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Liam Sharp Liam Sharp should be no stranger to fans of comics, sci-fi, and fantasy. The Derby born artist has been an industry veteran for nearly 20 years and has left his mark on a gamut of titles and books in that time.
Long time comic fans might remember him from his groundbreaking work on Marvel UK's Death's Head II, which still remains the best selling British comic of all time with close to 500.000 copies sold. Others might remember him from his prolific work on Death Dealer, published by Verotik; the company ran by Metal God Danzig. And if thats not enough, Sharp has drawn everything from Superman to X-Men, The Hulk, and Spawn.
In 2004, after a period of reflection, and a need to create and draw what he believed in, rather than just being another gun for hire, Sharp and his wife started Mam Tor™ Publishing, to initially self-publish personal art books and the like. While doing the convention circuits, he got in touch with a lot of like-minded artists and writers (both established names, and budding professionals) who couldn't find venues to publish their stories, because they're too subversive, not mainstream enough... you name it.
And this is where Mam Tor was really born.
Armed with a ton of new, and more importantly, fresh material, a couple of established creators who came along for the ride (and myself taking on design duties), Mam Tor set out to publish its inaugural title, Event Horizon: an anthology series, which is best described as "Punk Rock on a page". It’s the Heavy Metal magazine for the 21st century – that’s the basic idea.
In May 2005, the first issue launched at the Bristol Comic Expo and went on sale. Against all expectations, it made quite an impression in the industry. Fans ate it up, raving press reviews, and every "Big Name" that came across a copy expressed interest in doing something for Event Horizon.
So now it’s October, and in one months time, the second issue will be launched at the Brighton Comic Expo. Time to catch up with Liam...
PIXELSURGEON: OK, I'm just going to barge in: Why should people buy Event Horizon? Surely there are quite some magazines that cover the same grounds as Mam Tor. What is, if you will, the Mam Tor "X-Factor"?
LIAM: I think it’s the simple fact that it’s entirely born out of a love for the medium. The book was never created as an exercise in making money, and so it wasn’t cynical. A real singer will sing regardless of possible financial benefits. Likewise all artists—poets, novelists, painters—they’re all compelled in some way to create. And all the creators work in Event Horizon comes from that same compunction - and that’s pretty special I think. That’s rare. I also think we’re looking at something that blurs the boundaries a little between art, design, comics, illustration and literature. I firmly believe in comics as Art, and Event Horizon was created to allow people to do the work they want to, that they dreamed of doing when they first set out in comics - when they were still idealistic. Some of the creators are completely new to the medium, and this gives it a fresh unhindered sense of what can be created if you just trust people, guide them, and let them bloom. There’s a remarkable goodwill and unity amongst everybody involved, and I have honestly never experienced that in any great sense before now in anything else I’ve done. It’s like a movement! Everybody feels involved, and that it’s important, so we’re all somewhat compelled to keep working at it. There’s a great bond being forged, and there’s no clashing of egos. We’re all encouraging each other, and as a result sometimes quite radical improvements in the quality of work have taken place in the gap between book one and book two. I feel incredibly privileged to be working with these wonderfully talented, generous people.
Do you think that its because of this ethos that Event Horizon has broken out as it has? The comic book industry is basically Marvel, DC, a few select big publishers; and then a sea of independent publishers all fighting to be heard by their audience, and more importantly, get sales. Some go the way of licensing properties, others, however great their output is just drown in obscurity. Yet, if you look at Event Horizon after the release of issue 1, the press—and more importantly—fellow professionals have taken note and interest in the book. So its quite clear that the creed of creative freedom is attractive...?
I think it HAS to be that. What else could it be? There’s a lot of quality work out there, but it’s usually commercial. It usually ties into iconography that’s been well established for decades. It may be that the writers are changing things, improving and moving the quality of the narrative forward, but so often the art remains trapped in a narrow spectrum of what is perceived as commercial. As long as that remains in place, demanded by fans and editors alike, then the art cannot move forward, and it can’t be explored. We don’t have those boundaries, and that’s attractive to creators. But there must also be some good word of mouth. I’ve not come across any real negativity as regards the product itself since we launched.
