The Sixpenny Murder comic: an interview with John A. Short

The Sixpenny Murder is a new British comic written by John A. Short and drawn by David Hitchcock. Originally part of a project named Changing Places+ devised by a psychologist, it's now available from John's own comics company, Kult Kreations and in comic stores nationwide.

David Robertson speaks with John A.Short about the comic and what’s coming up for Kult Kreations...

David Robertson: How did the Sixpenny Murder comic come about?

John A. Short: Just as Emily (and Laurence) describe in their section of the editorial. Emily, who's a psychologist,  had been using a sequence out of Mark Millar's 'Ultimates' when she was working with families involved in domestic abuse and when she came to start a programme for those involved in street crime she looked for something similar. Finding nothing ready made (like the 'Ultimates' scene) she decided to commission a piece to do a similar job.

She had read the story about 'The Tithebarn Street Outrage' [which concerns a couple, Richard and Alice Morgan who were suddenly attacked by street thugs on the 1874 August Bank Holiday] in the book The Gangs of Liverpool and came to me to turn it into a comic version. She asked my advice as to who should draw it and I brought David Hitchcock to her attention (after all there is no one better at drawing Victoriana!)

Emily worked very closely with me on the writing side of things, as she has worked with young offenders while she was with the probation system (both here and in the States) and knows their minds inside out.

David: To what extent have you all been involved with comics before now?

John: I have been working professionally in comics since 2003. I created the strips Rex! and Robin Hoodie for Egmont's TOXIC Magazine, as well as having scripted the Hunt Emerson created on-line comic strip Ardnox High for education websites. I have also had strips printed in America, France, Holland, Spain, Italy and Poland. Before turning professional I produced a number of self-published comics for the direct comics market both here and in the States, such as Armageddon Patrol, Loxley and the award-winning 'Octobriana' mini-series under the Revolution Comics banner.

David Hitchcock has drawn (and often written) a number of critically acclaimed small press titles such as Whitechapel Freak, Springheeled Jack and more recently the [award-winning] Madam Samurai.

Emily and Laurence Alison are psychologists not known for their comic work!

David: What is “Changing Places +”?

John: Now you're really getting in to areas that it's better to ask Emily Alison about, but Changing Places+ is a 16-week programme paid for by local authorities and run by Emily Alison which works with young people from inner cities who are in danger of becoming involved in knife crime, street crime and gang culture. The Sixpenny Murder is read and talked about during the course of the programme, but is only a small part of the overall thing (but, I'm told, a very popular part!)

David: Was it always part of the plan for it to be on sale through Diamond Previews as well as being part of this social program? It exists nicely as a comic in its own right as well as being an “information booklet” for kids.

John: It wasn't part of the original plan to be available to comic shops. After David completed the eight-page strip art it became clear to me that comics fans would want to see the strip too and we started to talk about making it into a little comic too. Professor Laurence Alison also liked this idea and sprung for the extra money to fund David doing a cover too.

A page from Sixpenny Murder

At first I wasn't sure that we'd be able to get it into Previews as I'd heard from friends of mine who still publish a lot of small press comics that it has got a lot harder in the past eight years or so since I published anything myself... And indeed, Diamond didn't want to list it for American shops (but then it is very British looking.)

David: Have you had any word on how sales are going in the UK?

John: Almost all of the first printing has sold out... Nearly 300 copies.

David: That’s quite heartening actually. There is a market for self-published British comics, even it’s a small one. What kind of research did you do for writing the book?

John: Almost all the research was done from the book 'The Gangs of Liverpool' where Emily found the story of 'The Tithebarn Street Outrage'. I think chapters one through six in the book cover the case. Apart from that all the research was done on-line for things like the geography of where the crime took place and the wider impact around it.

David: What other projects are coming up for Kult Kreations?

A recent Ardnox High strip
written by John, drawn by
Alex Paterson. More strips here

John: I set up Kult Creations to publish stuff of mine for the 'comics fan' market last year. I realised that since I had gone fully professional I had lost touch with the audience that used to read my work back in my small press/self-publishing days (1995-2004) and I had become invisible. I thought things like The Sixpenny Murder and Cross (a strip that appeared in the Mammoth Book of Best New Manga Vol 2) would be of interest to editors and fans in the direct comics market, but that they weren't seeing it. So Kult Creations came into being as a way of showing comics fans what I was now up to.

