Modesty Blaise Comic Challenge: The Winner

Davey Candlish, publisher of ace indie anthology Paragon, is the winner of our latest Comic Challenge to draw Modesty Blaise.

Here's his winning entry, which earns him a copy of Titan Books newest Modesty Blaise collection, Girl in the Iron Mask.

Davey claims he spends his time "watching cheesy 80s sci-fi and horror, even cheesier 70s ITC shows and occasionally drawing comics (but more often reading them)."

Choosing the winner was no easy task: we had some great art for this Challenge including entries from Keith Page, Dave Windett, Kev Harper, Paul Moore and many others.

• You can view all the entries here on the downthetubes forum


Find more photos like this on downthetubes Comics Forum

• Check out Paragon comic here: http://paragoncomic.blogspot.co.uk

In Review: Hit-Girl

By Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.
Publisher: Titan Books
Out: Now
Warning: Contains swearing and extreme violence. Not for younger readers

The Book: Hit-Girl spins off into her own blood-soaked saga in this prelude to the Kick-Ass 2 film. Mindy McCready tries to settle into life as a regular school-girl, but wants nothing more to be dispensing hot justice to the scum of New York City.

Her mother thinks she's doing her homework, but in reality she's taken Kick-Ass on as her sidekick and training him up to punch, shoot and stab ... just like Daddy would have wanted. And in return, Kick-Ass is helping her learn to survive middle school - without spilling anyone's blood.

But when Kick-Ass gets benched, leaving Mindy to take on the mafia solo, even Hit-Girl may be in over her head. Meanwhile, Red Mist pursues his goal of becoming a super-villain ... and faces a final test of his own. Hit-Girl is the first act of the upcoming Kick-Ass 2 movie!

The Review: Regular Mark Millar and Kick-Ass readers will know exactly what to expect from this stor and, sure enough, there's more than enough blood, high octane action, mass murder and shock moments to satisfy them. But what about the rest of us?

Despite a by now surely trademarked torture scene in its opening episode, this gritty, no holds-barred adventure, set in a world where real people turn superhero, only to find the role is often far from the comic books that inspired them, opens quite slowly. Millar focuses instead on character building: fleshing out the background to the psychotic 12-year-old vigilante, a girl trained for combat by an equally deranged, now dead father. A parent who clearly took to this ask with all the commitment to his work of one of those equally deranged parents that determines to turn their child into a tennis star or beauty pageant queen from the age of three.

This characterization, accompanied by moments of black humour, are what ensure the Kick-Ass series delivers an underlying if truly warped snapshot of humanity. "Nasty, brutish and short" pretty much sums Mindy up, as she fails in everything except her mission to kill bad guys, in the most brutal and revolting ways possible (feeding body parts through a lawn mower and decapitation being just two in this volume, in case you're wondering). Her inter personal skills are lousy: although her means to deal with a school bully - dropping her from a roof into a dumpster - will probably appeal to many. (Drugging her parents to cover her activities as Hit-Girl, probably less so).

Alongside Mindy's gruesome trail of death and vengeance, other threads continue to build in the background. The world's first super villain, Chris Genovese, is seeking vengeance for the death of his gangster father and heads to Asia to train with martial arts experts. He's ripped off, royally - but there's a twist in the tail by the end of the book which will cost Kick-Ass dear as the story continues.

The Kick-Ass series is brutal, bloody and steeped in violence. On the surface, it would appear to have no redeeming qualities whatsoever, appealing directly to a desensitised mass audience for whom the shock value of grisly death and violence has become some twisted norm. While Millar's storytelling pushes and exploits those demands, while perhaps overplaying the superhero and popular culture references, Hit-Girl proves a riveting, if horrifying, read because of his characterization, complemented by John Romita Jr.'s distinctive art.

Let me be clear: Hit-Girl is not a title for younger readers. This is nasty, violent fare, referencing and dependent to some degree on the audience's awareness and familiarity with not just superhero but gangster fiction. But it merges both genres to great, if unpleasant effect.

In Review: Dead Space - Liberation

By Ian Edginton and Christopher Shy
Publisher: Titan Books
Out: Now
Warning: Contains violence and swearing - not for younger readers

The Book: Following the events of the video game Dead Space 2, we follow Earthgov Sergeant John Carver whose wife and son are attacked by fanatics trying to liberate the Marker site where she works. Racing to solve the clues his wife left behind, Carver teams up with Ellie Langford, survivor of an earlier Necromorph outbreak on the Sprawl, and EarthGov Captain Robert Norton. Together they unlock deep secrets about the Markers in an epic adventure that will determine the fate of mankind.

The Review: For the benefit of non-gamers, Dead Space is a series of best-selling games centering on a carefully crafted mythos in which humanity is being influenced - and distorted - by alien 'Markers', whose 'technology' includes the gruesome ability to turn the dead into slavering, murderous zombies. In short, it's Aliens meets Dawn of the Dead, but the makers of the games have, I'm told, taken this concept and made it an impressive saga.

In the games, the chief protagonist, systems engineer Isaac Clarke, takes on not just space zombies but the might of a dangerous religion that has protected and actively sought out the deadly 'Markers', a cult that has backers in high places.

Promotional art for Deep Space: Liberation - an example of all the right things about the art on this book...

