Dundee Comic Expo: A Creator's View by MontyNero

Comics writer and artist MontyNero was one of many at the Dundee Comic Expo last weekend, and, complementing Jeremy Briggs' Photo Report on the event, offers his take on the event...

For some reason I don't often take tables at cons, but Dundee Expo was an exception for three reasons. Firstly, it's free to the public and a family event which is admirable. Secondly it's barely ten minutes from my home, a distance even a lazy artist like me can handle. Thirdly, the good work of Dundee University in promoting the comics medium is something I wanted to support in my own modest way.

On arriving at my table it became clear that I was surrounded by Expo experts with banners and hoardings and plates of enticing cakes to attract a crowd. In contrast, my own self-published wares were meagre and rudimentary. A lot of guests sell comics, merchandise or do sketches for cash which is commendable. I'm frankly too unsure of myself for the latter, and there are technical issues with the former. I've got stuff in 2000AD and Clint this very month but I can't very well sell that as both Rebellion and Mark Millar get annoyed when I post them coins through the post. I'm doing a six issue series - Death Sentence, with Mike Dowling - which Titan aren't releasing until October so it's too early to sell that. I decide the best thing is to do is get on with finishing the short story I'm drawing for 2000AD and chat to anyone that stops by.

Gary Erskine (left) with MontyNero (right) at the Expo. Photo courtesy Joe Gordon.
More of Joe's pictures form the Expo here

The Expo takes place over three main rooms, and my seat near the door of College Hall is cold. As I spend most of my life protesting to friends that Dundee is a sunny place - a veritable Scottish Marbella - this is somewhat disappointing. My fingers freeze up a little and I'm shivering, despite wearing a coat and scarf, which makes drawing tricky. The public all seem happy enough, and I eye their warming perambulations with envy. So many people stop to enquire about my work - perhaps intimidated by my perplexingly narrow-eyed stare - that there's barely time to draw comics anyway.

The people I meet can be roughly defined as twenty per cent curious newcomers to the medium, fifty per cent mainstream comic fans, and thirty per cent indie comic enthusiasts. There's a constant buzz of chatter and bonhomie, with a fairly equal male/female split and a sprinkling of young kids/babies and pensioners. A lot of the convention veterans around me are doing good business, and I enjoy hours of interesting chats with the steady stream of visitors to my table. Most people seem politely intrigued by Death Sentence and volunteer their email address so I can let them know how to buy the first issue in October. The day passes so quickly that I completely miss out on spending time in any of the other much warmer rooms at the Expo.

I eventually abandon my post to catch Mary and Bryan Talbot talk about their award winning graphic novel Dotter of my Father's Eyes. This splendid work concerns the lives of Lucia Joyce and Mary Talbot in conflict with their respective fathers, drawing resonances and parallels between two time periods. The Dundee Uni crowd ask a number of intelligent questions. Consequently we learnt a lot about how Mary's story emerged through research, dreams, intuition and hard work before Bryan brought the script to life in watercolour, pencil, ink and Photoshop.

Thrillingly, as I get me copy signed, Bryan casually mentions that he has 100 pages of their new graphic novel on his iPad. It's called Sally Heathcote: Suffragette and concerns a fictional maid at the heart of feminist activism in Edwardian Britain. I flick through the artwork, entranced, as Bryan's enthusiasm for his collaborator Kate Charlesworth bubbles over. I ask about the division of labour and Bryan explains how he breaks down and lays out Mary's script before Kate draws and paints her pages on top.

The end product is very similar in style and tone to Dotter but more refined and polished in its finish. Some of Kate's watercolour paintings of historic London are beautiful and emotionally stirring. The story's told within a nine panel grid structure, switching to narrow eight panel layouts for oppressive 'incarceration' scenes evoking prison bars. Look for it at the end of this year.

On the way out I spy a graphic novel and cake stall and eagerly stock up on both. As I greedily stuff my face with carrot sponge I reflect on what a wonderful environment for discussing comics the lecture hall is, with its modern sound and multimedia facilities, comfy seats, well informed audience and thoroughly effective heating system.

Back at my frosty table the Dundee students next to me have imaginatively cut through the frozen floor to search for fish in the frigid depths below Between triumphant whoops they're also selling an excellent compilation of university comics work, Anthology Three, which features a cover by visiting lecturer Dave Gibbons.

As the shadows begin to lengthen I spy a kettle, tea, fresh milk and a plate of what I immediately decide are complimentary biscuits. Manna from heaven! I make us all a brew and we huddle round a notional brazier munching Jaffa cakes and discussing our comic experiences. With so many skilful enthusiasts in one room - David Lloyd, Gary Erskine, Jim Alexander, Gary Gray, and the Accent and Black Hearted Press crew to name a few - it's impossible not to feel inspired.

Personally, I couldn't be happier with how it went. Roll on Dundee Comics Day, this October.

• MontyNero is a writer and artist for 2000AD and the co-creator of Death Sentence with Mike Dowling for Clint and from Titan in October 2013. You can buy Death Sentence 01 on Amazon, Itunes, Kobo or Graphicly. Check out his official web site at www.montynero.com or follow him on Twitter, follow his blog or Tumblr

 

CLiNT revamps: more strips, more action!

Hot off the back of his 2012 Kapow convention success, Kick-Ass creator Mark Millar launches a stunning new volume of CLiNT, with a new 100-page Issue 1 featuring four new stories between its covers, coupled to a brand new look, new logo and new attitude!

Every issue from Titan Magazines now features epic news and interview exclusives you won’t read anywhere else – the first issue's including Mark Millar hmself – from set reports, casting announcements and extensive actor grillings to behind-the-scenes commentaries and new art from top comics talent!

On sale now, CLiNT #2.1 showcases a double kidney punch of new Mark Millar strips: Supercrooks with artist Leinil Yu, the story of a group of failed supercriminals who head to Spain for one last heist. The art is great, as you'd expect given Millar's connections, with some great character development from the get go when it comes to the protagonists.

