Have Team TOXIC met their match?

The latest issue of Egmont's TOXIC is in the shops now and it's packed with comics strips and comes with no less than three free gifts -- secret spy glasses, a water squirter and "Deadly 60 Trading Cards".


One of the strip highlights in this comic magazine is Team Toxic, written and drawn by Lew Stringer, who tells us that this issue's story sees the villainous Baron Spyboss (who he introduced back in January) put his ultimate scheme into action, and the Team finally meet their nemesis.

"Regular readers of TOXIC will know that in an earlier issue Spyboss stole Doc Shock's brain -- don't worry, Doc had a spare," says Lew on his blog. "Transferring Doc's technical knowledge to his own mind, Spyboss uses it to take on the Team."

How can Doc Shock defeat a foe who knows as much as he does, and what is the gob-smacking, jaw dropping secret of Spyboss?

• TOXIC 191 is on sale now from newsagents and supermarkets, price £2.75

• Go to www.toxicmag.co.uk/bigjoke to find out how YOU can meet Dick & Dom!

TOXIC © Egmont UK Ltd

Tube Surfing: TOXIC's new strips, Mudman and STRIP Magazine news

Here's a quick round up of British comics news courtesy of various sources...

Bro vs. Bro by Laura Howell

• Lew Stringer reports the website for Egmont's popular TOXIC magazine for boys has recently had a revamp. Although some of the older items such as the Joke Machine have gone, the site now offers a bunch of new features, including one of his Team Toxic stories, Butt of the Joke, that you can read online for free.

The magazine itself also has two new strips this week (Issue 189), in addition to the ongoing Busted Bieber, stinky superhero Captain Gross and Lew's long-running Team Toxic. Luke's Spooks features a boy haunted by a couple of gross ghosts, and Bro vs Bro, drawn by Laura Howell, is about the rivalry of two brothers, one a boy genius, the other a sports jock.

"Hmm, thinking about it, a scenario about belligerent youths isn't much of a departure from BBC News 24 at all is it," Laura notes wryly on her blog. "Ahem, let's move on.."

• Print Media Productions STRIP Magazine is on course for an October launch - still no actual date yet - and the first three strips in the STRIP Challenge, seeking to spotlight new talent, have been chosen. As the title's editor, I can report we had a terrific selection to choose from and while there were some entries that strayed wildly from the declared content of the magazine most of the submissions were in the right ball park as regards content. The first three creative teams have been informed of their success, but we still have to decide the next three.

STRIP Magazine, a monthly anthology adventure title, will include stories by Phil Hester, John McCrea, PJ Holden, James Hudnall and John Ridgway (among others). More information at http://www.printmediaproductions.com/ (currently re-directing to the title's blog)

Paul Temple © London Evening News

• Steve Holland is currently publishing episodes of the newspaper strip Paul Temple on his wonderful Bear Alley blog. Based on the BBC radio character of the same name and published in London's Evening News from 19th November 1951 until 1st May 1971, it's the adventures of an amateur detective told with typical derring-do of the period, and was drawn by a variety of artists - Alfred Sindall, Bill Bailey and John McNamara.

There's more about Paul Temple character here on the Thrilling Detective web site , but Steve has plenty more about the comic and Paul Temple's creator on Bear Alley.

• Bryan Talbot, creator of Luther Arkwright and much more, has dropped us a line to say that his wife, Dr Mary Talbot, an internationally acclaimed scholar in her own right with published works on language, gender and power has a web site live dedicated to her upcoming graphic novel (drawn by Bryan), Dotter Of Her Father’s Eyes, which will be published by Cape in February 2012. Part personal history, part biography, Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes contrasts two coming of age narratives: that of Lucia, the daughter of James Joyce, and that of author Mary Talbot, daughter of the eminent Joycean scholar James S Atherton. ... a fine addition to the evolving genre of graphic memoir.

“I think what’s been most distinctive about this project is that I haven’t just completed a script and then passed it over to an artist. We’ve been able to work on the book together, with an intensive and ongoing creative interaction that’s usually missing from writer/artist collaborations.”