This third graphic movel - Titan have also re-released the first two - is something of a curate's egg as it blends an ongoing comic story with the overall narrative. In this prequel to the latest game, Ian Edginton offers more character building to the story's main characters and, as the race to find Marker secrets hots up, there are some great insights into the battle hardened, emotionally-scarred Carver and his companions.

Christopher Shy also delivers an atmospheric take on the tale, with some genuinely impressive scenes, particularly those involving spacecraft and aforementioned 'space zombies'. The panels where the parasitic, visceral zombies spring from some dark corner are truly haunting and visually impressive.

There's a fantastic sequence, also, in which Carver returns from a foray against his enemy bathed in what I assume is the blood of his foe, that emphasizes how far he's prepared to go to defeat them.

-- but the lettering style proves a major stumbling block in terms of best presentation of the tale

Sadly, though, these impressive elements of the art are let down by the static, wooden, possibly photo referenced figure work in scenes where characters discuss tactics or helpfully move the plot forwards. There's little or no animation to the faces - although perhaps this is a deliberate choice, suggesting the human characters are as dead as their enemy. But the results are rather disappointing and stilted.

What really lets down the whole story, for me, is the lettering. In dispensing with traditional word balloons in favour of a chalk marker, which lack much emphasis and sensible placement at times, this jars with the storytelling rather than enhances it. Good lettering should be 'invisible'; that is, it should complement and not distract from the art and story. This design choice fails achieve that objectives and consequently mars the delivery of this Dead Space tale.

A good game tie in? Yes. A good comic? In part yes, in terms of script and some of the art - but largely, could be better.

Dead Space Liberation a top seller for Titan Books

Titan Books new graphic novel, Dead Space: Liberation hit The New York Times Best-Sellers List at Number 3 in the Hardcover Graphic Books category this week.

Following the events of the smash video game hit Dead Space 2, the new adventure by Ian Edginton and Christopher Shy, a prequel to the Dead Space 3 video game launched last month,  follows Earthgov Sergeant John Carver, whose wife and son are attacked by fanatics trying to liberate the Marker site where she works. Racing to solve the clues his wife left behind, Carver teams up with Ellie Langford, survivor of an earlier Necromorph outbreak on the Sprawl, and EarthGov Captain Robert Norton.

Together they unlock deep secrets about the Markers in an epic adventure that will determine the fate of mankind.

The title is the third release in the Dead Space saga, and Titan have also re-released both Dead Space and Dead Space - Salvage in new editions.

• New York Times Graphic Novel Bestsellers: March 3 2013

Art Competition: Win a copy of Modesty Blaise - The Girl in the Iron Mask

The next volume of Titan Books long-running and hugely-popular Modesty Blaise collections goes on sale on 22nd March 2013 - and we're running a competition to win a copy.

Modesty Blaise is glamorous, intelligent, rich and very, very cool. She's been called the female James Bond but she's much more interesting than that. Modesty started life in 1963 as a strip in the London Evening Standard. The first of the novels followed three years later.

Modesty Blaise: The Girl in the Iron Mask by the popular and sadly missed British crime writer Peter O’Donnell features three stories, drawn by Enric Badia Romero: ‘Fiona’, ‘Walkabout’ and ‘The Girl In The Iron Mask’. Willie’s admirer Fiona returns, Modesty faces the outback alone and an iron mask could mark her end in this latest gripping volume.

Each story is introduced by Blaise archivist Lawrence Blackmore.

With thanks to Titan Books, we have a copy of this latest volume to give away, so we're throwing out a challenge to our artist readers - send us your drawing of Modesty Blaise and we'll choose what we think to be the very best.

• Entries by email only to to johnfreeman6-mb@yahoo.co.uk, to arrive mo later than 12 noon GMT on 22nd March 2013, please. We plan to publish a gallery of the best entries and entry to the competition assumes you give us permission to do this. Good luck!

Final Johnny Red collection from Titan Books out next month

The final collection of Joe Colquhoun’s work on the seminal aerial combat story Johnny Red, which featured in Battle Picture Weekly, is out next month.

Entitled Angels Over Stalingrad, this third volume in the series includes a feature on the Battle of Stalingrad by Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher, War Stories).

Sadly, at present it seems this is the last Titan collection for now from the series, but Egmont are publishing digital editions of the comics, with two volumes already on sale - so let's hope that artist John Cooper, who took over the strip from Joe Colquhoun when Joe moved over to Charley's War, gets his day in the limelight, which he so richly deserves.

These collections are a fantastic tribute to both writer Tom Tully and artist Joe Colquhoun, neither of whom are still with us.

• Angels over Stalingrad is on sale on 25th  January 2013 ISBN: 9781848564381

• Buy Johnny Red - Angels Over Stalingrad from amazon.co.uk

• Buy Johnny Red - Angels over Stalingrad from forbiddenplanet.com

• Falcon Squadron web site: www.falconsquadron.sevenpennynightmare.co.uk

In Review: Charley's War Volume Nine

By Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun

Publisher: Titan Books

Out: Now

The Book: In this explosive new ninth volume of never-before-collected comic strip, including for the first time reproductions of original artwork from artist Joe Colquhoun's archive, things are looking up for Charley after he meets the love of his life, Kate, a field hospital nurse. But their wedding is destroyed by the roar of destructive Zeppelin Bombers from Berlin!

