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

In Review: Dante's Inferno by Hunt Emerson

Out: Now
Publisher: Knockabout

The Book: Hunt Emerson, the dazzlingly talented cartoonist, tackles the biggest literary name of them all: Dante. Emerson's Inferno delights on many levels: as an ingenious translation of classic verse; an effortlessly readable introduction to a complex poem; a delicious crib for anxious Dante students; and as a warm tribute from the master of one art form to the grand master of another.
It is a wonderful treat for anyone who already loves Dante.

The Review: Hunt Emerson has proven a dab hand at adapting works of great literature into the comics form and his talent for doing is firing on all cylinders with his version of Dante's Inferno.

It's a title, of course, that has seen its fair share of adaptation: Bloomsbury published a sumptuous comics re-telling by Seymour Chwast back in 2010, for example. But Hunt tackles the subject mnatter with such gleeful subversion that you can't help but smile at his re-telling of Dante's tale of the hapless living soul taken on an often macabre but always compelling journey through the seven circles of Hell.

Pulling no punches when it comes to the more horrifying imagery the story conjures - but drawing them in such as way as to make them visions to (largely) smile at rather than grimace – this is an edition providing a lively and readable introduction to the poem for those too busy or too intimidated to tackle it without a guide.

There's also an essay by Kevin Jackson on Dante included in the book, which explains how the comic has been developed from the original, points out some of the more complicated jokes, and invites readers to go back to tackle Dante for themselves.

I particularly enjoyed their reasoning for omitting some of the more distasteful elements of the story. (Dante fans will know exactly which ones cartoonists would do well to avoid).

This is another terrific adaptation of a classic work of literature from Hunt: the art's fantastic, it's clever, it's witty, but at the same time it's a reverent treatment of the poem.

And what's not to like about Margaret Thatcher being used as a model for a feisty gate-guarding demon? Go on, track down a copy...

 

Nemo: Heart of Ice set for February 2013 release

(via GOSH London): In a fast-paced, self-contained adventure, Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill will be expanding on Janni Dakkar, one of their most memorable characters created for League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century in Nemo: Heart of Ice next year.

Alan Moore first announced the 48-page project, which will again be published jointly by Knockabout and Topo Shelf back in February, describing it as a refresher between courses.

Venturing into dazzling polar territories and fictional domains including those of Edgar Allen Poe and H. P. Lovecraft, the story, due for release in February 2013, is being touted as and "unforgettable encounter at the living, beating and appallingly inhuman heart of ice".

It’s 1925 - and fifteen long years since Janni Dakkar (aka 'Pirate Jenny') first tried to escape the legacy of her science-pirate father, only to eventually take on his mantle and accept her destiny as the new Nemo; the next captain of the legendary Nautilus.

A 30-year-old Pirate Jenny, tired of punishing the world with an unending spree of plunder and destruction, now resolves to finally step from her forebear’s lengthy shadow by attempting something at which he’d conspicuously failed, namely the exploration of Antarctica.

In 1895, her father had returned from that ice-crusted continent without his reason or his crewmen, all of whom appeared to have mysteriously perished or to otherwise have disappeared. Now Captain Nemo’s daughter and successor plans to take her feared and celebrated black submersible back to the world’s South Pole in an attempt to lay her sire’s intimidating ghost forever.

There are others, though, who have become as tired of Janni’s freebooting as she herself. An influential publishing tycoon, embarrassed by the theft of valuables belonging to a visiting Ugandan monarch, sets a trio of America’s most lauded technological adventurers on the pirate queen’s trail, commencing a nightmarish chase across the frozen landscape with the pinnacles of the forbidding mountains where Prince Dakkar’s sanity had foundered growing ever nearer…

Top Shelf and Knockabout announce Alan Moore's 'Unearthing'

Top Shelf Productions and Knockabout Comics have just announced a project several years in the making: a sumptuous new book from Alan Moore, serving as a biography of his close friend and mentor Steve Moore (no relation), a history of London, a mystical journey, and a tribute to human imagination.

