Comics legend Pat Mills unveils new Spacewarp venture with ‘Humber Triangle’
NEW VENTURE: Legendary British comics creator, editor and writer Pat Mills
He has been called The Godfather of British Comics, created 2000AD, and had a major role in the development of Judge Dredd. Now in this exclusive interview with writer and broadcaster Joe Hakim, comics legend Pat Mills talks about his new venture, Spacewarp, and his collaboration with the ‘Humber Triangle’, a new generation of creative talent
Hull was a strange place when I was growing up. I could have used the word “grim”, but I think it’s too lazy.
I spent the majority of my childhood living in West Hull, just off St George’s Road, and all of my memories are soaked in an atmosphere, a feeling, which seemed to permeate the very fabric of my reality. It was in the bricks of the pre-war terraces that were still being cleared around Walliker and Perry Street; it was in the stoic faces of some of my friend’s Dads, the ones who had to take their filleting knives from the deck of a trawler to a factory floors; it was in the faint low frequencies of the fog-horns I could sometimes hear in my bed at night.
I didn’t have the comprehension or the vocabulary to give it a name at the time, but looking back I know now what it was: loss.
Fortunately, thanks to my Grandma Topsy, I discovered a love of reading at an early age. Trips to Carnegie Library, followed by a browse of the newsagent’s shelves, were my weekly highlight. My favoured books were things like Gumdrop, Flat Stanley and the novels of Gene Kemp. My comics were of the cheeky variety, Buster, Whoopee!, Whizzer And Chips (full disclosure: I was always a Whizz-Kid; Shiner was too much like the lads I didn’t get on with at school).
But my infant mind was warped by two cultural lightning bolts: The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, and the Galaxy’s Greatest comic, 2000AD. And while Wyndham had the propensity to drift into the twee, 2000AD was the real deal. Brash, violent and anarchic, the flawed anti-heroes and dense world-building instantly connected with me. And although I didn’t realise it at the time, one of the main reasons these stories appealed to more than the exploits of the square-jawed American heroes is because their protagonists were working-class. They were misfits and losers who tried to do their best against huge odds and terrible forces beyond their control. They were me. They were us.
2000AD launched in 1977, into a period of great political and economic unrest. And now, in 2020, during another turbulent period of history, one where we also dealing with a pandemic that is sweeping the globe, Pat Mills, creator, editor and co-writer of 2000AD, Crisis and Toxic, and many other publications, is launching Spacewarp, a new independent science-fiction comic.
In the documentary about the history of 2000AD, Mills described the creation of 2000AD as a retreat into science-fiction so writers and artists could say something about state of the world.
I asked if this motivation still held true when creating Spacewarp:
“Yes, I think that’s still true. We need science fiction, adventure or war to ‘sweeten the polemic pill’. I still think there’s still a case for dramatic storytelling set in the present day. Eg The story of a Hunt Sab or a soldier serving in Afghanistan.
“We were heading in that direction with Crisis when the audience were looking for something more than SF [science-fiction], doubtless because of Thatcher, the Poll Tax and so forth. But that wasn’t a vision shared by everyone on the magazine and so it lacked enough inner conviction. It’s hard to get right and most artists like to draw fantasy. Science fiction and other escapist dramas require less writing skills than real life drama.
“Even so, Charley’s War – about a soldier in the trenches of World War One - demonstrates that it is possible. It’s never been imitated, despite its huge popularity, because it requires so much more work from writer and artist.”
DIGITAL EDITION OUT NOW: The cover of the new Spacewarp comic
How does science-fiction, as a genre, keep up with everything that’s going on right now?
“It’s hard, because every day there’s some new development that seems ever more science-fiction and it’s actually happening, rather than being foretold for fifty years from now. Aware of the dangers of being ‘too polemical’ or ‘too technical,’ I’ve fed ideas gently into Spacewarp.
“Two examples: Epigenetics. It features twice in Spacewarp. In SF1 and in Slayer. Twenty years ago an ‘ancestral curse’ would be seen as hocus pocus, but now it’s given a scientific name and a scientific rationale it’s slowly being accepted; it’s even featured in the final series of the TV series The Affair.
“So people can admit something that we all know but don’t usually like to talk about for fear of being thought mad. Tribal societies would instantly recognise Epigenetics as ‘Ancestor Worship’. They’ve been doing it for millennia. In summary, we all have ‘trends’ in our families, history strangely repeating itself, which seem to echo down the generations and can have their roots way, way back.
“Quantum Physics – the surreal nature of the universe. I feature the famous Schrodinger’s Cat theory in Xecutioners and start to explore Quantum theories. When 2000AD came out that was barely know of in populist SF or comic circles.”
For someone who spent his childhood using comics like 2000AD, and later Crisis and Toxic, as portals to escape the reality of my life in Hull, there’s an added layer of significance to the launch of Spacewarp: I don’t mind admitting, the fact two of the artists, Gareth Sleightholme and Mike Donaldson live and work in Hull, and another, Ian Ashcroft, lives in Grimsby, gives me a real charge of thrill-power.
