Comic Creator Ian Sharman pirates his own title

Not sure if you want to pre-order Marksosia's Hero: 9 to 5 - Quietus because you haven’t read the first book?

You want to read the first book but for any one of a million perfectly legitimate reasons you can’t buy a copy or legally download it?

Then you can always download a pirated copy here.

Yes, you read that right. Creator Ian Sharman has published a link to illegally download his work.

"Shocking, eh?" challenges Ian, Managing Editor of Orang Utan comics, on his tumblr. "But, hey, you have Google, you could find it anyway, if you really wanted. And if it persuades just one of you to pre-order the new book then I think it’ll be more than worth it. And, hey, maybe some of you will love it so much you’ll want to own a copy."

So, once you’ve read the first book, how can you pre-order the new book?

Well, you have until 18th May to pre-order Hero: 9 to 5 - Quietus from your local comic shop.

If you want a copy then please don’t just assume your retailer will order it in and you’ll just be able to pick it up when you see it on the shelf in July, because odds are that you probably won’t. If you want it, pre-order it.

To aid you in this, here’s a handy form that you can print out and take along to your local comic shop. It includes all the details that they need to order the book for you. It’s as easy as that.

Alternatively, order it from your regular online retailer, such as:

• TFAW - $12.79
• Forbidden Planet - £8.27
• Westfield Comics - $12.79
• Mail Order Comics - $11.99
• Midtown Comics - $11.19
• SciFi Genre - $12.80

Orang Utan announces Super Con specials

Orang Utan Comics has announced two big new releases at the London Super Comic Con on February 23rd - 24th, 2013, at the Excel in London.

The first release is a 48 page, full colour, limited edition LSCC Preview Edition of Hero: 9 to 5 - Quietus - available to order now from the company's online store or to pick up at the event.

"This will include the first half of the follow up to the hugely successful 2010 graphic novel by myself, David Gray and Yel Zamor," writer and publisher Ian Sharman tells us, "plus an exclusive four page Thunder Woman story that will not be available anywhere else.

"We are printing these in extremely limited numbers, so make sure to head straight to the Orang Utan Comics booth when you arrive and pick up your copy."

Hero: 9 to 5 – Quietus is set in a world where the rich can afford the best in super hero protection, but the poor have to get by with the heroic equivalent of third party, fire and theft.

The “Lone Knight” returns from the pages of Hero: 9 to 5, but how will The Loner and the finest men and women that publicly funded super hero protection can supply cope when a mysterious figure leaves a trail of unconnected corpses in his wake? How will a young hero deal with the loss of his mentor? And, more importantly, how will Thunder Woman get her groceries when she runs into Lash Lady at the store?

In a world where being a super hero is just another job, what happens when there’s nobody left alive to pay the bill?

Quietus – some men just want to watch the world die.

You can also grab a free copy of the Eagle Award nominated Eleventh Hour Volume One when you buy the Hero: 9 to 5 – Quietus LSCC Exclusive Preview Edition at the convention.

Orang Utan, who publish their books in partnership with Markosia, are also launching a new graphic novel by the exceptionally talented Michael Georgiou, Elemental Micah – Just Exhale, which collects the first four stories of this ununsual hero.

“With no super heroes or super villains, what defines someone with powers?" asks Ian. "Micah’s seventeen with poor eyesight, a broken nose, overweight, apathetic, gay and has the powers of a God. With these new powers, the future has never seemed so uncertain.”

Elemental Micah will be on sale at the Orang Utan Comics booth and also direct from Michael Georgiou at his own table at LSCC.

• For more information visit: www.orangutancomics.co.uk

 

Comics Creators At Hi-Ex 2012: Part 2

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

Artist Nigel Dobbyn has an eclectic selection of titles to his credit from The Beano's Billy The Cat to 2000AD via Thunderbirds and Transformers. The image he is showing here is entitled Primeval Priest and is available to buy from his website.

There are more details of Nigel Dobbyn's work on his website.

Glasgow's small press Team Girl Comic have four issues to their name as well as a selection of individual contributors' own titles and did a good trade, particularly on the Saturday. Shown here are editor Gillian Hatcher (left) with contributors Coleen Campbell (centre) and Clare Yvette (right).

There are more details of Team Girl Comic on their website and Facebook page.

