downthetubes.net News Archive: March 2007




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NEW WAR BOOKS FROM CARLTON
25/3/07: After Carlton Books success with their collections of DC Thomson Commando Picture Library stories - The Dirty Dozen and True Brit have been published so far with Anzacs at War now due in August - the publisher is following that up with two collections from IPC's war title libabry.
Edited by comics expert and archivist Steve Holland, the content of Unleash Hell and Death or Glory comprise strips originally published in War Picture Library and Battle Picture Library respectively, just some of IPC's comics titles which had the same format as the ongoing Commando.
War Picture Library was the daddy of them all – the first pocket library and for many fans, the best.
Debuting in 1958 the title celebrated the heroic actions of the Allies as they fought back on land, at sea and in the air during World War Two. No theatre of conflict was ignored. Written by authors who had themselves seen combat, from the baking deserts of Africa to the steaming jungles of the Far East, these complete stories gave youngsters growing up in the years after the war an answer to the question, "What did you do in the war, daddy?"
Featuring stories such as Fight Back to Dunkirk, The Iron Fist, Lone Commando and The Black Ace the collections, which will be published in September, feature some of the most striking war comic art ever produced.
Steve is also working on the first volume of a new series of British comic indexes. This first one will cover all the war libraries from Fleetway (War, Battle, Air Ace, War at Sea and Giant) with their attendant holiday specials. "This has been co-compiled with David Roach (who should need no introduction) and we're finishing up the proofs at the moment," Steve reveals on his Bear Alley blog. "The next in the series will update and vastly improve three of the indexes I co-compiled with David Ashford: Thriller Comics, Cowboy Comics and Super Detective Library."
Steve plans to follow this up with another volume with David Roach covering all the other libraries, from Action and Top Secret to all the romance and schoolgirl libraries.
"Since only a handful of these have ever been indexed before we're still at the coal face, chipping away at the lists but some of the information that we're coming up with is startling," says Steve, "and I have to believe David when he says that some of the romance libraries were amongst the most consistently well-drawn comics ever published in the UK.
"I'm hoping that anyone buying the first two volumes will want to complete the set... and I can promise you a few surprises amongst the artists who worked on these things."

Soider-Man 3 SPIDER-MAN 3 TRAILERS RELEASED FOR UK
22/3/07: New trailers for Spider-Man 3, released in the UK on 4 May, have just been released and we're sure Panini UK will be preparing for its arrival with plnety of tie-ins in its superhero titles.
Directed by Sam Raimi, Spider-Man 3 reunites the cast and filmmakers from the first two blockbuster adventures for a web of secrets, vengeance, love, and forgiveness.
Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) has finally managed to strike a balance between his devotion to Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and his duties as a superhero. But there's a storm brewing on the horizon. When his suit changes, turning jet-black and enhancing his powers - apparently in repsonse to his darkening mood in a quest for the Sandman - it transforms Peter as well, bringing out the dark, vengeful side of his personality that he is struggling to control.
Under the influence of the suit, Peter becomes overconfident and starts to neglect the people who care about him most. Forced to choose between the seductive power of the new suit and the compassionate hero he used to be, Peter must overcome his personal demons as two of the most-feared villains yet, Sandman and Venom, gather unparalleled power and a thirst for retribution to threaten Peter and everyone he loves...
• View the Spider-Man 3 trailer (Quicktime)

COMICS ON YOUR MOBILE
21/3/07 by John Freeman: Well, it's been five years (at least) in the making -- but I'm delighted to report that I'm in the middle of a first round testing of a new comics-to-mobile service for ROK Media, that should launch soon, and will be rolling out in full this May.
Several British creators know I've been touting comics-on-mobile to anyone who will listen for simply ages, but ROK picked up the ball and ran with the idea last year, and it's been non-stop ever since. In pure business terms, you can't ignore the massive rise in digital comic demand – one comics aggregator says it's delivering some 350,000 comics a day to mobile.
The system will let creators upload their own comics and create them using a suite of characters, props and backgrounds: all can then be offered to comic readers to buy and view on their mobiles. Creators will then receive a percentage of every sale.
ROK Media is also looking at distributing a range of comic strips from various publishers to mobile and we've had several encouraging discussions so far with a range of companies, both small and large.
In addition to mobile comics, we're also considering print – including publishing titles based on licenses on intellectual properties we've signed, although I can't reveal the names of those properties at this stage. I can say we have solicited samples from some terrific artists for our first project and I hope to be able to say more about that very soon.
Exciting times!

