visiting Scott's Pops & Comics comic shop in Warrington, UK.

Doctor WHO and the Angels!

 

 
Here's a pleasant surprise, although I'm not a big fan of Doctor Who, I've just finished reading a recent Father's Day gift (thanks Scott!) of the Tenth Doctor's graphic novel and really enjoyed it!

The collection from Titan Comics contains the 4-part Weeping Angels of Mons and the shorter Echo story, both written by Robbie Morrison and illustrated by Daniel Indro and Eleonora Carlini respectively.

The 'Mons' story cleverly ties in the good doctor's adventures with World War One in both respectful and entertaining fashion as The Weeping Angels, (of the TV episode 'Blink' I think?), descend on the war torn French town of St Michel where the defending German soldiers have strangely disappeared.

The story moves along at a fair clip and suites the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant's personality of the TV series, being equal measure frantic, playful, beligerent and arrogant. The supporting cast, paticularly the Scottish soldiers are surprisingly well rounded given their limited space and, minor character identification confusion aside, you find yourself emotionally invested in them.

That this story comes from well respected comic scribe, Robbie Morrison should be no surprise given his back catalogue (of which White Death is a classic war story) and the art from, unfamilar to me, Daniel Indro perfectly captures the characters and the action.

The short Echo story suffers in comparison with the main 'Mons' event but is a fine, fun disposable tale with servicable art and shouldn't detract from a quality collection.

2014 Moments in Comics

To finish the 2014 nostalgia, here's my favourite comics & graphic novels from last year. I made it too late to contribute to Forbidden Planet's 'Best Of' articles where I was one of many featured last year, so here's a short summary of what stood out to me;
 

COMMANDO: Great War Stories by George Low & Keith Page, covers by Ian Kennedy

This year, I’ve eagerly followed D C Thomson’s longstanding title as it ambitiously embarked on a monthly tribute to the range of ordinary characters caught up in the extraordinary events of The Great War. The pocket sized Commando format is perfectly suited to these tales across the many theatres of war often highlighting lessor know combatants and conflicts. The stories are necessary stand-alone but, through cameos, contrast the idealistic enlistment dreams of a young newspaper boy with the experiences of those already at war. Although the tales are not the graphic accounts of a Charley’s War or a White Death (see below), they are no less effective in bringing the stories of ordinary soldiers to a wider newsstand audience and that should be praised. Expertly written and illustrated by George Low and Keith Page behind exceptional new Ian Kennedy covers these are well worth seeking out and hopefully will be collected on the series conclusion.

  

WHITE DEATH by Robbie Morrison and Charlie Adlard   

Sticking with the First World War, this is the recent Image Comics re-release of the indie classic to tie in with the war’s centenary. Set in 1916 on the Italian Trentino mountain range it is unflinching in its portrayal of those soldiers caught up in the desperation of war. The futility of conflict is expertly played out through the eyes of a small group of Italian soldiers as their struggles with the enemy and their nihilist commander are dwarfed by the dangerous mountain terrain. The quieter moments really stand out with carefully chosen dialogue and images reflecting the horror of the soldiers experiences without being preachy. Not an easy read for sure but an important one, well deserving of its hardcover re-release from two of the UK’s leading talents.

 

MULP: Sceptre of the Sun #1 by Matt Gibbs and Sara Dunkerton

An absolute delight and a charming contrast to not only First World War stories but all other comics I’ve encountered this year. An anthropomorphic pulp adventure full of mice, mystery and exotic locations, what’s not to like! In the best adventure traditions, it’s rollicking fun with an Indiana Jones vibe as our heroes meet by an (alternative) Egyptian archaeological dig where their finds are under dangerous threat from spies working for a mysterious benefactor. Matt Gibbs clever and quick moving script allows Sara Dunkerton plenty of opportunity to show off her artistic skills with many dynamic locations and action scenes. As a fun first issue from two new creators this promises to be the start of something special.
 

 

Honourable mentions to Letty Wilson's delightful WEIRD MOOSE which I witnessed being created at Glasgow Comic-Con,  Top Shelf’s authentic American Civil Rights Movement book, MARCH, Jonathan Cape's SALLY HEATHCOTE: SUFFRAGETTE, Images Comics entertaining MANIFEST DESTINY and enjoyable indies BLACK FEATHER FALLS and HALF HANGED MacNAGHTEN from Soaring Penguin and Uproar Comics respectively.

