DC Comics vamps up its digital titles, will British publishers follow their lead?

DC Entertainment has just unveiled two new digital innovations today that the company says will take its comics to "the next level of interactivity" - DC2, a new initiative that layers dynamic artwork onto digital comic panels, adding a new level of dimension to digital storytelling.

DC2 Multiverse technology allows readers to determine a specific story outcome by selecting individual characters, storylines and plot developments while reading the comic, meaning one chapter of a digital comic has dozens of possible story outcomes.

You have to wonder just how much all this interactivity costs - and what the endgame is, in terms of hoped-for sales and response. Many British comic publishers have yet to make bring any significant additional content to their digital offerings to really exploit the digital platform, although ROK Comics - which only publishes digitally - has included audio on all its titles, which has received acclaim from a number of quarters outside the comics industry. The Phoenix Comic app is great, but there's as yet few 'extras' to its digital version that might give it even more of a buzz among its gadget-hungry target audience. DC Thomson are working hard to make the most of what can be done digitally with their digital Dandy, and their electronic offerings of Commando make good combined use of both the releases and a fantastic official web site to promote the recently-revamped title.

(Declaration: I work for ROK Comics).

DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson and Co-Publisher Jim Lee unveiled DC2 and DC2 Multiverse at the opening of Time Warner’s “The Future of Storytelling” exhibition at the Time Warner Medialab in New York.

“Since we made the game changing decision to go Same-Day-Digital with the launch of DC Comics – The New 52, we very strategically built our digital business to have the broadest distribution and most extensive Digital-First content line-up, and now we’re at the forefront of innovation,” stated Nelson. “DC2 and DC2 Multiverse leverages technology to make iconic characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Green Lantern even more relevant through highly interactive storytelling.”

DC2 will first appear in the highly-anticipated new Digital-First title Batman ’66, based on the popular 1960s television show, and the dynamic artwork features will bring the show’s action and retro attitude to life for comic readers. Readers will experience an expanded storytelling canvas as each comic panel tells a multi-dimensional story through layered artwork and sequences.

Digital-First title Batman: Arkham Origins, based on the upcoming video game from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, will be the first to showcase DC2 Multiverse.



DC2 Multiverse features dynamic artwork, along with action sounds and the ability to integrate a soundtrack – all while allowing readers to determine the fate of each storyline and character, including Super Heroes and Super Villains, with multiple options and end results available in each comic chapter. Only with DC Comics’ compelling rogues gallery will fans be just as excited to see what happens to Black Mask as they are to follow Batman’s adventures.

“Digital comics have proven to be a driving force in attracting new readers, in fact, since the onset of Same-Day-Digital our print and digital sales have both risen by double and triple digits, respectively,” stated Lee. “With Digital-First titles we’ve created a successful formula of pairing comics with other media forms like TV shows and video games. Today’s announcements demonstrate how we can tie innovations that organically fit and enhance comics – for example with atman: Arkham Origins you can choose the destiny of your character by playing the game and reading the comic.”

In addition to offering its Same-Day-Digital print line-up, DC Entertainment’s  line-up of Digital-First titles includes  Injustice: Gods Among Us, Adventures of Superman, Arrow, Legends of the Dark Knight, Smallville: Season 11, the Beyond series, Batman: Li'l Gotham and upcoming titles Batman ’66 and Batman: Arkham Origins. Additionally, last year DC Entertainment secured the most expansive digital distribution of all comic publishers by forging new deals with Kindle Store, iBookstore and Nook Store, in addition to its previous distribution on all comiXology platforms.

Radio interviews with Tim Pilcher, Graham Rawle and Paul Magrs

Book List: Celebrating Ephemera

Starting a new series of the bimonthly show on books, Alex Fitch talks to three authors whose work celebrates ephemera and pop culture detritus. 'Graphic Novelist' Graham Rawle discusses his latest novel The Card, which follows the journey of a man who believes he is being employed by the secret service to protect Princess Diana, via playing cards, bubble-gum cards and cigarette cards that are left in his path. Rawle is an author and University of Brighton lecturer who uses graphic design and typography in his work, including collage of text from magazines (Woman's World) and photographic montages (Lost Consonants et al.).

Also, Tim Pilcher talks about his crowd-funded memoir Comic Book Babylon which documents his time working at DC Comics' London office in the 90s, meeting pop culture celebrities such as Grant Morrison, Jonathan Ross, The Spice Girls and Adam Ant; while Paul Magrs chats about his novels and audio plays set around the fringes of Doctor Who, including his latest release Vince Cosmos, Glam Rock Detective where a Ziggy Stardust style pop star turns out to be engaged in an on-going war with aliens on Earth. Magrs also discusses his popular ‘Brenda and Effie’ series of books about the Bride of Frankenstein and a white witch running a B & B in Whitby.

8pm 'Clear Spot', Wednesday 1st May 2013, repeated 9am, Thursday 2nd May, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast at https://panelborders.wordpress.com/category/book-list

Comic Book Babylon project announced, probing "British Vertigo"

Author Tim Pilcher has announced a Kickstarter campaign to publish Comic Book Babylon: A Cautionary Tale of Sex, Drugs & Comics, probing a bizarre period when, to outsiders, British creators looked set to take over American comics.

