Includes Flake by Matthew Dooley, Page 45’s Comicbook Of The Month for July 2020. Please click on that link to see previous CBOTMs, read their reviews by clicking on their covers, learn more about it, and / or sign up…

Flake h/c (£18-99, Vintage / Cape) by Matthew Dooley.

“Every significant moment of Howard’s life had happened in Dobbiston.”

This we learn as an ice-cream van sails through the stars at the beginning of ‘Howard’s Cosmos’, otherwise known as Chapter 2.

“All the forgettable ones had too.”

FLAKE is as smart as it is delicious, as it is very, very British.

I’m going to bring out the big guns immediately and reference both Raymond Briggs and Alan Bennett when it comes to the quality, the cast, their outlook, their environment, and their quotidian observations about their parochial environment: pride in your local history, the surprising complexities in your family’s history, and the strength of absurdities which can come to dominate any life; the traps therein.

The lateral thinking and succinct wit of Tom Gauld flow freely too. I hope I’m successfully selling this to you.

Visually, there remain stylistic influences from Chris Ware (the facial forms and rendering, the colouring, the occasional boxed layout, and the odd  “AND SO…) and there’s even a bit of Ted McKeever in an elderly lady’s loose-toothed mouth. She should probably have a quick floss.

 

 

The central cast consists of Howard, his wife, his best mate Jasper and Jasper’s new employee, Alex.

Like this father before him, Howard is an ice-cream van man. That’s what we used to call them. A veritable local landmark like the lollipop lady, neither were permanent fixtures, more roaming delights. Both were enormously treasured but the sudden appearance of one – preceded by their iconic jingle-jangle eliciting an inevitable Pavlovian drool – was a little bit more thrilling than the other, I own.

Howard has become a master of his craft, with all the local knowledge necessary and subtle skills:

“Identifying the best places to stop. Sensing the optimum moment to switch on his signature tune.
“His ears were acutely attuned to the sound of children laughing.
“And, more importantly, the sound of children crying.”

Unfortunately, Howard’s finances are dwindling and this summer there’s been a bit of a downturn which Howard at first dismissed as one of the vagaries of his inherited trade. It’s not.

It heralds the Coastal North-West English Ice Cream Wars: like Sicily-on-Sea.

Ice cream vans which had for generations been peacefully patrolling their claim-staked family territories range from the familiar and more mundane Mr Creamy and Barry’s Ices to Good Golly Miss Lolly and – my favourite – Walt Whipman. But now one sly Tony Augustus has emerged, seemingly from nowhere, and his entente ain’t so cordiale.

Tony was born of one of the Families, but not into it, and this has given his quite the chip on his fishy shoulder: it’s made him far more ambitious. His multiple vans have begun encroaching on others’ routes, swallowing them whole like some Great White Shark of the suburban seas. And there’s a reason why he wants Howard’s more than anyone else’s…

 

 

If Howard is FLAKE’s naif, then his best mate Jasper is the story’s idiosyncratic buffoon. Jasper works in the local museum, selling both tickets and – for an extra 50p – museum maps. For fear of confusing those easily overwhelmed with detail, the maps are very clear and extremely concise, boldly noting the most salient features: “museum”, “car park, “gift shop” and “entrance”. In order to acquire a copy, you’d have to have successfully navigated at least two of those already.

Like Howard (and, it transpires, Alex), Jasper enjoys his daily crossword. They both have plenty of time on their hands and their daily routine includes an 11am exchange of answers. They also like local quizzes.

“Jasper had mixed experiences with quizzes and game shows.
“This included a catastrophic appearance on Countdown.
“Jasper boldly opened with a nine letter word…
“Iliterate”.

Too funny!

Jasper’s overriding priorities, however, are his pet peeves or causes, each as irrelevant to any sane human being as they are uncompromisingly and passionately pursued.

“Jasper had worked in the museum for the last twenty years. Aside from a six month stay in a French prison… for trying to convert continental road signs from metric to imperial.”

… Then painting his results on their signposts.

So he’s averse neither to direct confrontation nor overt vandalism, which may well come in handy during the imminent North-West English Ice Cream Wars. (It doesn’t.)

All of which is but the tip of the iceberg which finds our protagonist, right at the beginning, standing silently and solitarily on top of his own ice cream van, buffeted by the waves and submerged in the sea.

 

 

There are so many set pieces to enjoy on your journey, including the local quiz night, a saunter to the seaside, and particularly the three old ladies of ‘The Black Veil Club’, Maud, Jean and Frances. They’re not actually wearing veils, but they’re dressed for the part; nor are they surrounded by flies, though they could be.

Their hobby – their calling, their vocation…? – is to attend funerals, not to mourn the deceased, but to gossip about them, while rating each occasion on score cards according to turnout, eulogy and music.

“A funeral is a fine barometer of a life well lead.”
“And this is the turnout of a womanising drunk.”

But don’t be deceived, for these ladies do pay attention and have acquired much local knowledge over the years. You’ll be pleased that you listened, though you won’t have to strain your ears, for they are not backwards in coming forwards with their mid-service pronouncements.

“People these days don’t have the common decency to be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.”

True, actually.

SLH

Buy Flake h/c and read the Page 45 review here

Luther Arkwight: The Adventures Of Luther Arkwright & Heart Of Empire s/c (£35-99, Dark Horse) by Bryan Talbot.

Here we go, then, first with THE ADVENTURES OF LUTHER ARKWRIGHT:

A damning indictment of man’s ceaseless inhumanity to man in the form of oppression, warfare and retribution: its attempts to justify war in the name of God or country; its failure to learn or advance except in more effective means of destruction; individuals’ consistent failure in power to live up to their promises made in revolution, and all the endemic, sorry subterfuge behind it all.

Bryan’s knowledge of political history is matched only by his command in communicating its lessons, however they may be ignored by our lessers, and for a work which is essentially science fiction involving multiple parallel worlds, precognition and psychometry, this has its feet planted firmly in British history and on its very streets as Luther Arkwright is dispatched to a key parallel world in which Britain never succeeded in unshackling itself from its Cromwellian past. There he must uncover the Disruptor agents that have infiltrated key positions in the world’s governments and in particular that of repressionist, Puritan Britain, marshal the underground Royalist forces and start a great big fucking revolution to uncover the legendary Firefrost and prevent pan-dimensional Armageddon. I know that it’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it.

 

 

This is a work that is rich in texture, vast in scope and charged with sexual energy. It’s also incredibly dense in its truest sense, for it could have been expanded into four times its length with no filler whatsoever. Instead, by weaving Arkwright’s complex history through the threads of the main narrative, by gradually lacing the present and particular with what is known of the parallels’ past, and by excavating as they go what few clues the guardians of central and stable Para 00:00:00 have of the mysterious Firefrost, their role and their goal in locating that ultimate weapon of mass destruction is slowly revealed. It really is intoxicating, as is the central climax of orgasmic satori when Arkwright rises from his own ashes – a phoenix primed with pure impressionistic poetry – which by contrast is allowed to explode across the pages in all its lush allusion. For anyone else this would be their magnum opus, not their opening salvo.

 

 

As indicated, Talbot has much to say about governments and war. The Firefrost, as its name implies, is an entity of opposites, a conjugation capable of destruction and creation, death and rebirth: the ultimate weapon of mass destruction designed to preserve life “until inevitably – as with any deterrent – it was activated”. Concise and to the point, I think you’ll agree.

Nathaniel Cromwell, Lord Protector and head of the Church of England, is an exceedingly ugly creation. A puritanical preacher, he rages against sin yet fornicates in secret, forcing himself on young royalist virgins, bound and gagged in the dark. Riddled with venereal disease, he is rabid in public whilst, in private, deliriously drunk; he is plagued by his father’s abuse which left him sexually disfigured. Even the revolutionary Queen Anne has a ruthless side that will take you by surprise – or maybe not if you’ve read HEART OF EMPIRE. Just like HEART OF EMPIRE (a sequel of sorts) this shares its Shakespearian elements contrasting affairs of state with backstreet bawdiness, and this has an awful lot of omens. Bryan has a worryingly broad and vivid imagination when it comes to the hundreds of worldwide catastrophes visiting the other parallel worlds! Here too are the Hogarthian references as you’ll see down in Cheapside overlooked (I think) by Westminster, as foul-mouthed farter Harry Fairfax (again, some relation to Sir Thomas) questions the meaning of it all.

 

 

It’s also in Cheapside especially that the true majesty of the art – until now smothered and smudged beyond all recognition by a printing process inadequate to the task – really shines in this new shooting. The sheer detail on every page is remarkable from the exterior architecture with its intricate cross-hatching to the textures of a library crammed full of foliage, cloth and cultural carvings, and the final battle is epic. Steeped in British legend and lore (Boudicca, Britannia, George and the Dragon…), the World War fighter planes are dwarfed by futuristic helicarriers which hover in the sky like mighty, metal, military toads defying the laws of gravity. Absolute carnage!

October 2008 marks the 30th anniversary of the first pages seeing print in one form or another, and I think what may be most remarkable about this is that Talbot had the drive, ambition and courage back then to embark on it at all. That he then managed to successfully complete such a complex and painstakingly rendered grand narrative of sequential art which the British and American markets at the time were neither ready for nor willing to pay properly for, paving the way for future sales and showing what could and should be done, leaves us as progressive retailers (and others as subsequent comicbook creators), I believe, substantially in the great man’s debt.

 

 

Please note: readers of editions earlier than 2007 really won’t recognise what they see here: there are mountains whose delineation never made it onto the printed page and stars will explode in a night that was previously pitch-black – or rather bland grey. For many comicbook readers this is their favourite graphic novel of all time, and they’ll now need another copy to see what it should have looked like.

