Legendary 2000AD artist Ron Smith is to appear at a signing in London to mark Free Comic Book Day – his first signing for well over a decade.
Revered by Judge Dredd fans for his satirical and, at times, bizarre take on the world of Mega-City One, the 89-year-old artist will be joined by writers Dan Abnett (Sinister Dexter, Insurrection) and Al Ewing (Zombo), and artist Ben Willsher (Judge Dredd) for this signing.
The event will take place from 1pm on 4th May at the Forbidden Planet Megastore on Shaftesbury Avenue, London.
A former Spitfire pilot and animator, Ron first appeared in 2000AD in 1978 before helping define Dredd’s futuristic world, from the League of Fatties to the craze for Otto Sump’s ‘ugly’ products.
Considered one of the ‘big four’ Dredd artists alongside Carlos Ezquerra, Mick McMahon, and Brian Bolland, Ron is also one of the most prolific artists in 2000AD’s history and his work continues to delight fans thanks to the best-selling Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files series.
Ron also drew many of the Judge Dredd newspaper strips for the Daily Star. Beyond 2000AD, his comics credits, which date back to the 1950s, also include "Codename Warlord" for DC Thomson's Warlord, and he is credited with the creation of the British hero "King Cobra" for Hotspur, now revived in STRIP Magazine.
Now retired from illustration, Ron has not attended a public signing for many years and fans should grab this opportunity to meet one of the greatest Judge Dredd artists of all time.
Free Comic Book Day is an annual event in May each year aimed at helping promote local comic book stores and the comics industry in general. Participating shops across the world give away special comic books free to anyone who comes into their stores.
2000AD continues its popular run of pocket-sized black-and-white reprints of Judge Dredd classics with The Judge Child - as the lawman leaves Earth on an intergalactic mission to save Mega-City One!
When Justice Department’s oldest psychic has a terrifying vision of the future, Dredd and a select group of Judges are sent on a mission to find The Judge Child - an adolescent named Owen Krysler who may be the only being powerful enough to stop the foretold apocalypse. But at what cost?
Featuring some of the most iconic moments in the strip’s history, Dredd encounters a galaxy stranger than anything you could imagine - from alien voodoo priests to spaceship-eating planets and diseases that make their victims disappear piece by piece! The Judge Child truly is Judge Dredd at its insane, imaginative best.
Referenced in both Judge Dredd films, this epic story also introduced the famous Angel Gang – including headbutt-happy Mean Angel, whose dial controls his level of aggression.
With incredible artwork by the greatest names to have drawn Judge Dredd - Brian Bolland, Mick McMahon, and Ron Smith - the latest in 2000AD’s line of Dredd stories in B-format is an all-time classic, a must have that will appeal to old readers and those unfamiliar with the world of Mega-City One.
2000AD has launched its first ebook collection of interviews with some of the biggest names in the comic book industry.
This first collection includes a three-part interview with the co-creator of Judge Dredd, Carlos Ezquerra, as well as pieces on the creator of 2000AD, Pat Mills, and two of the artists who fundamentally defined the look of Dredd – Mick McMahon and Ron Smith.
In a new experiment for 2000AD, the series is being made available in ebook format, firstly for Kindle only – available through Amazon for just £1.99.
These long-form interviews from the monthly Judge Dredd Megazine offer a unique insight into the life and work of seminal figures in British comics history, covering everything from their childhoods, to their time with 2000AD and their work elsewhere. Later volumes will include interviews with more top flight talent from the world of Tharg.
“These interviews are one of the highlights of the Judge Dredd Megazine and give unprecedented insights into the creative minds behind 2000AD and its characters,” said Matt Smith, editor.
“Nowhere else will you find this long-running series of long-form interviews, and these collections will allow fans to get an in depth look at the people who made 2000AD what it is today.”
The latest issue of Classics from the Comics offers the usual fine selection of both humour and adventure comics from the DC Thomson archive, this month spotlighting longtime Minnie the Minx artist Jim Petrie and bringing fans an episode of King Cobra, a superhero drawn by Ron Smith.
Alongside the mix of strips from The Beano, Dandy, Topper and Sparky - to name but a few - there's also the chance to win a Gnasher picture box and a Bash Street Kids-inspired Plug and Sally fugurine.
There's plenty to enjoy this issue - so it's very sad to learn that the title, in its fourteenth year of publication, is destined for cancellation due to low sales, especially after all hard work editor Garry Fraser has been putting into recent issues (the last issue will be Number 175, on sale on 13th October). Sadly, Classics from the Comics has been poorly distributed and behind-the-scenes production changes at DC Thomson mean it's no longer viable for them to publish this wonderful assemblage of comics from yesteryear.
