• This weekend sees the opening of the touring Doctor Who exhibtion in Glasgow’s superb Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum with costumes, props and more from the revived series going on show from this Saturday through to January 2010. Forbideen Planet International's blog reports the opening weekend is completely sold out in advance, a mark of just how popular the return of the show has been that it can command sold out audiences even when its off the air.
• Adam Grose has posted new episodes of his strip The Dragonfly on the Clown Press web site. "Hopefully this should put me back on track with my own personal deadline," he says. Adam is still working away on his Supernatural tale, too although he confesses he slipped a bit on that deadline a little too. "Thankfully I have some holiday coming up soon to help!" Catch Dragonfly here: www.clownpress.com/5.html
• Paul Birch reports the Giant-Sized Band-Thing, the four-piece rock band featuring comic book creators, will be playing a corporate gig as part of anniversary celebrations for comic shop Infinity & Beyond in Telford, Shrewsbury on Saturday 28th April. The band features Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead, Green Lantern/Green Arrow) on drums, Paul H Birch (Dead Ahead, Gumby Comics) on bass, Liam Sharp (Gears of War, Testament) on lead vocals, with Phil Winslade (The Brave & The Bold, Daredevil) on lead guitar. More info here
• In addition to the UK Web and Mini Comix Thing this weekend, Bugpowder reports Mile End London is host to another one-day comics event. Schmurgen Con promises to be in "uncompromising style" Schmurgen is known for.
• Steve Holland has a great tribute to the late Jose Casanovas, whose artwork appeared in 2000AD, Starlord, Starblazer and elsewhere in the UK, who died on 14th March, only a day after the death of his countryman, José "Pepe" González. Although he only occasionally drew Judge Dredd, he became associated with another denizen of Mega-City One, Max Normal, whom he drew for various editions of the Judge Dredd Annual in the early 1980s. Much of his UK work here was one-off strips, mostly for 2000AD, but he also drew half a dozen longer stories for Starblazer, amongst them the Mikal Kayn adventure "Supercop" (1988). With his son (also called Jose Casanovas), he drew "Sam Slade Returns" in 1991 and was one of the regular Robo-Hunter artists until 1993.
• Dave Gibbons was interviewed over on wharf.co.uk earlier this month, but we've only just found the link. "We tried to ask the questions that hadn't been asked in comics before," he told the site of the origins of Watchmen. "I think that at that time comics had become rather formulaic and there were certain things you'd just accept. If someone got powers they'd just become a superhero and go off and fight crime. We were asking 'If costumed heroes were real, why would they really do it?'."
David also maintains his commitment to the comics form today. ""There's something elemental about the comic book," he feels. "In many other storytelling media, it's quite difficult to get your vision across." Read the full interview
• Another interview that almost slipped by is one in The Times with League of Extraordinary Gentlemen artist Kevin O'Neill. He talks extensively about the upcoming volume, Century. "Alan and I were born in the same year - 1953," he reveals, expanding on the pair's love of detail in the title. "We both read the same comics as kids and we were both big fans of the Beano and the Dandy. They were full of detail and full of background in a way the modern versions are not. I also read Mad paperbacks... Mad had great guys working for them - Bill Elder, Wallace Wally Wood - who would layer in so many other points of humour into the background, so many things that you could go back and read and reread. There was so much to soak up. You would want to try it yourself. Those early influences did play a part. I gives me pleasure including those details."
GOSH London will be hosting a signing with Moore and O'Neill as soon as the new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book Century: 1910 arrives. Problem is, they're not sure exactly when that will be so they can't settle on a date for the signing just yet. It will be late April/early May. Ish.
• And finally... It seems the new film, The Damned United, set in the 1970s features a classic comic, The Wizard in one scene - but some critics were unable to distinguish it from The Eagle. Here's a clue -- The Eagle wasn't being published at the time the film was set....
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