Panel Borders: Books of Magic and Spirits of the Earth

By John Freeman on October 21, 2010

Continuing radio show Panel Borders month of shows looking at horror and dark fantasy comics, in a pair of interviews recorded at this year’s British International Comics Show in Birmingham, Alex Fitch talks to artists Charles Vess and Peter Gross about their work.

Charles is the World Fantasy Award winning illustrator of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust (adapted into a film in 2007), two memorable issues of Sandman featuring William Shakespeare and an unusual graphic novel that saw Marvel Comics’ most famous character visit Scotland in Spider-Man: Spirits of the Earth.

Peter was the main artist (and later writer) of the much loved American fantasy series The Books of Magic which was probably was an influence on Harry Potter and more recently has worked on Vertigo titles Lucifer and The Unwritten with Mike Carey.

• Panel Borders: Books of Magic and Spirits of the Earth broadcasts at 5.00pm on 21st October 2010 on Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com after transmission

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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.