Next up is The Secret Service, Millar’s hotly anticipated collaboration with Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons and Kick-Ass / X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn. (The fast-tracked movie is being plotted by Vaughn at the same time as the comic). I had a very quick chat with Dave at Kapow! as he was rushing from one event to the next, and he told me he was really enjoying drawing a regular title again – and it shows in this opening chapter. which includes a guest appearance by original Star Wars actor Mark Hamil!

The CLiNT reboot also boasts the exclusive, Hollywood-baiting Death Sentence strip – which has built up a wave of well-deserved hype. Creators and critics alike have been lining up to praise the hotly-anticipated sex, STDs and superheroics saga, written by newcomer Montynero and illustrated by Mike Dowling (2000AD, Rex Royd, Torchwood).

I've been lucky enough to see the whole first arc of this story and it's superb - hard-egded, dramatic, thought-provoking and well deserving of the praise it's been getting. Montynero's script is terrific and Dowling really delivers on the art front.

(You can buy the digital edition of Death Sentence issue 01 for 99p from Amazon (kindle) iTunes (ipad) kobo and graphicly (pc) http://graphicly.com/aaaah/death-sentence)

Rounding off the magazine's comics line-up is Rex Royd by Frankie Boyle, which is still the weakest of the strips, the great art let down by a near inpenetrable script. But anthologies always have a mix of strips that might appeal to one audience but not another.

Mark Millar discusses Supercrooks and American Jesus movies in an exclusive Millarworld movie round-up feature.

“Everything that I've done, movie-wise, I've gotten a little more involved.” says Millar. “On Wanted, I was just involved at a tangent, I'd just come in for meetings and watch footage. With Kick-Ass, I was very involved from the beginning, from the two month when the screenplay was being put together, though costume designs and all of that. And from that, to Supercrooks, American Jesus and Kick-Ass 2, which will feel incredibly hands-on."

To hear Supercrooks director Nacho Vigalondo's side of the story, check out our exclusive new interview with him, available only on clintmag.com.

CLiNT also celebrate 20 Years of Lenore, with a special feature exploring creator Roman Dirge’s morbid imagination with a four-page sequence from Lenore #4: Revenge of the Creepig!

• CLiNT #2.1 is available from all good magazine retailers and comic stores from May 23rd.

• Special Subscription Offer! Get 9 issues of CLiNT - saving 20%, plus a FREE signed Dave Gibbons 'The Secret Service' Art Card! Hurry, only 200 signed Dave Gibbons Art Cards available! To subscribe click here

• Mega 48-Page Preview of CLiNT http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=37319

• For more information and to subscribe to CLiNT, visit: http://clintmag.com

• Connect with CLiNT: Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/clintmag Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/CLiNTmag

 

In Review: Superior

By Mark Millar and Leinil Francis Yu
Publisher: Titan Books
Out: Now
ISBN: 9780857685940

The Book: Simon Pooni had it all going for him - plenty of friends at school, good looks, and his coach called him one of the most talented basketball players he's ever seen. But that was when he could still move his legs. Now he's living with multiple sclerosis — until Superior entered his life! But is the result f one magic wish all it seems?

The Review: Everyone knows the kind of comics Mark Millar writes, yes? Those ultra-violent, gore-filled comic books that horrify and hypnotise at the same time, like Nemesis and Kick-Ass. Angst and anger-filled nastiness writ large for alleged disaffected youth. Comics that would horrify the writers of the moribund Comic Code.

Trust me. Superior is not one of those books, which popular though they are, I can't say I enjoy reading (sorry, Mark).

Superior is, instead, pure unadulterated fun, with heart to boot, and one of my favourite comic collection reads so far this year.

Oh, of course it pulls in ideas and concepts from the movie Big to Superman to Marvelman, as young multiple-sclerosis sufferer and superhero fan Simon Pooni is turned into his idol, Superior, by Ormon, a mysterious talking monkey. But as the tale develops, Millar turns that well-trodden background into a singular tale, as Superior's story becomes real and Simon is forced to make a choice beteween saving the world or losing his immortal soul.

Throughout, Leinil Yu's art on this book - published under Marvel's Icon imprint in the US and CLiNT in the UK - is distinctive, although I do feel the superhero scenes work better than some of those with Simon as himself. There's a depth and detail to Yu's work that does not fail to impress.

As for the story - lightweight it might be, and perhaps a little padded (do we really need so many pages where Simon discovers what Superior's powers are and wherher he has all those of the fictional character he adores?) but above all else, as I said above, it's tremendous fun. And that, from reading Mark's interviews about the story before it launched back in 2010, was entirely the point of the tale.

So yes, you do genuinely feel for Simon when, after one week of playing the role of Superior, he learns that Ormon is actually a demon incarnate, and he must sell his soul to the devil in order to remain the superhero - and put back in his old, disease-wracked body while he makes his choice. You know he feels he really has no choice but to accept Ormon's deal when the demon also makes one of his school mates - this one a two-dimensional, no holds-barred bully - Superior's arch nemesis, Abraxas, who proceeds to set out to destroy New York. And yes, jaded by superheroes though I probably am, I did hear myself mentally cheer as Superior and his friends find a way to cheat a terrible fate and end the tale on a happy note (surely a rarity by Mark Millar standards).

While there are a couple of nearly gruesome scenes, there's nothing in Superior on a par with the (for me) unpleasant visceral nastiness you'll find in Nemesis or Kick-Ass. It's all the better for that.

Superior is a joyous romp, perhaps a trifle padded, but with some great characters and characterisation, a charming story - and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Just one question. Who will play President Obama in Matthew Vaughn's movie version?

Art copyright Millarworld/Leinil Yu. downthetubes was provided with a copy of Superior by Titan Books for review purposes.

CLiNT set for re-boot in May

CLiNT - the comic magazine published by Mark Millar and Titan Magazines - is about to get a major re-boot.