Tatton Park Moments of Reflection

Tatton Park's WW1 Commemorative Flame

The centenary of the outbreak of World War One has quite rightly been in the spotlight allowing everyone time for reflection either on their own or as part of an organised event.

For someone with a lifelong interest in history and military matters I too have spent much time reading and reflecting on the conflict and its legacy. This interest and my close connections with Tatton Park lead to me earlier this year joining a small research team and contributing to an exhibition held there to commemorate the war and its impact on the estate, its workers and of course the Egerton family.

The exhibition took its "We Will See it Through":Tatton Reflects 1914-1918 title from a rousing recruitment speech given by Alan De Tatton, at Knutsford town hall shortly after the wars outbreak - no mean feat given that at the wars declaration he was enjoying a spa break in Germany and initially held captive!

The preparation for the exhibition was both challenging and rewarding as we slowly uncovered many fascinating stories and from an original concern about whether we would have 'enough' material it soon became clear that the worry would be about what to leave out. Sadly, even in a sizable display room, there wasn't room to include everything but we included some fascinating exhibits both from Tatton's collection and through loans and donations from relatives of those connected with Tatton at the time.

Sadly I don't have any close-up pictures of the display items - sorry!

There weren't photos of some of the featured estate workers, so I provided these images

The children's colouring & reading table proved very popular!

The exhibition was appropriately opened on 4th August 2014, the centenary of course of Britain's declaration of war 100 years before. Coincidentally the date was also Maurice Egerton, Tatton's last Lord's, 40th birthday. Tatton had also been chosen as one of the focal points of the local council's WW1 commemorations, under its Cheshire East Reflects banner. This saw the installation of an eternal flame in its grounds which was lit by Tatton's MP, chancellor George Osborne in a special commemorative event on the 4th August which I attended.

 

As Tatton's 2014 season draws to a close, preparations for the forthcoming Christmas event are underway, meaning that our WW1 exhibition has now closed. Research though continues and it is planned that the exhibition will return, updated at a future date as commemorations reflect the wars duration.

Given the exhibition's closure and today's armistice date I thought it timely to show a few of the exhibition and the commemorative flame images here. Thanks again to everyone who contributed to the exhibition and for the many poignant visitor comments and memories received which gave a deeper meaning to this year's commemorations.  

The Lakes Comic Festival!

 

Wow, well that was The Lakes last weekend or I should say The Lakes International Comic Art Festival to give it its full Sunday name, but 'The Lakes' will do just fine I think, although 'The Rain' would also be a close second!

 

Actually its maybe a bit unfair to mention the weather for a comic show, however when that show takes over the whole lake district market town of Kendal and involves a wee bit of walking around, the weather plays its part, more so than the normal convention centre set show that we're used to. However although the frequent drizzly rain did its best, it failed to dampen the spirits of attendees, guests, exhibitors and volunteers as we encountered probably the friendliest and best-run debut show we've ever attended - no mean feat when we recall the previous contenders.

 

The Comics Clock Tower & some of Kendal's Signage!

But its true, the enthusiasm of the organisers and volunteers was infectious and helped overcome the few teething problems and the vagrancy's of the local weather. Our location, The Comics Clock Tower was in fact Kendal's town hall and as such, slap bang in the centre and not one you could really miss and ideal for reaching the nearby Brewery Arts Centre where most of the talks and events were held. I'm reliably informed that it was pretty close to the various other exhibition sites, library and 'pop-up' shops too etc but we didn't venture too far from the Clock Tower so sadly missed out on much of what else was going on but that tends to happen when you're exhibiting, but for attendees there was a lot more to see to keep you fully occupied both fun packed days and evenings!

 

John Wagner & Carlos Ezquerra take the stage

And that was true of Accent UK too, we had a fun, enjoyable time at the show and in Kendal, with this, like the recent Glasgow MCM show being accompanied by (some of ) our families which is good to all get away and share the comics fun. We were delighted to also be accompanied by long term friend Garen Ewing of Rainbow Orchid fame and I note that Garen has already posted his thoughts on the show here before scooting of to Essen in Germany for another show, busy man!

Dave, Garen and Col - add your own caption!

Its always fun sharing time with Garen and as he was also staying with us en-route before and after the show, we had plenty of time to catch up which was great and that's one thing that perhaps Dave and I have missed a bit in more recent comic shows, in terms of catching up properly with other comic folks. Too often its just a quick hello and wave then you're busy behind your table and before you know where you are, the shows over and you've still not had a decent chat with these seldom seen friends.