French artist Michel Rodrigue is currently resident in Scotland and having been at the previous Hi-Ex was back this year on the Cinebook stand. His Cinebook titles are the two modern Clifton titles Jade and Black Moon which he was signing and sketching over the weekend. He is also the writer of the French series Sybil La Fee Cartable which is on its third book in France and the first book of which has just be translated into English by Papercutz as Sybil The Backpack Fairy and he was more than happy to sketch and sign copies of it as well.

There are more details of Michel Rodrigue on Lambiek.

There are more details of Sybil The Backpack Fairy on the Papercutz website and of Clifton the the Cinebook website.

From pink fairies to something rather darker and artist John Higgin's RazerJack, the death-bitch from the Twist Dimension. To promote RazerJack, John produces illustrations at each of the conventions that he attends and here is the image that he was working on on the Sunday at Hi-Ex.

There are more details of John Higgin's work on his website and of RazerJack on its Facebook page.

Write and artist Ian Sharman is also editor of Orang Utan Comics and AAM/Markosia as well as writer of Alpha Gods and Hero: 9-5. He took part in the Hi-Ex Pitching and Portfolio session on the Sunday. His latest title, as seen above, is Hypergirl.

There are more details of Ian Sharman's work on his blog and on the Orang Utan Comics website.

Perhaps the most unusual graphic novel available over the weekend was writer and animator Leslie MacKenzie's Gaelic title Cuir Stad Ak An Stoirm Shneashda which translates as Stop The Snow Storm. With art by Shona Shirley MacDonald, it uses the idea that the first peoples of Scotland were not from the south and Europe but from the north and the Arctic regions. As part of the publishing deal with the Gaelic Books Council the title will not be published in English for several years.

There are more details of Leslie MacKenzie's work on her website while Cuir Stad Ak An Stoirm Shneashda will be available from the Gaelic Books Council website.

A comic strip with killer STDs in it just sound like the sort of thing that should be in CLiNT magazine and the editorial team of CLiNT obviously thought so too. As can be seen above, artist and writer Monty Nero's Death Sentence started life as a small press comic but will get a new lease of life, and a lot more exposure, when it begins in CLiNT Vol 2 No 1 very soon.

There are more details of Monty Nero's work on his website and blog.

Artist Will Pickering worked on the Burke and Hare graphic novel published several years ago as well as contributing to a number of Glasgow based small press titles. He was also displaying Black Hearted Press' Gabriel title written by Jim Alexander.

There are more details of Will Pickering's work on his blog.

Londonderry's Uproar Comics came together through the city's 2D Comics Festival and its 2D Collective offshoot. They publish the Zombies Hi title which is an anthology of the main ongoing Zombies Hi story backed up with short zombie text stories and comic strip and has reached its fourth issue. Set after a zombie apocalypse within the defensive walls of the City of Derry, the comic is widely distributed within Northern Ireland. Artist Kevin Logue (left) drew attendees as zombies while writer Danny McLaughlin (centre) drummed up support and artist John Campbell (right) worked on pages for forthcoming issues.

There are more details of Zombies Hi on the Uproar Comics website.

Last and by no means least, especially since one of her titles is Eagle Award nominated this year as Best European Comic, is Irish writer Maura McHugh. Her two titles for Dublin's Atomic Diner Comics are the Eagle Award nominated 1920s mystery Jennifer Wilde and the supernatural Roisin Dubh as seen above.

There are more details of Maura McHugh's work on her website.

There are more details of Jennifer Wilde and Roisin Dubh on the Atomic Diner website.


The first part of Comics Creators At Hi-Ex is here.

The Hi-Ex website is here.

The downthetubes review of Hi-Ex 2012 is here.

Demoncon2 finalises line up with plenty of web comic creators

(With thanks to The Grinning Man, Maidstone): The line up for Demoncon2, taking place in Maidstone in November, is now pretty much finalised and includes comic creators such as Garen Ewing and Dan Boultwood on the guest list, along with many of them creators of web comics you might be following.