Hunch from When Worlds End by Christian Ward WHEN WORLDS END PREVIEW RELEASED
20/3/07: UK indie Monkeys with Machine Guns has just released a teaser tatesr of its latest anthology, When Worlds End, which will be published in time for the Bristol Comics Festival in May priced £2.50
The anthology includes strips such as Hunch drawn by Christian Ward and Lights Out, a spooky tale drawn in EC-homage style by Stu.Art, with all strips in the anthology written by Chris Lynch.
You can grab the trailer at: www.christopherwilliamlynch.com

MOONFACE PRESS GETS ITS TEETH INTO VAMPIRE ONE-SHOT
20/3/07: UK indie publisher Moonface Press has announced details of Blood Psi, the second in its series of standalone titles under THE ONE-SHOT CLUB banner.
Blood Psi – solicited in May’s issue of Previews and shipping to comics stroes in July – is written by Andy Winter, drawn by Keith Burns and boasts a cover by Declan Shalvey. The US format 32-page book has a full-colour cover, and black and white interior art, including a 24-page main story, a sketchbook section and an A-Z of British vampires feature. It retails for $3.50 (£2.20).
The story is a vampire murder mystery set in gothic London. When her best friend in the capital’s close-knit vamp community is slaughtered, Ruby vows to track down the killer – but the hunt may just unearth painful memories from Ruby’s human past she hoped would remain buried forever.
"It's a must for fans of Buffy and British TV’s Ultraviolet," says creator Andrew Winter.
Blood Psi is the second in a series of standalone titles from Moonface’s One-Shot Club, following the success of last year’s critically acclaimed Hero Killers. Also slated for release this year are Septic Isle (a British spy thriller set in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings) and Brothers (two feuding superhuman siblings fight crime... and each other).
"Blood Psi concerns Ruby, a powerful vamp who has never really come to terms with the hand life (and death) has dealt her," Andy explains. "She’s forever torn between her vampire present and her human past and, although she has plenty of friends in London’s close-knit vamp community, she’s never felt completely a part of it.
"When one of her best friends is cold-bloodedly slaughtered, she finally has to choose one side or the other.
"Blood Psi is a murder mystery – but the mystery is not who did it (that becomes clear fairly early on), it’s why they did it that’s important. Especially to Ruby...
"The idea behind THE ONE-SHOT CLUB is to give readers a bit of instant gratification," he continues. "All the books in the line will feature self-contained stories with no cliffhangers and a definite ending. The idea is to really spread our wings to take in a host of different comic genres."

TOP COMIC CREATORS HEAD TO NORTHERN IRELAND
16/3/07: Artists and writers from publications like Batman, 2000AD, Doctor Who Magazine, The Beano and Viz, will be gathering at the Londonderry's Verbal Arts Centre in April for 2D - the first ever Northern Ireland Comics Festival.
The event, which runs from April 19-21 2007, will feature exhibitions, workshops, panel discussions and portfolio review sessions.
A host of world-class comic creators have already confirmed, including: John McCrea (artist - Batman, Wonder Woman), Simon Furman (writer - Transformers, Death's Head, Alpha Flight) Mike Collins (writer/artist - Doctor Who) Kev F Sutherland (artist - Beano, Dandy, Viz, 2000AD), Rufus Dayglo (artist - 2000AD; animator - Warner Bros and Gorillaz), Charlie Adlard (artist - Judge Dredd, Batman, The Walking Dead), PJ Holden (artist - 2000AD), Garry Leach (artist - Judge Dredd) and Will Simpson (artist - Batman, Judge Dredd, Transformers, Hellblazer, Aliens, Indiana Jones).
"The trend for comics in the mainstream shows no signs of wearing off," says Festival organiser David Campbell. "Our aim is to make the festival as accessible as possible by providing a wide range of events catering for all ages - which are completely free of charge. With that in mind we feel that we have created a line up that will be as interesting for a hardcore comics fan as it will for a relative newcomer."
Recent years have seen major changes in the comics industry, with the medium changing from a minority interest, thought to be for hobbyists and children, to a billion dollar multi-media industry.
With this year’s big cinema releases including the comic-based Spiderman 3, Transformers and Ghost Rider, there will be a slew of computer game spin-offs, cartoons and other related merchandise.
The visiting artists and writers will be involved in a number of workshops panel discussions and exhibitions, which are open to the public.
Schools’ workshops will be held during the day in the Verbal Arts Centre, and there will be events for adults at Sandinos Café Bar.
On Saturday April 21, the Verbal Arts Centre will play host to the Comics Open Day from 1pm till 5pm - and everyone is invited to come along. As a part of the festival activities the Verbal Arts Centre is also announcing a comic art competition for ages eight and up. The winning pieces of art will be displayed alongside professional comic art from some of the best artists in the comic industry at an exhibition being held at the Verbal Arts Centre. The winners will also be invited to take part in a workshop with the comic creators. The grand prize winners will receive a signed piece of original comic art.
• For competition details and further information on 2D, visit the official website www.2dfestival.com or contact David Campbell at 02871 266946 or email david@2dfestival.com

