Today’s show: Jim McCarthy, Music Biographies

April 7, 2014 — Biography and Autobiography, Music and comics

Today at 4.30pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: Jim McCarthy, Music Biographies

Excerpts from Sex Pistols, Ramones, Michael Jackson and Kurt Cobain graphic novels, written by Jim McCarthy

Starting a month of shows about the depiction of musicians and music culture in comic books, Alex Fitch talks to Jim McCarthy about writing graphic novel music biographies of musicians and groups such as Kurt Cobain, Michael Jackson, The Ramones and Metallica. Fitch and McCarthy talk about the varying difficulties of depicting late musicians on the page, writing authentic voices for real people and taking a docudrama approach to graphic novels. (Recorded at Cartoon County, Brighton, January 2014)

4.30pm, Monday 7th April, repeated 11am, Thursday 10th April 2014, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

Links: Jim McCarthy’s website and page on Omnibus Press website
Listen to Alex’s previous interview with Jim as part of a tag team conversation with four 2000AD creators

Recommended events:

First Fictions Festival 2014

For those who like to mix their fiction with a dose of graphics there’s a heady mix of novelists with more than a cartoonist twist on the Saturday at the First Fictions Festival in glorious surroundings at West Dean College near Chichester. Nye Wright is holding up the flame in a panel on New Forms of Writing, while Broken Frontier’s Andy Oliver debates New Forms of Reading with Hannah Berry and the aforementioned Brookes and Phoenix. See the full programme here. The prices are set by the College, sadly, so you would need to think of it as pampering yourself with literature, good food, and beautiful spring walks: if, however, you are a student it all becomes deliciously affordable, so call the West Dean booking office on 01243 818314.

Gareth Brookes was winner of the First Fictions 2012 First Graphic Novel Competition, organised by Myriad Editions, and the long list for the 2014 competition will be announced on the same day, Saturday 12 April.

More info at www.myriadeditions.com

Sponsor UNFINISHED CITY by Ben Dickson, Sylvija Martinović and Robert Solanović

Unfinished City is a powerful, stylish thriller with a sharp, East-European edge. Nadja’s home town of Nikšić is a real place; many elements of the story are drawn from Sylvija’s experience of living in the city, and the stories that circulated at the time. This will undoubtedly be a controversial book in the Balkans – so much so that Sylvija and Ben had to consciously distance some elements from real life!

The book is being illustrated in glorious, shadowy black and white by cult Croatian artist Robert Solanović. A highly-regarded artist in the Balkans, this will be Robert’s first English language work.

Incentives include a first look PDF, signed paperback and hardback editions of the graphic novel, an exclusive T-Shirt and much more. Info at: www.kickstarter.com

Bryan Talbot exhibition on Portobello Road

The Portobello Road in London, as well as being a well-known street market, also was the home of London’s first ‘Culture Shop’, Alchemy, run by Lee Harris. Harris is a unique individual, a White South African who was a member of the ANC in the early 1950s, he moved to London and in the 1970s and was highly active in the underground and counter culture scene; he also published Home Grown and Bryan Talbot’s early work Brainstorm Comix.

A wonderful circle is completed by this exhibition where from a humble starting point, when Bryan was first looking for work in comics, to this pristine gallery, the lovely Muse at 69, where he is the focus of an exhibition. The clean white walls of the gallery, the clever lighting and the depth of the space really help to feature the artwork well.

Brainstorm! The Art of Bryan Talbot
The Muse at 269 Portobello Rd., London W11 1LR
ww.themuse269.com

20th March until the 13th April / Opening Hours 12 to 6pm Thursday to Sunday