BBC Radio 4 Interview
I finished an interview about horror comics for BBC Radio 4 which goes out 23:00 on March 30.
I thought about doing my best Mark Kermode impression for the recording, but then realised to I would have had to slam horror comics for not being as good as The Exorcist film if I wanted to pull the impression off.
The interview was fun.
I got a chance to talk about the appeal of horror comics, the change in styles over the years and the danger of horror comics falling into the hands of kids.
One of the things I had to point out was that, by and large, kids don’t really have access to the range of comics they did back in the fifties.
Super hero reprint titles and the Cartoon Network-style range of comics make up all that kids are likely to find in the local newsagents or WHSmith.
Any material a few degrees left of ‘capes and cowls’ is likely to be held in a local comic shop, which requires the walking cash machine that is a parent, who will no doubt inspect any purchase before buying.
If you’re after horror comics, you have to seek them out; they don’t jump out at you from shelves. You also have to be well-informed about what’s available and suitably cashed up to the point where you don’t ask for pocket money.
The arguement that horror comics warp fragile little minds is weakend by kids having a lack of direct access to much wider material in comics form.
This is weird when you consider that some of the best selling kids novels are horror stories – wizards and werewolves.
Food for thought.
