RICHARD: Do you feel such fantasy is always healthy? Is it the reflection of natural red-blooded male desires, or a symptom of lack of ability? Like I said, you're clearly not compensating for something you don't have, physically at least, but is there something missing from many who appreciate your work? Do you "complete" them, and if so have you considered charging them a bill for the psychological crutch you provide (I said "crutch"!)
LIAM: Perhaps a bit of both. For Simon Bisley I have no doubt it's the former. For me, most likely the latter. As I said, I was your classic shy wimp. It was a lot of wish fulfillment. But as for healthy - how much art IS healthy? Is art MEANT to be healthy? For whatever reason I'm somewhat compelled to produce this work. It's empowering to me. I think it's like a kind of mantra! LOL! If it does the same for anybody else that's great, but really I'm just telling stories, taking people on journeys. These are deep set ancient archetypes: the hero warrior, the adventurer, the discoverer. They're the icons we aspire to be, or wish to be. Sexy, aloof bastards! In reality I'd hate this kind of guy! But there's security in being that untouchable, at least to the fearful mind. To be psychotic without compassion might be a lonely place to dwell, but would you care? It's a mirror reflecting a darker side of myself. It's the only place I'm violent, in my fantasies. Hey, it's all stuff I wrestle with, seriously! That's why, ultimately, I think this kind of work DOES have real credibility. We are what we draw, at least at some level.

And that can be a little troubling for a peace loving pacifist! LOL!

RICHARD: Pacifist schmacifist. You're currently working on what seems to be a punch into the face of comics. A high profile, high price anthology of diverse styles of comics. It seems a little like if Warrior had been hardback, or if Heavy Metal had been a little less French. What is its origin, where are you going with it and what are we likely to see in there?
LIAM: Event Horizon, which we're publishing through our Mam Tor imprint, is VERY exciting indeed. It's going to be 120 pages, or there abouts, of highly diverse work. We're going against the grain, in that it's entirely down to the creators that this thing exists at all. Nobody has been paid a penny, every single page has been done for the love of it. To have a go at something different, or to see what we might come up with when the usual restraints are removed. The good will has been phenomenal, and the quality of work is superb. Some of the creators are big names, such as Steve Niles, Brian Holguin, Ash Wood, Glenn Fabry. We've got underrated pros, like Saverio Tenuta, who doesn't get an ounce of the attention and accolade he deserves. He's doing amazing work - as you know, since he's painting the story you wrote! I get to do the kind of gritty full colour barbarian strip I've dreamed of doing all my career, and long before. And we've got some completely unknown artists and writers who's stuff is just a little too quirky, personal or idiosyncratic for your regular comic title, which means their great work gets overlooked or passed over - and that's a crime.

Right now the industry is predominantly driven by writers, and very good they are too. But what I miss, though, are the days of Elektra Assassin, Dark Knight, Stray Toasters, A1, Blast, Epic Illustrated, Warrior, and of course, Heavy Metal, where ALL the boundaries were being pushed. There are rows of superhero titles out there. Endless graphic novels and reworks of reworks. Apparently the average age of comic readers is around about thirty, and I heard that statistic some six or seven years ago! So what we're doing is producing a series - hopefully - of books for them. It's completely stand alone. It's diverse. It's dark, it's funny, it's sexy, it's basically punk on a page. There's a sense of wonder here - there's horror, science fiction, fantasy, period pieces, we've thought of calling it uber-pulp! It's going to be really, 'scuse the language, f*cking great!

Very, VERY exciting indeed.

We launch at the Bristol convention May 13th, and we'll be doing a panel on the Saturday, and LOTS of signing!

RICHARD: Liam! You weren't to mention the story *I'd* written for Event, that makes this whole thing seems like a PR exercise. But cheers! Imagery aside, is this anything more than creative masturbation?
LIAM: What's wrong with creative masturbation? A whole lot of great art is just that! LOL!

RICHARD: But yeah, I miss those days too. My comics golden age had Revolver, Escape and Deadline. Much of that experimentation has gone, moved into other media or other markets. I just found an old Marvel comic called A Sailor's Story by Sam Glanzman. I don't know who'd even publish it these days. For a brief moment recently, Marvel did seem as if they were to diversify massively, but then it dissipated. Do you believe the direct market will be abandoned save for the top thirty selling superhero books?
LIAM: Look, I think the entire industry is on its last legs. The world at large will have its fill of the comic inspired movie eventually, the crutch will be gone, and the only people left doing comics will be the hardcore fanatics doing it for pure love - and then it might get really exciting again, because THAT will be genuine subculture. That will be rock, and punk and jazz and soul.

But I hope I'm wrong.

Seriously though, if Event Horizon fails I'm not sure there are many places left to go for people like me, certainly not in comics. I'm too niche, and a little too radical. I'm not easy to label and box, so I think people are wary to some extent. They can't be sure what they're going to get. To me that's exciting, and challenging, but the industry needs some security, and it's not finding it easily. It's important books like Event Horizon are successful because diversity is just SO important. It's not always good to be safe, and it's always good to be challenged! When I got too old for mainstream comics I found adult comics. There was somewhere else to go. We're trying to be that somewhere else, that's all. Just offering another alternative.

RICHARD: Do you even read any comics these days? I can't imagine what would appeal to you from the current crop. Any thoughts on the new Kiddies Conan?
LIAM: I pick up the odd thing. Recently I bought Steve Niles and Nick Stakal's Hyde from IDW. Jae Lee's Hulk/Thing book, Dave Gibbons' The Originals (and me a rock guy... bloody mods!) Then there's Glenn Fabry and Garth Ennis' continuing Authority series - but I have to get that as I'm one of the characters in the book, "Tiny". LOL! I also picked up Glenn's AMAZING artbook, Monograph, and Biz's Illustrations from the Bible, which is just stunning.

As for Conan - man, I want to draw that guy! One day...

RICHARD: Dark Horse? Are you reading this?

Liam Sharp's galleries can be found here and here and . Here. Event Horizon will be published next year and more can be found here. Rich Johnston writes Lying In The Gutters every Monday.

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The Waiting For Tommy Archive

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