The Spaniard in the Works * (part 1)

In April I was a guest at the Barcelona comics convention. Hayley Campbell came over from London to meet up with me. She wrote about the event for the Comics Journal.





I like that in Spain comics get covered by the press as a regular subject without the attendant embarrassment you get in the English speaking world. Here is a report in JOT DOWN, 'contemporary culture mag' of a very complicated panel on autobiography in comics in which each participant had their own translator.

Since June the previous year, Astiberri have published four of my books in Spain, or three separate works if you allow that Alec is in two volumes. The others are El Destino del Artista and El Black Diamond Detective Agencia. So I was hoping and expecting to do a bunchof interviews, and I did. the splendid blog Entrecomics wanted an interview.**
"I'd like to talk about the graphic novel," said the very likeable El tio Berni.
"oh oh" I thought, glancing to see if I could make a clear run for the exit...

(to be continued)

translation notes.
* to my Spanish brethren: 'to throw a spanner in the works' means to deliberately cause trouble. 'A Spaniard in the works' is a play on that expression, written by John Lennon as the title of a book (1965).
** the google translation of the intro to that interview gives me a fabulous white 'toupee' instead of a 'quiff'. At least you have your health, as everybody's mother would say.