Comic Convention

Spotlight On Portsmouth Comic Con 2019: Martin Simmonds

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A Bit Of A Punk Attitude

♦ The second Portsmouth Comic Con takes place in two weeks’ time and Tripwire is proud to be a part of it once again. Here is the latest spotlight feature looking at one of its guests, artist Martin Simmonds…

Martin Simmonds is a comic artist and co-creator (along with David M Barnett) of Punks Not Dead from Black Crown, and  Friendo (with Alex Paknadel) from Vault Comics. Martin is also contributing artist to Marvel’s The Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett, and series cover artist for Marvel’s Quicksilver: No Surrender, and Jessica Jones.

In addition, Martin has also contributed cover art to various projects including Robotech (Titan Comics), Paradiso (Image Comics), and Ruin of Thieves: A Brigands Story (Action Lab).

Simmonds mentioned how music has influenced his work in an interview with comicon.com in 2018: “Music has played a huge part in the creation of Punks Not Dead, both in the storyline (there’s some amazing revelations to come!), and as a direct influence on the artwork. Aesthetically, there’s also opportunity to draw influence from a whole host of iconic album art and design, which for me growing up, was a big influence on what I would buy. Great packaging, cool artwork, and holding that vinyl in your hands is all part of the experience, and something that you don’t really get from digital purchases and streaming services. The obvious examples of iconic punk design that spring to mind are Jamie Reid’s work with the Sex Pistols, Winston Smith’s Dead Kennedy’s artwork, and all those photocopied  punk fanzines and flyers that shaped the DIY aesthetic, but there’s so many other styles of music/artwork/packaging that has infiltrated the look of this book.”

Previous work includes Titan Comics’ Death Sentence: London (written by Monty Nero), and the self-published Eponymous, written by Mike Garley.

He sees his work on Vault’s Friendo in a very specific way:”I guess I see “Friendo” as a what if…? scenario. I think it’s fair to say that the real world’s gone down the pan recently, and if we continue on this path, where would it takes us? So “Friendo” is a disturbing take on where we could end up. It’s a very bleak story in many respects, and suffice to say the story takes us down some pretty dark avenues. It’s part dystopian sci-fi, part dysfunctional buddy story, and part violent adventure into consumerism.”

Twitter: @Martin_Simmonds

This is Simmonds’ first visit to Portsmouth Comic Con as a guest (he was there the first year as an exhibitor). Simmonds has made a name for himself as a unique British artist and he is one of the most distinctive UK comic artists to appear over the last few years.

Martin Simmonds Portsmouth spotlight www.tripwiremagazine.co.uk

Tickets are available now for Portsmouth Comic Con but they are selling fast. Please visit the website for details on the show and to pick up tickets

Portsmouth Comic Con

And here’s the other guest spotlights so far

Spotlight On Portsmouth Comic Con 2019: William Simpson

Spotlight On Portsmouth Comic Con 2019: Laurence Campbell

Spotlight On Portsmouth Comic Con 2019: Rob Williams

 

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