There are preview pages from Dotter on Mary’s website, © 2011 Mary M. Talbot. You can pre-order Dotter of Her Father's Eyes from amazon.co.uk now

• A quick reminder about the the upcoming Comics and Conflict conference which is being held in the Imperial War Museum on 19th-20th August, which will include panel discussion, workshops and a film screening, as well as boasting some terrific guests such as Pat Mills, Roger Sabin and Garth Ennis - among others. If you're a war comics fan and in London that weekend it's not to be missed.

• Talking of events. don't forget the Edinburgh Book Festival has started. Our own Jeremy Briggs has already brought us a run down of this year's comics-related events, which include appearances by the Etherington Brothers, Pat Mills, Tony Lee, Dan Boultwood, Emma Vicelli and many others.

There are more details of all the talks at the Edinburgh International Book Festival website where tickets can also be purchased.

• US publisher Image Comics have announced the upcoming publication of Mudman by Paul Grist. After self-publishing for much of the 1990s, Paul Grist brought two critically acclaimed original titles to Image Comics in 2002: the crime drama Kane and then the eclectic superhero series Jack Staff. Recently, Grist has been using his sparse, signature style to develop this new superhero that will be introduced to the world this November.

"This is my 'Back to Basics' superhero comic," explained Grist. "It's not about alien menaces or cosmic powers (though they may pop up once in a while); it's all about growing up and finding your way in the world, and how the decisions that you make can affect others. In a way, it's probably the most autobiographical comic I've ever done. But with added mud." There's more information here on the Image Comics web site.

I'll round off this Tube Surf with news of another event, again north of the border. An exhibition of paintings by HI-Ex co-organiser Vicky Stonebridge - well known for her indie comics work on titles such as Slaughterman's Creed - and artist John Mikietyn, and a ceramic sculpture by Allison Weightman, will open at the Scotland Russia Forum’s Edinburgh premises at 6.00pm tonight, Friday 12th August, attended by Sergei Krutikov, the Russian Consul General.

The week long exhibition - "Reactions to Vysotsky" - accompanies music by Scottish singer, songwriter and translator, Tommy Beavitt, whose long-term project to interpret and perform the work of the Russian Bard, Vladimir Vysotsky (1938-1980), in English and Russian, has been an inspiration for the work displayed. Alongside the artworks, the exhibition will present Tommy’s performances in Russian and English of some of Vysotsky’s songs, which feature universal themes of faith, conflict and individual freedom.

After closing in Edinburgh on the 18th, the exhibition will then re-open at the Inchmore Gallery, near Inverness, on the 19th August. Full details here on Vicky's Balnacra Arts web site

TOXIC goes alien mad

Egmont's TOXIC Magazine has gone totally alien crazy for its latest issue, leading with coverage of hit Cartoon Network show Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, alongside its usual mix of puzzles, prizes and comics.

The title hasn't dropped its free gifts, either - this issues include a finger rubber, bogey pencil and pad.

• TOXIC is on sale now in all good newsagents (and some smelly ones). Check it online at: www.toxicmag.co.uk

Roy of the Rovers back in time for World Cup

(Via Lew Stringer and others): Egmont is joining in with the World Cup mania gripping the UK with the release of a 52-page full colour comic, All About Roy of the Rovers, which joins Titan Books fab new Roy collection as a couple of ace football goodies now on sale.

The publication is the latest of Egmont's regular All About... series, which are normally feature-driven so this Roy of the Rovers special is something of a novelty.

Lew Stringer reports there are five comic strips in all over on his ace Blimey! It's Another Blog About Comics blog, selecting material from the late 1970s to the 1990s. The issue kicks off with eight consecutive parts of a 1978 Roy of the Rovers story concerning Roy Race forming an England squad that includes real-life 1970s footballer Trevor Francis and, in a rare UK comics crossover, Nipper Lawrence (from Tiger's long running Nipper strip). The art is by David Sque, now the artist on the Mirror's Scorer strip. (David drew the Roy of the Rovers story from January 1975 to August 1986).

Two other Roy of the Rovers stories are included which, at eight pages in length each, possibly from old annuals or specials; a four part Goalmouth story by Tom Tully and John Cooper; and a four page Andy Steel Playmaker story by H.Manning and G. Marchetti.

"Football isn't really my thing and I hardly followed the old Roy of the Rovers comic at all but this is a very nice collection of strips," Lew enthuses. "The format is glossier than the Egmont Classic Comics of last year and I'm pleased to see the strips are more complete rather than the open-ended choices of those Classic specials."

