ARCHIVED NEWS - AUGUST 2004
DEVILCHILD ROCKS!
25/8/04: launched earlier this year. Moonface Press kindly sent me a copy of their recently-released collection of six dark tales, Devilchild Volume II: Freakshow, plus their first Devilchild book.
The lead strip in both albums centres on a reluctant Anti-Christ figure. His father Satan appears to be losing his grip on power in Hell and in the second volume, some strange gentic misfit appears to have killed God. Andrew Winter writes all the strips, with art from a variety of artists, including Natalie Sandells, Sean Azzopardi and Keith Burns. The war in Hell draws some wry analogies to the War on Terror being waged by Bush and Blair, and definitely puts Princess Diana in a new light as Satan's handmaiden!
This is a quality package of stories, with the five accompanying short stories providing
some terrific storytelling.
The script for Volume III: Heaven's Prisoners is complete and being illustrated now, to be released at the Bristol Festival in 2005. It will feature a significantly longer Devilchild lead story than the one in Volume II
For just £6.99, Devilchild Volume II: Freakshow is well worth giving a try. Available from Amazon.co.uk.
WILD THING, WILL WE LOVE YOU?
25/8/04: A new UK indie, Wild Thing, written by Paul Lister and drawn by Andy Buckley, will be published soon. The black and white comic is a tale of genetic engineering, belief and something that we have all thought about at one time or another: "Who am I and why am I here?"
More info at: www.papertigercomix.co.uk/wildthing/wildthing.htm
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STRIKER
25/8/04: UK weekly comic Striker celebrates its first birthday this week and Issue 51 will include a feature by creator-owner Pete Nash on the problems keeping the title going. Fans of the strip have stumped up thousands to buy shares in the title, which saved it from cancellation earlier in the year.
In addition to two computer generated strips - the first is more soap and action than football, and often hilarious, and
a sheer joy to read - Striker also reprints the original daily strip from the Sun
and Billy's Boots, which I believe first ran in Thunder comic in the 1970s.
The Striker strip is now also appearing daily in the Daily Record.
Congratulations to Pete and his brilliant editorial team on making it this far.
FESTIVAL TICKETS ON SALE
25/8/04: tickets for the London Comic Festival on 23 October
2004 are now on sale via the Comic Festival website: comicfestival.co.uk
Tickets cost just £5, with the Grant Morrison meets Jonathan Ross evening
event an additional £5. You can get both tickets as part of a Superpass for £10.
There are discounts for bulk purchases if you book via the website, and you
can pay by credit or debit card, by PayPal or by cheque and post.
Tickets to the Grant Morrison event are limited so book early to avoid
disappointment.
Tickets will be sent out in September.
BBC LAUNCHES COMICS SITE
16/8/04: The BBC now have their own website devoted to UK comics:
www.bbc.co.uk/cult/comics/ which includes Real Player interviews with various crreators on writing and drawing comics plus a new strip by Simon Spurrier and Steve Roberts satirising life inside the BBC.
Comics artists and writer Lew Stringer was commissioned by the Beeb to write a whirlwind history of British humour comics, which amounted to condensing over 100 years of history into the limitation of 700 words! "After paying my tv licence fee all these years, it's nice to have a partial "refund" in the form of a cheque from the BBC," says Lew. The article is now online and can be read by clicking here
THE DAN BOULTWOOD ERA STARTS HERE!!!
16/8/04: Dan Boultwood, known for his previous work on com.x's N-Jin and designer of the characters of the Timesplitters 2 computer game, has finished UK publisher AP Comics Monster Club issue 3. It'sdue to go to print next week.
Eva de la Cruz is adding the final touches to the artwork - and the reaction, so far, to this issue has been amazing say the publishers - with tons of re-orders flooding in from retailers.
If you love Dan's great art then check out "Comicana" - his own creation due for release in September.
AMATEUR ARTISTS WANTED!
13/8/04: The planned Misty Special from the mistycomic.co.uk site creators is still on!
Due to deadlines and scheduling difficulties, the editor says will not appear for
Halloween as originally intended, but is planned for release in January 2005
to coincide with the online re-publication of last reprinted weekly issue of Misty (Issue 101) on the site detailing the history of the much-loved UK girls comic.