Obviously things like Cross and my Armageddon Patrol title might have more legs to go forward into new areas (bigger publishers, media deals and so forth) and I realised Kult Creations would be a handy way of putting those things back in front of the publics eyes.

So Kult Creations isn't designed to be a big publishing house itself, but a stepping stone to more interest.

Kult Creations (and I) are currently working on a few new projects like The Clock Strikes! - which is a revival of the first masked hero in comic books 'The Clock' who is now in the public domain. The Clock Strikes! will be out late this year (or early next year) written by myself and drawn by Vincent Danks (of Harker comic fame.)

David: Good luck with those ventures, John.

• The Sixpenny Murder is also available online through http://kultcreations.blogspot.com

Absence comic offers insights on epilepsy

Writer Andy Luke and artist Stephen Downey have recently released Absence, a comic book based on Andy's experiences over 30 years adapting to a life with epilepsies: puberty, first jobs, college and “sorting it out”.

10,000 copies of the booklet have been produced and distributed with funding from the UnLtd Millennium Award Scheme and the strip has also been adapted as a digital application free-of-charge by OxiComics.com and can also be read online at www.absencecomic.com

Andy Luke is a Belfast resident, a writer who draws. He mostly self-publishes with works including Bob’s, TRS2, Gran, Optimus and Me and Don’t Get Lost, and sells his comics direct to the public at locations around the UK.

Stephen Downey is a Belfast based comicbook artist and illustrator who has worked with Titan Publishing, AAM/Markosia, Atomic Diner, Heske Horror, Comic a Gael, Insomnia Publications and Beserker to bring his comics and artwork to the masses. He's the co-creator of Cancertown and the recently-released Slaughterman’s Creed, both with Cy Dethan.

Order a print edition or download a copy here

You may also wish to contact the organisation Epilepsy Action: www.epilepsy.org.uk

Build Your Own Miniature Hadron Collider!

Wacky comic creator Paul O'Connell is up to more zany antics, this time offering advice on how to join in with Europe's Mega Science revolution...

Can't wait to find out what will happen when they finally get the Large Hadron Collider working properly? Well, now you dont have to! Simply follow the step-by-step instructions to build your very own Miniature Hadron Collider and in a Flash! you too will be able to enjoy all the thrills and spills of particle science without ever having to leave your armchair... all for just the ridiculously low price of just £1.50!

This sounds like just the kind of title you'd expect to find on sale at Caption next weekend...

Paul O'Connell is a writer and graphic artist whose work has appeared in various international books, magazines and comic collections as well as in his self published comic series 'The Sound of Drowning'. He's often seen working with other crazy comic creatives such as Nelson Evergreen, Alex Sheikman, James Corcoran, Leo Hartas, Faz Choudhury and many others.

To change the way you think about the world forever go to: www.soundofdrowning.com/books.html

Macbeth - The Interactive Motion Comic!

(With thanks to Birmingham Mail's "Speech Balloons"): British publisher Classical Comics has just launched a series of interactive motion comics, starting with its award-winning Macbeth.

"It's been nearly a year in the making -- and still isn't quite finished!" say the company, who will be attending the UK Education Show to promote their entire comics range this week.

The Interactive Motion Comic features the wonderful artwork of Jon Haward (who has just been interviewed over on Imagine Daily) and offers all three text versions of our Macbeth graphic novel (Original, Plain and Quick Text) on disc - a format designed to give teachers and students "the very best environment" in which to experience the play. The format lets viewers choose to view one panel at a time or sit back and watch in movie mode and includes context notes for the Shakespearean language.

Not only do you see the characters from one of Shakespeare's best-loved tragedies move, but you also hear them speak in a full audio production that includes the vocal talents of the wonderful
Juliet Stevenson (Truly, Madly, Deeply, Bend It Like Beckham, The Snow Queen) and the eminent Sir Derek Jacobi (I, Claudius, Hamlet, Doctor Who).

"We've taken the stunning artwork of Macbeth and created an Interactive Motion Comic featuring all three text versions in one engaging visual and audio experience!, " Creative Director Jo Wheeler told the Birmingham Mail.

"It's ideal for whole class teaching, for small groups, or for personalised learning.

"The concept of Classical Comics is truly inspirational, creating, as it does so magnificently, an accessible and fascinating mix of visual and audible drama," says Jacobi of the Classical Comics range. "The stage and the page brought vividly to life.

"The artwork of Jon Haward is both dramatically compelling and beautifully illustrative. His pictures illuminate the words to perfection and bring these great works leaping to mind and eye.

