10 Questions: Russell Willis, publisher of SEQUENTIAL and Panel Nine

Russell Willis - Publisher of Panel Nine

I've known Russell Willis since the 1980s, first encountering him at the Fast Fiction stall run by Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury at the now-legendary Westminster Comic Marts when he was publishing INFINITY, a zine that included many interviews with leading comic creators back then such as David Lloyd and others.

Russell has worked in publishing for over 25 years, specialising in digital media. In 1993 he set up a multimedia development company in Japan which produced customised language-learning software for Canon and published a large number of successful language-learning software products, including Finding Out, a joint venture with Macmillan described by Modern Education as the "best language- learning software for children available".

He has created products for TIME, the British government, Oxford University Press, and many others.

Russell’s audiobooks, podcasts, and iOS apps have all reached the Number One spot in Apple’s iTunes charts in Japan.

He is the publisher at Panel Nine (which has previously sponsored downthetubes), who have just launched SEQUENTIAL, a new digital store for a range of graphic novels. 

We'd like to thank him for taking time out of a busy schedule to answer our questions...

downthetubes: Tell us what SEQUENTIAL is and what you hope to achieve?

Russell Willis: SEQUENTIAL is a digital graphic novel storefront app for that iPad, that is primarily designed for people who would read Persepolis or From Hell or something by Eddie Campbell or Alison Bechdel, but would never think of going to a typical geeky comic shop. It's a place to put together all the quality material that's out there and provide an environment where a mainstream reader can feel comfortable and not have a virtual She-Hulk scaring them off at the door. This time, we want to be on the main street of culture with our underwear worn *under* our trousers.

SEQUENTIAL has just launched in the UK and Ireland, and will launch in the US and the rest of the world at the end of June. It's free to download with the ability to purchase graphic novels from within the app.

downthetubes: How did the project come about? 

Russell's early publishing
venture, INFINITY (#5)

Russell: As you know, I have been fascinated by sequential art since my teens when I was publishing INFINITY. About 18 months ago, I found myself running a software development and publishing company and realised that I had the ability to do something exceptional in the area of digital graphic novels. 

Having always talked about how graphic novels should be marketed and presented I had the opportunity to put my time and money where my mouth was. 

Right time, right place, it just seemed the right thing to do.

downthetubes: What are the initial titles being offered through SEQUENTIAL?

Russell: We have 21 graphic novels, coming from Blank Slate, Knockabout and Myriad Editions. We've got From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, Bolland Strips by Brian Bolland, Lady Chatterly's Lover by Hunt Emerson, Science Tales by Darryl Cunningham, Hugo Tate by Nick Abadzis, Kickback by David Lloyd… it's a great list and we'll be adding lots of new titles every week. 

We've also got a new "Sequential Mode" reader that is a bit like what Alex di Campi and Mark Waid have done with digital comics but with a few tweaks. There's a story drawn by Terry Wiley that can be downloaded for free from the app (which is also free to download).

downthetubes: How do you see the project developing over the next year?

Russell: The addition of more graphic novels, publishers like Self-Made Hero, Jonathan Cape, Walker Books, Abram Comic Arts coming on board, we'll be creating "Expanded Versions" of many titles, by adding audio commentaries by the creators along with interviews, production sketches, etc. and we'll be marketing graphic novels as a mainstream choice of entertainment, untainted by superheroes.

downthetubes: How will SEQUENTIAL impact on your other publications so far - will they merge with this new platform?

Russell: Yes, the four existing Panel Nine titles are on SEQUENTIAL.

downthetubes: You're busy developing a comics platform based on British and Western comics but Panel Nine is based in Japan... is there interest in the comics SEQUENTIAL will carry there?

Russell: The market for western graphic novels in Japan is quite small, but we are talking with Japanese publishers about doing some things.

downthetubes: What do you think are the main advantages for creators and publishers publishing their work digitally?