The Review: Regular readers of downthetubes may be aware that I'm the former editor of this collected work (Books 6 - 8), and therefore may be accused of bias in favour of this ongoing series, collecting perhaps the best World War One comic strip ever published in a British weekly comic - in this case, now Egmont-owned Battle Picture Weekly.

I make no apologies for such bias, because my view on this strip is one echod by many and Titan continue to deliver a stunning reprint of a classic strip - an anti war story originally published in a war comic.

The action for some of this volume swings back once more to the home front after Charley's accident on the front that sees him face court martial. There's a continuation to the stories of Charley's two brothers, Jack and Wilf, the former surviving sea war near the Falklands and being seconded to the secret service; the other, airman Wilf, taking on a giant German bomber attacking London - with tragic results.

Charley also encounters a maniacal Captain Snell (a long term arch enemy) as his developing romance with Kate grows (yes - romance in a boys' war comic! The horror!) and writer Pat Mills throws in some well-aimed barbs at the rich exploiting the war for their own ends, just for good measure.

It's a cracking compendium of stories set in the final year of the Great War, with Charley surviving the odds despite the dangers he encounters, the character growing once more as he rallies fellow soldiers in an effort to keep them alive and spared the worst atrocities they might face at the hands not of the enemy but British Army officers.

Throughout, from wartime bombing raids on London to the terror of the western front, the horror of the South Atlantic sea war and even a flashback re-telling of part of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign, Joe Colquhoun's talent as an artist oozes from every page. No subject matter seems a problem for this late, great master comic storyteller, rendering both battle scenes and character moments with equal skill and detail.

Complementing the strip - much of it lovingly scanned from original art courtesy of the Colquhoun estate by Moose Harris - is a fascinating feature on "shell shock" and war poets by Steve White, and writer Pat Mills continuing anecdotal commentary on the background to each episode.

Delivered in a gorgeous hardback edition, Charley's War Volume Nine serves up a delicious feast of great comics writing and meticulous, beautifully rendered artwork. A true British comics classic.

• There's more about Charley's War here: http://charleyswar.sevenpennynightmare.co.uk

• Egmont are now publishing digital collections of earlier episodes of Charley's War, for iPad and Kobo

• French publisher Delirium are now publishing the strip in French, with pages from the original comic published in colour now appearing in colour in their editions

 

In Review: Alien - The Illustrated Story

by Archie Goodwin & Walter Simonson
Publisher: Titan Books
Out: Now

The Book: Two of comics greatest talents joined forces in 1979 to bring Ridley Scott's epic Alien motion picture to comics. Out of print for over thirty years, this brand new edition has been meticulously restored from original artwork in Walt Simonson's studio  presenting for the very first time the definitive artists edition of the greatest sci-fi horror ever.

The Review:  There are some books that I've kept for years, partly because they are great books and partly because there's some specific memory attached to them. Then there are the few that remain part of my library simply because, for me, they're the very best a certain genre offers.

The original Alien: The Illustrated Story is one of these, and I'm delighted British publisher Titan Books has reprinted it.

And no, not just reprinted it - they got artist Walt Simonson along for the ride, carefully restoring the original art for this stunning new edition, published as both a gorgeous-looking original art edition, and a more modestly-priced softback edition.

Somehow, I recall managing to read the original graphic album, published by Heavy Metal, before I saw the movie. Possibly a mistake in terms of movie enjoyment as its more memorable events (the chest-bursting over the breakfast table scene, being the most obvious) were no longer a surprize. But it's no wonder I cheated - how could you not want to read this New York Times best-selling graphic album as soon as it fell into your paws?

And it's just as I remembered it (albeit gloriously enhanced thanks to Walt's restoration). Archie Goodwin's script is, for me, still one of the best move adaptations to comics ever – no surprize given his abilities and track record – and Simonson's art is just a masterclass in visual storytelling, the tale moving at breakneck pace as Ripley and co try to defeat the near-indestructible alien.

It's no wonder the movie went on to become a successful comics line when this calibre of work went into the first Alien comics adaptation.

It's still as gripping as it was back when I first read it. Track a copy down and enjoy.

• Check out the Alien: The Illustrated Story restoratio page on Facebook

Titan Books plan more British comics collections

Titan Books have confirmed Johnny Red Volume 3: Angels over Stalingrad, the final Joe Colquhoun collection, will be published in January 2013. The volume features a third introduction by comics writer Garth Ennis about Stalingrad.

The publishers of the Charley's War collections also tell us more British comics collections are on their way, which is welcome news. More news as we get it!

Rat Pack Volume 1: Guns, Guts and Glory should be out now and Volume 2 will be published next July. This series collects Rat Pack stories from Battle Picture Weekly.

War is a dirty business... so who better than criminals to fight it? When Major Taggart breaks four military convicts out of jail, they think they’re headed for Easy Street... but they couldn’t be more wrong. Before, they were scum -- now, they’re the Rat Pack!

Major Eazy Volume 1: Heart of Iron is also on sale now. Drawn by Carlos Ezquerra, Major Eazy is a maverick soldier in a dirty war, caught up in the Allies' invasion of Italy in 1944 and determined to see justice done. Even when that means taking on villains on his own side, he doesn't pull any punches!

