Talbots scoop Costa Award for "Dotter of Her Father's Eyes"

Mary Talbot's Dotter of Her Father's Eyes has won the biography section in the 2012 Costa Book Awards.

Drawn by husband Bryan Talbot, the award has delighted the couple, who The Guardian reports have known about their win for some time but had to keep quiet about it.

While this is not the first graphic work to win a major literary prize – Art Spiegelman's Maus won a Pulitzer in 1992 and Chris Ware won the Guardian first book prize in 2001 for Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth –  the Costa Award is still a significant moment for the graphic medium and 2012 marks the first time comics have featured in the Costa nominations (see news story).

"It is a good thing for graphic novels as a whole,"  Bryan Talbot told the Guardian, whose works include The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, The Tale of One Bad Rat and Alice in Sunderland. "Graphic novels are becoming increasingly accepted as a legitimate art form."


Dotter of Her Father's Eyes tells the story of James Joyce's tragic daughter Lucia, who spent the last 30 years of her life in a mental institution. Into that tale, Mary Talbot has woven the story of her own troubled relationship with her father, the eminent Joycean scholar James S Atherton.

In other categories, Hilary Mantel won the novel award for Bring Up the Bodies; Francesca Segal won first novel for The Innocents; Kathleen Jamie's The Overhaul came first in poetry, and Sally Gardner's Maggot Moon was named children's book of the year.

Among the nominations this year were Days of the Bagnold Summer by Joff Winterhart while artist and writer Dave Shelton, who writes and draws Good Dog, Bad Dog, for both The DFC and Phoenix was shortlisted in the Children's Book category with his novel A Boy And A Bear In A Boat (see news story).

• Costa Book Awards: www.costabookawards.com 

Costa Award Nomination For Dave Shelton

When the shortlists for the Costa Book Awards (formerly the Whitbread Book Awards) were announced complete with their two graphic novels, Dotter Of Her Father's Eyes by Bryan and Mary Talbot and Days of the Bagnold Summer by Joff Winterhart, there was a flurry of activity on the various comics blogs over that good news. So much so that one other comics name barely got mentioned.

 

Artist and writer Dave Shelton, who writes and draws Good Dog, Bad Dog, for both The DFC and Phoenix has been shortlisted in the Children's Book category with his novel A Boy And A Bear In A Boat. 

Published by David Fickling Books, who also published the compilation of Good Dog, Bad Dog under The DFC Library imprint, A Boy And A Bear In A Boat is about a boy and a bear in, err, a boat. The pair get to know each other as the bear rows the boat and the boy investigates its contents. The unusual cover, illustrated by Dave who also provided all the black and white interior illustrations, shows the nautical map that the pair use on their journey. "This enchanting story has the feel of a classic children's tale," was how the Costa judges described the book.

 

In addition to being shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award, A Boy And A Bear On A Boat is also on the long list for both the Carnegie Medal for outstanding book for children and young people, and the Kate Greenaway Medal for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people. Both medals are are voted on by CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.

 

Our congratulations to Dave Shelton for making all these listings with his first novel and we wish him, the Drs Talbot, and Joff Winterhart, good luck for the announcement of the Costa Book Awards winners on Thursday 3 January 2013.

 

There are more details of Dave Shelton's work on his website.

 

There are more details of A Boy And A Bear In A Boat on the David Fickling Books website.

 

There are more details of all the nominees for the 2012 Costa Book Awards at the awards website.

Comics Creators At Hi-Ex 2012: Part 1

Having taken a lot of photos of the various creators at the Hi-Ex comics convention, which took place at the Eden Court complex in Inverness last weekend, there was never going to be enough room in the main downthetubes review of the con to include all the images. Instead we present a selection of those images of the creators along with links to their websites, blogs and/or Facebook pages. They are in no particular order, but let's start with "A" anyway.

Dr Chris Murray's distinctive shirts are now well known around comics events in Scotland and, along with fellow Dundee University lecturer Phillip Vaughan, had the Anthology One book on sale. It presents the work of the students of the 2011-2012 University of Dundee's DJCAD Comics Art and Graphic Novels module as well as the winner and runners-up of the 2011 Tartan Bucket Prize that was run as part of last year's Dundee Comics Day.

