Mam Tor Publishing
Encyclopedia
Mam Tor Publishing is an English
independent comic book
publisher founded by Liam Sharp
and his wife Christina McCormack. The company's headquarters are in Derby
, East Midlands
.
The name "Mam Tor" comes from the landmark high peak
near Castleton in the High Peak of Derbyshire
, England
.
The book gained success, and during Sharp's many convention visits he started to meet a lot of like-minded, and more important, unpublished artists and writers who couldn't seem to break into the industry because their work was considered too far removed of the mainstream market. Sharp, who always has walked the fine line between commercial success and artistic freedom saw potential and an opportunity to use his publishing imprint as a way to offer the talent a stepping stone in the industry, while offering well known creators a playground where they could let their creativity run free without the usual editorial restrictions.
Together with designer Tom Muller and friend John Bamber he set out to expand the company to start publishing more work. This saw the launch of the critically acclaimed and award-winning anthology, Mam Tor: Event Horizon.
Mam Tor is dedicated to producing creator driven works that might not ordinarily find a home on the bookshelf - their being too niche, radical or unquantifiable - despite the evident quality and commitment they display. Mam Tor has not been created as a commercial venture, but as a forum for subcultural, underground, science fiction, horror or fantasy artists. There are no fees for the work produced, nor are there the usual editorial restrictions.
Mam Tor has published the award-winning anthology Mam Tor: Event Horizon. Dubbed "21st Century Pulp Fiction", it showcases the finest in underground, fantasy, and science fiction in a unique mix of comics and illustrated text stories by some of the finest names in the industry and the stars of tomorrow.
Currently Mam Tor is releasing stand-alone graphic novels, like Matt Coyle
's Worry Doll
and Sharp's Lap Of The Gods, as well as developing other properties for comics, books, and film.
They have just started publishing a quarterly free comic given away in Time Out. Four Feet From a Rat is a 16 page comic comprising 4 stories, all written by the advertising company Mother
, Stories in the first issue are "The Crane Gods" Liam Sharp, "The Little Guy" by Chris Weston
, "Routemaster" by Dave Kendall and "Don Pigeone" by Kev Crossley. The third issue got press attention thanks to the story illustrated by Roger Langridge
"Young Boris," which featured the adventures of London mayor Boris Johnson
.
Event Horizon is a quarterly anthology publication showcasing the best in fantasy, horror, and sci-fi, both in comic form and short (illustrated) prose stories. Each book follows a thematic and chronological structure: "Fantastic" (the fantasy part), "Gothic" (modern day fantasy and horror), and "Future Science" (science fiction). This gives the book a well defined structure wherein creators' stories can be presented contained within each sub-genre. Each issue features stand-alone stories in comic and written form side to side with serialized stories which will run across several books ("F***ing Savages", "The Wormcast", "Necromachia", "Machivarious Point", etc...), and art galleries.
The books mascot Viking Zombie Elvis, who opens and closes each book has made the leap from the printed page to (undead) life in the shlock mock rock doc "Paul Hammond's Rumours of Ragnorok? a Historiography"
Mam Tor are now in production with various other media projects, including the above mentioned Zombie Elvis feature.
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...
independent comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
publisher founded by Liam Sharp
Liam Sharp
Liam Roger Sharp is a British comic book artist, writer and publisher.-Early life:Liam Sharp was born in Derby at St. Mary's Hospital to parents Roger and Linda Sharp. He has a younger sister, Kerry, and younger brother, Rien. He went to School at Brackensdale Junior then infants school, before...
and his wife Christina McCormack. The company's headquarters are in Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
.
