Ahead of the free SEQUENT’ULL Comic Art Festival taking place in Hull on Saturday 31st August 2024, organiser and fellow creative Sean Azzopardi chats with guests at the event, continuing with independent comic creator and publisher Douglas Noble…

We set off at dusk, as a night climb is the only way to reach Douglas Noble’s perch without being spotted. The crooked building that he calls home, squatting as it does by the peak of Ben Torhill, is inaccessible to all but the most dedicated of climbers, and during the day jealous eagles guard their nests around that craggy peak. A number of times my companions and I, Sean Azzopardi, who is definitely writing this himself, almost slipped among the broken bottles and bright gorse that lined the steep way upward.

Did we regret our climb? Often. Would we have had it any other way? I cannot say for certain, but this did seem like a lot of trouble to go to. 

Eventually we reached the top and there, peered through the lit windows of his home. The bricks were dusty with some sort of soot, and it smeared our hands and clothes. What had he been burning here? Making our way, window to window, we eventually caught sight of Noble, sitting in a great leather chair in front of a fire, drinking what seemed to be the mostly forgotten 1990s energy drink, Indigo. As we looked, he seemed to freeze. Had he somehow heard us at his window, I wondered, tearing open the little blue salt envelope of a packet of Salt N Shake? Could he really have heard us arrive? I shook the packet, ruminating. 

Suddenly, his face was at the window, glowering out at us. I was frightened, but I knew my (Sean Azzopardi’s) duty. I stammered as I said it: “Could you talk a little about yourself and your work.”

Noble’s face betrayed nothing. The flickering fire behind him maybe loaned a fleeting expression, but it was not one that I could read. I saw him reach out an arm and at the other side of the building a door swung open. I still do not know how he did this, and it haunts me. Some mechanism, I hope.

We entered the building and found his room again. He was back in the chair, regarding the fire once more. The room was stacked with books and papers of all sorts. I even saw comics there, though naturally I looked away. I asked the question again and saw knuckles flash white around the bottle of Indigo, a refreshing blend of natural juices, with added taurine. He grunted and made a gesture toward the fire. 

I looked, and saw many things: issues of his anthology Strip For Me – Horrible Folk, Got Your Nose, An Awful Imp. I saw issues of Unfinished Fights, his occasional fight comic with Paul Jon Milne, the wild man of the northern crags. I saw comics in the flames from the series that he curated, A Pocket Chiller – comics by the cream of British talent, in a spooky sort of way.

And there too, in the flames, I saw my own name (Sean Azzopardi, which is me who is writing this) – Black Leather, Built of Blood and Bricks. I saw The Rotted Note in the fire, which I have drawn, yet never read. It shook me.

Finally, in the smoke and in the flame – Dark & Golden.

I found myself unable to regard the fire for a moment longer. Looking to one side a caught sight of a number of folders, of great leather-bound notebooks. There were slips of paper attached, and I gathered that this is what Noble was working on. The significance escapes me, in many of these, and yet I have not stopped thinking about them. What could “UF4” signify? “GEF”? What is the meaning of “Against the Grain”? A ticket with the word “Guest” written a thousand times?  It was all too unnatural, all too uncanny.

I turned back toward Noble and once more asked a question.

“Why comics, what are the core reasons for working with this medium?”

He looked askance at me and threw a bound copy of The Lies of the Saints into the fire. Suddenly, the flame flared brightly, illuminating the whole room with wild shadow. Perhaps, in some way, that was his answer. The flames subsided to a warm glow again. I decided to try again.

“So much creative time is absorbed by engaging with social media, conventions and other publicity tasks. While necessary to a degree, is it worth it?”

Noble only laughed, and threw the bottle of Indigo into the roaring fire. Again there was a flash of light; a bright, high pitched sizzle as the plastic folded in on itself. 

“Do you remember,” Noble said, without looking at me, “Philip Bond did the advert for Indigo.”

I was startled at the sound of his voice. I (Sean Azzopardi) knew that he was from the northern provinces, but had not expected such a guttural, unrefined voice. It seemed to come from some deep, abandoned well. Even so, I was not to be put off.

“Do you feel connected to a comics scene in any way?” I asked. I expected another derisory laugh from him, but there was nothing, No sound. Again, only the flickering light of the fire on his face seemed to give him any expression at all. It was nothing, and yet everything. Somehow, I sensed that he felt a deep connection, not only to the comics of today, but also the great and terrible history of the medium. Certainly, the reams of notes of comics history at his elbow seemed to bear it out. Could Dark & Golden have come from a hand disconnected from the world around him? I wondered if my companions shared this opinion, but look about, I could see no-one else.

I decided to try again: “Could you recommend some current creators that are making good stuff?”

“That was your last question,” Noble said, a warning tone in his voice. Yet he gestured again to another pile that had yet been untouched by the fire. I recognised some of the names as people I knew, and would soon see again. I told myself that I must tell them all of this most unusual encounter. The names: Stafford, Gordon, Geesin. White, Smith. Again, Milne, the inky terror. There were names there unfamiliar too: Duff, Greenhigh, Malander, the Colpitt sisters. 

Noble was again staring into the fire. Somehow, another bottle of Indigo had made its way into his hand. He did not look back at me (Sean Azzopardi), though I gently coughed a number of times to get his attention. Eventually, I tried again: 

“Have you visited Hull before?”

There was a great rushing of air and the sound of many wings, and suddenly the fire was gone. All was darkness about me for the longest time. I felt as though I was sinking, sinking into silt, and mud, and dark, warmthless water.

I blinked, and slowly became aware of the voices of my companions. The sounds of supper being prepared. A flint starting a fire. Above me, the world coalesced into the bright orange of a familiar tent. I (SA, etc) was back at our camp.

I stumbled out into the rapidly dusking air below Ben Torhill, wild eyed, my hair uncouth and haloed above me. My companions, all ready to climb, stopped and stared at me. 

“There will be no questions today.” I heard myself say, and my voice sounded as though it came from some deep, abandoned well.

• Check out the Dark & Golden catalogue here

• SEQUENT’ULL Comic Art Festival 2024
11.00am – 6.00pm Saturday 31st August 2024 | Free Entry
Jubilee Central, 62 King Edward Street, Hull HU1 3SQ
• Facebook Event Page

Independent comic artists and publishers, selling comics graphic novels and prints.

Exhibitors Include: Breakdown Press, Colossive Press, Footprints Workers CoOp, Michelle Freeman, Sarah Gordon, Gareth Hopkins, Jake Machen, Shane Melisse, Douglas Noble, Alex Potts, Scarborough Zine Library, Mark Stafford, Lucy Sullivan, James Webster Sharp, Dan White and Lilly Williams

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.

Categories: British Comics, Comic Creator Interviews, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Features

Tags: Dark & Golden, Douglas Noble, downthetubes News, Interview, Sean Azzopardi, SEQUENT’ULL