Alan Mitchell (comics)
Encyclopedia
Biography
In 1988 Mitchell began writing in partnership with Pat MillsPat Mills
Pat Mills, nicknamed 'the godfather of British comics', is a comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since....
, who met the writer while Mitchell was working as a shop manager for Acme Comics in Coldharbour Lane
Coldharbour Lane
Coldharbour Lane is a road in South London that leads south-westwards from Camberwell to Brixton. In total the road is over 1 mile long with a mixture of residential, business and retail buildings - the stretch of Coldharbour Lane near Brixton Market contains shops, bars and restaurants...
in Brixton
Brixton
Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
. Mills was looking for a black writer to help him create a nightmare urban world based in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. This would complement the one that Mills had developed with his main character Eve and her friends in Central America with a focus on corporate exploitation by the multinationals in the third world. It was the beginning of a writing partnership that would last until 2004.
In Crisis, the revolutionary political comic from Fleetway, Mitchell worked on Books 2 and 3 of the controversial story, Third World War. This was a complex and hard hitting narrative that covered issues including matriarchy, police racism, no-go areas, private police forces, class war, and black resistance (Newsinger, 1999). The stories anticipated the surveillance society and Macpherson by at least a decade. Mitchell also had the opportunity of writing an Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
story "Prisoner of Justice" with Glenn Fabry
Glenn Fabry
Glenn Fabry is an Eisner Award-winning British comics artist known for his detailed, realistic work in both ink and painted colour.-Biography:...
as artist. Amongst the most memorable Third World War stories were "Liat’s Law" parts 1&2 with artist Duncan Fegredo
Duncan Fegredo
Duncan Fegredo is a British comic book artist born in Leicester in 1964.-Career:Fegredo first managed to get into comics after showing his portfolio around UKCAC in 1987 and meeting Dave Thorpe. Together they worked on a strip for a short lived British magazine called Heartbreak Hotel...
, and "The Black Man’s Burden". This classic quartet of stories, with John Hicklenton
John Hicklenton
John Hicklenton was a British comics artist best known for his brutal, visceral work on flagship 2000 AD characters like Judge Dredd and Nemesis the Warlock during the eighties and nineties.He suffered from multiple sclerosis and recorded an award-winning documentary about...
's art, introduced the character of the villainous Chief Inspector Ryan, the embodiment of racism within the police force (Newsinger, 1999). The tales provided the platform that Mills had framed for Mitchell to express his political perspective and cultural concerns of the time. The Black African Defence Squad (BADS), and the mothers of Azania, Sonnyboy and Charles Shebego amongst a number of other characters, served to develop a complex and arresting depiction of black African urban culture in comics. Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips is a British comic book artist.He is best known in the American comic book industry for his work on DC Comics' Sleeper, WildC.A.T.s, Batman and Hellblazer.-Career:...
was the other major artist who collaborated on a number of framing episodes. (Newsinger, 1999)
Mitchell went on to partner with Pat Mills on Toxic!
Toxic!
Toxic! was a British weekly comic book published by Apocalypse Ltd. A total of 31 issues were published from March 28-October 24, 1991.-History:...
on which he co wrote Coffin for that publication. He also worked for the well-regarded black community magazine The Alarm through the mid 90’s, writing the comic strip The Scrolls of Imhotep amongst other pieces.
Mitchell has gone on to write several horror shorts for various American publishers chiefly Lament for Baal with artist Kane: 1327 for Raw Media Magazine. He has also worked on a number of uncredited stories with Pat Mills including, ABC Warriors and Judge Dredd in 2000 AD, and Star Wars
Star Wars (comics)
Comic books based on Star Wars have been published by Marvel Comics and Dark Horse Comics.-Marvel:The Marvel published a series of Star Wars comic books from 1977 to 1986, lasting 107 issues and 3 annuals....
for Dark Horse
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
. Finally he partnered Mills in the first ABC Warriors novel The Medusa War for Black Library
Black Library
The Black Library is a division of Games Workshop which is devoted to publishing novels and audiobooks set in the Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes...
based on elements changed or removed from the scripts. According to Mills:
Mitchell has just completed the first episode of RaptorZ a new internet comic with Glenn Fabry as artist for Buzz Comic that appeared in the Summer 2010. He is also working with the artist Kane: 1327 on Fierce, a horror anthology due for completion winter 2009.