Described by the New York Times as a "poetic and densely allusive text," Unearthing has now been transformed by Alan Moore and photographer Mitch Jenkins into a stunning narrative art-book.

And while Unearthing will be offered in the upcoming October Diamond Previews in two editions, to help fund the production of this enormous expensive work of art, the creators have graciously agreed to an exclusive third edition incorporating a letterpress bookplate, hand-signed and numbered by Alan Moore and Mitch Jenkins, limited to 300 copies worldwide.
These 300 Signed & Numbered “double-sized hardcover” copies are being pre-sold (starting today), as a Top Shelf website exclusive.

By pre-ordering one, you’ll not only be able to secure one of these rare Signed and Numbered editions, but Top Shelf and Knockabout say you will also have done your part to help to get this gorgeous project off the ground.

An intensely poetic and innovative work of biography, Unearthing maps the lifetime of author, orientalist and occultist Steve Moore, author of various comic strips for many years but most recently the strange but compelling novel Somnium (see our news story on this from last year); while simultaneously investigating the extraordinary history of South London with which that life has been intertwined.

Integrating text with haunting and exquisite imagery Unearthing excavates a territory at the margins of a city, of reality, and of human imagination.

Starting life in Iain Sinclair’s seminal anthology LONDON: City of Disappearances, this dazzling and hypnotic piece has evolved through a series of live performances and acclaimed recordings, culminating in this breathtaking full-colour volume.

• Pre-order one now from Top Shelf

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.

In Review: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Century: 1969

By Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill
Publisher: Top Shelf/Knockabout
Out: Now


The Book: The second volume detailing the exploits of Miss Wilhelmina Murray and her extraordinary colleagues. Volume two takes place almost 60 years after the events of Century: 1910, in the psychedelic haze of Swinging London in 1969 - a place where Tadukic Acid Diethylamide 26 is the drug of choice and where different underworlds are starting to overlap dangerously to an accompaniment of sit-ins and sitars.

The Review: Before you do anything else, I strongly recommend going back and reading Century: 1910 before you begin 1969. While this fantastic new League story - described by Moore himself as a critique of culture - can be read on its own, there is plenty of set up in 1910 that impacts on this one, as Mina and her much-reduced League set out to foil the villainous Haddo's plot for world domination.

In this new adventure, peppered with some wonderful contemporary visuals, the vicious gangster bosses of London’s East End find themselves brought into contact with a counter-culture underground of mystical and medicated flower-children, or amoral pop-stars on the edge of psychological disintegration and developing a taste for Satanism. Alerted to a threat concerning the same magic order that she and her colleagues were investigating during 1910, a thoroughly modern Mina and company attempt to navigate the perilous rapids of London’s hippy and criminal subculture, as well as the twilight world of its occultists. 

Starting to buckle from the pressures of the twentieth century and the weight of their own endless lives, Mina and her companions must nevertheless prevent the making of a Moonchild that might well turn out to be the antichrist.

It's a fine, if increasingly downbeat and disturbing tale, as, once again, the League find their foe a tough match - Haddo's torment of Mina on the astral plane at the climax, for example, matched by an equally disturbing treatment of her body by an 'admirer' as she battles for survival. As ever, we're treated to a multi-layered, finely told adventure, complemented by superb art from Kevin O'Neill - indeed, as Moore himself has said, one of "the finest and most distinctive comic book artists this country has ever turned out".

As with Century and other League volumes, the story unfolds against a backdrop of all things 1960s - and there is plenty throughout to catch the eye marking that decade. My favourite are probably panel at a petrol station, featuring a car smash involving The Saint and James Bond as Parker from Thunderbirds looks on, along with cameos from Garth, Andy Capp and Flo as Mina re-encounters the mysterious time-jumping Norton.

In terms of 'incidental' (and some not so incidental) characters to enjoy, who could fail to enjoy appearances by Jack Carter, of Get Carter fame and a number of surrogate Krays.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Century: 1969 is another fine feather in the cap of Messrs Moore and O'Neill, who have already revealed the adventure will come to a head, at some point and in their own time, in another quality volume.