Titan Books also have an ace Roy of the Rovers: World Cup Special out now - which includes work by the great artist Joe Coloqhoun, who's perhaps better known these days for his stunning art on strips such as Charley's War and the early Johnny Red strips. This lovingly put together title - hats off to series editor David Leach for another gem! - includes stories from four different decades as Roy Race strives to help England to relive the past glories of the 1966 World Cup.

Whether it's leading the British B team, or taking part in qualifiers, Roy was always at the forefront. The story of Roy's trials and tribulations in Australia, pitted against increasingly violent opponents both on and off the field, is simply priceless!

Back at Egmont, the latest issue of TOXIC continues the World Cup theme with a selection of World Cup Funnies alongside the usual assortment of strips and daft features. That's on sale now and comes with three free gifts.


• All About Roy of the Rovers is £3.99 and will be on sale from 16th June to 13th July.

• Read a 2006 interview with David Sque about his work on Roy of the Rovers and more. (Part 2 here)

• The Official Roy of the Rovers website

Grab the new TOXIC!

The latest issue of Egmont's TOXIC title, featuring humour strips by Lew Stringer and others, is on sale now.

As well as strips and features, the issue comes with three free gifts: a Grabbing Hand, Star Wars Magnets and a Badge Making Kit.

"Grabbing Hands" can of course, be used not only to pick your nose (as suggested by the TOXIC team): you could, for example, pretend to be a specially-adapted laboratory Dalek (chase people shouting "Experiment! Experiment!").

Other suggestions include from Team TOXIC include grabbing sweets off your mates while they're not looking (we don't ever want to be sitting next to them at a convention); or see if you can play a video game using just the hand. Now there's a challenge...

• More TOXIC madness at: www.toxicmag.co.uk

Team TOXIC at BICS

(via Lew Stringer): The editorial team behind TOXIC, Egmont's popular long-running comic-mag for boys, are just one more publisher exhibiting at this year's British International Comic Show at the ThinkTank, Millennium Point in Birmingham this weekend (October 3rd/4th).

TOXIC will have a table at the show, and visitors will be able to meet editors and artists/writers on the comic including Robin Hoodie artist Laura Howell, editor Andy Davidson, sub-editor (and small press writer/artist) Luke Paton, and ace cartoonist Lew Stringer at various times over the weekend.

• Latest BICS info and guest list: www.thecomicsshow.co.uk


• Official TOXIC website: www.toxicmag.co.uk

No More Poo in TOXIC

Sad news to report from Jamie Smart: Egmont's TOXIC have dropped his competition-winning Count Von Poo strip.

"The Count has had four adventures so far in their pages, with maybe seven or eight left to print," he reveals on his blog. "These however won’t be shown."

Regular downthetubes readers will recall Jamie won a competition to have a comic strip in TOXIC back in April (see news story), beating off stiff competition from the likes of Lew Stringer and Laura Howell.

"The reasons why CVP has been dropped, were an unease with the kid-playing-with-poo interface," says Jamie, "which I always anticipated but we’d been tweaking the strips so as to be careful, and I thought we’d found a nice groove.

"CVP was an immense amount of fun to write and draw, obviously. It’s a vampire who has imaginary adventures with faeces. How could that not be fun?"

Jamie's a bit mystified as to its cancellation. "A fair few people I’ve mentioned it to have suggested the recent wacky e coli outbreak over here in the UK this weekend, making the subject of kids handling poo maybe a bit sensitive. I dunno. What I can happily say is that TOXIC said there’d been no complaints about CVP. None. Again, it’s a vampire. Who has imaginary adventures with faeces. and no one complained? Brilliant."

Despite the loss of the Count, Jamie is discussing other potential ideas with TOXIC. However, given that Egmont own the copyright to other strips in the competition, perhaps they'll also look at those. As well as Lew and Laura, other contenders in the poll included creations from Luke Paton, , Paul H Birch, Steve Harrison, Paul J Palmer, David Hailwood, Paul Harrison-Davies, Shane Oakley, John Erasmus, and Stuart Arrowsmith.

TOXIC Wednesday

The latest issue of Egmont UK's TOXIC is on sale today in all good newsagents, with a cover promoting the new GI Joe film.

