Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, gosh, phonogram

The Phonogram Wrap Party Of 2016 – A Decade Of Delight

Published Sat, 02 Apr 2016 08:00:04 -0500

This week sees Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen travel to ECCC for Image Expo, and transporting their special brand of DJ and dance to the Image Expo Social.

But before that, they had to have one last night in London, in a bar close to Kings Cross station to virtually spin their discs. One year on.

It was the night of the Phonogram Vol 3: The Immaterial Girl signing at Gosh Comics in Soho, London. To which the comickeratti of London flocked.

With creators of the Phonogram B-side stories that remain only available in the single issues, not the collection, Julia Scheele, Tom Humberstone and Sarah Gordon, they signed up a storm for the crowds, circling down into the Gosh Comics basement.

And with beer and wine…

…and certain other substances outside the doors…

..a most pleasant and convivial early evening was had. Friends who had not seen each other for years collided, it was quite the thing.

Before a quick trip up the Piccadilly line to King's Cross… for burgers, shots and tunes.

I remember the Phonogram launch party a decade ago. It has been a long journey from these first black-and-white issues that it seemed a couple of chancers had managed to get an anglophilic American publisher of Image Comics to put out, to low sales but an appreciative audience. One of those audience members was Axel Alonso, who swiftly nabbed the pair for Marvel Comics.

Since then they have given us the joys of Generation Hope and Young Avengers, with X-Men: Season One, Journey Into Mystery, Uncanny X-Men, Defenders and Darth Vader and much more along the way. And elsewhere, Suburban Romance, Iron Man, CBGB, The Curfew, Three, AVX: Consequences, Uber, Mercury Heat and now with The Wicked + The Divine topping the charts together.

And, yes, finally the third and final volume of Phonogram. The comic that melded the human experience of modern music into comic book form in such a magical and enchanting way. And one celebrated last night.

From Bowie to the Pippettes, it was a very Phonogram night. Phones lit the darkened room, as secrets were shared – from nude selfies to Ziggy Stardust cosplay to the costume designs for upcoming DC Comics movies.
The night ended well, in a mixture of night bus and Uber. The car service, not Kieron's comic – though I'm sure I saw a couple of copies of those knocking around as well.