Tube Surfing: Ross joins Kapow line up, Cardiff Comic Expo and more

• British TV presenter, comic book writer and lifelong comic fan Jonathan Ross has confirmed he will be a guest at Kapow! Comic Con and host the Comic Pros vs. Fans Game Show live on stage. The event takes place 9th & 10th April 2011. More info: www.kapowcomiccon.com

• If you live in the UK fancy nabbing a copy of the Burke & Hare by Martin Conaghan and Will Pickering as a stocking filler this Christmas, you can get it now with free postage. The total price, delivered, is now £10. You can purchase the book at Amazon UK, or on the Burke & Hare Graphic Novel website: www.burkeandharecomic.co.uk

• The line up for the first  Cardiff Comic Expo on Saturday 26th February 2011 includes comic creators Charlie Adlard, Mike Collins, Paul Cornell, Neil Edwards, John Ross and Simon Williams. The  event will see the launch of 10thology, a collection of 10 stories by the cream of the crop of Welsh creators and creators living and working in Wales from the Small Press and Indie scene, including industry legends such as Mike Collins.
There's also a Manga Expo Spotlight hosted by Cardiff’s Otakuzoku Store and a Small Press Showcase hosted by Fallen Angel Media.
 All advance ticket holders will receive a money off voucher for 10 thology and the chance to win original art! Tickets are only £5 and are on sale now via Paypal. Visit http://www.fantasyevents.org/cicel to pre-book. For more info, there's also a facebook page here.

• Talking of Facebook, indie comic distributors and all round good eggs Smallzone now have space there. Check it out at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Smallzone

• Andy Diggle draws our attention to the Sitcom Mission 2011's 15-minute sitcom scriptwriting competition. The event launched last year and the search for the 2011 showcase is now on, and they're looking for a 15-minute episode. See the Blog, FAQs, Guidelines, Rules for further information, then Enter.

•  B7 Media, producers of all things Blake's 7-related, have just launched their new company website where you’ll find details about thir past, present and future productions, along with the ability to purchase and download our latest audio releases: www.b7media.com

• The Comic Creators Alliance have announced the launch of their second annual fund-raising drive to raise funds to fight against Human Trafficking. Last year's drive raised a staggering $10,000 and had over 80 artists working together on a special image just for the event. This year they hope to top not only proceeds, but the number of artists working on the project. In the spirit of upping the odds, this year's drive will include a print version of the piece available for purchase as well as the digital download. Artists have until the end of the year to contact the creator of this project, Lora Innes, at comiccreatorsallianceATgmail.com to contribute artwork.
The donation drive starts on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day which is 11 January 11, 2011 and ends 24th January 2011. The official website for the drive is http://comicalliance.weebly.com/. To learn more about what you can do to end human trafficking visit http://comicalliance.weebly.com/links.html. 

UK indie comics distributor Smallzone launches Print on Demand service

British independent comics distributor Smallzone - also the team behind Scar Comics - has just announced a UK-based Print on Demand service for all UK comic publishers.

The service, arranged in partnership with BookVault, enables publishers to print books and sell them without a huge outlay and the Smallzone service has been deliberately tailored to comics publishers.

"Now - finally - there is a true POD option for UK publishers," enthuses Smallzone's Shane Chebsey, "which means no more expensive shipping from the US and no more having to spend a fortune in big runs of comics just to get a reasonable price per copy.

"We're very excited about this as we think it will enable small publishers to have more choice in their printing options and publish comics and graphic novels without having to break the bank.

"It also means that small publishers will no long be restricted to black and white interior art. Colour printing is now affordable on lower runs."

Smallzone can also intergrate the retail service with the printing service so publishers don't  have to worry about finding storage space for their print run.

"We can print and sell the books for you and you just sit back and enjoy the royalties," says Shane. (The combined service is only open to publishers who qualify for a smallzone listing).

• For more information and to view prices go to: www.smallzone.co.uk/printing.htm

Harry Brown film writer announces Madam Samurai graphic novel

Gary Young, writer of UK film box office hit Harry Brown, has announced that his next creative release will be Madam Samurai, a two-volume graphic novel featuring art by Eagle Award Winner David Hitchcock

The first volume is due to be published by Scar Comics in the summer of 2010 and a trailer for the book is available to view and download now here on the SC web site.

The action-adventure story follows a female samurai warrior whose journey brings her to Victorian London on a mission of vengeance.

“Madam Samurai began as a one-line pitch devised by film producer Gael McLaughlin," reveals writer Gary Young, describing how the project started life. "The notion absolutely intrigued me and so we began to develop the idea into a full screenplay.”

“The more the idea grew it became clear that it was way beyond what we had access to in terms of production budget," he continued. "However, it also became clear to us that this was perfect material for a graphic novel, something I'd always wanted to do having grown up as an avid fan of the medium. We also felt that the book would ultimately help the project to be realised as the film we'd always envisioned.”

Shane Chebsey, the brains behind indie comics distribution service Small Zone and publisher of Scar Comics, whose books include Sardines & Solitude by talented new creator Erol Arguden, soon came on board as publisher and introduced artist David Hitchcock to the project.