It's a darn shame, too, because I'm sure there is a market for this kind of title, albeit one that's fairly 'niche'.
Favourite strips this issue for me are Beryl the Peril (whose magic tricks land her in hot water); a superhero skit from Sparky's Puss an' Boots; a bizarre strip from Nutty titled Dick Turban, pitting a desert thief against the Foreign Legion; a fab Mickey the Monkey from Topper; and the ever-brilliant Spoofer McGraw from Sparky, this issue explaining that Moby Dick, the great white whale, was actually a great white polar bear that ate too much honey. Priceless!
King Cobra, drawn by Ron Smith
The continuing adventures of The Space Kids, and appearance of King Cobra, who featured in The Hotspur, and a text adventure, Dixon Hawke, from 1938 (presumably from an early Beano) make up the adventure content of the issue. Cobra is a bizarre British superhero with little originality - a reporter by day, crime fighter by night - but Ron Smith's art is great, and this snake-inspired adventurer is far less violent than Indian publisher Raj Comics Nagraj, who is the only reptilian-powered hero I can think of at this time of the morning.
Classics from the Comics has much to recommend it for any fan of British comics of yesteryear; it's just a shame its distribution is so patchy (which must surely be another reason for its demise). If you can find a copy in your local newsagents, check it out, and revel in a bit of welcome nostalgia...
• Classics from the Comics, published by DC Thomson, is on sale now in all good UK newsagents, price £2 (a bargain!)
There's the usual great mix of strips from a variety of DC Thomson humour comics in the latest issue of Classics from the Comics, on sale in all good newsagents now.
Favourites this time around have to be a 1977 episode of Spoofer McGraw, a teller of tall tales who regularly befuddled his duffel-coated mate in Sparky, sometimes, I recall in response to readers letters. Sparky was always one of my favourite DCT titles (although I was never very keen on Puss and Boots, who also feature this issue) and as Spoofer comes up with an absurd explanation for the arrival of a large cement mixer on his street, it's hard not to see why.
Humour is always in the eye of the beholder but there's plenty of fun to be had this issue, with two simple but effective 'sight gag' strips starring Mickey the Monkey from Topper; Little Plum taking up weightlifting, only to discover it's not all it's cracked up to be; a brilliant 21-frame Desperate Dan page by Dudley D. Watkins (21 frames! How often do you get that on one page today?) from 1956; a really bizarre Pansy Potter as she takes on, and betters, a weird-looking spiv character selling springs (springs? why?!); and a great Figaro! strip from 1962, from Topper, that pretty much rounds the whole jam-packed issue off.
There are also a couple of adventure strips - Space Kids by Ron Smith from Beezer, General Jumbo from Buddy, and older material too, from Adventure and the origial Wizard (although I'm not so sure these text stories are as good as the selected comic strips. They sit a bit uneasily with the rest of the comic, I think).
Once again, it's a fine mix and there's plenty for fans of The Beano and sadly now long-gone DCT comics to enjoy. I do hope though, that we'll see a return of creator credits, which was beginning to creep into the title but seems to have been dropped this time around. Other than that, £2 well spent, in my view!
downthetubes has been having some behind-the-scenes computer woes: we apologize for the lack of posts in recent days. We're grateful to Jeremy Briggs for his review of Cinebooks' Rameses' Revenge.
• Artist Dave Gibbonshas been interviewed for The Guardian, talking about how computers have liberated him as an artist – and the dubious honour of inspiring the Comic Sans font... Dave is busy promoting the Digital Artist 2009 awards, backed by Intel and Future Publishing. Gibbons is a judge in the competition to find the digital artist of the year, and has contributed a masterclass video (above) on how he uses digital media.
• A re-design of the official 2000AD web site is underway - expect some modifications to unfurl next week. The official forum is still accessible. Talking of things 2000AD, word is that the latest Meg' (out today) carries the first part of a two part interview with artist Ron Smith.
• Still on 2000AD, the 2000AD Review Site has had a revamp. It looks rather nifty, with the news section now more of a blog featuring 2000AD news and much anything 2000AD related that might be of interest to 2000AD readers.
• Want some great original comic art by a very talented British cartoonist? Lizz Lunney is doing a comic a day for August and selling the original artwork in her online shop.
