Panel Borders on Aces Weekly and 2000AD

Panel Borders: Aces Weekly

Continuing our month of shows about anthologies, Alex Fitch talks to the creator and co-editor - David Lloyd - of a new weekly digital comics anthology, Aces Weekly.
Alex also talks to three of the other contributors - David Leach, John McCrea and Kev Hopgood - about their new strips which will feature in the title and how the creators hope this will open up a new market for British comics in a brand new format.
The first issue of Aces Weekly goes online at www.acesweekly.co.uk on 30th September 2012

8pm, Sunday 23rd September 2012, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / extended podcast after broadcast at panelborders.wordpress.com

Last week's show about The Phoenix comic, featuring a panel discussion with Daniel Hartwell, Neill Cameron, Adam Murphy, Robin Etherington and Patrice Aggs is available now as a 'feature length' podcast.

Clear Spot: 35 years of 2000AD 

In an hour long programme to compliment this month's series of Panel Borders on comic book anthologies, Alex Fitch looks at "The Galaxy's Greatest Comic", 2000AD in its 35th anniversary year, alongside the release of a new Dredd movie, featuring the comic's longest running character.

Alex discusses the recently released 1800th issue of the comic with editor Matt Smith; the process of writing Future Shocks with small press creator David Baillie; the drawing of memorable strips such as Harlem Heroes and Nemesis the Warlock with artists Kev Hopgood and Henry Flint; and the art of putting words in the mouth of indestructible lawman Judge Dredd with letterer Annie Parkhouse.

8pm, Wednesday 26th September 2012, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / extended podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

MKomix Fair: comic creators in abundance!

A quick reminder that the MKomix Comic Fair organised by comic creator Paul Rainey takes place this Thursday (19th July) in the Milton Keynes Art Gallery.

Full details of the event, which reads like a Who's Who of some top British indie comics creators, can be found www.MKomix.blogspot.com and include the following:

•  Avery Hill Publishing is a new small press company run by Ricky Miller who currently have two quarterly titles: Reads, a comics anthology and Tiny Dancing, an arts and humour magazine. They also publish the world’s foremost and indeed only collection of extremely close-up photographs of Masterchef. Plans for lots more of this sort of thing are in the offing.
Reads featureswork from some exciting new UK comics talent and includes time-travelling beagles, ghosts, domestic violence, cloud-riding and London cabbies.
The word 'eclectic' was invented for Tiny Dancing - in the latest issue you can find Tom Selleck and David Bowie expounding on their favourite birds of prey, Roy Orbison wrapped in clingfilm and brilliant art from the likes of Soju Tanaka and Lawrence Williams.

•  Sean Azzopardi is a cartoonist and publisher. He has produced numerous mini comics and books for his Phatcomics imprint, acclaimed titles such as Ed and Twelve Hour Shift. Away from self published works he has worked on Necessary Monsters and a back up strip for indy smash Phonogram. Sean has also contributed to a variety of anthologies and has illustrated for magazines, most recent examples can be seen in the current Electric Sheep anthology and Paper Science.

•  William Axtell produces a comic called Demon Gate and the first three issues of which will be available at the event. To see more of his work, please visit his Facebook Art Page here.

•  David Baillie writes and draws comics. His creations appear in places like 2000AD, Judge Dredd Megazine, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Self-Assembly Furniture Monthly. He also works in television a bit - mostly drawing storyboards and some writing. He's been nominated and shortlisted for prizes and awards but doesn't like to talk about that. (Mainly due to not winning any of them).
He's also been a stand-up comedian for about six months but he will not tell you any jokes.
If you buy anything from him at MKomix he'll draw you something on some paper that will probably be worth millions of pounds if he ever gets famous and then dies. And if that's not a bargain, I don't know what is.

•  Emily Brady is a mixed media artist, cartoonist, illustrator and art tutor living in a world of her own imagining. She lives on cake and curry and spends her days drawing away and humming a merry tune. 