Dubbed the “Humber Triangle” by Mills, his promotion and support of these artists continues his long tradition of developing new talent. Among the many revolutions 2000AD brought to the British comics industry, a major one was the “Credit-Card”, a small panel which credited the writer, artist, and letterer on the strips. As a kid, it was an epiphany: the fantastical stories and art contained within the pages of each prog were created by real people, just like me.
Mike Donaldson drew and lettered “Fu-Tant”, an experience he describes as: “Art-wise, Fu-Tant is restless. I was searching for a style that would combine the brutality of Poliziotteschi crime films with early Grange Hill. But in a very 21st century setting. It was all there in Pat's uncompromising script and I did my best to make it work. I was aware of the target audience, so I did consciously turn down the violence a notch or two.”
MIKE DONALDSON: ‘Turned down the violence a notch or two’
He also lettered Jurassic Punx and created the “Hide and Survive” feature in the first issue of Spacewarp.
I asked him about his own experiences growing up in Hull, and how comics become a part of his life, when the urge to draw and create developed, and who his inspirations were:
“It's not just comics. I've been writing, drawing and playing music since I can remember; for me they're all the same. Before that I'd stomp around my garden for hours fighting Daleks in my imagination. Frank Zappa once explained that all of his work across disparate mediums is connected in some way to a larger object, which is unnameable. He called this process the project/object. It's all creative and, most pertinently for a kid growing up on a council estate in the late Seventies and early Eighties, it's all magic escapism.
“As for my artistic inspiration; it was a trip back in time. The first artist I became obsessed with was Kevin O'Neill, this led me to Ken Reid, Davey Law, Leo Baxendale, and then the Underground Comix, then further back to EC comics and Mad magazine, Will Eisner and others, all found by rooting around in the dark corners of Motherby's Book Shop, East Hull Books and Sheriden's. I was 13 when a hippy history teacher with a skinny leather tie slipped me his stash of Fabulous Furry Freak Bros Comics.”
Have you got any advice for aspiring artists in Hull who want to draw comics?
“There are so many people who are in love with the idea of being a comic artist. It does sound cool on some level. Anyway, to paraphrase Alexei Sayle who I met whilst walking past a roundabout on Bransholme (true story): 'I always tell aspiring comic artists they're shit and to give up. Well, I don't need the competition, do I?'
“But seriously, there are no barriers to becoming a comic artist. Just think of a story and pick up a pen. You don't have to be able to draw, at least not in a conventional sense, just concentrate on communicating your idea clearly and in a style appropriate to the story. And we don't need any more superheroes. No, really. Please. Draw something else.”
Gareth Sleightholme is also based in Hull. He painted Spacewarp’s incredible wraparound cover, working over Mike Donaldson’s excellent pencils, and produced interior sequential artwork and designs for Xecutioners. He also had a lot of fun designing the ship and the alien characters of the Warp Lords and their guardian creatures.
His work covers a huge range of styles and mediums, including visual development, concept design, illustration and a range of 2D and 3D creative work with heritage projects, theatre, and games, yet he describes himself as “just a bloke with a pencil”.
I asked him if these different projects and collaborations always started life as a sketch on a pad:
“Most of the time yes. The sketchbook is where you get to just pour out and mix and match ideas as they form, it’s not precious, it doesn’t matter that things fail from time to time as nothing is yet fixed. It’s about pinning some of the nebulous separate visual ideas down, sometimes you think you’ve had one coherent concept but it turns out it’s two or three separate ideas, as your brain in motion makes you think it’s solved. Seeing them as separate entities on the page allows you to start iterating, hybridising and honing the various concepts more and more with each design pass. Until eventually, ‘by stripping away everything that isn’t necessary’ for the final idea, you are left with what you need to take into the sequential strip.”
One of the great things about Hull is its broad range of freelance companies and artists. Tell us more about Hull’s visual arts scene:
“Hull and the area around it in the near North, has some great creatives working in it (in a range of disciplines, not just the visual arts, as you well know). If you follow the local arts on social media or attended any of the vibrant art scene events (prior to lockdown), you’ll be aware of visual artists and illustrators like Calvin Innis, Jorge Goytizolo Lazo, Abbie Rial, Ben Middleton, Anna Bean, Chris Wood, Michael Bell (Bael), projects like Adam Kerr and Jessica Eleanor’s Hull52 project. All of which are worth a follow to see a range of established and newer, younger artists working hard to promote themselves and share information and process with those that want to follow in their footsteps, which is great.”
You’ve worked as an art teacher for many years. What is the one bit of essential advice you were given when you were starting out that you continue pass on to your students?
“That’s a tough one. I was told by my school careers advisor that I’d never earn a living drawing. It not hard to imagine that still happens, especially when prominent figures in the media tell parents to guide their children away from the arts. For me that was all prior to art school of course.
“Regardless, I think the best advice I can give is just to do it. Whatever your art form. Set yourself a deadline, have a project in mind and just make it. It might not be what you want it to be the first time around, but if you meet your deadline it will be a finished thing, filled with lessons ready for the next deadline-oriented project you set yourself. And if you share your work and process in the right art communities, you’ll get feedback and maybe even your first client.”
