Cine Excess Gets Graphic in Brighton with Pat Mills, Jim McCarthy and Martin Barker

Pat Mills - 2014

The ninth annual Cine Excess international Festival turns its focus on the world of graphic novels for the first time this year, with a special panel discussion on violence in comics featuring Professor Martin Barker, comic book writer and editor Pat Mills (Judge Dredd, Charley’s War) and 2000AD artist Jim McCarthy.  The event takes place on Saturday 14th November at 12pm in the Sallis Benney Theatre, University of Brighton Grand Parade Building.

With particular focus on the ground-breaking Action comic and 2000AD which Pat Mills created and edited, the panel – entitled “Poor Angry White Kids: Action Excess and the Cult Universe of Pat Mills” – will also discuss his work in relation to wider social trends and tensions in British society during the 1970s and 1980s.

Other graphic novel writers and artists are also expected to attend the event, where Pat will also be presented with a Cine Excess Lifetime Achievement Award.

Cine-Excess is an annual international film festival and conference, which attracts global filmmakers, scholars, distributors and exhibitors to an event that includes filmmaker discussions, a themed three day conference and several UK theatrical premieres/exclusive screenings.

Haunt of Fears by Martin BarkerProfessor Martin Barker is emeritus professor in film and television at Aberystwyth University. He has written widely on censorship and comics, most significantly in the seminal books Haunt of Fears: Strange History of the British Horror Comics Campaign, published in 1992, and Action – The Story of a Violent Comic, published in 1990 – both deserving of new publication.

Pat Mills is best known for his powerful World War One series, Charley’s War as well as writing many popular characters for 2000AD (including Judge Dredd, Nemesis the Warlock , Sláine).

Sussex-based Jim McCarthy drew “Bad Company” and “Bix Barton” for 2000AD, but has also written and drawn GodSpeed: The Kurt Cobain Graphic and The Sex Pistols Graphic .

Launched in 1976 under Mills’ editorship, Action comic’s brand of violent storytelling revolutionised British comics, with characters such as Hook Jaw, Dredger, Hellman of Hammer Force and strips such as “Kids Rule OK” proving popular with readers at the same time they generated considerable notoriety. Campaigning from Mary Whitehouse and criticism on BBC’s Nationwide led to a temporary halt in publication, with one issue – bar a few file copies, one recently sold on eBay for £1320 – completely pulped.

The Festival will also feature an academic discussion with presentations from two of Brighton’s graphic novelists, Lee Christien and Hannah Eaton.  This event, along with the Pat Mills and Martin Barker debate, have been programmed in association with Graphic Brighton, the annual comic book festival at the University of Brighton, who will be represented at Cine-Excess by co-curator Alex Fitch.

The Martin Barker and Pat Mills panel discussion is part of the annual Cine-Excess cult film conference. This year’s theme is ‘Historical Trauma, Hysterical Texts, Cult Film in Times of Crisis’, which is complimented by a range of tie in screenings, including the UK theatrical premiere of the new Canadian cannibal film, Feed the Devil (2014) directed by Max Perrier.

• Cine Excess 2015 runs 12th – 14th November 2015. Delegates passes for the full event cost £100/£60 (concessions), with a special screening pass priced £10/£5 (concessions). Full details of Cine Excess public events and screenings will be released at the end of October. Web: www.cine-excess.co.uk



Categories: British Comics, Charley's War, Comics Education News, Comics Studies, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Film

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