10 or even 5 years ago, there weren't that many comic shows in the UK so you could almost guarantee that 'everyone' would be there and you'd usually see them about town or in the same hotel etc but since those heady heights of Bristol and Birmingham, the UK has seen an explosion of shows so there's less need to chase round the country when you can just as easily stay closer to home, meaning though that the UK comics 'scene' has arguably become more splintered than it ever was, albeit independent comics are themselves possibly more accessible than ever before?



However, The Lakes had that good old fashioned feel of 'everyone' being there as you could hardly walk down the street without bumping into familiar comic faces in unfamiliar surroundings which was nice, seeing how many people had made the effort to travel to the show.

Still I heard of a possible 3 new UK shows next year and its unclear whether the UK can really support them all? Anyway The Lakes should have no such worries, confidently announcing its 2014 dates alongside its debut programming. With the promise of even better to come, it could really become the jewel in the UK comics' crown with the real potential to match France's revered Angouleme Festival which it is using as its model.




The view of the Clock Tower first floor from the gallery

While we happily give The Lakes a positive endorsement, it was difficult to say just how busy it was with actual attendees as judging purely from our Clock Tower view, it was steady footfall without being spectacular - bear in mind our last show was MCM Glasgow's amazing 20,000 crowd! - and sales, particularly during Saturday were slow but unusually almost busier on the Sunday and while overall, our sales were respectful, they were not the high numbers we'd recently encountered. That in some ways is to be expected in a new show when really everyone is investing in the shows future and of course there was a great choice available for the punter's pound - I won't list everyone here or all our shout outs as it would take too long, but have a look again at the Clock Tower's floorplan for the names of many great creators, publishers and dealers! 

Ivan and his Elsie and Mairi new book

One special 'shout-out' I will give is to Ivan Petrus, he of 'The Nieuport Gathering' book I picked up when first meeting him at the London Super Comic Convention earlier this year. Ivan had bravely driven from his home in Belgium to Kendal, which is a long, long way and he didn't have the best of journeys but accompanied by his very good friend Gert, he settled into the show and again turned out some wonderful full water coloured paintings in his books. Sadly although he had finished the next book in his World War 1 series, Elsie en Mairi, the English version is not yet available but I had a good look at the Dutch version Ivan had brought with him, which again looks great, so fingers-crossed I won't have too long to read it, if not I may just have to try and learn Dutch!



The Brewery Arts Centre

The Graphic Memoir panel

The Lakes was also special for the fact that both Dave and I took the opportunity to attend a couple of the talks, one each each day which was a rare treat with it being years since we'd done so but The Lakes programme was so good we couldn't resist! I saw the 'Graphic Memoir' panel with Al Davison, Katie Green, Nye Wright and Mary Talbot which was very good, moving and thought provoking in places with the panelists being very open with their experiences behind their very personnel stories and the reactions they'd encountered. Ably chaired by Nicola Streeten, the hour flew by very quickly.

 

Joe Sacco with Steve Bell (can you spot Tin Tin!) 

The following day was the Joe Sacco in conversation with political cartoonist Steve Bell event which I was very excited about, I am a huge admirer of Joe's work and was genuinely excited about the prospect of hearing him talk. I was pleased to again bump into Jeremy Briggs of comics news blog Down The Tubes (see Jeremy's own Kendal photo report here) amongst the packed audience and we greatly enjoyed the casual and revealing discussion between these two talented artists as they explored each others creative styles, deadlines and sensitivities in dealing with often challenging material. Their talk veered around different subjects in the same way that a conversation between two friends does and while always interesting I would have liked to hear a bit more about the nuts and bolts of Joe's techniques but I did learn that he kept very detailed journals which he carefully indexed, the art for a finished page usually takes him 2.5 days to complete and with a book like Footnotes in Gaza taking some 7 years to complete, he's now turning his attention to shorter form stories as seen in the recent Journalism collection.
 

One of Joe Sacco's amazing panoramas from his new Great War book

I was though very delighted to meet Joe at his signing afterwards and spend a few moments with him as he kindly signed my books, he was indeed as gracious as I'd hoped and, as far as I could see, made time for everyone who queued for him, a real gent and a real joy.

And that joy was mirrored around everyone I encountered at The Lakes, chatting to volunteers, strangers in event queues, signings, the locals and is a major factor in the success of the show. Despite the weather and the respectful sales, this was a timely reminder that a true comics festival is more about the experience rather than just numbers and on that level The Lakes is a major success and one we hope becomes a regular fixture of the UK calendar, so congratulations and thanks to all involved, see you next year please!



The Lakes Haul