Frank Quitely Interview Podcast

By John Freeman on June 30, 2010

As part of the West Port Book Festival on Friday 25th June 2010, David Bishop interviewed artist Frank Quitely at Edinburgh Books second hand bookshop in Edinburgh’s West Port.

Since the event was always going to have a small audience due to the size of the venue, the interview was recorded and has now been made available as a podcast on the Festival’s website.

The talk lasts just over 50 minutes during which time the two men discuss the artist’s work both for UK comics, including his work for 2000AD when Bishop was Tharg, and for the American comics that he is now better known for.

In addition to the podcast the website links through to photos of the event taken by Chris Scott, one of which we have borrowed, which show that Edinburgh Books looks very much like the public’s perception of what a traditional second-hand bookshop should look like with Bishop and Quitely surrounded by bookcases stuffed full of large, old books.

For those who could not make the West Port event, both Frank Quitely and David Bishop will be appearing again in Edinburgh at the Oxfam Comic Event on Saturday 17 July 2010.

• Find the West Port Book Festival on Facebook – please note that as of January 2019 we have received warnings about the West Port Book Festival website as a possible phishing site so we have removed links to it

• The photos of the event are on Chris Scott ‘s Flickr account

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.