Russell: Availability -- in theory anyone with an iPad can purchase one of our titles, and creators can more effectively promote their own titles by directing their fan base straight to SEQUENTIAL to purchase immediately. 

downthetubes: Growing a digital comics audience isn't easy, despite the hype for digital publishing. Are we in an age of 10 per cent perspiration, 90 per cent promotion to compete with all the other offerings out there - legally free comics, other media and the pirates?

Russell: The ubiquitous availability is there as mentioned above, but just because you have a phone number doesn't mean everyone calls you. The promotional aspect of digital comics is, as you suggest, extremely important, and is a demanding ongoing exercise. With printed books, once they are in the shops then the shops are out selling them for the publisher every day. With digital the publisher (or platform owner, in our case) has to be doing that -- through advertising, social media, events, promotions etc.

downthetubes: While generating revenues on the iPad and related Apple platforms seems a given, purchases on other platforms (Android, for example) seem slow in comparison. Do you think there's still a resistance to the concept that digital creations have intrinsic value?

Russell: The stats at the end of last year indicated that for every four iOS apps sold only one Android app was sold. And this is despite Android having a larger installed base. The demographics of Android device owners and iOS device owners has been quite different, and simply put, Android owners tend to buy less stuff, are younger, and more inclined to settle for free stuff.

With regard to digital creations having less intrinsic value, I think that part of the reason for that is that so much digital is of less intrinsic value. Publishers shovel stuff into ePubs or put out apps that work incredibly badly. One point of pride that we have about our apps is that they are often described as "deluxe" "coffee table" apps, which is exactly what we intended. Getting them like that involved sweating hundreds if not thousands of details. 

I think when people use our apps, they do perceive the value. Our problem is that all the crap that gets put out means that people are very wary. 

SEQUENTIAL, being a container app, should partly solve that problem as they can download it for free, try out a free app and get a real sense of the value that we are providing before they purchase.

downthetubes: What one piece of advice do you regularly give new comic creators?

Russell: I don't think I've ever had the opportunity to give a new comic creator any advice. But if I am in that position, I would suggest that people ensure that they have a strong social media following. If there are two artists of equal merit and one has 10,000 Twitter followers, then choosing which artist to publish just got a lot easier. (And that advice is advice I need to take too!)

• Download SEQUENTIAL for free from the iTunes here

• Read an interview with Russell about SEQUENTIAL by Paul Gravett

• Read our 2008 interview with Russell about his early days publishing INFINITY

From Hell gets a Companion

Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell occupies a monumental place in the history of the graphic novel: a Victorian masterpiece of murder and madness which has won numerous awards, spawned a major Hollywood film, and remained a favourite of readers around the world for over two decades.

In May, Knockabout Comics and Top Shelf Productions will publish The From Hell Companion, an astonishing selection of Alan Moore's original scripts and sketches for the landmark graphic novel, with copious annotations, commentary, and illustrations by Eddie Campbell.

Included in the Companion for the first time are a set of pages, including some of Moore's greatest writing, which have never been seen by anyone except his collaborator. Joining them are Campbell's first-hand accounts of the project's decade-long development, complete with photos, anecdotes, disagreements, and wry confessions.

Arranged in narrative order, these perspectives form a fascinating mosaic, the publishers say the book offers "an opportunity to read From Hell with fresh eyes, and a tour inside the minds of two giants of their field."

• The From Hell Companion by Eddie Campbell and Alan Moore; 288-page paperback with flaps (with 32-page full-colour insert); £19.99; ISBN 9780861661848

• More info: www.knockabout.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Knockabout
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/KnockaboutComix

Fanfare, Knockabout Comics and K9 team up for San Diego!

The annual pilgrimage that is San Diego Comic-Con has begun anew for many creators and British-Spanish publisher Ponent Mon/Fanfare has dropped us a line to tell us about  lots of interesting products they'll have at the show from a host of UK based producers, including some fun for the kids.

Basing operations from Booth 2102, their newest title on offer at the event will be Summit of the Gods volume 3, a story set around the disappearance of mountaineers Mallory and Irvine on Everest’s North-East ridge in 1924, leaving behind them the mystery of who was first to reach its summit. You can view the first chapter here. Volume 4 is on target for the end of the year.