Tim Pilcher’s shocking, revealing and completely unofficial memoir of DC Comics' legendary London office, will, he hopes, celebrate the Vertigo imprint's 20th anniversary, lifting the lid on an intriguing part of British comics history.

“For a few glorious years only, before cost-cutting set in, there was Vertigo's 'British Office' - the comics equivalent of the Loaded HQ in the 1990s," recalls Grant Morrison, author of Supergods, All Star Superman, Batman Inc. and The Invisibles. "Vodka, mushrooms, Es, sex, money, travel and the pure unleashed creativity of young people having a good time together."

Comic Book Babylon is the candid, uncensored and utterly unofficial of story of DC Comic’s infamous Vertigo UK office, written by one who was the heart of the drug-fuelled, creative whirlwind. It’s the odyssey of how comic fan Tim, in pursuit of his dream job, became the first British member of the DC editorial staff, and learning the harsh realities of publishing life.

Along the way he meets comics professionals and celebrities including Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Jamie Hewlett, Mark Millar, Garth Ennis, Philip Bond, Paul Gambaccini, Glyn Dillon, Jonathan Ross, The Spice Girls, Blur, Adam Ant, and many, many more. Revealing the crazy, halcyon days of the British comics publishing in the mid-Nineties, it blows the lid off the debauchery and excess that was part and parcel of the industry.

When you reach such dizzy heights, there’s only one place to go.

“It was an incredibly exciting time to be in comics," Tim recalls of his time in the offices of "British Vertigo". "We felt we could achieve anything at the Vertigo office, and things got a little crazy. This is the book I’ve been threatening to write for the past 20 years! I suspect the first people wanting to pick this up will be all the comics professionals, to see what I said about them. There should be some very worried writers, artists and editors out there!”

Revealing the reason for writing this latest book - as well as many articles for a huge range of magazines, he's written books like Erotic Com­ics: A Graphic His­tory and The Essen­tial Guide to World Com­ics (with Brad Brooks) - Tim says he wanted to let the world know that the comics industry is not all geeky and nerdy as some might think.

"In fact it’s every bit as hedonistic as the music business," he declares. "If Paul Gravett is ‘The Man at the Crossroads’, then I’m ‘The Man at the Centre of a 15-Car Pile-Up’!”.

Tim's first job in the industry was at Comic Show­case, starting as a shop assistant but eventually becoming its man­ager. After four and a half years of that he worked as an assist­ant editor for Art Young at the Vertigo UK office on titles like Kill Your Boy­friend by Grant Morrison & Phillip Bond, Enigma by Peter Milligan & Duncan Fegredo, The Extrem­ist by Peter Milligan & Ted McKeever, The Mystery Play by Grant Morrison & Jon J Muth and Rogan Gosh by Peter Milligan & Brendan McCarthy. He was a founder mem­ber of the Les Car­toon­istes Dangereux col­lect­ive, along with Brad Brooks, Roger Lan­gridge, Charlie Adlard, Paul Peart, Faz Choudhury, Jonathan Edwards, and Dylan Hor­rocks.

"Then I moved to Pen­guin Children’s Books, Dorling Kinder­s­ley, and then as asso­ci­ate editor on Com­ics Interna­tional for a few years with Dez Skinn," he told Comics Bureau in 2011. More recently he's been an editor at Ilex Press, where he has comm­iss­ioned a whole range of pop cul­ture and comic-related books such as War Com­ics: A Graphic His­tory by Mike Con­roy, the Eisner-nominated and Har­vey Award-winning Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga by Helen McCarthy and the brilliant Alan Moore: Storyteller by Gary Spen­cer Mil­lidge. He also commissioned me to edit SciFi Art Now, a collection of science fiction art, published in 2010.

He's also one of the founding members of the Comic Book Alliance, (www.comicbookalliance.co.uk), a not-for-profit organisation and "The Voice of the British Comics Industry" promoting books, graphic novels, webcomics and sequential art in its many forms.

"Comics were undoubtedly in my blood from day one," Tim says of his love of comics."I had 'four colour funnies' running through my veins before I’d even heard the expression. Cut me and I bled cyan, magenta, yellow and black. I inhaled the musty smell of old comics, as if they were perfume. I sweated Indian ink and I came in process white. It was my destiny to work in comics."

There are three versions of Comic Book Babylon planned: an eBook (with additional images), paperback, and 200 limited edition hardbacks, with covers created by design genius and comic book artist Rian Hughes.

“Rian’s out done himself,” said an impressed Pilcher, “The punky/acid house colours perfectly reflect the rave mood of the times in the book.” Hughes has also designed a limited edition print and three “Sex, Drugs and Comic Books” badges as incentives.

• Comic Book Babylon: A Cautionary Tale of Sex, Drugs & Comics launches Kickstarter on Thursday 4 April, 2013. See a preview of it here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/2016810024/1303051881?token=bb3f146a

• Website: sexdrugsandcomicbooks.blogspot.com

Radio interviews featuring Denise Mina and John Higgins

Starting a month about the links between comics and literature, radio show and podcast Panel Borders presents Swedish Thrillers and dark Sci-Fi Fantasy this coming weekend.

Alex Fitch looks at an example of a series of books that are being adapted for comics and comics that are being continued as novels. Scots novelist Denise Mina discusses her adaptation of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy as a series of graphic novels for DC Comics, starting with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Plus, writer / artist John Higgins explains the transition of his SF / horror comic series Razorjack into a series of books written by himself and other authors.