The name "Mam Tor" comes from the landmark high peak
Mam Tor
Mam Tor is a hill near Castleton in the High Peak of Derbyshire, England. Its name literally translates as Heights of the Mother and it is also known as the Shivering Mountain on account of the instability of its lower shale layers...
near Castleton in the High Peak of Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History
During 2004, Mam Tor Publishing was established by Liam & Christina McCormack-Sharp to publish Sharpenings, The Art of Liam Sharp. It, a personal artbook featuring previously unreleased art samples of Sharp, was initially a portfolio showcase he could send publishers.The book gained success, and during Sharp's many convention visits he started to meet a lot of like-minded, and more important, unpublished artists and writers who couldn't seem to break into the industry because their work was considered too far removed of the mainstream market. Sharp, who always has walked the fine line between commercial success and artistic freedom saw potential and an opportunity to use his publishing imprint as a way to offer the talent a stepping stone in the industry, while offering well known creators a playground where they could let their creativity run free without the usual editorial restrictions.
Together with designer Tom Muller and friend John Bamber he set out to expand the company to start publishing more work. This saw the launch of the critically acclaimed and award-winning anthology, Mam Tor: Event Horizon.
Mam Tor is dedicated to producing creator driven works that might not ordinarily find a home on the bookshelf - their being too niche, radical or unquantifiable - despite the evident quality and commitment they display. Mam Tor has not been created as a commercial venture, but as a forum for subcultural, underground, science fiction, horror or fantasy artists. There are no fees for the work produced, nor are there the usual editorial restrictions.
Mam Tor has published the award-winning anthology Mam Tor: Event Horizon. Dubbed "21st Century Pulp Fiction", it showcases the finest in underground, fantasy, and science fiction in a unique mix of comics and illustrated text stories by some of the finest names in the industry and the stars of tomorrow.
Currently Mam Tor is releasing stand-alone graphic novels, like Matt Coyle
Matt Coyle
Matt Coyle is an Australian artist and graphic novelist living in Hobart, Tasmania.Born in Nantwich, United Kingdom, Coyle has published two graphic novels, Registry of Death which he co-authored with Peter Lamb, and Worry Doll .Coyle's work has a hyper-reality to it which is achieved with...
's Worry Doll
Worry doll
Worry dolls , or trouble dolls, are very small and colorful dolls traditionally made in Guatemala. A person who cannot sleep due to worrying can express their worries to a doll and place it under their pillow before going to sleep...
and Sharp's Lap Of The Gods, as well as developing other properties for comics, books, and film.
They have just started publishing a quarterly free comic given away in Time Out. Four Feet From a Rat is a 16 page comic comprising 4 stories, all written by the advertising company Mother
Mother Advertising
- Mother Advertising is an advertising agency with offices in London, New York and Buenos Aires. Mother London is the UK’s largest independent advertising agency . The agency's philosophy is "To make great work, have fun and make money...
, Stories in the first issue are "The Crane Gods" Liam Sharp, "The Little Guy" by Chris Weston
Chris Weston
Chris Weston is a British comics artist who has worked both in the US and UK comics industries.-Biography:Weston was born in January, 1969 in Rinteln, Germany, and lived in various countries as a child...
, "Routemaster" by Dave Kendall and "Don Pigeone" by Kev Crossley. The third issue got press attention thanks to the story illustrated by Roger Langridge
Roger Langridge
Roger Langridge is a New Zealand-born comics writer/artist/letterer, currently living in Britain.-Biography:Langridge originally came to public prominence most notably with the Judge Dredd Megazine series The Straitjacket Fits , a surreal, hallucinatory, convention-bending strip set in an insane...
"Young Boris," which featured the adventures of London mayor Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
.
Mam Tor: Event Horizon
Event Horizon is Mam Tor's flagship title. Its tagline "21st Century Pulp Fiction" describes it best.Event Horizon is a quarterly anthology publication showcasing the best in fantasy, horror, and sci-fi, both in comic form and short (illustrated) prose stories. Each book follows a thematic and chronological structure: "Fantastic" (the fantasy part), "Gothic" (modern day fantasy and horror), and "Future Science" (science fiction). This gives the book a well defined structure wherein creators' stories can be presented contained within each sub-genre. Each issue features stand-alone stories in comic and written form side to side with serialized stories which will run across several books ("F***ing Savages", "The Wormcast", "Necromachia", "Machivarious Point", etc...), and art galleries.
