Frank Plowright
"I like comics enough to have spent my adult life not only reading them, but writing about them, and organising events to promote them, yet have never properly considered what the compelling attraction is. I've concluded it's a process of accumulation.
In my infancy I was seduced by the lush photogravure colour and simple tales to be found in Teddy Bear [a British weekly comic that ran from 1963 to 1973], before progressing to the slapstick of the Beano. The local library copies of Asterix and Tintin were there as I developed a little further. By my early teens I was fixated on superheroes, although not a lonely or bullied child seeking solace in wish fulfilment. The Avengers presented a veneer of sophistication, and the soap opera aspects sucked me in. Having broadened my horizons elsewhere, comics progressed with me. The sophistication became genuine, multi-layered and presented in varied forms that sustained my interest.
Childhood infatuation sets the foundations, and it's surprising to realise the profound and prolonged effect of the care, charm, and good-natured humour applied by the anonymous creators of Teddy Bear."
Frank Plowright is currently the primary reviewer for the Slings and Arrows Graphic Novel Guide at www.rustystaples.com, but hopes someone else will inherit that role in time. He has also given us an alternative version of why he loves comics below.Consider it a remix.
Donya Todd
"I love the mad poetry of it all. The bonkers narrative and dreamscape dramas. It's a beautiful mix of two mediums and I'll always be excited by the artistry involved."
Donya Todd is no stranger to this space. Her hyperactive, electric Kool-aid fairy tale cartoons have long been Graphic Content favourites. Her latest book Buttertubs is available from Avery Hill Publishing.
Frank Plowright (again)
"Weapons of Mass Diplomacy/Alias/The Bogie Man/Jack Kirby/The Love Bunglers/Lucky Luke: Nitroglycerin/Amelia Rules!/Gibrat/Jonah Hex/Avengers by Roy Thomas and Steve Englehart/The Castafiore Emerald/Franquin/Asterix and the Roman Agent/Enigma/The Multiversity/Black Jack/Cape Horn/Weirdo/Geoff Johns' JSA/Steve Gerber's Defenders/Velvet/Strange Embrace/Alice in Sunderland/Hip Hop Family Tree/The Manhattan Projects/Invincible/Blacksad/Matt Fraction's Hawkeye/Groo the Wanderer/Dudley D. Watkins/The Spirit/MPH/Frank Quitely/Star Cat/Little Lulu/Don Rosa's Uncle Scrooge/Carl Barks/Essex County/Box Office Poison/Stuck Rubber Baby/Tomb of Dracula/Warlock by Starlin/Posy Simmonds/Misery Loves Comedy/Blade of the Immortal/Robo-Hunter by Wagner and Grant/Prince Valiant/Alex Toth/The Perishers/Monsieur Jean/Justice League by Giffen and De Matteis/Fables/XIII/100 Bullets/Charley's War/Raymond Briggs/Kamandi/Hunt Emerson/The Authority by Ellis and Hitch/Hitman/Daredevil by Bendis, Miller or Waid/Jon Sable/Wind in the Willows by Plessix/Streetwise/Star Wars by Goodwin and Williamson/Trigan Empire/B.P.R.D./Epileptic/New Frontier/Ken Reid/Meridian/Streak of Chalk/Teddy Bear/Building Stories/The Last American/Amour Fragiles/Ragmop/Mad, Frontline Combat and Two-Fisted Tales by Kurtzman/Punk Rock Jesus/American Flagg/Watchmen/Polly and her Pals/Stray Bullets/Mort Cinder/Beautiful Darkness/Jacques Tardi/Little Nemo/Little Lit/"
For anyone new to graphic novels Frank’s website www.rustystaples.com is an ideal primer by the way.
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