Re-launching in May with a near all-new line up that includes Mark Millar's Supercrooks (with art by Leinil Yu) and The Secret Service (with Dave Gibbons), the new #1 cover sports a comic cover reflecting the bulk of its impressive 100-page content. On its original launch almost two years ago, the title favoured photographic covers that seemed to target the 'lads mags' market.

Titan is no stranger to re-boots - and it's a marketing tactic employed by several publishers, on both sides of the Atlantic. (Titan's Star Wars Comic, for example, has bee re-branded and re-launched pretty much every time Lucasfilm has tweaked the Star Wars franchise). While CLiNT's UK comic shop sales and US direct sales are strong, the re-boot won't hurt to remind non comic-savvy high street retailers the title is still available, and a logical complement to other comic offerings like 2000AD and Judge Dredd Megazine.

But it's the content, not the marketing, downthetubes readers are interested in - so what's on offer?

"The idea behind [Supercrooks] is that a bunch of supervillains get together and say, 'You know what, we keep getting beat by the superheroes. We always end up in prison,'" Mark Millar told Comic Book Resources last yerar. "This is terrible no matter what we try to do. Let's go to a country where they don't have any superheroes, and then we can kick ass.' So they leave America and head over to Europe where there are no superheroes, and it's like Ocean's Eleven meets the X-Men where seven supervillains head to Europe to pull the biggest job of their career where there are no supervillains to stop them. So it's a fun heist story."

Sure to get attention from fans is The Secret Service, which is also being published as a six-issue mini series under Marvel Comics' Icon imprint in the US from April. Mark collaborated with writer-artist Dave Gibbons on this, with X-Men: First Class helmer Matthew Vaughn is on board to turn the series into a movie in the future.

Talking about the project in CLiNT recently, Mark explained he had been working on this idea for some years and revealed the story was “Something to do with the government and something to do with the military intelligence wing of the government. It’s not a spy story as such,. That would be way too straight for a couple of guys who made their names in superhero comics… It’s a hero book, and there’s a sidekick and there’s vast headquarters and a secret origin and all the stuff you’d expect to see in a superhero book. But we really, really play around with a lot of conventions here.

“No two scenes seem to be set in the same country and we’re working on a scale unlike something as up-close-and-personal as a crimefigheter with no super-powers," he added. "But I can see the link, because we’re balancing that sense of the real and the outrageous and there’s super-villains and so on. But what’s exciting about it is that it‘s something new.

“The Ultimates was about heroes responding to the new America and the new world after the attacks on September the 11th. The Secret Service is the ramifications of that, as America is struggling on the world stage, funding is being seriously undercut to balance the books and some people are trying their best to take advantage of the fragile global situation.

“The Secret Service started as two different projects," he revealed. "I had an idea that was mainly set in the US and [Matthew Vauughn] had an idea for a similar thing that was mainly set in the UK. I can’t give too much anyway without blowing the story, but we essentially fused both characters together and so the Batman and Robin or whatever you want to call these guys really are a genuine co-creation between me, Dave and Matthew. He had some sequences in mind and I had these crazy plot ideas I’d been mulling over for a year or two and we just hammered it out in the pub, really. It evolved naturally. So I’ve gone off and written the comic and he’ll write the screenplay for the movie, which might feed back into the comic too. l don’t know.

"It’s impossible for one of us to untangle one from the other and now Dave is the third man in this whole creation, bringing in a third dimension to the story. We’re going to see all his drawings and designs and emblems and so on working their way back into the movie too.”

The magazine's line-up also includes the highly-anticipated Death Sentence from Jim Montynero and Mike Dowling, which was trailed last December.

Created by writer Montynero and Mike Dowling (artist on CLiNT’s Rex Royd), Mark Millar feels the story is a perfect fit for the 100-page magazine's brand of big-budget action with a cynical twist.

The story of three Londoners granted superpowers and six months to live by the devastating, sexually-transmitted G-Plus virus, Death Sentence is by turns dramatic, thought-provoking and hilarious; a take-down of modern celebrity culture that also takes a stand against oppressive and invasive government.

With a world exclusive new chapter of Rex Royd – plus the terror of Graveyard of Empires -- the new CLiNT looks set to be a major talking point in the next couple of months and the revamped title is nound to be a major part of the second Kapow convention in May.

Let's hope Mark Millar and Titan's determination to make CLiNT even more of a success pays off - not just in comic shops, but WH Smiths, too.

- CLiNT is published simultaneously in the UK and US. For more information in the title, interviews and previews visit: http://titanmagazines.com/t/clint/

CLiNT delivers Montynero, Dowling's 'Death Sentence'

CLiNT is to publish the independent comic Death Sentence by Montynero and Mike Dowling in 2012.

Created by writer Montynero and Mike Dowling (artist on CLiNT’s Rex Royd), Mark Millar, publisher of CLiNT alongside Titan Magazines, describes Death Sentence as the perfect fit for the 100-page magazine's brand of big-budget action with a cynical twist.

Described as “just brilliant” by Millar, Death Sentence first came to his attention at the first Kapow! Comic Convention last year, where it stood out from the crowd of pitches with its striking concept and A-list work from the creators.

The story of three Londoners granted superpowers and six months to live by the devastating, sexually-transmitted G-Plus virus, Death Sentence is by turns dramatic, thought-provoking and hilarious; a take-down of modern celebrity culture that also takes a stand against oppressive and invasive government.

Editorial manager Andrew James enthuses, “Death Sentence has it all – a great high-concept, engaging characters, fantastic art, and gripping writing. Montynero has a spectacular career ahead of him – and Mike Dowling’s self-coloured work is a revelation.”

Death Sentence will debut in CLiNT in May 2012, with a launch at the second annual Kapow! Comic Convention.

Titan Magazines say there will be more news on the future of CLiNT in January - suggesting more new strips will be part of its content.

Reviewing Issue 12 of the title recently, comic creator and British comics pundit Lew Stringer praised the Magazine, saying "I really like CLiNT... [it's] raw, unapologetic and brutal.

"Critics may argue that the stories could be told just as well without the excessive violence and profanity, and they'd have a point, but it wouldn't be as much fun would it?"