This issue comes with four free gifts, cool Bakugan stickers, super disc blaster, funny photo frame and two wicked spider poppers, and comes packed with awesome stuff including Wii Sports Resort and G.I. Joe Nintendo DS reviews.

Official web site: www.toxicmag.co.uk

New TOXIC On Sale Now, Complete With Bad Jokes!

The latest issue of Egmont's TOXIC is in the shops now and comes with a free electronic handheld game that the publishers say is guaranteed to keep readers busy on boring car journeys or when they're stuck round your nan's!

They've also kindly sent us some jokes you can tell over the summer holidays, so as a bit of midweek relief, we thought we'd pas 'em on...

Q. What do you call a fish with no eyes?


A. Fsh!

Q. What do vampires have at eleven o'clock every day?


A. A coffin break!

Knock Knock


Who's there?

Abbott!

Abbott who?

Abbott time you answered the door!

Knock Knock


Who's there?

Boo!

Boo who?

Don't cry it's only a joke!

Look, don't blame us - we just work here. Send TOXIC better jokes via www.toxicmag.co.uk

TOXIC Goes Star Trek

The latest issue of Egmont's TOXIC - out today - comes with free Green Alien Ears and an Outer-space Water Blaster, capitalising on the hype for the new Star Trek film. (We remember Spock having green blood, but not green ears, unless Kirk slapped him on the noggin in a cut scene...)

The magazine, one of the few kids titles on the UK news stand with at least some regular comic strip - in this issue, there's an all-new Team TOXIC adventure - The Return of Frankendrac - also includes a Star Trek preview, a Richard Hammond Blast Lab experiment, rates the top five dinosaurs in ITV's Primeval and challenges readers to a Monsters vs Aliens - Which Monster Are You? quiz.

We have heard on the grape vine that along with the arrival of Jamie Smart's Count von Poo strip, other changes are planned for the comic-magazine: more news when we get it...

• TOXIC web site: www.toxicmag.co.uk

Smart Wins TOXIC Poll

Jamie Smart has won the TOXIC Crazy Comic Poll and his strip, Count von Poo, will now have a regular spot in the comic.

Jamie announced he'd won the poll via Twitter earlier today and thanked everyone who'd voted for him.

TOXIC's Supplement featured work from a host of great creators and, hopefully the project will encourage Egmont to develop its comics brands further.

Count von Poo was well ahead in the online poll from Day One, followed by Zombie Nation by Luke Paton and Laura Howell.

Jamie is of course, perhaps best known for his 10-issue comic Bear and My Own Genie in The Dandy, but his credits also include Desperate Dan, Whubble and Fish Head Steve. Since 2004, he's also been developing shows with Cartoon Network.

Other contenders in the poll included Luke Paton, Laura Howell, Paul H Birch, John Freeman, Steve Harrison, Paul J Palmer, David Hailwood, Paul Harrison-Davies, Shane Oakley, John Erasmus, Lew Stringer and Stuart Arrowsmith.

• TOXIC Web Site

• Jamie Smart's Site

Tube Surfing: 22 April 2009

It's been a busy couple of weeks so our quick round ups of British comics news here have been a bit lacking. My apologies.

• The reason things have been scant here is down to the soft launch of weirdandbeard.com, the technology, scifi and other weirdness site I work for as a day job, part of Steam Industries (the name inspired by steampunk). We're still shaping the site and there comics may begin to be included... Expect some cross posting of reviews at the very least.

• Oli Smith got in touch ages ago to tell us his Grumpy Days has finished for the moment, but he's started an all new four pages per Wednesday comic called I, Toddler - "a fairytale about growing up and a bit of a departure in terms of style and content from me usual autobiography work." The first part can be viewed here http://theolismith.com/?p=536

• Steve Holland has his hands full with various projects, but he's not leaving loyal fans of his Bear Alley blog in the lurch. To make up for the lack of daily posts he's publishing, with full permission, Eagles on the Western Front from Look and Learn. The was a long-running First World War strip that appeared in the magazine between July 1971 and October 1973. "The artwork throughout was by the great Bill Lacey and I think you'll enjoy the way it unfolds as a story," says Steve.