•  Richy K. Chandler is a London based comic creator and illustrator. His most recent venture is the weekly webcomic about an unpopular teenage girl who happens to be an octopus, Lucy the Octopus . Last year he launched Rosieand Jacinda, a teenage romantic comedy with a hint of fairytale, created with Zarina Liew.
Other work includes Delicate Axiom and the Tempo Lush Mini-Comics range. He’s contributed to Accent UK’s Robot anthology, Factor Fiction’s Girly Comic and currently writes for Titan / Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit newspaper comic strip.
Richy will be selling copies of Lucy the Octopus, Bear Shaped Mini-Comics Box Set, Cosmically Enlightened Gift Set and the teenage romantic comedy with a hint of fairytale, Rosie and Jacinda.

•  Andrew Cheverton is the writer of the long-running West series, illustrated by Tim Keable and approaching the finale of its second volume. West is the tale of both Jerusalem West and the land which spawned him, and is told in a deliberately non-chronological order. His newest project is The Whale House, illustrated by Chris Doherty, which follows Diggory Wallis, recently bereaved and orphaned, on his journey of discovery in the mysterious country house of the title. Andrew also wrote and illustrated the one-off comic Pictures Made of Light, and is a regular artist on Rol Hirst's PJANG and Too Much Sex & Violence.

•  Peet Clack consistently produces some of the funniest and most beautifully drawn comics available. He is responsible for such masterpieces as Crazy Pants, Trouser Madness and Handy (and Hoofy) Home Hints With Afro-Horse.

•  Steve Collier is one of the team behind Japan Comic Aid, which aims to regularly publish comics, manga and graphic novels around the world to raise money for those in Japan who are in need of rebuilding their life by teaming up, reducing costs and using ALL profits for the Japan Society Tohuku Earthquake Appeal fund.

•  Laura Watton-Davies (aka Pinkapplejam) has been making her own comics since the mid 90s and is influenced by cartoons, zombies, Japanese fashion plus everything cute. She will be bringing art prints and one-shots to MKomix.

•  Decadence Comics is an independent comics collective formed by Lando and Stathis Tsemberlidis in 2003. Since their inception they have self published eight issues of the distinctive Decadence anthology, as well as a clutch striking single issue comics.
The Decadence aesthetic is a heady blend of science fiction, Ballardian near future musings and psychedelic altered states. Their work recalls the best of early European sci-fi comics, whilst maintaining a strong identity of their own. Decadence, by virtue of their approach, influences and interests, are a highly unique entity on the UK underground comics circuit. Their comics map the outer reaches of sci-fi, tracing out the contours of some strange cosmic zone that only a handful of intrepid travelers have dared stray into.

•  Jay Eales and Selina Lock are the publishers of the fabulous Violent! and Girly Comic titles, as well as being heaving involved in the wonderful Caption conference for independent British comic creators.

•  Rol Hirst has been writing small press comics for 20 years. He was a prominent member of the early 90s scene with his long-running comic The Jock (in collaboration with a number of artists, mostly the amazing Nigel Lowrey). Other books he released back then included Slick 'n' His Conscience (with Adrian Bamforth), My Legendary Girlfriend and Escape Committee (both with Dave Metcalfe). He returned to the scene in the 21st Century with his anthology book PJANG (People Just Ain't No Good), working with a number of his former collaborators, plus other giants of the small press world, including Andrew Cheverton, Kelvin Green, Tony McGee, Chris Askham, Ryan Taylor and Paul Rainey.
He's currently producing Too Much Sex & Violence, a new ongoing comic set in the bizarre, corrupt, depraved and freak-infested northern seaside town of Fathomsby. It's drawn by everybody above, plus some other talented fools Rol has been able to blackmail.

