Radio interviews with James Moran and VS Comics creators

Panel Borders: James Moran Vs Comics

Continuing a month of shows about webcomics, Alex Fitch talks to screenwriter James Moran (Cockneys vs Zombies, Torchwood) about his new webcomic Day + Night, an urban vampire tale that casts the creatures of the night as 'sharks on legs' rather than the sparkly urbane figures found elsewhere. Also, in a panel recorded at Thought Bubble 2012, Vs Comics editor Mike Garley talks about the strip he's writing - Eponymous - and introduces creators Nich Angell (Tabby and Trout), Ned Hartley (Ghost Club), Adam Christopher (The Sentinel) and Sally Jane Thompson (Happy Birthday) who present the strips they're contributing to the online anthology comic, with the help of designer Mike Stock.

6pm, Sunday 17th March 2013 / 4.30 pm, Tuesday 19th March, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / extended podcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

Bonhams to auction off Sarah Jane's 'Figaro' car

Bonhams upcoming Entertainment Memorabilia sale, to be held next week on Wednesday 12th December, will include an array of props, posters, costumes and related memorabilia from legendary science fiction movies and television shows including Alien, Superman, Star Wars, Blake's 7, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Red Dwarf and Captain Scarlet.

Of particular interest to downthetubes readers might be Sarah Jane Smith's green Nissan Figaro car seen in the Sarah Jane Adventures – and Captain Jack Harkness' greatcoat, used in Torchwood.

The highlights from the sale include a detailed miniature model from the 1979 Alien film of the engine room of the Nostromo mothership, being offered directly by the model maker William "Bill" Pearson. The model engine room was designed for an establishing shot in the film, and is clearly visible in the scene when Ripley sets the ship to self-destruct.

Original models used in the production of Alien have rarely come on to the market and are highly sought after.

Following the same theme, included in the horror and science fiction section of the sale is a large airbrush illustration created by the Alien film’s Academy Award-winning designer and surrealist artist H.R. Giger. The artwork depicts a sinister skeletal creature, and was discovered painted on a door panel in the boiler room at Shepperton Studios, a bolt-hole frequented by the artist throughout the making of the film.

Both lots are offered with an estimate of £2,000 – 3,000.

A number of items from the archives of the BBC will also be offered for sale, including costumes and props from renowned television series Doctor Who. One of the key pieces is a large prop latex shark used in the 2010 Christmas special A Christmas Carol, valued at £1000-1500.

It will also be the first time key props and costume from the popular Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures series’ will be offered at auction, including Captain Jack Harkness’ RAF blue Great Coat, valued at £700-900 and Sarah Jane Smith’s emerald green and white Nissan Figaro car £4,000-6,000.

Created due to the burgeoning interest in European classic cars amongst Japanese car collectors in the 1980s, Nissan produced four retro inspired cars emulating 1960s European styling but incorporating up-to-the minute Japanese technology. Previewed in 1989 and launched in 1991, the Figaro was the fourth of these. A turbocharged, Micra-powered sportscar, it was soon in such demand that a lottery was organised to determine the lucky owners of the limited run of 20,000 produced.

Other pieces available to collectors will be a large collection of concept designs from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, with estimates ranging from £500-3,000, an original Captain Brown puppet used on the 1960s original Captain Scarlet series, estimate £12,000-15,000, Christopher Reeves director’s chair, £500-700, and two handmade spacecraft models used in series 10 of Red Dwarf, valued at £500-700 each.

Music memorabilia, including rare Beatles items, are also part of the auction.

• Full auction details at www.bonhams.com/auctions/19801

Torchwood star pens new comic

The new issue of Titan's official Torchwood magazine – on sale in the UK on Thursday 15th April – plays host to an exclusive Torchwood comic strip penned by series star and fan-favourite, Gareth David-Lloyd and drawn by award-winning artist Pia Guerra.

David-Lloyd's character, Ianto Jones, who died in Captain Jack’s arms in the recent Torchwood five-part story Children of Earth, gets a new lease of life and takes centre stage once again in this exclusive comic strip - a move that will delight all fans of the criticallly acclaimed Doctor Who spin-off.

"I feel I know this character implicitly," says David-Lloyd, talking exclusively to the official Torchwood magazine. "The narrative of this comic focuses predominantly on Ianto, and integrates a number of characters who have been missed by Torchwood's ardent followers."

Titled 'Shrouded', the story comes in two parts as Ianto, who struggles with his tumultuous feelings for Captain Jack from the offset, has his world turned upside-down by the visit of a familiar face from the future.

Additionally, he is set a mission that could alter the course of life, as he knows it, forever...