Thing 2007 BLINK TWICE AT THE THING
15/3/07: UK independent comics creators including Blink Twice (creators of the brilliant Malcolm Magic), Flying Monkey, Paper Tiger, Soaring Penguin, Portent and many more will be converging on London this weekend for this year's Web & Mini Comic Thing.
Taking place at the Queen Mary University, Mile End, London, on Saturday (17 March), this is a major event in the UK indie press year, and those wacky guys at Blink Twice report they have produced four exclusive pages of Moon-related gubbins for the Thing Anthology, one of their latest comic creations.
Those who attended last year's show will remember that this publication tends to disappear very quickly so arrive early to secure your copy.
The Blink boys will also be releasing the 8th Moon! Sketch Book, free for all purchases of £10 or more from the stand on the day, and an uber-exclusive One Night in the City Year 1 book. Only 100 copies are being published with 30 available at the Thing show, and the rest being available at the Bristol and London Expo Conventions in May.
• For more info on the event visit the official website, which is packed with great webcomics and more at: ukwebcomixthing.co.uk

Comics International #210 - 300 Cover COMICS INTERNATIONAL #201 HITS THE STORES
14/3/07: It's taken much longer than anticipated but Comics International #201 is finally on its way to subscribers and to the shops. In fact, it should be with those retailers who buy direct today. Those that get it through Diamond will have to wait a little longer.
Comics International is now a 100-page magazine costing for £2.99, with the extra pages expanding the title's already exhaustive news with more space given to Manga Zone and Frame to Frame while the magazine's Book Report has become a standalone section. Also added are some lengthy and interesting interviews, some with accompanying sketchbook art and creator profiles.
This issue the interviews include Jeff Mariotte and artist Alberto Dose talking about Desperadoes: Buffalo Dreams: Gabriel Ba on drawing My Chemical Romance; front man Gerard Way's Umbrella Academy; Fabian Nicieza on writing Thunderbolts Presents: Baron Zemo – Born Better; writer Jason Aaron discussing his new Vertigo series Scalped; plus Archie president Micheal Silberkleit on the why and wherefores of Betty & Veronica getting a realistic make over.
"On top of that, there're features on the Ghost Rider film as well as on the 300 movie (including a look at Heros the Spartan and other British sword and sandal comics)," says editor Mike Conroy.
"We're also continuing CI's ongoing look at TV fantasy in comics by spotlighting The Avengers." That article is written by downthetubes Ian Wheeler and John Freeman. Columnists abound, with Paul Gravett's Novel Graphics, Stephen Holland's Talking Shop, Biff's Hotshots and NetWorks plus a new one, Fighting Words, an occasional series of provocative columns by "comics' last real man" Beau Smith.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." says Mike, "but I'm certain you'll not be disappointed."

YESTERDAY'S TOMORROWS
10/3/06: Yesterday's Tomorrows, due in July from Knockbout, compiles several strips drawn by the unique Rian Hughes, who is very well respected in the design community having won many awards for his work. This collection of stories includes Grant Morrison's controversial alternate Dan Dare and The Science Service, John Freeman's first professional script; plus Raymond Chandler's "Goldfish", adapted by Tom DeHaven, where Hughes captures the noir shadows in a clever use of two-colour artwork.
Also in the book are Really & Truly (also written by Grant Morrison) from 2000AD and a selection of sketchbook pages. The book - limited to 3000 copies worldwide - has been produced in an embossed casebound edition with an introduction by comics guru Paul Gravett.
• Pre-Order it from Amazon.co.uk
• Pre-Order it from Amazon.com

CALL FOR NATIONAL COMICS MUSEUM
10/3/07: Comics fan Darren Davis has launched a petition for a national British Comics museum. You can sign up to the petition on the 10 Downing Street web site.
Although the British Museum's newspaper library in Hendon has a collection of comics dating back to their first publication, which includes a wide range of titles from Comic Cuts to 2000AD, Darren feels it's high time there was a more accesible resource for what is, after all, a national treasure.
"The UK has a long and proud tradition of British comics and story papers including The Dandy comic which is the world's longest running comic," Darren, who is involved in the BritishComics.com web site, points out. "Whilst there are transport museums informing the public about cars and buses and a museum dedicated to film and television, as far as I am aware there are no museums dedicated to the medium of comics and storypapers which are very much part of our cultural history and identity."
Other countries such as France and Belgium have museums dedciated to comics. There are large collections of comics held by individuals and some educational centres in the UK, and organisations such as the Cartoon Art Trust are amassing materials through their Cartoon Museum, including some 35000 comics.