• More about CLiNT at: http://titanmagazines.com/t/clint

Comedian Jimmy Carr writes debut comic strip in CLiNT

‘Beat My Score’ by Jimmy Carr, art by Ryusuke Hamamoto

Jimmy Carr, famed stand-up comedian and co-host of Channel 4’s 10 O’Clock Live, has written an exclusive comic strip story in the latest issue of Titan Magazines' CLiNT.

Stepping out of his comfort zone and away from the acerbic one-liners that characterise his on-stage routine, Carr delivers a story of violent point-scoring and social alienation.

‘Beat My Score’ by Jimmy Carr, art by Ryusuke Hamamoto

"Entitled ‘Beat My Score’, Carr’s comic strip is a nihilistic satirical sideswipe at the glamourisation of violence, tackling the difficult and disturbing effects as seen in school shootings around the world. Its manga-styled images by Japanese artist, Ryusuke Hamamoto, will resonate in the brain like a ricochet long after the final shots have been fired."

When every action is assessed for its potential as a Tweet, and every success is accompanied by Achievement Points, what will one maladjusted Japanese college student do to claim pole position?

"We've been incredibly lucky with CLiNT in this first nine months," enthuses Kick-Ass creator and CLiNT editor Mark Millar.  "We just got nominated for a big award before we've even reached our first birthday and the talent line-up has been unmatchable. We've had people as diverse as Victoria Coren, Ian Rankin, Jonathan Ross and Frankie Boyle in here and now we've got Jimmy Carr doing comic books. It's crazy.

"What's nice is that he rose to the occasion and gave us maybe my favourite story in the comic so far. It's such a beautifully simple idea I sent it to my agents and suggested they set the movie up. I couldn't be happier with it."

CLiNT, which launched last September, has already boasted the first-look at Kick-Ass 2, the sequel to the best-selling series that inspired the blockbuster movie, and seen Jonathan Ross, Frankie Boyle and Stewart Lee present their comic debuts.

• Jimmy Carr’s ‘Beat My Score’ will feature in CLiNT issue #9, on-sale Thursday 30th June, available from WH Smith, Forbiddenplanet.com and all good magazine retailers and newsagents.


• For more information and to subscribe to CLiNT, visit www.CLiNTMag.com

• Connect with CLiNT on Twitter or Facebook

Tube Surfing: Kapow Comic convention, War Comix and Mag, Scientist

Kapow! Comic Con Trailer from kapowcomiccon on Vimeo

• Mark Millar has announced a new London-based comics convention, Kapow (9-10th April 2011) which will host the first Stan Lee Awards ceremony (see Newsarama and Bleeding Cool for more news). The guest line up includes John Romita Jr., Andy Diggle, Jock, Steve Dillon, Duncan Fegredo, David Hine, Simon Furman, John McCrea and Kieron Gillen, plus Frank Quitely, Lenil Francis Yu and Dave Gibbons.
If you buy your ticket before 31st December 2010 you'll be entered into a prize draw for your name and likeness to appear in an issue of Kick-Ass 2. More information at: www.kapowcomiccon.com

• Along with titles such as Luke Pearson's beautiful-looking story Hildafolk, London-based publishers NoBrow recently released A Graphic Cosmogony for sale online, and it's now on sale in all good book shops. Paul Gravett, organiser of Comica festival describes it as "their most ambitious publication yet, the story of creation retold by 24 international artists."
Contributing artists include Brecht Vandenbroucke, Ben Newman, Jon McNaught, Stuart Kolakovic, Mike Bertino, Mikkel Sommers, Jack Teagle, Andrew Rae and many others. More info here

•  As part of ongoing promotion for his War Comix project, Sean Duffield sent us this fun Rom Spaceknight cartoon. We suspect there's a tip of the hats to the latest Wikileaks revelations, too...

• Ace artist Rian Hughes has been interviewed by Comic Book Resources about the US edition of Yesterday's Tomorrows, which is being published by Image Comics in December. The collection includes his and Grant Morrision's take on Dan Dare, published in Revolver and Crisis in the 1980s.
"Grant plays on this nostalgia for a simpler, less politically complicated age," Hughes says of the story he and Morrison strove to tell with Dare, "while mirroring the fate of his original creator, Frank Hampson, who lost control of the copyright and made very little money from the merchandising success of the property, living in reduced circumstances in later life. A sad story."

• Lancaster comics artist David Hughes (no relation to the above) has written a computer game for the Sinclair Spectrum (no, really, the Sinclair Spectrum - I had no idea it was still being used!) based around his Norman character on his blog, details can be found at www.stonechatproductions.blogspot.com on how to play.  "It's linked to comics in that there is a prize for the first person to complete it before Christmas will get a selection of my comics," says David. Reader will recall David's book Thomas Wogan is Dead has been released for iPad by Tabella so he's no stranger to eComics.

• A unique Ron Embleton painting of actor David McCallum as Man from U.N.C.L.E. agent Illya Kuryakin has been relisted on eBay after it failed to meet its £250 reserve on first offering. As we previously reported, the painting was a prize offered in Lady Penelope comic in the 1960s. View the auction here

• Ace cartoonist Malcolm Kirk recently launched a new web comic, Mag, Scientist, which he tells us he hopes to update at least once a week on his blog. Check out the first episode here

• Fans of free gifts given away with British comics are sure to enjoy Lew Stringer's three-part series of articles about such items on his blog (Part 1 here). Lew traces the giveaways back to the 1930s, noting that many were more refined than the cheap plastic toys given away today.

• And finally... the winner of our recent Grandville Mon Amour competition is Michael Charlton from Lancaster, England. We asked you who was the right wing French Prime Minister in Bryan Talbot's Grandville? The answer is Jean-Marie Lapin. Congratulations to Michael - the book is on its way. Read our review of Grandville Mon Amour here

CLiNT Issue 1 Goes to Reprint with comic-style cover

The first issue of Mark Millar's brand new comic anthology, CLiNT, has sold out - and will now have a second printing with a spanking comics-styled cover featuring Kick-Ass.