'Shrouded' is illustrated by Pia Guerra, the critically acclaimed artist of Vertigo Comics' ground-breaking series, Y: The Last Man and more recently, Doctor Who: The Forgotten for IDW Comics. Pia won Outstanding comic book artist for 2006 at the Joe Schuster Awards.

• Torchwood Magazine #21 is on sale on 15th April in the UK and 11th May in the US. For more information, visit http://titanmagazines.co.uk/torchwood or www.facebook.com/TorchwoodMagazine

First Look - Torchwood 20 by Minchin, Yeowell, Workman

Titan Magazines Torchwood title has hit Issue 20 and the comic strip is sure to appeal to 2000AD fans – it's drawn by Steve "Zenith" Yeowell.

Written by Brian Minchin, a Script Editor and Assistant Producer on the Torchwood TV series, with art by Steve Yeowell (with lettering and additional art by John Workman), the story, 'Fated to Pretend', opens with a prison van driving at breakneck speed along an isolated road - as if pursued by the devil itself. The doors break open and prisoners spill out onto the road - but something yanks them back inside. By the time Torchwood arrive, the prisoners and warders are dead. But worse than that. They've been eaten...

Torchwood follow the prison van back to Mynydd Coch, an aging prison built high above Cardiff in the Black Mountains. The prison has been locked shut, the transporter was the first vehicle to leave the building for months, and there have been strange stories from within of horror and brutality, of Zombie warders, and prisoners eaten alive. Jack has another theory... But what will happen when he, Ianto and Gwen get inside...?

Steve Yeowell is one of the UK’s most successful comic artists, who began his career back in the 1980s working with writer Grant Morrison on Marvel UK’s Zoids, He then went on to work with Morrison on 2000AD’s ground-breaking Zenith series and has never looked back, working on 2000AD series such as Sinister Dexter and The Red Seas, and also on several comics for Marvel (Skrull Kill Krew), DC (Batman, Starman) and Vertigo (The Invisibles, Sebastian O).

John Workman is one of comics’ most famous letterers, and has worked on comics by Walt Simonson, Grant Morrison and many more on such titles as Doom Patrol and Thor. Also a comic artist, and the Torchwood comic editor Martin Eden invited him to contribute to this special strip.

• Torchwood Magazine Issue 20 is on sale now in the UK (more info here) and on 16th March in the US (more info here) and is available from all good retailers and specialist comic stores.


• For the latest on Torchwood Magazine, sign aboard its Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/TorchwoodMagazine

Torchwood Comic Goes Online

UK TV channel Watch has teamed up with Titan Magazines to offer an exclusive Torchwood online comic.

Drawn by ace comic artist Brian Williamson and written by Oli Smith, the story is set at Pontyvale Golf Club, where the post-Christmas reopening hasn’t gone well thanks to some grisly killings... The site has been closed off, and Torchwood’s Captain Jack, Gwen and Lanto investigate. But they soon come face to face with the cause of the killings – and it’s not pretty!

Available to view exclusively at justwatch.co.uk, the strip was designed to celebrate Alien Invasion week on Watch, which offers viewers a bumper week of Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sci Fi movies including Starship Troopers and Terminator 3. The week long alien-inspired extravaganza begins on Saturday 13th February, with the latest Torchwood series, Children of Earth showing every weeknight at 9pm.

Personally introduced each evening by John Barrowman, Children of Earth re-joins Captain Jack & co in one edge-of-the-seat story told over five nights. An ordinary day turns into something terrifying as every single child in the world stops, possessed by an alien force to deliver a message to all the governments of the world... “we are coming.”

Also available to view on justwatch.co.uk are a series of interview clips with Captain Jack himself; John Barrowman. Discussing his thoughts on his most recent appearance in Doctor Who, what makes Torchwood stand out and who he’d love to guest star in the series, these exclusive interviews are the icing on the Watch sci-fi cake.

• Torchwood fans can read this exclusive comic at: www.justwatch.co.uk


• Where to find Watch: Sky 109 and Virgin TV 124

Nick Abadzis Torchwood comic strip reaches finale

The latest Torchwood magazine, on sale tomorrow in the UK, features the final part of award-winning British comic book creator Nick Abadzis's story for the title.

Abadzis, creator of the acclaimed graphic novel Laika and a contributor to The Times and Guardian’s comic sections, writes part three of Broken for the hit BBC show's official tie-in publication. In the story, the team are trapped in a mysterious hotel – Gwen Cooper is plagued by the ghosts of Torchwood past, while Captain Jack and Ianto must face Bilis Manger.

