The Forbidden Planet International Blog

Here we go again, with another comicker sent packing to our own wonderful desert island paradise…. or dumped unceremoniously on a tiny island with no hope of rescue.

This time it’s Josceline Fenton, artist on the quite brilliant Hemlock series, and winner of the British Comic Awards Emerging Talent award.

If you’ve not already seen Hemlock, here’s my take on it, here’s the webcomic, and here’s her online store at Lulu for you to buy them.

Desert Island Comics – Episode 42 – Josceline Fenton

Junko Mizuno – Cinderella

My copy of this is falling apart because I’ve read it so many times. I remember reading the interview with Mizuno at the back of the comic when I was 13; she talks about moving away from manga and trying to find her own style. That inspired me to do the same, and Junko Mizuno is still one of my heroes today (I’m really excited that “Little Fluffy Gigolo Pelu” volume 2 is finally coming out in English next year).

Tove Jansson – Moomin

If any comic can make you appreciate being stuck on a desert island, it’s probably this one. Jansson’s view of the world is very unique. I grew up watching the cartoon and reading the books, but I only found out about the comics when Drawn and Quarterly started publishing them a few years ago. I haven’t been as impressed with the volumes by Tove’s brother Lars Jansson, though.

Osamu Tezuka – Buddha

It’s hard to choose just one Tezuka series, but “Buddha” has been one of my favourites ever since I started looking into his work. Besides, a Buddhist attitude to things might help on a desert island!

Evan Dahm – Rice Boy

This is a webcomic, but I think it works far better in print. When it came to making my own webcomic I tried to emulate Dahm’s format a little– he takes his time telling stories in as many pages as he likes and he’s sparing with how many panels he uses per page. It’s a nice hefty thing, and it has a lot of hidden details that you miss on the first read, so this will keep me occupied for a while.

David Mazzucchelli – Asterios Polyp

There isn’t a whole lot I can say about “Asterios Polyp” that hasn’t been said before, I think. It’s one of the most stylish comics I’ve ever read, I really admire how Mazzucchelli can move between art styles so fluidly.

Naoko Takeuchi – Sailor Moon

I didn’t want to include too much manga on this list because my work tends to be lumped in with manga, when that’s not really what I’m aiming for anymore. But, like Moomin, Sailor Moon is another franchise that I grew up with and still love, so I suppose I’m including this out of nostalgia. It arrived in Sweden a little bit before it made it to the UK, so I must have been very young when I found out about it. I remember being jealous of my cousin’s Sailor Moon dolls when we were 5.

Ted Naifeh – Courtney Crumrin

I was debating whether I should include this or the volume of “Gloomcookie” that Naifeh drew here instead, but I love his art so much, I hope I’d be able to bring all of the Courtney Crumrin series with me to a desert island instead of just one book!

Yuko Ota and Ananth Panagariya – Johnny Wander

Another webcomic, but there are print copies too, so I can still take it with me to the island! I’m guessing I’d get pretty lonely, so “Johnny Wander” is here on the list to fill that friendless void.

Luxury item:

I’d say “all my drawing things”, but that’s probably boring by now, so I’m going to say a lifetime’s supply of chocolate (preferably in a fridge). It’s an addiction.