Comic Boom on Panel Borders

By John Freeman on 16 April 2009

Continuing their month long look at comic book publishing Panel Borders Alex Fitch and Duncan Nott talk to Mark Waid, the editor-in-chief of US publisher Boom! Studios for this week’s Strip! radio show on Resonance FM.

A relatively new comic book company Boom! is attracting new creators, veterans of the medium and Hollywood screenwriters alike to pen their tales, including UK-based creators such as Alan Grant (whose titles for the company include Jeremiah Harm), Dan Abnett (Warhammer 40,000), Kev Hopgood (Warhammer 40,000), Roger Langridge (The Muppet Show, unfortunately a title not available in the UK for licensing reasons) and many others.

Waid himself has been writing comics such as Fantastic Four, Captain America and The Flash for over twenty years and Alex, Duncan and Mark talk about the variety of genres Boom! publish, their methods for attracting new readers and their successes so far in publishing comics in print and on the internet.

• Strip! is repeated at 11.30pm on Sunday 19th April on Resonance 104.4 FM (London), streamed at www.resonancefm.com, with extended podcast tonight (Thursday 16th April) at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as 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.