Acclaimed artist Paul Grist, creator of Jack Staff and Kane and a regular contributor to the Torchwood title, provides the art.

Abadzis joins a long list of stellar talent to have contributed to the Torchwood comic, including Tommy Lee Edwards, Simon Furman, Ian Edginton, D'Israeli and, recently, Carole and John Barrowman.

• Torchwood Magazine Issue #17 is on sale in the UK and Ireland tomorrow, 20th August and in the US on 15th September.

Panel Borders Goes SciFi Mad!

We don't often cover every podcast or radio show Alex Fitch and his team are about to broadcast, but he's got plenty lined up we think downthetubes fans will want to check out, so hold on to your hats...


• This week's Strip! show is titled Doctor Who comics now... in which Alex Fitch talks to the creators of a couple of recent innovative Doctor Who comics about bringing a new angle to the popular franchise. Leah Moore and John Reppion wrote the recent one off comic The Whispering Gallery for IDW, which saw the Doctor and Martha exploring a terrifying museum on an alien planet.

Alex also talks to Richard Morris, creator of the popular and unauthorised web comic, The Ten Doctors - an epic serialised graphic novel which celebrates almost every aspect you can think of from 46 years of the Time Lord's adventures.
 
Strip! Doctor Who comics now airs at 5.00pm on Thursday 16the July, repeated 11.30pm Sunday 19th July on Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast soon after transmission at www.panelborders.wordpress.com
 
Alex is also celebrating the Moon Landing anniversary with I'm ready for my close-up: Fly me to the Moon, featuring interviews with astronomer and broadcaster Sir Patrick Moore and Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson.
 
Sir Patrick Moore was one of many who covered the events of the Apollo 11 mission live on TV and discusses the events of that day with Alex as well as the highlights of his six decades presenting The Sky at Night.

Alex also talks to Gerry Anderson about how the space race and technological innovations of the 1960s inspired such shows as Fireball XL5 and Thunderbirds.

Network DVD recently released a special collector's edition of the entire Fireball XL5 series, which is well worth tracking down, since in addition to all the show's episodes - including a specially colourized episode - it features a new, exclusive documentary, Drawn in Supermarionation chronicling the comic strip adaptations of the early AP Films series and features contributions from director of merchandising Keith Shackleton and artists Bill Mevin, Mike Noble and Colin Page (See full news story).
 
The interview with Sir Patrick is available to download now from www.sci-fi-london.com/audio and the interview with Gerry Anderson will be broadcast on Thursday 16th July at 10.30pm Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com
 
Online from 19th July (also at www.sci-fi-london.com/audio) is Reality Check: Torchwood in Print. In a panel discussion recorded live at a meeting of the British Fantasy Society, late 1980s Doctor Who script editor Andrew Cartmel talks to a quartet of Torchwood novelists - Mark Morris, Sarah Pinborough, Guy Adams and Joe Lidster - about bringing the show to the printed page and expanding the adventures of Captain Jack, Ianto and Gwen to the length of a hardback novel.

Finally, if your interest in science fiction and fantasy goes wider than stories inspired by TV shows, then check out Panel Borders: Small press Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Continuing the podcaster's Sci-Fi comics month on the show, this features a couple of interviews recorded at comic book conventions with small press creators who are working in the SF and Fantasy genres.

In an interview recorded at this year's Bristol Comics Expo, Dickon Harris talks to comic book creator and musician Dave Lander who contributes to the anthology comic Decadence which in the last couple of instalments has been heavily SF themed. Dave also produced a CD soundtrack to go with recent issues and there are extracts in the podcast.

Also, Alex Fitch talks to Rob Jackson about his fantasy comics, Random Journeys and Bog Wizards, which combine unreliable narrators, humour and magical landscapes, in an interview recorded at a pub in the East End after the UK Web & Mini Comix Thing.
 
Originally broadcast on 9th July check it out vial this link. (And don't forget Alex has also interviewed the brilliant Paul Rainey as part of this thread - check that out here)

• For a full list of all Panel Borders comics podcasts to date, visit: www.tinyurl.com/panelborders
 
• Follow Panel Borders on twitter: http://twitter.com/panelborders and facebook: http://tinyurl.com/facebookborders

In Review: Torchwood - Rift War

When Titan Magazines launched Torchwood The Official Magazine in January 2008, they chose to follow the example of Panini's Doctor Who Magazine and include a comic strip. While the Doctor Who comic strip is an historical remnant of Doctor Who Magazine's beginnings as the Doctor Who Weekly comic, a comic strip in the magazine of the more adult orientated Torchwood was seen as a brave move on editor Simon Hugo's part. It did raise a few eyebrows when in the first issue's comic strip The Legacy Of Torchwood One artist SL Gallant drew the story's main guest star as actor and comedian Bill Bailey while the lack of a comic strip in issue 2 left readers wondering just what was going on. However it was back in issue 3 while issue 4 began the ten part Rift War story arc. Titan's Rift War graphic novel is the first compilation of that comic strip and features the ten part story of the same title plus Jetsam, the Brian Williamson written and illustrated story from issue 3 concerning gigantic alien motorcycles.

