Freight Books releases limited edition of IDP:2043 featuring Irvine Welsh, Pat MIlls, Mary Talbot

By John Freeman on October 30, 2014

Freight Books has the perfect Christmas present for lovers of graphic novels – a limited run of only 70 copies of IDP: 2043, signed by the entire ‘dream team’ of contributors who include Irvine Welsh, Barroux, Pat Mills, Mary Talbot and Denise Mina.

In IDP: 2043 (IDP short for internally displaced persons) a stellar cast of British and European writers and artists have created a high-octane, white-knuckle ride of a thriller and a haunting vision of one possible future for us all.

As part of the Stripped programme of graphic novels at the 2013 Edinburgh International Book Festival, which was supported by the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund, a number of authors and artists were commissioned to create a brand new graphic novel.

Published by Glasgow-based Freight Books, the resulting story, IDP: 2043, imagines a Scotland in 2043. Melting ice caps have caused sea levels to rise. Across the world populations have abandoned low-lying cities to create new sprawling townships on high ground. Scarce resources have created a vast social chasm. The rich have access to everything; technology, healthcare and power, while the poor have nothing.

Cait McNeil is a presenter on reality TV hit, Sky Farm. Filmed in a pioneering, hi-tech tower, she’s the ‘bit of rough’ from the shanty towns that complements urbane co-presenters and Sky Farm residents, Danny and Jools.

But something is wrong. The hybrid, genetically re-engineered livestock developed by Sky Farm’s scientists are going berserk. And someone has just brutally murdered Cait’s boyfriend.

Who is the mysterious Gartman and what are his plans for Cait? What are the secrets in Cait’s past that have placed her in mortal danger?

Edited by crime writer and graphic novelist, Denise Mina, contributors include the celebrated French graphic novelist and illustrator Barroux, Costa Award winner Mary Talbot and artist Kate Charlesworth, ‘godfather of British comics’ and creator of 2000AD Pat Mills and graphic novelist Hannah Berry, enfant terrible of Scottish letters and author of Trainspotting Irvine Welsh and graphic artist Dan McDaid, graphic novelists Adam Murphy and Will Morris.

• The IDP: 2043 Special Edition is only £40 and can only be bought through the Freight Books website here

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.