In a pair of recordings looking at how comic creators are inspired by genre and inspiration, guest presenter and comics laureate Hannah Berry talks to Arts Foundation comics prize finalists Esther McManus, Danny Noble, Jess Taylor and Zara Slattery in a panel discussion at The Cartoon Museum, London; plus Alex Fitch talks to Garth Ennis about writing Preacher, The Boys and more recent work, in an interview recorded at this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival.
Esther, Danny, Jess and Zara were selected from a longlist of nominated comics artists as finalists for the first AFFA in Comics, as announced here on the AFFA site. The recipient of the £10,000 award will be announced at the Arts Foundation Futures Awards on the 27th January 2020 at the ICA where all runners-up will also receive £1,000 awards towards their practice.
The award was judged by comics artists John Allison, Hannah Berry, currently Comics Laureate, and Woodrow Phoenix.
“The four finalists all draw from different schools of cartooning,” Allison noted, but each exemplifies the greatest strength of good comics – the easy communication of complex ideas.”
Writer Garth Ennis at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2019. Photo: Chris Payne for LICAF
Garth Ennis has been writing comics since 1989, his credits including Preacher, The Boys (both adapted for television), Hitman and Crossed, as well as successful runs on The Punisher and Fury for Marvel. He’s particularly known for his military fiction, including the titles War Stories, Battlefields, Sara and a revival of Johnny Red, the classic British character from the weekly comic, Battle, for Titan Comics.
Recent work includes A Walk Through Hell and Out of the Blue for Aftershock Comics, and “Code Pru” in the anthology Cinema Purgatorio, published by Avatar Press.
• Panel Borders: Genre and Inspiration airs at 5.30pm Wednesday November 6th 2019, repeated 2.30am Friday 8th November, Resonance 104.4 FM and DAB (London) / broadcast streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com
• The AFFA in Comics 2020 has taken over the ‘In-Focus’ section of the Cartoon Museum gallery until 1st December 2019, featuring both original and printed work
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.
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