Despite the photographic front cover only featuring the season three cast, the stories are set before the deaths of Owen and Toshiko in season two. Cardiff is attacked by the Harrowkind alien warriors who came through the Rift and as the Torchwood operatives battle them they soon realise that it is a diversionary tactic to steal the Rift Manipulator from the Hub. Tosh recovers the manipulator with the help of the alien Vox who remains at Torchwood as he is on the run from the Harrowkind's masters, the Sanctified. After a few less violent Rift disturbances the Sanctified attack once again and Torchwood have to decide if their enemy's enemy can really be called their friend.

While the ten episodes are all called Rift War this is more of a story arc than one subdivided story with some of the episodes in the middle having little to do with the main plot. Of the different episodes the odd Funhouse, in which a giant alien baby is cared for by Gwen and Rhys, sits most uncomfortably amongst the rest while Dino Crisis, as fun as it is, would have made a better Primeval story that a Torchwood one. However the stories are at their best when in full Rift War mode with each eleven page monthly episode becoming part of the greater story as our heroes battle their unseen enemies. The stories here depend more on the full team than the TV series, with its emphasis on Gwen's character, does and while some episodes feel that they could be made on a television budget others are deliberately more outlandish.

The original publication in the then monthly magazine was A4 size but here the pages have been reduced to an American size for this softcover graphic novel. While it therefore sits comfortably with the modern American IDW Doctor Who reprint books, it feels out of place beside the British Panini Doctor Who Magazine reprints that you would have expected it to fit better with. In addition to this, while the creators of the strips are all credited at the front of the book there is no credit breakdown per episode. Since most episodes are preceded by an effectively blank page it would have taken little extra effort to credit the writers and artists at the beginning of each section that they worked on the in the same way that, for instance, Rebellion does in their Nikolai Dante reprint books.

The credits are not as straight forward as you would expect, with Paul Grist illustrating six of the ten parts while only writing four, Simon Furman providing the scripts for the others, while one of Ian Edgington's three stories is with SL Gallant rather than long time collaborator D'Israeli who does the other two. Wikipedia provides a better credit source than Titan do for the reprints in this book.

No doubt the photographic cover will have more people in shops picking the book up to browse through it than a comics cover would have, while the changing of artists throughout the book may prove to be a drawback for the non-comics fans. SL Gallant's art would be the most accessible while Paul Grist's and D'Israeli's more extreme styles may prove to be a turn off to the non-comics reader, yet for the comics reader the opposite will probably be true. Indeed the story is at is best when Paul Grist is both writing and illustrating and this book really should be considered a must-buy for Grist fans.

Overall, the book makes a welcome addition to the comics Whoniverse particularly for those who are not quite interested enough to pay the monthly magazine's cover price just for the comic strip.

Torchwood: They Are Coming Soon

It began on BBC3, transferred to BBC2 and now Doctor Who's adult spin-off, Torchwood is finally arriving on BBC1.

The third season of Torchwood, which will run over the course of five consecutive nights on the BBC's premier channel, is starting at 9pm on Monday 6 July. Starring the survivors of the second season, Ianto Jones played by Gareth David-Lloyd, Gwenn Cooper played by Eve Myles and of course Captain Jack Harkness played by the irrepressible and omnipresent John Barrowman, the ongoing story is entitled Children Of Earth which the BBC are quietly playing down as "Torchwood's greatest adrenalin-fuelled, high octane adventure yet".

Prior to the TV series returning BBC Radio 4 will be broadcasting a series of three 45 minute Torchwood radio dramas in their Afternoon Plays slot. All starting at 2.15pm, these are Asylum written by Anita Sullivan on Wednesday 1 July, Golden Age by James Goss on Thursday 2 July and finally The Dead Line by Phil Ford on Friday 3 July.

Since these will be on at awkward times for most Torchwood fans, they will be available for seven days after broadcast on the BBC iPlayer.

• More details of the Torchwood TV series and radio series are available on the BBC's Torchwood website

Torchwood Gets the Golden Touch

Here's a 'sneak peek' at the new Torchwood Magazine #16 Diamond Exclusive comic-artwork cover drawn by fan-favourite artist Michael Golden!