Details of ordering Anthology One by post are available by e-mailing : universecomic@gmail.com

Dr Chris Murray and Phillip Vaughan are interviewed on downthetubes here and here.

Colin MacNeil is a former student at Dundee University's Duncan of Jordanstone College Of Art And Design where Phillip Vaughan lectures and supplied the rather excellent cover for Anthology One. As can be seen here, he uses chalks on a black background for his convention sketches.

Colin MacNeil's professional website is here and his Lambiek entry is here.

Another title that Colin provided the cover for is the 2012 edition of the A5 size Doctor Who comic Doctor WTF?! Contributor James Feist (left) and editor Owen Watts were there to sell both issues of this title which chronicles short adventures of 'other' incarnations of the Doctor.

There are more details of Doctor WTF?! on the title's Facebook page.

From Doctor Who to Star Wars and Star Wars: The Clone Wars artist Tanya Roberts who has been working on the junior title for some four years now. It was good to see former Star Wars Dark Empire artist Cam Kennedy comparing notes with Tanya during the weekend and it will be intriguing to she what comes of her ideas for non-licensed work in the future.

There are more details of Tanya Roberts art on her Enolian Slave DeviantArt page.

Hi-Ex co-organiser Richmond Clements is a creator in his own right as well as being an editor for Futurequake Press. As well as writing for Strip Magazine, Rich wrote the two part Turning Tiger for Renegade Arts Entertainment which is just about to be released as a special edition graphic novel.

There are more details of Richmond Clements' writing on his blog and his FQP work of the Futurequake website.

Rich's co-creator on Turning Tiger is artist Alex Moore and she was at Hi-Ex as well showing of the new title and her small press work. Alex is currently working on The Liberty graphic novel due from Markosia.

There are more details of Alex Moore's work on her website and blog.

There are more details of Turning Tiger on the Renegade Arts website.

Writer and artist Dave Shelton's comic strip Good Dog, Bad Dog was originally published weekly in The DFC and then collected into one of the hardback DFC Library titles. New episodes are due to appear in The Phoenix, a comic that he had copies of to show prospective readers which was a good thing considering that the nearest Waitrose to the venue was 155 miles away in Edinburgh. He also had copies of his new illustrated novel A Boy And A Bear In A Boat.

There are more details of Dave Shelton's work on his blog.

Manga artists Chie Kutsuwada (left) and Inko (right) were some of the hardest working of the creators over the course of Hi-Ex's two days. Both seemed to have a never ending stream of attendees wanting their portraits drawn manga style with Inko even having Cam Kennedy sit for her.

There are more details of Chi Kutsuwada's work on her blog.

There are more details of Inko's work on her blog.

Artist Graeme Neil Reid as well as having his own blog is the founder of the Scottish daily art-blog Scotch Corner. Graeme normally does his sketches before conventions which allows him to relax more during the events, as well as using them on the two blogs and compiling them into limited edition convention sketchbooks. However as the Sqaxx Dek Thargo know that he is an artdroid, he was convinced by several Hi-Ex attendees to draw them Dredd while one little girl even managed to get him to draw her a dinosaur.

There are more details of Graeme Neil Reid's work on his website, blog and on Scotch Corner.

Artist Gary Erskine is another member of Scotch Corner as well as being Eagle Award nominated this year in the Favourite Artist: Inks category. He is also rather well known nowadays for liking girls in roller skates and is working with his wife Mhairi on the Roller Grrrls title which has manifested itself before publication with rather a lot of comic conventions now having female Roller Derby teams attending - including Hi-Ex.

There are more details of Gary Erskine's work on his blog, on Scotch Corner and on the Roller Grrrls Facebook page.


The second and final part of Comics Creators At Hi-Ex will follow soon.

The Hi-Ex website is here.

The downthetubes review of Hi-Ex 2012 is here.

Let's hear it for some Comical Animals!

Bumble Billy by Gary Northfield

A quick reminder that Jim Medway's Comical Animal, a bi-monthly online publication for comic, cartoon and kids books aficionados, is on course for a proper launch in December.

