Rummaging around in one of my bookcases back in the family home recently an issue of Deadline fell out; it had been squeezed between two hardback reference books, which kept it nice and flat, uncreased, un-torn. Issue 29 of Deadline to be exact – it says ‘May’ on it but not the year, although I am guessing that would be, what? Maybe somewhere around 1991? Si Spencer editing contributions from Hewlett and Martin, Philip Bond, Spencer and Shaky Kane, William Potter, Leigh Marlin, David Jukes, John McCrea (working with Si), Shane Oakley and D’israeli among others.
(the cover to Deadline #29 by John ’4 pints’ McCrea)
Its really odd to come across this single issue, falling out from between a couple of books when I was looking for something else, rather than in one of my old comics piles. Sudden nostalgia kicks in – early 90s, I’m at college (and I have hair, hair I tells ya!!!), I’m having the best time in Edinburgh finding new drinking places and music venues and second hand bookstores and comics stores (er, when not studying very hard, of course). And there’s Deadline, an achingly hip, cool comic peppered with articles on pop culture and attitude and along with the Sandman one of the few comics that the non-comics kids at college look at and think, wow, cool. And yes, it was bloody cool. We sometimes look back at Deadline and talk about that flowering of independent comics by a diverse mix of creators, aimed at a grown-up audience. And well we should, because it was and although long gone it left an influential legacy in Brit comics. But as well as the creative influences it was also just goddam cool. It was as likely to be being read by some trendy undergrad who couldn’t tell a Bolland from a Baxendale as it was by a comics person. You could sit there in the Student Union bar reading it alongside NME and it was cool. That was kind of a new experience for me as a lifelong comics reader.
Anyway, since I found it and since this weekend’s Caption will be celebrating (among other anniversaries) 20 years since Deadline made its bow I thought it an appropriate time to share just a few pages with you over the next couple of days – I hope some of you get a good nostalgia kick out of this too. Here’s a page from Shane Oakley and D’Israeli’s Fatal Charm, “story: Oak + Molly, Art: Oak + D’Izzy in equal measure, Lettering: H V Derci” ((c) the creative team); click the pics for the larger versions:
Tue, Aug 5, 2008
Comics and cartoons