Plus, there may still be more stories to follow... but we'll just have to wait and see!

• Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill are signing Century: 1969 tomorrow (30th July 2011) at Gosh London - see news story

Web Links

• With help from Moore expert Pádraig Ó Méalóid, Jess Nevins has already posted up an online set of annotations to the brand new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1969. If you're in a hurry, you could also read the Newsarama 1969 Cheat Sheet, compiled with Jess Nevins help 

Interviews

• The Guardian: Alan Moore: an extraordinary gentleman – Q&A
Moore discusses the evolution of modern culture, leaving his characters in the lurch and how tablet computers will transform the language of comics. He also hints that he's looking at digital comics storytelling, and thinking about how to apply his script writing to comics specifically created for this medium.

• Wired: Alan Moore Takes League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to the ’60s
Visionary comics writer Alan Moore has largely migrated beyond the madness of the faltering comics industry, which is being overshadowed by film and television at Comic-Con International. But, lucky for us, not entirely.

More Reviews

• Good Comic Books
"In the books out of body conclusion, I almost had to check that nothing had slipped into my own drink, O’Neill warps and distorts the usually geometric panels and basically displays an out of body experience as one long acid trip, it’s nuts!"

• i09
"O'Neill delivers his master class in acid trip visuals, and if you dug Black Dossier, you'll love this."

In Review: Pinocchio by Winshluss

Pinocchio becomes a robot in this new telling of the classic story

Publisher: Knockabout Comics
Out: Now

The Book: Winshluss’ Pinocchio graphic novel is an adult noir movie that at times is both comedy and tragedy. The narrative begins with a shooting, and then flashes back to Pinocchio’s creation (he is now a robot-like android) and adventures. Collodi’s original story is also darker than Disney’s version. Monstro the whale is replaced by a toxic, giant mutated fish, and there’s even a subplot of a hard-boiled detective woven in.

The Review: First, before we even get to the story itself, I have to say comment on the actual production values of the book itself. To say that Knockabout Comics edition of Pinocchio is sumptuous is an understatement: even before I started enjoying this dark, breathtaking adult take on the well-known fairy story, I was blown away by the high production values of the actual book. It's a beautiful hardback edition with the interior pages printed on great paper stock that do Winshluss' work full justice.

Now for the story. Disney it certainly ain't. Winshluss (aka Vincent Paronnaud who co-directed the animated feature Persepolis with Marjane Satrapi) weaves an incredible tale encompassing the original story in a whole new form, mixed in with black humour, a crime sub plot and political satire, the latter very much part of Collodi’s original.

As for Pinocchio's famous talking insect - here, a cockroach, it doesn't meet the fate of the book's talking Cricket (that got squashed fairly early on), it doesn't have the greatest of times, even if it gets pretty much any dialogue in this otherwise fairly wordless comic.

Art-wise, the story is breathtaking: it's primarily pen and ink, and watercolour but switches to paint for larger splash panels. Knockabout says many comic lovers and connoisseurs consider Winshluss to be the best comic artist of his generation, and I can see why.

Pinocchio was awarded the Fauve d’Or at the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée in Angoulême 2009 and best foreign comic book in Germany 2010: awards well deserved for such an incredible storytelling.

As an adult noir retelling of Pinocchio, that at times is both comedy and tragedy, Winsluss tells a very modern twist filled with incredible passion, charm and dark humour. Highly recommended.


• Buy Pinocchio from amazon.co.uk

• Buy Pinocchio from amazon.com

• Knockabout Comics: www.knockabout.com

 
More Reviews...