• The Girly Comic Book Volume 1 is now available from Factor Fiction here for the very reasonable price of £15. The Girly Comic website has a lot of sampler strips for the book as well as some original Girly Comic webcomics. "I’d encourage any of you interested in picking up the book to visit and see what you think - I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, enthuses Richard Bruton in a review over on the Forbidden Planet International web site. "The sheer breadth of styles and topics means there’s just got to be something here for you. But The Girly Comic Book is far more than your usual comic anthology, so I’d imagine you, like me, will be flicking through the pages finding new, exciting and interesting strips from the start to the end of this very impressive collection."

• (via Boing Boing) The free quarterly speculative fiction ‘zine Heliotrope’s fifth issue is a tribute to the mighty Michael Moorcock and boasts articles and short fiction from comics artist Bryan Talbot, Pyr Books editor Lou Anders, Hal Duncan, Catherynne M Valente, Chris Roberson, Paul S Kemp, Rhys Hughes and author Neil Gaiman, available online now as as PDF or to read in HTML format, all totally free from www.heliotropemag.com/04/heliotrope-issue-5

• It looks like Jamie Smart's Count von Poo will will TOXIC's Crazy Comic poll, still ahead of strips featured in its recent strip giveaway, which has just gone off-sale. Jamie's strip is just ahead of Dave Hailwood and Paul Harrison-Davies Hoaxers, Werewilf and Lew Stringer's The Clump. Still, pleased to see that Bovver Baby by myself and Paul J. Palmer has claimed five per cent of the votes so far. Vote online at www.toxicmag.co.uk/vote

• To commemorate Charles Darwin’s bicentenary, cartoons for the sixth Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival (where Darwin was born) are on a science and nature theme. Bloghorn is running some of them on its site. We particularly liked Royston Robertson's entry (oi). Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival 2009 is on 24th - 26th April. More info at: www.shrewsburycartoonfestival.com

• Talking of cartoons, Daniel Merlin Godbrey posits this intriguing insight into the life of cows, who apparently possess a secret fourth stomach to digest time...

• And finally for now... with animals in mind, we're pleased to report that comics creator 'Israeli has spotted Lucky the Half-Face Cat, which means it's officially the first day of spring in his neck of the woods. Half Face is something of a legend with the 2000AD contributor, a true cat survivor of many escapades.

Tube Surfing: 5 April 2009

• The Independent on Sunday carried a two-page 'interview' with Roy "Roy of the Rovers" Race today, a splendid piece of well-researched work about the character and his history by writer Cole Morton. The piece not only promoted the new Classic Comic released last week (see news story) but revealed Egmont's new online Roy of the Rovers project, which gives Racey fans the chance to play alongside Roy, and score the winning goal in a cup final. Choose a look, type in your name online and Egmont will print a comic that looks and feels like the one you remember, but has you as the star. This internet-age wish-fulfilment will become possible in the coming weeks. Read the full 'interview'

• Some bad news for fans of comics in newspapers: in the aftermath of the closure of subscription comic The DFC it seems The Guardian has cut its entire Comic Supplement from its Saturday edition. So no Vern and Lettuce or Super Animal Adventure Squad -- or any Comic for that matter! Let's hope readers complain...

• A quick reminder that the online strip Huzzah!, which features contributions from Dan McDaid, Dylan Teague, Rob Davis, Faz Choudhury, Dave Taylor, Paul Harrison-Davies and D'Israeli, among others, is cracking along nicely here. We gather there is talk of a print collection...

• Voting in the TOXIC Comic Special Poll has gathered apace, with Dave Hailwood and Paul Harrison-Davies' Hoaxers now neck and neck with Jamie Smart's Count Von Poo...

• Paul Birch reports, in his latest Speech Ballons column for the Birmingham Mail, that Borders' Bookstores UK now has a graphic novel section specifically for children's titles. "Publishers likely to benefit over the coming months include Walker Books, Penguin, Classical Comics, and Cinebook," he notes. "The latter specialise in bringing best-selling European comic books to an English-speaking readership and reviews of some of their titles will be appearing at Speech Balloons soon." Read the full column...

• Adam Cadwell has posted a report on the indie comics event Thing 2009 over on the Manchester Comics Collective forum, revealing it would seem that offering biscuits and cakes is a good way to help sell comics and thoriughly recommending Roger Langridge's Mugwhump the Great over on Act-i-vate. "It's wonderful stuff," says Adam, "So while I was disappointed that Langridge's new The Muppet Show comic wasn't available due to UK licensing reasons, I was consoled by picking up a handmade minicomic of the first chapter of the Mugwhump story. Excellent." He has plenty of other good-looking recommendations from the like of Paul Rainey and others, too.