• Panel Borders: Swedish Thrillers and dark Sci-Fi Fantasy airs at 6.00pm, Sunday 3rd February 2013, repeated 4.30pm, Tuesday 5th February 2013, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

Radio interview with Steve Bissette

Panel Borders: Creating Constantine

Continuing our month of shows about the 25th anniversary of John Constantine: Hellblazer, Alex Fitch discusses the first appearances of the character with co-creator Steve Bissette. Alex and Steve discuss the artist's tenure as penciller on the acclaimed horror comic Swamp Thing, drawing (the as yet unnamed) Constantine in the background of scenes before Alan Moore gave the character a voice, and Steve's continuing fascination with the monster genre.

6pm, Sunday 20th January 2013 / repeated at 4.30pm, Tuesday 22nd January, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / extended podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

Judge Dredd-Batman Collection out soon

If you're a fan of those once occasional cross-company comic crossovers, then you'll be happy to hear that the epic Batman vs. Judge Dredd stories are still among the most brutal crossovers in comics, 20 years since it was first published.

Out later this month from 2000AD and DC Comics is The Batman Judge Dredd Collection, which brings together the four team-ups between the Lawman of the Future and the Dark Knight for the first time in a brand new hardback edition, with a fantastic roster of superstar talent, including Simon Bisley and Glenn Fabry.

Originally released between 1991 and 1998, these epic crossovers - Judgment on Gotham, Vendetta in Gotham, The Ultimate Riddle, and Die Laughing - brought the dynamic duo together to fight their ultimate foes. From alien super-fiend Judge Death escaping to Gotham to the Joker teaming up with the Dark Judges to cause mass slaughter in Mega-City One, The Batman Judge Dredd Collection brilliantly captures the lunacy and non-stop action of these two all-too-similar worlds from either side of the Atlantic.

Judge Dredd co-creator John Wagner leads a pack of top names, including Alan Grant (Batman, Lobo), Simon Bisley (Hellblazer), Glenn Fabry (Preacher, Hellblazer), Val Semeiks (The Demon, Lobo), and Cam Kennedy (Batman, The Light and Darkness War) - all contained in a cover from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.

Published by 2000AD in the UK and Ireland, and by DC in North America, this ultimate new edition also includes the hard-to-find meeting between Dredd and psychotic biker Lobo, and deserves a place in the collection of any self-respecting Dredd or Batman fan.

• The Batman Judge Dredd Collection is available from 27th November 2012

• Buy it from amazon.co.uk

• Buy it from ForbiddentPlanet.com

 

Is online reading bad for you? Leading book store The Works argues it might be

Battling the ever increasing push toward digital reading that threatens its bottom line UK discount book chain The Works – responding to perhaps controversial claims about the dangers of online reading – has launched an investigation into why reading books is better for young children’s development than watching screens.

Despite increased digital reading – this week, US comics publisher DC Comics revealed its digital comic book sales are up 197% compared with the same period in 2011 –  the online and high street book retailer says it has recently noticed a significant increase in children’s books sales that relate to children’s television series including: Dr Seuss, Mr Men, Horrid Henry, Horrible Histories, Thomas The Tank Engine and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

After recent controversy over claims that watching TV can cause young children  psychological and physical damage, The Works interviewed professionals in the field, including children’s literacy expert, Doctor Sandra Williams, and the National Literacy Trust, to establish the benefits of reading books.

The Works research began after publication of claims by Doctor Aric Sigman, a psychologist whose similar claims about the dangers of social media were widely reported in 2009, recently saw his paper on screen time published as a Leading Article in the British Medical Association British Medical Journals’ Archives of Disease in Childhood.

In it, he argued the sheer amount of average daily screen time during discretionary hours after school children were having, be it watching TV, reading on computers or tablets, was increasingly being considered an independent risk factor for disease, and is recognised as such by other governments and medical bodies but not, however, in Britain or in most of the EU.

Doctor Williams, a Senior Lecturer at Brighton University who specialises in children’s literacy and a wide interest in emergent children's literature, said: “Reading a book, together with the tactile turning of the page is pleasurable and a good picture book has qualities that may not be found in electronic media.

"What is important is the construction of the child and many good quality picture books invite active participation and involvement. Significantly the authors/illustrators leave gaps for the readers to fill. There is a tension between text and picture which invites consideration.”

The Works hope that the printed book will survive the digital revolution. Reading doesn’t provide ready-made answers; it leaves room for imagination and extended periods of focus. This is increasingly important in today’s multi-media world, in which the over-abundance of information can be heavily distracting.

Conal Presho, Head of Development at the National Literacy Trust, agrees: “Only time will tell if print books will be excluded from children’s reading altogether, although it seems unlikely…there is an inherent value in a book as a physical item, particularly when given as a present. We are also very aware that print books are currently much more accessible to those from disadvantaged backgrounds and printed books can be more easily shared or passed on from child to child.”

The Works is keen to promote the exploration of words, sounds, stories and writing amongst young children and will continue working alongside experts and parents to ensure the rightful survival of the book.