More movie star than military, Eazy was the most laconic and indeed British officer ever to grace the pages of a comic. This volume starts from the very beginning of his story.

Major Eazy 2, the second and final volume, will be out next year, and will collect the 'origins' arc set in Africa, plus the remaining strip from the series.

The series editor tells us he hasn't decided if Titan will collect the Rat Pack vs Major Eazy material yet, but it definitely won't be appearing in this book - but it will feature an interview with Major Eazy artist Carlos Ezquerra, who drew most of the series stories.

Johnny Red Arctic Convoy Remembered

The Johnny Red strip created by writer Tom Tully and artist Joe Colquhoun began in Battle Picture Weekly and Valiant in January 1977. It told the story of a young disgraced British fighter pilot who took off from a CAM ship to protect his Arctic Convoy against German attack before flying this Hurricane fighter to Russia where he joined the Red Air Force's Falcon Squadron.

This origin story for the character of Johnny Red was based on a real incident in World War II that occurred during the PQ18 convoy. That convoy is being commemorated today at Loch Ewe in Scotland by the Russian Arctic Convoy Museum Project.

Seventy years ago today PQ18 set out from Loch Ewe headed on the Arctic route for Archangel in the USSR. PQ18's predecessor, PQ17, had been attacked repeatedly by German forces and lost 24 of its 35 merchant ships, a devastating 68% loss rate. PQ18 was more heavily protected and part of that protection was the CAM ship SS Empire Morn.

Catapult Armed Merchantmen (CAM) were civilian ships fitted with a rocket powered catapult to launch a single Hurricane fighter into the air to protect the convoy from enemy attack. The CAM pilots were a special breed as in the middle of the Arctic Ocean they had nowhere to land their plane once they ran out of ammunition and fuel and so their choices were either bail out into the freezing ocean or crash land in the water and, assumed that they survived that, try to get out of the plane before it sank. Unsurprisingly most chose to bail out.

At 11.50 a.m. local time on 18 September 1942 Flying Officer Arthur Burr of the RAF Volunteer Reserve was launched in his Hurricane against 15 Luftwaffe Heinkel HE111 torpedo bombers. He shot one down and caused another to crash and none of the convoys ships were hit by their torpedoes. With no ammunition but a lot of fuel left he decided to attempt landfall at the nearest airfield, the Soviet Keg Ostrov aerodrome 240 miles due south. Remarkably, despite flying into fog in a plane with no radar, he made it to the aerodrome and became the only CAM pilot ever to save his aircraft after a combat launch. Arthur Burr was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions that day and 28 of the 40 PQ18 merchant ships made it to Arkangel, a 70% survival rate which turned PQ17's 68% loss rate on its head.

In Battle's version of the incident Convoy PQ18 became Convoy XQ14, the SS Empire Morn became the SS Empire Cape and Arthur Burr became Johnny 'Red' Redburn who, unlike Burr who returned to Britain with his aircraft and ship, remained in the Soviet Union to fight the Germans alongside his new comrades and went on to become one of the weekly comic's most popular characters.

There are more details of today's PQ18 Convoy commemoration on the BBC News website and the Russian Arctic Convoy Museum Project website

Arthur Burr DFC is buried at the Heston (St Leonard) churchyard near Heathrow Airport and is commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.

There are more details of Arthur Burr DFC and the PQ18 convoy and how it relates to Johnny Red in the introduction to Titan's first Johnny Red reprint book Falcon's First Flight.

Fourth Andrew Loomis facsimile art book in the works

Illustrator Andrew Loomis is revered amongst artists for his mastery of drawing technique and his clean, realist style and his hugely influential series of art instruction books have never been bettered.

Long out of print, early editions of his books have become highly collectible and sought out by art enthusiasts and practitioners but last year Titan Books began re-publishing facsimile hardback editions of the illustrator's guides.

A fourth – perhaps his best known work, Creative Illustration – is due for release in October.

Figure Drawing for All it's Worth provides a seminal course covering all the techniques needed to master drawing the figure. Hailed by the American Academy of Art as “one of the most brilliant contributions that figure drawing has ever received” Loomis’s book is packed with beautiful examples to help you master anatomy and capture the human form at any age, in movement and at rest.

Drawing the Head and Hands, also released last year, offer a masterclasses in tackling what comic artists often find the most difficult elements in figure drawing, but world-class illustrator Andrew Loomis’s classic primer offers plenty of solutions.

In May, Titan published Successful Drawing - a superb resource covering all the techniques needed to master three-dimensional drawing that has been many an artist's bible for 60 years. From the fundamentals of proportion, placement, perspective, planes and pattern, through a detailed examination of scale and the effects and capture of light, to the mastery of conception, construction, contour, character and consistency, Successful Drawing is filled with step-by-step instruction, professional tips and beautiful illustration.

In October, Titan will publish the fourth facsimile in the series – Creative Illustration, considered Loomis’s magnum opus, which is aimed primarily at the professional-level illustrator.

It’s divided into seven sections: Line, Tone, Colour, Telling the Story, Creating Ideas, Fields of Illustration, and Experimenting and Studies. The book is filled with instructions, tips, insider experiences, and incredible illustrations and definitely one for artists' wish lists, and a title I've often suggested as a resource elesewhere on downthetubes.