Can you say Event Horizon is an important player in the UK, and maybe the international comics scene? Its been ages since a UK based comics publisher has done anything remarkable...
Again, its very existence is showing that we are. On the surface of it we’re a UK publisher, but we print and distribute out of the States and Canada, and we have artists and writers from all over the world involved. To me at least, Event Horizon is perhaps the most important UK comic publication in maybe a decade, and we’re already playing in the international market, aside from being an international product. Potentially it has a very wide appeal outside of the mainstream market I think. People are certainly warming to the idea!
Issue 2 is hitting the shops in November 2005. The series is going to published twice a year. Why such a big delay between issues? How can you build up a fan base and keep people interested who are used to having a new issue every month?
It’s not really a matter of choice. All the contributors are working on the book for free—they had and have other paying jobs, so the stories can't be long. Plus we had a large number of people who wanted to be in the book. A monthly magazine couldn't contain all these elements or remained consistent. It would have to have entirely different content with each publication. By doing it our way there actually WILL be some continuation, as we have more Machivarius Point, Jed Lightsear, Necromachia, Fucking Savages, Viking Zombie Elvis, Lorne, Rumours of Ragnorok, A Trace of Fragile Bliss, Wormcast; and as we build it over 12 issues some of the stories will grow and have a large story arc.
Also a magazine just couldn't have had that amount of creator-owned material in it. We would have had to put a limit on characters, concepts and ideas, instead of allowing free reign. So in the end it was the only course we could realistically take. The truth is we had no way of knowing if this was going to work or not, but sometimes new concepts have to be risked, and maybe the six monthly wait will create anticipation rather than the opposite… let’s hope so! It doesn’t appear to have hurt us yet!
After the launch events both at the UK Comic Expo in Bristol, and the annual mother of all comic conventions, the San Diego Comic Con, rumors spread fast that a lot of established creators have expressed interest in Event Horizon, in no small part because of the artistic free reign. It certainly helps to have a tandem of "old and new" talent to push the book. What can people expect beyond issue 2 besides the serialized stories?
In many ways I’ve no idea! [Laughs] Book 2 has grown from book 1, with Tom taking a whole new design approach and us opting to make it clear which section is which. The book has a much more rounded, clear agenda I think. We have some plans to resurrect the famous European strip character “Storm”, as popularized by my old dear friend and mentor, the late, very great Don Lawrence. We’re in negotiations with the current licensors of the character, so we’ll see. It would be a wonderful tribute I think, and that’s due to be in book 3 all going well, with Dave Gibbons on script duties. It’s something he and I worked out quite a few years ago with Don’s approval, but sadly it never got off the ground back then…
We’ve also recruited a prose editor who doesn’t come from a comics background but rather the science fiction, fantasy and horror literary world. The aim is to get some really fantastic prose stories into the book, open it right up to that other audience which is attracted to so much of the same genre specifics, but rarely crosses over. I think there’s an untapped potential for both artists and writers here to share their creativity and push the boundaries some more. We’re kind of tapping into the New Weird area somewhat, looking for work that isn’t commercially driven as much as creatively driven. I’m trying to get all the creators to take their basic ideas and push them even further – not to try and second-guess any market place for popularity’s sake. There’s stuff in the book that I know is going to have people scratching their heads, and that’s good! That’s what I want! There are no rules, only structures created by companies to make both creators and readers conform, thereby making it easier to sell stuff. I hope we get many more pieces that really challenge the perceived idea of how a story should be structured and read.
We will have some stories that are clear, and traditional – but they’ll all be truly beautiful. We can’t mess with “Storm” too much after all - we’d get lynched!
Famous last words...?
Yeah – fuck ‘em! Do you own thing, but be good to people. No jealousy, no regrets, no meanness, no fear.
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