Pat Mills, launch editor of the famous science fiction comic 2000AD, led the legends of comics who took part in Dundee’s latest Comics Conference.
The annual event, taking place in Dundee University’s Tower Building, also heard a touching tribute to DC Thomson artist Bill Ritchie, who died this year after a 55-year career.
Also speaking were X-Men artist Alan Davis, designer and illustrator Rian Hughes, former Hammer House of Horror editor and Marvel UK Dez Skinn and Manga artist Nana Li.
The involvement of Pat Mills creator of such famous names as Slaine, ABC Warriors and Nemesis the Warlock was a particular coup for organiser Dr Chris Murray, of Dundee University’s English department.
Run as part of the Dundee Literary Festival, which is co-sponsored by The Courier, the conference has an impressive history of attracting top talent such as Warren Ellis, Bryan Talbot, Alan Grant, Gary Erskine and Hunt Emerson. All the creators at Sunday’s event took time to chat with fans and sign or sketch in books.
With Dundee the home of DC Thomson and its famous comics, the event also exhibits historic original art and this year the tribute to Bill Ritchie saw some of his thousands of pages displayed.
With members of the artist’s family there to listen, Bill Graham spoke with emotion about Bill Ritchie’s amazing work and his very recognisable style, as shown by his best-known strip, Baby Crockett.
The artist was particularly proud to have his work in every issue of the Beezer, which ran for 37 years. His career also included many cartoons for newspapers, especially the Weekly News, and he was working on Snooty and Scamp, for the German and Scandanavian markets, until his death in January 2010.
Rian Hughes’ presentation complete with fascinating slides ranged through his comics work and his commercial illustration and graphic design.
Hughes is probably best-known for his art on Dare, the controversial 1980s Dan Dare update written by comics star Grant Morrison, but his wealth of work was astonishing.
As well as work for 2000AD and Marvel comics, Hughes has provided art for book covers and the interior of former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell’s children’s books advertising campaigns and dozens of logos and fonts.
His recent work included the logo for the new Batman and Robin comic, written by Morrison and proving hugely popular all over the world.
Alan Davis who provided the art for writer Alan Moore’s revered stories Marvelman and Captain Britain delved into his creative processes, showing the transition from pencilled art to inks, then colours and speech balloons.SPROING!He expressed a preference for adding his own sound effects, illustrating the point with a panel of “SPROING!” moments as a character catches a spaceship then bounces across a planet.
Dez Skinn is a comics editor whose work spans the decades and such titles as Doctor Who Weekly and Warrior which spawned famous strips like V For Vendetta.
There was plenty of laughter as he described the process of pitching the Hammer Horror comic to the famous studio, showing images from the original “dummy” a mock-up of a comic which he freely described as “rubbish”.
But the magazine, like so many of his other titles, went on to huge success and a place in the hearts of thousands of fans.
The last on the bill was the headliner, Pat Mills, another former DC Thomson man with a long and impressive career in comics.
With a focus on his popular title Requiem Vampire Knight, he spoke of his work in the comics market in France, where the medium is treated far more seriously than in the UK and America.
The Comics Conference saw the launch of Studies in Comics, an academic journal being produced by Dr Murray, who explained the study of comics as a medium and art form is increasingly recognised in the western world.
Dr Murray said there was a lot of interest in Mr Ritchie.
He said, “It was stressed that a lot of people in their lifetime’s work in relative obscurity.
“However, when they are highlighted like this you see how difficult it is to pull off a humour strip, which is what he did consistently for 40 years.”
Dr Murray said it had been a “day of highlights.”
He said, “A lot of people who have been here before said it was one of the best line-ups we’ve had, with the glittering stars of the comic world.
“The feeling is that there is still a massive amount of |interest in the medium and we’re very happy to be associated by the literary festival.”
Literary festival visitors also flocked to see controversial author Iain Banks and local writer Alastair Urquhart, who related his experiences in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.
Festival director Anna Day said the event had gone “incredibly well.”
She said, “Everything was well attended and all the speakers lived up to and exceeded expectations. There was a real buzz to the whole event.”
She added, “When people come out of an event you can tell how it’s gone.
“They are talking about it and want books signed, so it was a fantastic four days.”
Ms Day said that the festival’s many local events had been a huge success.
She said, “People wouldn’t stop asking Alastair Urquhart questions and it ran over by half an hour.
“People were in tears it was such a moving event.”
She added, “It’s great to bring in tourists to the city, but for the festival to succeed it has to appeal to your core audience of Dundonians, which it does.”
The Comics Conference saw the launch of Studies in Comics, an academic journal being produced by Dr Murray, who explained the study of comics as a medium and art form is increasingly recognised in the western world.
Dr Murray said there was a lot of interest in Mr Ritchie.
He said, “It was stressed that a lot of people in their lifetime’s work in relative obscurity.
“However, when they are highlighted like this you see how difficult it is to pull off a humour strip, which is what he did consistently for 40 years.”
Dr Murray said it had been a “day of highlights.”
He said, “A lot of people who have been here before said it was one of the best line-ups we’ve had, with the glittering stars of the comic world.
“The feeling is that there is still a massive amount of |interest in the medium and we’re very happy to be associated by the literary festival.”
Literary festival visitors also flocked to see controversial author Iain Banks and local writer Alastair Urquhart, who related his experiences in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.
Festival director Anna Day said the event had gone “incredibly well.”
She said, “Everything was well attended and all the speakers lived up to and exceeded expectations. There was a real buzz to the whole event.”
She added, “When people come out of an event you can tell how it’s gone.
“They are talking about it and want books signed, so it was a fantastic four days.”
Ms Day said that the festival’s many local events had been a huge success.
She said, “People wouldn’t stop asking Alastair Urquhart questions and it ran over by half an hour.
“People were in tears it was such a moving event.”
She added, “It’s great to bring in tourists to the city, but for the festival to succeed it has to appeal to your core audience of Dundonians, which it does.”
The Comics Conference saw the launch of Studies in Comics, an academic journal being produced by Dr Murray, who explained the study of comics as a medium and art form is increasingly recognised in the western world.
Dr Murray said there was a lot of interest in Mr Ritchie.
He said, “It was stressed that a lot of people in their lifetime’s work in relative obscurity.
“However, when they are highlighted like this you see how difficult it is to pull off a humour strip, which is what he did consistently for 40 years.”
Dr Murray said it had been a “day of highlights.”
He said, “A lot of people who have been here before said it was one of the best line-ups we’ve had, with the glittering stars of the comic world.
“The feeling is that there is still a massive amount of |interest in the medium and we’re very happy to be associated by the literary festival.”
Literary festival visitors also flocked to see controversial author Iain Banks and local writer Alastair Urquhart, who related his experiences in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.
Festival director Anna Day said the event had gone “incredibly well.”
She said, “Everything was well attended and all the speakers lived up to and exceeded expectations. There was a real buzz to the whole event.”
She added, “When people come out of an event you can tell how it’s gone.
“They are talking about it and want books signed, so it was a fantastic four days.”
Ms Day said that the festival’s many local events had been a huge success.
She said, “People wouldn’t stop asking Alastair Urquhart questions and it ran over by half an hour.
“People were in tears it was such a moving event.”
She added, “It’s great to bring in tourists to the city, but for the festival to succeed it has to appeal to your core audience of Dundonians, which it does.”