Born in 1892, after studying art, Loomis moved to Chicago where he eventually opened his own studio – working in editorial and advertising for most of the top clients of the time, including Kellogg’s, Coca Cola, Lucky Strike and many others. He also became renowned as an art teacher and his instructional books on illustration and art  - which also include Fun with a Pencil and The Eye of a Painter - are acclaimed classics in the field.

As well as Alex Ross, Dick Giordano, and Steve Lieber, among others, have cited the influence of Loomis on their style and studies. Steve Rude named one of the characters he drew in the Nexus comic book General Loomis.

• Andrew Loomis: Wikipedia Entry

Creating Comics: Martin Eden talks Spandex

Writer, artist and magazine editor Martin Eden has been creating comics since he was a nipper – but entered the British small press/indie comics world around 15 years ago.

After collaborating with various creators on titles such as Bulldog and Contact, he soon kicked off his own project, The O Men, a super-soap which ran for 10 years and was Eagle Award-nominated.

In 2009, he put out Spandex #1, which earned international headlines, earned excellent reviews and an Eagle Award nomination for Best British Colour Comic. Titan Books have now released the first three issues in a hardback book called Spandex: Fast and Hard.

Now also working on book collections of his old O Men series, DownTheTubes caught up with him after a successful weekend at the Kapow! comic convention to ask him about his work...

DownTheTubes: Spandex. What's it all about?

Martin Eden: It’s about a group of gay superheroes. They’re based in Brighton and they fight Giant Lesbians, Pink Ninjas and Gay Zombies – and that’s just the first three issues! It’s a big, epic super-soap comic and I delve into their personal lives quite a bit, and there are loads of twists and turns.

DownTheTubes: What inspired this story?

Martin: The idea just evolved naturally, but I did think it would be a really fun and original concept. For some readers, it would be a refreshing break from the crossover/reboot-filled worlds of Marvel and DC. It’s a complete new universe to explore, full of fun characters like super-spy James Bend and villains like Muscle Mary.

DownTheTubes: It's a welcome collection - how has it been pitched to people who haven't heard of it?

Martin: I call it a gay Eastenders-meets-Carry On-meets Grant Morrison. Actually, to be honest, I am really wary that people think it’s only for an LGTB audience. I think it’s for everyone (except kids!) - the gay aspect is just a context and a launching point for various interesting storylines.

DownTheTubes: The original strip was black and white, did you take a specific approach to the colouring? I've heard people say it's really enhanced the storytelling.

Martin: I’ve always done black and white comics, but then I realised that Spandex would only really work in colour (mainly because each team-member has a specific colour scheme). I was pretty horrified when I realised this, as colour printing is a bit more pricey – but it turns out that colour printing actually isn’t too expensive these days.

So after that, I had to teach myself how to use Photoshop and just get in there and start colouring. People seem to really respond to it, and I like to do fun things with the colours. For instance, the team’s homes are all colour-coded, their origin stories in issue 6 are all colour-themed, and issue 3 plays around a lot with the colour – a villain turns the whole world black and white and turns people into colourless zombies/drones, and only a handful of colourful Spandex members are left.

DownTheTubes: Do you have a favourite Spandex story or scene?

Martin: I think every issue has at least four or five favourite scenes – key moments that I build up to. I think I’d be bored of the comic if they didn’t have those!

Martin's favourite Spandex scene from Issue 5

Overall though, I like the scene in issue 2 where a lesbian and gay team-mate get a little bit over-excited in a fight... It shows something you don’t often see in a superhero comic... Issue 6 has a huuuuge cliffhanger which I’m really pleased with... I like the funny mini-fight between Liberty and Muscle Mary in issue 5... Maybe my ultimate favourite is a huge twist in Issue 4 involving Indigo and her girlfriend. I’m not saying any more about that! It’s a big scene.

DownTheTubes: What's coming next for Spandex?

Martin: Well I just released issue 6, which has a huuuge twist. Issue 7 finishes the four-part OMFG storyline and wraps a lot up of storylines and answers a lot of questions. Leading up to it, i’m going to be doing some cool teaser portraits featuring each team-member. If all goes well, Issue 7 will also include ‘Spandex Black & White’, a series of portraits by various artists.

Then I’m doing a Spandex Special early next year which will effectively be the final issue of the entire thing. I am just plotting it now, and I think it’s even more shocking than issue 6.

I think that will be the end of Spandex then – I’ll have told the story I set out to tell... But I do already have some more ideas...!

DownTheTubes: Would you ever consider doing Spandex stories that you write but drawn by other artists?




Martin: I did that with some mini-comics that came with Issue 6. I worked with other artists on stories for some of my supporting characters (Hag, Cherry Blossom Girl, and Bear Man & Twinkle). But for the main series, I want to do it all myself – there are so many scenes that have been in my head for years – I just want to draw them all.

Maybe if I ever do a Volume Two of Spandex, someone else could draw it. Drawing is so time-consuming, and I have a few other things I want to do.

DownTheTubes: You also created The O Men, which also earned you a lot of praise. Are they returning?

Yes! I feel guilty because I was only supposed to take a year’s break from The O Men to do Spandex. But the first issue of Spandex itself took a year to create! But now I’m reprinting the entire O Men series across five books. I didn’t finish the series – I had about 8 or so issues left, so that material will all be in the fifth/final book – all original material. I kind-of know what happens, but I do need to do a lot of writing.