With its third issue now on sale in UK newsagents and comic shop, the 100-page monthly magazine published by Titan features brand new comics alongside news, features and interviews, with a mix of celebrity contributors and hot new talent.
CLiNT #1, which launched early September, boasts the first-look at Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s Kick-Ass 2, and Titan say it has flown off shelves. This first hit issue also included the start of Nemesis, by Millar and Steve McNiven, and sees two of the UK’s most outspoken TV personalities present their comic debuts.

Turf, by Jonathan Ross and acclaimed artist Tommy Lee Edwards, mixes vampires, aliens and gangsters in a slick period thriller. Rex Royd, by comedian Frankie Boyle, introduces “The Renaissance Man of Madness” in a supervillain strip.

Comics retailers will be able to order copies of the second printing of CLiNT #1 with its new Kick-Ass cover from this weeks Previews Plus and December’s Diamond PREVIEWS.  For more information visit www.previewsworld.com.

CLiNT issue 6, which includes the latest installment of Kick-Ass 2 is also listed in December’s Diamond Previews.

• For more information on CLiNT, visit: www.CLiNTmag.com


• CLiNT #1 trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCRL5PLM7Yo


• Connect with CLiNT on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CLiNTmag
or Facebook: www.facebook.com/CLiNTmag

CLiNT #3 features more Kick Ass, Tarantino

Issue #3 of CLiNT is on sale now in stores in the UK and Ireland.

Strips this issue are the latest episode of Kick Ass 2  by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.; Turf, chapter 3 by Jonathan Ross and Tommy Lee Edwards; the still bonkers and inpenetrable
Rex Royd by Frankie Boyle, Jim Muir and Michael Dowling;
American Jesus, by Mark Millar and Peter Gross and the superb-looking Nemesis, chapter 3 by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. 

This month's Space Oddities short strip is a real stunner called Lost Soldiers: The Fall of the Fortress by Bruno Letizia. The art on this is great - let's hope we see more from him in future issues. 


This is is this writer/artist's first mainstream English publication, but he's done a huge amount of work in Italy for publishers such as Nicola Pesce Editore, Coniglio editore and more recently, for Alacran with strips such as the comic book porn situation comedy Food Girls for Coniglio Editore (written under the pseudonym Savage Dolls).

Comics news site Bleeding Cool has more details on him and some of the other Space Oddities creators here.

CLiNT #3 also features interviews with film director Quentin Tarantino, Al Murray, The IT Crowd’s Matt Berry and Star Wars Kid all grown up!.

• CLiNT #3 is on sale now in all newsagents and comic shops in the UK. Official CLiNT Magazine web site:  http://clintmag.com


• Preview art from the latest chapter of Nemesis - http://tinyurl.com/244xlly


• Preview artwork from the latest chapter of Kick-Ass 2 by John Romita Jr http://tinyurl.com/2fuxmzu

• CLiNT on Twitter

In Review: Clint #2 - real life superheroes and Kick Ass 2

The second issue of CLiNT, Mark Millar and Titan Magazines' British news stand anthology, mixing comics with a range of features that include a focus on 'real-life superheroes' and an interview with Charlie Brooker, is a much-improved mix on the launch issue.

Maintaining an edgy, Nuts/Zoo style feel to the format, which rankles with some comics fans but should appeal to the magazine's teen target audience, strip-wise, this issue continues Kick Ass 2 and delivers more chapters of Jonathan Ross' Turf, Frankie Boyle's bonkers Rex Royd, Nemesis and a fun three-page 'Space Oddity'. Pit Stop by Mateus Santolouco is one of many great pitches to the mag made via the MillarWorld forum and a good choice.

Also this issue -- the first slice of Mark Millar's American Jesus, already published in the US but which I gather is part of a trilogy of planned stories being released by Image in the US.

Of these, despite the vicious content, Nemesis proves the surprise hit of the issue for me, with a brilliant chase scene and some truly nasty developments as the super villain storms the Pentagon. Steve McNiven's art is superb throughout.

Turf again benefits from the larger page size of CLiNT and writer Ross begins to rein in his verbosity to let the Tommy Lee Edwards gorgeous art on this 1920s vampire tale do the storytelling.

There were mixed reviews of Frankie Boyle's Rex Royd - and I'm afraid the writing is again disappointing and the content of this tale the most potentially offensive to the kind of religious types, that frankly, Frank, you really don't want to upset. The titular 'hero'(?) continues his crusade against superheroes and super beings, this time taking down God in the Garden of Eden after God performs a pretty monstrous act on Eve.

It's all very shocking and will no doubt have Daily Mail readers up in arms, but at the end of the day, how many of CLiNT's target audience even know who God is and will really take in the import of such a ridiculous storyline?

American Jesus, with terrific art from Peter Gross is definitely intriguing - I'm curious to see how this develops, although I could of course simply pick up the collection.

And then of course there's the 'headline act' - the second part of Kick Ass 2, as Millar and Romita's would-be superhero takes a stroll in Times Square with another costumed hero whose only weapon is a silver-foil covered baseball bat. There's some fun dialogue for comic fans - a teen admitting he fancies Aunt May - and Kick Ass revealing his life's desire is to be part of the Justice League.

But the story also exposes what might be a critical flaw in Millar's masterplan to break comics out of what he sees as something of a ghetto on the news stand - much of the humour is dependent on knowing something about the comics the target audience, allegedly, have never heard of. (Although of course, they may well have heard of their film and cartoon incarnations, to which Millar is careful to refer).

Overall, though, CLiNT #2 is a well rounded and much stronger issue than the launch, and some of the features are hilarious, such as the 'Save Money on your Mobile' spoof ad and the full page iPad gag. The longer features are stronger, too - especially the real superhero feature - and seem a better fit this time around. Yes, you've still got the Zoo-inspired stuff like a 'Sexy Chavs' pin up, which is sure to annoy comic fans but once again, this title is aimed at a teen audience that loves this stuff.

