Myriad Editions announces First Graphic Novel Competition

Scouting through the large number of graphic novel publishers at the London Book Fair, I came across news of a graphic novel competition being run by Brighton-based publisher Myriad Editions, publishers of the brilliant Rumblestrip album by Woodrow Phoenix some time back.

This is their first ever competition for a first graphic novel; the entry may be by a single author or may be a collaboration between a writer and artist. The winner will have the opportunity to develop their work in progress with Myriad's creative and editorial team with a view to being offered a contract and publication by Myriad in 2012/13.

The winner will be announced in January 2012 at the First Fictions Festival, organised by Myriad Editions in partnership with the University of Sussex and the closing date for the competion is Monday 1st October 2011.

The winning entry will be an extract from a narrative work in progress – fiction or non-fiction – and will be chosen purely on the strength and promise of the art and writing by a panel of expert judges, including: Steve Bell, cartoonist (Guardian); Hannah Berry, graphic novelist (Britten & Brulightly); Ed Hillyer (Ilya), cartoonist (King Lear, Skidmarks) and author (The Clay Dreaming); Corinne Pearlman, Creative Director, Myriad Editions
Ian Rankin, author (Inspector Rebus series and other novels); and Bryan Talbot, graphic novelist (Grandville, Alice in Sunderland, The Tale of One Bad Rat)

The competition is open to all cartoonists, writers and artists who have not previously published a graphic novel. A completed entry form, submission of a one page synopsis and between 15-30 pages of a graphic work in progress (fiction or non-fiction, with or without words, capable of being reproduced in black/white/greyscale) should be sent by post, with a covering letter and a cheque for £10 (made payable to Myriad Editions) to the address on the publisher's web site here.


(The entry fee is towards the administrative costs including photocopying, printing and postage and is a pretty standard thing for such competitions - when I ran the Lancaster litfest poetry competition it was accepted the entry fee was to cover costs).

The shortlist will be decided in December 2011 and the winner will be announced in January 2012 at the First Fictions Festival.

The submitted works must be intended for printing in black / greyscale only; in English;

submitted by email (PDF) or posted (photocopy of an original work) together with a cheque made payable to ‘Myriad Editions’ sent to the address on the web site. Entries that are not accompanied by the entrance fee cannot be accepted.

• For full conditions of entry or to download an entry form go to www.myriadeditions.com/FGNC

Andy Diggle, Ian Rankin line up for prestigious LitFest appearance

Marvel writer Andy Diggle

The Losers and Daredevil writer Andy Diggle will be wowing his hometown fans alongside author Ian Rankin next month as part of the Lancaster Literature Festival - Britain's oldest annual literature event.

Ian Rankin is Britain’s number one best-selling crime author, creator of the phenomenally successful Edinburghian sleuth Inspector Rebus, and described by the LitFest's blog as "a serial award winner whose bristling mantel-piece is home to the prestigious CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement in crime writing, and for the imperialists in the audience he is also an Officer of the Order of the British Empire."

Former 2000AD editor Andy, despite being well known to readers of downthetubes, is, it seems, a harder sell for the LitFest - but they don't pull any punches when it comes to promoting him and his work, dismissing the concerns of those who happily describe comics as "a genre that is packed to the gills with adolescent nonsense.

"Comics doesn’t mean the Dandy or Beano," a spokesperson for LitFest argues in an enthusiastic blogpost. "Doesn’t just mean Superman and Spiderman (sic) either. And 'adult comics' doesn’t imply dodgy hand-drawn porno.

"There are plenty of comics out on the market that are smart and grown-up. Andy Diggle is a great example of how much you can do with the comics medium once you get over all the muscle-bound weirdos in leotards. And so, for that matter, is Ian Rankin."

"...Dark Entries is tight, a real little doozie," they continue. "...The noir sentiments of the story are supported by a scratchy, minimal black-and-white art style from Werther Dell’Edera, who picks the characters out with nasty grins and sharp lines. You’ll polish off Dark Entries in about the time it’d take you to watch a decent crime movie.


"The main story [of The Losers] is a conspiracy – who betrayed the Losers, and why?" they note of Andy's work, "but the action unfolds as a spate of high-profile heists in the best tradition of Mission: Impossible, Where Eagles Dare and The Italian Job, as the Losers fight to get the information and the leverage they need to win their lives back. Throw in a villain who makes James Bond’s worst nemeses look like short-termist, visionless wimps and you’ve got a winning combo.