‘JUST A BLOKE WITH A PENCIL’: Gareth Sleightholme
The third side of the triangle, Ian Ashcroft, is based in Grimsby, and is the illustrator of Hellbreaker, Spacewarp’s resident Cosmic Assassin.
I asked him about getting the opportunity to work with Pat Mills, something he described as an incredible education:
“Right from the start, I had a very definite idea of how I was going to approach the project. I definitely wanted it to be an educational experience. I wanted to see how far Pat could help develop my work. I wanted to see how I could handle the pressure of working with a phenomenal writer and editor. I knew it was going to be a massive challenge and I kept telling myself, this guy has worked with the best of the best, artists like Joe Colquhoun, Simon Bisley, Glenn Fabry, Clint Langley, Oliver Ledroit all come to mind and honestly their talent is intimidating. At times I obviously had doubts, but I kept in mind that Pat had seen enough in my work to believe in me and that was all I needed.
“One of the main reasons I hope to work on Hellbreaker for a long time; Pat is developing my art. As an artist you put complete faith in his opinion. I would say to readers that Hellbreaker is the start of a journey, in more ways than one.”
Before moving to Grimsby, you worked as an art teacher at Sydney Smith school in Hull. Do you think working as a teacher has brought you any insight when designing characters you hope will appeal to young people?
“I must say I loved working at Syd, I worked with so many wonderful people. I continue to really enjoy my job as an art teacher in Grimsby and the people of this region have always been so good to me. My family have made this our home and we couldn’t be happier.
“In truth it’s difficult to say if my role as a teacher has helped me design my characters, it does make you more aware of the characters students enjoy in other forms of popular culture. As a teacher you have that connection because it’s so important to take an interest in what inspires your students.
“The art department I work in uses a lot of contemporary illustrators and artists to help show our students that art can provide you with meaningful future. I think that is what is so important about this Humber triangle of artists on SpaceWarp - it is proving to young people in places like Grimsby and Hull that it can be done, you can be recognised. For me that is everything and it is why this is such a special project.”
‘THIS IS A SPECIAL PROJECT’: Ian Ashcroft
Over the last few months, it feels as though there’s been a wave of science-fiction art, music and theatre emerging from Hull and the region. The last event I attended before lockdown was an event organised by Shellie of Humber SFF featuring Eli Allison, whose novel Sour Fruits is set in a dystopian Hull of the future. Theatre groups like Brick by Brick and 1Upstarts are using technology to bring interactive sci-fi stories to communities.
The Bastard Wonderland by Lee Harrison takes many recognisable elements of Hull and refigures them to create an epic new fantasy world. Writer and historian Mike Covell has published volumes of myths and legends from around the region, and discovered one of the first recorded UFO sightings in history took place over the Humber.
Hull’s Broken Orchestra infuse their sonic landscapes with sci-fi flavours, and Hull writer Russ Litten has teamed up with producer Dave Formula on Oddfellow’s Union, combing dystopian lyrics with electronica. My own novel, The Community imagines Hull being invaded by a sinister extra-dimensional intelligence.
And let’s not forget it took a gang of lads from Hull, The Spiders from Mars, to help give birth to the one of the most iconic aliens to ever emerge in pop-culture: Ziggy Stardust himself.
I sincerely hope Spacewarp and the Humber Triangle will provide the inspiration Hull needs to continue its exploration of the strange and uncanny. To conclude, I asked Mills what his advice would be aspiring young creators in Hull and whether that advice had changed over the years.
Spacewarp is a completely independent venture, so does Mills believe indie production and distribution is the best way to go now for writers and artists wanting to create comics?
“Yes, but we all need to learn the appropriate skills first. Ultimately, the advice is unchanging and is based on my own experience: Find a way to get into the industry, learn from it, and then do your own thing. There are courses on creative writing at every level and that may be preferable to trying to break into the publishing world, which can be a nightmare. McKee’s Story is also my bible, despite its faults.
“I’ve always said to would-be writers – why do you want to write comics? Younger writers probably don’t know. Or they might say - cos it’s cool. They generally, I fear, ignore my advice which has always been – go away into a corner somewhere and really reflect on why you want to write. And I’m being unfair because, annoyingly, they may not get the true answer until mid-life maturity, by which time they’re set on life’s journey and may have trouble changing course.
“But it is vital, whenever they get the real answer. In my case – my primary reason is to fulfil an esoteric journey of revenge from pre-existence. And that’s backed up – but it’s still secondary – by a less weird, more rational childhood Dickensian tale of oppression and wanting revenge on elites. You can see it in just about all my stories, most of which draw on real life, no matter how obliquely.
“A tough childhood is a simple way of putting it. Trauma may even be a pre-requisite for creative writing.”
Do not adjust your reality. It’s already been warped.
The digital edition of Spacewarp is available to purchase now from Amazon, with the physical edition launched later this year.
To find out more see the additional links:
https://www.spacewarpcomic.com/
https://www.artstation.com/hesir
Instagram @ian.ashcroft.art