Knockabout Comics will be sharing the table with issues of Alan Moore's magazine Dodgem Logic and their latest releases in books including the quirky look at money, Lovely Horrible Stuff from Eddie Campbell (Alec, From Hell).

American comic fans will also be able to check out Neil Gibson's 'Twisted Dark' series of books, short tales with that certain twist and a whole series of wonderful new (to me) artists. All three volumes will be available at the booth and a few of his 'soon to be launched' colour comic Tortured Life. You can read 'Tortured Life' for free on Neil's site.

Fanfare's secret weapon for 2012 is that endearing and endurable K9 (www.k9official.com) mechanical dog who first appeared in the 1977 episode of Doctor Who entitled The Invisible Enemy with the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and Leela (Louise Jameson). He now has his own brand new TV series created by Bob Baker and Paul Tams and featuring the voice of the original actor, John Leeson. Here's a complete episode guide of the first series.

It was announced recently that it will show this autumn on BBC Kids in Canada and Fanfare will announce the US channel which will air the show on San Diego Preview Night, Wednesday 11th July.

If you are at San Diego, drop by booth 2102 to discover who that is and pick up one (or both!) of our show exclusives: "Top Dog" Tshirt with front and back design (the back is secret until Wednesday) and the detailed 4" collector's resin figurine with signed/numbered collector card.

Horrible Stuff coming from Eddie Campbell!

Top Shelf and Knockabout are to co-publish Eddie Campbell's new book The Lovely Horrible Stuff!, a delightful autobiographical voyage into the financial wilderness, ranging from the imaginary wealth of Ponzi schemes to the all-too-tangible stone currency of the Micronesian island of Yap.

This is no dry and dusty treatise on finance; any complexities are pleasingly reduced to the level of bubblegum trading cards. In here you will hear about the corporation that Campbell keeps under his bed; you will meet colorful historical characters and be taken on dangerous shark-infested sea adventures; and after that, we will all plunge to the depths to retrieve our loose change

Campbell's wry eye and vivid full-colour artwork imbue the proceedings with real humanity, making The Lovely Horrible Stuff an investment that's worth every penny.

The 96-page hardcover edition is being offered in the current Diamond Previews catalogue (order code MAR12-1193), along with re-offers of the autobiographical epic Alec: The Years Have Pants and the colourfully quiet comedy about the creative life, The Playwright.

Take the chance to fill out your Eddie Campbell library!

 

Eddie Campbell award nomination prompts Dapper John offer

As many readers here may already know, ace artist Eddie Campbell has been nominated to receive the Angouleme Festival's Essential Prize at this year's festival for his "Alec" work.

To celebrate, new digital publisher Panel Nine is selling Eddie Campbell's Dapper John graphic novel for the iPad for 50% off through the end of January --  to coincide with the festival. The app is normally £6.99 but is now  £2.99. ($9.99 down to $4.99)

Angouleme (http://bdangouleme.com/english/), the "Festival International de la Bande Dessinee" is Europe's largest and most prestigious comics festival and Angouleme's Essential Prize is given to artists for works that are considered, well, essential.


Other English language authors nominated for prizes at Angouleme include Dan Clowes, Craig Thompson and Joe Sacco..

Dapper John has received excellent reviews: here, we at DTT we think it's excellent app with great content - certainly one of he best presentations of comics on the iPad I’ve seen; while artist and writer David Hine describes it as “A really enjoyable collection" and highly recommends it.”

“More than just another comic strip. The definitive version of Eddie Campbell’s early work," said Dave Hornsby.

Eddie Campbell's "Dapper John" stories released on iPad

Panel Nine, a new digital comics imprint set up by Hong Kong-based iEnglish.com run by a longtime British comics supporter, has just released a superb iPad edition of Dapper John, one of Eddie Campbell's earliest comic strips.

It's a fabulous package collecting all of the "Ace Club" stories in one place and adding a whole bunch of extras.