Talbot wrote to me:

Yes, I was trying to do a Hogarthian scene – though it’s not based on any specific one. I just looked at the page in the Czech edition with a magnifying glass and there’s a lot of stuff in there I’d forgotten – me at the drawing board looking out of the top left window, a woman hanging washing in the BG of the next window along, people pissing and fornicating in the narrow alleyway, an old guy sitting on the steps crushing body lice with his thumbnails (as seen in a plate from The Harlot’s Progress – the prison scene). And I noticed, for the first time, not having gone through this edition religiously, that Vaclav Dort, the publisher, has even unobtrusively translated the graffiti on the walls. I think that the tower is one from the old St Paul’s cathedral – the one that burned down on this parallel in the great fire of London 1666. You can see it two pages earlier in the rooftop scene. That scene is based on a Doré print – ‘cept in that it’s the new St Paul’s in the BG. Likewise before the Battle of London when Rose walks up to Westminster Abbey, it has the domes capping the side buttresses that were replaced on our parallel a couple of hundred years ago.

Best,
Bryan

And now our second feature this evening, HEART OF EMPIRE:

 

 

Highly ambitious, very British and totally engrossing work, this uses all the clarity and majesty Talbot found for THE TALE OF ONE BAD RAT.

It is, in fact, thoroughly Shakespearean both in scope and treatment, alternating between high matters of state and street-level bawdiness whilst emphasising the connection through social and sexual decadence amongst the aristocracy and their entourage, and revolutionary aspirations and individual courage in the no-go areas of London. Then there’s the dilemma raging between the individual and his/her role in society, the missing kin, the moment of upheaval and the looming cataclysm – all traditional elements of Elizabethan theatre; it might be stretching it a bit but the parallel worlds could be looked at as foreign territory and the science fantasy element as replacing the role of magic.

 

 

As to the story itself, 23 years ago Luther Arkwright saved this alternate reality, leaving behind him a wife, two children and an ambitious empire whose heart is Albion (England), and which has by now conquered most of the known world outside of America. Only the Vatican is allowed a modicum of independence. This world is very much a contemporary of ours – the two US reporters make that clear – but so much of it is Victoria in extremis: the all-consuming, rapaciously greedy imperialism, the vast state expenditure on monument (Talbot’s art here, particularly for the creation of the neo-Crystal Palace and its environs, is awe-inspiring, right up there with Guy Davis but with his own distinctive light and clarity), the seemingly unassailable, matriarchal monarchy, slavery bolstered by racism and apartheid, the hypocritical sexual values forced upon the commoners yet flouted by the well-to-do, flaunting both their bosoms and their catamites. Some sciences have advanced whilst others languish, superstitious prophets and quacks maintaining weight amongst the court, madhouses still the destination of the unstable or politically undesirable.

From the very first page looking out through a Roman window, with its overripe fruit cleaved by a knife, the waste, decadence and latent violence is made patently clear.

 

 

Talbot’s anti-authoritarian credentials are well documented (see ALICE IN SUNDERLAND’s substantial post-script), and this work has at its heart a total disgust for inequality, control and corruption. Machinations are rife. Brutality is common. Sycophancy permeates the court. But even so Talbot is not so dismissive as to avoid counter-arguments, and his strength as a writer shines through in his portrayal of the protagonist, for the princess at the heart of the story has a journey to make, and as the story opens she is as cold and aloof as the empire but has made use of its wealth, power and her own talent to build an astoundingly beautiful city, replete with buildings, squares and vistas rarely seen since the Renaissance, and on a scale we don’t even aspire to any longer.

The resources of the many squandered by the few on self-aggrandising, imperialist spectacle…? Well of course, but it’s more than a little tempting to mourn such architectural planning and achievement, especially after Talbot’s pen lines.

The book also boasts some fine Alan Moore-ish LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN mock endpapers, a great deal of explicit sex and I wasn’t kidding about the bawdy humour, so be warned. Okay, back to the plot and an interdimensional apocalypse approaches…

Haha!

Quick reminder that you can find Page 45’s Bryan Talbot interview in our website’s FUN & RESOUCES section. There are several paragraphs there relevant to this including a couple of behind-the-scenes secrets.

SLH

Buy Luther Arkwight: The Adventures Of Luther Arkwright & Heart Of Empire s/c and read the Page 45 review here

Silver Surfer Omnibus vol 1 (£89-99, Marvel) by Stan Lee & John Buscema.

“Poor, pathetic creatures! So riddled with fear… with gnawing distrust!
“What monumental irony… that they who rule a planet — should be so insecure!”

Bumper all-in-one hardcover treatment for the Marvel Comic that most stands the test of time from its early period, given that man’s inhumanity to man is apparently the least mortal thing about us.

John Buscema is on mighty form here, with phenomenally evocative body language as the Silver Surfer, exiled to Earth after escaping his role as Galactus’s first herald, finds the human race busy destroying its own planet and each other… then biting the shiny alien hand which reaches out to feed it.

It is a bit wordy since the Surfer pronounces judgement on anyone and everyone around him, but it’s not as if he’s wrong.

 

 

Also, no matter how many snazzy tricks they might have for representing silver, no other artist has achieved the effect so successfully, so fluidly over form. Nor have they matched Buscema’s definitive depiction of this individual in anguish, his fingers spread wide over his forehead or entire arms covering his eyes in sorry (and, I’d suggest, vicarious shame) after each successive rejection or military abomination. John’s expressiveness was right up there with Will Eisner’s, and I’m not exaggerating when I declare Buscema in terms of physique to be a svelte successor to Michelangelo, without all the gargantuan distortion which plagued the maestro’s paintings, though none of his sculpture.

 

 

Mephisto, Marvel’s version of the devil, really does have it in for our silver soul. He’s nothing if not persistent and positively revels in adding yet more sadistic torture on top of that heaped on him by us.

Thor, Loki, The Stranger, Spider-Man, The Human Torch, The Inhumans, and The Abomination are all in evidence here too.

Full colour throughout (it’s sometimes difficult to find interior art online), this collects SILVER SURFER (1968) #1-7 (A STORIES) and #8-18 and material from FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #5 and NOT BRAND ECHH #13.

SLH

Buy Silver Surfer Omnibus vol 1 and read the Page 45 review here

Brand-New Releases:

Please click on images or the links to buy or learn more from the publishers. Oh, apart from ARKHAM ASYLUM: I wrote some of that review over two decades ago!

Fire Power vol 1: Prelude s/c (£8-99, Image) by Robert Kirkman & Chris Samnee

Buy Fire Power vol 1 from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Isola vol 2 s/c (£14-99, Image) by Brenden Fletcher & Karl Kerschl

Buy Isola vol 2 s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Marked vol 1: Fresh Ink s/c (£14-99, Image) by David Hine & Brian Haberlin

Buy Marked vol 1: Fresh Ink s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

November vol 2: The Gun In The Puddle h/c (£14-99, Image) by Matt Fraction & Elsa Charretier

Buy November vol 2: The Gun In The Puddle h/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Hellboy And The BPRD – The Beast Of Vargu & Other Stories s/c (£17-99, Dark Horse) by Mike Mignola, Scott Allie & Duncan Fegredo, Christopher Mitten, Ben Stenbeck, Adam Hughes, Dave Stewart

Buy Hellboy And The BPRD – The Beast Of Vargu & Other Stories s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Batman: Arkham Asylum (New Edition) s/c (£14-99, DC) by Grant Morrison & Dave McKean

Buy Batman: Arkham Asylum (New Edition) s/c from Page 45 and /or read the Page 45 Review here

Excalibur vol 1 s/c (£15-99, Marvel) by Tini Howard & Marcus To

Buy Excalibur vol 1 s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

The Drifting Classroom vol 2 Perfection Edition h/c (£28-00, Viz) by Kazuo Umezz

Buy The Drifting Classroom vol 2 Perfection Edition h/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Pokemon Adventures – Collector’s Edition vol 1 s/c (£10-99, Viz Media) by Hidenori Kusaka &  Mato

Buy Pokemon Adventures – Collector’s Edition vol 1 s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Transformers – The Manga vol 1 h/c (£17-99, Viz) by Masumi Kaneda & Ban Magami

Buy Transformers – The Manga vol 1 h/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Star Wars Adventures vol 9: Fight The Empire s/c (£8-99, IDW) by various

Buy Star Wars Adventures vol 9: Fight The Empire s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Life Is Strange vol 3: Strings s/c (£14-99, Titan) by Emma Vieceli & Claudia Leonardi

Buy Life Is Strange vol 3: Strings s/c from Page 45 and /or read the publisher’s hype here

Featuring a whole host of comics creators, but what’s most important is that this is ALL NEW MATERIAL! I’ll say that again because it sounds sooooo good… ALL NEW MATERIAL!!!!

 

We’ll get to showing you the new material itself I promise,  but just let me have a little informative ramble first… (but if you can’t wait do feel free to just skip straight down to it!)

Yes, now Diamond Comic Distributors UK are able to operate their warehouse safely, the UK’s comic shops have received the comics and graphic novels that were due for release on March 25th, so we are officially back in the new comics business!!

It is also hoped – and we will let you know as soon as we do* – that from next week there will once again be new comics and graphic novels arriving at Page 45 every single week. Obviously, physical in-store browsing at Page 45 isn’t possible just yet, so for the time being we will be continuing our “mail order for all” service.

(You can read more about that mail order service HERE if you don’t know about it already, but don’t forget, we ship worldwide, postage at cost.)

*As always, the best way to find out what’s going on is to follow us on social media. All the links to those various channels at the end of this post.

Now, given it is taking rather a lot of extra time to process deliveries and do all the wonderful mail order in the current circumstances, we haven’t actually had chance to read any of the new stuff ourselves, let alone review it. So we are going to try something a little different with this, and possibly future, posts. 

You’ll find below a link where to the new single issue comics are on our website and also a link to some release schedule information. Then you will also find each of the individual new graphic novels that have arrived alongside their covers and the accompanying publisher blurb.

Now remember that the blurb is their words, not ours, so don’t take anything you read below as a personal endorsement of quality, but do bear in mind our Stephen works immensely hard to curate / cull what is in Previews so that only the good stuff actually graces the shelves, and webpages, of Page 45.

The keen-eyed amongst you might also spot the CLICK HERE TO BUY! links which will take you to the relevant product pages. Right, that really is enough preamble from me…

So let’s start with the new comics…

Please note all the new single issues are always available for sale on our website month by month in the CURRENT COMICS section. We add them in as they arrive. (Before that they are in the PREVIEWS section.)

