Tube Surfing: 16 January 2009

• The Cybermen have taken over and 'upgraded' Doctor Who Adventures. Issue 98, out now in newsagents, features an extra-tall cover, a free set of Cyberman figures and the second part of a double-sided poster. There's plenty more Cyber-stuff inside, along with the usual comic strip.

• Frazer Irving is interviewed by the Barking and Dagenham Record this week, the interviewer, Navtej Johal, noting 37-year-old "Frazer is something of an enigma - he is renowned for being a comic artist who works with elements of horror and, in his own words 'the dark and diabolical', yet throughout our interview he remains candid and is constantly breaking into a beaming smile.' The artist is conscious of how quickly life as a freelance artist can change. "I have made so many epiphanies," he says. "You know that saying 'you don't know what you got 'til it's gone'? Well, I always thought that applied to objects or people, but it can also be applied to artistic ability. The fuel for my art, my motivation, was taken away last year when I was going through a rough time. So now I put a lot more into my work."

• 2000AD have posted a teaser of the D'Israeli's Lowlife series this week. "This one stars my (and Dr. F's) favourite, Dirty Frank," the creator reveals on his blog. "A bit daunting to be following in the footsteps of Henry Flint and Simon Coleby, but it's huge fun, and I've been trying to work with Rob Williams for a couple of years now.
"As of writing, I'm finishing episode 5 of 8, and it's madder than a snake's armpit with a bag of hammers, I can tell you. I don't think I've ever laughed out loud so many times reading a set of scripts."

• Talking of D'Israeli, and we are, the collected Torchwood: Rift War is now on pre-order from Amazon.co.uk. Due for release in April, the Titan collection comprises the whole of the Rift War story arc that ran in Torchwood Magazine, the work of Paul Grist, Ian Edginton, D'Israeli, Brian Williamson and Simon Furman.

• The London Underground Comics website has a new look, and a mysterious teaser, above. LUC had its last stall ever in Camden Market in December and seems set for a change of direction in 2009 while still doing its best to promote comics. We're looking forward to developments.

• David Bishop has just posted a short but useful post offering advice on writing story treatments. "Treatments are something that vex a lot of writers," he notes. "They resent spending time on treatments, let alone polishing a treatment until it shine. Audiences never see treatments, the logic seems to be, so why bother making them exciting or fun? But treatments are seen by those with the power to advance your work - editors, script executives, producers and literary agents." Read the post

• Al Ewing is among the guests at Hi-Ex 2 convention in Inverness next month "...where, presumably among other duties, I'll apparently be doing a panel on How To Break Into Comics with Frank Quitely and Graham Neil Reid." For details of more guests and the charity auction, see our earlier story

• Anthony Johnson's Wasteland #23, Hounds of Love, is now on sale. Johnson urges his fans not to forget to pre-order issue #25, a special double-length, full colour anniversary issue. Anine-page preview of the issue can be found on Comic Book Resources.

• Writing team Leah Moore and John Reppion have been technomaging and fiddling with spells that means the domain name www.moorereppion.com is now showing a placeholder. "We have switched from Godaddy to One.com for our domain name hosting, and from Geocities for our web storage," Leah explains. "We discovered we were paying tons to Godaddy and Geocities for all the different bits and bobs of the website, and it was cheaper and simpler to have it all in one place.
"We should have a proper placeholder up soon, and then we can get the new website underway. In the mean time, the forum is still the same, and this blog will be the same so we can let you know whats going on as it happens." So all you really need to know is, they're doing there technomagic and the Reppion-Moore mayhem will continue...