The guests that will be packing (and that probably is a fair description, we're told) into the Eden venue on the 6th November are as follows:

• Peter Anckorn (By the Book)
• Chris Bates (Travelling the Wolf Road)
• Dean Beattie
• Dan Boultwood (Hope Falls, The Gloom, Baker St Irregulars)
• Garen Ewing (The Rainbow Orchid)
• Phillip Jackson (Sequential Art, Little Victory, Travelling the Wolf Road)
• Marc Laming (The Rinse, American Century)
• Jack Lawrence (Darkham Vale, Lions Tigers & Bears, Tinpot Hobo)
• Tony Lee (Doctor Who, Starship Troopers, Hope Falls, The Gloom, Baker St Irregulars)
• Sonia Leong (Aya Takeo, Domo the Manga, Love Stuffing, Comic Book Tattoo)
• Morag Lewis (Looking for the Sun, Sun Fish Moon Fish, Ambient Rhythm)
• Chris Phillips (Candleman, The Moose, Travelling the Wolf Road)
• Ian Sharman (Hero 9 to 5, Hypergirl)
• Dave Stokes (Poster Artist for Demoncon2, Blackfriars Webcomic)
• David Wynne (Hypergirl, FTL, Particle Fiction)

Hopefully coming to their first Demoncon will be Cy Dethan (Slaughterman's Creed, Cancertown, Starship Troopers), Laurence Campbell (2000AD, Marvel Universe vs Wolverine, Punisher)

"Space is going to be a real issue even with the gaming presence from last time gone, but we’ll juggle something," say the organisers.

• DemonCon 2 is on 6th November 2011 at the Eden, Bank Street, Maidstone. For the latest info check out this area of local comic shop The Grinning Demon's web site

Working 9 to 5 - Superheroes for hire is Markosia's latest adventure

British publisher Markosia's new comic Hero 9-5, written by Ian Sharman with art from David Gray focuses on a world where being a super hero is just another job.

A world where only the rich can afford the comprehensive hero protection policies that ensure that the best heroes will come to their aid in an emergency. The poor, however, have to make-do with protection from government sponsored agencies with limited resources whose staff are…shall we say… a little less heroic.

Jacob Reilly, aka Flame-O, is just one such hero, an everyday guy who just happens to be able to shoot flames from his hands. He didn’t want to be a super hero, he wanted to be a musician, but he wasn’t good enough to make a living at it. So he ended up getting a job at “Heroes For Zeros,” a government sponsored hero agency. So, Jacob clocks on, works nine to five (unless he’s short on cash and does overtime or, worse, a night shift) and fights z-list villains for a pathetic pay cheque.

Despite being a super hero, Jacob has all the problems of regular folk – an irritating boss, bills to pay, professional jealousy, and also certain problems that are unique to his profession…like the fact that his girlfriend is also his alter-ego’s nemesis, Frostica (and she’s insanely jealous of his teenaged sidekick, Pink Girl).

Written by Ian Sharman (Alpha Gods, Eleventh Hour) with art by David Gray and colours by Yel Zamor, Hero 9-5 offers a fresh, funny take on the idea of real world super heroes.

Ian is perhaps best known as Managing Editor of Orang Utan Comics, and the writer of Alpha Gods and has been working professionally in comics for several years now. His professional inking credits include the Contraband OGN from Slave Labour; work on the Eagle Award nominated antholgy Eleventh Hour from Orang Utan Comics Studio and AAM/Markosia; and work on Marvel's UK comics, Spectacular Spider-Man and Marvel Heroes, published by Panini.

• Available in the UK via specialist comic shops, you can find it in Diamond's August Previews catalogue under publisher AAM/Markosia, where the Diamond order code is - AUG10 0726

• A 20-page preview of Hero 9-5 is available for viewing on MyEBook

• Hero 9-5 - YouTube Promotion

• Markosia Official Site: www.markosia.com  

• All of Markosia's publications are or will be available from their Markosia Store. You can purchase everything that the company has released, including special editions, signed copies, variants, and merchandise.

Orang Utan's Alpha Gods' now on Android, iPhone

British independent comics publisher Orang Utan Comics have extended their presence on mobile phones with the arrival of its Alpha Gods title on Android, iPhone and iTouch via Robot Comics.

Written by Ian Sharman with art by Ezequiel Pineda, Alpha Gods is set in the year 2086, when humanity faces the new threat of the Extra Humans. The government is struggling to cope with the growing number of mutants, aliens and supernatural beings who are living amongst us. People are beginning to panic and so, in 2050, the Department for Extra Human Affairs was established with a remit to try and contain the problem. By 2086 the situation has escalated, so they have formed a new rapid response strike force, the Alpha Gods. Who better to police the Extra Human community than Extra Humans themselves?