We should advise a note of caution regarding Doctor Sprigman's research that seems to have sparked The Works good intentions (albeit intentions which also aim to encourage book sales in their shops, which isn't something we would not encourage anyway). In 2009, when Sprigman appeared on BBC's Newsnight talking about the dangers of social media, Ben Goodacre, writer of The Guardian's "Bad Science" feature, argued he was distorting scientific evidence. "He is the man behind the 'Facebook causes cancer' story in the Daily Mail," he noted, "and many other similar stories over the years (as part of the Daily Mail’s ongoing oncological ontology project). His article can be read in full online here as a PDF.

"I explained that he had cherry picked the evidence in his rather fanciful essay, selectively only mentioning the evidence that supports his case, and ignoring the evidence that goes against it. 

"I claim no expertise on the question of whether social networking and internet use is linked to loneliness," he continued. "I merely have a basic ability to use searchable databases of academic evidence, like anybody else. If you go to PubMed and type in:

loneliness [ti] AND internet

you will get 12 results.

"Many of them do not support Dr Sigman’s theory. These are the ones he completely ignores... [snip] Dr Sigman has ignored inconvenient evidence, in order to build his case."

Stan Lee Excelsior Award 2012 Winners announced

The full results of the Stan Lee Excelsior Award 2012 can now be revealed!

This award for graphic novels is fully endorsed by The Stan Lee Foundation and the School Library Association. Seventy seven UK schools took part this year and, of the eight shortlisted graphic novels, hundreds of students (in the 11-16 age bracket) chose the following titles as their winners:

1st Place - Star Wars: Blood Ties by Tom Taylor and Chris Scalf (Dark Horse)

A multigenerational tale of honor and redemption, starring two of the heaviest hitters in the Star Wars galaxy -- the father-and-clone team of Jango and Boba Fett.
 
Shortly before the start of the Clone Wars, Count Dooku sends Jango Fett on a mission that will affect the course of Boba Fett's life some 20 years later. But for now, neither of them knows what the future holds in store, and besides, they have their schedule filled dodging monsters and fighting bad guys! It's Jango Fett and Boba Fett together in a series featuring fully painted art by Purge artist Chris Scalf.

2nd Place - Chimichanga by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)

When Wrinkle's Travelling Circus' most adorable little bearded girl trades a lock of her magic beard hair for a witch's strange egg, she stumbles upon what could be the saving grace for her ailing freakshow - the savory-named beast: Chimichanga!

3rd Place - Green Lantern: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis (DC Comics)

Witness the beginning of the career of the bravest Green Lantern who's ever lived as the secret origin of Hal Jordan is revealed. This title helps you to discover how and why Hal received the power ring. It also helps you to uncover the mystery of Abin Sur's death - and why Jordan's teacher and mentor, Sinestro, became obsessed with the prophecy of the apocalyptic end of the universe 'the Blackest Night'. 


There were also two further awards up for grabs:

Winner of the JABBICA (Judge A Book By Its Cover Award, voted for by school librarians) - Sita: Daughter of the Earth by Saraswati Nagpal and Manikandan (Campfire)

The winner of the TRUE BELIEVERS AWARD (for the school that returned the most Rating Forms) was Chilwell School, Nottingham.

• See the website at www.excelsioraward.co.uk shortlist2012.html for more details

Multiverse muses on DC makeover, Com.X and Valiant reboot

The latest issue of British comic news magazine Multiverse is on sale now in all good UK comic shops - and back issues are now also available digitally from graphic.ly.

Edited by Mike Conroy, Issue 4 sports a DC Comics revamp-inspired cover, as, inside, Scott Snyder, Paul Levitz, Jimmy Palmiotti and Peter Milligan are among the writers offering their thoughts on the nuDCU.

Levitz also joins Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman, Denny O'Neil and others to discuss comics then and now and their work on the DC Retroactive titles.

The issue also includes exclusive interviews with Valiant chief executive officer Jason Kothari, who talks about the plans to relaunch the 1990s powerhouse; the new Ghost Rider creative team of Rob Williams and artist Matthew Clark discuss their incarnation of Marvel's Spirit of Vengeance; and com.X's Bluespear co-writers Andi Ewington and Eddie Deighton and artist Cosmo White offer an insight into their spin-off from last year's Forty-Five while writers Brian Michael Bendis, Nick Spencer and Jonathan Hickman provide an insight into Marvel's reboot of its Ultimate Comics line.

• Priced at £2.50, Multivese is on sale in British comic shops and from the official Multiverse web site: www.multiverse-magazine.com

• Back issues of Multiverse are now available as digital editions from graphic.ly via http://graphicly.com/hell-freezes-over/multiverse 

2D Preps for Take-Off

The cream of the world’s comic talent will touch down in Derry/Londonderry next week for 2D, the Northern Ireland Comics Festival.

The free event – hosted annually by the Verbal Arts Centre – runs from 2nd - 4th June and is the biggest of its kind in Northern Ireland as well as being a unique and engaging celebration of comic book culture.

It marks the fifth time the event has run in the city and organisers have pulled out all the stops to ensure that this year’s event is the biggest and best to date, having secured some of the biggest and most respected names in the comics industry for this year’s programme.

Guests include legendary artists such as Mick McMahon (Judge Dredd), Glenn Fabry (Preacher, Slaine) and Mike Collins (Doctor Who, Superman) as well as host of other comic creators who have worked on properties and titles such as Transformers, Batman, Star Wars, Spider-Man, Gorillaz, Game of Thrones and The Beano.

