The latest issue of the US title Self Publisher Magazine is available now and includes interviews with Sean Duffield, an integral part of the team behind the Paper Tiger imprint and the incredible War: The Human Cost collection, and Dead Roots‘ Mike Garley.
While the emphasis of the magazine – soon also to be available Print on Demand from #70 thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign – is on US creators, editor Ian Shires tells me he’s planning many more British creator interviews.
Sean Duffield talks candidly about the Paper Tiger project which featured strips by many Brighton-based creators, and how he sank his life savings into Issue 4. Undaunted by problems achieving sales, he’s still working on Tales of Terror, a new horror anthlogy, perhas in part inspired by his reading of Scream and 2000AD.
“It has been in the pipeline for awhile, now,” he acknowledges. “I’m a lover of good horror, whether movies, books, or comics, and I know quite a few comics bods are big horror lovers. The anthology will be quite broad on the theme. I’m looking for fresh takes on the genre, and so far the quality of submissions is fantastic.
“It’ll have underground-style horror comix, weird, nightmarishstuff, pure atmospheric horror, some great illustrations, homages to the 50s horror comics, and horror with satire and social commentary.”
Mike Garley talks about his many projects and is enthusiastic about the British comics scene despite its problems reaching a mass audience. “The UK comic scene is in good shape,” he feels. “There are loads of great creators coming through at the moment, but there’s still an issue with reaching a readership.
Without a publisher, the most effective way is to do the con circuit, but you’re still fairly limited, as the UK cons are fairly small (in comparison to US cons) and attract a lot of the same people. On top of that, travelling around the country isn’t cheap.”
Self Publisher Magazine Issue 67, with cover art by Luis Rivera and T.Warren Montgomery, also includes interviews with Randy Valiente and Devon Devereaux as well as sneak peeks of the impressive-looking The Realmscape Wars and Eponymous. It also features comic work by Don Edwards, Steve Perry, Steve Williams, Syuart Berryhill, Alex Dragojlovic, Mike Garley, Martin Simminds, and Mike Stock.
• Download Self Publisher Magazine Issue 67 free here
• Paper Tiger Comix Issue 4 and War: The Human Cost are still available from www.papertigercomix.com. The War book and CD are now only £5.29 (cover price: £11.99) and really is superb value for the money. The 100-page Paper Tiger Comix Issue 4 (plus all the extras) is now only £3.09 (originally £6.99) and is a really good selection of underground and alternative comix, surreal illustrations and brilliant eclectic underground music. You can also get all the issues of the great newspapersized UK comic anthology The Comix Reader for only £1 each, or all 4 issues for £3.79.
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comic Creator Interviews, Creating Comics, Digital Comics, Magazines