Brilliant European Comics Reference

I just found this great European comics site - Strip-encyclopedie Zilveren Dolfijn - while doing some research on an Albion feature that should be up on downthetubes soon, centring on new interviews with Leah Moore & John Reppion, and IPC's Andrew Sumner.

Not only does Zilveren list European comics but it also includes information on British characters reprints, such as Robot Archie. The cover scans are very useful and include the foreign reprints. (It seems that like Janus Stark and his new French excursions, Lion's mechanical man had a second life in Holland. Bert Bus draw and wrote about six 48-page comics).

I also found this great Albion anotations site which, among other things (the amount of detail may be scary to some!) notes that the new Wildstorm and Titan Albion TPBs cleans up some of the art and even adds in some new visual references. (And not just comic references. Look out for Jack Jones – Butcher, straight from TV's Dad's Army, in the TPB for example).

• Buy Albion from Amazon.co.uk (Titan edition)
• Buy Albion from Amazon.com (Wildstorm edition)

BeanoMAX and Roy of the Rovers

Just posted a couple of news on the main site about the new BeanoMAX - I'd say DC Thomson have noted the success of TOXIC, Wallace & Gromit and the clear ABC sales figure records that have been racked up by Simpsons Comics and are seeking to emulate that. Initial print run is 120,000.

Also a welcome return for Roy of the Rovers, courtesy of footie mag Players Inc. Be interesting to see if the reports that new stories may follow - the editor denied this on BBC Breakfast this morning - eventually pan out.

For me, the Sun's Striker is the natural successor to Roy of the Rovers, despite its more adult style. Certainly the best thing about The Sun.

Busy week for me. In addition to the day job -- and a comics-related project is shaping up nicely but I can't talk about it here yet -- freelance-wise, I just finished work on three strips for an IT company, Cardium Solutions, creating their very own superhero to promote their services, drawn by Mike (Doctor Who Magazine) Collins. One of them is now posted on my full bio page.

WebFind: Thundersuperstingcar

YouTube is great, but will Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's estates get a share of the revenue from everyone that views this on that video sharing site?

Building shaped like Godzilla...

What a fab idea to improve the Tokyo skyline over at the Ironic Sans blog I've just found -- a building shaped like Godzilla. There's even artists impressions to enjoy.

Genius!

Media Placements on offer in the North West

This is one of those press releases that come across because of Virtual-Lancaster, which I thought I'd repost here for info. Wednesday 31st January is the deadline for the Media Foundation Placement Scheme – a chance for 20 individuals to participate in a year long television training course supervised by industry professionals.

The placements offer an opportunity for people from ethnic minority backgrounds to gain skills and experience within the media industry and are supported by North West Vision via Media Training North West, a regional partner of the scheme. (North West Vision is the film, TV and digital media development agency for England’s Northwest. It works behind the scenes, supporting, funding and promoting film, TV and digital production in the Northwest. Find out more at: www.northwestvision.co.uk)

The roles available will be varied ranging from Admin Assistant to production runner and it is hoped that the course will prepare trainees for their first step into the media industry.

The Media Foundation Placement Scheme is the result of a partnership initiative between ITV Granada, MTNW, BBC, LIME Pictures and the Northwest Regional Development Agency.

For more information visit www.mtnw.co.uk or contact Michele Bentham at michele.bentham@itv.com or call 0161 827 2734.