When Alan Moore first saw Eddie Campbell’s In the Days of the Ace Rock ’n’ Roll Club in 1982, he wrote, “Eddie Campbell is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting talents, amateur or professional, working in comics at the moment.”

It was the start of a beautiful relationship. Dapper John was an inspiration for John Constantine from Swamp Thing. And it was with Eddie Campbell that Moore created the magnificent From Hell (later adapted by Hollywood with Johnny Depp in the starring role).

Campbell, of course, is now recognised as one of the world’s most talented comics artists, with his Alec stories included in the Comics Journal’s list of the 100 most important comics published. His graphic novels The Fate of the Artist, Bacchus, and The Playwright have all drawn great critical acclaim.

Last published in 1993, the Ace Club stories here follow the lives of a group of teddy boys in Southend in the 1970s – characters who could mythologise their walk down the street before they got to the end of it. The stories are a direct precursor to Campbell’s Alec series and are essential reading for any Campbell fan.

"In the Days of the Ace Rock'n'Roll Club was a book, or an ongoing series of sevn-page stories which I drew between March 1978 and March 1979," says Eddie. "The stories interlocked in various ways, with characters from one piece showing up in another. The 'arc', as we say nowadays, came to a logical conclusion after the eighth story, by which time Dapper John had emerged as the main character. A proto-Alec MacGarry appears as the second key character.

"It was in these pages that I started to get the idea of using autobiography as a starting point for a big serious book."

Eddie created new artwork and wrote a special introduction for this new iPad edition, and a whole raft of notes and captions covering the era in which Dapper John strode the small press stage.

The app itself is excellent, offering different ways of reading the strip - a version aping its original layout and a slick 'panel by panel' version with a very well thought out scrolling action involving movement from frame at some points and at other times, a simole cross fade which make for an enjoyable reading experience.

The strips themselves are raw Eddie Campbell at his finest - vignettes of life among the 'Teddy Boys' of Brighton, the stories themselves given entertaining context thanks to accompanying notes, offering a fascinating insight into the heady days of Fast Fiction, early photocopied comics sold at Westminter comic marts and more.

All in all, this is an excellent app with great content - certainly one of he best presentations of comics on the iPad I've seen and up there with my other iPad bench mark, the 'Mirabilis' app.

Panel Nine will be publishing more comics on iPad in the coming months. "We will have two lines," says Russell Willis, who longtime British comic fans may recall as one of the ground-breaking figures in indie comc publishing back in the 1980s (read an interview on downthetubes here).

"One publishes some of  the best comics work already existing work in deluxe digital graphic novels for the iPad, and the other is to commission new work that is created with the iPad in mind from the beginning.

"Our team here in Tokyo has developed what we think is the best graphic novel reader on the market," he enthuses, "giving a much better user experience than market leaders such as Comixology and other comics reader platforms."

More news as things develop.

• Buy the App from iTunes

• More about Dapper John on Eddie Campbell's blog

• Panel Nine official web site: www.panelnine.com

Gaiman, Eddie Campbell at Sydney Opera House - no, really...

 Above: One of the images from GRAPHIC's Neil Gaiman competition, which ran on Facebook.

(with thanks to Peter Stanbury): Neil Gaiman will appear at Australia's Sydney Opera House in August, 'performing' in what can only be described as a unique collaboration of words, comic art (by Eddie Campbell) and music as part of a wider Graphic Festival at the world-renowned venue.

Regular readers of downthetubes already know that comic books, illustration, animation, music, multimedia and other new ways of telling stories have not only changed the face of our popular culture, they now define it. Graphic novels and comic art are now a leading source of inspiration for films, television, clothing, designers, musicians and artists the world over.

GRAPHIC at the Sydney Opera House will be celebrating this brave new world in a weekend of specially commissioned productions – with musical responses to graphic art and stories, workshops, panels, a film festival, a games exhibition and an animation competition.

Part of this major Australian event will see a world first; British Sandman and Neverwhere author Neil Gaiman reading aloud the previously unreleased story "The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains”, in the spectacular surrounds of the Opera House Concert Hall.

