Messages for Martin Skidmore
by FA Admin 27-Jul-11
As you may know Martin Skidmore, FA’s editor and long term stalwart of UK comics fandom died yesterday of terminal cancer. We asked if you’d like to add comments or send Martin your love or best wishes and some of you did. Sadly he died before seeing these messages but they stand as testimony to […]
As you may know Martin Skidmore, FA’s editor and long term stalwart of UK comics fandom died yesterday of terminal cancer.
We asked if you’d like to add comments or send Martin your love or best wishes and some of you did. Sadly he died before seeing these messages but they stand as testimony to the affection Martin was held in.
Martin, hi,
Very sad to hear your news, I had absolutely no idea. You have been very supportive to me over the years, and I’m sorry that I’ve not kept in touch since our days in Leicester (we went the other direction and have been near Bristol for the last 20 years).
All our thoughts and love,
Kev & Hev (Kev Sutherland & Heather Tweed)
I still have great affection for the eighties FA, Matin. But if I were back there now I’d probably cancel my subscription and get a life. (And, while I was at it, I wouldn’t put that five-years-out-of-date ear ointment in my left eye!) Thanks for publishing those few strips of mine at FA-online and allowing my to revisit the giddiness I experienced when my one-pager made it into FA #104. That achievment remains on my CV!
Onwards and upwards.
Martin,
even though you have rejected more of my reviews than accepted, you always rejected them constructively and helped me grow as a reviewer and critic.I have had the greatest luck to interact with someone who has helped me grow. My thoughts are with you at this time and I hope that you are surrounded by those you love.
Peace be with you.
I remember that he always invoked spirited dialog among the members of the DCWarcomics list. He had a way of getting us to write what we were thinking and what we felt. We might not have agreed with all that he wrote, but that was the purpose: to get us all to thinking. He was good. I have to thank him for not letting us sit on the fence about those many topics for discussion. He is much appreciated.
Dear Martin,
I doubt you’ll have heard of me (used to be a professional comics contributor), but everyone who has any serious interest in comics has long been aware of the name of Martin Skidmore. You’re someone who made an impact – and a difference.
Just wanted to let you know that my thoughts are with you.
Best wishes,
Gordon ‘Kid’ Robson.
I’ve written a little tribute to Martin on my blog, including the fabled table tennis anecdote which many will have heard before but bears repeating.
Martin will indeed be missed…
It wasn’t unexpected but it’s still very sad to read this. FA was a bit like a time bomb thrown into the cultural framework of the 80s, and it’s only really becoming apparent now how influential it was. And Martin was a fine fellow indeed – he’ll be greatly missed.
I pitched some stories at Martin while he was on Trident, and he wrote the best rejection letters. In my future, I had looked forward to working with this constructive and engaged man.
Sad news …
for me the name Martin Skidmore will always be associated with vague sightings at Westminster in the early days and later the train journey back from London with a pile of newly bought back issues in a bag and nose in the latest Fantasy Advertiser.
In more recent times he’s provided the smell of old FAs as I reach for the box of them every few years and get misty-eyed once more for a day or two.
For which I thank a truly dedicated man who made the world of comics just that bit more interesting.
Like I wrote elsewhere, I didn’t know Martin well. I never met him, I never spoke to him, I just exchanged a few dozen quick emails with him over the last eight months.
But in those brief exchanges, it was clear that of all the publications I’ve written for (in my admittedly low key writing career), Martin was the best editor I’ve ever had. He was passionate and knowledgeable, kind and encouraging, always enthusiastic. I wish I’d known him better.
Oh bugger. I’ve just been remembering how important FA was to me 25ish years ago as a source of sensible and intelligent chat about comics. I loved it and read it all immediately when it arrived in a pre-digital big brown envelope. Very, very sorry to hear about Martin’s passing.