On sale from 25th June in the UK, this is a specially commissioned illustration by comic artist Michael Golden and ties in with Torchwood Magazine's "Rift War" comic strip storyline.

Golden has been wowing comic fans since the 1970s on such titles as Marvel’s Micronauts and The 'Nam, and he’s been contributing to Marvel and DC comics ever since. His most recent comics projects include covers for DC Comics' Nightwing, Superman: The Man of Steel, and Vigilante.

This Torchwood Magazine Diamond Exclusive comic-artwork cover is only available to buy through comic stores.

• Find your nearest comic store in the US: www.comicshoplocator.com (US)
• Find your nearset comic store outside the US: www.comicshoplocator.com/default.asp?LocType=g

For information on Torchwood Magazine visit:
• UK - http://titanmagazines.co.uk/torchwood
• US - http://titanmagazines.com/torchwood

• Torchwood Magazine Facebook Page

Tube Surfing: 25 February 2008

• Comics artist Doug Noble, whose past works include work for Marvel, Live Static and The Silent Choir and who was recently interviewed by fellow creator Sean Azzopardi, is about to launch a new longform strip called Complex. "Hopefully some of you will be interested in checking it out once it starts," he pitches. "It’s going to be fairly interesting, I hope. An end of the world story, a love story, a murder mystery." Check it out from Monday on www.strip-for-me.com
Doug is currently working with Daniel Merlin Goodbrey on the webcomic The Rule Of Death at serializer.net.

• Fans of Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be pleased to hear the Cartoon Network has announced a second season is in the works. Now showing on Cartoon Network UK, the series features in Titan Magazines' Star Wars Comic, available in all good newsagents. The latest issue sees the start of Shipyard of Doom, an epic Clone Wars action spectacular... As the Republic and Separatist forces race to build their armies, a desperate battle rages at the crossroads of the hyperspace lanes of Nexus Ortai. Our heroes, meanwhile, head beyond droid enemy lines…

• Happy Birthday to the Forbidden Planet International blog! The team there, headed up by Joe Gordon, celebrate four years of comics and genre news blogging, encompassing US and European comics as well as British coverage. "Growing out of our increasing online presence we wanted a way that we could discuss and highlight good comics, graphic novels, SF&F, cool merch - all the things we do through our stores and the webstore and our catalogues," Joe says of the blog's aims. "Mostly we wanted to be able to use it as a platform where we could share our love of comics and SF; we’ve posted news, reviews and interviews and some great comics art, we’ve talked to folks who make comics in their bedroom in their spare time and make up part of the vibrant small press and we’ve talked to some of the best known creators and all of them have been interesting, all of them a part of the medium we love." Never mind all that, where's the cake?

• Dynamite writers Leah Moore and John Reppion will be giving a talk on their latest project The Complete Dracula, a new five issue comic book version of Stoker’s novel illustrated by Colton Worley, at the prestigious Dublin Writers Museum on Saturday 18th April. The talk will begin at 3.00 pm. More details here

• As reported previously, Captain Jack Harkness actor John Barrowman has written a Torchwood comic strip with his sister Carole Barrowman - and she's been interviewed by the Newsarama.com guys about the story that appears in current issues of Torchwood Magazine.

• The Times features an interview with Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons this week. Dave reveals that he was not involved in any earlier attempts to turn the comic into a film but when it came to the eagerly-anticipated Zach Snyder film, it was the top British comics artist who approached him about making it. "I’d been invited along to the London premiere of 300," he tells Michael Moran, "which was based on the graphic novel by my friend Frank Miller. I thought it was a fantastic, a wonderful, true adaptation of Frank’s work. I think it had been announced then that Zach was in the frame to direct Watchmen, so I thought, I’ll have to go and shake him by the hand. I grabbed him on his way to the VIP enclosure at the premiere party and shook him by the hand and introduced myself. I just really wanted to say hello but we ended up talking for half an hour. I realised then that he did understand Watchmen. I got such a gut feeling that he could do it justice.” Read More...

• Talking of Watchmen, Bear Alley notes that the graphic novel has sold around 750,000 copies since it was first published in 1986. Following its appearance in Time magazine's Top 100 English Novels since 1923 and the release of the Watchmen movie trailer, it has been racking up sales at an astonishing rate these past few months and was the highest-selling graphic novel in the USA in 2008. "Brian Hibbs revealing recently that Bookscan figures put the 2008 US sales at 308,396 copies," notes Steve Holland, "and that's probably a low figure as Bookscan does not cover all outlets)." Read More...