• To view an online demonstration visit: www.classicalcomics.com/imacbeth

• Classical Comics online at: www.classicalcomics.com

Tube Surfing: Comics Good for You, Superhero Homage in 2000AD... and Moore

Yes, we know we haven't done one of these for a while: juggling work for ROK Comics and Titan Books as well as a few other things is proving a welcome but all-consuming challenge most days of the week...

• Chris Weston reports on his new 2000AD Future Shock, "Whatever Happened to the Green Pedestrian Palm?", which appears in 2000AD's Christmas issue, Prog 2010, on sale 16 December 2009. "It is cearly inspired by the star of Seventies Public Information Films, The Green Cross Code Man, whose previous comic-strip exploits were handled by The Govenor himself, Mr. Dave Gibbons..." Expect some merry mickey taking of merchandise superheroes, including Mr. Muscle.

• Comics Are Good For You: but that's the message from Carol L. Tilley, a professor of library and information science at the University of Illinois, who insists that looking down upon graphic novels as being inept at benefiting the children is a mistake. She argues comic books are as valuable as any other form of literature to be a part of children's education. So ditch those books and break out the Beano now!

"A lot of the criticism of comics and comic books come from people who think that kids are just looking at the pictures and not putting them together with the words," Tilley said. "Some kids, yes. But you could easily make some of the same criticisms of picture books -- that kids are just looking at pictures, and not at the words." More on this story here on Science Daily.

• We're sorry to report the passing of Belgian Josette Baujot, who has died aged 88, was responsible for colouring Hergé's Tintin albums for more than a quarter of a century during the peak years of his popularity, and established the "colour code" that helped take Tintin far beyond Belgium and France to an international audience. Phil Davison pays tribute to the colourist in The Guardian here.

• Tweeters out there will be pleased to hear that the comics charity Draw the World Together is now on Twitter! Follow its work there

• Comics-related podcast Small Press Big Mouth dropped by CD24's table at BICS 2009, and bought a copy of the Jack in the Box graphic novel. There's an audio review on episode 11 of their podcast, and they've got some really nice things to say about the book and are "infectiously enthusiastic" about the comics scene in general, and you may find some rather cool recommendations (apart from Jack in the Box) if you're stuck for something to read!

• And finally... for those of you who are fans of Alan Moore but are not necessarily on the Alan Moore Yahoo! Group mailing list, Pádraig Ó Méalóid tells us there has recently been a YouTube channel set up to collect all of Alan's appearances that are on YouTube. "We're still adding things to it, so it's by no means complete and definitive," says Padraig, "but it's a good start, at the very least.

"One of the things I'd particularly draw your attention to is the most recent posting, under the name of Alan Moore Swamp Thing Interview. A wee while back I bought a video on eBay which turned out to be something he'd done for DC in about 1985, which I believe was for showing in comics shops and the like, where Alan talks very enthusiastically about his work on Swamp Thing, and about his forthcoming work on Watchmen. With the help of a few different people, I got this put up on YT, as I'm no good with technical stuff, and anyway it's a US video. It's kind of sad to see how enthused he is there, compared to how he feels now after how we was treated by DC."

Classics Illustrated Returns to UK

Classics Illustrated, comic adaptations of classic novels, are back in publication in the UK for the first time since 1970. The Classic Comic Store re-launched the Classics Illustrated series this week.

Not to be confused with British publisher Classcial Comics' full length graphic novels, these new Classic Comic editions feature re-coloured artwork with digitally enhanced covers and are available from newsagents such as WH Smiths, Borders and other leading retailers throughout the UK.

The comics will also be in stores in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Republic of Ireland.

Published monthly, the first issue, released this week, are The War of the Worlds and Snow White, followed by Oliver Twist and The Ugly Duckling in October. The new issues, annual subscriptions and back issues are available from the Classic Comic website.

The relaunch of the famous brand began back in In 2002 when Jaak Jarve, trading as Jack Lake Productions Inc., acquired the publishing rights to the Classics Illustrated series and re-introduced Classics Illustrated Juniors, Classics Illustrated and Classics Illustrated Special Issues to a new generation of readers. The aim of the relaunch is to help increase literacy levels in our young people by engaging them in great literature delivered in stunning graphic form.

Classiccomicstore.com is a website and business dedicated to providing information and reference material about Classics Illustrated as well as supplying some of the loveliest comic books produced from the 1940s through to the late 1980s.