The books mascot Viking Zombie Elvis, who opens and closes each book has made the leap from the printed page to (undead) life in the shlock mock rock doc "Paul Hammond's Rumours of Ragnorok? a Historiography"
Mam Tor are now in production with various other media projects, including the above mentioned Zombie Elvis feature.
Publications
- Sharpenings: The Art of Liam SharpLiam SharpLiam Roger Sharp is a British comic book artist, writer and publisher.-Early life:Liam Sharp was born in Derby at St. Mary's Hospital to parents Roger and Linda Sharp. He has a younger sister, Kerry, and younger brother, Rien. He went to School at Brackensdale Junior then infants school, before...
- Mam Tor: Event Horizon:
- #1 (140 pages, May 2005, ISBN 0954999800)
- #2 (208 pages, November 2005, ISBN 0954999819)
- Life Is Humiliation #1, #2
- Worry DollWorry dollWorry dolls , or trouble dolls, are very small and colorful dolls traditionally made in Guatemala. A person who cannot sleep due to worrying can express their worries to a doll and place it under their pillow before going to sleep...
— (graphic novelGraphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
by Matt CoyleMatt CoyleMatt Coyle is an Australian artist and graphic novelist living in Hobart, Tasmania.Born in Nantwich, United Kingdom, Coyle has published two graphic novels, Registry of Death which he co-authored with Peter Lamb, and Worry Doll .Coyle's work has a hyper-reality to it which is achieved with...
, January 2007, ISBN 0954999835) - Lap of the Gods — (collection of personal works by Liam SharpLiam SharpLiam Roger Sharp is a British comic book artist, writer and publisher.-Early life:Liam Sharp was born in Derby at St. Mary's Hospital to parents Roger and Linda Sharp. He has a younger sister, Kerry, and younger brother, Rien. He went to School at Brackensdale Junior then infants school, before...
) - St. Cyborg's — (by Nick Wray, 168 pages, January 2008, ISBN 0954999851)
- The Enemy's Son — Erth Chronicles Book I (by James JohnsonJames Johnson-Artists, authors, and musicians:*James B. Johnson , author of science fiction novels*James Johnson , English artist*James Johnson , late 18th-century Scottish musicologist*James P...
, May 2008, ISBN 0954999843) - Four Feet From A Rat — (Quarterly comic supplement in Time Out London magazine, March 2008 - )
- God Killers – Machivarius Point & Other Stories - (Novel and short stories by Liam SharpLiam SharpLiam Roger Sharp is a British comic book artist, writer and publisher.-Early life:Liam Sharp was born in Derby at St. Mary's Hospital to parents Roger and Linda Sharp. He has a younger sister, Kerry, and younger brother, Rien. He went to School at Brackensdale Junior then infants school, before...
, May 2009, ISBN 9780954999865)
Awards
- 20062006 in comics-January:*January 1, 2006: Newsweek offer a look back at 2005 through editorial cartoons. *January 2, 2006: The Cincinnati Enquirer cartoonist Jim Borgman starts a blog to detail his creative process...
:- Won Best Graphic Novel, Sci-Fi London, for Mam Tor: Event Horizon
- 20072007 in comics-January:*January 10: Superman & Batman vs. Aliens & Predator released.*January 24: The Boys is canceled with issue #6.-February:*February 2: Newsarama reports that The Boys has been picked up by Dynamite Entertainment....
:- Won Best Comic Book Artist, Rue MorgueRue MorgueRue Morgue may refer to:*"The Murders in the Rue Morgue", short story by Edgar Allan Poe*Murders in the Rue Morgue , 1932 movie based on the story*Murders in the Rue Morgue , a 1971 film...
Award, for Matt CoyleMatt CoyleMatt Coyle is an Australian artist and graphic novelist living in Hobart, Tasmania.Born in Nantwich, United Kingdom, Coyle has published two graphic novels, Registry of Death which he co-authored with Peter Lamb, and Worry Doll .Coyle's work has a hyper-reality to it which is achieved with...