• Lew Stringer reports that the Pathetic Sharks are back in Viz for the summer, and that to mark the humour magazine's 30th birthday, an exhibition of original artwork will be shown at the Cartoon Museum, Little Russell Street, London from 4th November 2009 to 24th January 2010 (www.cartoonmuseum.org). Viz No.188, which also features favourites such as Roger Mellie, Eight Ace, Millie Tant, and Meddlesome Ratbag is £3 and on sale now in all good newsagents, supermarkets -- and even some bad ones. Viz website: www.viz.co.uk
• Ian Edginton is writing a six part zombie series for DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint: Victorian Undead, is set in a 19th Century London overrun by zombies, and only Sherlock Holmes can save the day. The series is illustrated by Star Wars and Brothers In Arms artist Davide Fabbri and will launche in November.
• DC Thomson is to launch a Scottish football magazine in October.AllMedia reports Eleven aims to report all levels of the game in Scotland, including the national men's team, the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League, all the way to Highland League and East of Scotland leagues and women's football. Priced £2.75 it will be on sale in newsagents and promises - for its launch issue - news from each of the 42 SPL and SFL clubs, plus a report from the Major League Soccer scene in the USA. No word on whether it will include any comic strip.
• Despite this launch, AllMediaalso notes DC Thomson, like all UK publishers, is not having the best of times. It stable of magazines and comics has suffered across-the-board drops in its sales, according to figures published recently, the ABCs indicating the average net circulations of the likes of People’s Friend and the Dandy all experienced sales falls between the end of December, last year, and the end of June this year.
Sales of The Beano average at 53,964 between December 31 and June 30, down 12.8 per cent on the previous six months, and sales of My Weekly average at 145,676, down 4.6 per cent. Read the full report
• And finally... Jason Cobley reports for the education market, Classical Comics have got together with Heinle Cengage Learning to publish an ELT (English language teaching) version of their Frankenstein graphic novel. "It's quite similar to the Quick text version, with some changes to the language for clarification, the intended readers being learners of English as an additional language," says Jason. "It's interesting to compare the three versions alongside each other.
"I know which I prefer as a straight read - for a general reader I'd recommend the Original Text, for younger readers the Quick Text, and a mix of the two for use in schools, emphasising the original text. But the ELT version is a really good tool for schools also, the best thing about it being the audio version that comes with it. It's a great reading, with a variety of voices and sound effects for key scenes - a narrated audio play that I heartily recommend whether using it in school or just to listen to in the car."
Ron's fans over on the official 2000AD web site followed up on our report, and their campaign should be given full credit for the article's removal.
Responding to one complaint, Jane Hamilton at The Sun was clearly apologetic. "Having done some research this verdict was way back at the start of June and then only reported by a small number of local websites," she explained. "I will need to find out why this is as no reputable new agency or freelancer has filed it to us. I will ask a reporter to check with the court."
Now they've done this, the story has been removed from The Sun's site.
While it's a shame they haven't run a new story to point out he was totally absolved of some horrendous accusations, this is at least, a ghafflebette victory, as Tharg might say!
UPDATE, 5th August 2009: We're pleased to report that since this story was first published, The Sun appears to have removed the offending story referred to from its web site (see news story). We have left this report live for archival purposes...
Back in June, The Sun - Britain's top-selling newspaper - reported on the opening of the trial of 80-year-old comics artist and former Spitfire pilot Ron Smith who had, as it turned out, been wrongfully accused of rape and indecent assault.
Rather than publish anything, at downthetubes we chose to await the outcome of the trial.
Mr Smith was, to his many fans' delight, unanimously cleared of all charges made against him by the jury and therefore we felt this story deserved no coverage.
Commenting on the trial Ron's daughter, Sue Carr subsequently told fans she was relieved that her father’s innocence had been proved and that his name had been cleared.
"It has been a very, very difficult time for him," she said, "and it's been a great comfort for him to learn that his many fans have been behind him in this simply dreadful matter.”
Unfortunately, although the result in favour of Ron was widely reported online and in comic circles, it has not been covered by The Sun, unless it chosen not to publish a story reporting the outcome of the trial online but only in print. Instead it has kept the original story, unchanged on its web site (5th August 2009 update: story now removed, see news story), with a link title that perpetuates the totally untrue allegations against Mr Smith.
Here at downthetubes we have to wonder: why is The Sun perpetuating this totally false story about Ron Smith? Why does its actual link title effectively repeat the disproved allegation made against him? And why has The Sun chosen not to update its original story to report the outcome of the trial?
Ron has a huge number of fans who were deeply upset by these false allegations but, despite writing to the paper we have not had an explanation for what of course may be simple but very unpleasant oversight.
The Sun story can still be found online without update and gives a totally false impression of a highly regarded artist. We think this is wrong, immoral and, despite the careful wording of the article itself potentially libellous, simply because of the link construction.
