ARCHIVED NEWS - MARCH 2006
RAINBOW
RISING
28/3/06: I recently
had the pleasure of interviewing Rainbow Orchid creator
Garen Ewing for Comic World News, which has just been posted on that
brilliant general comics news site as my lates "Comics and Crumpets" column. Click
here for the interview.
Our homage
to V for Vendetta, currently topping the
box office in the US, but beaten in the UK by The
Pink Panther,
which says it all, really. Click
here to buy the V for Vendetta graphic novel.
Click here for
more Really Heavy Greatcoat
FUTURE GOES BIG TIME - DISNEY, THAT IS...
21/03/06: Future, publishers of magazines such as Jetix,
Zap, Edge and
SFX, have been
awarded the UK licence to publish two official themed Disney magazines
for young people aged 7-14 years old.
Currently published by BBC Worldwide, Disney Girl and
Disney's Big Time magazines will re-launch in
April, both with exciting new looks. The BBC titles last ABC audit reports
sales of over 42,000 and 28,000 respectively.
Future was awarded the licence
by Disney Publishing Worldwide following a competitive pitch against other
leading publishers. (BBC Worldwide is in the process of shedding titles
that are not considered to reflect the BBC's core programming or its own
shows).
The agreement also enables Future to work with Disney Publishing
Worldwide on developing further UK launches for young people aged
7-14 years old, as well as one-off specials themed around other
Disney projects.
“Big Time is one of Disney's longest established titles," says Siobhan Geraghty, the Senior Publishing
Manager for Disney Publishing Worldwide in the UK, "and Disney
Girl, since its launch in 2002, has consistently performed
well in a highly competitive marketplace. We feel that Future is ideally placed
to not only drive these titles to the next level but also to offer fresh thinking
and new publishing opportunities.”
Disney's Big Time is Disney’s magazine for kids aged 7-12 years old.
The monthly title features the latest from Disney, alongside the
latest gadgets, movies, games and music for young people, with
celebrity gossip, competitions, posters, puzzles and much more. The
52-page magazine hits newsstands on Wednesday 12th April, with a
cover price of £1.99. The middle twelve pages are totally dedicated
to Disney comic strips of such favourites as Monsters Inc,
Buzz Lightyear, Mickey and Aladdin with
new comic strips including the recent hit Chicken Little and
upcoming movie properties such as The Wild, Pirates
of the Caribbean and Cars.
Disney Girl is a magazine for young girls aged 6-8
years old who love Disney cartoons and films. Promising fun tips and advice for
its young audience, the magazine includes things for girls to make and do
– including recipes, dances, songs and puzzles. On sale Monday 24th
April, the 32-page magazine has a cover price of £1.70.
“We;re really excited and delighted to be working with Disney on
these titles," says Publisher for Future Kids, Mike Lamond. "Our new agreement allows Future to continue developing
two popular magazines, whilst looking for further opportunities for
young people within the Disney portfolio. We look forward to
building our relationship with Disney, a perfect combination of our
experience as a special-interest magazine publisher and Disney’s
massive popularity and understanding of its market.”
CHANGES AHEAD FOR MEGAZINE
19/3/06: Judge Dredd: The Megazine is to drop in price from Issue 244,
on sale 5 April, to £2.99.
"I’m hoping to make the Meg a bit more fluid in its features
from 244, less templated, and of a wider appeal to the comic reader," Editor-in-Chief
of the 2000 AD group Matt Smith told 2000AD
Review. "The content will remain largely the same, with less
text material (just one main feature from now on) and from #245 less
reprint. The reprint will be no more than six or seven pages per issue.
"I’m having a small-press slot, in which indie creators are offered
a six-page platform to show off their wares and plug their titles/websites," he
added, a plan previously reported but which has courted some controversy
because there are no payments for material featured.
Subscribers will benefit from the reduction. "Getting 2000AD and
the Meg every month by subscription works out a pound cheaper than it
was previously," says
Matt. "Anyone that’s got an annual sub to the Meg will have the excess
that they’ve paid credited onto the following year."
• Official 2000AD web site: www.2000adonline.com
SINISTER
DUCKS!
13/3/06: The best Alan Moore adaptation we've
come across yet is not the new V for Vendetta film but this excellent
take on Alan Moore's "Sinister Ducks" song (found at: pip.rubberfeet.org/stuff/ducks.html).