•  John Maybury - comic artist and occasional editor, John is the creator of the brilliant adults-only Space Babe 113, an absurdist, surreal, adult SF comedy. He came up with this in an attempt to explore sexy, abstract characters as a story telling vehicle - and make naughty jokes.
Space Babe 113 features artificially intelligent talking knickers, aliens and big hair. The artwork is stylish and minimalist and her latest comic, Costumes, Comics and Conventions will début at MKomix.

•  Rob Jackson has been creating some of the best self-published comics of the last few years including Gin Palace, Goblin Hall and Flying Leaf Creature. Rob will be selling a selection of his work including his recent It's A Man's Life In The Ice Cream Business, the compelling story of his ice cream business.

•  Ralph Kidson - one of the funniest creators in comics, creator of Captain Dolphin, Sad Animal and Hootiebits.

•  Dan Lester is the creator of titles such as Monkeys Might Puke! and The Dan Lester Mysteries  in which small press creator Dan becomes embroiled in murder and mayhem! Features art by Oliver Lambden.

•  Amy Letts is the creator of the long-running and very popular web comic Epic Fail, inspired by Dungeons and Dragons.

•  Ash Pure descreibes himself as "a powerful magician, a traveller between realities (an Altered Statesman) and a creator of worlds." He also makes a very good cup of tea (not too strong, not too weak – just right) and is a founding member of JWH Creative partners, providing the pretty pictures.

•  Paul Rainey, organiser of the Fair is a Milton Keynes based cartoonist responsible for Memory Man, Love Bomb, internet diary strip Book of Lists, the 318 paged There's No Time Like The Present (soon to be collected as a graphic novel by Escape Books) and Thunder Brother: Soap Division (currently appearing every Sunday here).He'll be selling the Book of Lists collection and premièring the very first issue of his latest project, Thunder Brother: Soap Division.

•  Suzanna Raymond - Milton Keynes based creator: a fine artist who will be displaying her work as well as the comics of some of her friends.

•  Karen Rubins was the Comics Artist in Residence at the V&A between July and December 2009 and is an award-winning creator of comics and manga. Her small-press work includes the surreal road-trip series DARK, shamanic comedy adventure Urban Beasts, and medieval witchcraft drama Blood Magic. She writes, draws, reads, collects, buys, recommends and teaches comics. You can follow her on twitter @kazmantra and visit her website here.
Karen will be exhibiting and selling Blood Magic Limited Edition Prints with free comic, or Sticker Packs with a free comic, Urban Beasts parts 1 and 2 and Leek and Sushi UK Manga Anthology.
She will also be doing personalised sketches - Urban Beasts Portraits (with you depicted as your inner animal self) or anything else you want drawn to order!

•  Jade Sarson is one of the event's local creators who will be exhibiting and selling her comics at the event. Jade kindly designed the excellent leaflet for the event and you can see lots of samples of her striking work at her website here.

•  Jon Scrivens is the creator of the time travel web comic When's Graham, Little Terrors and Broken Gears.

• Aisza Sowa - Milton Keynes based comic creator who will be exhibiting both his own work, including Insanity Warriors 1 and Meaw, and the work of other members of the MK Manga Club.

•  Rob Wells has been writing and drawing comics since the early 1990s. He is the creator of the comics Crisp Biscuit, Crisp, The Devil's Daughter, Colin Comix, and Crisp Biscuit Comics. He drew the Bear Man & Twinkle mini-comic that came with #6 of Martin Eden's Spandex, contributed art to the first three issues of Rol Hirst's Too Much Sex & Violence (and will also be drawing a couple of pages for #5), and is currently drawing a comic called Department of the Peculiar, also written by Hirst, the first issue of which should be out very soon. He has also drawn a six page strip called Body Pop, written by Paul Rainey, which should be appearing in the next issue of Strip Magazine. His work can be found online at www.crispbiscuit.co.uk and www.crispbiscuit.blogspot. com.

"I'm very pleased with the range of comic creators appearing, a full list of which can be found in this particular post
I would be very grateful if you could remind your readers of the MKomix Comic Fair and that it is free to enter sometime this week. It is an opportunity for people to experience a broad range of modern British comics as well as the extraordinary Pushwangner exhibition.