Therefore the ones that have just arrived have gone into the MAY 2020 section even though they are technically the March 25th comics.

We post up the week by week release schedule lists, usually a few days in advance HERE…

Just picking out a couple of glorious individual single issue comic nuggets for you we have…

Love & Rockets Magazine #8 (£4-50) by Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez

In the new issue of the World’s Greatest Comics Magazine (sorry, FF), Rosy spends time with her dad and his wife – and discovers that her mother Fritz made a short film with her dad years ago and sees them young for the first time.

Also, Rosy visits the woman who raised her, for possibly the last time. Meanwhile, in ‘Princess Animus,’ lonely Lumina finally makes it home only to find out things aren’t quite the way she left them, and Tonta enrolls in Mr. Dominguez’s life drawing class. What could possibly go wrong?

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

Action Special 2020 One Shot (£4-99) by Garth Ennis, Ram V, Henry Flint and chums

Five new dangerously provocative stories by 2020’s most exciting creators…

Garth Ennis and Mike Dorey tell an explosive World War II story starring Hellman. Enter the controversial and anarchic world of Kids Rule OK by Ram V and Henrik Sahlstrom. Henry Flint reveals a new kind of horror in Hellmachine. Zina Hutton and Staz Johnson bring Dredger out of retirement. And Hook Jaw is back, depicted by Dan Lish, in the grudge match of the century against a special guest star!

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

Right, onto the new graphics novels! Exciting right?!

 

The Artist: The Circle Of Life h/c (£16-99, Breakdown Press) by Anna Haifisch

The Artist first appeared as a weekly strip on Vice and this second collection (the first was published in 2016) continues our hero’s attempts to break out as a fine artist while being plagued by setbacks punctuated by glimpses of recognition. It’s cynically satirical, but far more loving and affectionate than one might expect. The Artist is a modern hero for anyone who feels broken by the art world but continues on nonetheless.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

The Fire Never Goes Out: A Memoir In Pictures h/c (£16-99, Harper Collins) by Noelle Stevenson

From the New York Times bestselling author-illustrator of NIMONA, comes a captivating, honest illustrated memoir that finds her turning an important corner in her creative journey. In a collection of essays and personal mini-comics that span eight years of her young adult life, Stevenson charts the highs and lows of being a creative human in the world.

Whether it’s hearing the wrong name called at her art school graduation ceremony or becoming a National Book Award finalist for her debut graphic novel, NIMONA, she captures the little and big moments that make up a real life, with wit, wisdom, and vulnerability.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

A Gift For A Ghost h/c (£17-99, Abrams) by Borja Gonzalez

An untalented punk band and a parallel dimension-what could go wrong? Clever, haunting, and told with exceptionally original and expressive art, A Gift for a Ghost is a treat for readers and art lovers alike.

In Borja González’s stunning debut graphic novel, one that won him critical acclaim in Europe and Spain, we have two parallel stories reflect and intertwine in a tale of youthful dreams and desires.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

 

Coffin Bound vol 1 s/c (£14-99, Image) by Dan Watters & Dani

Izzy Tyburn has promised the world that if it won’t have her in it, it’ll have nothing of her at all. Chased by an unstoppable killer, she’s retreading her life, leaving nothing behind but burned rubber, ash, and the sun-scorched bones of those who get in her way.

Ride shotgun on an existential road trip through the tangle of a blood-splattered life. Mad Max: Fury Road meets Neil Gaiman’s Sandman in this full-throttle, grindhouse fantasy epic!

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

 

Crash Course: If You Want To Get Away With Murder Buy A Car s/c (£14-99, Street Noise Books) by Woodrow Phoenix

A work of graphic nonfiction exploring the powerful, often toxic relationship between people and cars.

Using the comic book format, this book vehemently dispels the notion that traffic accidents are inevitable and/or acceptable on any level, insisting that drivers own their responsibility, and consider the consequences of careless and dangerous behavior.

It also addresses such timely issues as the use of cars as weapons of mass murder in places like Charlottesville, VA.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf h/c (£11-99, Abrams) by Grant Snider

It’s no secret, but we are judged by our bookshelves. We learn to read at an early age, and as we grow older we shed our beloved books for new ones. But some of us surround ourselves with books. We collect them, decorate with them, are inspired by them, and treat our books as sacred objects. In this lighthearted collection of one- and two-page comics, writer-artist Grant Snider explores bookishness in all its forms, and the love of writing and reading.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

Masters of British Comic Art h/c (£39-99, Rebellion) by David Roach (editor)

Revealing the extraordinary history of the UK’s prolific comic book industry from the 19th Century to the 21st, this ground breaking volume celebrates the incredible artists who made a huge impact on British comics and would go on to revolutionize the industry on a global scale. Featuring a Who’s Who of talent, including Brian Bolland, Yvonne Hutton, Dave Gibbons, author and 2000 AD artist David Roach takes us on a journey through time detailing the surprising and fascinating evolution of the art from its humble beginnings to its current world-conquering status.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

Once & Future vol 1 s/c (£12-99, Boom!) by Kieron Gillen & Dan More

The King is Undead. Long live the King. When a group of Nationalists use an ancient artifact to bring a villain from Arthurian myth back from the dead to gain power, ex-monster hunter Bridgette McGuire escapes her retirement home and pulls her unsuspecting grandson Duncan, a museum curator, into a world of magic and mysticism to defeat a legendary threat.

Writer Kieron Gillen and artist Dan Mora explore the mysteries of the past, the complicated truths of our history and the power of family to save the day… especially if that family has secret bunkers of ancient weapons and decades of experience hunting the greatest monsters in Britain’s history!

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

Pollock Confidential: A Graphic Novel h/c (£17-99, Laurence King Publishing) by Onofrio Catacchio

Forceful, tempestuous, and visionary. In an incredibly short and turbulent life Jackson Pollock changed painting forever. This vivid graphic novel delves into his pioneering physical approach to making art, highlights the key characters surrounding the New York mid-century art scene, and reveals the intriguing relationship between Pollock’s painting and the covert activities of the Cold War.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

 

Portrait Of A Drunk h/c (£26-99, Fantagraphics) by Florent Ruppert, Jerome Mulot, Olivier Schrauwen

Guy is a mediocre mariner, able enough, but also a lazy, thieving, lying drunkard. All of which makes him more real than the swashbuckling Hollywood heroes that grace most pirate narratives. This tour de force of sea-faring gallows humor is also an international event in modern comics, teaming for the first time three titans of the field: Belgian comics master Olivier Schrauwen (PARALLEL LIVES) and the acclaimed French duo, Ruppert & Mulot (THE PERINEUM TECHNIQUE).

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

Swooshing onto the superheroes

 

Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her s/c (UK Edition) (£13-99, Marvel) by Richard Morgan & Sean Phillips, Bill Sienkiewicz

Some say she’s a traitor, some say she’s a murderer… and what most say about her isn’t even printable. But nobody denies that the former Cold War spy is a force to be reckoned with. The last man foolish enough to send killers after her paid the highest price, but his friends on Capitol Hill will ensure that Natasha doesn’t get off easy… and not even Col. Nick Fury can protect her this time.

On the run as the U.S. government declares her an Enemy of the State, Natasha escapes to Cuba, seeking out a former rival: Yelena Belova, the second Black Widow. Meanwhile, the survivors of Natasha’s last tirade start coming back to haunt her… and they’re starting to join forces. Collecting: Black Widow (2005) #1-6.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

New Mutants vol 1 s/c (£14-50, Marvel) by Jonathan Hickman, Ed Brisson & Rod Reis

The new generation claims the dawn! The classic New Mutants – Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Mirage, Karma, Magik and Cypher – get together with new friends Chamber and Mondo for a new mission…tracking down their teammate Cannonball! Hitching a ride into outer space with the Starjammers, the New Mutants soon find themselves in trouble and on trial for crimes against the Shi’ar Empire!

But when Deathbird returns and throws the Empire into turmoil, the New Mutants’ happy reunion soon becomes a complicated struggle for galactic freedom! Who will claim the Shi’ar throne? It’s a star-spanning adventure from the mind of X-visionary Jonathan Hickman! Collecting NEW MUTANTS (2019) #1-2, #5 and #7.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

Tales Of The Batman Marv Wolfman vol 1 h/c (£35-99, DC) by Mary Wolfman & various

Marv Wolfman, legendary writer of The New Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths, also wrote some of the most memorable Batman stories of the 1980s! Stories in this volume include ‘Batman: Year 3,’ which detailed the origins of the original Robin, and more!

Collects Batman #328-335 and #436-439, Detective Comics #408, The Brave and the Bold #167, World’s Finest Comics #288, The New Teen Titans #37, and Batman and the Outsiders #5.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

 

 

Manga

Let’s highlight some new self-contained works and new series…

Downfall vol 1 (£9-99, Viz) by Inio Asano

From the Eisner-nominated, best-selling author of GOODNIGHT PUNPUN and SOLANIN comes a dark look at what happens when living the life of your dreams becomes your downfall. Selling copies is the only thing that matters.

So what if your manga series just ended and you have no idea how to start the next one, your marriage is breaking up, your pure love of manga has been destroyed by the cruel reality of the industry and nothing seems to fill the sucking void inside you…

Find the secret combo for a new hit manga series and everything will be okay. Right?

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

The Swamp h/c (£18-99, Drawn & Quarterly) by Yoshiharu Tsuge

The Swamp is the first in a series of books Drawn & Quarterly will be publishing by Yoshiharu Tsuge, one of the most influential and acclaimed practitioners of literary comics in Japan.

