Titan launches creator-owned comics line

Titan Comics goes big in 2013 - with original, creator-owned series by new and world-renowned talent.

Titan Comics is the bold new imprint from the London-based world-leading publisher – offering the best original creator-owned comics alongside new and classic graphic novels, a project company boss Nick Landau has had for many years.

The imprint launches in July 2013 with two creator-owned miniseries and four brand-new collections, with a new series beginning each month afterwards: debut Chronos Commandos: Dawn Patrol by writer/artist Stuart Jennett, who cut his teeth at Marvel UK with Warheads but now runs an expanding design studio; newly coloured Numbercruncher by X-Men: Legacy writer Si Spurrier and 2000AD artist P.J. Holden; Ring of Roses – collected in colour for the first time, by writer Das Petrou and artist John Watkiss; the wonderfully funny Thrud The Barbarian by writer/artist Carl Critchlow (2000AD, Magic: The Gathering); plus never-before-published volumes in a complete library of The First Kingdom by comic legend Jack Katz.

The next wave will see three new series launching later in the year: Gravestown by writer Roger Gibson and artist Vince Danks (Harker), and Surface Tension by writer/artist Jay Gunn hit stores in September, while the stunning Death Sentence by writer Monty Nero and artist Mike Dowling (2000AD, Rex Royd) continues the new line into October.

Titan Comics is the latest initiative from Titan Publishing, which has been a purveyor of comics, graphic novels, fiction and licensed publishing for over 30 years.

Since 1981, they have been instrumental in the field of licensed film and television properties, including The Walking Dead, Star Wars, Transformers and Star Trek, as well as creator-owned successes such as Tank Girl and Lenore – but now they feel it's the time to nurture a new generation of creators, characters and properties.

Titan Comics is seeking to help creators shape their ideas into the best comics possible. "Combining unique voices and visions with strong marketing and a trusted brand, Titan Comics is the ultimate expression of our editorial, design and sales experience," said a company spokesperson.

From editorial to design, Titan Comics will help creators shape their ideas into the best comics possible – while they retain full rights over their creations and intellectual property.

As well as all-new creator-owned titles, Titan Comics continues to restore and reprint the best classic material, bringing back seminal titles in lovingly-produced volumes.

"This is the start of something very special," says Nick Landau, Publisher of Titan Comics. “We’re searching out fantastic new voices and astonishing new artists, and helping them bring their dream projects to fruition – as well as remaining a world-leader in the field of classic comics restoration and republication.”

Steve White, Senior Comics Editor, says readers can expect, “the same level of quality we've delivered across Titan's huge portfolio of licensed publications – coupled to the blazing imaginations of the next generation of independent creators.”

Each new release will also be available to read day and date on the iPhone, iPad, Web, Android and Kindle Fire.

• To keep up-to-date with news on all these new series and future releases from Titan Comics, visit www.titan-comics.com or join us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/comicstitan) or Twitter (www.twitter.com/comicstitan).

• Retailers can keep up to date with ordering details and incentives by signing up to Titan’s retail newsletter, here or follow @TitanRetail on Twitter.

 

Tank Girl and Lenore head for iPad as part of new Titan Comics App

Titan Publishing has announced the launch of a brand new comics app, featuring Tank Girl and Lenore comics, available on iPhone and iPad for the first time ever.

The new stand-alone app allows iPhone, iPod touch or iPad users to explore Titan’s digital comics portfolio, including – for the first time in digital format – Lenore volumes 1 & 2 by Roman Dirge, Tank Girl: Bad Wind Rising (Alan Martin & Rufus Dayglo) and Tank Girl: Skidmarks (Martin & Dayglo).

The dark surreal world of Roman Dirge comes to life on the iPhone and iPad with the digital debut of his cult comic creation, Lenore. These gruesomely grisly tales see Lenore, the cute little dead girl, and her twisted menagerie of demented friends do battle with Nazi zombies, avoid the unrequited love of Mr. Gosh, and fend off the massed forces of Heck and an overeager, hungry earthworm.

Bad Wind Rising is the brand new Tank Girl series by Alan Martin and Rufus Dayglo, which sees Tank Girl and her long-term partner Booga split up in dramatic and outrageous circumstances.

Described by Ain’t It Cool News as ‘possibly this year’s coolest comic!’, the series is a must-read for all Tank Girl fans.

Martin and Dayglo’s previous series Skidmarks sees Tank Girl participating in an Outback ‘take-no-prisoners’ race in an attempt to win prize money for her friend Barney’s operation. The series is also available digitally for the first time in the new app.

