Tube Surfing: 27 February 2009

• Taking place this weekend in Scotland is D-Con, at Dundee Student Union. Looks like a manga and anime-oriented event judging from the line-up, which is perhaps why we've only just got to hear about it. Special Guests include Naniiebim, creator of Here Be Demons manga, and Ross Burt, creator of Astro Funk comic and concept artist for EA Games.

• I have a few issues of TV Century 21 on sale on ebay right now, a mixed batch spanning issues 15 through 218; some of the proceeds of issues I'll be putting up over the next couple of weeks will go to Comic Relief. As I sell them, I'm putting a cover gallery on Flickr.

• The BBC report the National Library of Scotland is to embark on the laborious task of tracking down and cataloguing the countless thousands of fanzines published in the UK over the past 70 years. The library has enlisted the help of Chris Atton, a professor of media and culture at Napier University who has written both for and about fanzines for almost 30 years. If you're a fanzine editor, you may want to check out Jeremy Briggs' interview with John Birch at the NLS, which has more information on this quest.

• The BBC also reports that plans for Dundee to become an outpost of the world-famous Victoria and Albert museum are to be discussed. Supporters said the project could showcase the city's design heritage including computer gaming and comics. Given that DC Thomson has a huge office and archive in the city, it seems like a great idea to us.

• Now we know the world has gone Watchmen mad. Amazon.com are offering Nite Owl Dark Roast Coffee for sale. No, really... Meanwhile, Neil Gaiman has posted an article he wrote way back in 1986 for Time Out, detailing plans for a Watchmen film back then. "I was a very proud 25-year-old journalist, because this was the first big article on comics to be published in the UK, in a "real" magazine," he notes. "It's hard to communicate, in this golden age of geeks, how hard this was to make happen, or how important it was for a number of things, including morale.

• And finally... Doctor Who seems to be percolating into all manner of strange places. Check out this recent episode of US comic Brewster Rocket...

(Complied with thanks to Jeremy Briggs, Matthew Badham and George Lee)