Bucking the tradition of mystery and adventure stories, Tsuge’s fiction focused on the lives of the citizens of Japan. These mesmerizing comics, like those of his contemporary Yoshihiro Tatsumi, reveal a gritty, at times desperate post-war Japan, while displaying Tsuge’s unique sense of humor and point of view.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku vol 1 (£8-99, Viz) by Yuji Kaku

Gabimaru the Hollow is on death row for crimes committed as an assassin when he’s made an offer: die in prison, or travel to a mysterious island to locate the elixir of immortality for the shogun. He soon finds himself trapped on an island full of otherworldly creatures, rival criminals and ruthless executioners eager to take the head of any criminal who steps out of line. For mature audiences.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

 

Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru vol 1 (£6-99, Viz) by Masashi Kishimoto & Akira Okubo

Becoming a samurai seems like an impossible dream for Hachimaru, a boy who can’t even survive without the help of his father. But when a samurai cat appears before him, his whole life changes! A legendary manga creator and a rising star come together to bring you this science fiction samurai epic! For teen audiences.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

 

 

 

Also, the next volumes of the following ongoing manga series have arrived…

20th Century Boys Perfect Edition vol 7 (£12-99, Viz) by Naoki Urasawa

Goblin Slayer vol 7 (£9-99, Yen Press) by Kumo Kagyu & Kousuke Kurose

My Hero Academia Smash!! vol 3 (£6-99, Viz) by Hirofumi Neda

My Hero Academia vol 23 (£6-99, Viz) by Kohei Horikoshi

One Piece vol 93 (£6-99, Viz) by Eiichiro Oda

Tokyo Ghoul re: vol 15 (£8-99, Viz) by Sui Ishida

Tokyo Ghoul re: vol 16 (£8-99, Viz) by Sui Ishida

 

Also arrived…

Errr… well, we’ve just done all that!

Hope you liked this format. Do feel free to let us know what you thought. Our very own Page 45 Reviews will be back at some point I promise, but hopefully this will keep you entertained in the meanwhile…

 

Stay in Touch

Page 45 is still open for business but now switched temporarily to mail order only, with all our gorgeous graphic novels, comics and children’s picture books available to buy online at www.page45.com for Worldwide Shipping!

That’s quite a front page!

 

 

 

If a graphic novel or picture book doesn’t say “Out of Stock” then it’s in stock!

TWO VERY IMPORTANT UPDATES (April 3rd 2020):

ONE: the above remains true. However, if a graphic novel is out of stock it will now say “OUT OF PRINT” until distribution resumes, simply so that you cannot accidentally purchase that item. It probably is still in print, but we cannot restock on ANY ITEMS AT ALL until Diamond and Gardners re-emerge from limbo. For the duration of this pandemic, once an item is gone, it’s gone for good.

[UPDATE UPDATED mid-May 2020: distribution has now resumed with restocks regularly arriving each week; new comics and graphic novels each fortnight – hooray!]

TWO: IT IS ENTIRELY ETHICAL TO SHOP ONLINE AT PAGE 45. Since March 24th I am the only one entering Page 45 HQ. There I work solo, picking your orders, processing them and packing them on my own. I walk into work; I walk back from work – even at 10pm at night – so that no one else is endangered including myself. No one is coercing me. I do this simply because Page 45 is my baby. I created Page 45  out of love for this medium and its creators who weren’t receiving the shelf space and recognition they deserved, and I’ve curated it for over 25 years into an award-winning success which is culturally cherished by thousands. I am not, repeat not, going to allow a tax-dodging, careless and callous corporation like Amazon to stream-roller over an independent business like Page 45 simply because it is given preferential treatment to continue operating under far less stringently safe conditions than Page 45 by the authorities.

[UPDATE UPDATED mid-May 2020: Jonathan’s now back processing mail order too, but we work on separate days so it’s still 100% safe, but even faster!]

Thanks very much for your support. – Stephen

We now return you to your regular viewing…

You can explore by category and sub-category here or pop creator names, titles or bits of titles into our search engine. You could explore Page 45 Comicbook Of The Month Club and our Always Recommended section, clicking on any cover in the grid for reviews.

 

 

You could even trawl through ten full years of the illustrated Page 45 Reviews Blog, but if you’re still genuinely stuck then we can offer personal recommendations tailored to your taste when you fill in Page 45’s Want A Recommendation form (but please only do this if you’re honestly interested in buying: it takes us quite a long time to answer each of you thoroughly – thanks!).

 

We will reopen our physical doors on 9 Market Street, Nottingham, NG1 6HY, UK, the very second that it’s safe for you and for ourselves.

In the meantime we’ll be take delivery of new stock and restocks and dispatch as much mail order as possible.

 

 

If you’re used to picking your regularly reserved Page 45 Standing Order comics up in person, please contact us by email page45@page45.com if you want to arrange for us to ship your comics straight to your burrow, where you can read and then make a nice nest out of them.

 

 

Perhaps you’d like to create a Page 45 Standing Order of comics you want reserved as they come out, either for collection later on or dispatched weekly, monthly or every other month? That would certainly help us gauge demand, and browsing Page 45 Previews will help you keep up to date with what’s coming out soon. It looks as if new comics have been delayed for a month or so, but they are only delayed, not cancelled!

 

 

Folks, we thank you enormously for your support both now, into the future, and over the last twenty-five and a half years.

There will almost certainly be further announcements before we’re through with this awful pandemic, and we’ll bring you up to speed each time as soon as possible. I’m certainly not quitting Twitter in a hurry (however much that might come as a blessed relief to you all!), so you can find me @PageFortyFive. We also have Facebook and Instagram.

 

 

Please look after yourselves, and please look after each other.

We’re already cooking up ideas for the website, and for the shop floor where we will see you once this has passed.

Huge Hugs,

Stephen

Page 45 is a comic shop. We are:

Stephen L. Holland
Jonathan Rigby
with Jodie Paterson

 

 

 

 

Come and join the students celebrating their publication internationally by SelfMadeHero on Page 45’s shop floor!

Entry is FREE!
Each boxed set of 6 comics created by the 24 students is FREE!

I’d probably pop along, and see what all the fuss is about.

 

 

 

Sandeep Mahal, Director of Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature, will be introducing the students – mentored throughout by comicbook creators Rachael Ball, David Hine and Luke Healy – shortly after 6pm. After that they will happily sign their contributions to this collection and perhaps tell you a little about the ideas within their comics, and how they were made.

I’ve been particularly impressed by the way Freedom of Speech has been addressed: thoroughly.

Date: Wednesday 27th November  2019
Time: 6pm – 7-30pm
Place: Page 45, 9 Market Street, Nottingham NG1 6HY

 

 

 

Here’s the official Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature blog:

East Wood Comics have arrived!

Pupils from Eastwood unveil their collaboration with comic artists: bringing DH Lawrence to life for a 21^st Century audience.

Throughout 2019, Nottingham UNESCO City of literature have teamed up with Pop Up Projects to bring about East Wood Comics, where pupils have been mentored by acclaimed graphic novelists Rachael Ball, David Hine and Luke Healy, as well as international publisher SelfMadeHero, to produce a collection of innovative graphic novels. These are now published and will be officially launched at Page 45.

For the project, 24 talented young writers and artists from Hall Park Academy school in Eastwood have created graphic stories inspired by the life and works of world-renowned author DH Lawrence.

Throughout the project, students have been developing their research skills and knowledge of local history through working closely with the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum in Eastwood, the University of Nottingham’s D.H. Lawrence Collection (in Special Manuscripts and Collections) and D.H. Lawrence Research Centre, as well as students from the Nottingham Trent University MA in Illustration and writers from the University of Nottingham Creative Writing BA.

 

 

The young writers’ research took in the social and cultural history of Eastwood, where Lawrence was born in 1885. Lawrence, a fascinating, complex and often controversial author, began life as the son of a barely literate miner in the former coal mining town, one of the few places where East Midlands English is widely spoken.

The Hall Park Academy students and artists mentors explored Lawrence’s life, work, and legacy with its social and literary importance, attending a tour of Nottingham and the areas Lawrence was inspired by as well as those inspired by his life.

As well as this, the students have curated an exhibition at the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum and created a public art installation in Eastwood.

The launch will take place at Page 45 on Wednesday 27^th November, 6pm.

The project was made possible from funding by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

 

 

About Nottingham City of Literature

Nottingham was awarded the permanent UNESCO City of Literature designation in December 2015. The city’s mission is building a better world with words. We do this by promoting literacy and the best new writing talent, growing new audiences for reading, and developing Nottingham as a creative city of international exchange and collaboration. Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature is an educational charity and is supported and funded by Arts Council England, Nottingham City Council, Nottingham Trent University and University of Nottingham and. Our patrons include Panya Banjoko, Henry Normal and Alison Moore. 

Eastwood Comics Online Resources

https://www.eastwoodadvertiser.co.uk/news/eastwood-project-to-bring-lawrence-to-life-in-comics-1-9268711

https://nottinghamcityofliterature.com/blog/eastwood-comics

https://pop-up.org.uk/project/eastwood-comics-bringing-d-h-lawrence-to-life/

 

 

 

Includes Mary Talbot & Bryan Talbot launching, signing & sketching in their graphic novel RAIN, “about the grim issues of environmental degradation through climate change, land mismanagement and pollution [and] a love story, chronicling the developing relationship between two young women.”

 

 

Remember, folks, entry is FREE!

 

 

As every year at LICAF, Page 45 will fill the Georgian Room in the Kendal Clock Tower with hundreds of gorgeous new graphic novels – many of which you won’t find elsewhere – for you to browse, buy, then fondle forever.

Plus – brand-new this year, and we couldn’t be more excited! – Andy Oliver and EdieOP from Broken Frontier will be curating two tables of self-published comics in our room, including debut launches from Edie, and will host extra creator guests Anja Uhren on Saturday and Kate-mia White all weekend.

Entry is FREE all weekend long. We accept both cash and credit cards.

Where: Upstairs, Kendal Clock Tower (access by lift)
When: Saturday & Sunday October 12-13th

Guests Signing & Sketching For Free In Our Room

Mary Talbot and Bryan Talbot: Saturday 12th, 2pm-4pm
Exclusive LICAF Worldwide Book Launch of Rain immediately following Mary & Bryan Talbot’s talk on the making of RAIN.
Sally Heathcote Suffragette Dotter Of The Father’s Eyes, The Red Virgin, Alice In Sunderland, Grandville, The Tale Of One Bad Rat

 

 

Kate Charlesworth: Saturday 12th, 4pm-5pm
Sally Heathcote Suffragette, Sensible Footwear

Get your Sally Heathcote signed and sketched in by Bryan & Mary then Kate immediately afterwards!