For the first time Titan’s wide-ranging portfolio is available in one app, featuring exclusive free content including WWE Heroes, Transformers (exclusive UK strips), Shaun the Sheep and Wallace & Gromit. Brand new comics are set to be released by Titan via the app throughout the year.

• To explore Titan’s digital comics, simply go online to the iTunes app store and search 'Titan Comics' to download the app or follow this link direct.

• More information about the app can be found at http://titanmagazines.com/pages/titan-comics-app/

• More about Titan Comics at www.titanmagazines.com

Transformers assume iPhone disguise

After the global success of their Wallace & Gromit iPhone comic app (see news story), Titan Publishing has announce the arrival of its first Transformers iPhone comic.

Based on Hasbro’s Transformers brand, each comic download includes an awesome action packed story and is bursting with fun facts and trivia about the characters, movies and comics.

The digital comic is free and can be downloaded for iPhone by visiting www.titanpublishing.com/digital or the iTunes app store (comics are available in the UK and Eire only.)

The first download includes "Optimus Prime", a story written by Transformers legend Simon Furman and featuring artwork by fan favourite Geoff Senior. The tale sees the heroic Autobot leader trying to survive an assassination attempt when he attempts to send the Allspark into space.

Titan Publishing Group has already seen global success with the release of its first digital comic, Wallace & Gromit, and this new Transformers title is expected to follow suit. With over 650,000 downloads of the comic for iPhones, Wallace & Gronit has been topping app charts all over the world and has even been described as ‘the world’s first e-Book bestseller’.

"Transformers on your iPhone - wow!" enthuses Simon Furman. "It's a simply incredible chance for fans of the warring ‘Robots in Disguise’ to experience stories that expand upon and underpin the incredible movie universe. The stories, written by me and drawn by a host of old and new Transformers artists, bring the movie characters to life as never before, and now they can be seen as never before!

"So get ready for tales of Cybertron and Earth that spotlight your favourite characters... and probably a few you know only by name... beamed direct to your iPhone.’

• Transformers Comic #1 is available to download for free on iPhone via www.titanpublishing.com/digital. More Transformers comic stories released over the coming weeks so check back soon!


• For a sneak peek at the Transformers iPhone comic check out this Youtube clip, right here:

Titan launches Shaun the Sheep on the iPhone

Quickly following up from the hugely successful launch of the Wallace & Gromit digital comics, Britain's Titan Publishing is now bringing another Aardman creation, Shaun the Sheep, to the iPhone.

Shaun, the star of the hit BBC animated show, is a sheep who doesn’t follow the flock – in fact, he leads them into all sort of scrapes and scraps, turning peace in the valley into mayhem in the meadow. Shaun and his pals run rings around their poor sheepdog Bitzer, as he tries to stop the Farmer finding out what’s going on behind his back.

The first Shaun the Sheep mobile comic release is available now on iPhone for free, featuring two classic tales adapted from Titan Shaun the Sheep comic: "Dinner Winners" - in which the Farmer is looking forward to his Christmas Dinner so much he forgets to feed Shaun and his friends, a mistake that costs him dear! - and "Snow Joke", a story which sees what happens when the pigs just don’t know when to quit when a snowball fight goes too far. Bitzer gets some payback on the porky pests!

The first Wallace & Gromit Comic has been downloaded over half a million times since it launched in November, and was the number one free book app in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand -- and Finland!

• Just go to www.titanpublishing.com/digital or check in the iTunes app store. For more information on Shaun the Sheep visit: www.shaunthesheep.com

Tube Surfing: Wallace and Gromit, Insomnia on PSP, Free Digital Comics and Christmas Covers

• Titan Publishing's Wallace & Gromit digital comic has taken the iPhone by storm with over half a million downloads of its first free app - and the company is surely hoping to repeat the success with its release on the new PSP comics service. More on this story on the downthetubes Mobile Comics Blog

• Talking of digital comics, Insomnia Publications is one of a handful of UK comic publishers featuring on the launch offering for the PlayStation Network's Digital Comics service, which enables you to download the comics directly to your PSP over Wi-Fi or you use your PC to transfer the files. Although there's bound to be more coverage of both Marvel and Disney's offerings on the platform, this is a major coup for the independent publisher: titles on offer include Cancertown Burke and Hare, Cages and more. (Click here for a full list of titles on offer on the Insomnia blog).
The service is also being supported by IDW Publishing and iVerse Media, among others and over 550 comics were made available at launch with more to be added as the service develops.

