Comic Clippings - 2 September

It's official: The War Libraries is now on sale. The book cleared customs last week and arrived with the publisher, The Book Palace, on Thursday; advance orders were sent out at the tail end of the week so everyone who ordered a copy can expect it to thump onto their welcome mat shortly.

The book has been so close to publication for so long I'm more relieved than excited. It was started way back in 1984 when I put an advert in Denis Gifford's Association of Comics Enthusiasts Newsletter, Comic Cuts, and the first ever list, covering only a few hundred issues of War Picture Library, appeared in Comic Cuts in September 1990. So the lists have been around in one form or another for decades. The introduction, which runs to over 10,000 words, was originally drafted in 1999, although extensively rewritten into its current form in 2007.

OK, so lists of these things won't be for everyone and we know it's unlikely to give Waterstones or Borders any worries about where to stock it... they don't! But if you get a chance, come along to the next ABC show on Sunday, 7 October, and take a look at the book. David and I will both be there. We're hoping to also be at the London International Comics Festival (Comica) at the ICA on, I think, 3 November. You can get the book directly from the publisher or you can order it through Amazon.

From the 'My Friends Are Geeks' file: the kids'-of-friends party yesterday had a Spiderman theme (and cake) and here's L'il Spider-Man, who has never seen a Spider-Man comic or a Spider-Man movie as he's way too young. But he has seen the posters for the movies and just fell in love with the costume. Chalk up another (4-year-old) fan for Spidey.

A few interviews spotted recently...

* Broken Frontier's Bart Croonenborgh is 'Talking to Warren Ellis' (30 August)... the clue is in the title. (Link via Journalista)

* John Higgins, artist of the upcoming adaptation of The Hills Have Eyes (based on the movie), is interviewed at The Pulse by Jennifer M. Contino (22 August).

* Another Jennifer M. Contino interview, this time with Andi Watson, also at The Pulse (21 August).