• We're sorry to hear of the death of comic creator Ron "Nobby" Clark, who has died aged 85. "Nobby was one of the important figures in moving the action story away from historicals to more modern adventures," notes Steve Holland in a detailed tribute to the creator on Bear Alley. "Although his first action strip was a Western, he took over the writing of "Captain Phantom", a wartime spystrip featuring a "man of a thousand disguises". These were fast-moving and entertaining yarns which helped establish a more modern style of adventure strip in the UK with writers like Nobby Clark and Mike Butterworth ushering in the kind of strips that would dominate during the 1960s..." Read the full tribute on Bear Alley

• And finally for today... Brickman, Lew Stringer's classic cartoon character, is currently appearing in US title Elephantmen, and, mirroring the fate of the well known comics character he's inspired by, he's killing him off! "It's been 30 years since Brickman first appeared and I'm marking the anniversary year by killing him off!" Lew confirms. "Yep, don't miss Elephantmen 17 for the first part of Brickman R.I.P.! Coming up in future months, the Battle for the Trowel and the NEW Brickman!" For more details on Elephantmen visit the official website here:
http://www.hipflask.com/issues/elephantmen17/ or the official Brickman website at: brickmancomics.tripod.com

TOXIC Comics Special Out Now

TOXIC Issue 137 with the Comic Supplement featuring work from a host of great creators is on sale now in all good newsagents. So go and buy a copy and support British Comics!

If sales are strong it will encourage Egmont to develop its comics brands further, perhaps not just in TOXIC but other projects.

Readers can vote for their favourite strip online and the winner will potentially get a full-time slot in the magazine.

So far, Jamie Smart's Count von Poo is well ahead in the online poll, followed by Zombie Nation by Luke Paton and Laura Howell.

• TOXIC Issue 137 is on sale for the next three weeks.

The Strip Line Up

• Count Von Poo
By Jamie Smart (writer/artist)

One boy and his poo! Jamie is of course, perhaps best known for his 10-issue comic Bear and My Own Genie in The Dandy.

• Zombie Nation
By Luke Paton (writer) and Laura Howell (artist)

Zombies aren't all bad... the ones in this strip just want to be your friend.

Luke is the creator of the web comic, The Adventures of Kez and Luke, while Laura is of course a firm favourite with TOXIC readers as the artist on Robin Hoodie for the title, and also draws Ratz for The Beano and strips for The DFC.

Spooks In Space
By Paul H Birch (writer) and Steve Harrison (artist)

Silly spooks board a spae rocket and head into cosmic capers.

Paul's the brains behind the Birmingham Mail's Speech Balloons blog, delivering the latest word on comics in the Midlands

Bovver Baby
By John Freeman (writer) and Paul J Palmer (artist)

This baby is sweetness and light -- until you turn your back!

John Freeman is the creator of downthetubes and has written for Marvel, Judge Dredd: The Magezaine, The Real Ghostbusters and more.

As well as drawing strips for TOXIC and other comics, Paul also drew The Underversity, a six part story featuring characters from The Really Heavy Greatcoat.

HoaXers
By David Hailwood (writer) and Paul Harrison-Davies (artist)

A gang of sleuthers tries to avert disaster with cunning plans that end up proving even more disastrous!

David Hailwood has been championing the British small press through the Temple APA for years. Having enjoyed reading from an early age, Paul Harrison-Davies says he’s never forgotten the impact children's books and comics had on him, so much so that he started making his own. From early days self publishing comics using a photocopier he eventually got short comics accepted in small publisher titles such as Zombie Tales, and Best New Manga. Paul works in a bookshop and it's his dream to have a child come to the counter holding one his children's books.

WereWilf
By Paul H Birch & Shane Oakley (writers) and John Erasmus (artist)

WereWilf first appeared March 1976, one of three strips introduced to Whoopee! to mark the comic's second birthday. (The others were Smiler and Gook the TV Spook). This updating introduces a modern day WereWilf.

Shane has worked on and off in the comics industry, writing and drawing for some of the big guys, and some of the microscopic. John Erasmus credits include Desperate Dan, Accident Man (for the original Toxic comic), Dervish Ropey in the Amazon, and much, much more.

