Today I’m pleased to say that Steve Holland has contributed some of his comics choices for the Best of the Year. Steve, as many of you will know, is a life-long comics fan and staunch supporter of British comics and illustration in particular; his excellent Bear Alley site regularly features articles and artwork from all sorts of creators, from the well-known to the hidden gems of creators you never knew about, always backed up with in-depth knowledge of the subject and its relation to British comics and illustration history – if you haven’t bookmarked Bear Alley then you really should, its highly recommended reading for any comics aficionado.
(cover to Carlton’s massive War Picture Library: Death or Glory collection, edited by Steve Holland)
Steve’s in-depth knowledge of British comics is also brought to the fore in researching (in fact doing a lot of researching) for the Fleetway Picture Library series, the first of which, the War Libraries (co-written with David Roach), has only recently been published. On a similar theme Steve also edited two massive War Picture Library collections recently, with Unleash Hell and Death or Glory both offering up massive helpings of classic British war comics. Steve’s taking a slightly different tack from the three graphic novels/books/films approach for his choices, but as I said before we’re quite happy to embrace some diversity here because that’s one of the ways you get more opinions and insights; with that it’s over to Steve to see what stood out for him this year:
Best British comics’ books this year:
1) Thrill Power Overload by David Bishop; a no-holds-barred history of the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic from a former Tharg.
2) Charley’s War IV: Blue’s Story. Just topping the new Modesty Blaise reprints and the release of Albion Origins… Titan deserve a pat on the back for their continued commitment to reprints.
3) The Bumper Book of Look and Learn by Stephen Pickles. Gorgeous book that shows what can be achieved if you put the time and effort into it.
Best events in 2007:
1) Comics Britannia on BBC4 taking British comics seriously rather than giving them the “ironic” treatment.
2) Release of The War Libraries. Twenty years of blood, sweat, tears and hardcore research in one 196-page flexibacked package.
(cover to Fleetway Picture Library 1: War Libraries, edited by Steve Holland and David Roach)
3) British comics on the internet. The continued growth of interest everywhere from Wikipedia to the blogosphere that keeps their memory alive.
Worst events in 2007:
1-3) The deaths of comic creators Angus Allan, Phil Gascoine, Angus McBride, Jack Edward Oliver, Ifor Owen, Chad Varah, Jeff Wilkinson… And maybe others who have, for one reason or another, dropped off the radar.
Tue, Dec 11, 2007
Best of the Year 2007, Comics and cartoons