“As soon as I read the Madam Samurai script I knew that this was a project I really wanted to be involved with," he reveals. "The first artist I thought of was David Hitchcock, whose past projects include Springheeled Jack, Whitechapel Freak. His amazing pencil style work already features London in the Victorian era and characters such as Jack the Ripper."

“I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of drawing feudal Japan," adds David. "It’s required a lot of research but it’s been a delight to draw. The story is so compelling and the characters are so exciting that it’s been a real pleasure to work on.”

Based on the sample page Scar Comics have sent us (above, left, click the image for larger size), this looks to be a brilliant new book, and it's great to hear that both Gary and Shane's faith in the project has been reflected in key comics distributor's decision to support the book.

"We’re delighted that Diamond Distribution will be distributing the book as it allows the story to reach fans on both sides of the Atlantic," says Shane.

• Madam Samurai: Volume One will be listed in the April 2010 Diamond Previews Catalogue and be available in all good comic shops in June. Keep up to date on the project on its Facebook page


• Madam Samurai Trailer: www.scarcomics.com/trailer.htm

In Review: Thomas Wogan is Dead

Back in 2004 British indie creator Dave Hughes, who hails from Barrow but in now based in Lancaster, self-published his first comic story, The Immeasurable Adventures of Gorky Park (see news story). Reaction was positive but sales were not what Dave expected, despite throwing himself full tilt into promoting the book, sending out more than 30 copies to various British comic shops (few of which even acknowledged receipt) and a distinct lack of response to an ad in Comics International.

Disappointed perhaps at not setting the small press world afire with his work -- which I described then as "akin to Rugrats on acid" -- it's perhaps no surprise that there's been such a huge gap between his first story and his new one, Thomas Wogan is Dead.

Despite the wait, it's good to see Dave back in the saddle, delivering the quirky but thought-provoking tale of Thomas Wogan, who finds himself in a strange waiting room with nothing but a ticket and his spectacles to protect his modesty. It’s not clear what’s happened, but perhaps the other characters in the waiting room -- a cuckoo, a sea urchin, a natterjack toad, a bat, a fish and an egg -- can shed some light on the matter…

Thomas Wogan is not really the sort of character you'd expect anything odd to happen to, but this strange waiting room proves to be like something out of The Twilight Zone, with the various talking creatures revealing their life stories before demanding to know Wogan's, which isn't exactly anything that exciting, even when he describes the best day of his life, when he skived off work and went to Morecambe. Wogan's humdrum existence working at Perriman Plastics, cooking processed snacks, television and admiring Delia Smith with a near pathological, e-stalker intensity (he spends some of his spare time 'updating' her Wikipedia with all manner of strange additions, for example) hardly seems to be the stuff of legend.

And yet, when Wogan finds himself naked in a strange waiting room with a group of different species, all of them with numbered tickets, who try and piece together between them exactly what’s happened to them, it's clear something extraordinary has happened to them... but what? What's the signficance of the LCD counter on the wall? As the creatures tell their tales, they soon realize they have one thing in common; they all end in death.

Running to some 72 pages this is a fun piece of work, with all the styling and quirky weirdness of Gorky Park, with some well realized sequences, particularly the Tale of the Cuckoo and Wogan's own story. His human characters are indescribably grotesque yet appealing, from Wogan himself to the overweight, make-up-laden pool player Sharon, who he meets in Morecambe. The story itself is also genuinely thought-provoking and well-told, although I would say Dave would do well to look to improving his lettering for any further work, perhaps even considering an e-font next time (the text is clear and better presented than some professionally published works I've read recently from some of Britain's book publishers pushing their graphic novels, but still needs work).

Wrapped in a cover with colours by Ant Mercer, the background an image of Morecambe only this week gone forever, bulldozed out of existence, Thomas Wogan is Dead is an unusual but enjoyable work now available from Smallzone, direct from Dave himself (priced £2.50 -- email stonechatproductionsATyahoo.co.uk for how to order) and, soon hopefully, the Travelling Man comic shops, as well as via First Age, Lancaster.

"I got the idea for this about four years ago and have been working on it on and off ever since," Dave told us. "My main hope is that the book’s mostly funny but also that I’ve managed to pull off the odd, dare I say it, poignant scene.

"I’m a bit of a bird and general nature nerd, so a lot of those things inspired me. I’ve put a fair bit of myself into the book but would like to say I’m not in love with Delia Smith!

"The Immeasurable Adventures of Gorky Park had a great, if localised reaction," he continues. "Some people seemed to love it to bits and wanted a sequel, which I just didn’t have in me (maybe some time). On the sales front, it bombed, but I choose to see it as a successful artistic endeavour. Well, better to dwell on that than the £800 costs!"

What's next from Dave? Are we really going to have to wait another four years for his next story? It would be a darn shame.

"As usual, there are several very messy notebooks crammed with discarded ideas behind it," he reveals. "I only end up using about five per cent of the stuff I scribble down!

"It would be nice to get into the discipline of doing this kind of work more regularly."

Here's hoping. The counter is ticking...

• Read Rob Jackson's review of Thomas Wogan is Dead