(Compiled with thanks to Matthew Badham)

John Barrowman's Comic Strip Adventure

As we reported yesterday, Issue #14 of the official Torchwood Magazine goes on sale on Thursday and plays host to an all-new and exclusive Torchwood Comic strip adventure penned by Captain Jack himself - John Barrowman.

Written in collaboration with his sister, Carole E. Barrowman, this new story promises the same intrigue, adventure and chills that have become synonymous with the hit TV show.

The story, titled, 'Captain Jack and the Selkie', sees Captain Jack facing a deadly threat on a remote Scottish island, where people are disappearing one by one...

To his horror, Jack starts to suspect he may know who – or perhaps more specifically what – is responsible...

Here, John Barrowman discusses the strip in a special interview conducted by his sister, Carole...

CB: Ready to chat about our Torchwood Magazine comic?

JB: Wait. Shouldn’t we have some sound effects if we’re making this read like a scene from 24?

CB: Do you even know how to write sound effects? You’re the worst speller.

JB: I blame the Doctor for that, because when I was a kid I’d stay up late on Sunday nights when the classic Doctor Who was on WTTW in Chicago so I’d never study for my Monday morning spelling tests. Add the sound effects later.

CB: Do you remember when we first got the idea to collaborate on a Captain Jack story?

JB: The summer when we were working together on Anything Goes. We were on location for Torchwood in a warehouse in Cardiff. I was filming the “Meat” episode.

CB: Wasn’t that the same shoot where the pigeon pooped on Jack’s shoulder? Now that was hilarious.

JB: That was good luck... the shoot was taking forever. Lots of green screen shots. I think I started making up ways that Jack could end the scene and we could all get home. Now that I think about it, we came up with some funny stuff... I still think we should do something someday with the idea of Jack and the–

CB: Shush!!... Can we tease shamelessly like that?

JB [laughing] I think we just did. Anyway, I remember the endings we made up got more ridiculous the longer we all sat in that cold damp warehouse.. you and I kept playing on the way home in the car.

CB: I’d forgotten about that... do you remember what we called the game?

JB: “What Would Jack Do?”... but the actual comic didn’t really take shape until Comic Con last summer in San Diego when we met Tommy Lee Edwards and Trevor Goring.

CB: It was the ‘Face of Boe’ poster that did it.

JB: Yes, that poster they created, of Jack superimposed on the ‘Face of Boe’ still amazes me when I look at it. I framed it as soon as I got back to London. It’s on the wall in my office and I think it’s the best illustrated characterization of Jack that I’ve come across... until our comic is released that is.

CB: And you see a lot of images of Jack.

JB: Oh, yeah . . . so after Tommy, Trevor and I signed a batch of the posters, I asked them if they’d ever be interested in working with us on a graphic novel about Captain Jack.

CB: We had a graphic novel in our head because we had both recently read Neil Gaiman’s Marvel 1602. You’d bought it to send home with me for Turner [my son], but we each ended up reading it first.

JB: Was that the one where the X-Men face the Spanish Inquisition?

CB: Uh, huh... they’re in Elizabethan England. Very clever stuff.

JB: Trevor and Tommy thought a collaboration sounded like a great idea and on the way home from Comic Con I knew that if we didn’t pursue the idea of the four of us working together right away, we’d all get busy with our individual work and it would never happen.

CB: Torchwood Magazine didn’t necessarily have a comic in mind did they?

JB: I don’t think so... but given that we’d just hooked up with two of the best artists in the comic world, as far as I was concerned, it made sense to pitch a comic... and then later when you and I were brainstorming on a story, I remembered you’d written something before about the myth of the selkie, and I thought it’d be a perfect plot to adapt for what, in my head, I was already calling a “Captain Jack Tale.”

CB: Except that my story had nothing to do with Torchwood or Captain Jack.

JB: Not then it didn’t but we worked that out between us... I’d always wanted to do something that put Jack in Scotland and your original story was set on an island off the Orkneys. Plus, we’d already agreed to tell a story that showed a side of Jack and a part of his history that hadn’t been explored too much in other media... I wanted to give fans something original about Jack.

CB: What side of Jack do you think our comic foregrounds?

JB: I think we see Jack’s compassion... maybe his guilt. Plus his wicked skills with a harpoon!

CB: You’ve always been a comic fan, haven’t you?

JB: Oh, yeah. Love Spider-Man, Batman, and definitely Captain America... I think it has something to do with when we immigrated to the States in the late 1970s and I was trying hard to be an American kid. Couldn’t get enough of comics and Captain America... but I also love Superman – all the Justice League heroes for that matter.

CB: Do you remember the first mint condition comic you ever bought me when you could afford one?