 

 

Julie Rocheleau: Sunday 13th, 11am-midday
About Betty’s Boob, The Wrath Of Fantomas

 

 

Darryl Cunningham: Sunday 13th, 12.30-1.30pm
Billionaires, Supercrash, Graphic Science, Science Tales, Psychiatric Tales

 

 

Duncan Fegredo: Sunday 13th, 1.30pm-3.30pm
Hellboy Omnibus vol 3, Hellboy Complete Short Stories vol 1, MPH, Enigma, Spirit

 

 

Please click on their books’ links for reviews or pop any creators into our search engine at www.page45.com.

 

Guests In Our Room At The Broken Frontier Tables

Anja Uhren: Saturday

 

 

Kate-mia White: Saturday & Sunday

 

 

EdieOP: Saturday & Sunday

 

 

Lakes Festival Merchandise on sale in our Georgian Room.

This includes comics, cards, prints, 2017’s SPIRIT NEWSPAPER and 2018’s TRACES OF THE GREAT WAR anthology (both reviewed at that link and available for worldwide shipping.

All proceeds over the weekend go to the LICAF Creator Development Programme etc.

As to our own graphic novels, we’ll be on hand to provide personal recommendations tailored to your tastes, or take you through any comics which attract your attention. Please do ask! Or, if you’ve a mobile phone handy, you can pop titles or creators into our search engine for our written reviews at www.page45.com

We’ll be accepting cash and credit cards all weekend long

Buy From Page 45’s Website, Collect In Kendal Postage-Free!

Any graphic novels on our website can be brought by us to the festival, postage-free if you buy online at www.page45.com then “Collect In Kendal 2019” at the checkout. Offer closes Monday 7th October 2017 when we’ll be all packed up to go!

More Lakes Festival Info

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival website
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2019 Programme
Page 45’s Dedicated LICAF Blog featuring links to photo-filled blogs of every year we’ve attended.

LICAF Twitter: @comicartfest
Page 45 Twitter: @pagefortyfive

Our Twitter’s very handy for when other creators pop into our room for impromptu sketching!

Page 45 is a proud Patron of the Lakes International Comic Art Festival

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 1st 2019 sees the publication of HILDA AND THE MOUNTAIN KING, the sixth all-ages HILDA graphic novel from Nobrow Press.

We Are Excited!

To celebrate, the creator Luke Pearson has kindly and enthusiastically agreed to entertain families (and pensionable devotees like myself) by joining Page 45 for a two-hour weekend signing and sketching session for FREE!

You’ll have to pay for the books, though, obviously.

The time: 12 to 2pm
The date: Saturday September 7th
The place: Page 45, 9 Market Street, Nottingham NG1 6HY
Admission: Free!

No tickets, no fee, just turn up, all agog, and be charmed.

Thanks to Flying Eye / Nobrow Press we also have new HILDA postcards and bookmarks to give away on the day, along with the publisher’s poster-brochures and much more besides!

“Can We Reserve Copies, Stephen?”

Yes, you can and you probably should!

 

 

Demand may exceed supply, but you can guarantee your copies of HILDA AND THE MOUNTAIN KING on the day by clicking on that link, ordering in advance and selecting “Collect In Store” with no postage fee then find it ready and waiting for you on the day!

Equally, you can reserve copies of all five of the previous HILDA graphic novels by clicking on THAT link, selecting the relevant books (each of which we’ve reviewed!) and pre-ordering in exactly the same way so they’re there on the day! Hooray!

“I so want stuff signed but I live in the Sudan!”

Hot, hot, hot!

The good news is that We Ship Worldwide!

Order any of those books at the links above before September 3rd 2019 (so we can order more in if necessary) and add “PLEASE GET THIS SIGNED BEFORE SHIPPING” in the comments box and it shall be done! Similarly if you select “collect in store” with “THIS IS FOR THE LUKE PEARSON SIGNING” then we will add that to the signing stash too.

No sketches, I’m afraid: for sketches you need to turn up to the signing itself!

 

 

For all queries please phone Page 45 on (0115) 9508045.

Cheers,

Stephen

You are so welcome!

Featuring Lewis Trondheim, Stephane Oiry, Stuart Kolakovic, Francesco Artibani, Alessandro Barbucci, Mai K. Nguyen, Gene Luen Yang, Carla Speed McNeil and many more besides…

Lichen h/c (£14-99, Blank Slate) by Stuart Kolakovic…

“You know we don’t have to climb these mountains don’t you?
“I could make you a tunnel that goes straight through it.
“I could even give you wings so you could just fly over it.
“All you have to do is wish for it.
“This silent treatment is really starting to wear thin.
“Do you think you’re so high and mighty that you can just ignore me?
“Or do you think I’m some sort of evil demon or something?
“Most people would kill to have the opportunity I’m offering you…
“Why can’t you just wish for something already?”

I think perhaps the deer herdsman just wishes you would shut up, Mister motormouth woodland spirit! Yes, yes he did do you a good turn and you did offer to grant him a single wish of absolutely anything his heart desired in return. But stalking him, hounding him, perpetually pestering him to make said wish is all just a little bit needy, don’t you think? I get it that no one has ever turned down a wish from you before, but maybe the herdsman is just a laid back sort of chap that doesn’t need or want for anything…?

 

 

Which… isn’t entirely true of course! It’s just that one probably shouldn’t use wishes or indeed any other sort of magic when it is true love you are after, I reckon… As does the herdsman.

 

 

For a chance encounter with a local lady, whilst in the undignified and instantly distressed state of being caught half-undressed washing in a stream, has set his heart-a-flutter. Her left behind scarf, carelessly snagged on a tree as she departed the scene with a hearty chuckle and a cheery wave, only serves as a continuous reminder to him of her all-too-brief sublime presence. But alas, the moment to pursue and woo elapsed, forever escaping our abluting shepherd, caught as he was in the catastrophic claws of all-consuming embarrassment…

Speaking of claws… there’s a bear out there too… One that really ought to be hibernating along with all the others, but instead is tracking the herdsman, his faithful canine chum and his voyaging venison, bells-a-ringing as they make their way from his isolated island camp all the way over the mountain tops to market. This bear seems utterly obsessed with our deer drover to the extent that it makes you wonder if there isn’t something… different… about this particular grizzly grouser.

Stuart Kolakovic’s has certainly set the bar high with his first graphic novel! For to my mind, this is no work of a callow beginner finding their artistic feet Bambi-style, if you’ll permit me a deer-based pun, but an immensely accomplished work, both visually and in terms of storytelling.

On that latter point, I found this as engrossing, enchanting and downright amusing as Isabella Greenberg’s THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EARLY EARTH. It just has that same slightly naughty, mischievous charm, particularly once the woodland spirit joins our trooping troupe which coupled with the faux fairy tale feel makes for a delightfully amusing yarn packed with hart (sic). I really will stop with the deer jokes now I promise.

 

 

Artistically, you’ll be fawning (okay, okay, but that one seemed too good to miss) all over this if you are a fan of the likes of Jon KINGDOM McNaught. It is a different style, certainly, but it has that same attention to intricate detail liberally and seemingly effortlessly applied with beautifully muted, distinct colour palettes that just makes the panels feel like they are bursting with life and activity.

There is some superb design work going on throughout this tale which is apparently partly inspired by the creator’s Serbian ancestry. Indeed, this is as beautifully designed and illustrated as many a Nobrow published book.

You can see some slight hints of Eastern Europe flavour actually, and thus two works which only sprang to mind for very spurious comparative reasons would be MISTER MORGEN by Igor Hofbauer and William Goldsmith’s VIGNETTES OF YSTOV. But, as I say, they are a wee bit spurious.

So will the herdsman get his heart’s most fervent desire, either with or without resorting to magical means, or will the big, bad bear ensure that there’s no happy ending for anyone? Well, except the bear obviously. If you wish you could find out the antler, sorry answer, you know what to do, don’t you?

JR

Buy Lichen and read the Page 45 review here

Maggy Garrisson (£14-99, Self Made Hero) by Lewis Trondheim & Stephane Oiry…

KNOCK KNOCK
…
“I don’t know you.”
“Well, we know you Maggy Garrisson. Tell us what we want to know and we’ll leave.”
“Sure. No problem. You’re a pair of druggy morons. You both have a history of juvenile delinquency. Right now, you’re playing tough guys. But really you’re just sent here by someone who actually finished school and now gives the orders.
…
“Was there anything else you wanted to know?”

Haha, I do so like Maggy Garrisson. Here’s the rap sheet from the publisher to tell us all about this bad-mouthing bad ass…

“After two years of unemployment, Maggy Garrisson lands a secretarial job. Too bad her new boss is the shady, chaotic Anthony Wight: private detective and alcoholic. But a job is a job, and Maggy could use the cash.

 

 

Five days into her new role, Wight is beaten to a pulp and Maggy is tasked with returning his wallet. With this seemingly innocuous request, Maggy enters a sinister underworld of corrupt cops, crooked businessmen, and career criminals.

There’s a lot to investigate, from the disappearance of a family album to the theft of gold teeth from bodies at the crematorium. But for someone with the energy, ingenuity, and enterprising spirit of Maggy Garrisson, puzzles are there to be solved, especially if there’s money to be made in the process.”

And thus begins a hard hitting, if not entirely serious look at how to become a private detective pretty much entirely by accident! For once Maggie realises that not only can she pick up Anthony Wight’s very saggy caseload slack whilst he’s in hospital recuperating and get paid, she’s also well on the way to getting herself into no end of trouble too!

 

 

Fortunately, having cultivated policewoman Sheena as a drinking buddy, Maggie has at least some resources to try and help get her out of the particularly precarious situation her new boyfriend, the decidedly dodgy Alex (one of the two ‘druggy morons’), is dragging her ever further deeper into.