"Winshluss has perfected the wordless comic. Not a panel is wasted. Each is perfectly designed to for clear reading. It’s refreshing to spend time with a graphic novel that doesn’t rely on words and talking heads to advance the story."
-- Drawn


"In this rendition of the classic tale, the wooden puppet becomes a mere android, designed by an engineer in search of recognition whilst the “talking cricket” character (cast as a cockroach by Winshluss) depicts a savvy homeless squatter quite content living very comfortably in the android’s skull.
"Such irreverence transcends virtuosity; Winshluss reinvents archetypal clichés to form modern narrative – astonishingly his expressive graphics reside in this interpretation with virtually no dialogue (which I, for one, am thankful for given that my French is somewhat sketchy these days!). Ironically this dexterous narrative evokes a sense of childlike innocence – blissful freedom, pure and untainted imagination."
-- The Neon Hive


"Winshluss has long been an energetic draughtsman, merging the subversive sensibilities of the underground movement with a palpable sense of punk abandon that owes more than a little to the great bad-taste humorist Vuillemin. The result are gruff cartoons, grimy with saturated brushwork, that refreshingly tend to reach beyond the comfort zone of the artist, resulting in a kind of frenetic energy of invention that is both spectacular and moves the story along with humour and efficiency."
-- Metabunker

Foyles exhibits Pinocchio art from new Knockabout graphic novel

Foyles London is currently hosting an exhibition of original artwork from Pinocchio, the award-winning graphic novel by French comic artist Winshluss, which will be published by Knockabout Comics later this month.

Winshluss is best known for co-writing and co-directing the animated film Persepolis. His new book, which won Best Album award 2009 at Angouleme, is an adult noir retelling of Pinocchio, that at times is both comedy and tragedy, but with a very modern twist.

Pinocchio is no longer the sweet wooden boy but a robot-like android, Jiminy-cricket is a cockroach and Monstro has become a toxic, giant mutated fish.


The story begins with a shooting, and then flashes back to Pinocchio's creation and adventures. Collodi's original story is also darker than Disney's version, while at the same time very funny. The artwork is primarily done in pen and ink, and watercolor but switches to paint for larger splash panels.

Exhibition Information: www.foyles.co.uk

• Buy Pinocchio from amazon.co.uk

• Knockabout Comics: www.knockabout.com

Image publishes US edition of Rian Hughes Yesterday's Tomorrows

Yesterday's Tomorrows, a collection of comics by "luminescent pop culture demon" Rian Hughes spanning over two decades of his career, is being re-published in the US by Image Comics in November.

Previously published by Knockabout Comics in the UK in 2007, the 264-page collection features two infamous and hard-to-find collaborations with Eisner Award winner Grant Morrison: Dan Dare, a post-modern classic that sets the aging and retired iconic British character Dare against a modern British landscape he no longer understands; and Really and Truly, a high-octane psychedelic road-trip torn from the pages of cult comic 2000AD.

Also included is one of Hughes’ first longform comic tales - The Science Service, also the first professional commission written by John Freeman back in the 1980s, created in duotone for Magic Strip; while Hughes explores an evocative noir palette replete with dramatic angular lighting for Raymond Chandler's Goldfish, adapted by It’s Superman author Tom DeHaven; and The Lighted Cities by acclaimed comics creator Chris Reynolds.

Rian is an award-winning graphic designer, illustrator, comic artist, logo designer and typographer. He studied graphic design at the London College of Printing before working for an advertising agency, i-D magazine and a series of record sleeve design companies. In 1994, he founded his own studio, Device, and has since worked with a wide range of international clients in publishing, advertising, music and fashion. He has also worked extensively for the British and American comic book industries, both as artist and designer. 

In addition to sketchbook pages, merchandise and rare strips Yesterday's Tomorrows features an introduction by comics guru Paul Gravett, who published Hughes’ very first strips in his seminal independent comics magazine Escape.

Rian also has a number of books about different aspects of 20th century design scheduled for release from Fiell Publishing Limited, either already published this year or due for publication soon. Out now is Lifestyle Illustration of the 60s (Amazon UK link), a survey of magazine artwork from the Swinging Sixties. Featuring over 1,000 gloriously inventive and stylistically diverse illustrations, it offers a fascinating insight into the extraordinary artistic talents of the illustrators featured, it also reveals the social aspirations of this unprecedented era of political optimism and sexual freedom.