SOUNDS OF SILENCE

CB: You haven’t got a clue, have you?

JB: A Tin Tin comic... plus a bunch of first edition ‘Noddy’ books.

CB: Nice save... so what do you think of ‘Captain Jack and The Selkie’ now that you’ve seen the finished product?

JB: I’m astonished. It’s brilliant work. The panels with the selkie are completely breathtaking . . . and Jack looks so damn good.

CB: When Tommy and Trevor sent the first coloured panels, I just stared at them in stunned admiration.

JB: Tommy Lee, Trevor, John Workman on the lettering, Martin Eden at Torchwood Magazine, everyone worked really hard, but Tommy Lee especially, given the tight deadlines and budget constraints.

CB: Are you game for another one?

JB: !bOng! !bOng! !bOng!

• Torchwood Magazine Issue #14 UK
On sale in the UK and Ireland 19th February
UK Official page: titanmagazines.co.uk/torchwood

• Torchwood Magazine Issue #14 US
On sale in the US 17th March
US Official Page: http://titanmagazines.com/torchwood

• Torchwood Magazine Facebook Page

Torchwood Strip on Watch Web Site!

Titan Magazines, publishers of Torchwood Magazine, have partnered up with UK digital channel Watch to offer an exclusive Torchwood strip on their web site, as part of their promotion for the screening of Torchwood Season Two.

The strip has been written by Brian Minchin, a Script Editor and Assistant Producer on Torchwood and drawn by Adrian Salmon, whose credits also include Doctor Who, Judge Dredd: The Megazine and many more. He also co-created Image Comics’ The Faceless graphic novel, starring Terry Sharp.

The strip is lettered by John Workman, one of comics’ most famous letterers, who has worked on comics by Walt Simonson, Grant Morrison and others.

In other Torchwood-related news, a quick reminder that Issue 14, on sale this week in the UK, will feature an original comic strip written by none other than Captain Jack himself, John Barrowman, and his sister, and regular collaborator, Carole E. Barrowman (see earlier news story).

The story, entitled Captain Jack and the Selkie, drawn by Tommy Lee Edwards and Trevor Goring, sees Captain Jack facing a deadly threat on a remote Scottish island, where people are disappearing one by one... To his horror, Jack starts to suspect he may know who – or perhaps more specifically what – is responsible...

"It looks beautiful," comic editor Martin Eden told downthetubes, also revealing special promotional posters for the issue will soon be displayed in Forbidden Planet stores.

• Torchwod Magazine Web Site (UK Site)
• Torchwood Magazine Facebook Site
• More about Torchwood Series 2 on Watch

John Barrowman collaborates on new Torchwood strip

Titan Magazines has confirmed that Doctor Who and Torchwood actor John "Captain Jack" Barrowman will be co-writing an episode of an upcoming Torchwood Magazine comic strip.

Issue 14 of the Magazine, on sale 19 February in the UK, will feature an original Torchwood comic strip, written by John and his sister and regular collaborator, Carole E. Barrowman.

The story, called Captain Jack and the Selkie, sees Captain Jack facing a deadly threat on a remote Scottish island, where people are disappearing one by one... To his horror, Jack starts to suspect he may know who – or perhaps more specifically what – is responsible...

Selkie is the Orkney dialect word for "seal" and with so many seals in the waters around this and other Scottish islands, it's not hard to see how the legends surrounding the selkie-folk - the seal people - sprang into life. (More about Selkie Folk myth here)

Artwork for the comic strip is provided by Tommy Lee Edwards, the acclaimed artist behind several stunning comic projects including Marvel’s current smash hit 1985, the acclaimed Bullet Points, DC’s The Question and several more, and Birmingham-born artist Trevor Goring, whose work includes Dead Like Me and Star Trek and who has worked as a storyboard artist on films such as Independence Day, Fantastic Four and Twilight.

“I’m so excited to be working on this story," says strip editor Martin Eden, speaking on the Torchwood Facebook page. "John and Carole are an absolute pleasure to work with. And Tommy Lee Edwards is one of my favourite artists.

"I’ve seen the thumbnails that Tommy and Trevor have worked on – and, believe me, the readers are in for a treat!”

• Torchwood Magazine Issue #14 will be on sale in the UK and Ireland on 19th February, and in the US and Canada on 17th March. • Facebook members can read on more on the Torchwood Magazine Facebook Page
• TorchWood Magazine UK Official Site • TorchWood Magazine US Official Site

Torchwood Sigining News

Gareth David-Lloyd, best known to a legion of Who-iniverse fans for his portrayal of the super-efficient Ianto Jones in Torchwood, will be making not one but two personal appearances on Saturday 28th of June. The first will be at Nostalgia & Comics store in Birmingham from 11.00am to 1.00pm, followed later in the day with a highly appropriate visit to Torchwood’s home turf in Cardiff from 4.00pm to 6.00pm.

