Here are our two interviews with (a) Dez Skinn and Gareth Kavanagh and (b) Jeff Cummins at DWAS Capitol 9 earlier this year.

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SHOW NOTES

(00:05:33) Dez Skinn is a British comic and magazine editor and author of a number of books on comics. As head of Marvel Comics’ operations in the UK in the late 1970s, Dez reformatted existing titles, launched new ones, and acquired the BBC license for “Doctor Who Weekly”. After leaving Marvel UK, Dez founded and edited “Warrior”, which featured key works by Alan Moore. Called by some the “British Stan Lee”, Dez is one of British comics’ most influential figures (it says here). Dez’s website can be found here.

(00:05:33) Gareth Kavanagh is of course one of the legendary (i.e. we’re not entirely convinced that he actually exists but the stories about him are legion) eminences grises behind the “Vworp Vworp” fanzine and the Cutaway Comics imprint.

“Vworp Vworp” is a fanzine celebrating Doctor Who in comic strip form, as well as Doctor Who artwork in general and the history of “Doctor Who Magazine”.

Cutaway Comics is a new British imprint of comics and graphic novels drawn from the darker recesses of a dangerous, unpredictable cutaway universe. From the creators of Vworp Vworp! Magazine, they star some of the most enigmatic characters to have graced our screens. Beginning with a four-issue limited series written by Eric Saward (Doctor Who) and featuring the mercenary Lytton (as portrayed by Gangster’s Maurice Colbourne), Cutaway Comics is also bringing you art from the UK’s hottest artists including Barry Renshaw (Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog). Cutaway Comics is inspired by the so-called ‘backup’ strips of Doctor Who Weekly, which delved deeper into the characters and cultures of the Doctor Who universe away from the Doctor. Stay tuned for some exciting and unprecedented explorations of the worlds of Doctor Who and beyond.

(00:14:00) “The House of Hammer” was a British black-and-white magazine featuring articles and comics related to the Hammer Film Productions series of horror and science fiction films. The brainchild of Dez Skinn, almost every issue of the magazine featured a comics adaptations of a Hammer film, as well as an original comics backup story, such as the long-running feature Van Helsing’s Terror Tales. Contributors to the magazine included some of the UK’s top comics talents, such as Steve Moore, Brian Bolland, John Bolton, Trevor Goring, David Lloyd, John Stokes, and Brian Lewis. Lewis painted most of the covers, usually featuring the Hammer film being adapted in comics form in the interior pages. Regular columns by Denis Gifford and Ramsey Campbell were also part of the mix.

(00:15:55) The two covers for “The House of Hammer” issues 7 and 17 can be seen on our Tumblr page here.

(00:28:02) The “Big Train” sketch referenced by Dez and Gareth here actually features Ralph McTell and “Streets of London” rather than Gerry Rafferty and “Baker Street”. Though the confusion is understandable. “Big Train” is a British television sketch show created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan. The first series was broadcast on BBC Two in 1998. The second, in which Linehan was not involved, aired in 2002. The sketch in question can be seen here.

(00:39:15) The Seacon article in The Guardian which Dez refers to here can be seen on our Tumblr page here.

(00:51:07) Jeff Cummins has been as an art director, visualiser, designer, storyboard artist and long time iIlustrator in many worlds.

(00:53:00) Jeff’s Bruce Lee poster can be seen on our Tumblr page here.

(00:55:05) Jeff’s album cover for Paul McCartney’s “Thrillington” can be seen on our Tumblr page here.

(00:55:05) Jeff’s album cover for 10CC’s “Deceptive Bends” can be seen on our Tumblr page here.

(00:55:05) Jeff’s album cover for Rainbow’s “Straight Between the Eyes” can be seen on our Tumblr page here.

(01:22:14) The story of Jeff finding his early Dalek painting behind the wallpaper of his childhood home can be read here and another photo can be seen on our Tumblr page here.

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