Uplink 58: Behind the Scenes of a Comic Universe
Join us this Thursday, August 19th for a special sci-fi themed Uplink episode with award-winning comics and graphic novel artist, Dave Gibbons plus radio and audiobook producer, Dirk Maggs. We’ll be live from 8pm BST/9pm CEST /3pm EDT here.
Dave Gibbons established himself in underground comics and fanzines in Britain before becoming a frequent contributor to the seminal 2000AD, illustrating Harlem Heroes, Dan Dare and co-creating Rogue Trooper. Since then, he has drawn and written for most comics publishers on both sides of the Atlantic. His work has encompassed Dr Who, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Captain America, Dr Strange, The Hulk, Predator and Aliens. With writer Frank Miller he co-created Give Me Liberty and Martha Washington Goes To War. Watchmen, his collaboration with writer Alan Moore, is the best-selling graphic novel ever published. It became a major motion picture in 2009 and was the basis of a multi-award winning TV show in 2019. His autobiographical graphic novel The Originals won an Eisner Award in 2005. His recent work has included Kingsman: The Secret Service, with Mark Millar, now also a major motion picture franchise. He was appointed ‘Comics Laureate’ in 2014, with the brief to develop the use of comics in education and, in 2015, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Comic Arts from the University of Dundee.
Dirk Maggs creates immersive, densely layered audio stories that fire the imagination. At the BBC, Dirk's groundbreaking 'audio movies' featuring DC Comics characters Superman and Batman led to a close friendship with comic book legend Dave Gibbons and so dazzled author Douglas Adams that he asked Dirk to bring The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy back to its original home, BBC Radio. In the past decade, Dirk has worked closely with his friend Neil Gaiman to adapt and direct prestige BBC versions of Neverwhere, Stardust and Neil and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens. Moving to Audible and working as Co-Executive Producer with Neil, in 2020, Dirk adapted and directed The New York Times bestselling first series of Neil's legendary graphic novel masterpiece, The Sandman. The stellar cast included James McAvoy, Kat Dennings, Riz Ahmed and Michael Sheen. The Sandman Act I became the fastest selling multicast fiction audiobook in history, and Act II is due for release in September 2021 with stars including John Lithgow, Miriam Margolyes, Brian Cox and Regé Jean Page. Dirk's previous Audible productions include two series of The X-Files, starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny and four epic audio adventures set in the Alien universe. Dirk's awards include Audies, Writers Guild Awards, Sonys, Talkies, British Fantasy Society and two New York Festivals Gold Medals. Dirk has been an Honorary fellow of the University of Winchester since 2005 and in 2019 he was awarded an Honorary Arts Doctorate by Bournemouth University.
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