Torchwood - drawn by Paul Grist

Torchwood Magazine Issue 5 is on sale in the UK and Ireland today. If you're in the US, you'll have to wait just that little bit longer - the mag will be available from June 10.

Check out the magazine's Facebook group page for exclusive teaser imagery from the new issue's comic strip "Rift War." I have to agree with comic artist Mike Collins, who I was talking to yesterday -- comics editor Steve White has pulled off a masterstroke getting the brilliant Paul (Jack Staff, Kane) Grist to draw on the Torchwood strip, which this issue is written by Simon Furman.

"Rift War”, which began in Issue 3, is This issue Torchwood’s first big comic story arc, a ten-part epic (broken up into smaller, self-contained stories amidst the main thrust) that sees the team face an alien race led by the dread Sanctified, who have declared all-out war on humankind. Why?

"Because Torchwood, apparently, are to blame for a catastrophic future event, centered around the time and space spanning Rift, " explains Simon via his blog, "one that wipes out an entire civilization. Can it be? Check out “Rift War” for the answers over the coming months. Superlative colour on the strip is by Kris Carter.

• More about Torchwood Magazine on titanmagazines.co.uk

Torchwood Toys go Underground

BBC Worldwide has chosen Underground Toys as the North American and UK licensee for Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, with several product lines planned, including mugs, key chains, plastic replica items, laying cards and resin busts. Expect products to start shipping this summer (2008).

In the US, Underground will also oversee distribution of action figures and Minimates, where it already distributes various Doctor Who product lines produced by Character Options.

We just have to wonder - will the action figures have removeable clothes?

Woo Who! Another Hugo?

Can we drag you away from last night's interminably cute Adipose (and how much do you want to bet that a few of them missed getting picked up by the mother ship and will turn up on Sarah Jane Adventures?) and return to some considerably more scary Doctor Who creatures?

The 2008 Hugo award nominations have been announced and Russell T Davies' new Who empire has taken three of the five nominations for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. Torchwood has one nomination with Captain Jack Harkness while Doctor Who has two with the Human Nature/Family Of Blood two parter and, what must be the bookie's favourite for the award, Blink. The Star Trek New Voyages/Phase II episode World Enough and Time, and the Battlestar Galactica telemovie Razor complete the Short Form nominations.

As for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form the nominations are Enchanted, The Golden Compass, Stardust, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, and the entire first season of Heroes.

The awards will be presented on 9 August 2008 at Denvention 3, the 66th World Science Fiction Convention, being held in Denver, USA.

Torchwood from Titan - Williamson's New Strip

The latest issue of Torchwood from Titan Magazines went on sale in the UK today, featuring a new comic strip, Jetsam, written and drawn by Brian Williamson, whose numerous credits include newspaper illustration for DC Comics, The Sunday Times and work for Marvel UK back in the 1990s - I worked with him on the four issue mini, Shadow Riders, which was eventually drawn by Ross Dearsley but Brian worked up many design ideas for the comic at the time.

The strip is published in colour in the magazine, which also includes interviews with interviews with Burn Gorman (Owen Harper), Richard Briers and lead writer Chris Chibnall, but featured here are two pages of Brian's black and white art for the story. (Click the images for larger sized versions)

"Originally, I was going to colour these pages," Brian told downthetubes, "hence the shading on the faces, but due to some deadline misunderstanding somewhere along the line, there wasn’t time.

"Coincidently," add Brian. "I’m still in the Whoniverse as I’m painting a Fifth Doctor picture picture for an audio book revue in Doctor Who Magazine Issue 394 [on sale in April]. Still no Daleks though!"

Torchwood Magazine on YouTube, Facebook

Titan Publishing's Torchwood: The Official Magazine launched last week in the UK (and is already proving hard to find), which also includes 10 pages of original Torchwood comic strip fiction in each issue. The first issue is published in the US on 19 February.

Now, Titan have a preview of some of the strip on a Torchwood: The Official Magazine YouTube special.

Torchwood: The Official Magazine includes the latest news from the Torchwood set in Cardiff, exclusive cast and crew interviews, behind-the-scenes features on the show’s special effects and 10 pages of original Torchwood comic strip fiction.

The launch issue includes interviews with Torchwood lead John Barrowman, and guest star James Marsters (Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), plus, exclusive photography and concept artwork of the Hub.

• For more information join the Torchwood: The Official Magazine Facebook group: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7819203670