Clump
By Lew Stringer (writer/artist)

Manic monster on the loose!

Lew should need no introduction to any British comics fan -- his credits include Combat Colin, Brickman and more.

Bad Robots
By John Freeman (writer) and Paul Harrison-Davies (artist)

Accident-prone and very stupid Robots on the run -- even cow pats!

Simon Spectacular
By Luke Paton (writer) and Stuart Arrowsmith (artist)

Stuart is a full-time Designer and Illustrator, producing work ranging from panel cartoons to natural history pieces for commercial use.

• Buy TOXIC In the shops then vote for your favourite strip online

TOXIC Comic Supplement Cover: Sneek Peek!

The TOXIC Comic Supplement we trailed back in February, featuring work from a host of great creators, will go on sale in the UK news stand title on sale 1 April: here's the cover, courtesy of Egmont, who have also sent us advance copies.

The supplement will feature comic characters old and new in a move to, hopefully, bring more strip material to the bestselling British news stand title.

Eight of the strips are completely brand new and original, with Jamie Smart's Count von Poo making us laugh out loud here, closely followed by Lew Stringer's The Clump. (You can't go wrong with farting monsters). We're also pleased to report that resurrected WereWilf, who has been given a modern day makeover, is also great fun, especially for the inspired inclusion of Ernie Helsing - milkman descendant, we're geuessing, of the famous vampire hunter!

In a nod to TV talent shows such as Dancing on Ice, readers will be able to vote for their favourites via a web address that features on the back of the supplement that readers will need to go to in order to vote for their favourite strip. The winner will potentially get a full-time slot in the magazine.

The web page isn’t live yet, but it will be when the issue goes on sale on 1 April. The supplement will come with issue 137 of TOXIC, on sale 1 April for three weeks.

• Click here to see the full line up of strips

Exclusive: TOXIC Comic Supplement Details

Egmont's TOXIC Comic is to publish a special comic supplement of an upcoming issue, featuring comic characters old and new in a move to, hopefully, bring more strip material to the bestselling British news stand title.

The line up for the 16 page supplement will feature nine comic strips – eight of which are completely brand new and original, whilst one, WereWilf, is a resurrected character from Egmont’s past given a modern day makeover.

The line up is:

Count Von Poo
By Jamie Smart (writer/artist)
Jamie is of course, perhaps best known for his 10-issue comic Bear and My Own Genie in The Dabdy.

Zombie Nation
By Luke Paton (writer) and Laura Howell (artist)
Luke is the creator of the web comic, The Adventures of Kez and Luke, while Laura is of course a firm favourite with TOXIC readers as the artist on Robin Hoodie for the title, and also draws Ratz for The Beano and strips for The DFC.

Spooks In Space
By Paul H Birch (writer) and Steve Harrison (artist)
Paul's the brains behind the Birmingham Mail's Speech Balloons blog, delivering the latest word on comics in the Midlands

Bovver Baby
By John Freeman (writer) and Paul J Palmer (artist)
As well as drawing strips for TOXIC and other comics, Paul also drew The Underversity, a six part story featuring characters from The Really Heavy Greatcoat.

HoaXers
By David Hailwood (writer) and Paul Harrison-Davies (artist)

WereWilf
By Paul H Birch & Shane Oakley (writers) and John Erasmus (artist)
Shane has worked on and off in the comics industry, writing and drawing for some of the big guys, and some of the microscopic. John Erasmus credits include Desperate Dan, Accident Man (for the original Toxic comic), Dervish Ropey in the Amazon, and much, much more.
WereWilf first appeared March 1976, one of three strips introduced to Whoopee! to mark the comic's second birthday. (The others were Smiler and Gook the TV Spook).

Clump
By Lew Stringer (writer/artist)
Lew should need no introduction to any British comics fan -- his credits include Combat Colin, Brickman and more.

Bad Robots
By John Freeman (writer) and Paul Harrison-Davies (artist)

Simon Spectacular
By Luke Paton (writer) and Stuart Arrowsmith (artist)
Stuart is a full-time Designer and Illustrator, producing work ranging from panel cartoons to natural history pieces for commercial use.

The supplement will come with issue 137 of TOXIC, on sale 1 April for three weeks. Readers will be asked to vote online for their favourite comic strip and the winner will potentially get a full-time slot in the magazine.