 

 

Well, okay, she’s running headlong into trouble and loving every second of it, but she’s still going to need a lot of help to avoid getting completely out of her depth if she’s not careful. Fortunately she is very careful indeed, and also very crafty to boot too…

 

 

This is for me hands down the best fictional work Lewis POPPIES OF  IRAQ Trondheim has done. I have no idea why he hasn’t decided to illustrate it himself, but in Stephanie Oiry he has found someone whose style is perfectly suited to this oh so well constructed game of cat and mouse. Maggie is convinced she can stay one step ahead of the local goons, but maybe they’re not the only people she needs to be watching out for…

This is as cleverly crafted a caper as CRIMINAL itself, with some wonderful little side-bar cases thrown in for good measure that Maggie needs to continually solve just to keep herself afloat for cash. The main case, though, whilst it might offer a considerably larger payday… of the not entirely legal variety… is the one that could also get her head kicked in good and proper if she’s not very careful… and verrrrry crafty… Did I mention…? Oh yes, I did!

Being set in the UK, with the mildly comedic convoluted case to unravel by an amateur sleuth thing going-on this also has some of the feel of Posy Simmonds’ CASSANDRA DARKE and indeed also MANN’S BEST FRIEND by Sophie & Scarlett Rickard. So therefore highly recommended!

JR

Buy Maggy Garrison and read the Page 45 review here

Monster Allergy vol 1 (£9-99, Insight Comics) by Francesco Artibani & Alessandro Barbucci…

“Listen… can I ask you something? Is it true that you see… monsters?”
“Yes, it is!
“Even now, for example, this room is full of them! Three of ‘em are singing on that shelf…
“… and one is hiding behind the couch, a couple of jelly ones are on the ceiling…
“… and there’s a really big one called Bombo who can’t stop eating…
“… and there’s a talking cat, too… but he never has anything interesting to say.
“We’re surrounded by monsters… but I’m the only one that can see them!”

Yes, Zick probably needs a trip to the opticians as there seems to be that many monsters flying around I’m genuinely surprised he can see even where he’s going! It must make reading comics tricky too I would have thought… Anyway, here’s the publisher to tell us more about Zick and his peculiar problems…

“Explore the world of monsters in this thrilling installment of the Monster Allergy adventure! Elena Potato just moved to Oldmill Village, but she’s about to find out that there’s a lot more going on in this quiet little town than meets the eye; Oldmill Village is actually an oasis for all kinds of monsters!

Zick, Elena’s new neighbour, is a strange kid who is allergic to just about everything, but he alone has the power to see the invisible ghosts and monsters that live among us.

 

 

Together, Zick and Elena set out to investigate the strange phenomena going on in Oldmill Village, including a recent uptick in missing pets, a dangerous man-eating plant, and a sinister salesman who could pose the ultimate threat to both humans and monsters alike!”

So, spooky all-age amusing detective shenanigans then? Yes, indeed, that’s exactly what this is! The unlikely pair of new chums set straight about dealing with the school bullies who are as amused by Elena’s surname as they are Zick’s allergies, as well as the myriad monsters who just so happen to be floating around causing mayhem, plus more sinister earthly-bound evil too…

 

 

I really enjoyed this. It definitely has that same sense of daft that John Allison’s BAD MACHINERY has, not remotely to be taken seriously, just enjoyed for the sheer nonsensical goings-on that clearly are going to keep mysteriously following Zick and Elena round and round from volume to volume. I note volume two has already been solicited for September later this year by the way.

Art-wise, it’s bold and vibrant with more than a touch of whacky about it, which actually put me slightly in mind of the far more adult FARMHAND material from by Rob Guillory. This has that similar touch of always impending lunacy about it but is just very much more suitable for all-ages readers!

JR

Buy Monster Allergy vol 1 and read the Page 45 review here

Pilu Of The Woods s/c (£11-99, Oni) by Mai K. Nguyen…

“Sometimes I feel like I could just disappear and no one would notice…”
“… Is that why you ran away? To disappear?”
“…”
“I don’t really think things can just disappear…
“Just ‘cause you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not important… doesn’t mean it’s gone. That’s how it is in nature.”

Very true, especially those stinging nettles that you only seem to see about one second before you stroll stridently right though them… Here’s the publisher to tell you what might happen if you pick this up and go down to the woods today…

“Willow loves the woods near her house. They’re calm and quiet, so different from her own turbulent emotions, which she keeps locked away. When her emotions get the better of her one day, she decides to run away into the woods.

There, she meets Pilu, a lost tree spirit who can’t find her way back home – which turns out to be the magnolia grove Willow’s mom used to take her to. Willow offers to help Pilu, and the two quickly become friends.

 

 

But the journey is long, and Pilu isn’t sure she’s ready to return home yet – which infuriates Willow, who’s determined to make up for her own mistakes by getting Pilu back safely. As a storm rages and Willow’s emotions bubble to the surface, they suddenly take on a physical form, putting both girls in danger…and forcing Willow to confront her inner feelings once and for all.”

For this, dear readers, is very much a book about feelings, and also regrets, for Willow has fairly recently lost her mother and is still so very, very far from coming to terms with it. So when she meets Pilu, she feels duty bound, nay compelled, to help her friend get home, despite the fact that Pilu is still clearly working through her own maternally conflicted emotions herself.

 

 

I very much liked how this work explored coping with grief, when a loved one is suddenly, unexpectedly taken from you. The immense emotions it can bring out, plus working out how to get past dealing with all the things you didn’t say and also perhaps the few you did that you wish you hadn’t.

This book, perhaps because it is most definitely aimed at being a truly all-ages work, doesn’t dramatise or indeed even show Willow’s mother’s passing, instead alluding to it by showing the circumstances that lead up to it and then consequently making clear what terrible tragedy occurred. It’s handled in a very, very sensitive manner that would be fine with some parental guidance even for littlies.

 

 

Artistically, the main character of Pilu reminded me hugely of the titular character in Emily Hughes’ illustrated prose work WILD about a little feral girl who is found in the woods and resists all attempts to tame her by her ever more despairing adoptive family. The art style here with the big, plaintive eyes of both characters set amongst the friendly, flowery forest will certainly make you think of many a current all-ages work such as CUCUMBER QUEST, SPACE BOY, HILDA and NIGHTLIGHTS, though this certainly has charms all of its own too.

JR

Buy Pilu Of The Woods and read the Page 45 review here

Tamamo The Fox Maiden And Other Asian Stories s/c (£13-99, Other A-Z) by Gene Luen Yang, Carla Speed McNeil, various…

Are you sitting comfortably? Good, then I’ll let the publisher begin to tell us all about…

“An incredible collection of tales from all over Asia, retold as stunning comics by some of the best independent artists the internet has to offer.

Vengeful spirits, flying ogres, trickster tigers, and much more. Featuring the work of Gene Luen Yang, Nick Dragotta, Blue Delliquanti, Carla Speed McNeil, Nina Matsumoto, and many more, this is one lively collection of Asian folktales, reimagined and retold in comics!”

The second volume in the “Cautionary Fables & Fairytales Book” series after THE GIRL WHO MARRIED A SKULL AND OTHER AFRICAN STORIES, this time around this sees us relocate geographically to Asia…

 

 

As before there may be the odd tale, or variation thereof, that seems familiar but most of these tales were certainly completely new to me.

 

 

Told in black and white, by a whole host of creators, if you fancy finding out a little more about Asian folklore then this may be for you. There’s twenty one tales to be told, all short and sweet though a fair few feature a sticky end…

 

 

Whilst it’s no FABLE COMICS by any means, it is certainly a most enjoyable way to acquire some cultural knowledge that’s probably safer than the terrifying prospect of being babysat and taught some learnin’ old school style by Shigeru Mizuki’s NONNONBA.

JR

Buy Tamamo The Fox Maiden And Other Asian Stories and read the Page 45 review here

Arrived, Online & Ready To Buy!

New reviews to follow, but if they’re new formats of previous books, reviews may already be up; others will retain their Diamond previews information we receive displayed as ‘Publisher Blurb’.

A Quick & Easy Guide To Queer & Trans Identities (£8-99, Limerence Press) by Mady G & J.R. Zuckerberg

American Gods vol 2 h/c (£20-00, Dark Horse) by Neil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell, Scott Hampton

Brink vol 3 (£12-99, Rebellion) by Dan Abnett & I.N.J. Culbard

Cannonball h/c (£22-99, Uncivilised Books) by Kelsey Wroten

Firefly vol 1: Unification War h/c (£14-99, Boom!) by Greg Pak & Dan McDaid

The Ghost Of Ohio s/c (£17-99, Z2) by Andy Biersack, Scott Tuft & Eryk Donovan

Outdoors (£14-99, Breakdown Press) by Yokoyama Yuichi

Peterloo: Witness To A Massacre (£11-99, New Internationalist) by Eva Schlunke, Robert Poole & Polyp

Scarlet vol 1 s/c (£14-99, Jinxworld) by Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev

Sunday’s Child h/c (£16-99, Jonathan Cape) by Serena Katt

Thin Slices Of Anxiety: Observations and Advice to Ease a Worried Mind (£9-99, Chronicle Books) by Catherine LePage

Windowpane (£19-99, Breakdown Press) by Joe Kessler

Injustice 2 vol 4 s/c (£14-99, DC) by Tom Taylor & various

Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter s/c (£17-99, Marvel) by Kelly Thompson & Mattia De Iulis, Filipe Andrade

Marvel Knights 20th s/c (£15-99, Marvel) by Donny Cates, various & Travel Foreman, various

Venom vol 2 s/c (£15-99, Marvel) by Donny Cates & Ryan Stegman

Barefoot Gen vol 8 (£14-99, Last Gasp) by Keiji Nakazawa

Goblin Slayer vol 4 (£11-99, Yen Press) by Kumo Kagyu & Kousuke Kurose

Letters For Lucardo (£13-99, Iron Circus Comics) by Noora Heikkila

Audrey Niffenegger, author of ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ and ‘Her Fearful Symmetry’, and Eddie Campbell, creator of ALEC and co-creator with Alan Moore of FROM HELL, will be signing their joint graphic novel BIZARRE ROMANCE (and much more besides!) at Page 45, Nottingham, on Thursday May 23rd 2019 from 5-30pm to 7pm.

