Tripwire spotlights Slaine, Blueberry and X-Men in latest free digital edition

The July 2011 digital issue of ace comics and other media magazine Tripwire features a host of goodies - and you can download it free from the official web site (www.tripwire-magazine.com).

The  Eagle Award-nominated and acclaimed magazine launched a digital version earlier this year -  a bi-monthly version of its popular Annual print publication. Described by Michael Moorcock as "the best mag of its kind that I've seen", editor Joel Meadows tells us readers can expect to see online the same depth of features and quality packaging as in the print version only in a slimmer, slicker format available for free download on the magazine's blog site

“With the exciting opportunities that the various digital platforms now offer both readers and publishers, we felt that it was the perfect time to launch,” he says.

“The bi-monthly schedule allows us to be a regular presence out there, offering us a greater range of content for readers and taking nearly twenty years of expertise to a wider audience. 2011 is going to be the year of Tripwire,” Meadows continued.

This latest issue includes a look at the publication of Rebellion’s classic Slaine: The Horned God in hardcover with its creators Pat Mills and Simon Bisley; an examination of Moebius’s seminal western series Blueberry and why it deserves to be back in print in the English language; a background feature on the genesis of bringing X-Men First Class to the big screen plus a chat with screen writers Miller and Stentz; and its Stripwire section includes a preview of BOOM Studios Elric by Chris Roberson and Italain artist Francesco Biagnini, the creator of Dingo.

As ever, it's a beautifully designed magazine and well worth the download. Check it out.

• Download Tripwire from www.tripwire-magazine.com

Art You Grew Up With offers limited edition X-Men prints

British art store Art You Grew Up With is offering some limited edition X-Men prints for sale, to tie in with the launch of X-Men: First Class in UK cinemas.

The selection of limited editions on paper and canvas by some of the hottest talent in illustration and comics today includes 'Visionaries', right, along with other images by Jim Lee, plus an 'Astonishing X-Men' piece by Simone Bianchi, and more.

Beautifully printed, they're superb editions and comic representations although they don't come cheap - the signed 'Visionaries' print will set you back £565 unframed and £655 framed. (Other items aren't as pricey, though).

Art You Grew Up With, which sells a wide range of art featuring children's favourites ranging from 2000AD and The Beano to Paddington Bear and was recently featured in the Express, is also offering Father's Day gifts of Harold's Planet cartoons and Simpsons art. Its prints are sold in a variety of stores across the UK as well as online.

They will also try to track down art for individual prints. “If you want the original art used in the 1970s Spider-Man cartoon, we will find it,” owner  Russell Singler told the Express. “Then again it will be no problem if you suddenly recall a limited edition that you first saw on a trip to Disney World in the 1990s.”

• Art You Grew Up With is based at Catalyst House, Centennial Park, Elstree Village Herts WD6 3SY. Tel: 0800 098 8743 (International: +0044 208 736 5868). Web: www.artyougrewupwith.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/ArtYouGrewUpWith

X-Men First Class arrives in UK Cinemas

X-Men First Class, which was mostly shot in the UK, arrives in cinemas here next week (1st June) and here's a trailer for the film, courtesy of the distributors.

Set in the 1960s and focusing on the relationship between Professor X and Magneto and the origin of their groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants, the film stars James McAvoy as Professor X and Michael Fassbender as Magneto. Other cast members include Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, Zoë Kravitz, and Lucas Till.

The film is directed by Matthew Vaughn (who also directed the film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Stardust in 2007) and the screenplay's writer credits include Jane Goldman, who is partner to comics writer and TV presenter Jonathan Ross.

Other British connections for the film include its official single, 'Love Love', by Take That, released via Polydor Records. (Stardust which featured Take That’s massive hit 'Rule The World', one of the biggest-selling singles of the year).

Twentieth Century Fox envision this film as the first in a new trilogy to reboot X-Men on the big screen.