DownTheTubes: What else are you working on at the moment?

Spandex takes up pretty much all my time, plus I’m working on the O Men collections, which involves a lot of tidying up scanned art. In the back of my head, I’m plotting my next series. At the moment, it’s called Top Class, and I want it to be five digest-sized books. I can’t say much about it yet, except that it might be for all ages, and it has an epic storyline (of course!)!

DownTheTubes: What one piece of advice you would give an aspiring comic creator?

Martin: Just go for it. I get a lot of people come up to me at conventions asking how to do it.

It’s easy -- just get a pen, paper, write it, draw it, do it – then get feedback, accept criticism (but don’t pay attention to online ‘Comments’ sections, people can be so nasty), learn from mistakes, go to conventions and see how people respond to it.

I would also say, don’t break your bank – just print up small amounts if you can. Try not to lose money, be careful!

And finally, make notes when you come up with ideas, because it’s annoying when you forget a good idea!


• More about Spandex at http://www.spandexcomic.com/ and more about The O Men at http://theomencomic.wordpress.com/

• Facebook: search for Spandex Comic, also The O Men and find Martin on Twitter @spandexcomic

 

In Review: Superior

By Mark Millar and Leinil Francis Yu
Publisher: Titan Books
Out: Now
ISBN: 9780857685940

The Book: Simon Pooni had it all going for him - plenty of friends at school, good looks, and his coach called him one of the most talented basketball players he's ever seen. But that was when he could still move his legs. Now he's living with multiple sclerosis — until Superior entered his life! But is the result f one magic wish all it seems?

The Review: Everyone knows the kind of comics Mark Millar writes, yes? Those ultra-violent, gore-filled comic books that horrify and hypnotise at the same time, like Nemesis and Kick-Ass. Angst and anger-filled nastiness writ large for alleged disaffected youth. Comics that would horrify the writers of the moribund Comic Code.

Trust me. Superior is not one of those books, which popular though they are, I can't say I enjoy reading (sorry, Mark).

Superior is, instead, pure unadulterated fun, with heart to boot, and one of my favourite comic collection reads so far this year.

Oh, of course it pulls in ideas and concepts from the movie Big to Superman to Marvelman, as young multiple-sclerosis sufferer and superhero fan Simon Pooni is turned into his idol, Superior, by Ormon, a mysterious talking monkey. But as the tale develops, Millar turns that well-trodden background into a singular tale, as Superior's story becomes real and Simon is forced to make a choice beteween saving the world or losing his immortal soul.

Throughout, Leinil Yu's art on this book - published under Marvel's Icon imprint in the US and CLiNT in the UK - is distinctive, although I do feel the superhero scenes work better than some of those with Simon as himself. There's a depth and detail to Yu's work that does not fail to impress.

As for the story - lightweight it might be, and perhaps a little padded (do we really need so many pages where Simon discovers what Superior's powers are and wherher he has all those of the fictional character he adores?) but above all else, as I said above, it's tremendous fun. And that, from reading Mark's interviews about the story before it launched back in 2010, was entirely the point of the tale.

So yes, you do genuinely feel for Simon when, after one week of playing the role of Superior, he learns that Ormon is actually a demon incarnate, and he must sell his soul to the devil in order to remain the superhero - and put back in his old, disease-wracked body while he makes his choice. You know he feels he really has no choice but to accept Ormon's deal when the demon also makes one of his school mates - this one a two-dimensional, no holds-barred bully - Superior's arch nemesis, Abraxas, who proceeds to set out to destroy New York. And yes, jaded by superheroes though I probably am, I did hear myself mentally cheer as Superior and his friends find a way to cheat a terrible fate and end the tale on a happy note (surely a rarity by Mark Millar standards).

While there are a couple of nearly gruesome scenes, there's nothing in Superior on a par with the (for me) unpleasant visceral nastiness you'll find in Nemesis or Kick-Ass. It's all the better for that.

Superior is a joyous romp, perhaps a trifle padded, but with some great characters and characterisation, a charming story - and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Just one question. Who will play President Obama in Matthew Vaughn's movie version?

Art copyright Millarworld/Leinil Yu. downthetubes was provided with a copy of Superior by Titan Books for review purposes.

Red Devil Rising!

Continuing the adventures of Britain’s best-loved aerial combat pilot, Johnny Redburn, Titan Books releases Johnny Red - Red Devil Rising at the end of the month in the UK (27th January).

This is the second hardback volume reprinting the classic story from Battle by Tom Tully and Joe Colquhoun and includes a feature by comics legend Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher, War Stories).

After being discharged from the RAF for striking an officer, Johnny Redburn takes to the skies in a stolen Hurricane. He then meets the Falcon Squadron of the 5th Soviet Air Brigade and begins his fight against Germany from the other side of the Iron Curtain.

“This book feels like a historical document and yet it reads like the best of any boy’s fiction in any genre. Buy this book and enjoy the authenticity amidst the thrills," said Weekly Crisisof the first volume in the series.

