10 YEARS OF THE BF SIX TO WATCH! There are emerging artists I discover on my Broken Frontier travels who I know immediately have something extra special, next-level even, to offer. I can’t remember now quite how I stumbled across Anna Readman’s work circa the end of 2018 but from just one online minicomic of a handful of pages and a selection of illustrations of trolls I knew immediately that Broken Frontier should be including Readman in our 2019 ‘Six to Watch’ creators selection and promoting this extraordinary new talent far and wide.
I wasn’t wrong. In the last few years Anna has proven herself adept at tackling established favourites in the 2000 AD/Rebellion range while also showcasing her own distinctive voice in a number of self-published comics. With a masterful control of the tools of the form, Readman is not simply a sophisticated visual storyteller she’s also proven herself to be a great student of the medium’s possibilities. We are delighted today, then, to catch up with Anna to talk about her upcoming work in the pages of the Scream!: 40 Years of Terror Special and ‘Fargo & McBane’ in the Judge Dredd Megazine, and also to look at some of her self-published practice too…
Cover by DaNi
ANDY OLIVER: Since we last talked at Broken Frontier back in 2019 I think it’s fair to say you have certainly made a name for yourself as one of the most exciting new voices in UK comics. What have been some of the highlights for you over the last five years as your profile has continued to grow?
ANNA READMAN: That’s very kind of you to say. Although I’ve been doing mainly WFH gigs lately, I think the biggest highlight for me has been the success of my independent work, especially Peach Fuzz and my comic short ‘Dancing Queen’. I’d like to do more self-published work; it just doesn’t pay the bills unfortunately, and I find it hard to find the time to work on my own comics whilst hitting deadlines.
AO: You have now, or will have in the near future, been involved with a number of Rebellion’s stable of books including 2000 AD, the Judge Dredd Megazine and Scream!. How did your association with Rebellion begin?
READMAN: I think that’s down to you, Andy. After you named me as one of Broken Frontier’s ‘Six to Watch’ in 2019, I one day just found an email in my inbox from [2000 AD editor] Matt Smith asking me to draw a comic for an upcoming Regened issue of 2000 AD. It just kept going from there, so thank you!
And His Skin is Cold
AO: You’ve worked with a fan-favourite 2000 AD character in the shape of Abelard Snazz. Similarly, you will be visiting the world of classic British strip One-Eyed Jack’s Jack McBane and Dredd’s ancestor Eartha Fargo in the Megazine soon. The former, of course, being an inspiration for Dredd according to his co-creator John Wagner. As a newer 2000 AD artist is there ever a sense of trepidation about taking on properties with such a rich history?
READMAN: Of course, and especially with such a loyal and ferocious fanbase as the Earthlets, it can feel like a lot of pressure. I got the original One-Eyed Jack collected edition signed by Wagner himself at last year’s Thought Bubble, so that gave me some confidence to work from.
AO: You have a truly chilling one-shot story ‘And His Skin is Cold’ coming up in the Scream!: 40 Years of Terror Special in November. Can you give the BF readers a quick spoiler-free summary of the premise of the strip and its horror genre leanings?
READMAN: Our story is about a British 1970s rock ‘n roll band on their breakout American tour, and the chaos and tragedy that ensues when the cruel descent of addiction and brutal consequences of unbridled indulgence comes to a violent end one fateful evening. It is a tale of an icon’s fall into darkness and dragging his nearest, dearest, and closest admirers with him.
And His Skin is Cold
With a hint of tongue ‘n cheek, our story fits into the iconography of Scream! with a rock ‘n roll twist that only the backdrop of the turbulent ‘70s can provide. Talent and a good voice can bring you fame, fortune and immortality but that isn’t the only way to live forever.
AO: Scream! is a strange phenomenon given that it has this huge cult following and yet only 15 issues of the original run were ever published in the 1980s. How familiar were you with its history beforehand?
READMAN: I never read Scream! but have an appreciation for classic horror comics such as EC Comics and Creepy. My favourites are those from Wally Wood and Alex Toth.
Fargo & McBane
AO: You worked with George Pooley on ‘And His Skin is Cold’. Can you give us some insights into your collaborative process on this story?
READMAN: Well, just to point out the handsome elephant in the room, George is my boyfriend, but more importantly he is a fantastic writer and a very creative person who has the most extensive knowledge of 2000 AD, horror movies and mainstream comics of anyone I have ever met. I wanted to encourage him to put his knowledge to practical and creative use, and we had been sitting on this idea for a while after watching Almost Famous, The Doors and Interview with the Vampire in close succession, so our story came to fruition quickly.
We wrote the treatment together and George turned it into a script which I edited it into a more concise draw-able state, which I then did draw, so it was a true collaborative effort from the beginning. Chiara, our editor, was also fantastic and basically let us do anything we wanted, within reason. I think it all turned out splendid.