One of the highlights of the festival is the 2D Comics Fair on Sat 4th June and those attending can buy comics, meet top comic creators, get free sketches of their favourite character, have a Robot version of themselves drawn at the ‘Hi Robot’ booth, or get their face painted as a fun character.

Attendees can also enter in the Mario Bros and Moshi Monsters drawing competitions, the Fancy Dress competition or have a go on our ‘Robot Drawing Wall’, with great comic prizes for the best efforts. Festival goers can also have their photo taken with the Star Wars Stormtroopers, as the fantastic Emerald Garrison will be in attendance.

This year one of the most influential men in Comics, Mark Chiarello (DC Comics VP Art Direction), will be attending to give an insight into the industry and host a series of portfolio reviews for aspiring creators, where he’ll be looking out for new talent. These portfolio reviews are notoriously hard to arrange, so please get in touch if you would like to take advantage of this great opportunity to get your skills noticed and possibly get a foot in the door of the comics industry.

The festival caters for all ages with workshops and fun drawing events for all the family during the daytime and panel talks in Sandinos bar for the older audience on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th June evenings from 6.30pm.

• All events are completely free of charge. For more details contact the Verbal Arts Centre on 02871266946, email davidAT2dfestival.com check the website  www.2dfestival.com
Twitter: @2dComicsFest.

Countdown to Comics Launch Pad Begins

2000AD editor Matt Smith, photographed at
Bristol UK Comics Festival, 2004,
holding a copy of small press
comic FutureQuake

Add a Caption

This summer, a unique event takes place at The Studio, Birmingham, bringing together seasoned professionals and aspiring creators from around the world with one thing in common: a passion for comics.

The first event of its kind, Launch Pad, taking place 18th June and organised by the team behind the International Comic Show, includes a full programme of workshops and seminars designed to inform and inspire budding writers and artists, along with opportunities for portfolio reviews and face-to-face feedback.

Speakers at the one day conference include legendary US comic creator Klaus Janson, DC Comics Senior Editor Joey Cavalieri and 2000AD Editor Matt Smith, and the event is officially supported by Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Rebellion Entertainment, Diamond Distribution and a host of other major publishing companies worldwide.

The Conference is limited to 300 delegates and includes an option to attend the exclusive after event roof garden party with complimentary food and drink.

• To find out more or to book your place go to: www.comicslaunchpad.com

Doctor Who: Silver Scream from Al Davison, Tony Lee, collected

Al Davison and Tony Lee with the new Doctor Who collection at this year's MCM Expo. Photo: Jeremy Briggs

(via Al Davison): A quick reminder that the first collection of IDW's Doctor Who ongoing series, written by Tony Lee, is out, featuring Al Davison's art on the Silver Scream arc (coloured by Lovern Kindzierski).

The second arc is drawn by Matthew Dow Smith and coloured by Charlie Kirchoff.

Unlike the regular comics, which are technically not available in the UK due to licensing restrictions, Doctor Who: Volume 1 - Fugitive appears to be available and on sale in comic stores and online.

Al also reports the IDW Doctor Who Annual 2010 will be out soon, and features a story written and drawn by him, along with contributions from Tony Lee, Matthew Dow Smith, Jonathan L Davis, Kelly Yates, Phil Elliot, Charlie Kirchoff, Neil Uyetake and Robbie Robbins.

Away from Doctor Who, the Trade Paperback edition of Al's Hokusai Demons, a full-colour collection of dream comics with a Japanese theme, is due out in August, introduced by Neil Gaiman.

DC Comics fourth House of Mystery collected Trade Paperback is also out now, written by Matthew Sturges and featuring a ten-page story drawn by Al, coloured by Lee Loughbridge and lettered by Todd Klein. Other creators in The Beauty of Decay include Bill Willingham, Luca Rossi, Mike Kaluta, Richard Corben and plenty more.


• Most of Al's work can be ordered directly from www.astralgypsy.com

• More about the Doctor Who Ongoing Series on the TARDIS Wikia

Cornell Takes on Action Comics

Hugo Award-nominated, top British comics creator Paul Cornell - whose credits include Captain Britain and MI13 and Doctor Who – has just been announced as the writer of DC Comics prestigious Superman title, Action Comics.

Paul Cornell will join interior artist Pete Woods and cover artist David Finch on Action Comics in June, stepping in at a critical point for Superman, coming out of The War of the Supermen.

"I'm seriously psyched to be working on such a legendary title," says Paul via his blog, "and to be back on an ongoing again, and to be working with artist Pete Woods, whose designs are a delight already.

"And my first story arc centres on Lex Luthor, who's always been a favourite of mine."



"So many legendary creators have written this title in the past that I’m giddy and frankly terrified at the prospect of following in their footsteps,” he commented on the DC Comics site The Source.

Paul replaces author Marc Guggenheim, who had been announced as the new Action Comics writer earlier in the year but who, says Superman Group Editor Matt Idelson, had concerns about whether he was the man to write the tale he had come up with for the title. "Rather than do a disservice to the book, the readers and himself, Marc decided to step away from Action, and we both know that sometime in the future, we’ll be collaborating on Superman for sure."

Action Comics has often been a 'home' for British talent: artist Gary Frank is among recent creators who have worked on the title. 