Comics
- Third World War (with co-author Pat MillsPat MillsPat Mills, nicknamed 'the godfather of British comics', is a comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since....
):- Book II:
- "Here be dragons" (with art by Angela KincaidAngela KincaidAngela Kincaid, formerly known by her married name of Angela Mills, is a children's book illustrator best known for The Butterfly Children series of picture books. With her then husband, Pat Mills, she created the Celtic comics character Sláine for 2000 AD.-External links:*...
(1) and John HicklentonJohn HicklentonJohn Hicklenton was a British comics artist best known for his brutal, visceral work on flagship 2000 AD characters like Judge Dredd and Nemesis the Warlock during the eighties and nineties.He suffered from multiple sclerosis and recorded an award-winning documentary about...
(2), in Crisis #15-16, 1989) - "Back in Babylon" (with art by Carlos EzquerraCarlos EzquerraCarlos Sanchez Ezquerra , who has also worked under the alias L. John Silver, is a Spanish comics artist who works mainly in British comics and currently lives in Andorra...
, in Crisis #17, 1989) - Untitled (with art by Carlos Ezquerra, in Crisis #18, 1989)
- "Liats law" (with art by Duncan FegredoDuncan FegredoDuncan Fegredo is a British comic book artist born in Leicester in 1964.-Career:Fegredo first managed to get into comics after showing his portfolio around UKCAC in 1987 and meeting Dave Thorpe. Together they worked on a strip for a short lived British magazine called Heartbreak Hotel...
, in Crisis #19, 1989) - "All about Eve" (with art by Carlos Ezquerra, in Crisis #20-21, 1989)
- "Symphony of splintered wood" (with art by Sean PhillipsSean PhillipsSean Phillips is a British comic book artist.He is best known in the American comic book industry for his work on DC Comics' Sleeper, WildC.A.T.s, Batman and Hellblazer.-Career:...
, in Crisis #22-23, 1989) - "Remembering Zion" (with art by Sean Phillips, in Crisis #24, 1989)
- "The world according to Ryan" (with art by John Hicklenton, in Crisis #25, 1989)
- "Liats law II" (with art by Duncan Fegredo, in Crisis #26, 1989)
- "Book of Babylon" (with art by Sean Phillips, in Crisis #27, 1989)
- "The Dark other" (with art by John Hicklenton, in Crisis #29, 1989)
- "The rhythm of resistance" (with art by John Hicklenton, in Crisis #30, 1989)
- "The calling" (with art by Sean Phillips, in Crisis #31, 1989)
- "The man with the child in his eyes" (with art by Sean Phillips, in Crisis #33-34, 1989)
- "Black man's burden" (with art by John Hicklenton, in Crisis #35, 1990)
- "Ivan's story: Why me?" (with art by Steve PughSteve PughSteve Pugh is a British comic book artist who has worked for most of the major comic producers on both sides of the Atlantic: DC, Marvel, Dark Horse and 2000 AD.-Biography:...
, in Crisis, #36, 1990)
- "Here be dragons" (with art by Angela Kincaid
- Book III:
- "Killing Me Softly" (with art by Glyn Dillon, in Crisis, #43-44, 1990)
- "Anchorman" (with art by Steve Pugh, in Crisis, #50, 1990)
- Book II:
- "Prisoner of Justice" (with Glenn FabryGlenn FabryGlenn Fabry is an Eisner Award-winning British comics artist known for his detailed, realistic work in both ink and painted colour.-Biography:...
, in Crisis #52, 1990) - Coffin (with co-author Pat Mills and art by Morak Oguntade, in Toxic!Toxic!Toxic! was a British weekly comic book published by Apocalypse Ltd. A total of 31 issues were published from March 28-October 24, 1991.-History:...
#13-23, June–August 1991)
Novels
- ABC WarriorsABC WarriorsABC Warriors is a long-running 2000 AD comic strip written by Pat Mills, which first appeared in prog 119 in 1979 and continues to run today. Art for the opening episodes was by Kevin O'Neill, Mike McMahon, Brett Ewins, and Brendan McCarthy - who between them designed the original seven members of...
: The Medusa War (with co-author Pat Mills, Black LibraryBlack LibraryThe Black Library is a division of Games Workshop which is devoted to publishing novels and audiobooks set in the Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes...
, 2004, ISBN 1-84416-109-9)
External links
- Alan Mitchell at Buzz Comic