"I should mention the artist, Jock, who’s done a great job creating the story’s many sets and differentiating the key characters. Best of all is the sense of motion and energy in every panel of the story. His action scenes are frenetic. You can hear his explosions go 'Boom'."

Cleraly impressed by their catch from the comic world for the Festival, whose line up also includes Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and author Sarah Fine, Andy and Ian's talk is described as "a discussion between the two of their different contributions to the comics field and the experience of having their work adapted for the screen.

"I’ve also been informed by Andy Diggle that together they can 'talk the leg off a dead donkey', so perhaps we’ll find ourselves regailed with some entirely tangential stories. The only way to find out is to come, of course."

While comics are increasingly getting onto the literary agenda, it's always gratifying to see so much enthusiasm for some of its proponents from such a well-regarded literature organisation.

• Ian Rankin and Andy Diggle, 7.30pm, Thursday 21st October, The Storey, Lancaster £8.50 (£7 concs) – £1 off if you order in advance.  Call the LitFest Box Office on 01524 582394 or book online

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.

Tube Surfing: Ro-Jaws, Rebellion, Crikey!, Rankin, Road and Comic Fairs!

Ro-Jaws returns to 2000AD this week, making a comeback in the A.B.C. Warriors strip by Pat Mills and Clint Langley, who also provides the cover for Prog 1667, right.
Originally designed by Kevin O'Neill for the Ro-Busters strip in Starlord weekly over 30 years ago, this is something of a blast from the past - and if Ro-Jaws beahves like eh used to, we're sure it will be a blast. More info: www.2000adonline.com

• Talking of 2000AD, parent company Rebellion is undergoing something of a restructure, and part of the move puts the staff at its Derby studio under consultation as the lease on that studio expires. Develop Daily reports the firm is still committed to growing the staff at its Oxford HQ and expand its Runcorn base.
Rebellion Derby had most recently worked on completing Bethesda's Rogue Warrior. Its sister studios are hard at work finishing the new Alien vs Predator for Sega. Expect more news in coming weeks as to what this will mean for the games company.

• Novelist Ian Rankin was presented with West Lothian Libraries' Scot Scriever Award on 12th January. At his presentation ceremony he talked about how the local library in his native Fife had been a big draw for him as a youngster before he went on to talk about his career and take questions from the audience. When he was asked what he was reading at the moment he immediately said the latest Broons book and went go to give the examples of Granpaw Broon getting an ASBO and the wind turbine that now overlooks their But An' Ben holiday cottage as how the Sunday Post's strip, that has been running for almost three quarters of a century, was remaining contemporary.

• Sgt Mike Battle #14 is out now and sees the whirlwind romance between Roger Knightly and Shapely Charms reaches its thrilling finale. Can you really afford to miss the most shocking and heart-wrenching story in the history of comics? Do not worry about crying your eyes out as you read the comic because for a limited period you will get a free tissue with every issue!
Priced at £1.50, you can order your issue via the Sgt Mike Battle Fan Club on Facebook. For more information, visit www.sgtmikebattle.co.uk

• Good news from the publisher of Crikey! After concerns that the Borders collapse would damage the format of the title, we can report that despite earlier concerns it might have to black and white throughout, Crikey! 13 will have a centre section of eight pages in full colour. Discussions about expanded distribution through other retail outlets is also looking more positive.

• British Comic Creator Eddie Sharam got in touch with us lately, drawing our attention to the webcomic ROAD over on Zuda, which he writes and draws and will soon pass an impressive a 100 page milestone. He's been at it for over a year, with another year planned out. You can read ROAD on Zuda.com for free at zudacomics.com/road and Eddie would welcome feedback.

• And finally... here's a list of upcoming Golden Orbit comic fairs, which I hope to get chance to add to the events listing soon. All events start at midday apart from Leeds.

• Saturday, January 16, Birmingham - The Nautical Club, Bishopsgate Street, off Broad Street and a short walk from Smallbrook Queensway.
(Future date: February 20)

• Saturday, January 23, Manchester - Sachas Hotel, Tibb Street, Piccadilly
(Future date: March 13)

• Sunday, January 24, Liverpool - The Liner Hotel, Lord Nelson Street, off Lime Street
(Future date: March 14)

• Saturday, January 30, Leeds - Leeds Town Hall, The Headrow - from 11.00am
(Future date: March 6)

• Saturday, February 6, Sheffield - The Showroom, Paternoster Row, Sheaf Square (opp Railway Station)
(Future date: March 20)

• Saturday, February 13, Nottingham - Comfort Hotel, George St, off Upper Parliament St & Broad Street
(Future date: April 10)