Johnny Red is part of the series of hardback editions collecting the most popular storylines from British boys’ war comic, Battle. Also available are Johnny Red: Falcons First Flight (Johnny Red Volume 1);The Best of Battle Volume 1; Charley’s War Volumes 1-8, Hitler's Youth bring the most recent; andDarkie's Mob: The Secret War of Joe Darkie.
Coming soon are the first volumes of Major Eazy, drawn by Carlos Ezquerra, and Rat Pack.

• Johnny Red - Red Devil Rising (Johnny Red Volume 2) is on sale 27th January 2012 in the UK. ISBN: 9781848560345

Hammer Films launches 'Print on Demand' site

Hammer Films has launched an official print-on-demand online store today, featuring iconic UK quad artwork from legendary horror titles including The Mummy, One Million Years B.C. and The Devil Rides Out.

The store features high-quality reproductions of UK quads from the extensive Hammer library including the latest titles Let Me In and Wake Wood,  along with newly-restored posters for such beloved horror classics as X The Unknown, The Abominable Snowman and Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell, all of which are reproduced for the first time and exclusively available.

Each classic poster featured on the site will be available in two styles; "restored", appearing as new, and "aged", subtly weathered to create a retro aesthetic.

Designed by renowned film poster artists Bill Wiggins, Mike Vaughan, Vic Fair and the legendary Tom Chantrell, and curated by Marcus Hearn, Hammer's official historian, the artwork will be available as posters (paper or canvas; framed or unframed), prints, greeting cards and postcards.

To celebrate the launch, Hammer will be giving 15% off all orders through 10th December 2011 at http://art.hammerfilms.com

Additionally, to coincide with the release of Marcus Hearn’s new official book The Hammer Vault which hits stores on 2nd December 2011, Hammer is releasing online exclusive content from The Woman in Black at www.hammerfilms.com at Noon on the same day.

The Hammer Vault, published by Titan Books, features double-page spreads of classic Hammer titles in addition to recent releases Wake Wood, Let Me In and The Resident.

Hammer will publish online exclusive content from The Woman in Black in the “Hammer Vault” style, as part of a three-way promotional tie in for the Hammer website, the book launch and the upcoming film release.

The exclusive “Hammer Vault” content, available via a password gate only to those who buy or browse “The Hammer Vault”, will feature interviews with director James Watkins and production designer Kave Quinn, along with exclusive stills, storyboards and photography of production assets and props.

The Woman in Black will be released theatrically in the US on 3rd February 2012 through CBS Films and in the UK on 10th February through Momentum Pictures.

New volume of Charley's War on sale now

Charley's War: Hitler's Youth, the eighth volume of the classic World War One comic strip by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun, first published in Battle Picture Weekly, is now on sale from Titan Books, although the official publication date is 28th October.


In this explosive new volume of never-before-collected comic strip, Charley comes face to face with a young corporal who will eventually change the face of the world as leader of the Nazi party: Adolf Hitler.

The eighth action-packed volume of Charley's War is rich in the detailed minutiae of the terror-punctuated existence of a Tommy and is the first to benefit from the use of original artwork from the story, kindly loaned by the Colquhoun family.

Speaking as the editor of the collection, Moose Harris, who did all the scans, has done a knock out job on the strip pages.

Also included in the book is a feature by Steve White about Hitler's role in the First World War - and a commentary on the strip featured in the volume Charley's War co-creator and script writer Pat Mills.

• Charley's War: Hitler's Youth is available from 28th October 2011 all good bookshops.

• Buy Charley's War: Hitler's Youth from forbiddenplanet.com


• Buy Charley's War: Hitler's Youth from amazon.co.uk

• Buy Charley's War: Hitler's Youth from amazon.com

Turf Sequel in the works?

Bleeding Cool reports that Jonathan Ross and Tommy Lee Edwards are considring a sequel to Turf, which was published in CLiNT in the UK and has just been releasd in a smashing hardcover edition by Titan Books.

Jonathan Ross announced that the pair are considering a sequel to Turf, this time set in the 1940s, during a signing for the new book in a London Waterstones.

Ross, who wrote the vampires, mobsters and aliens comic book set in 1920s America, already has a couple of other projects in the works with Edwards, including a retirement superhero comic called The Golden Age, and a racing comic called Speed Trap.

Ross recently outlined how Turf came to be written when he found himself "between jobs" after leaving the BBC and he finally had the time to do what he'd always wanted – write his own comic. Writing for The Guardian, he explained his lifelong love affair with masked men and caped crusaders.

While delighting in the comic form, he also admitted how hard he found it to write the comic.

"I've come to the conclusion that comics are a bit like golf, or Susan Boyle, or threesomes," he said. "You can find large sections of the population who can't get enough of that kind of thing, while the rest of us just don't see where the fun is supposed to lie. But when done right, for me, no other entertainment form can match the beautiful synthesis of hand-crafted art with lovingly chosen words. And as I discovered when I wrote my first comic book last year, in collaboration with Tommy Lee Edwards, less is most definitely more.

"'Newspaper headlines written by poets' was the description that the great Dennis O'Neil (Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman) used when asked to describe the art of writing for comics, and it's as good a guideline as any I've encountered."

• Read the full article by Ross on The Guardian web site

Titan Books Grabs Gordon (Flash, that is)

Flash Gordon: On the Planet Mongo is set for a March 2012 release

Titan Books has announced the publication of The Complete Flash Gordon Library in 2012. Compiling every strip and every story, this series of restored full-colour hardcover volumes will showcase the action and artistry that thrilled audiences for decades.