• Forbidden Planet International reports that audio recordings from the Women in Comics conference, which took place a few weeks ago in Cambridge, are now available on the New Hall Art Collection site, including Sarah McIntyre, Asia Alfasi, Nicola Streeten and others, with more audio to follow in due course.

• Matthew Badham has re-posted an interview with comic creators Adam Cadwell (left, as visualised by cartoonist Marc Ellerby) and Jim Medway that disappeared into the ether when his previous blog bit the dust. Matthew sasy both Adam and Jim say a lot of interesting things about comics and art, and make some good observations about the Brit' small press scene, as well as offering their insight into the failure of The DFC and much more. Jim, it seems, by the way, has a phobia about comic shops, arguing many are "awful" (with some notable exceptions, such as Nottingham's Page 45. "You can’t expect anyone else to go into a shop with goblins on the window," he feels.

• Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited is to give away 1,000 free one-year subscriptions of its digital comics to enlisted US military personnel from Monday through 7th January. Air Force Times reports the offer is on a first come, first served basis. A year’s online subscription would normally cost $59.88, she said. Enlisted personnel who want to sign up for the free subscription can send an e-mail to marveldigitalpromo@sunbeltfs.com to receive a promotion code.

• And finally... as you've noticed, Jeremy Briggs is once again plunging us back into British comics history with various Christmas covers here on downthetubes - expect one post a day in the run up to the Big Day - and Lew Stringer is also offering his annual Christmas comics posting, which started with a Valiant and TV21 cover and will focus on just four comics in depth this year. It's a real treat to see Leo Baxendale’s ‘The Swots And The Blots’ once again. View all Lew's posts over on Blimey! It’s Another Blog About Comics.

Wallace & Gromit are a Digital Comic Hit

Titan Publishing are reporting a huge success for their Wallace & Gromit digital comic, which launched last month (see news story). The strip is taking the iPhone app charts by storm and is currently ranked number one in the UK free books app store, a first for a British comic!

The comic has also risen to the number three spot overall in the free apps chart and all four paid for Wallace & Gromit comic apps are currently within the top 20 paid apps in the UK book chart.

With over 170,000 downloads of the Wallace & Gromit free app around the world, it’s not only the British who apparently can’t get enough of Aardman Animation’s iconic duo – it’s also currently the number one free book download in Australia, New Zealand and Finland.

"We've been amazed at how well our first app has done," commented Wallace & Gromit digital comics editor Ned Hartley. "Wallace & Gromit is such a great brand, and iPhone users obviously love them as much as we do!"

• You can download the first Wallace & Gromit Comic, ‘The W Files’ for free at www.wallaceandgromitcomics.com, and there are four other fantastic Wallace & Gromit comics available at the app store, for just 59p each.

Titan Launches Wallace & Gromit iPhone Comic

Britain's Titan Publishing has just launched its first digital comic for iPhone and iTouch - featuring Aardman Animations' inventors extraordinaire and Oscar winners, Wallace & Gromit.

Launched as the animated pair celebrate their 20th Anniversary, each comic is a complete Wallace & Gromit adventure and is packed with bonus features on the inveterate inventor and his faithful canine companion - and one of them is free-to-view.

“It’s really exciting to see Wallace and Gromit at the forefront of such a cracking new technology," commented Wallace & Gromit Digital Comic editor Ned Hartley, "although I secretly suspect that Wallace would be more comfortable with the type of apple that comes with cheese.”

• For more general information visit: http://titanpublishing.com/iphone/ and to keep up to date on new W&G phone releases visit this Facebook fan page


• Wallace & Gromit Comics are available from Apple’s App store now. Initially there are four comic stories to download...


• The W-Files Download now: US ($free) | UK (£free)

When strange shapes and flashing lights are seen in the night sky, there are only two paranormal investigators that can solve the problem. Sadly they aren’t available, so Wallace and Gromit might as well have a crack at it. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

• Parts & Labour Download now: US ($0.99) | UK (£0.59)


Where does he get those wonderful toys? Ever wondered where Wallace gets the parts for his eccentric, wonderful (and occasionally useful) inventions? Find out here!

• Big in Japan Download now: US ($0.99) | UK (£0.59)


Wallace and Gromit take time out to visit Wallace’s biggest fan in Japan, Hiro Worship. It turns out all is not well in the land of the rising sun, and it’s not long until Gromit has to deal with some monster problems!

• Where there’s Muck there’s Brass Download now: US ($0.99) | UK (£0.59)

Nothing gets Wallace as worked up as the disbanding of the local brass band, despite the fact that they aren’t very good, no-one wants to see them and they don’t really want to play anyway. This calls for... an invention!