's Worry Doll - Nominated Best British Colour Comic, Eagle AwardsEagle AwardsThe Eagle Award is a series of awards for comic book titles and creators. They are awarded by UK fan voting for work produced during the previous year. Named after the UK's Eagle comic, the awards were set up by Mike Conroy, Nick Landau, Colin Campbell, Phil Clarke and Richard Burton, and launched...
, for Mam Tor: Event Horizon
- Won Best Comic Book Artist, Rue Morgue
Creators
- Liam SharpLiam SharpLiam Roger Sharp is a British comic book artist, writer and publisher.-Early life:Liam Sharp was born in Derby at St. Mary's Hospital to parents Roger and Linda Sharp. He has a younger sister, Kerry, and younger brother, Rien. He went to School at Brackensdale Junior then infants school, before...
- Steve NilesSteve NilesSteve Niles is an American comic book author and novelist, known for works such as 30 Days of Night, Criminal Macabre, Simon Dark, Mystery Society and Batman: Gotham County Line....
- Ashley WoodAshley WoodAshley Wood is an Australian comic book artist and illustrator who is well known for his cover art, concept design and his work as an art director....
- Chris WestonChris WestonChris Weston is a British comics artist who has worked both in the US and UK comics industries.-Biography:Weston was born in January, 1969 in Rinteln, Germany, and lived in various countries as a child...
- Dan Wickline
- Kody ChamberlainKody ChamberlainKody Chamberlain is an American comic book artist. He was born in Thibodaux, Louisiana and relocated to Lafayette, Louisiana in 1993.-Biography:...
- Tom Muller
- Shane McCarthyShane McCarthyShane McCarthy is an Australian writer best known for his comic book work.-Career:A comic book fan from an early age, Shane's first widely published work was the three-part Batman backup story Low for DC Comics in 2004, beginning in Detective Comics #797...
- Emma Simcock-Tooth
- Kev Crossley
- Gary ErskineGary ErskineGary Erskine is a Scottish comic book artist born in Paisley, near Glasgow in 1968.-Biography:Erskine started drawing work for fanzines while at art college and aspired to be a comic book artist. After sending samples of his work to Marvel UK he was eventually given Knights of Pendragon to draw on...
- 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:...
- Simon BisleySimon BisleySimon Bisley is a British comics artist best known for his 1990s work on ABC Warriors, Lobo and Sláine. His style, reliant on paints, acrylics, inks and multiple-mediums, is strongly influenced by Frank Frazetta, Bill Sienkiewicz, Gustav Klimt, Salvador Dalí, Egon Schiele, and Richard Corben...
- Emily Hare
- Dave KendallDave KendallDave Kendall is a British-born journalist, editor, and VJ. He was first known to the public as the creator and host of MTV's 120 Minutes, an alternative music program that played Sunday nights at midnight from 1986 through the 1990s....
- Matt DixonMatt DixonMatthew William "Matt" Dixon is an Australian cricketer currently playing for the Western Australia cricket team.-Career:...
- Greg StaplesGreg Staples-Biography:Greg Staples' first job on leaving school was as a trainee draftsman in an architects office in Sheffield.He also spent time working in a comic and film memorabilia shop and also a computer game store, both also in Sheffield, South Yorkshire....
- John Bamber
- Matt Boyce
- Alan Grant
- Brem
- Douglas RushkoffDouglas RushkoffDouglas Rushkoff is an American media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist and documentarian. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture, and his advocacy of open source solutions to social problems.Rushkoff is most frequently regarded as a media...
- Ali Powers
- Matt CoyleMatt CoyleMatt Coyle is an Australian artist and graphic novelist living in Hobart, Tasmania.Born in Nantwich, United Kingdom, Coyle has published two graphic novels, Registry of Death which he co-authored with Peter Lamb, and Worry Doll .Coyle's work has a hyper-reality to it which is achieved with...
- Nick Wray
External links
- Official website of Mam Tor Publishing
- Machivarius Points/Liam Sharp online community
- Official Erth Chronicles site
- Profile at About.com