"
This is where I still need your help and support," asks Chris. "Can you write or draw (or
both) and would you like to contribute to this printed publication? This is
open to all budding artists and writers or established professionals.
"
I am
looking for new "Nightmare" and "Beasts" tales and stories bringing back
returning characters from "Misty". I am especially looking for budding new
artists, as I have received some brilliant stories, already storyboarded and
ready for illustration.
"
Payment wise, the idea is for a publication from the
fans to the fans, as well as a showcase for new talent. As the web site is
non-profit making, all additional revenue will be ploughed back into
improving the site and funding the ever increasing bandwidth."
For those wishing to discuss further clarification about contributing to
the Special, please write to Chris at: submissions@mistycomic.co.uk
TRIGAN EMPIRE RETURNS
11/8/04: The first Trigan Empire volume from the Don Lawrence Collection has arrived back from the printers and distribution should start this week. The
third volume of Storm: The Collection is also heading to the printers today (Wednesday) and contributor Steve Holland tells dtb itshould be available in the not too distant future.
Trigan Empire begins in the swamps of Florida where a UFO crashed, some time in the late 1930s. Onboard, men find a dead crew and a collection of books with inside the chronicles of the Trigan Empire. Scientists from all over the world tried to encrypt the books until, after many years, one of them finds a way to translate the books - and the history of the rise and fall of the Trigan Empire is revealed.
With this introduction, in the magazine Ranger, The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire was introduced to the readers of 'the magazine for boys'. It was a prestigious project, for which the editor had hired two top talents. Michael Butterworth wrote the scenarios for this space-opera and Don Lawrence drew it. The team proved a great combination, because thanks to their talents, the Trigan Empire became one of Britain's most popular comic strips in the 1960s.
The next volume of Trigan Empire will include five stories from Look & Learn: The Sun-Worshippers (621-629); The Man From The Future (690-698); The Mission Of Lukaz Rann (699-708); Torga's Mind Controller (709-717); and Nastor, The Faith Healer (718-723).
"The stories are currently being typeset," says Steve, "and once the introduction is out
of the way, I'll be starting work on the translation of Storm Volume 4."
EUGENIO ZOPPI DIES
11/8/04: Eugenio Zoppi, a well-known Argentinian artist best
known for his work on Misterix, died on 28 July 2004, at the age of 81. Zoppi published his first work in 1948 and became a popular illustrator
of newspaper strips, including a number written by Hιctor Oesterheld. In the 1970s he worked anonymously for both D. C. Thomson and Fleetway,
drawing war strips. (Thanks to Steve Holland for this item)
THE SUGAR DROPS IN
11/8/04: Sweatdrop's new manga-inspired anthology Sugardrops is completed and ready to pre-order.
Sweatdrop is a group of UK artists producing original Japanese-style
comics. "We've been going for a few years," says spokesperson Dock in a newsmail, "but we've mostly been
present in the Anime scene. It's only now we're tackling the scary
'western comics' scene!"
The theme of the Sugardrops anthology is 'cute', with a whole variety
of takes on the theme. This is Sweatdrop's largest book to date, comprising 156
pages and a total of 15 comics.
Costing £6, Sugardrops will be officially launched at Amecon (20-22 August), and after thatthe group will start
to ship out books, but if you pre-order before the convention they'll
try to reserve your copy and make sure it gets sent out on (or soon
after) the 23 August. If you're going to a con to buy your copy,
please don't pre-order, you can't collect your pre-order at the table.
Sweatdrop will also have the book at their table at the London Comic Festival
2004 in October.
BULLDOG: EMPIRE GRAPHIC NOVEL IN PROGRESS
10/8/04: The Bulldog: Empire graphic novel, written by Jason Cobley with art by Neill Cameron is now in production, based on characters first seen in the small press magazine BAM! (Bulldog Adventure Magazine), an indie comic that has been almost continually published for over a decade.