• Paul Cornell's Official Web Site


• Pete Woods Official web site


• DC Comics web site

Birmingham Con Helps Realize Creators Dreams

This year's British International Comic Show in Birmingham has announced the publication of the first winner of the BICS Got Talent Writing contest.

The lucky winner, John Howson, has had his Future Shock story “9 to 5” illustrated by the talented artist Ben Willsher in the latest issue of the world famous science fiction anthology magazine 2000AD, which is available now in all good newsagents.

Last year, two artists where also picked up by DC Comics when Editor Mark Chairello visited the show, and this year the organisers plan to keep helping to establish that career path from creator to publisher by working with artists, universities and publishers very closely.

This year - once again – artists will have the chance to show their work to DC Comics editor Michael Wright and other editors who will be attending the show.

As always, the UK’s largest event devoted to the medium of comics will also play host to a weekend long schedule of great events including an exclusive interview with visionary comics creator Howard Chaykin who will be flying over to take part in many other events over the weekend.

Visitors will also get the chance to meet artists from as far a field as Japan, Spain, and America including fan favourite artist Pasqual Ferry, who will be helping to celebrate 70 years of Marvel Comics along with other creators such as Alan Davis, Paul Cornell and Doug Braithwaite.

Along with the huge comics fair featuring the UK’s most reputable dealers and publishers and an eclectic and vibrant presence from the thriving UK indy scene this year’s BICS is sure to be the premiere event for all comics fans in 2009.

• To find out more about BICS visit: www.thecomicsshow.co.uk

• To find out more about 2000ad visit: http://www.2000adonline.com


All artwork © Rebellion BICS logo © International Comic Shows

Absolute V for Vendetta Previewed

Top comics artist David Lloyd, creator of Kickback, has been sharing some of the newly-coloured 'bridging pages' for the upcoming Absolute V For Vendetta, due for release in August.

"For those of you who are only familiar with V in its collected form as a paperback or hardback, or in the various versions of it which have been published around the world, the bridging pages were full-page illustrations which I created for the original issues," David explains via his web site, "in order to link together the separate chapters of the story, and sometimes lead into and out of the issues.

"For the purpose of printing economics, all of the individual issues had to have a specific page-count, but the interiors of the issues couldn't be completely filled with reprint story material without breaking the chapters up. Blank pages were not an option of course, and we didn't want any advertising filling these blanks and marring the atmosphere of the story - so the concept of using bridging pages arose.

"My intention with them was never to use them to add meaning that wasn't intended to the end of a chapter if they followed one, or to it's beginning if the pages preceded a chapter," David continues. "My purpose at all times was for them to complement the action and not distort it. Within those boundaries I had a very enjoyable and creative time, and produced some illustration work I'm proud of."

However, David notes a caveat to the original version of the work. "At the time this work was done, there was no budget available to pay for these illustrations to be fully coloured and little time to do it anyway, so they were all simply tinted with an overall tone of any colour I considered appropriate for the atmosphere of the chapters they were attached to," he reveals. "But for the Absolute edition, I was offered the opportunity to fully colour all these pages, and I gladly took it.

"Over 50 of these full-page illustrations are now in full color, and have been colored using the same palette that V's colourists - Siobhan Dodds and Steve Whitaker - used in the individual chapters they worked on, to homage their contribution and join theirs in its tone. Siobhan and Steve used watercolour and colored inks respectively for their work, but I used coloured pencils, manipulated in Photoshop, in a repetition of the technique I applied to the colour of my graphic novel, Kickback. It worked well in maintaining the look of the original colour work.

"This new colour is part of a great package in the Absolute Vendetta," David enthuses, "which will look very much like a perfect binder of all the original issues of the serial, reprinting for the first time absolutely all of the art they contained, and more of the preparatory art that went into all the issues."

Recently, David also explains he wants to clear up a misconception that many V for Vendetta may be suffering from over how V came to be published in colour after its long run in the British comics magazine, Warrior in black and white, "a form that many admirers of the graphic novel still have a great fondness for," he acknowledges.

"This didn't happen because DC Comics insisted on it as part of the deal of reprinting and continuing the serial, as many may imagine," David explains. "DC's Executive Editor at the time, Dick Giordano, asked me if I wanted it to be reprinted in black and white and kept in black and white for future issues. I said I didn't, because I knew that the widest readership could only be accessed through publishing it in full colour.

"This was not a decision I made because of a blinkered interest in the greater financial rewards of gaining the widest readership," David insists. "It was because I wanted the work and its message to spread as far as it could possibly go.

"In my view, what had prompted Dick to offer me that choice between colour and black and white from the high position he occupied in a company which was built on colour comics, was the remarkable success of some of the b/w indie books of the time, such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which sold massively despite being in monotone. I thought then that this development in comic-reader habits was a detour, not a new highway, and I was convinced that Vendetta could be coloured appropriately and effectively in its new incarnation.

"Printing didn't always do its best in representing the skill that Steve Whitaker and Siobhan Dodds - V's major colourists - applied to the work, but that's another long story," David adds. "For those interested, I can tell you that the definitive colour balances in V were applied to the hardback version of the collection in 2006 and are now also seen in the latest softcovers. And, of course, they will appear in the Absolute edition."