Happy Birthday, 2000AD! From Scripting and Art Droid David Baillie

Name: David Baillie

Currently working on:

I've actually just this second finished a new script for 2000AD, which was as much fun as it always is. (I still occasionally pinch myself to check that the last few years haven't just been a hyper-realistic dream that my fifteen year-old self is having!)

Next up I have a five-page fantasy comic that needs to be drawn and a TV script to polish for the second round of the prestigious (so they tell me) Red Planet Prize. No rest for the wicked. Or freelancers.

First memory of 2000AD?

I was always a wee bit aware of 2000AD, I think. I remember seeing it in the corner shop when I was picking up my very first Marvel reprints at the age of four. It was very obviously for older boys and scared me a bit. Then there were 2000AD annuals in the school library that were officially only for Year 5 kids, but my teacher could see that I was bursting with curiosity and made an exception for me.

The first copy I actually owned was when I came down with a nasty case of the mumps and my mum brought me a comic to read in my sick bed (or my death bed, as I was sure it was at the time). It was the first issue of The Best of 2000AD – which reprinted the Bolland classic 'Blood of Satanus', my first ever Strontium Dog story and a Future Shock by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. It blew my mumpy mind.

After that I spent the vast majority of my pocket money on the monthly Best Ofs and acquiring huge wads of 2000AD back issues, which I could sniff out like a bloodhound at carboot sales and flea markets.

Favourite Character or Story?

There are honestly too many to mention... I love the classic Strontium Dog stories, Dredd at his best (I can't tell you how exciting it was piecing together episodes of 'Necropolis' years after it had been published), Hewligan's Haircut, the first series of Time Flies, the Chronicles of Chaos ABC Warriors stories, Hap Hazzard, Abelard Snazz, Halo Jones, Tyranny Rex...

What do you like most about the 2000AD?

When it's at its best it is like no other comic.

What would you most like to see in 2000AD as it heads to its Forties?

I have a major problem with this question. You see, 2000AD and I are almost the same age and I'm not even thinking about my forties yet. (In fact I'm acting like 35 isn't even on the horizon...)

So instead I'll tell you that as 2000AD eases into the second half of its thirties, I would love to see more quirky, adventurous, innovative and clever stories – basically what drew me to the comic seventeen years ago and has kept me coming back every week since.

Oh and more stuff by that handsome, bald Scottish fella... What's his name?
David Baillie - that's it!

If you worked on 2000AD, do you have an anecdote you'd like to share about your experience of Tharg and his minions?

Last year at I was honoured to be sat at the same table as Tharg at The Eagle Awards. (Lucky too – as Tharg only had eyes for the polystyrene cups and plates and so I got to drink his allocation of free beer.)

During a rare lull in the proceedings His Mightiness leaned across and told me that he had convinced 2000AD legend Jesus Redondo to come out of retirement to draw a recent Terror Tale I'd written.
Between that and the free beer it was probably the highlight of my 2011.

• This post is one in a series of tributes to 2000AD to mark its 35th birthday on 26th February 2012. More about 2000AD at www.2000adonline.com

2000AD © Rebellion

David Baillie's date with Terror (Tales, that is)

Writer/artist David Baillie has been a stalwart of the British small press scene for some time, self-publishing his comics to sell online and at conventions. More recently, though, he’s moved into professional comics writing. 

This week, his new Terror Tale is published in 2000 AD (Prog #1737) so Matt Badham thought it was a good time to sit down and have a chat with him.

This interview is crossposted from Matt's blog with his and David's kind permission...

Matthew Badham: What tips have you got for those trying to write one-offs, Terror Tales or Future Shocks, for 2000 AD?