Web Links
• The British Museum Comics Collection
• The Cartoon Museum, London
• Centre National de la Bande Dessinée et de l'image, Angouleme, France
• The Begian Center for Comic Art, Brussels
The Kingdom of the Smurfs, Tintin, Lucky Luke, Spirou, Gaston Lagaffe, Spike and Suzy and plenty of other paper heroes
• La Maison de la Bande Dessine, Brussels

GRAMMARMAN'S GLOBAL RISE CONTINUES
8/3/07: Last year, downthetubes brought you news of Grammarman, a comic strip from British creator Brian Boyd. The stories, which follow the adventures of a decidedly tongue-in-cheek superhero, aim to bring a fun element to learning English as a second language.
One year on, and Grammarman is still going strong.
Continuing the tradition of educational comics in style, Boyd reveals the accurate avenger now appears regularly in magazines and newspapers in China, Thailand, Malaysia and Argentina (and on his own website www.grammarmancomic.com).
"Grammarman certainly has his work cut out," Boyd tells downthetubes. "Careless mistakes and sloppy spelling are everywhere!"
His rogues gallery of foes has expanded considerably over the last twelve months: King Wrong, Percy Perfect, The Obligator, Auxilla, The Wizard of Was, Butch Clausidy and the Sentence Kid... the list goes on. "Superman may not be trembling in fear just yet, but it’s been quite a year for Grammarman," Boyd continues. "Highlights include teaming up with one of the most unusual heroes around, Flaming Carrot (in episode 8, with the blessing of Bob Burden himself) and a review feature in English Teaching Professional (the leading ESL magazine)."
More recently, Grammarman has been joined by one of American comics’ most recognizable icons, Archie Andrews of Archie Comics fame.
"There are big plans for 2007 too, with the first 30 episodes set to become available as a pay-per-download e-book," says Boyd. So even if you already speak perfect English, why not pop over to Grammarman’s site and have a look around?
Web Link: www.grammarmancomic.com

Thrud the Barbarian THRUD IS FIVE
8/3/07: Five issues, that is. Carl Critchlow's hilarious Thrud the Barbarian #5, 'Bungle in the Jungle' is out now, continuing the adventures of the infamously stupid warrior. In this all new story Thrud hooks up with a crooked crew of amateur aviators in the quest to find the lost world of Mucho Pinchu and it's tempting treasure trove of golden goodies. Jungle japes aplenty as the forest fights back!
• Read John Freeman's review of Thrud #5
• Web Link: www.thrudthebarbarian.com

Captain Britain by Tom Kerr WILL THE REAL CAPTAIN BRITAIN PLEASE STAND UP?
7/3/07: Comics publisher Dez Skinn has uncovered an unusual piece of comics history – a design for Captain Britain by much-admired artist Tom Kerr. The design was intended for a Captain Britain comic Dez proposed to IPC Fleetway over two decades ago, prompting much speculation of "what might have been" had Marvel not firmly established their version of eponymous character.
"Tom's one of the unsung heroes of British comics," feels Dez. Kerr's contributions to British comics include Black Axe, The Saxon Avenger for Buster, The Avengers for TV Comic and some early episodes of Adam Eterno for Thunder.
"Tom didn't get the [Captain Britain] gig," Skinn recalls of Fleetway's proposed project. "It went (wisely) to Eric Bradbury, whose version still didn't capture the sense of wonder the US had refined over the years. "
Fleetway's plans for Captain Britain, codenamed JNP 55 (Juvenile New Project) so DC Thomson wouldn't know what the company was up to, predated the Marvel UK Captain Britain. "With a Jesus Blasco back up strip and the inevitable football strip accompanying the main story, it went through several versions," Dez reveals, "with Eric totally redrawing the first two 15-page episodes at [managing editor] Jack LeGrand's request.
"I kept all the scripts, notes, colour roughs and the like, knowing that one day it should be recorded for posterity, but Tom's sketch turned up in an unsorted box."Tom Tully scripted the stories while Jack Potter [was on] lettering, and, naturally, with Gina Hart colouring."
"I forgot [Kerr] even did a try-out (along with Mike Western and all the other Fleetway regulars)," says Dez, who is currently busy with several projects having relinquished the editorship of Comics International.

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