• Absolute V for Vendetta will be released in August 2009. View more previews on www.lforlloyd.com

• Read our 2006 interview with David about his Kickback project

Tharg's Head Revisited

In October 2008, occasional downthetubes contributor Matthew Badham interviewed freelance writer Andy Diggle (who is also the ex-editor of 2000AD). An edited 2000 word version of that interview was published in the February edition of the Judge Dredd Megazine.

Now, with the kind permission of Andy and Megazine editor Matt Smith, the full, un-edited transcript of the interview has been posted at Citizen Badham, Matthew's blog.

In the interview, Andy talks about writing comics and video games, editing 2000AD and gives his thoughts on the future of comics and the British comics scene:

"Yeah, I've always enjoyed telling stories. I tend to think very visually, and I was always more drawn to script writing than prose. I remember when I was a kid, back before we had a VCR, I recorded The Empire Strikes Back on audio tape off the TV and then transcribed the asteroid field sequence in screenplay format. Just to get a feel for the medium, I guess.

"Weeding through the submission pile was always grim, but you made up for that when you found the occasional ruby in the dust. Guys like Jock and Frazer Irving were sending me unsolicited submissions; now we're not only working together, we're good mates. A lot of great talent came out of that slush pile: Mike Carey, Ben Oliver, Si Spurrier, Boo Cook, Rob Williams, Ian Edgington, Al Ewing...

"As for British comics, there seems to be quite a thriving small press scene at the moment. So much so that I've been seriously considering setting up a small comic con. Watch this space."

• Read the full interview at Matthew's blog here.

Tube Surfing: 29 January 2009

• Dave Taylor has just posted this stunning teaser for a new Judge Dredd story, a four parter written by Ian Edginton. Look out for more soon on his blog. Dave's one of several comics artists involved in the fab online stripjam, Huzzah!, along with Faz Choudhury, Dylan Teague, Paul Harrison Davies, Rob Davis, I. N. J. Culbard (who's got some terrific designs for his Sherlock Holmes project for SelfMadeHero on his blog), Colin Fawcett, Sketchybeast, D'Israeli and Dan McDaid.

• Talking of Paul Harrison Davies, my fellow Lancaster-based comic creator has been recommending some good comics reads, including D'Israeli's Stckleback, Bogie Man and the Verttigo title Northlanders, which I enjoyed myself. Check out his hot picks here. He also rightly directs people to web comic Rip Haywire, which is still in its early days, and "a great throwback to classic US adventure strips like Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy and Steve Canyon for the Dilbert generation".

• Both Andrew Wildman and Faz Choudhury highlighted this video on Facebook, showing Spanish cartoonist and animator Juan Berrio at work, making unusual use of a moleskin notebook. Simply stunning...



• Bad news for Magazine fans: Realms of Fantasy is closing down following publication of its April 2009 issue with Managing Editor Laura Cleveland telling SFScope the news came very suddenly. So suddenly, Warren Ellis notes, that even Editor Shawna McCarthy (currently on vacation in Italy) hadn’t been informed yet. RoF failed to embrace the digital age -- its web site doesn't seem to have been updated for a couple of years by all accounts -- which surely can't have helped.

• In more bad magazine news, several are mourning the announcement that DC Comics MAD Magazine will switch from monthly to quarterly publication, beginning with its 500th, April 2009 cover dated issue. DC are also killing spinoffs Mad Kids (ceasing publication after 17 February) and Mad Classics (ending on 17 March). The quarterly schedule will begin in April and the change will see the humour magazine expand from 48 to 56 pages.
Brushing off the gloom, as you'd expect from Mad, editor John Ficarra told the New York Times, "The feedback we’ve gotten from readers is that only every third issue of Mad is funny. So we decided to just publish those."

• (via Cy Deathan): The Insomnia Publications blog is currently featuring an interview with Cancertown and Slaughterman's Creed artist, Stephen Downey, discussing his methods and influences, and offers advice on breaking in.

• Neil Gaiman, who is a guest of the Dubin Film Fair which is screening animated fim Coraline, has received the prestigious John Newberry award from the American Library Association awarded for his novel, The Graveyard Book, for the most outstanding children’s book.

Good News on Comic Sales?

While this report primarily concerns US comics, news that the US comic book industry, boosted by the success of films such as The Dark Knight has helped maintain growth for graphic novel sales is welcome with 2009 looking otherwise gloomy.

Hub Entertainment reports that total comics sales remained "strong" and the graphic novel category grew by five per cent in 2008 according to Steve Geppi, CEO of Diamond Comics Distributors, which services more than comic book stores in the US and the UK.

"We remain optimistic about the comic-book industry heading into 2009," he says.

Sales figures show Marvel Comics' Secret Invasion #1 was the best-selling comic book of 2008. The eight-issue miniseries about the takeover of superheroes by shape-shifting Skrulls took the first six spots. Only Uncanny X-Men #500" and DC Comics' Final Crisis #1 (No. 9) also cracked the Top 10. Diamond did not release actual sales figures, but best-selling comic books (priced at $2.99 or $3.99) normally sell more than 100,000 copies.

DC Comics dominated top sales of graphic novels taking seven of the top 10 positions, with a reprint Watchmen the top seller. The number of reprint titles in this chart is of note, reinforcing the longevity of graphic novel titles on the bookshelves, in direct contrast to many other book genres which tend to depend on early sales for their success.