Fingers crossed, they liked the first issue enough to buy this one.

• Official CLINT web site


• CLiNT on Facebook


• CLiNT on Twitter

• Discuss CLINT #2 on the downthetubes forum (membership required)

More reviews:

• Bleeding Cool: CLiNT #2 Numbercrunching

CLiNT #1 sales strong, says Mark Millar

(Updated 1430, 9th September): Sales of CLiNT #1 and reaction to the new British comic magazine have been very positive, according to its creator Mark Millar - and he says more retail outlets are seeking copies, including supermarkets, which account for almost 40 per cent of magazine and newspaper sales in the UK.

"The good news is that this has gone down a storm," Mark told his fans in a post on his forum yesterday.

CLiNT #1 went on sale across the UK in a fanfare of publicity, including a signing by Jonathan Ross and Mark Millar at WH Smiths in Victoria Station, London, covered 'exclusively' on Sky News and coverage on other TV channels.

"[WH] Smiths and Tesco said they're having a great response," says Mark, "and finally - finally - a comic is generally being stacked alongside car, lifestyle and other traditional men's interest mags.

"For too long they've been sticking 2000AD etc next to the Teletubbies on the bottom shelf," he claims, "but now we're at eye-level and it's paying off."

This isn't of course, strictly accurate - most WH Smiths have dedicated sections for 'teenage' titles, including 2000AD, Panini's Marvel Comics collections and similar titles. Where things fall down is when staff at a local WH Smiths don't follow shelving instructions and rack a title like CLiNT in with junior comics (in one instance, next to Bob the Builder. Another problem for the visibility of many long-running British comics is that they are more likely to be ordered by a customer, so they become what's known as 'put aways' - and then there are no copies to be seen on a shelf.

(Commando, whose 40,000-strong audience is incredibly loyal, with publishers DC Thomson claiming many readers sticking with the title for over 10 years and 2000AD have this problem).

But this is nit-picking: the important thing, as far as Mark and publishers Titan Magazines are concerned is reaction to CLiNT outside the comics community.

"Response from new readers, which has been over 90% of our emails received so far, has been amazing," Mark says. "They picked it up because it didn't look like a traditional comic and found themselves loving the comic strips, which was exactly the plan.

"So me, Titan and all the dudes working on this are very happy. We're in 90% of the Smiths outlets and going up to 95, more supermarkets now jumping on to see what the fuss was about."

Responding to comic fans appeals for comic-oriented features rather than the lads mag-style material published, Mark is adamant that this is the wrong approach if comics are to break out of their perceived 'ghetto' on the news stand.

"I want no more silly responses here where people say it looks like a lads mag," he chastises. "That was kinda the plan, as it got us different shelves and a new audience.

"It's been 25 years since the mainstream really looked at a mass market book that wasn't an outright funny book," he continues. "This was very, very calculated and so far - touch wood- seems to have worked... CLiNT is a pop culture hybrid that gives them something they know with something they haven't tried before.

Elsewhere, in an interview with the denofgeek web site, Mark has enthused about his fellow creators on the magazine - who include Jonathan Ross and comedian Frankie Boyle.

"In our launch issue we've got the highest paid man in British telly, and probably the biggest comedian in the country, and their combined profile helps enormously, because it shows people we really mean business," he says.

"In fact, I think the reason British comics often fail is that mainstream retailers really don't care about me, or any other British or American comic author. You can come up with the best idea for a character and story and nobody with the shelf space will care. So, the trick is to get some big names that retailers recognise to author some comics.

"Having Kick-Ass 2 launching off the back of the DVD release helps, but having Frankie and Jonathan, and some of the writers we've got coming later too, that's really going to get us in shops, and hopefully it'll help create a platform for new talent as well."

• Read Mark's full post on the Millarworld forum

• Official CLINT web site

• Read the downthetubes of CLiNT #1, which includes links to other reviews and news stories about this new launch



• Discuss CLINT #1 on the downthetubes forum (membership required)

In Review: Clint Issue 1 - does it "Kick Ass"?

(Updated 31/8/10, added other review links): After months of speculation about what Titan Magazines new British anthology title Clint might feature, the magazine itself is finally out in the wild, backed by an impressive promotional campaign on the web, which includes its official web site.

So - does comic creator Mark Millar's baby live up to all the hype?

First things first: this isn't just a comic. Yes, much of the content is comic strip, but it's been styled like a magazine. Even the cover leans more toward the kind of title you might expect to see alongside Nuts, Zoo or Empire; a canny piece of marketing for a new stand where comics have wrestled, sometimes in vain, for attention.

This will not sit easily with many comics purists who've grown up enjoying Eagle, Battle, Action or 2000AD - but it is a brave attempt to make Clint look different to most other comics that have gone before. Whether that gambit will pay off in the long term, none of us yet know.

Content-wise, Titan have embraced Britain's joint obsessions with celebrity and innuendo and pulled them into a well-honed mix that includes Nuts and FHM-styled features as well as a carefully selected line up of comic strip, all of it new to the British news stand if not to the specialist comic store (but then, this magazine is not aimed at that market, so that doesn't really matter). That includes an interview with comedian Jimmy Carr and more, all delivered with the kind of design flair you'd expect from the team that has done so well with its specialist magazines such as LOST and Star Wars.

Again, in my view that's a canny move and one that gives the title a strong selling point beyond the numerous comic strips it features. Whether those features will actually boost sales, given that similar material is something available in other titles, is another unknown quantity – but full marks to Millar and the Titan team for trying.

As for the conics - well, it's a mixed bag of action adventure, heavily weighted toward violent and sweary superheroes. As you'd expect, the first appearance of Millar's Kick-Ass 2, drawn by John Romita Jr., takes centre stage. Given the success of the first Kick Ass series and movie, it's sure to have a following and is a strong sales point. (The series will be published in the US via Marvel's Icon imprint in the future).