 

 

This follows their appearance as Guests of Honour at the Nottingham UNESCO City Of Literature festival earlier in the day.

It’s a very special A&E signing!

We Have (And We Ship Worldwide!):

“The attic was infested with angels again.
“I could hear them bumping around above the ceiling.
“Plus, the harp music made it pretty obvious.”
BIZARRE ROMANCE by Audrey Niffenegger & Eddie Campbell

 

 

Plus by Eddie Campbell:

 ALEC OMNIBUS
BACCHUS VOLS 1 & 2
FROM HELL
FROM HELL COMPANION
A DISEASE OF LANGUAGE
‘The Goat Getters’

 

 

Plus by Audrey Niffenegger:

‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’
‘Her Fearful Symmetry’
‘Ghostly: A Collection Of Ghost Stories’
THE NIGHT BOOKMOBILE
THE ADVENTURESS

Please click on links for reviews.

 

 

The time: 5-30pm to 7-00pm
The date: Thursday 23rd May 2019
The place: Page 45, 9 Market Street, Nottingham NG1 6HY
Admission: Free!

No tickets, no fee, just turn up and meet two of the world’s finest raconteurs in comics and prose while they sign whichever books you fancy!.

“Aargh, I SO want stuff signed but I live at the South Pole!”

 

 

Not by choice, surely? Brrrr! Still, I do think it’s thawing.

The good news is that We Ship Worldwide!

Order anything by either creator online at www.page45.com before May 19th 2019 and add “PLEASE GET THIS SIGNED BEFORE SHIPPING” in the comments box and it shall be done! Similarly if you select “collect in-store” with “THIS IS FOR THE A&E SIGNING” then we will add that to the signing stash too.

If in doubt, for all queries please phone Page 45 on (0115) 9508045.

 

 

Keep Up To Date:

Page 45 Twitter: @PageFortyFive
Audrey Niffenegger Twitter: @AANiffenegger
Eddie Campbell Twitter: @ecampbelldammit

https://www.audreyniffenegger.com/
https://www.eddiecampbelldammit.com/
Page 45 News & Reviews: http://www.page45.com/world/
If you have any questions, please phone 0115 9508045.

Cheers,

Stephen L. Holland

Till Monkey With A Typewriter
Co-creator, co-owner, co-manager, Page 45

Special love to Sandeep Mahal, Director of Nottingham UNESCO City Of Literature, for catalysing this comics and prose creator confluence. Also: to Audrey and Eddie for getting hitched.

This has been a special A&E Signing Announcement on behalf of We Hope We Don’t Have To Go To Hospital For It.

You are so welcome.

 

It’s time for our annual photo-filled blog!

Kendal is kindness personified, and you’ll find every single comicbook creator in Page 45’s Georgian Room, captured below, beaming with unbridled delight! Look, here’s Joe Kelly and Ken Niimura guerilla-signing LICAF’s brand-new TRACES OF THE GREAT WAR graphic novel.

 

 

Page 45 Breaks Its Sales Record at The Lakes International Comic Art Festival for the 5th Consecutive Year!

In 2014 we broke our all-time weekend sales record at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival by taking £5,500, then kept exceeding previous records until we hit £10,000 for two years running.

But in 2018 we’ve just smashed it again by taking £11,006.91 with just 1% of the range of our stock!

£1,784.48 of which – taken on LICAF comics, books, prints and postcards – goes directly to The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, its Creators’ Development Fund and the OCD Action charity etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It may have something to do with all the gorgeous graphic novels we bring, the glamorous Georgian Room which we are given to curate by ourselves,  the creators who give up their time so generously, and the fact that the Kendal Clock Tower is FREE ENTRY!

That means that those entirely unaccustomed to comics come in out of curiosity, flow through the room, and browse through our books to their hearts’ content.

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll bring you more books in a bit. You can pop any of the titles you see – or their creators – into Page 45’s search engine for our reviews. We Ship Worldwide!

Meanwhile, the rest of the Kendal Clock Tower is pretty spiffy too! Here’s the room opposite ours, for example, (there are many) both empty as we’re setting up (it takes us six hours, so we have to start early – you’ll see!), then bustling just 10 minutes after the doors open.

 

 

 

“Who did you have signing and sketching, Stephen?”

Officially we had the beaming ray of sunshine that is Eleanor Crewes all weekend, sketching portraits of her readers in THE TIMES I KNEW I WAS GAY.

Plus the effervescent Una survived a train journey in which a guard carried an axe through her carriage in order to chop down a tree that had fallen across the tracks (I kid you not), to sign and squiggle on Saturday in BECOMING UNBECOMING, ON SANITY and her new book CREE which we’ll have on our system hopefully by the time you are reading this!

 

 

 

 

She’s kindly sketched in all our shop copies for us!

We had Guy Delisle drawing in PYONGYANG (North Korea), SHENZHEN (South China), BURMA CHRONICLES, JERUSALEM and his most recent book HOSTAGE, and if you look in Page 45’s Signed / Bookplate Graphic Novels Section you’ll find, for a limited time, that we still have signed copies of those exceptional observations of the absurd. There’s a lot that’s absurd in North Korea – not short of material, there.

 

 

Then on Sunday, after their triumphant nocturnal steampunk parade / performance with students whom they’d been tutoring on interactive storytelling, we were graced by long-term LICAF exhibitors turned special guests Corey Brotherson and Yomi Ayeni of CLOCKWORK WATCH fame.

True fact: Yomi was one of the very first people I ever met at LICAF five years ago, after I heard him coming two corridors away. Nobody laughs like Yomi Ayeni!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh look, there’s volunteer Dave, out of his Red Shirt and dappered up to the nines! (New verb: to dapper)

He’s standing outside The New Union Kendal (run by the adorable Phil who hosted Page 45’s 20th Birthday Party in 2014, at which Lizz Lunney ate all the cake) where the parade ended and the performances truly began!

Also on Sunday, because it’s now a tradition, we snatched up Emma Vieceli, co-creator of Young Adults LGBT BREAKS and so much more (some clues in the photo, but again, activate search engine, please!) for a special hour of pencil biting. She’s very, very good at it.

 

 

But before that came Phillips & Phillips, that famous legal firm, to launch their brand-new original graphic novel written by Brubaker, MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES. At the time of typing we still have a limited number of Page 45’s Exclusive Bookplate signed by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips and indeed Jake Phillips, thanks to Sean’s exceptional generosity, and indeed Ed’s, because we can’t seem to get either of them to bill us for the printing and transatlantic postage. Don’t you just love comics people? (A refrain I heard over and over again, throughout the weekend.) This is it:

 

 

Please pop Sean Phillips into our search engine, because I have personally reviewed every piece of paper he’s ever been printed on.

Here he is being photographed with a super-fan who’d traveled all the way from Greece specifically to see him at LICAF.

 

 

 

 

 

Sean Phillips drew while Jake Phillips industriously coloured, until Sean Phillips stopped drawing and just jabbered away. What an outrageous slacker!

 

 

 

 

 

Throughout the weekend we were proud to sell LICAF’s official comics, prints, postcards, more copies of THE SPIRIT NEWSPAPER which Sean Phillips curated and personally paid for out of his own pocket (reviewed at that link and now on sale exclusively via Page 45 – and yes, We Ship Worldwide!) co-created by Ed Brubaker, Brendan McCarthy, Graham Dury, Chris Samnee, John M Burns, Sergio Aragones, Peter Milligan, Seth, Jason Latour, Jonathan Ross & Sean Phillips, Becky Cloonan, Brendan McCarthy, Simon Thorp, Chris Samnee, John M Burns, Sergio Aragonés, Duncan Fegredo, Seth, Jason Latour, Bryan Hitch, Michael Cho….

… and LICAF’s brand-new graphic novel TRACES OF THE GREAT WAR (again, now available worldwide via Page 45’s website) by Marguerite Abouet, Charlie Adlard, Simon Armitage, Edmond Baudoin, Juan Díaz Canales, Aurélien Ducoudray, Efa, Ergün Gündüz, Régis Hautière, O. Hiroyuki, Joe Kelly, Kris, Denis Lapière, Virtuel L’Atelier, Victoria Lomasko, Maël, Dave McKean, Mikiko, Robbie Morrison, J.D. Morvan, Ken Niimura, Sean Phillips, Ian Rankin, Riff Reb’s, A. Samama, Scie-Tronc. Orijit Sen, Bryan Talbot, Mary Talbot, Thomas Von Kummant.

 

 

 

 

The night before I’d waylaid THE WALKING DEAD‘s Charlie Adlard in a new super-secret speakeasy sequestered down a side-street (again, not joking – I only heard about it because Emma Vieceli, Pud and Steven Appleby snatched me away from The Brewery and led me there, blindfolded), and as promised he kindly popped by unannounced to sign in TRACES OF THE GREAT WAR, along with I KILL GIANTS‘ Joe Kelly and Ken Niimura. All of them, absolutely lovelies!

 

 

 

 

All proceeds of our LICAF sales over the weekend went to the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (£1,784.48!) – we took not a penny, as is good and proper – and so many more creators kindly popped by to ruin mint copies with their Sharpies including Bryan and Mary Talbot (search engine, please!) who even sketched and coloured in them. (Mary is most excellent at spot-blacks and colours.)

Here’s Edmond Baudoin similarly sketching for us. What a star!

 

 

 

Jonathan and I are so very grateful for these impromptu offers of extra love, especially to Bryan Talbot who sat down to sketch in some special GRANDVILLE bookplates for us completely out of the blue.

For far, far more of our 5-year involvement with LICAF (we are proud Patrons!), please see Page 45’s dedicated Lakes International Comic Art Festival hub with links to LICAF, previous years’ blogs, even more photos and everything!

I type that now (I may reprise it later) because I’m going to go a little off topic with a) How A Room Is Built then b) What We Got Up To In Cumbria. Because if you’re coming to the Lakes International Comic Art Festival – rain or shine – you’re going to want to gawp at the countryside!

