This November marks the milestone of 100 years since the end of the First World War. Much has been said about this travesty of a war. However, you can never say too much to help prevent such atrocities from happening again. Just look around at the world today and one can see that certain regions are embroiled in wasteful, savage, atrocious and indiscriminate killing, wars that should never have started. For the West and any civilised society, a moment of reflection on our own past madness is always a worthwhile exercise.
The comic community have got together to produce a most magnificent artistic reflection on the tragedy and legacy of that war, titled Traces of the Great War. Eighteen teams from across the world, including Robbie Morrison and Charlie Adlard, Mikiko, Kris and Juan Diaz Canales, L’Atelier Virtuel, Simon Armitage and Dave McKean (also the cover artist), Mary and Brain Talbot, and Orijit Sen. There are 152 pages of sobering story telling which, whilst beautiful to look at, can be tear jerkingly poignant.
Each of the stories looks at a different aspect of the Great War. Some are inspired by specific events, some consider how the war shaped the world, some explore what can be learned, some look at the reaction of the current generation as they discover or face the reality of that time.
I wholeheartedly recommend Traces of the Great War to everyone – it would even make a wonderful Christmas present for friends and family. Retailing at £14.99, the book is available in our web shop at a special price of £10.99 until the end of November. Ace Comics Advance Order customers just need to add item 359/8349 to their orders. It’s a great price for a wonderful heart wrench.
Vault Comics
Whilst attending a retailer meeting in October, I had the pleasure of meeting a group of talented writers and artists who have formed their own UK studio called White Noise. They are being published via Vault Comics and I urge you to check out their work with Vault, as they are some of the most beautifully rendered and interesting comics out at this time – Fearscape from White Noise member and writer Ryan O’Sullivan (creator of Void Trip from Image Comics) with artist Andrea Mutti is nothing short of breathtaking, honestly. The other members of White Noise include Dan Watters (Deep Roots creator, soon to be working on Lucifer from DC Vertigo), Alex Paknadel (Arcadia writer) and Ram V (creator of Paradiso, also from Image). Please check out their work; grab a graphic novel collection from Vault when they are offered or dive straight in with the comics now. You will not be disappointed.
We are hoping to host a signing event here with this talented and enthusiastic bunch of guys (who made me think of the old Marvel ‘Bullpen’, such was the joy and camaraderie they exuded) in the New Year.
Mission for the month:
Buy a Poppy or just give to this or any military charity this month. Too often our society has let down those who fought on our behalf to defend the free values we all take for granted.
