DECOMPRESSED 015: ANTONY JOHNSTON ON THE COLDEST CITY
Something a little different this week. A podcast rather than not a podcast! No, really. It is actually different, as it was recorded in front of a live audience in Nottingham Game City back in (er) the past. October. Man! Doesn’t time fly when you’re incredibly busy (or rather, moderately busy and lazy). Anyway! This time I talk to Antony Johnston about his collaboration with Sam Hart, THE COLDEST CITY. This spy thriller set at the very last days of the Cold War is also the first complete OGN we’ve covered, meaning we wander over the whole thing. The audience also altered the dynamic, as sitting in front of a crowd, on expensive chairs in a spotlight does has a way of making you want to go all serious. So less nob gags than normal.
You can buy THE COLDEST CITY from your local comic-shop, online shops or digitally.
You can download the podcast from here. Its webpage RSS page is here. And you can find it on Itunes here.
Or there’s the honey trap of the embed. Can you resist it?
Of course you can’t.
AND STUDY AIDS!
Here’s Scrivener, the software he writes on.
Coldest City is a real grown up book! It totally has page numbers on it. You can follow it for real.
Page 1
Page 2
Page 5
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 20
Page 21
Page 24
Page 33
Page 37
Page 43
Page 58
Page 148
Page 158
Page 160
Our theme tune? Los Campesinos’ We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, you silly goose. It always is!
Germans embarrassed by the Volkswagen Beetle, Brits hate the Mini.
The Volkswagen Beetle only became available to the German public once the factory reopened after the war. Despite the car’s direct link to Hitler and the Nazi Regime, the car went on to become one of the strongest examples and symbols of the German Recovery (Wirtschaftswunder). It was a ubiquitous presence on German streets for decades (German production of the car ended in the mid-eighties), and even today can hardly be considered a rare sight. When students in the Sixties turned on their parents, they did not turn on the Beetle. In Germany, ownership of the car does not signal allegience to a particular party or world view (Nazi, Hippie etc.). In German popular culture, the car is frequently driven by characters the audience is supposed to like.
This is not a small mistake.
It may not interfere with a well-plotted, intelligent story in the foreground, but it throws into doubt all the other carefully? collected anectodes and factoids provided by the writer. It´s like setting a crime story in New York, painstakingly researching the inner workings of the NYPD, and then having the Statue of Liberty pop up right on Manhattan Island. Or have everyone wear cowboy hats.
By Oliver Fuchs on 12.15.12 11:44 am
Germans embarrassed by the Volkswagen Beetle, Brits hate the Mini.
The Volkswagen Beetle only became available to the German public once the factory reopened after the war. Despite the car’s direct link to Hitler and the Nazi Regime, the car went on to become one of the strongest examples and symbols of the German Recovery (Wirtschaftswunder). It was a ubiquitous sight on German streets for decades (German production of the car ended in the mid-eighties), and even today can hardly be considered a rare sight. When students in the Sixties turned on their parents, they did not turn on the Beetle. Ownership of the car does not signal allegiance to a particular party or world view (Nazi, Hippie etc.). In German popular culture, the car is frequently driven by characters the audience is supposed to like.
This is not a small mistake.
It may not interfere with a well-plotted, intelligent story in the foreground, but it throws into doubt all the other carefully? collected anecdotes and factoids provided by the writer. It´s like setting a crime story in New York, painstakingly researching the inner workings of the NYPD, and then having the Statue of Liberty pop up right on Manhattan Island. Or have everyone wear cowboy hats.
By Oliver Fuchs on 12.15.12 6:12 pm
Really enjoying the discussion between you guys on this episode!
Noticed pages 90-91 aren’t in the study aids. Was that because of spoilers?
By /Karen/ on 01.02.13 5:12 am
Karen: Hmm. Possibly. I think it may be because I forgot.
And thanks!
By Kieron Gillen on 01.03.13 10:45 pm