Today’s Best of the Year comes from a rising star of the British Indy comics scene, Howard Hardiman, the creator behind Badger, which our own Minister of Propaganda Richard described as “an incredibly simple little tale. Yet it’s one of my favourite comics all year. It’s certainly the saddest.” Pretty impressive praise for someone relatively new to the scene and I know Richard doesn’t make comments like that unless he really means them. Howard has been buzzing around the small press fairs this year and also has some of his artwork on show all through December at the Picture House Cinema in Greenwich; Howard was also the guest recently with Alex Fitch on the weekly Strip! Radio show on Resonance FM, which can be heard via the magic of podcast on the Panel Borders site. Howard’s latest comic is Badger and you can keep up with his work via his site. No anthropomorphic animals were harmed in the making of this article.
FPI: Could you tell us what your favourite three comics/graphic novels and/or books have been this year and why they stood out for you?
Howard: It’s been a great year for discovering lots of books I’d never have heard of otherwise – going to small press events and comics fairs has really opened my eyes to the wealth of talent out there at the moment. I’m tempted to say it’s a shame that not much of this talent is hitting the big time in Marvel or DC but this year I’ve lost faith in the big houses and found so much more joy in smaller, story-driven comics.
(cover to Laika, (c) Nick Abadzis, published First Second)
Laika, by Nick Abadzis was a treat early on in the year and is the first comic since Maus to make me cry unashamedly and in public while reading it. It’s a real treat to read and really pulls at the heart-strings. He thoroughly deserves all the awards he won for this book. I bought extra copies once I’d finished it so I could give them to other people without risking losing my own. It’s a really precious book.
Prick, from Tpcat was a surprise purchase I picked up at the Birmingham comic show and is a real delight with the philosophical musings of animals pondering the meaning of life, love and sex. It’s beautifully constructed and the humour is tempered with some wonderfully painful and wry truths.
(a page from Prick, art and (c) by Melody Lee going under her nom de plume of Tpcat)
Queen and Country has been a real surprise hit for me. I got it on the way back from the Burning Man festival and wandered into a comic shop in San Francisco and bought it along with armfuls of other recommendations from the guy behind the counter. I had told him I liked character-driven and sad stories, so when he showed me a book about spies, I was sceptical, but proved wrong. The characters Greg Rucka creates with this series are as cold and brutal as you’d want your spies to be, but how their cruel efficiency at work spills through into their private lives is what makes this quite such a compelling lead.
Ok, so I realise that all three of these came out in 2007, so I’m a little behind the times!
FPI: In other art forms was there anything in the world of radio, TV, film or other artistic endeavours that really drew your attention this year?
Howard: I’ve been quite blinkered with starting up in writing and making comics this year but I enjoyed Iron Man far more than I expected to and have absolutely no shame in the joy I felt while watching Hairspray on stage! I’ve been working at the Hayward Gallery doing tours of the Andy Warhol exhibition there so have gained a new appreciation for the work that’s on show there, too.
FPI: On the professional front how did you see the comics world in 2008, from your own point of view as a creator putting your work out there (did you feel it was a good year for you?) and what did you think of the way the comics biz was in general this year? The business becoming more diversified, more accessible to new readers and creators or less welcoming?
(Badger in the park, a lovely and yet sad image, art by and (c) Howard Hardiman)
Howard: I got into making comics after blogging doodles on post-it notes and got talked into having a stall at the UK Web Comix Thing about a fortnight before the event, so I hadn’t left myself much time to start putting together my first photocopied comic, but I’m very glad I did. I’ve been to the Thing, Birmingham, Leeds and Comiket at the ICA and I’m pleased to report that it’s been a lot easier than I’d expected to meet other creators and to get to hear about opportunities. It’s a steep learning curve when you’re trying to publish your first book and I’m relieved to have had all the help and support I received. It’s my first year and I’m thrilled with how many people have connected with Badger online and by buying the book and giving me really useful feedback about where to go from here with it all.
The superhero scene left me very cold this year – Marvel and DC seem to be using tired ideas as cash cows, but I’m sure I’ll still keep peeking at their output every now and again. I think, though, that the number of small press and comic events that have happened this year just goes to show how thriving the small press scene is. I just hope that people can continue to support independent creators next year too!
FPI: What’s the next project you are working on that we can look forward to?
Howard: I’m slowly but steadily working on more stories with Badger and I’m very happy with how the artwork’s developing now I’m able to take more time over it and how much more real his world is feeling to me, so I’m thinking there’ll be a new volume of his story out some time next year.
I’ve also been spending an unhealthy amount of time researching a new set of characters for a tragedy I want to put together about a pterodactyl who is raised in Greenland by polar bears and then suffers something of an existential crisis about where he belongs. Its hard going, just writing it, but it’s still keeping the cute as well as the sad in the story, so don’t worry it’ll be totally bleak. Just mostly, of course!
FPI: Lastly, are there any new names you’ve come across recently you’d like to pass on as one to watch for?
(Ninja Bunny – death by gluttony, art by and (c) Philip Spence)
Howard: Oh, there are so many people I’ve met and whose work I’ve loved this year. I still adore everything that comes out by Timothy Winchester – his People I Know comic is going strong. Lonely Panda is just supremely cute and I love Philip Spence’s Ninja Bunny, too. I’m a sucker for anything with cute animals in, you see?
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