Becky Cloonan, Richard Starkings signings at Travelling Man this weekend

By John Freeman on May 14, 2014

The stunning exclusive print by Becky Cloonan that will be available at Travelling Man signings later this week to mark the launch of By Chance or Providence.

Comic creators Becky Cloonan and Richard Starkings will be signing at the Travelling Man stores in Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle this coming Sunday and Monday.

Later in the month Becky will also be signing at Gosh! Comics in London and Dublin’s The Big Bang store (details below), joined in the Irish capital by Declan Shalvey for an after-signing talk.

Attendees at the Travelling Man events should be able to grab a copy of Becky’s exclusive print, above, to mark the Travelling Man launch of By Chance or Providence, collecting Becky’s trilogy of mini comics in one hardcover graphic novel. Several stores where Becky is signing will have exclusive bookplates and prints available.

Richard will of course be signing his many books featuring his fantastic creations Hip Flask and Elephantmen.

Comic book creator Becky Cloonan at the November 2008 Big Apple Convention in Manhattan. Photo: NightScream

Born in Pisa, Italy, Becky Cloonan began her career self-publishing mini-comics in 1999. Since then she has gone on to work with publishers like DC, Vertigo, Dark Horse, Harper Collins and Marvel, winning an Eisner Award in 2013 for her comic The Mire, the second book in a trilogy of self-published short stories. Most recently she illustrated The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys with writers Shaun Simon and Gerard Way, as well as contributing art to series like Young Avengers, Batman Black and White, and American Vampire.

By Chance or Providence , which collects Becky’s critically acclaimed trilogy Wolves, The Mire and Demeter in one gorgeous, limited edition publication was released in February. These stories cast a hypnotic melancholy, weaving their way through a medieval landscape of ancient curses and terrible truths that will haunt you long after you’ve set them down. Think of it not as a comic, but as a magic tome waiting to cast its spell on you…

Richard Starkings has worked in comics since he was ten, which began what he refers to as his “helping my brother at comic marts in exchange for advance copies of Conan the Barbarian” phase.

In his teens he created four panel comic strips for Doctor Who fanzines (some of which I still have) and developed his pen lettering skills on comic strips for British independent publisher Harrier run by Martin Lock, before being hired by Marvel UK and entering his “drawing logos for chocolate” phase which led to editorial responsibilities for the comic strip pages of Doctor Who Magazine, Transformers and The Real Ghostbusters, as well as launching the company’s first US format titles, Death’s Head, Dragons Claws and Knights of Pendragon.

Moving to Los Angeles in 1989, Richard pursued a freelance career and famously pioneered digital comic book lettering in order to meet tight deadlines, known now as his infamous “sixteen X-Men books a month” phase.

Starkings hired UCLA graduate John Roshell in 1992 and together they established the award-winning Comicraft studio and foundry. Comicraft’s publishing arm, Active Images, released Comic Book Lettering the Comicraft Way by Starkings and Roshell in 2003 – which pushed Starkings into his current “publishing critically acclaimed graphic novels” phase.

Active Images has published numerous titles including Strange Embrace, Solstice and Starkings’ own pulp science fiction creation, Hip Flask and Elephantmen.

SIGNING DETAILS

Sunday 18th May: Travelling Man: Becky Cloonan and Richard Starkings

1.00 – 3.00pm Travelling Man, 4 Dale Street, Manchester LS1 6DE Tel: 0113 243 6461

5.00 – 7.00pm Travelling Man, 32 Central Road, Leeds M1 1JW Tel: 0161 2371877

Monday 19th May: Travelling Man: Becky Cloonan and Richard Starkings

12 noon – 2.00pm 43 Grainger Street, Newcastle NE1 5JE Tel: 0191 261 4993

Friday 23rd May: Gosh Comics – Becky Cloonan
7.00 – 9.00pm Gosh Comics, 1 Berwick Street, London W1F 0DR Tel: 020 7636 1011

A By Chance Or Providence launch party will take place at Gosh!. Get along and have your copy scribbled in by Becky herself! However, if you can’t make it, you can email Gosh! at info@goshlondon.com or just give them a bell to reserve a copy.

Wednesday 28th May: The Big Bang – Becky Cloonan
5.00 – 7.00pm The Big Bang, Pembroke District, Dundrum, Dublin 16

Followed by a Q&A moderated by the inimitable Declan Shalvey – followed by a wrap party at the Thomas House!

• Becky Cloonan tumblr

• Richard Starkings on Twitter

• More British Comic Events on downthetubes (got one? add it – service moderated!)

John Freeman

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.