Tube Surfing: 3 February 2009

• Look out for an upcoming issue of Egmont's TOXIC which, in addition to the regular strips and features, will feature an additional free 32-page comics supplement that is set to feature the return of a classic British comic strip character or two along with new ones, with art from creators such as Paul J. Palmer and Paul Harrison-Davies and scripts by downthetubes John Freeman, the Temple APA's David Hailwood and a host of others.
TOXIC is now edited by former Assistant Editor Andrew Davidson, with Staff Writer Luke Paton putting together the supplement now that Senior Editor Matt Yeo (also the brains behind Bulletproof Comics) has left Egmont to form his own company, SkyJack Publishing.
Issue #132, the latest issue of TOXIC, on sale now, is a Bakugan special and includes two free Doctor Who Rollers as giveaways along with a TOXIC mouse mat and a wicked whoopie cushion! Ah, aren't free gifts great!

• (via Joe Gordon at Forbidden Planet International): Wim Lockefeer has posted several reports on this year's Angouleme BD Festival via the FPI web site (Day 1 Here; Day 2 Here, with more to come) and photos on Flickr from this major event celebrating comics on a grand scale. From past experience, the whole town of Angouleme is literally taken over by comics. Je ne suis pas jalouse. Nope, we're not jealous we're not there at all. Honest… Here's one of his pics, of Judge Dredd -- "Je suis la loi!!”, who graces the outside of the town's CIBDI comics centre, which has panels decorated by comics artists.

• (with thanks to Matthew Badham): The Guardian has just published its list of science fiction and fantasy books you must read as part of a 1000-title list of books "you must read". Part One includes Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Stephen Baxter's The Time Ships and Philip K Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?; Part Two features Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, China Miéville's The Scar and Larry Niven's Ringworld; and Part Three rounds off the suggestions with titles such as Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids.
While there are some modern day titles in the list, such as Neil Gaiman, Miéville, Reynolds and Dan Simmons, for example, there are some unforgiveable omissions: Terry Pratchett and the brilliant Charles Stross, to name but a few...

• Strip: The Art of Ken Reid is the focus of Alex Fitch's latest Podcats on Panel Borders, broadcast last week on Resonance 104.4FM London. The last of a quartet of shows about four generations of British Cartoonists, Alex talks to writers Alan Moore and Pat Mills about their favourite cartoonist, the late Ken Reid who drew Rodger the Dodger in the 1950s Beano and a variety of underrated strips in children's comics such as Wham! and Whoopee! including the creepy classics Faceache and Frankie Stein, up to the 1980s...

• Drawn! A graphic art exhibition is running daily until Sunday 8th February 2009 at Brent Museum, London. Cartoonists, illustrators, students and designers have expressed and interpreted themselves and their view of 'graphic art' in the Museum's latest exhibition and you're invited to test your own understanding of the term and be prepared to draw your own conclusions! The exhibition features finished work – comics and large print illustrations, sketchbooks and biographies from Marc Ellerby, Antonia Hazlerigg, Drew Hussey, Jenika Ioffreda, Meiko Kikuta, Elena Sainz, Adrian Stapleton ... and also features a couple of little-known Hergé illustrations. More info at www.brent.gov.uk/museum

• London comic shop Orbital has relocated to 8 Great Newport Street, WC2H 7JF (previously the Photographer's Gallery). Orbital appropriately now also have an exhibition space, which opened with a selection of new art pages by Tom Humberstone from the latest issue of his Eagle award winning title: How to Date a Girl in Ten Days.

• Luther Arkwright creator Bryan Talbot has been busy updating his MySpace page with a sparky new look, with a revamp of his official site in the works. "It's been going for over 12 years now and is looking a little dated," he notes.

• Jason Nitti has been busy with his fun blog SuperUseless Superpowers. Great fun and some smart art: I like "PreMOMnition" (The power to see what your mother is doing at all times) and "Psychic Amnesia (Mementodamus)" in which the superuseless superhero foresees the future while instantly forgetting anything he has just foreseen. Known in some circles as Untotal Recall...

• Adam Grose has posted the next installment of his new Dragonfly strip on the Clown Press web site

• (via Speech Balloons) Classical Comics will again be exhibiting at the Education Show to be held at the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre between 26-27th of March this year. For more information visit: www.education-show.com