The first ever Flash Gordon episode, drawn by Alex Raymond

Everyone knows Flash Gordon -- the most iconic science fiction swashbuckler ever to burst forth from the newspaper pages and whose inclusion in a news paper was once considered part of its Unique Selling Point. His adventures wielded so much energy that they inspired everyone who followed, no matter what the medium.

Filmmaker George Lucas famously revealed, "Growing up in California, I was enchanted by two things...race cars and Flash Gordon. The first love I put to use in American Graffiti, the second eventually turned into Star Wars."


Flash Gordon first hit superstardom in 1934 with his comic strip adventures, which continued unabated for seven decades. His influence spread like wildfire into every medium -- films, television, novels, comic books, radio plays, and more. Every generation has had its incarnation of the character, and yet another major motion picture is reported to be in the works.

Launching in early 2012 with On the Planet Mongo, Titan says the mission of The Complete Flash Gordon Library will be to collect every strip and every story, offering them in affordable, full-colour hardcover volumes, carefully restored and revealing the action and the artistry that thrilled audiences for decades. Through the painstaking efforts of renowned comic strip historian Pete Maresca, readers will experience the heroics of Flash Gordon, the beauty of Dale Arden, the evil of Ming the Merciless, and the exotic setting of the distant planet Mongo. Each installment will be meticulously reworked so that the intricate artwork, the vivid colors, and the unparalleled action will explode off of the page.

Beginning with the renowned stories written and illustrations by Alex Raymond -- the genius behind the hero -- The Complete Flash Gordon Library will continue with the other brilliant illustrators who took the helm and ran with his creation: Austin Briggs, Mac Raboy, Dan Barry, and many more. Each page will be 11" x 10" -- specifically designed to spotlight the action-packed artistry of the creators, and each volume will feature 176 or more pages of full-color action.

A Flash Gordon Sunday strip, drawn by Jim O'Keefe

Volume One, On the Planet Mongo, will feature a foreword by renowned illustrator Alex Ross, and future installments will offer other special features revealing the secrets behind the strip and its creators.

The Complete Flash Gordon Library joins Titan's other long-running newspaper strip collections including the critically acclaimed Simon and Kirby Library, and the Modesty Blaise and James Bond series.

• Pre-order The Complete Flash Gordon Library: On the Planet Mongo from amazon.co.uk



• Pre-order The Complete Flash Gordon Library: On the Planet Mongo from amazon.com

Titan Books lands Avatar Press distribution rights for the UK

Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin
will be distributed in the UK by Titan Books

Titan Books has announced it is partnering with Avatar Press, the highly regarded independent American publisher of comic books, founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, to distribute their award-winning line to the book trade in the UK and Ireland.

Featuring exciting work from major stars of the comic book universe including Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, George RR Martin, Christos Gage, David Lapham, and more, Avatar Press is notable for offering creators an opportunity to publish creator-owned books with no content restrictions whatsoever.

Titan plans to distribute approximately 40 new books a year, with full PR and marketing campaigns on lead titles. In addition Titan will make the rich Avatar back catalogue fully available to the book trade.

The first titles will include Game of Thrones author George R.R Martin’s Fevre Dream, Night of the Living Dead 2 and Alan Moore’s much anticipated Neonomicon, which will all be available in the UK from Titan in late 2011.

Fevre Dream is an adaptation of George R.R Martin’s 1982 historical horror novel about vampires on antebellum Mississippi river steamboats. "'Bram Stoker meets Mark Twain,' one might say," says the author of the book, "or even 'Huck Finn Meets Dracula.'" It was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award.

“We're proud and delighted to be working with a wonderful publisher like Avatar," commented Publisher Nick Landau, currently at the San Diego Comic Con, "and are confident we will raise their business to new levels in the UK”.

“The UK book market is a challenging environment to sell into," notes William A. Christensen, CEO of Avatar Press. "We are happy to have an institution like Titan Books to help us navigate the waters and provide long-standing relationships with the biggest booksellers. The opportunity to work together with their highly regarded distribution network will allow us to reach new readers in the UK.”

Avatar Press produces a wide variety of cutting-edge comic books, graphic novels, and original web content. Their high-quality publications include the work of such industry luminaries as David Lapham (Caligula, Crossed: Psychopath), Alan Moore (Neonomicon), Warren Ellis (FreakAngels), and Garth Ennis (Crossed, Chronicles of Wormwood). They also produce a diverse range of licensed projects including the classic zombie epic Night of the Living Dead and George RR Martin’s Fevre Dream.

Titan Books is part of the Titan Publishing Group, an independently owned publishing company, established in 1981. With offices in London's Bankside area, close to Tate Modern, the company publishes books and magazines on a world English basis, as well as territory by territory, with domestic sales teams and distribution in the US, UK, Australia & New Zealand, and export agents in other territories. The Books Division has four main areas of publishing: film, TV and music; fiction; graphic novels; and illustrated books.

Its own catalogue includes a range of British comic collections including Charley's War by Pat Mills and Joe Colqhuhoun and Darkie's Mob by John Wagner and Mike Western.

• For more about Titan Books range visit: http://titanbooks.com

•  For more information about Avatar Press, their publications, and creators visit www.avatarpress.com