Posted in: Comics | Tagged: forbidden planet, Mark Millar
Mark Millar's Very First Experience Of Forbidden Planet
Forbidden Planet is about to celebrate its 42nd birthday and Mark Millar has been video-interviewed with Forbidden Planet and Titan Comics' Andrew Sumner, going live at forbiddenplanet.com/fp42 on Saturday, August 29th. But first, he talked about how he read about Forbidden Planet in the comics long before he actually could go to the place… and we went and tracked down the issues of Daredevils in question.
"My first experience at Forbidden Planet was in Captain Britain, the Alan Moore Alan Davis story where Captain Britain's fighting a bad guy and throws him through the window of Forbidden Planet…"
and I sort of knew. you know. your instinct tells you this is a real place and it looked like there was some in joking. I was only like 12 or something you know I knew there was some injoke that I wasn't in on but I had a sense of that's been a real thing.
Then I began to notice in the back of Warrior comics like adverts from Forbidden Planet and everything I thought, ah right, this is all coming together now so I had this kind of mythical status for me for a long time.
Then when I was 18 my first ever trip to London, I have to go there and it was like a religious experience because comic stores in Scotland were good, and now they're very good actually you know they've got a bit more like the kind of superfoods you get and London there's nothing like this I mean it was you know back in those days it really was like carpool boxes just filled with 10p comics and everything you know walking in it from planet was like walking into the back cave or something it just sounds great".
On Saturday, August 29th, ForbiddenPlanet.com will be hosting ForbiddenPlanet42, with a huge range of celebrity interviews, as alumni from the worlds of science fiction, comics & popular culture come together to help the store celebrate 42 years of pop-culture addiction – and ponder the answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything with an all-star cast of their oldest friends and customers.
Oh and Alan Davis revisiited the store in New Mutants with similar results. Poor Mike Lake's car…
This event will feature new, exclusive interviews with some of their more celebrated customers including William Shatner, DMC, Neil Gaiman, Alice Cooper, Jonathan Ross, Gerard Way, Garth Ennis, Kevin Smith, Michael Moorcock, Simon Pegg, Mark Millar, Dan Slott, V.E. Schwab, Dave Gibbons, Brian Bolland, Dirk Maggs, Chris Claremont & Ben Aaronovich amongst others, hosted by Forbidden Planet and Titan Comics Andrew Sumner.
It will also host a tribute to the late, great Douglas Adams in the shape of a rare, never-before-heard interview with Douglas recently discovered in the vaults conducted by friend of Douglas and author of Don't Panic, a certain Neil Gaiman. who is known for some other things too.
Discussing this special event, Forbidden Planet owners, Vivian Cheung & Nick Landau said "Forbidden Planet 42 (yes, it's our 42nd birthday!) is an auspicious tip of the hat to our old friend Douglas Adams, the genius behind The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy – for whom the number 42 was the answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe & Everything. Douglas was one of the first authors to ever sign at the store and he returned for every new book he wrote. We are joined by a galaxy of stars from comics, music, science fiction, film & TV – friends of Forbidden Planet who have signed at the store over the last four decades. This celebration is dedicated to every creator who has appeared at FP and every staff member who has worked with us over the years – but most importantly, to all our customers and to every pop culture fan who shares this passion with us."
And they have a bunch of quotes to run alongside…
"I look at Jeff Beck, I look at Paul McCartney, I look at the Stones, Clapton, Jimmy Page – they've always been quality. Same thing with Forbidden Planet." – Alice Cooper
"Before I ever visited London, Forbidden Planet was whispered about in New Jersey, you'd read about it in the letter columns of comic books, it actually appeared in the comics themselves. The first time I went over to the UK, one of the most important things to me about London was: we HAVE to go to Forbidden Planet!" – Kevin Smith (Clerks)
"Forbidden Planet has a special place in my heart – it was June 19th 1983 when I realised such a magical kingdom existed. Discovering Forbidden Planet was like discovering an Aladdin's cave!" – Simon Pegg
"I went to university in London because I wanted to stay and enjoy things like Forbidden Planet. That's when the whole new wave of more adult, progressive comics began. It was such an exciting time – there was a lot of new books & new publishers coming out – and the ONLY place you could find them was at Forbidden Planet." – Jonathan Ross
"I'm so glad that your Forbidden Planet stores exist – they are wonderful!" – William Shatner
"Forbidden Planet is amazing! I had always heard about it but I had no idea how phenomenal it was – more exciting than Disney World, more exciting than Coney Island. Walking into Forbidden Planet is like walking into another dimension. For real." – DMC (Run-DMC)
The festivities will continue with special offerings and promotions in-store at all branches throughout the UK.