UPDATE, 5th August 2009: The Sun appears to have removed its story from their web site. See news story
• Michael Molcher comments on the reporting of the trial in the wider context of modern journalism here. Joe Gordon at the Forbidden Planet International blog comments on that here
• Heading to Edinburgh's Fringe later this summer? Perhaps to catch up with Kev Sutherland and the Falsetto Sock Company, who are sure to be there? Then you might also be interested in a new show from Canadian actor Charles Ross, who first made an impact on the Edinburgh Fringe when his debut show, One Man Star Wars Trilogy, which was a surprise sell-out hit of the 2006 event. He's back this year with his equally hilarious follow-up One Man Lord Of The Rings in which he recreates the enchanting world of Middle-Earth, armed with nothing more than a pair of elbow pads and his outrageous imagination, at the E4 Udderbelly, E4 Udderbelly's Pasture, from 6-16th August 2009. More info: www.onemanlotr.com (Photo: Lisa Hebden)
• With the nominations collected, the ballets are about to open for the 2008 Eagle Awards, the comics industry's longest-running awards. Co-founded in 1976 by Mike Conroy, editor of Comics International and author of new Ilex Press release War Comics: A Graphic History (see news story), the awards offer UK comics fans a unique opportunity to nominate their own choices and vote for their pick of bunch in each category. The award categories cover comics and creators, as well as comics-related titles. Vote for nominees in the Eagles Awards here
• Via numerous upset comic creators, worrying news appeared in The Sun reporting that one-time 2000AD artist Ron Smith, 80, was in court over alledged child abuse. We can now report that at 3.00pm today the jury unanimously found him not guilty. Guildford Crown Court confirmed the details
• To quote blogger Giles Poitras, "Oh god it was only a matter of time. And who else but the wonderful Helen McCarthy could do a book called Manga Cross-Stitch." Who else indeed! Helen McCarthy, author of ILEX's 500 Essential Anime Movies and many titles on Japanese manga and anime, is the UK's leading expert in this area, and now she has turned her hand to teaching how to incorporate the skills of needlecraft with this popular Japanese graphic art form. Manga Cross-Stitch, available from ILEX, will be out soon, but in the meantime the Japan Foundation is presenting a lecture and workshop held by Helen McCarthy, on Wednesday 1 July, in London. Places are limited so get your tickets quick, as there will a chance to stitch your own manga design on the day.
• (via Bear Alley): A number of British creators have made the shortlist for the British Fantasy Awards 2009, amongst them Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (best novel (and best non-fiction for his blog) and best artist respectively) and numerous others in the Best Comic/Graphic Novel section.
• This sounds fun: CBBC has commissioned a new science series, Space Hoppers, an interplanetary adventure series featuring Professor Brian Cox. Using animation and CGI and experiments, the series investigate what one might need to go on vacation in outer space and the extreme environments in the Solar System. Set to launch in 2010, which happens also to be the BBC's Year of Science, the seven episode series is produced in conjunction with BBC Science's series Seven Wonders Of The Solar System, also hosted by Cox.
• Tim Pilcher, author of Erotic Comics: A Graphic History, has been talking to Salacious Scribbles about the relationships between erotica, porn and the comics genre; how Volume 2 was stopped by Australian customs; and a whole lot more with Louise Bak, poet and radio show co-host, for men's magazine Toro. In Tim's own words: "Good erotic comics have to abide by the same basic rules that any comic book genre has to. That is, good story pacing, believable/ empathetic characters, an involving storyline and quality design and page layout." Erotic Comics is a guide though the talent and artwork of this much maligned art form. Read the interview here
The long running series of articles on Great British Comics Artists by David Ashford and Norman Wright in Book and Magazine Collector has reached part 28. This time the subject is Ron Smith and it is the first time that the series has covered a living artist.
Book And Magazine Collector issue 298 has an 18 page article and price guide on the artist who may be best known for Judge Dredd. However Ron Smith started out with Amalgamated Press in 1950 before quickly moving to Dundee where his work covered DC Thomson's boy's story papers, girls comics, humour titles and annuals. Added to that are new Eagle, Mask, several Marvel UK titles, newspaper strips and even the Green Cross Code Man and it shows just how varied his career was.
Issue 298 is available for £3.50 from WH Smiths and Easons, or from the B&MC website.
• Ian Edginton is writing a six part zombie series for DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint: Victorian Undead, is set in a 19th Century London overrun by zombies, and only Sherlock Holmes can save the day. The series is illustrated by Star Wars and Brothers In Arms artist Davide Fabbri and will launche in November.