Diamond notes Marvel and DC continue to dominate the US comics industry: Marvel took in 41 percent of retail sales, DC 29 per cent and Dark Horse 6.5 per cent.

Top Ten US Comics 2008

1. Secret Invasion #1 (Marvel)
2. Secret Invasion #2 (Marvel)
3. Secret Invasion #3 (Marvel)
4. Secret Invasion #4 (Marvel)
5. Secret Invasion #5 (Marvel)
6. Secret Invasion #6 (Marvel)
7. Uncanny X-Men #500 (Marvel)
8. Secret Invasion #7 (Marvel)
9. Final Crisis #1 (DC)
10. Secret Invasion No. 8 (Marvel)

Top Ten Graphic Novels 2008

1. Watchmen (DC)
2. Batman: The Killing Joke (DC)
3. Joker (DC)
4. Y: The Last Man Vol. 10 (DC)
5. Walking Dead Vol. 8 (Image)
6. Batman: Dark Knight Returns (DC)
7. Fables: The Good Prince (DC)
8. Wanted (Image)
9. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No Future for You (Dark Horse)
10. Y: The Last Man Vol. 1 (DC)

Source: Diamond Comics Distributors

Hine, Braithwaite on Brave and Bold

British creators David Hine and Dougie Braithwaite team up on DC Comics Brave and the Bold title for the next four issues, delivering a story which begins with a strange child channeling the Green Lantern oath and scrawls it on a wall, a summons from forces located in another galaxy.

A fantastic civilization that has its own Green Lantern requires immediate aid and their only chance for survival rests in the hands of Hal Jordan and the Phantom Stranger.

The comic is available from all good comic shops in the UK and the US.

"This is one I'm really proud of," David posted recently."If you were into Brave and Bold in the Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams period, that's the spirit we were trying to recapture. Like those old B and B stories, you can pick it up cold and enjoy it for what it is, a good old-fashioned story with a solid science-fiction background, plenty of drama and some very cool depictions of alien races and environments from Dougie."

The story was Dougie's last job before he signed his exclusive deal for Marvel Comics.

"I've known Dougie for many years," says David. "I actually inked one of his strips for Marvel UK back when Dougie was first starting out and we've been wanting to collaborate again for a long time, so we pitched this book at the beginning of 2007. It has actually been finished for a while but we had to wait for a slot on the Brave and Bold monthly.

Over on Newsarama, David explains both he and Dougie are both big fans of the body of work that Neal Adams produced for DC in the late 1960s and early '70s. "We wanted to recapture something of the excitement of those books: The Brave and the Bold, the Deadman series in Strange Adventures, the Green Lantern and Green Arrow series written by Denny O’Neil.

"If we’ve been successful, the story will recreate the appeal that DC comics had for Dougie and I when we were kids. While the Waid/Perez run on The Brave and the Bold is a tip of the hat to the Silver Age, we’re looking to acknowledge our love of the watershed era at the end of the '60s, when realism began to enter mainstream comics, spearheaded by Neal Adams. I guess what you’d call the Bronze Age, although I don’t like that term. It sounds like a poor third place after Gold and Silver. For me it’s the real Golden Age.

"We wanted to do a story we could really sink our teeth into and create a whole alien world as a setting. Dougie's art on this one is some of the best work he has done."

The story will run for four months, to be followed by J. Michael Straczynski as new regular Brave and Bold writer.

David is now busy with many other projects, while Dougie, whose recent projects have included Secret Invasion: Thor, continues with Marvel projects.

"Right now I’m concentrating on my writing for an upcoming vampire book from Radical Comics," David told Comics Bulletin recenty. " That’s a really exciting project. Radical have a rare enthusiasm and vision for the comic book medium. They look set to become one of the major players in the next couple of years.

"I'm also developing some things for Top Cow and Image. One of those will be a one-shot for Elephantmen, which I’m drawing as well as writing. Richard Starkings, the creator of Elephantmen is the only man who can persuade me back to the drawing board these days and he’s foolishly letting me loose on his pride and joy.

"I also want to do something with the genius of British comics, Shaky Kane. We’re still in the early stages of throwing ideas at one another. I’m pretty sure it will involve dead superheroes, a bulletproof coffin and a cave girl in a bikini.

• Click the box left to order Brave and the Bold #19 from amazon.com sellers
• Read an interview with David Hine about the story on Newsarama
• Read an interview with David Hine about Brave and the Bold on Comics Bulletin

No Script for Preacher

American Beauty director Sam Mendes has revealed that his big screen adaptation of comic book series Preacher has no script.

Mendes, who signed up for the project after Columbia Pictures picked up the rights after a View Askew movie and a proposed HBO series previously fell through, recently told film magazine Empire: "Basically, they should have written, 'Mendes in development with Preacher'.

"What I'm doing is, I've got to find a script. I've just got to get it written."

Despite the lack of screenplay, Mendes told Empire he's excited about adapting the comic series created by Garth Ennis, which centres on man who journeys across America to find God, who has abandoned Heaven, after being possessed by the spawn of an angel and a demon.

"There's so much of [the story] you couldn't possibly fit it all into one movie," says Mendes. "It's just about what you keep and what you leave out, and how you structure the story," he said.

"But just to have that toy set again, being able to paint on a big canvas and to say: 'I am gonna do crazy crane shots and massive action sequences again because I want to.' It's exciting."