Fargo & McBane
AO: Obviously, as you know by now, I am a huge admirer of your work but there’s been a growing confidence to your pages as time has gone on that’s very much on show in ‘And His Skin is Cold’. How do you feel your style and approach to the page has evolved over the last five years? Are there any key lessons you’ve learnt since those early short comics days? And do you think working across so many genres in that time has helped to refine your visual storytelling skills?
READMAN: I think my approach has changed tremendously. A couple big projects fell through just as I left my day job, so it meant saying yes to anything in my inbox to pay rent. Because of this I’ve basically drawn every type of comic under the sun, which has taught me a lot, not just in the literal sense of learning how to make comics digitally for efficiency, but also how to adapt my style to suit the story and audience. My adaptiveness and punctuality are something I pride myself on, but now I don’t really know how to make comics for myself. It feels like a skill that has been lost and needs to be found again.
Peach Fuzz
AO: Last year you were the winner of the Observer/Faber/Comica Graphic Short Story competition for the profoundly powerful strip ‘Dancing Queen’. How much of a boost for you has that acknowledgment for your work been?
READMAN: It has been nice to have that acknowledgment on a national platform, but to be honest there hasn’t really been an impact on my work life. I think big competitions like this are important to showcase British comics talent to a wider audience, and as much as I like Observer/Faber/Comica, and am thoroughly grateful and thankful for winning, I don’t think there is a lot of crossover or correlation to the actual rough and rowdy everyday world of comics.
AO: We have spoken before about your creative process at BF but I’d like to revisit that, not just to ask you about the mediums you work in but also the research aspect of your approach to period-specific storytelling?
READMAN: I absolutely adore the research stage of any comics making. Learning about the correct sort of lamppost, to the models of cars and fashion is all so interesting to me and directly informs my comics making process. Stories like One-Eyed Jack are especially fun as it’s set in ‘70s NYC, and I love drawing grime and grit, so I had a blast drawing rats and used condoms and the like. No polished Metropolis skyscrapers for me thanks.
Peach Fuzz
Halfway through working on Fargo & McBane I transitioned to drawing it all digitally, mainly fuelled by my hatred of using rulers on paper. I think my digitally stuff looks ok, and it’s started to become my go-to way of working for client stuff, but I still prefer the look of ink on paper for my own independent comics. Plus, I can sell the originals for extra scrap.
AO: You continue to work in many different aspects of comics publishing including your own self-published work, and multiple small press anthology projects. What for you, creatively and aesthetically, are the advantages of maintaining a more personal or grassroots level of output alongside the bigger projects?
READMAN: Comics are a voice for the voiceless and self-published DIY comics are the lifeblood of the medium. Without grassroots comics none of the best stories would be told, panels drawn or characters pencilled. It’s why I still try and contribute to anthologies, such as our own Leeds Comics Collective’s debut anthology Cryptids of Leeds [editorial note: review coming soon as part of our Thought Bubble coverage] and my scruffy group of cartoonists pals in Underground Kingdom Comix.
Anna’s cover for the Leeds Comic Collective’s Cryptids of Leeds
If I could only work on self-published comics I would do it over client work every time, it just doesn’t pay unfortunately. And I know comics aren’t about the money, but we all still need something to live on, and I’d rather be drawing comics everyday than working in an office. I just gotta figure how to turn those comics into my own comics.
AO: And, finally, are there any other projects you might be working on that you can tell us about? Are there likely to be any more self-published comics in the near future?
READMAN: Yes! I just finished drawing a comic for the second issue of Re-Live’s Coming Home, a veterans’ mental health comic anthology. This second issue focuses on LGBTQ+ stories in partnership with LGBT veterans’ charity Fighting With Pride and will be launching at this year’s Thought Bubble.
From Handlebar Gumbo
This comic is something that I’m very proud of, about the real-life story of two strong women who faced tremendous challenges to just to be who they are, and to be together. Steve Sullivan, my editor, had the confidence in me to (hand) letter and colour the comic as well, so that’ll be the first for me professionally. I’m really looking forward to seeing it all in print (hopefully my colouring looks ok!).
I still have so many stories I want to work on for Peach Fuzz, so that’ll be my focus in any free time I get. In the meantime, I’m just cracking on drawing whatever comes my way.
Thank you for the interview, Andy!
Anna’s work on Fargo & McBane begins in this months Judge Dredd Megazine, shortly available here
Pre-order the Scream: 40 Years of Terror Special here
Buy Anna’s self-published comics online here
Interview by Andy Oliver
2024 marks the tenth year of Broken Frontier’s ‘Six to Watch‘ initiative. Look for articles throughout the year celebrating the work of those artists who have been a part of the programme.