Sponsored by Good Grief! and Blank Slate Books, Jim is taking submissions for strips, articles, reviews and illustrations for the first full issue, scheduled for December. You can get to the submission guidelines here.

The preview issue features strips by a host of British artists such as Dave Shelton, Gary Northfield, Lizz Lunney, Francesca Cassavetti, Rob Jackson, Dan Berry and many more.

• Check it out at: http://comicalanimal.com

In Review: Good Dog, Bad Dog

It was the first of the DFC Library books to be released and Good Dog, Bad Dog is perhaps the most complete book of the three released so far. Written and illustrated by Dave Shelton, this is a fun ride through a Hollywood gangster world inhabited by anthropomorphic dogs, and the odd cat.

Containing three different tales - Dog Meets Dog, The Golden Bone Of Alexandria and The Dog's Dinner - it sets up the situation of grizzled Detective Bergman and his enthusiastic but naive partner Detective McBoo of the the Muttropolis police department. Dog Meets Dog tells of them meeting for the first time as well as setting up the world that they inhabit before the book moves on to the more substantial Golden Bone Of Alexandria with its many film noir overtones as they attempt to relocate the antique of the title. It concludes with The Dog's Dinner which is a slightly more over the top tale of hidden identities, kidnappings and lemon cake.

Dave Shelton shows off his love of old movies as well as some wild puns through the three stories. His choices of breeds of dogs for his characters are amusing and while the femme fatale is inevitably a French Poodle and the goons are bulldogs the "most dangerous dog in the city" looks anything but.

Of the three DFC Library books released so far this is the one that shows off best what the DFC comic was like. Unlike Spider Moon, which needs a follow-up to progress the story, or Mezolith, with its more mature themes, here is a book that will suit the adult purchaser either for themselves or their children but also can be given as a standalone present for young or old that doesn't require prior knowledge of the story or for the recipient to have to buy more to find out what happens.





Yet with its fun artwork, twisty plotlines and often groan inducing puns, while Good Dog, Bad Dog doesn't need a sequel, it certainly deserves one.

• There are more details of Good Dog, Bad Dog including sample pages on the DFC Library website.

• There is more information about Good Dog, Bad Dog on Dave Shelton's website.

The DFC LIbrary goes on air!

Between May 2008 and March 2009, children’s book publisher David Fickling launched a bold experiment in creating a new kids comic – The DFC – for the British market, which on a weekly basis featured new stories in a variety of genres from some of Britain’s best up and coming comics creators, not to mention a lead strip written by Philip Pullman.

Unfortunately the comic folded after 43 issues, but now a year on, the first three volumes of The DFC Library have been released, reprinting collections of material in European Graphic Album format.

On tonight's Strip! radio show on ResonanceFM, Alex Fitch talks to Kate Brown, the award winning creator of Spider Moon, Dave Shelton, the creator of Good Dog, Bad Dog and Ben Haggarty, the writer of MeZolith, who, with artist Adam Brockbank has created a book that one critic has already called “the most important British graphic novel of the last twenty years”.

The story is set 10,000 years ago, when the Kansa tribe live on the western shores of the North Sea Basin, where danger is never far away. Each season brings new adventure, each hunt has its risks, and each grim encounter with the neighbouring tribe is fraught with threats. Poika, a boy on the verge of manhood, must play his part and trust the strength and wisdom of his elders. This is a tale of beasts and beauty, man, magic and... horror.

Kirk Bergman and Duncan McBoo are the stars of Dave Shelton's Good Dog, Bad Dog: two pedigree police, the finest canine cops in all Muttropolis. And they're never short of work. The city is heaving with cunning crooks and malevolent mongrels who would sell their own mother for a bone. Join our dog detectives as they chase leads, sniff out crime, collar the bad guys and generally get their teeth into adventures full of action, suspense and ...milkshakes. Criminals beware: McBoo and Bergman are on your tail!

Spider Moon starts with tales of a prophecy, of homelands being crushed by a falling sky, at a time Bekka and her people are facing the end of days. They must do all in their power to save themselves from the fate they believe is theirs. But destiny is like a tightly coiled snake. Which Bekka must unfurl without getting bitten...

