downthetubes News Archive: November 2004

The immeasurable adventures of Gorky park © Dave Hughes

BARMY COMICS FROM BARROW
18/11/04: Comics creator Dave Hughes, who lives in Barrow, has just sent me a hilarious collection of his comic strip tales titled The Immeasurable adventures of Gorky Park. Dave's strange, spikey cartoon work, akin to Rugrats on acid, tells the bizarre story of a Russian chess genius forced to flee to the UK after farting during a tournament.
The comic is crammed with both visual and word gags (right down to the indicia which claims any spelling mistakes are intentional and therefore ironic).
A rcommended read, available from Dave Hughes, price £3. Send cheques payable to Dave Hughes for £3 to Stonechat productions, PO Box 148, Barrow-in-Furness LA14 3WX.

MANGA AND ANIME COMPETITION - DEADLINE LOOMS
16/11/04: The deadline for entering the first-ever annual international competition to identify the best in Manga and Anime talent in the world is fast approaching, with $75,000 worth of prizes to be won.
The competition this year is split into three formats and three market sections to cover the ranges and styles of manga from children through to adults and will be judged by renowned manga writer Kazuo Koike and musician Pete Waterman, who has a fascination with the manga genre. Anyone can enter, although the organisers are looking for serious talent (however not so serious about letting people know about this, since the deadline is 30 November 2004 and I only got an e-mail about it yesterday!).
• Visit www.imaf.co.uk for more information.

NORM COMIC COMMUNITY DEADLINE EXTENDED
10/11/04: Michael Jantze, creator of the The Norm comic strip, has extended the deadline to get 4000 subscribers to his planned online community of Norm supporters. 4000 members will enable him to justify continuing to create new Norm strips, initially just for online subscribers who have to pay a minimum of $25 to join TheNorm.com.
Jantze stopped drawing the immensely popular strip for syndication earlier this year, frustrated by continuous battles with the syndicate-newspaper corporations. He is still publishing collections of the strip: #5 has just been published.
So far, some 2500 Norm fans have signed up for his new comic site, which is enough to encouarge Michael to extend the deadline to try and make the community work -- and pay.
"If enough people became members of TheNorm.com, I think we can convince Michael to keep drawing the strip -- new strips -- beginning on January 1, 2005," says his partner Nicole. "So, in the short-term, you would get to keep reading a comic strip you love and in the long-term, we just might change the world of comics.
"Here's the deal: We have until December 31, 2004 to reach our goal. So join today and don't forget to tell all your friends (and family too) because together we can start a revolution. Make a donation today!"

WEIRD KIDS BOOK RELEASED
9/11/04: British comics artist John (Charles) Mould has just published a new book, Tiger J. Jackson and the School for Weird Kids via www.cafepress.com/tigerjjackson, co-created with Barry May. "If you know the word 'Sociology' you're old enough to read it," says John. "(I should warn you, it does contain the word 'poo' too!"
You can also view samples from the book, including character details, at: www.tigerjjackson.com.

EX MARVEL UK GROUP EDITOR INTERVIEWED
9/11/04: Richard Starkings, former Group Editor at Marvel UK during some of its most productive years, has just been interviewed by Newsarama about his publishing program over at Active Images.
"I can say that I was -- and am -- eager to publish the work of vastly overlooked British talents like David Hine, Ilya, Al Davison, Glenn Dakin and Lew Stringer," Starkings reveals in the interview. "I can also say that I'm obviously drawn to singular visions; as a reader I enjoy books like Black Hole by Charles Burns, Eightball by Clowes, Jack Staff by Paul Grist, Alec by Eddie Campbell or anything by Posy Simmonds and Raymond Briggs. I strongly believe that the most satisfying work for a reader or a creator is the work that springs from an individual vision, and if I have any kind of criteria, it's probably exactly that. If you look at the Active Images line, it's obvious I'm not married to a single genre -- Strange Embrace is a horror story, Temptation is humour and The Spiral Cage is autobiography."
Interview at: www.newsarama.com/pages/CaseyRama/Casey_Starkings.htm

STRIPSEARCH 2: EXPOSING BIRMINGHAM'S COMICS TALENT
9/11/04: After what organisers describe as the "massive success" of StripSearch, Hi8us Midlands is launching StripSearch 2 an exciting talent finding competition for amateur comic illustrators, taking place in Birmingham, UK.
StripSearch 2 is open to anyone over 16, who believes they have the talent and commitment needed to crack the comic industry. We are especially keen to receive submissions from female artists. The aim is to discover, nurture and inspire a new breed of graphic novel illustrators to pick up their pens and ink and show the rest of the world that Birmingham has more to offer than retail therapy. The deadline for submissions is Friday 10 December 2004.
Over five Months, 10 finalists will work with some of the most well respected and professional comic illustrators in the UK, such as; John McCrea (X-Men, Batman, the Hulk), Hunt Emerson (Firkin the Cat, Little Plum) and Phil Winslade (2000AD, Daredevil). They may also get their work reviewed by one of the most successful female comic artists. The professionals invaluable experience of the industry and undisputed illustrative expertise will be used to support and develop the skills of the participants who, throughout the scheme, will work towards creating their own published comic book.
The scheme will culminate in a vip visit to the largest comic festival in the UK (the organisers don't say what or where this is yet!), where the finalists will have their work reviewed by other great comic artists and top executives from dc and marvel comics.
Hi8us Projects Ltd is an established charity with an impressive history of utilising the skills of experts to guide amateurs, with professional results. "We run so many arts & media projects within different communities and come across a great deal of untapped talent," says Kulwant Dhaliwal, Hi8us Midlands Director. "This project is just one way of responding to the needs of the gifted individuals we know are out there." "I would have loved the chance to be on this project when I was starting out," comments John McCrea.
This scheme has received funding from the EQUAL ICI Partnership, an initiative that strives to combat and prevent discrimination in the labour market.
Wannabe illustrators are asked to submit examples of their best and most recent work. We are looking for good photocopies of 2-4 pages of original continuous comic strip (no posters), preferably without lettering.

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