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“Scotland Yardie” artist Joseph Samuels joins Lakes Festival line-up

By John Freeman on October 12, 2017

Art from Scotland Yardie by Joseph Samuels

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival has announced a last-minute change to its planned events for its 2017 Festival weekend in Kendal (13th – 15th October).

Unfortunately, post his busy New York Comic Con schedule, writer Peter Milligan, who was really looking forward to the event (and whose new Dan Dare comic launches this week) has taken ill and is unable to attend.

[I’m] “really sorry but I won’t be attending The Lakes,” Peter told his followers on Twitter. “With my recent epilepsy issues I have to be a bit mindful of me ‘elf…” also joking: “I’ll be able to fight The Grim Reaper off. But it will be a messy fight, with a lot of snot, crumpled tissues, and pathetic spluttering.”

“I hope the show is a huge success.”

Joseph Samuels. Photo courtesy Joseph Samuels

Replacing him in the line-up on Saturday afternoon at 3.00pm (Screen Two, the Brewery Arts Centre) will be artist Joseph Samuels, co-creator of the Knockabout Comics-published graphic novel Scotland Yardie with writer Bobby Joseph.

Joseph is credited as one of the most popular comic artists to grace the pages of Skank Magazine and Black Eye. He is also the co-creator of the popular Afro Kid comic strip on vice.com.

In Scotland Yardie, with institutionalised racism at an all-time high, the Metropolitan Police embark on their yearly drive to recruit more ethnic people in the police force. With little or, no success they bring over Jamaica’s most feared policeman – Scotland Yardie, a ganja smoking, no-nonsense bad bwoy cop who breaks all the rules to enforce his own harsh sense of justice.

But what happens when cultures clash? Can the average criminal handle the street-wise Jamaican Lethal Weapon rolling through downtown Brixton? Will south London ever be the same again?

With his reluctant partner P.C Ackee-Saltfish, Scotland Yardie embarks on an adventure that deals with the disappearing drug trade in Brixton, corruption, the death of innocent people at the hands of racist cops, assassinated cats, immigration fears, and the emergence of the addictive blue chicken!

“Scotland Yardie” is written by the voice of urban UK comic books, Bobby Joseph. He is credited as the creator of the cult, comic classics Skank Magazine and Black Eye. He has written satirical pieces for Vice.com, Loaded Magazine, The Voice newspaper, BBC1’s Lenny in Pieces and Radio 4. He is also credited on the BBC website as instrumental in featuring some of the “first comics by black creators featuring black characters.” His prose work includes the novel Skank: The World’s Most Dangerous Comic Book. He is a huge supporter of meningitis vaccination.

“When I first created Scotland Yardie, he was more of a caricature, a satire of all those anti-heroes that we have known and loved from movies and literature,” Bobby told Orbital Comics in an interview.”There was no depth, or hidden layers to the character. He came. He kicked ass. He left. He was a force of nature. Personally, I wasn’t sure he would’ve worked in a longer narrative. That said, once I figured out that the story was not about Yardie, but instead his partner PC Ackee-Saltfish, and the melting pot that is multicultural Britain… that’s when the story really clicked for me. It’s Ackee’s journey that we see and explore in the graphic novel. He is the comedy foil to Yardie’s off-the-wall bad bwoy antics.”

Comics Grinder described Scotland Yardie as a “provocative work, set in south London, with a smart and gritty vibe” while Broken Frontier’s Jenny Robins summed up the graphic novel as “a gag-filled contemporary satire with lashings of novelty police brutality, celebrity cameos and really good fried chicken”. Over at Carabas, Scotland Yardie left their reviewer “grinning at every stage before and while reading”.

• You can follow Joseph Samuels on Twitter @joeyellowpencil

• Read the 3AM interview with Bobby Joseph

Please Note: Other panels that were to feature Peter Milligan with 2000AD’s Steve MacManus and others will go ahead as advertised

Book Your Festival Tickets Now!

• Book your tickets for this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival here. This year’s events programme includes live draws, masterclasses, interactive talks and a chance to get up close to the best comic creators in the world!

Web: www.comicartfestival.com | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Podcast | View the Festival Programme on Issuu | Download the Programme (PDF)

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.