The Opera House have commissioned renowned artist Eddie Campbell (whose work includes From Hell, Bacchus and Alec, to name but a few) to illustrate the story, while the FourPlay String Quartet have been commissioned to create an entirely new underscore to the tale.

FourPlay shot to prominence in Australia and Europe in the very late 1990’s as a unique musical phenomenon – an indie rock band that just happened to be a string quartet.

Kevin Smith and Gary Groth are also appearing at the GRAPHIC weekend, while other highlight events include the Anime classic Akira with a live rescore by Regurgitator; and Shaun Tan’s The Arrival live scored by Ben Walsh and the Orkestra of the Underground.

• This Neil Gaiman event will take place on 7th August 2010 - you might want to tell your Australian friends or check out information here on the Sydney Opera House web site.


• More about the GRAPHIC Festival at www.sydneyoperahouse.com/about/program_graphic.aspx or click here to download a PDF of the festival program from the Opera House web site

• GRAPHIC on Facebook 

• The GRAPHIC Festival ran an online animation competition in the run up to the event and you can view the winners here

Campbell at ComICA 2009

Mark it in your calendar: Eddie Campbell is the first confirmed international guest for the Comica Festival ‘09.

Over from Australia, Eddie will be in conversation with a special guest on Saturday 7th November, 7pm to 9.00pm in the Nash Room at the ICA, and then signing books afterwards, in particular his new 640-page compilation Alec: The Years Have Pants.

Published by Top Shelf, the book collects the whole saga, including the early episodes first serialised in Escape Magazine and three Escape graphic novels.

Earlier that Saturday -- between 2 and 4.00pm -- he’ll also be signing at the London comic shop Gosh!.

(Via The Fate of the Artist.)

Tube Surfing: Saturday 28th March 2009

• British comics creator Sean Michael Wilson, whose recent credits include writer for Classicial Comics upcoming Canterville Ghost (out in November) and Sweeney Todd (out next year) adaptations, has become, we believe, perhaps the first British creator to have a comic on Japanese mobile phones (comic strip on mobile is known as Keitai manga in Japan).
"A Japanese language version of my Lafcadio Hearns Japanese Ghost Stories book is now out in Japan, in two formats," Sean, who lives in Japan, told downthetubes. "As an e-book and an edition for mobile phones. Both formats are big business in Japan." More on this story on our dedicated Mobile Comics blog

• Eddie Campbell has posted a snippet of an interview with Alan Moore from back in 2000 in which he talks about his take on what happened to Big Numbers, whose never-published third issue surfaced on e-bay in January, albeit only as photocopies (see news story). Alan seems to clearly have wanted to try again with the project with issue 1, but also recognizes the impracticalities of that. "I don't see any way that I can resurrect it as a comic strip," he told Blather.net. "I mean, what do I do? Do I actually sort of say "Yeah, we've got a great new artist, are we going to start from #1 again but this time, no, buy it, because this time we really will get to issue #12." I mean, I wouldn't buy that if I heard it from somebody who'd kind of failed twice to do what he said he was going to do." Eddie also thinks he's uncovered art from #4, featured in this post on his blog.

• Talking of Alan Moore, Pádraig Ó Méalóid has transcribed and kindly sent us a draft copy of his wide-ranging interview with the comic creator, scheduled to feature on the Forbidden Planet International blog soon. It's a doozy, with plenty on the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen including plans for the next tale to centre on a group of superheroes, projects such as The Bumper Book of Magic, his novel, Jerusalem and confirms that a new Bojeffries Saga, which is being right now by Steve Parkhouse, is in the works and will be released as part of a collection of al the Bojeffries strips!