David Baillie: Well first off – I’m not claiming to be an expert. Also bear in mind: man cannot know the mind of Tharg. But I do have some thoughts on what makes for a good Future Shock/Terror Tale-style story, based on lessons I’ve learned personally and stuff I’ve observed in the work of others. (For starters, don’t begin sentences with ‘But’.)

I’d suggest doing some research – but don’t limit yourself to just reading old Future Shocks, or indeed just comics. Track down Golden Age sci-fi shorts by authors like Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein, and in terms of more contemporary stuff I love Ted Chiang and Michael Swanwick.

Also, read outside of the genres – Saki, O. Henry and definitely The Dead by James Joyce. All of these guys wrote (or write) engaging short fiction with great central premises and non-ambiguous resolutions.

I suppose what I’m saying is make sure your story is engaging, has a great central premise and a resolution that isn’t ambiguous. And learn from the best. You only have four pages to tell your story so every panel has to do a job. Avoid repetition where possible. And make sure your character clearly wants something.

What was it like discovering that your new strip has been illustrated by Jesus Redondo?

David: Tharg told me who had drawn Birth of the Mazzikim at the Eagle Awards a couple of weeks ago and I was honestly dumbstruck. My ambitions in comics break down into three categories – things I hope might happen one day, things that are now impossible for some reason (I always wanted to do a signing at Comic Showcase on Charing Cross Road, but it’s now closed) and things that are so improbable that I hadn’t even contemplated them.

Having a legend like Jesus Redondo draw a story I wrote for 2000 AD is a firm #3. The man is a legend – among his many credits, he drew some of Alan Moore’s most well-remembered Time Twisters, The Mind of Wolfie Smith and M.A.C.H. 1. Stories I read again and again when I was growing up (in reprint – I’m not that old!) It’s even more incredible that the artwork for the story is as good as it is.

According to Wikipedia, Mr Redondo is now in his late seventies, but he draws like a hungry young whipper-snapper. It’s amazing. His storytelling is still world-class and, as Henry Flint said on Twitter the other day, if anything his work is tighter now than it was a couple of decades ago. I’ll go back to being dumbstruck now.

You’ve also written Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) for the Russian market. These are two-page strips. What are the challenges there? 

David: That’s been one of the most fun gigs ever. I’m the right age to have been knocked off my feet by the mega-franchise that is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the first time around. Then I became obsessed with ninjas and eventually tracked down the original black and white indie comics – so I’m a genuine fan.

The TMNT comic I’m working on is for younger readers and, like you said, the stories are all two-pagers. It’s a really interesting challenge to tell a story in that small a space. Introducing a problem, escalating it and then resolving it in a surprising way in around ten panels is a tall order and I’ve had to find new writing muscles that I didn’t even know existed.

On top of that, I have a bee in my bonnet about how a lot of boys’ fiction resorts to using violent resolutions. ‘Might makes right’ is a terrible lesson to be repeating so often. So yeah – when I remove that option it gets even more difficult, but also much more rewarding when it works.

Matthew: What other comics projects — or other projects — do you have on the go at the moment?

David: I think my next comic from the House of Tharg will be in the Megazine, but I know he has no qualms about decommissioning leaky droids so that’s all I’ll say. Apart from that, I have a few projects that are boiling away in the background. I wrote a radio play for Radio 4′s Afternoon Play slot last year, but the producer was let go in the big BBC reshuffle and I haven’t found a new home for it yet. I’m hoping to start work on something for BBC Scotland in the not too distant future.

I’ve also co-written a film script with fellow comics outcast, Dan Lester, and we’re going to start punting that around soon. My comics work is all on spec at the moment, so I probably shouldn’t mention it before I’ve even pitched.

Matthew: You’ve got quite a history of being involved in small press comics. Where can people get your small press stuff and do you have any plans in the near future in that arena?

David: I’ve been remiss is keeping my small press work in stock, unfortunately. Anything that doesn’t pay the rent has fallen by the way-side a little in the last couple of years.