More info on the new Bulldog web site at: www.geocities.com/cobleybulldo
GAMES COMPANY USES COMIC IN MASSIVE PR CAMPAIGN
2/4/04: More than 280,000 24-page Chaos League comics will be distributed to the gaming trade and public as computer games company Digital Jesters gears up for the 6 August release of Chaos League.
The lavishly-produced novella has been written by journalist and up-and-coming graphic novel writer Kieron Gillen and illustrated by the hugely talented Thomas Veauclin and features the game's trademark humour and comic book violence.
The distribution through various consumer magazines puts the Chaos League special leagues ahead of newsstand rivals, topping the monthly circulation of Britain's biggest selling comics. Reflecting the tone and style of the game perfectly, with beautiful artwork and a witty tale of sporting brutality, it's sure to become a collector's item once initial supplies have run out.
"The Chaos League Comic is a real investment for Digital Jesters, but it's something we were really keen to do," says Leo Zullo, marketing director of Digital Jesters.
" Distributing the comic to such a vast number of individuals and in such a unique format will raise the profile of the game around the street date. We're really proud of the writing and art. Who knows: if goes down well, it could become a regular publication."
Chaos League is a fantasy sports game in which teams of nine players compete in a brutal field sport. Controlled using a real time strategy interface, the object of the game is simple: put the ball in the opponent's end-zone. The rules are equally simple: do it any way you can. And if that includes issuing commands such as 'stamp', 'facial kick' or 'ball of fire'... well, so be it!
• Chaos League will be available for PC CD-ROM on 6 August, priced £29.99
Official web site: www.chaosleaguegame.com
ADVERTISE YOUR COMIC WITH WARPTON
2/8/04: Warpton Comics, the UK Indie publisher, is releasing its brand new book 'The Confessional' this September. Distributed via Diamond, it has already been receiving a lot of interest and positive advance reviews which you can read on the Warpton website: www.warpton.com.
These reviews have been supported via advertising on Digital webbing, SilverBulletComicBooks and ComicBookResource as well as in Comics international, and via press communications to over 100 publications and websites. So the word has been spreading.
The good press has prompted Warpton to offer the UK small press the chance to advertise in the comic and promote their work in the US. "As Warpton is in full support of the UK small press / Independent scene," says publisher Steve Causer. "We are always striving to help, and provide ways of helping spread the word about the comics that are being produced.
" What we are now offering is a great way to get your books known by advertising in our new title.
"
Before you all say it will cost too much then think again. We have purposely made prices really low to allow small pressers the opportunity to advertise, and this is a real genuine offer, I hope others who know Warpton will agree that this is being done to help and support the scene.
"We are offering advertisement in this full colour book for as cheap as £10, full details are below, just think about the audience this will go to, not just the UK but overseas and it provides you an opportunity to be seen in the US market place." The advertising rates for Small press / self publishers / UK Indies are as follows:
Banner advert (FC) = £10
Banner advert on inside front cover (FC) = £20
Quarter page advert (FC) = £15
Half page advert (FC) = £25
Whole Page advert (FC) = £45
Inside back cover (FC) = £65
Email Steve Causer on steve@warpton.co.uk now
to secure your booking, discuss this or want more information.
BLACK BOX CREATOR DIES AT 25
2/8/04: It is our sad duty to report that UK writer/artist Marc Madeley died last week aged just 25 from a shock heart attack.
At the time of his death, Brigton-based publisher House of Ra was
working with Marc on finalising his intriguing creator-owned series "Blackbox" for
submission to American and European publishers.
"
Everyone at the House of Ra is in shock with the news," says Claire Geddes, Managing Director of the House of RA studio, who noticed his talent at the Bristol 2004 Comic Festival. "We
were all looking forward to seeing Blackbox published in the near future and
enjoyed working closely with Marc who always had a bright and happy outlook.
I am sure that the comic industry has lost a very talented and unique producer.
He will be missed in the Ra team."
Aside from being an intriguing writer, Marc was also an artist on several album and book covers.
An example of his stunning work can be found at his constantly developing website www.cubefight.com. It also has a forum where it is possible to pay last respects to him.
The House of Ra are planning to release fuller details paying tribute Marc's life and work within the next fortnight.