Complementing this release is Lifestyle Illustration of the 50s (Amazon UK link), also due for release in November, an overview of the astonishing artistic skill of the leading lifestyle illustrators of the period, revealing the changing social aspirations of the post-war generation and their growing optimism for the future.

Out in October is Custom Lettering of the 40s and 50s (Amazon UK link) is a celebration of the stunning and stylistically varied headline lettering that predated modern computer type. Each a unique one-off, custom hand-drawn lettering had a stylistic freedom and creative energy unfettered by traditional typographic rules and regulations.

The handbook features over 4,500 examples of custom lettering - from urgent rough block capitals to sophisticated looping copperplate scripts, elegant fashion brush scripts and dynamic illustrative sans serifs, the extraordinary range of graphic styles is as exciting as it is stylistically diverse. It should appeal to typographers, graphic designers and, of course, retro culture fans, lettering aficionados and printed ephemera collectors.

• More information about Image Comics new US edition on the Image Comics web site

• Buy the Knockabout Comics edition from Amazon UK

• Rian Hughes official web site: www.devicefonts.co.uk 

• Fiell Publishing Limited 

That Alan Moore, He Likes to Draw

The Forbidden Planet Blog Log has just posted this fab wraparound cover for esoteric comics-magazine-thing Dodgem Logic #3 (courtesy of Knockabout Comics), featuring artwork by none other than Alan Moore himself, who as older readers will recall, once drew the marvellous Maxwell the Cat before he got distrcted by a dubious writing career...

Issue 3, is a monster of an issue and comes perfect bound. While that also means a price increase, we're assured the pages contain a rare compendium of delights.

"We’ve got confessions of calamitous careers in the constabulary, step-by-step instructions for do-it-yourself diabolism and the rigorous recriminatory ruminations of a rogue town planner," say the publishers. "We’ve got divine decadence and sultry San Francisco nights along with the exploits of troubled everyman Johnny Viable, some glamorous graffiti, and a tantalising T-shirt transfer from the crayon box of Dodgem Logic’s vendor of voluptuousness Melinda Gebbie."

• Order Dodgem Logic #3 from Forbidden Planet International - or buy it from your local specialist comic shop

Tube Surfing: 20 August 2008

• Comics artist Dave McKean was one of the guests at the very damp last night and despite the weather the event was sold out and went very, very well., according to Joe Gordon at Forbidden Planet International, who has Edinburgh Book Festa full repor on their blog. "I'm now looking forward to this Friday’s gig with Alan Grant, Bryan Talbot and Hannah Berry," he says. "It's only second year the world’s biggest book fest has had comics events and it seems to be going very well – staff are all very enthusiastic and it was again a good mixed audience, not just the comics folks, all very encouraging."

• Knockabout Books, in association with Gosh! Comics, are celebrating the release of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Omnibus with three UK signings by Freaks creator and counter-culture legend Gilbert Shelton. Mr Shelton will be making the following appearances:

12 September 2008:
OK Comics, 19 Thorntons Arcade, Briggate, Leeds LS1 6LQ – 3pm-5pm

13 September
Gosh! Comics, 39 Great Russell St, London WC1B 3NZ – 2pm-4pm

14 September
Dave’s Comics, 5 Sydney St, Brigton BN1 4EN – Time TBC

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Omnibus represents the definitive collection of the definitive underground comic: 624 pages (including 224 in full colour) for only £20. The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers themselves are legend; published in 15 languages, with world-wide sales of over 40 million comics and countless items of merchandise, it’s the seamless mix of slapstick and satire at the heart of these strips that have kept them so vital for the past 40 years.

Signings by the Paris-based Shelton are few and far between, so don’t miss this opportunity to meet a true comic (in every sense of the word) genius.

• In movie news, Tom Cruise has just attached himself to the comic book movie Sleeper, based on the Wildstrom/DC Comics title. The film is about an operative whose fusion with an alien artifact makes him impervious to pain. An intelligence agency places him undercover in a villainous organization where he falls for Miss Misery, a member of the group.

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