In saying that, I do have copies of my fantasy graphic novel Tongue of the Dead and the excellent BASTARDS anthologies*. They can both be bought using the paypal buttons on my website or emailing me at [webhello at davidbaillie dot net].

I’d love to get back to doing small press work – it’s really liberating knowing that, as your own editor, everything in your head will be making it on to the page no matter how weird, personal or surreal. I suppose it’s just a matter of squireling away some cash and setting aside some time. I’m really lucky, though, that at the moment my main gigs are all things I’m really passionate about and it all feel like my own work.

Thanks to David for taking time out to talk to me. His website can be found here.

*Note from Matt: Tongue of the Dead and the BASTARDS anthologies are great, with the latter being especial favourites of mine.

Redondo returns to 2000AD for Terror Tale

2000AD Terror Tale 'Birth of Mazzikim'
by David Baillie and Redondo

Veteran 2000 AD artist Jesus Redondo is returning to the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic for the first time in more than a decade.

As announced at the recent Bristol Comics Expo, the Spanish artist – perhaps best known in the UK for his work on Book Two of Nemesis the Warlock for 2000 AD and The Mind of Wolfie Smith from the short-lived  1980s comic Tornado – has drawn a one-part Terror Tale, written by newcomer David Baillie.

The one-off 'Terror Tale', entitled 'Birth of Mazzikim', will appear in 2000 AD prog 1737 – available from Wednesday 8th June from all good stockists (and some evil ones).

After beginning his career in the early 1960s, Redondo entered the British market with work for DC Thomson and IPC, working on strips such as 'Suzette of the Silver Sword' for the girls title, Diana, 'Marmaduke' and many other stories, drawing romance, police, fantasy and war strips with equal accomplishment.

A panel from 'Suzette of the Silver
Sword' a strip Redondo drew
for Diana in the 1960s

Comics encyclopedia Lambiek notes that he cites the comic story 'Edward', which he drew for the Dutch magazine Tina with writer Otto Veenhoven in 1974 as his favourite series. In the same year he drew the Spanish series 'Centauro' and 'SOS Dossier Ecológico' with writers A. Martín and F. P. Navarro.

Redondo's 2000 AD credits also include episodes of M.A.C.H. 1, Tharg's Future Shocks and Missionary Man.

His credits also include 'Dan Dare' (in 1986), 'El Capitán Trueno' (1987) and 'Mr. Black', a horror series for the Spanish Creepy magazine in 1991.

Tube Surfing: Cartoonists, Writers, Conventions (well, one) and the end of 2000 AD Review

• Joe Gordon of the Forbidden Planet International blog makes us aware that cartoonist and illustrator David Baillie has just uploaded a large PDF portfolio online. You should have a look!

David, who has been published in 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine, is one of my fave cartoonists and there are some cracking strips in the portfolio.

• Another of my fave illustrators is John Welding, whose diary comics are always a treat. However, even though he doesn't make that many comics any more, his blog is still worth following. Check out these sketches of Cumbria, in particular. Beautiful stuff.

• Caption, the small press convention held in Oxford, seems to have been a success (see Dan Fish's report on this blog and Bugpowder earlier in the week). Here are some more write-ups of the event for you to enjoy, from Jenni Scott and Sean Azzopardi. Plus, there's a growing set of photos from the event on Flickr.

• The San Diego Comic Books Examiner has an interview with Paul Cornell about Soldier Zero, the new comic he's doing with Stan Lee and Boom Studios.

• And finally, I'm saddened by the news that 2000AD Review has closed for business. It was a great site, with informative articles, interviews and, of course, reviews (which sometimes slagged off my work for the Judge Dredd Megazine, but, you know, that was their job). The reviews on 2000AD Review have, I hope, helped me to become a better writer. Go read the last 2000AD Review feature ('Best of 2000AD - the creators speak') here.