• DFC contributor Sarah McIntyre has offered a bit of 'Vern and Lettuce' back story on her LiveJournal, and tells us an Oxford Literature Festival panel on Saturday 4 April about the project is still going ahead. It should a chance to ask questions of David Fickling and several creators (Robin and Lorenzo Etherington, Sarah and John Aggs) what happens next... All participating children will receive a free copy of The DFC. More info here

• (via Kasterberous): How do you know if you’re in a parallel world? This week’s issue of Doctor Who Adventures, out now, is a parallel worlds special. Discover what happened when a sinister fortune teller made Donna rewrite history in last year’s episode Turn Left. You can also find out about all the weird alternate realities in Doctor Who – and learn how to see if you have strayed into one by accident. The issue comes with a free set of badges and a model time watch as worn by companion Donna.

• With Accent UK's 2009 graphic anthology Western now available (buy a copy now), Lee Robson has decided to indulge in some some shameless self-promotion for the the strip A Fistful Of Steam Valves (by him and Bryan Coyle) which features in the very pages of that book and featured a couple of the story's steampunk designs on his blog.

• And finally... London-based publisher NoBrow has released its first book, Gods and Monsters, and is running an exhibition in May of some of the art. More info here. The diverse contributors were hand picked for their unique styles and all were invited to generate work based on the theme. Some are up and coming, others are plucked from unexpected places, but as you'll see if you follow some of the liks below, all are talented: Dave Taylor, Alex Spiro, Sam Arthur, Jordan Crane, Emiliano Ponzi, A. Richard Allen, Jens Harder, Reuben Rude, Benjamin Guedel, Eda Akaltun, Matthieu Bessudo, Caspar Williamson, Toby Leigh, Alex Bland, Ben Newman, Nick White, Stuart Kolakovic, Sarah King, Leah Hayes, Paul Blow, Bjorn Rune Lie, Brett Ryder , Carl Johanson and Blexbolex.

(Compiled with thanks to Matthew Badham, Sarah McIntyre and Pádraig Ó Méalóid)

Tube Surfing: 27 October 2008

• Comics artist Neil Edwards sent us a sneak peek from an upcoming Iron Man strip for Panin's new Marvel Heroes. Here's a panel from the strip, which see Iron Man battling more than one costumed hero.

• Hot on the heels of our foray into British girls comics with our feature by Jenny McDade on wriitng for Tammy, Artist Sean Phillips has just posted some pages for his The Secret of Penny Farthing he drew for Bunty, aged just 16. Here's the first post, and the second... The first part was inked by Ken Houghton who pencilled and inked the first episode, then Sean took over pencils for the rest of the story.

• Theres' a new episode of the brilliant FreakAngels online from Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield, with Warren suggesting this might be a good starting point for those of you who haven't read it before. (I went and read it and am not so sure, but maybe he's hinting at things to come...)

• Determined that more people should subscribe to The DFC, Neill Cameron has posted the first episode of his gorgeous school strip Mo-Bot High, on his blog.

• The first part of a new interview with Starship Troopers writer Cy Dethan has just been posted on SciFi Pulse. Well worth a read if you're an aspiring wirtyer or artist as Cy offers some useful comment on breaking into the business.

• (via Lew Stringer): Another popular British comics artist is no longer with us. Ken Hunter, whose strips adorned many issues of The Topper and The Beezer died on October 20th aged 91. Our sympathies to his family and friends.

• Steve Holland has profiled Valiant anti-hero One-Eyed Jack, brought to life by John Cooper, over on Bear Alley.

• Artist Tim Perkins has posted some designs for his strip for Hot Wheels comic on his blog. The comic is published by Oldham-based Lucky Bag and the strips written by former Marvel UK and IPC editor Ian Rimmer.

• (via BugPowder): Phill Elliott, who really should have become far more famous, is posting his Tales From Gimbley online, starting with his earliest work and continuing one a day until up to the most recent. The Tales From Gimbley strips were printed around the world, but most of them appeared in Phill's own self-published titles which had very limited print-runs so many of the strips you'll find on this site have been lost in transit.
" This could almost be considered one of the founding documents of the UK small-press movement of the 1980s, I suspect," comments Eddie Campbell on his blog, who also offer a rare insight into the original small press boom back then. "The thing about the original small press comics scene is that there was a seeking to make comics into a kind of café thing. The exciting challenge was to make the medium interact with the regular passing parade.
"Objects were creatively undefined, and poetry music and mail-art were in the mix. Getting an exhibition in a coffee house or a Mayfair gallery, or a review or interview in the music press or in an arts context, or selling stuff at the Saturday open air market or at CND rallies were a few of our opportunities to connect, as I recall."