• Saturday, February 27, Newcastle - University of Northumbria, Rutherford Hall, Ellison Place, off College Street

More details, map directions etc. at www.goldenorbit.co.uk

Tube Surfing: Doctor Who, Gnasher and Dave Gibbons

• Ace media site Den of Geek has the latest pics from BBC TV's Sarah Jane Adventures here. Panini, publishers of Doctor Who Magazine, have just put out a great special on the show, featuring a full rundown of episodes and a terrific interview with its lead, Elisabeth Sladen, but sadly no comic strip. A missed opportunity, perhaps, although Sarah has featured in a few Marvel UK/Panini produced strips so even a reprint might have been fun.

• Still, we doubt such concerns will worry many Doctor Who fans who are, as usual, divided over the latest change to their beloved show - a new logo. Melding a modern look with a nod to the Doctor Who styling of the 1960s, not everyone is happy about the TARDIS/Police Box-inspired branding.

Speaking from experience as a former editor of Doctor Who Magazine, changing the Doctor Who logo is almost as controversial as a new England football strip, and the feedback often as rabid...

• Talking of Panini, they're currently running a poll on their website asking for views on digital versions of their comics. Options range from sticking with paper versions (currently in the lead with 43% of votes) to digital versions as long as you can still buy in print (18%). Vote here

• Fancy a science fiction-inspired comedy night? Alex Fitch of Panel Borders has organised one in London. The Sci Fi London Comedy Night on 24th October is part of Sci-Fi London Oktoberfest, from 9.00 p.m staring Rob Deb from GNO, Sara Pascoe, Mould and Arrowsmith and many more. It's beaming into the Apollo Picadilly Cinema, more details here on Facebook.

• An updated version of classic game Beneath a Steel Sky (the original is now offered free through sites, such as GOG.com) is being released for iPhone and iTouch featuring art by Dave Gibbons this week, via the iTunes store. Gamespot UK reports on a BAFTA event last night that included Dave as a guest, talking about his work on the update. "I think what this remastering has done for me has reminded me exactly how much I enjoyed working on the game originally, and [game designer] Charles [Cecil] and I have kicked some ideas around," Gibbons said. "With the way I now understand technology better, the way that we could more efficiently put a game together, it's something that I'm really quite interested to do." Watch the video of the event...



• The Edinburgh International Book Festival folks were kind enough to give Forbidden Planet International a copy of their recording of the Neil Gaiman and Ian Rankin event (chaired by Denise Mina) from this summer’s event, now converted to web friendly format and available to enjoy on the FPI blog. "There are a couple of times when you can hear laughter with no obvious joke," says Joe Gordon. "This is Neil and Ian in naughty schoolboy mode enjoying adding in phrases like balls and sphincter-tightening to see how the nice woman who was signing in BSL for the hearing impaired would cope..."

• Since we're reporting from north of the border, I'm sure many of you may have already picked up on the news that the real-life inspiration for Dennis the Menace, mischievous star of The Beano comic, has been revealed as a mechanic from New Zealand. New Zealand? Just think - Gnasher could so easily have been the last Moa...

• And finally... Bleeding Cool recently reported the estate of Jack Kirby, co-creator of Marvel's Captain America, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, The Avengers, Iron Man, Hulk, The Silver Surfer and Thor and has sent notices terminating copyright to publishers Marvel and Disney, as well as film studios that have made movies and TV shows based on characters he created or co-created, including Sony, Universal, 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures. You have to wonder what would happen if British comic creators started these kind of proceedings...

Gaiman And Rankin On BBC2 On Wednesday

As the Edinburgh International Book Festival continues this week under canvas in the Scottish capital's Charlotte Square Gardens, BBC2's Edinburgh Festival Show will feature a taster of what was one of the best BookFest events of last week.

Fantasy author Neil Gaiman and crime author Ian Rankin were interviewed on stage by crime author Denise Mina about their work on comics and graphic novels and for the sold out audience of 600 last Thursday night it was a case of paying for two Constantine writers and getting a third for free. With Ian Rankin's first graphic novel, Dark Entries, soon to be available from DC Vertigo the two men talked about their comics work and how it related to their prose novels with Gaiman doing his impression of Alan Moore and Rankin displaying his impressive comics knowledge. For more details on this excellent event check out Joe Gordon's review of it over on the FPI blog.

Prior to the talk, the three authors had recorded a piece for the BBC's Edinburgh Festival Show and this is due to be broadcast on Wednesday 26 August at 7 pm on BBC2.