WAITING
FOR TOMMY: RICHARD EMMS OF AP COMICS
By
Richard Johnston
Richard Emms
is director of AP Comics. Just another self-publisher, with
a few vanity projects clogging space in Previews. Hardly. APC
has a line of stylish, flash, colour titles, featuring the kind
of material one used to associate with the likes of Wildstorm.
Young, hip and full of pizzazz. The production qualities are
high, the material 'uncomplex', but tapping youth culture. AP
will not be to the taste of most comic book readers, whether
Marvel zombies, Vertigo ghouls of Fantagraphics fanboys. They
publish mainstream material. The kind of books that have more
in common with Charmed or Smallville, with manga-influenced
art styles and attitudes. Nothing too clever, nothing too edgy
or challenging, but the kind of material and storytelling skills
that could tap into a huge market. given the chance. And AP
Comics may be about to get that chance.
Among
the books they publish are Darkham Vale, Monster Club, both
light-hearted looks at the darkness. Think Buffy meets Gen13.
Then there's the upcoming Digital Graffiti, with some stunning
Adam Hughes-meets-Travis Charest explorations of youth culture.
There's Slaughter, a disturbing and degraded aristocratic
drama. Assassin School, Alias meets Saved by The Bell. Next
year sees Kid Bonzai And The Bot, a kind of sci-fi Calvin
and Hobbes. And then there's Ruy Jose and Joe Bennett's Neutral
World.
So how
come these colourful, bright and snazzy comics have passed
so many by? Richard Emms took time out for Waiting For Tommy.
RICHARD JOHNSTON:
You're publishing a line of colour comics, attracting an audience,
with rather fashionable material, and have been doing so regularly
for quite a while now. How come we've never really heard of
you?
 RICHARD
EMMS: We're not Crossgen. We can't afford millions of
dollars on advertising - or we'd be dead within a day! So
we produce great looking comics with great production values...
the rest is up to the readers and the shops to take the gamble
and try us out!
Comic fans will
hear a lot more from us in the future... as we've got something
massive for Monster Club - and it'll be the first of its kind
for the UK and especially an indie publisher!!! I can't say
any more - but watch this space around November for the announcement!
JOHNSTON:
Any hints you can drop?
EMMS:
NOPE! But all I can say is that it is very exciting for the
UK comic scene and it could make us a household name very
quickly!
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