In Review: Comics at the London Book Fair

Last month the London Book Fair cranked up its coverage of comics and graphic novel publishing this year and David Baillie went along for downthetubes to see what was happening... LBF photos by Joel Meadows


The London Book Fair is an annual publishing juggernaut that attracts attendees and exhibitors from all over the world. They usually have a small, but notable, comics presence but this year promised to be the start of a new relationship between the event and the comics medium. Not only had they declared a section of the floor the 'Graphic Novel Pavilion', but the second day (of the four) also featured a schedule of industry-related panel discussions.

I've visited the LBF a couple of times in the past, usually trying to meet new publishers who I can scam for money... Erm... I mean investigate new work opportunities. It's never been the ideal venue for 'cold calling', as one of the main functions of the fair is the selling of foreign rights, but the main selling point of the LBF is the sheer number of industry people it draws together into a single location.

For example, it's certainly possible to schedule four or five meetings with different publishers, and your agent, all in one day. It's a shame, then, that because of the recent volcano chaos, the Earls Court floor was very quiet indeed. Some publishers didn't make it at all and more than one stand had a business card taped to an empty wall alongside a post-it apology.

The Graphic Novel Pavilion was a quite small, with less than a handful of publishers - but certainly those that you'd expect and hope to see at this event - Panini, Titan Books, Self Made Hero and Turnaround. Unfortunately Dark Horse only managed to get a few flyers, posters and business cards to the fair. I think I'm right in saying all of these guys were exhibitors last year - so there wasn't actually any fresh blood per se - but it certainly makes sense grouping them together in one place. There were also a few comics publishers spread around the floor outside of the Pavilion - probably because they publish in a wider variety of media.

The London Book Fair is an expensive event at which to exhibit. This accounts for the shortage of smaller UK publishers you see elsewhere, and even homegrown companies dealing solely in graphic novels. I know that, for example, Sean Azzopardi inquired about attending with a selection of UK Indie comics, but couldn't justify the cost.

The talks were a welcome addition to the programming. My favourite one, and definitely the one with the best sound bites, was supposed to be about the future of publishing for the comics world, particularly with regards to digital distribution and consumption. It featured a diverse cast of experts, some of whom had little or no interest in the proscribed topic, which made it all the more difficult for Self Made Hero's Emma Hayley to moderate. (She did, however, do very well indeed.) Come to think of it, this reluctance the panellists had to do what they were told probably made for a more interesting talk.

Paul Gravett started proceedings by talking about the origins of the graphic novel and the evolution of the medium – concentrating on its relationship with the wider publishing market.

Ian Rankin was next up, and he related how he'd been attracted to working in the medium primarily because the first thing he read was comics. In fact, his initial attempts at writing were probably stick man comics when he was in school. He also bemoaned the lack of weekly and monthly comics available in British newsagents - he said he thought that this 'missing rung in the reading ladder' is largely responsible for the poor literacy rates for teenage boys. Apparently his son had recently begged to be taken to see Macbeth after reading the Manga version, despite previously showing no interest at all in Shakesperare.

David Fickling followed on and he spoke about working on the DFC story John Blake with Philip Pullman (whom he knew before he was at all well-known). Pullman, he said, is a brilliant storyteller, and both of them learned about storytelling from reading comics as youngsters. Apparently Pullman had jumped at the chance to write a comic when Fickling suggested it.

He then told us what a joy it was to 'open the cupboard' and find a wealth of comics talent here in Britain. He explained that children want to read to be entertained, and that if we achieve that we can keep them for life instead of 'pissing readers into the street'.

While everyone on the panel looked forward to the benefits of digital comics (although as Fickling noted, they're all already digital as everything is 'sent down the wire these days') there were some reservations about what might go astray in the transition. Rankin wondered if the double page spread reveal would be entirely lost if you were reading comics on a small device.

Emma said that when she was translating Self Made Hero's Cash GN to an iPhone-readable format, the artist had been hesitant because his page design, which is of course an important part of the storytelling, would disappear as the work was read panel by panel.

