Panel Borders: Blue Pills and Sandcastles

By John Freeman on May 21, 2012

Continuing Panel Borders month of shows on international creators, Alex Fitch talks to Swiss graphic novelist Frederik Peeters about his latest comic Sandcastle, published by SelfMadeHero and based on a script by filmmaker Pierre-Oscar Lévy. Sandcastle is a Twilight Zone style narrative about a group of strangers trapped on a beach where time moves at different rates; Alex and Frederik talk about the influence of science fiction on his work and his interest in autobiography which led to his award winning graphic novel Blue Pills – A Positive Love Story.

(The interview was recorded at Gosh! Comics, London in October 2011)

• Panel Borders: Blue Pills and Sandcastles is being streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

There will be no broadcast episode of Panel Borders on Sunday 27th May as Resonance is devoting the day’s programming to a celebration of the 59th birthday of KLF co-founder and musician Bill Drummond.

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.