Likewise, Jonathan Ross' Turf, drawn by Tommy Lee ticks the strong sales point box. You can be sure Ross will happily promote both the comic and Clint to boot, which will certanly help its chances of success.

While the strip isn't new to comics fans familiar with the US comic scene, published in magazine format I think it actually looks better than its US outing. You can't go wrong with a vampire story right now, and it starts strong in this issue, with plenty more twists and turns to come.

The rest of the comics are in a similar vein - high octane, edgy action adventure that some won't like - but will go down well with a potential audience raised on high spectacle summer popcorn movies who would never squirm seeing Saw.   

Rex Boyd by Frankie Boyle & Jim Muir is another all-new strip and, to my mind, the weakest material in the issue - the script jumps rather suddenly half way through the story of a security guard working for someone whose life role appears to be devoted to killing superheroes. Nemesis, by Millar, features some superb art by Steve McNiven and is another Marvel Icon title, and another vicious anti-superhero tale.

The strip content rounds off with The Diner, a three-page strip by Manuel Bracchi that has won out over many other submissions to appear in this first issue, one of many submitted via Millar's own web forum for consideration in the new title.

So - is Clint any good?

Well, it certainly has a firm handle on its potential audience and has a heady mix of strips and features that will appeal to a target market of teens who can buy their own comics (because if Mummy ever buys this for their eight-year-old, we'll soon have the same kind of press hysteria that put an end to Action thirty years ago). In those terms, it ticks all the boxes.

Is it the kind of comic I want to read? Well, no – but it isn't aimed at me, a 50-something comics fan who grew up reading TV Century 21, Valiant and what are, today, other far gentler comics albeit ones crammed with eye-grabbing adventure and characters. I fully accept that, recognize how much work has gone into getting the mix of the first issue right, and sincerely hope Clint does reach its market and is a huge success, because if it is, it will benefit everyone in the British comics industry, long term.

Let's hope we just don't end up with a load of copycat titles, which is what happened when VIZ went large. Do what Mark and Titan have done - something different.

The big questions is: will that target audience buy Clint instead of Nuts, Zoo and similar titles? Right now, no-one knows, but you can be darn sure Titan have done their homework and are well aware they need to cleverly market Clint to ensure it gets the attention it craves.

At a time when sales of the titles it's emulating - aside from the comics element - are in decline, perhaps Clint will also give that sector a much-needed jolt in terms of sales. We'll just have to wait and see... But good on them for at least giving it a go.

• Official CLINT web site. Jonathan Ross and Mark Millar will be signing copies on Thursday 2nd September at 4.30pm at WH Smiths in London's Victoria station.

• Discuss CLINT #1 on the downthetubes forum (membership required)

News Items

• Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser (no, really): New comic called Clint from Coatbridge’s Mark Millar
1st September, 2010 (repeats earlier Titan PR for the title with local 'spin'): Coatbridge writer Mark Millar is launching a UK comic that will feature stories by TV presenter Jonathan Ross and comedian Frankie Boyle...

• MTV: Mark Millar Drops 'CLiNT' Comics Magazine On Doorsteps Today, Previews The First Issue!
2nd September, 2010 - Includes interview with Mark Millar, who says "It’s really secretly selling people comics. My dad’s generation and my generation all read comics as children but my daughters generation, the boys in her class have never picked up a comic book. So I wanted it to be something teenage boys and young guys in their 20s would feel comfortable with, you know? Something that is a hybrid.”


• Bleeding Cool: Copies of CLiNT Seen in the Wild
Bleeding Cool forum thread documenting some of the daft places WH Smiths staff (and other retailers) have racked the new comic. In one case, apparently next to Bob the Builder...

Other Reviews

• Comics Alliance: CLiNT is definitely a Magazine
by Chris Sims: "I legitimately like the "Warning! Contains Comics!" blurb in the corner. It plays into the whole attempt at characterizing what they're doing as a faux-dangerous bit of counterculture along the lines of 2000AD's heyday, and while that idea is defeated pretty thoroughly by having a photo cover depicting characters from a major motion picture that starred Nicolas Cage, it does put the emphasis squarely on comics. And that's exactly where it belongs, because that's where CLiNT is at its best."

• FHM: New Magazine! New Kick-Ass!

• Geeksco.uk: Wossy and Boyle strips in new CLiNT Magazine
"Having had a sneak peek at the 100 page magazine, it’s certainly an exciting new direction for Mark Millar. Jonathan Ross’s vampire comic is a complete surprise and an excellent one at that. A dark tale of vampires and gangs in depression-hit New York, the second installment can’t arrive fast enough. We are also gifted with Millar’s explosive and controversial strip, Nemesis, drawn by artist Steve McNiven with whom Millar had previously worked on Marvels Civil War mini series. The jokey premise for the strip was ‘What if Batman was a total c**t‘ which understandably caused some concern with DC Comics..." 

• Journalist Danny Graydon: Clint #1 - The Verdict

"... We have the latest attempt at pushing edgy and irreverent comics in to the mainstream, with the arrestingly-titled “CLiNT” – think about it – produced by writer Mark Millar and Titan Magazines. Ever the connoisseur of hyperbole, Millar grandly claimed that “This is The Eagle for the 21st Century!” and, having read the debut issue, I can only respond to that pearl of wisdom with: you bloody wish, old boy. No, no: the truth is that CLiNT is essentially TOXIC! resurrected... This is by no means a bad thing."

• Lew Stringer - Blimey! It's Another Blog about Comics

"The promos talk about it appealing to 16 to 30 year-olds but maybe that's just to sell it to retailers. Personally I think CLiNT will really find an audience of 13 to 16 year-olds excited by the ultra-violence of Kick Ass and Nemesis. Don't be surprised to see some prudes rise up to bang on about comics "corrupting children". Every generation has those spoilsports and they've never proven their case yet. It seems to me that Millar and Titan have preempted such attacks by not making the cover look like a comic and clearly putting an 'Adult Content' advisory beside the barcode. The responsibility is now with retailers to choose who to sell it to, and with parents to monitor what their kids read. No passing the buck this time for the blame culture....