When the iPad was mentioned, it was also noted that if Cory Dotcorow had made it across the Atlantic he'd definitely be saying 'down with it' before anyone had a chance to sing its praises. Apart from the censorship and monopolistic issues, Ian Rankin also quipped that it meant an investment of five hundred pounds rather than the 'quid that 2000AD cost a few years ago'. The panel then discussed how, in a purely digital comics world, there would be no more comics swapping, which they mostly agreed was an important part of the reading culture.

In another talk that day Emma Hayley spoke about the beginnings of Self Made Hero - and how she saw a gap in the market back in 2004/2005. It was an article in the Financial Times which sparked her interest initially and she told us how surprised she'd been to go the newsagents two years later and find an article about the successful launch of her new Manga line on the front page of the FT. Self Made Hero now have 14 Manga Shakespeare editions in print, all by UK artists, as well the Eye Classic and Crime Classic lines. Their new Graphic Biography imprint has recently been launched leading with the warmly-received Cash (of course about Johnny Cash).

I didn't get much of a chance to investigate many other publishers on the floor as I had to return to Colchester for my artist residency (and neither did I manage to take advantage of the free back massages on offer!) but it did seem much quieter in general than recent years. There was also a noticeable absence of 'booth babes' (as I believe they're affectionately known in the trade) so I don't know if they're flown in from abroad especially.

All things considered I think this was a successful first outing for the Graphic Novels Pavilion and comics programme at the London Book Fair. Fingers crossed next year for a larger response from publishers and a lack of volcanic eruptions....

• David Baillie was recently artist-in-residence for firstsite, Colchester, supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

Comic Expo 2009: Smaller is Beautiful

Following up on our publication of Kev Sutherland's take on this year's Bristol Comic Expo, which has generated plenty of comment here, on my Facebook page and in the original Quality Communications forum where the former convention organiser posted his views, we've now published David Baillie's report on the event on the main downthetubes site.

"Even if you weren't there, you've probably heard by now that due to the knock on effects of the global credit crunchie this year's Bristol Comics Expo was a slightly reduced affair, he notes. "This might seem a shame, especially given that this was the event's tenth birthday, but I'm here to tell you that smaller is sometimes better."

David opines that the success of any mainstream comics event can be judged by how well it performs in seven specific criteria including a good mix of events, social networking and, of course, comics!

• Read David's report here on downthetubes

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Baillie debuts in 2000AD

Comics artist and writer David Baillie, creator of indie strips such as Writer and Monkey and already a contirbutor to titles such as Judge Dredd: The Megazine, Tripwire and Accent UK’s anthologies Zombies, Robots and Westerns, has his first ever story in 2000AD this week, and tells downthetubes he is "completely over the moon."

In fact, as a longtime 2000AD fan, he's so delighted he's written what he loosely describes as a "bit of a love letter to the comic" on his blog.

"I can chart most of my life through 2000AD," he reveals, "and remember exactly what I was doing and what was going on when any given story was running. Rifling through my back issue collection when I visit my parents is like picking up and dipping into the diary that I never wrote."

His Future Shock for Issue 1611 is drawn by another relative newcomer to 2000AD, Nick Dyer, whose past credits include strips for the 2000AD comics fanzine Zarjaz.

David's most recent book projects include Heart Sense for Heartshield Ltd. and illustrations for Net Media UK’s Sleep Therapy. His latest comics are Tongue of the Dead and RocketBoy.

Elsewhere, animator David Hailwood has animated a couple of Baillie's Zombies Interviews strips from Accent UK's Zombies book published last year. "I think they're really cool, and I believe the plan is to do a couple more, possibly with some UK Indie celeb voices," says David.
They also feature on Baillie's blog here.

Finally, David's autobiographical comic The Belly Button Bubble Chronicles is trundling back to life after a break of a few weeks. "I'm hoping to finish it off before the year is out," says david, "meaning (fingers crossed) I'll have drawn 52 episodes in 64 weeks."

• New updates at http://davidbaillie.net/