The original record, recorded by a band of the same name comprising
Moore, Bauhaus musician David Jay and Max Akropolis was written by Alan
under the pseudonym Translucia Baboon and released in the 1980s. Moore
and Jay also released a 12-inch single featuring a recording of "Vicious
Cabaret",
from V for Vendetta.
And yes, that is Alan singing.... (Thanks to Mike Collins for the link)
TAKE IN REFUGE...
3/3/06: British Artist Neil Mc Taggart is publishing
his online graphic novel, Refuge (www.refugecomic.com),
a story set in 12 chapters. The first three chapters are already up
online.
The story has already had positive reviews from readers, with one
describing the tale as "A nightmare... there's a strong mix
of claustrophobia and foreboding in it... It has the dream like quality
of 1930s strips. Sudden violence or distortion of reality...
the tight close focus on bodies moving (a restricted palate, repetitive,
simple) and creates a mesmerising rhythm. You can't get away for
a bit into a comforting, spectacular, take-up-four frames landscape etc,
you're always mise en scene."
Viewers scroll along a continuous page without the breaks of a conventional page layout propelling the story forward and adding momentum to the narrative.
TECHNOFEAR LAUNCHES
3/3/06: Technofear issue 1 has just been released - and a great looking indi comic it is, too. The comic is illustrated by
Tony Suleri, the artist behind the Cosmogenesis saga, and written by David
Hailwood (writer of Headcheeze, The
Teksas Chainstore Massacre, and numerous
other small press offerings). Centring on the adventures of a wise-cracking
ape bounty hunter, fighting for the survival of a planet he couldn't care
less about, the three part series sees the bounty hunter go up against
haywire technology, cybernetic vampires, peasant zombies, and a bald
cackling villain with delusions of grandeur.
Part 1 is 36 pages long, has a
colour cover, and is available for £3 (pounds), plus an A4 SAE from: David
Hailwood, Flat 6 The Moorings, 71 The Bourne, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34
3BD.
TEMPLE SEEKS NEW BLOOD!
3/3/06: No, this is not an advert for would-be human sacrifices! The Temple APA is 50 issues old this month. Having run for almost 10 years
now, the Temple has seen many aspiring comic artists and writers come and
go. From the rawest amateur to the most seasoned pro, all are welcome
within the Temple's pages.
Whether you're looking for advice on your work,
or for like-minded individuals with which to share your creations, the
Temple is a great place to start. The only cost comes from photocopying
your contribution for each member, and enclosing an SAE with which to
receive the fully bound issue.
So, if you‚re interested in joining one of the UK's
longest running comic APAS, contact Tony Suleri at: 9 Milford Road, Yeovil,
Somerset, BA21 4QE.
NEW LABOUR -- COMICS FANS?
3/3/06: Here's a fun story courtesy of celebrity gossip
site PopB**** (I'm sure you can work it out). Two years ago, director
Richard Curtis was refused permission to film in 10 Downing Street for The Girl In The Cafe. Government officials
said they were sorry, but it was a government building, not a film set.
Yet last June, the Wachowski brothers managed to get
Whitehall shut down for four nights to film scenes for V For Vendetta --
including scenes in which the Houses of Parliament are blown up by V.
So, PopB**** comjectures, either the Prime Minister's people are
huge fans of the Matrix and fantasy movies,
or they're less sniffy about granting access
to parliamentary buildings if Tony Blair's son Euan
is given a job as a runner by the producers...
In more disturbing V for Vendetta-conencted
news, the Labour government recently introduced a new bill which could effectively
see it gaining some of the powers that would pave the way for the kind of government
so graphically described in Alan Moore and David Lloyd's classic 1980s strip. SchNews -
a radical news group based in Brighton - reports this week on the new Legislative
and Regulatory Reform Bill, which some constitutional experts, according to David
Howarth for The
Sunday Times,
have begun describing as 'The Aboltion of Parliament Bill'.
So, Margaret
Thatcher was actually less right wing than Tony Blair. There's a scary - but,
sadly, not surprising - revelation.
• Web Film Link: www.vforvendetta.warnerbros.com
• Buy the hardcover graphic novel from amazon.co.uk:
click here or amazon.com: click
here