A standalone Issue 0 is available free, introducing cyborg Paladin and super-powered Impact and other members of the Extra Human Department Affairs. The app offers their first mission in this exclusive prelude to the new superhero comic. Issue 1 now also available as a paid app, containing the free Issue #0 preview plus the entirety of the original Alpha Gods #1.

Alpha Gods was originally released for mobile via ROK Comics and is one of a number of comics now being delivered as part of WAP services in India on platforms designed by the same company for Airtel and other mobile networks there.

• Alpha Gods #0 is available for download now on iPhone/iPod touch


• Alpha Gods #0 is available for free in the Android Market. Scan the QR code right with your Android to receive its url.


• Alpha Gods #1 is available in the Android Market. Scan the QR code left with your Android to receive its url.<


Alternatively, search ‘Alpha Gods #0″ on the Market.

Orang Utan Moves to Light Speed

British indie publisher Orang Utan Comics have just released two new comics, both available to order online - and which will be on sale at the Comics Expo in Bristol next month.

FTL#1, available from Indyplanet, is the first issue of their brand new black and white anthology featuring 32 pages of beautifully greyscaled art and new stories by Orang Utan Comics veterans Ian Sharman, Peter Rogers and Trey Wickwire, along with a brand new story from the exceptionally talented Dwight L. MacPherson (creator of the web comic, The Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo).

The first senses shattering issue of FTL will take you to a future Earth ravaged by a war between humans and robots; you’ll see a young girl seduced and corrupted by the darkness of vampirism:you’ll ride with a group of vampire hunters as they hunt the last true vampire; and you’ll see terrifying beasts return from myth and legend to lay waste to mankind!

Also released today is the Alpha Gods graphic novel, previously available to read online in ebook form. Since its online launch via myebook.com, the in excess of 8,000 views in the three months since its release have persuaded Orang Utan Comics to release the entire 48 page, full colour graphic novel in print.

Wraped in a cover by John Charles, Alpha Gods follows in the foot steps of many a superhero comic, charting the gathering of an all-new superteam to battle threats to the world. Like Marvel's X-Men characters (particularly Nightcrawler and Beast), some are outcasts from society, untrained loose cannons whose mettle has yet to be tested. Against this, writer Ian Sharman weaves an unsettling background tale of fallen gods with Machiavellian plans for the world, with some accomplished if in places still-developing art from Ezequiel Pineda. (The good, I hasten to add, more than outweighing the occasional composition glitch: his design and visual sense is superb, influenced I suspect more by George Perez Teen Titans than the X-Men artists I can think of, although Paul Smith also springs to mind).

This graphic novel is effectively a scene setter for a wider story to come, but it's an entertaining and intriguing scene setter nevertheless, offering a depth to many of the characters often missing from many superteam books.

Both FTL and Alpha Gods will be available at the Orang Utan Comics stand at next month’s Bristol International Comic Expo, and also at the London MCM Expo later in the month. You can also order both titles online via the print on demand service, IndyPlanet (see links below).

“May is going to be a big month for Orang Utan Comics," enthuses Ian. "Not only do we have two great new titles to promote, but we’re also looking forward to getting out and meeting our fans.”

• There will be an Orang Utan Comics panel at the Bristol International Comic Expo next month. The panel will be held at 4.00pm in the Park Suite at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Bristol on Saturday 9th May, where the OUC team will be celebrating their second anniversary of creating what Ian calls “comics for a strange new world."

• Order Alpha Gods from IndyPlanet

• Order FTL #1 from IndyPlanet

• To find out more about Alpha Gods, read character bios and creator profiles, please visit www.alphagods.co.uk

• For more information on Orang Utan Comics visit them online at www.orangutancomics.co.uk

Young Gods Arrive for Seconds

The second part of Orang Utan Comics sci-fi action/adventure comic Young Gods is now available free online via the digital publishing site myebook.com.

“We’ve had a great response to the release of Part One and interest in the book is continuing to grow,” says Young Gods creator, Ian Sharman. “Hopefully with the release of Part Two people will see that we’re making an ongoing commitment to keep this series going.”

Written by Sharman, Young Gods is drawn by Argentinian artist Ezequiel Pineda and coloured by Mauro Barbosa. The story is set in 2086, a time when humanity faces a new threat -- Extra Humans. The government is struggling to cope with the growing number of mutants, aliens and supernatural beings who are living amongst us. People are beginning to panic and so, in 2050, the Department for Extra Human Affairs was established with a remit to try and contain the problem. By 2086 the situation has escalated, so they have formed a new rapid response strike force, the Young Gods. Who better to police the Extra Human community than Extra Humans themselves?

