John Allison is the creator of comic

series including Giant Days, Bad Machinery and Scary Go

Round. He studied journalism and worked as adesigner for five years before becoming a professional cartoonist in 2003.John lives in Letchworth Garden City, halfway between Cambridge and London inthe UK.

John and Michael talk about independent-minded children, seizing the means of

production, the nature of creativity, the beauty of All-Music Guide, and shadybusiness practices during the dot-com bubble.

John’s Five Songs.

• Oh Patti (Don’t Feel Sorry for
  Loverboy) by Scritti
  Politti.
• Say Anything by Aimee
  Mann.
• All I Wanna Do by The
  Beach Boys.
• The Moon by The
  Microphones.
• The Garden of Secrecy by
  Tenement.

Show Notes.

The John Allison Cinematic Universe is sprawling, and it can be difficult to

find a place to start if you’re new to it. I might suggest the first volume ofBad Machinery (available digitally atComixology and in pulped wood format from Topatoco) as one possibility. It’s about agroup of school-age friends who solve mysteries (often with a supernaturalelement).

In addition to books, John has many prints, t-shirts, etc. for sale. This

print of Lady Gaga drawn in the style of Audrey Beardsley is afavourite, and to my mind captures some of the essence of what’s delightfulabout John’s style and sensibility.