"I have been supplying vintage copies of this wonderful series since 2000 to hundreds of collectors across the world," says Jeff Brooks, Publisher and MD of Classic Comic Store, "and I'm sure that the time is right to re-introduce them to new generations of readers.

"The original artwork remains as the true benchmark by which the Graphic novel is measured and we are sure that this wonderful series will captivate people everywhere - whatever age."

• Click here to subscribe to the UK Classics Illustrated
• Visit Classical Comics, the British publisher of new full length graphic adapatations of Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and more

New Anti Doping Comic from UNESCO

Just launched on the UNESCO Social and Human Sciences website is a new weekly comic by Mychailo Kazybrid which aims to promote the battle against doping in sport.

Published by UNESCO in partnership with EDGE G3 Ltd., The Case of the Spoilsports, published in English, Spanish and French, stars Rattus Holmes and his assistant Dr. Felis Watson and dramatizes UNESCO's anti-doping role and explores the importance of the International Convention against Doping in Sport, adopted by UNESCO's member states in 2005.

The characters come from the pen of Sheffield artist, Mychailo Kazybrid who has been involved in the cartoon and comic book industry for over 30 years, with work covering a variety of licensed characters from Shaun the Sheep, Wallace & Gromit, The Tick to Duckula, Dangermouse and the Bash St. Kids, to name but a few. He also publishes his own strip, Do-Do Man, on the comics-to-mobile service ROK Comics.

"When Ed Chatelier of EDGE G3 Ltd, provided the script, he wanted something different, and the idea was to take a new approach to something that was already well known." Mychailo explains. "So we came up with the pets of the famous having an encounter with pets of the infamous, with my partner, Sarah Sier naming the characters. When the rat and cat belonging to Holmes and Watson have to take on the evil bird of Moriarty, anything could happen!"

With the colour work produced by fellow artist Richard Thomas the story is in five chapters, published weekly.

Inspired by the famous detective stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, it will trace how twin athletes react differently to the pressures of competitive sport. One gives in immediately to the pressure put on him by his trainer and teammates, while the other athlete suffers as a result of the use of performance enhancing drugs by his competitors. From one sports event to the next, the plot will lead us to the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Having also produced Rattus Holmes and the Case of the World Water Crisis, artwork is already being put together for the character's third adventure.

• View the strip on the UNESCO Social and Human Sciences website

Read More Calvin and Hobbes, Government Urges

(with thanks to Matthew Badham for the initial lead): The British government says young boys should be encouraged to read Calvin and Hobbes and comic-book annuals such as the Dandy and Beano to get them into the reading habit young and help them to keep up with girls' at school.

That's the message from government adviser Chris Brown, reported in several newspapers including The Times, a retired head teacher and author of Primary Boys into Books, a new reading report commissioned by the Government that's part of a £5 million government scheme to get more boys reading sooner and trying new books.

Jeff Smith's Bone: The Great Cow Race, Kazu Kibuishi's Flight, Michael Carroll's Sakkara (New Heroes), David Petersen's Mouse Guard title Fall 1152 and Art Spiegelman's It Was A Dark and Silly Night are just some of the comic or comic related titles in the extensive reading list, along with Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes collection, Scientific Progress Goes Boink.

The report, part of the "Riveting Reads" series published under the auspices of the School Library Association, includes many comic-style or graphic books in a list of the Top 200 new works he has drawn up for 5 to 11-year-old boys, along with novels about espionage, ghosts and aliens -- but not ‘The Famous Five’, ‘Just William’ or even the ever-popular Roald Dahl books.

Neil Gaiman's Coraline, Mirrormask and The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish are among the selected novels, as

Brown argues such books had great appeal for many boys and could be of enormous educational benefit because they stimulated visual responses to the pictures as well as intellectual responses to the words, he said. He regretted that schools and parents dismissed them too often as not being "proper books".

Statistics show that boys are ten percentage points behind girls in English at Key Stage 2. Ministers hope that better reading habits among boys will help close the gender gap. A recent evaluation of Every Child a Reader (ECaR), a programme of intensive literacy support for children who are struggling, shows that it is possible to close the reading gap between young boys and girls.

• The booklist is available exclusively online on the SLA website as a searchable database and also as a downloadable PDF version.
• More on Boys into Books can be found at: http://www.sla.org.uk/boys-into-books-overview.php
• Government research on early reading can be found at: http://www.aft.org/pubsreports/american_educator/spring2003/catastrophe.html