• Strip!: The DFC Library airs at 5.00pm today (Thursday 18the March) on Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast online tonight at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

Hi-Ex Update: Shelton, McIntyre, Heggie confirmed guests

The Scottish HiEx comic convention has just announced several guests for its next event in March 2010.

Taking place at Eden Court Inverness (27th and 28th of March), the convention - very much a family event - will feature a number of exciting new events over the course of the weekend, including plenty that will appeal to young children and families.

A Kids Corner, where members of the DFC Library team will be on hand, is just one such item, an event marking the impending launch of three collections from the much-missd subscription-only weekly, The DFC. Each book showcases a single strip from The DFC, starting in March with Good Dog, Bad Dog by Dave Shelton, who is a Hi-Ex guest. Dave describes it as "a knockabout comic noir adventure comedy full of slapstick humour, terrible puns and exciting action"!

(Good Dog, Bad Dog is followed by MeZolith in April from master storyteller Ben Haggarty and artist Adam Brockbank and The Spider Moon in May by Kate Brown).

Sarah McIntyre , author of Morris the Mankiest Monster, will also be on hand to help the younger (and older!) visitors who fancy trying their hand at creating their own monster.

And as if this wasn’t enough, this year sees the welcome return of Kev F Sutherland and his famous comic masterclass, with help from funding from the Highland Council. Plus, as an added bonus this year, Kev will also be putting on a performance of the hilarious Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre.

Also part of this year's line-up are Morris Heggie, former editor of The Dandy and author of The History of The Beano and Gordon Tait, creative consultant on the Dennis & Gnasher TV series. Their Q&A session will include a rare chance to see original art from the comic's huge archives and will be followed by a book signing and sketching session

• Day tickets for Hi-Ex can be bought at Eden Court, with discounted advance day and weekend passes available through the HiEx website: www.hi-ex.co.uk

Nessie and Judge Dredd image art by Colin McNeil. Judge Dredd & Ro-Jaws © Rebellion 2010

DFC Collections On Their Way

Collections of some of the brilliant strips that featured in the subscription-only comic The DFC are in the pipeline for 2010 release.

Due in April, March and May respectively are MeZolith by Adam Brockbank and Ben Haggarty, Good Dog, Bad Dog by Dave Shelton and Spider Moon by Kate Brown, all to be published by David Fickling Books.

MeZolith is set 10,000 years ago, when the Kansa tribe live on the western shores of the North Sea Basin, where danger is never far away. Each season brings new adventure, each hunt has its risks, and each grim encounter with the neighbouring tribe is fraught with threats. Poika, a boy on the verge of manhood, must play his part and trust the strength and wisdom of his elders. This is a tale of beasts and beauty, man, magic and ... horror.

The story is the work of Ben Haggarty and artist Adam Brockbank. Adam says comics were his first love, notably the black and white reprints of Silver Age Marvel comics that he found on the shelves of his local newsagent.

Adam spent seven years studying painting only to end up working in the film industry, first as a Storyboard artist then later as a Concept artist, working on many films including X-Men, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Tomb Raider, but it is for his work on all of the Harry Potter films that he is best known, designing creatures, props and vistas.

Kirk Bergman and Duncan McBoo are the stars of Dave Shelton's Good Dog, Bad Dog: two pedigree police, the finest canine cops in all Muttropolis. And they're never short of work. The city is heaving with cunning crooks and malevolent mongrels who would sell their own mother for a bone. Join our dog detectives as they chase leads, sniff out crime, collar the bad guys and generally get their teeth into adventures full of action, suspense and ...milkshakes. Criminals beware: McBoo and Bergman are on your tail!

Spider Moon starts with tales of a prophecy, of homelands being crushed by a falling sky, at a time Bekka and her people are facing the end of days. They must do all in their power to save themselves from the fate they believe is theirs. But destiny is like a tightly coiled snake. Which Bekka must unfurl without getting bitten...

David Fickling Books say there was strong interest at Frankfurt Book Fair for the first three titles.

"We have had a fantastic response to The DFC novels at the fair from lots of US and European publishers," says Maeve Banham, Senior Rights Manager at Random House Children's Book. "The graphic novel market is growing and publishers are keen to be a part of this."

The DFC Library will showcase a single strip from The DFC - and of course 2010 may also see the comic's return...