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Now, to start off, if you haven't yet heard of the Etherington Brothers, then there is one thing you should know about them... This is not the last you will hear of them! Two brothers – Robin, a word-smith of the highest calibre, and Lorenzo, a man with a penchant for drawing crazy, wild and downright wonderful comics – who, for the last few years, have been making quite a name for themselves in the ever growing comic book world. Signed to the David Fickling imprint of Random house, Monkey Nuts is their first major graphic novel, so you can imagine that this launch party was a pretty big deal for them.
On arrival at the Kew Bookshop – which, it has to be said, is a nigh on perfect balance of old-school family run bookshop and efficient, modern day business – we were greeted by an hyped up Lorenzo madly dashing around to find his brother.
“Bobby! Where's Bobby?! We need to sign some books!” he yells from the doorway, before noticing our arrival, “Hey, you made it! Great to see you, thanks for coming all the way up!” (Note: Exclamation marks are essential when writing up anything that Lorenzo has to say, the energy is always palpable!), “Excuse me for a bit, gotta sign some books!... Bobby! Book signing time!!” And off they rush to treat some eager kids to drawings of Robots and Monkeys.
The shop is packed, and so it should be, but we manage to squeeze inside, grab a glass of wine and have a browse through the Kew's extensive selection, taking note of the “Staff Reviews” section, which was up-to-date with the latest books and a really nice touch.
After settling in to the bubbly atmosphere, we didn't have long before cutlery met wine glass and Mr. David Fickling, publisher and founder of David Fickling Books, called for everyones attention. Trust me when I say that when he calls for attention, he gets it. Big, bouncy and loud, a true character, he starts off his speech with an admission that he could never match Robin at using memorable, meaningful words, so instead he'll just speak really, really loud to compensate.
David thanks everyone for coming, and then goes on to explain his reason for publishing Monkey Nuts, along with other great kids comics such as Vern & Lettuce by Sarah Mcintyre (also present in some dazzling horn-rimmed specs!). Basically, there is not enough stuff out there that really catches kids imaginations. Kids love mad, exciting, bright and brilliant cartoons, with larger-than-life characters and wacky plots, and no-one does larger-than-life characters and wacky plots better than the Etherington's.
After David's speech, it's time for Robin to say a few words, and he does, with heart-felt thank yous for everyone present, and even more heart-felt thank yous to those that had made the book possible. He finishes up by teasing us with word of their next book, Baggage, which is due out in March 2011 (David Fickling Books), and then ends on “Frick it, drink more wine!”.
So, all that is left now is to buy a copy of the book, get it signed in and doodled, and then mingle! We get our books, head over to the signing table and get our first proper conversation of the night with the Brothers. We first met them in Bristol in May of this year, so it was nice to catch up. Others at the signing got asked “Monkey or Robot?!” by Lorenzo, having which ever they chose doodled in their copy of the book. Jen, my partner who has had a email 'thing' going on with Lorenzo since May, got both... I got a Monkey. I call that favouritism! Never mind, my Monkey rocks!
After chatting with Robin & Lorenzo for a while, discussing everything from MCM (Where the lads will be appearing, later this month) and Angouleme to Red Dead Redemption, from Jamie Smart to the Bitch Mistress that is the publishing industry, we decide to make a move and let them get back to their book-signing-hungry fans. There is, however, time for a couple more photos –
Caught in the act of reading, not posed at all!
Out the door we go, back out into the cool October night, which seems a lot colder after the confines of the Kew Bookshop. Outside we meet David Fickling and his son, Will. We congratulate them on a great night and he tells us how excited he is about the future of comics in general, slyly asking if either of us are artists – which, of course, Jen is - “Excellent!”, booms David, “When you decide you want to become published send your work in to me... No promises though! I'm always keen to see new and exciting work.”
And then we make our way back to Kew Gardens train station (all of 100 paces from Kew Bookshop) and jump on the tube. The train back to Eastbourne is quiet, and so are we, far too engrossed in our shiny, new, signed copies of Monkey Nuts: The Diamond Egg of Wonder to talk about... well, anything!
Order your copy of Monkey Nuts: The Diamond Egg of Wonders (DFC Library) from Amazon UK
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