How We Cluttered Up Our Georgian Room With Comics

 

 

That is Page 45 Central. It doesn’t normally look like this, honest. We try to make it  as easy as possible for you to hand over cash at the counter.

Every year Jonathan and I ponder previous years’ graphic novel sales at LICAF, figure out what is still working but mostly which brand-new beauties to bring. Bearing in mind that we can only take what Jonathan can fit, Tetris-like, into our van (this is a special skill), it takes some strict discipline and fierce negotiation.

Then we ignore all that and order loads more of the last month’s arrivals to boot.

That’s Jonathan’s job and as I am always adamant in emphasising that none of this would be possible without Jonathan. Dee and Jodie then meticulously catalogue numbers as the books get packed, after which we trundle of to Kendal.

 

 

 

That van was rammed!

Thankfully not by a ten-tonne truck.

This is our room rather naked, soon to be filled with boxes of books courtesy of Mr. Lift and Mr. Minion.

 

 

 

It’s actually Craig Dawson, Page 45’s highest-ever spender at something like £1,600 in a single spree, who is one of loveliest blokes you could meet, generous enough to help us unload every single year. Saves us a good couple of ours with his unpacking too.

Don’t worry Craig, it’s only a listed building.

 

 

 

I think you’ll agree that’s rather a lot of books.

I would remind you that our room looks like this…

 

 

… until it doesn’t after five hours of me tearing my hair out!

(So now you know where it’s gone.)

That’s my job. I try to re-arrange the room each year for increased accessibility, aesthetic beauty and to showcase these glorious graphic novels in the most attractive fashion that they so richly deserve.

 

 

 

Also, you don’t want to bugger up a room as beautiful as that.

We don’t have any round tables at Page 45 so I can’t practise, but the very first year we discovered that the long tables were less conducive to a smooth, organic, undulating thoroughfare accessible to wheelchairs and therefore maximum perusal. Live and learn, eh?

Anyway, here are the books. Reminder: you can pop any of the titles or their creators into our search engine for reviews and Worldwide Shipping.

 

 

 

 

 

You’re using our search engine, right?

Excellent!

 

 

 

 

 

Did I do an okay job?

Dear lord, I hope so! I had to race in on Saturday morning an hour before anyone else was officially let in, so that I could make all the final adjustments.

THANK YOU, SUB-WARDEN PHIL!

 

 

 

 

I liked that shot, so you’ve got it again.

What We Got Up To In Cumbria

or

It’s More Pretty Than A City!

Rain or shine, Cumbria is so bloody romantic.

Which is fortunate, because this year this rain was torrential, and the gales of such strength that the LICAF banner had to be taken down the day after I took this shot on Thursday night.

 

 

 

That’s the view from our Riverside Hotel bar’s balcony above the, err, river.

Fortunately half of it’s undercover, from which we spied this poor, desolate umbrella, snatched out of its owner’s hand. You can see it in situ in the photograph below this if you look hard enough at the bridge’s triangular cutwaters.

 

 

 

That umbrella almost demands narrative, doesn’t it? What is its story, and that of its owner?

As Jonathan observed, it’s like a graphic novel by Chabouté (THE PARK BENCH or ALONE, both pictured above, the first of which we made Page 45 Comicbook Of The Month).

I found it a day later outside the Kendal Clock Tower.

 

 

That seems unlikely, doesn’t it?

Anyway, on our way up on Thursday afternoon we called into Kirkby Lonsdale where I taught comics on behalf of LICAF at the Queen Elizabeth School. I’m heading back there again next year, thanks to its ace school librarian Gemma. Below you’ll find photos of Ruskin’s View.

We loved the church’s well wonky clock tower (seriously, just look at that clock’s positioning) and its graveyard’s Mr. Tickle Tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then back in Kendal we spotted this most alluring of alleys, and I love what they’ve done with the down-lit lighting, making maximum use of the textured stone walls.

 

 

 

 

And that’s where we’ll leave it, I think.

I was going to show you Ullswater where the inland lake was as choppy as a stormy sea, but you can discover it all for yourselves next year, eh, when you all come along to the Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2019. Good on you! I would. We will!

Oh wait, the speakeasy hahaha!

It’s now open all year round down a side-alley on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I was told not to tweet about it while I was up, so I didn’t. I’m not normally that well behaved. But I did take a shot away from it on Friday night, if you can discern from this where it might lurk.

 

 

On Saturday night I could tell that Jonathan was curious even though he did his best to hide it, so I led our ensemble down the street in search of it… a full 50 yards further on until I told them they’d missed it. Truly, it is that covert!

I’m not about to spoil things now, but it is well worth the hunt, for within lies such exceptional character acting and cocktails composed individually to your specific tastes. Jonathan asked for something smelling of bonfires (!) and I swear to god that I have never sniffed anything so reminiscent of an autumnal bonfire than the glass which this magnificent madman concocted out of his incomparably arcane and erudite knowledge of alcohol.

 

 

Oh, go on, then, you can glean clues of your own from following him @blind_bus on Twitter!

I’m @PageFortyFive

There’s More Of A Story Than Anywhere Else You Will Visit

Even the torrential rain gave me so many romantic shivers. It really is more pretty than a city which you might visit for a comicbook convention, and it’s overwhelmingly free-entry

Plus we broke our all-time sales records, regardless of the gales!

Of course it all cleared up on the Sunday afternoon! Of course it did!

 

 

And, in case it needs saying, all these photos are my own from this very year. Feel free to use them in order to promote LICAF.

Huge love for all that they do to Julie Tait, Carole Tait, the incomparable Aileen, Chris, Chris, Dave, so many Phils and everyone whom I’ve so rubbishly failed to mention!

LICAF Volunteers are the best in the world. I am in awe and, ever since year one, I’ve been forever in their debt. As a visitor, please do ask and they will provide!

For far, far more of Page 45’s 5-year involvement with LICAF (we are proud Patrons!), please see Page 45’s dedicated Lakes International Comic Art Festival hub with links to LICAF, previous years’ blogs, even more photos and everything!

I’ll see you in 2019, then?

Marvelous!

 – Stephen xxx

 

Includes Book Launch of My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies original graphic novel published October 10th by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips, Jake Phillips with free signed bookplate and a Sean Phillips & Jake Phillips sketching session!

 

 

Page 45 is proud to present hundreds of swoonaway graphic novels – many of which you won’t find elsewhere – for you to browse through, buy and then fondle forever in the privacy of your own home!

Entry is free all weekend long. We accept both cash and credit cards.

Where: Georgian Room, upstairs in the Kendal Clock Tower (access by lift)
When: Saturday October 13th, Sunday October 14th 2018

What On Earth Will We Bring This Year?!

 

 

We Will Definitely Be Bringing Luke Pearson’s HILDA, all of which have been signed, and some of which have been sketched-in for YOU for FREE! Cheers, Luke!

 

 

 

Page 45’s Comicbook Creator Guests Signing & Sketching

Eleanor Crewes: all Saturday and Sunday FREE!
THE TIMES I KNEW I WAS GAY

Una: all Saturday FREE!
BECOMING UNBECOMING, ON SANITY, CREE (brand-new!)

Yomi Ayeni & Corey Brotherson: all Sunday FREE!
CLOCKWORK WATCH

Emma Vieceli: Sunday 14th 1pm to 2pm FREE!
BREAKS, VAMPIRE ACADEMY, FROSTBITE, SHADOW KISS, DOCTOR WHO: EIGHTH DOCTOR, OLIVIA TWIST etc

 

 

Guy Delisle: Saturday 13th 3-30pm to 5-00pm LICAF pass required
HOSTAGE, PYONGYANG, SHENZHEN, BURMA CHRONICLES, JERUSALEM

Sean Phillips & Jacob Phillips: Sunday 14th 10-30am to 12 noon LICAF pass required
Book Launch: MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES
Sean: CRIMINAL, FATALE, THE FADE OUT, KILL OR BE KILLED, USER etc.
Jake: STARTING, COELIFER ATLAS

 

 

To find out more about their books, please click on their links for reviews or pop the creators into our search engine at www.page45.com.

 

 

Any graphic novels on our website can be brought by us to the festival, postage-free if you buy online at www.page45.com then “Collect In Kendal 2018” at the checkout. Offer closes Monday 8th October 2017 when we’ll be all but packed up to go!

Lakes Festival Merchandise on sale in our Georgian Room.

 

 

This includes comics, cards, prints and last’s year’s SPIRIT NEWSPAPER (reviewed).

All proceeds over the weekend go to the LICAF Creator Development Programme etc.

2018’s big launch is the TRACES OF THE GREAT WAR anthology of stories exploring the continued relevance and resonance of the First World War and its aftermath in our lives today. Creators include Charlie Adlard, Simon Armitage, Edmond Baudoin, Juan Díaz Canales, Régis Hautière, Joe Kelly, Kris, Thomas Von Kummant, Denis Lapière, Victoria Lomasko, Maël, Dave McKean, Mikiko, Ken Niimura, Sean Phillips, Ian Rankin, Riff Reb’s, Robbie Morrison, Orijit Sen, Bryan Talbot and Mary Talbot.

As to our own graphic novels, we’ll be on hand to provide personal recommendations tailored to your tastes, or take you through any comics which attract your attention, spoiler-free. Please do ask! Or, if you’ve a mobile phone handy, you can pop titles or creators into our search engine for our written reviews at www.page45.com

We’ll be accepting cash and credit cards all weekend long!

I may well have mentioned that.

 

 

More Lakes Festival Information

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival website
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival Programme 2018
Page 45’s Dedicated LICAF Blog featuring links to photo-filled blogs of every year we’ve attended.

LICAF Twitter: @comicartfest
Page 45 Twitter: @pagefortyfive

Our Twitter’s very handy for when other creators pop into our room for impromptu sketching!

Page 45 is a proud Patron of the Lakes International Comic Art Festival

It’s More Pretty Than A City!

 

 

Even in a car park.

 

 

Occasionally wet, but with sheep!

But it’s adored! And this is just our room. The Kendal Clock Tower is massive!