Gareth Ennis talks war comics

Round & About

2000AD

“Quentin Tarantino of comicbooks” gives online interview for the Soldiers Of Oxford Museum

Garth Ennis, the writer behind The Boys and Preacher, is to give online interview and live audience Q&A for Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum. The interview will be streamed on Saturday 9th March from 7pm, followed by a live Q&A session where the audience will be invited to put forward their own questions. Watchable via the museum’s website, the event is the latest in a series of popular online events the museum has been running over the past three years.

The interview ties into one of the museum’s most recent exhibitions, Into Battle! The Art of British War Comics, which runs until the end of April 2024. The exhibition and this accompanying event are a collaboration with Oxford-based publisher Rebellion, best known for 2000AD and Judge Dredd, alongside their recent revival of several classic British war comics.

In the interview, Garth discusses how his childhood enthusiasm for comics led to a career writing for 2000 AD, Marvel and DC Comics.  He will also discuss the landscape of British War comics in the seventies and their decline in the eighties and describe how writers re-invigorate classic characters for contemporary audiences.

This event will offer a chance to hear from one of the leading comic book writers, whose literary achievements have recently been translated into successful television series.

The interview and Q&A will be free to view and participate in, with donations encouraged throughout the stream in support of the museum. Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust aims to preserve the county’s military heritage for future generations in its archives and museum, and a diverse range of stories through its exhibitions and events like these. Shortly after the live event ends, a recording will be made available to watch on-demand, from the same page, for those that wish to catch-up later.

You can watch the interview with Garth here.

The Soldiers of Oxfordshire (SOFO) Museum opened during the summer of 2014. A new take on the classic military museum, SOFO shares stories of heroism, combat and peace from across the globe and throughout time and explores how conflict has affected the county and its people, from soldiers serving on the front lines to ordinary people living on the Home Front.

As well as a range of ever-changing displays and events, the permanent exhibits explore topics that are surprising and moving in equal measure, such as raw accounts of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen from both camp survivors and Oxfordshire soldiers.

Battles of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry puts you on-board a Horsa Glider as it prepares to land in Normandy in the early hours of D-Day 1944, while Secret Agents, Secret Armies explores the world of spies and espionage through the lens of Ian Fleming and his creation, James Bond.

SOFO holds a collection of over 3,500 objects and 7,500 archive items from two county regiments, the Queens Own Oxfordshire Hussars (QOOH) and the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.