• Ellerbisms from Marc Ellerby is now online on its own dedicated site at www.ellerbisms.com and well worth a visit. Marc’s promising regularly updated strips Monday and Thursday and has moved all his previous Ellerbisms previously found on his Live Journal to this new site.

• US comics site Newsarama currently has a long, ongoing 10-part interview with Grant Morrison his recently finished and quite brilliant All Star Superman. Here's Part One

Top Shelf Sale!

To celebrate The Surrogates movie wrapping principal photography, surviving San Diego ComicCon, and all the cool new summer and fall releases, for the next ten days -- through Friday 12th September -- Top Shelf, a regular US retailer and publisher at major British comics festivals, is having a giant $3 graphic novel web sale.

If you haven't visited Top Shelf's site before, you're in for a treat. This US retailer carries a huge range of indie graphic novels, including the work of creators such as Alan Moore, Eddie Campbell, Gary Spencer Millidge (Strangehaven) and Glen Dakin and many more.

During this sale period, when you visit the site, you'll find over 125 graphic novels and comics
on sale -- with 90 titles marked down to just $3 and a slew of other key titles just slashed!

Included in the sale are several issues of the brilliant Comic Book Artist Magazine, with issues profiling the work of talents such as Will Eisner (the double-sized memorial issue), Howard Chaykin, the wonderful Alex Nino, Darwyn Cooke, and Frank Cho.

There's plenty of Eddie Campbell titles in the sale, including several of his Alec collections such as The King Canute Crowd , along with Alan Moore & Jose Villarruba's The Mirror of Love and Glen Dakin's Abe: Wrong for the Right Reasons.

Also in the sale -- although not for $3 but definitely at a good price -- are the store's last 50 copies of Top Shelf's slipcase deluxe edition of Alan Moore's Lost Girls and a hardcover edition of From Hell.

"All we ask is that you hit a $30 minimum on sale and/or non-sale items (before shipping)," says owner Chris Staros. "It's a great opportunity to load up on all those graphic novels you've wanted to try, but just never got around to picking up."

Get 'em while supplies last!. To go directly to the list of items on sale, just click here: www.topshelfcomix.com/specialdeals

• For those wondering about The Surrogates, the sci-fi tale web site IGN described as "The Best Indie Book of the year", it's a highly acclaimed five-issue comic book series written by Robert Venditti, drawn by Brett Weldele, and published by Top Shelf Productions (Here's a link to the Top Shelf collection). A sequel, The Surrogates 2.0: Flesh and Bone, is scheduled for 2009. Directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Bruce Willis The Surrogates film is scheduled to be released in the US on 20 November 2009.

The story is set in the year 2054, when life has been reduced to a data feed. The fusing of virtual reality and cybernetics has ushered in the era of the personal surrogate, android substitutes that let users interact with the world without ever leaving their homes. It's a perfect world, and it's up to Detectives Harvey Greer and Pete Ford of the Metro Police Department to keep it that way. But to do so they’ll need to stop a techno-terrorist bent on returning society to a time when people lived their lives instead of merely experiencing them.

In the tradition of William Gibson and Philip K. Dick, Top Shelf describe The Surrogates as more than just an action story with sci-fi trappings. Applying familiar tropes in unfamiliar ways, The Surrogates is about progress and whether there exists a tipping point at which technological advancement will stop enhancing and start hindering our lives. It is also a commentary on identity, the Western obsession with physical appearance, and the growing trend to use science as a means of providing consumers with beauty on demand.

The Surrogates collection includes all five issues of the critically-acclaimed comic book miniseries. Packed with bonus content, inside you will find never-before-seen sketches and artwork, as well as commentary from the creative team that brought this breakout story to the page.

• Buy The Surrogates from Top Shelf