Orang Utan Comics say they now have plans to continue Young Gods on beyond this initial release, with a six part follow up, entitled Young Gods: Betrayal already in the works.

“The whole series is fully plotted out and the art team are hard at work on the first issue at the moment, and I’ll be handing them the script for the second issue any day now,” Sharman reveals.

“We’re hoping to maintain a bi-monthly schedule with the book as we don’t want to keep people waiting too long between issues.”

Orang Utan Comics have also announced plans to produce a print version of the as yet digital only Young Gods. A 48 page graphic novel collecting parts One and Two in one volume will be available soon through Indy Planet and they’re also hoping to offer the book through comic stores via Ka-Blam’s new ComicsMonkey initiative.

“These are turbulent times for the comic industry,” notes Sharman, who also functions as Orang Utan Comics’ managing editor, “but they’re also throwing up some exciting new opportunities for smaller independent publishers such as ourselves. We’d love to see the full six issue series of Young Gods: Betrayal in print through 2009 and hope to have a trade-paperback collection available in time for Christmas.”

The first part of the Young Gods OGN is also still available to read online for free (link on your left), so if you’ve missed it, be sure to catch up before checking out Part Two!

• To find out more about Young Gods, read character bios and creator profiles, please visit www.younggodscomic.co.uk

• For more information on Orang Utan Comics Studio visit them online at www.orangutancomics.co.uk

Monkeying about with Young Gods!

Ground-breaking British indie publisher Orang Utan Comics Studio have released the first part of their Young Gods Online Graphic Novel onto an unsuspecting world this week, aiming to bring the title to comics fans in new -- and free -- ways.

An action packed adventure tale, Young Gods, in part previously serialised in 'newspaper strip' form on ROK Comics, is a stunning looking book that's certain to appeal to a wide range of comic book fans. The series sees OUCS make the bold leap from the printed page into digital media, with Young Gods being available to read completely free online, via the digital publishing site myebook.com.

OUCS were the first organisaton to sign up to myebook’s publishing partnership plan when it went live last year.

“I think we recognized the huge potential of myebook about thirty seconds after first being shown it,” said Orang Utan Comics Studio’s Managing Editor and Young Gods’ creator, Ian Sharman. “It’s an ideal solution for small studios like ourselves who want to get our work in front of as many people as possible but don’t have the capital to finance large print runs.”

With the recent policy changes at speciailst comics distributors Diamond reducing the opportunities for small press and independent publishers to reach a wide audience through traditional print publications, OUCS see online digital publishing as an essential tool for distributing their comics to a wider market.

Ian Sharman has been working on Young Gods since he was a teenager, gaining the initial inspiration while listening to the Little Angels album of the same name. However, the road from original idea to the comic book page has been a long one, and finding the right creative team to bring his ideas to life proved very challenging.

“I think we went through seven artists, including at one point myself, before we found Ezequiel Pineda," he reveals. "His unique style was exactly what I was looking for, allowing the focus to shift from the overblown superheroics to the diverse characters that make up the team.

"The addition of Mauro Barbosa on colours proved that lightening can strike twice, as his dynamic colours proved to be the perfect complement to Ezequiel’s art.

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate,” Ian continued, “finding not only one, but two extremely talented artists with the same passion for this comic that I have.”

The first part of the Young Gods OGN, which introduces the team and sets up plot points that will be continued in a six issue series that the creative team are currently hard at work on is available to read FREE online right now, and the second part will be released on 28th February. Be one of the first to read this exciting new comic, and share it with your friends online, just as you would a YouTube video!

However, for people who prefer to read their comics on the move, rather than sat at a computer, Orang Utan Comics Studio are also exploring other areas of the digital revolution in comics, making Young Gods available to download to your mobile phone via ROK Comics.

• To find out more about Young Gods, read character bios and creator profiles, please visit www.younggodscomic.co.uk
• For more information on Orang Utan Comics Studio visit them online at www.orangutancomics.co.uk

• Promote Young Gods!

The success of Young Gods will almost entirely depend on fan support, on word of mouth and the book spreading across the internet in a viral fashion. With this in mind, Orang Utan Comics Studio have produced a promotional video which they are encouraging their fans and supporters to put on their blogs and web sites in order to spread the word about this ground breaking release.