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British women in comics
After blogging about the absence of women in the line-up of the Kapow! comic book convention I had a number of lively discussions about it. I also discovered that Mark Millar twittered about this issue back on the 7th of December 2010, when someone else pointed out there were no female guests. His response, over two tweets: You realise this is being put together by 5 women, don’t you? The reason the comic guests are mostly male is because the biggest names in UK comics are male. Who is the big british female pro they’re missing here? I’m amused by ‘the comic guests are mostly male’ bit, when the guests…
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Shadoweyes
During my recent overview of last year’s graphic novel releases for the Salon Futura podcast, I read a great deal of positive buzz about a young adult title called Shadoweyes, written and drawn by Ross Campbell. I decided to order it and give it a read, and I’m certainly glad I did. In many ways Shadoweyes is your prototypical superhero genesis story. Seventeen-year old Scout Montana is an angsty vegan who lives in a city called Dranac at some period in the future. Dranac is pleasingly reminiscent of massive city sprawls depicted in the likes of Metropolis, or 2000AD‘s Mega-City One. Scout and her best friend Kyisha live in a…
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Salon Futura podcast
Thanks to Cheryl Morgan for inviting me to be part of her online magazine, Salon Futura, this month. I participated in a podcast in which we discussed the graphic novels and/or comic book series that were published during 2010, most of which are eligible for the Hugo for Best Graphic Story. This is a relatively new Hugo Award, so this is an excellent initiative by Cheryl to boost the profile of the many fantastic publications that could be nominated. My fellow comic book enthusiasts on the podcast are Cheryl, Joe Gordon of the Forbidden Planet International blog and David Monteith of Geek Syndicate. I’m sure there are some outstanding comics…
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smile, get girls reading comics
Over the past year I’ve increased the amount of comic books/graphic novels I’m reading. Partly because I’m writing coming books now, and also because it’s such a fun, diverse medium. There are so many great titles being published to suit all tastes. When I was a girl I was not encouraged to read comics – I wasn’t discouraged either, but I didn’t know another girl my age who loved them the way I did. I’ve no idea where I got the notion that ‘comic books were for boys’, but it was something I understood. I didn’t agree, but I knew that my liking comic books was not the norm. It…
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Kapow!, no women
I got an email from a regular commentator on my blog pointing me to the new comic book convention that Mark Millar is organising this coming April in the UK called Kapow! ComicCon. He hinted that I might discover something missing from the event. Well, yes the omission is pretty glaring to me: not one woman among the forty guests. This is strange. It’s not like there are no top-class women working in comics. Anyone who suggests otherwise is not paying attention. For instance, I’d recommend reading the excellent ‘She Has No Head‘ column by Kelly Thompson on Comic Book Resources for plenty of examples of the fine work women…
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the snow convention
We had more snow in the early hours of the morning, but it made getting around Wexford somehow easier today. Last night the short walk back to our guest house was a little tricky due to all the ice. Today a few brave souls dared the snow to join our coterie of sf/fantasy fans, although most had to head back in the afternoon before it froze again. The picture above is from the official opening of the new sf/fantasy/horror book store Alien8 in Wexford by the town’s native son, novelist Eoin Colfer. Over 200 people turned up on the day despite the snow (I couldn’t even squeeze in!). Alien8 also…
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not at Bristol, alas
This weekend the Bristol International Comic & Small Press Expo is taking place and I can’t attend, alas. Luckily, my compatriots in crime, Rob Curley and Stephen Daly, will be at Bristol, giving away preview issues of Róisín Dubh. Drop by the Atomic Diner stand, say hello to them and claim your copy! As long as the Icelandic Ash Miasma doesn’t change direction of course. It’s like a fickle supervillian who specialises in ruining holidays. “Ha! You are grounded! Fear my engine-clogging abilities! Cry over your unsigned collectible art!” I’m inundated with work at the moment, and tomorrow I have to attend the AGM of the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters…
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horrible happenings
I’m in London at the moment, but I’ll be heading to Heathrow for Eastercon later today. Some time after 2pm this afternoon I’m back on “Arts Brew” on the Internet Radio Z103, and I’ll be discussing the forthcoming Cúirt International Festival of Literature in Galway, among other things. World Horror Convention in Brighton last weekend was tremendous fun, if somewhat exhausting. The samples of the Roisin Dubh comic book arrived just in time for the convention on Friday morning, and it was a real joy to hold the 10-page preview. The panel I moderated about Women in Horror was excellent: our panellists were articulate and the audience asked questions and…
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graphic preview
I’ve established a web site for the Róisín Dubh graphic novel I’m working on. I’ve been blogging intermittently about the project for the past couple of months. There’s also a twitter feed and a Facebook fan page, if you like either of those media. Artist Stephen Daly has been working flat-out, lettering and making tweaks to the final cover of our ten-page preview issue. It went to the printers on Tuesday, and I’ll be taking copies of it with me next week to World Horror Convention and then on to Odyssey 2010, so those of you attending the events should be able to get a sneak-peek I’m looking forward to…
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podcasts and plans
The podcast of my story, “The Tamga” is now available as issue 178 on Pseudopod, read by the talented Cheyenne Wright. It’s always a thrill to have my work podcast, because it gets it out to such a wide audience. Plus, the Pseudopod team produce excellent recordings. Cheyenne does a great job with the story. He’s not only a talented voice actor, he’s also the colourist for the fabulous web comic Girl Genius, which is one of my personal favourites. My own graphic novel project, Róisín Dubh, is proceeding well. Last week I had a meeting in Dublin with Rob Curley of Atomic Diner and Sub City fame, as well…