British Comics Sales Figures - a quick snapshot

How healthy is the UK comics market? With fierce debate raging among British fans about whether titles like Titan's CLINT, the brainchild of Mark Millar, will be a success, here's a rundown of some of Britain's comic sales on the UK news stand, sourced from ABC, the official auditing body for UK magazines.

The figures listed are the Total Average Net Circulation / Distribution Per Issue between 1st January 2010 and 30th June 2010. (Doctor Who Magazine is included as it features comic strip).

These figures do not include sales in comic shops - where many of these titles aren't stocked, anyway.

• The Simpsons - 81,862 (ABC Data here)
• VIZ - 76,408 (ABC)
• Ben 10 - 74,013 (ABC)
• Simpsons Comics Presents - 63,172 (ABC)
• Doctor Who Adventures - 53,559 (ABC)
• In the Night Garden - 60,060 (ABC)
• The Beano - 46,656 (ABC)
• TOXIC - 40,235 (ABC)
• Doctor Who Magazine - 35,374 (ABC)
• BeanoMAX - 29, 067 (ABC)
• Spectacular Spider-Man - 28,504 (ABC)
• Transformers Comic - 24,617 (ABC)
• Lazy Town - 22,604 (ABC)
• Dandy Xtreme - 14,355 (ABC Data)

Neither 2000AD or Judge Dredd: The Megazine, and many other comics titles (Commando and many of the Panini US reprint digests, for example) are ABC rated.

Estimated sales of 2000AD and Judge Dredd: The Megazine vary but given that they aren't licensed titles - which today, are the most successful products on the news stand - we would not expect them to be huge. (They're still enough to make money for Rebellion, obviously).

But will CLINT, which now has a sneak preview of Issue 1 live on its official website, be bought by traditional comic fans or will the majority of its audience come from a potential new audience, more used to buying SFX (31,342), Nuts (147,134), FHM (192,586) or, perhaps, titles like Metal Hammer (44,034)?

If so, sales of comics, with which readers of this web site will be looking at, are moot, and this new Titan title may well open up a whole new market for a new wave of comics. Let's hope so...

• Discuss this on the downthetubes forum (membership required)

Yes, they're really calling it CLiNT

Comics by two of the UK’s most outspoken TV personalities and burgeoning writing talents – Jonathan Ross and stand-up comedian Frankie Boyle – will feature in CLiNT Magazine, a new joint venture between Kick Ass creator Mark Millar and Titan Magazines.

Millar’s sequel to his cult comic and smash hit movie will also feature in the monthly title to form a stunning line-up of stories, which debuts 2nd September in the UK and will be on sale in British newsagents as well as specialist comic stores.

The Jonathan Ross strip will first serialise his Image comic Turf, drawn by Tommy Lee Edwards, before moving on to new material. Comics news site Bleeding Cool reported back in May that the Frankie Boyle strip is likely to be the Hereditary/Project Bloodline concept about the descendant of FBI’s Top Ten Wanted supervillains on the run.

"This is The Eagle for the 21st Century,” declares Millar, whose genre-busting Kick-Ass scooped the number one movie spot in the US and whose previous work includes Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman.

"I’ve worked on everything from Spider-Man comics to the Iron Man movie for Marvel in New York, but what really excites me is the gap I see in the UK market at the moment. There are absolutely no comic-books aimed at 16-30 year old guys and I think CLiNT has potential to make an enormous impact, bringing a new type of magazine to a new generation.

"I want this to be edgy and irreverent, the kind of thing guys will be passing around lunch-halls and common rooms, and there’s nobody I’d rather have creating new characters for CLiNT than Jonathan and Frankie," he continues. "They’re both brilliant writers and will surprise a lot of people with this stuff.

The last thing you’d expect from Jonathan, for example, is a vampire strip, but he pulls it off amazingly. People are going to love this."

Millar is also launching his sequel to the hit Kick-Ass movie in the first issue of the comic. Kick-Ass 2: Balls To The Wall has been scheduled for production in 2011 for a 2012 cinema release, but fans of the first movie can find out what happens two years in advance by picking up CLiNT.

The 100-page magazine will be packed with interviews and features from movies, games and television as well as four serialized comic-strips. The biggest names in entertainment will be featured every month and some will even be sticking around to write sci-fi, humour or horror stories after they’ve been interviewed and quizzed.

“We can’t say who else is involved at this stage,” says Millar. “Jonathan, Frankie and I will have our stories serialized over the first six months, but we have the most insane line-up of creators ready to come in and join us. You’d be amazed how many people who work in film and television want to be comic-book writers. It’s very exciting and we think we’re creating something potentially enormous here.”

Further information on who is involved can be found at twitter.com/clintmag and Facebook, where future developments will be revealed on a regular basis.

• CLiNT #1 is on sale 2nd September in the UK from all good retailers and specialist comic stores. Available in the US by subscription. For future exclusive information on CLiNT, follow twitter.com/clintmag

• A CLiNT wallpaper to brighten up your desktops

Ross Talks Turf with Geek Syndicate

Top British comics and media podcast service Geek Syndicate has secured something of a well-deserved exclusive - a 45 minute interview with Jonathan Ross about about the success of his new comic, Turf, working with Tommy Lee Edwards, the future of the comic and perhaps a possible film adaptation.

"He revealed quite a bit during the interview," says Geek Syndicate's Barry Nugent.

"Jonathan also chats about some of his future comic projects (including a passing mention of a very interesting project for Joe Quesada) and Clint the new [Titan] comic magazine being created by Mark Millar. There’s also a brief audio tour of his comics room."

With news this week that Jonathan’s wife Jane Goldman is re-teaming with Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn to write X-Men: First Class, he also gives Geek Syndicate his reaction to the news as a die hard Marvel fan and a little hint of what we can expect.

There's also information on his plans for his revamped Hot Sauce website and the return of his book review blog.

• Direct link to the Geek Syndicate episode


• Photo by Dr Bloefeld, licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license