Talbot joins 'Space Nite' fund raising artists to help Bill Mantlo

A special fund-raiser show in aid of US comics writer Bill Mantlo includes this piece of art featuring 1980s fav ROM Spaceknight by Bryan Talbot along with more pieces from artists such as Mike Allred, Matt Timson, Jeffrey Brown, Michael DeForge, Tan Eng Huat, Ben Marra,  Luke Ramsey, Jon Schnepp and dozens more.

Bill, who wrote every issue of Marvel Comics toy-inspired title Rom, was the victim of a hit and run accident 15 years ago, spent several months in a coma. He's now paralysed and lives in a care home. The show and collection of art (to be published in 2011) will help his family pay the costs of his care.

The original artwork and one-off prints of each illo will also be auctioned on ebay.

This new show, which will be on display at Floating World Comics in Portland, Oregon next month, features work by artists and illustrators both inside and outside of the comics  industry which has led to a variety of styles and interpretations of  an iconic cult character.

Donations to the SPACENITE – BILL MANTLO FUND go directly to Bill’s brother and caregiver, Mike Mantlo. You can donate direct via a link in this blog post

• ROM Space Nite benefit art show for Bill Mantlo, Thursday 2nd December 6-10pm, Floating World Comics,  20 NW 5th Ave #101, Portland, OR 97209. Tel: 001 503 241 0227. Artwork on display until 2nd January 2011.

• View artwork from the exhibit here: http://romspacenite.blogspot.com/


• The 2007 show: http://www.floatingworldcomics.com/main/2007/11/13/spacenight-a-tribute-to-bill-mantlo-dec-6th/

Ultimate Harryhausen - Master of the Majicks

Master of the Majicks is a three volume illustrated history of the career of Oscar winning, stop-motion special effects master Ray Harryhausen, written by British journalist Mike Harkin and published by Archive Editions in the USA. The first book of the set to be published was Volume 2 - The American Films and this has now been followed by Volume 3 - The British Films which is now ready for release. Volume 1, ironically the last of the set to be published, is due in spring /summer 2011.

Master of the Majicks Volume 3 covers the films that Ray Harryhausen created whilst living in the United Kingdom, running chronologically from The 3 Worlds Of Gulliver in 1960 to Clash Of The Titans in 1981. It therefore includes Jason And The Argonauts with its outdoor skeleton fight, considered by many to be the greatest stop motion set piece ever filmed. With a foreword by The Golden Voyage of Sinbad's Caroline Munro and a preface by Hellboy's Guillermo del Toro, the A4 size hardback runs to a remarkable 640 pages and includes over 3600 colour and black & white photos and other illustrations.

The book's author Mike Harkin recently presented a preview copy to the now 90 year old Harryhausen in his London home and said of the meeting, "Ray met me at the door of his home and soon I was unwrapping his copy of the book. For the next two hours his eyes hardly left the book as he studied every page. Only a few pages were turned before his first exclamation: 'Oh my God - 3D pictures!' as he reached for the 3D glasses on his side table. It seemed that with each page he said, 'Where did you get those pictures? I have never seen them before!' Ray had only reached the chapter on Mysterious Island before he leaned back and said, 'I have never seen such a spectacular book. The layouts are beautiful, and the pictures leap out at you. You have done me a great honour by putting this book together.' At one stage Ray had tears in his eyes, he was so thrilled with it.

"The two and half hours I was with Ray just flew past, but it was getting late. I thought he was going to crush my hand as he held it tightly and said, 'This is a book to treasure. I can't imagine anyone who loves our films not wanting to buy this book. Thank you so much!'"

With such a sumptuous, low print-run, book there is always the drawback of cost. Volume 3 costs $84.95 plus postage from the USA, however copies are available from London's Cinema Store which has a excellent history of promoting Ray Harryhausen books in the UK. If $85 seems a lot for a single book then consider that copies of the sold out Volume 2 are currently being offered on US Amazon Marketplace for over $1200 each.

There are more details of Master of the Majicks Volume 3 on the Archive Editions website including sample pages and a slide show of some of the photos from the book.

There is more on the career of Ray Harryhausen on his official website.

There is an article about the British Clash Of The Titans comic strips on Bear Alley.

CLiNT Issue 1 Goes to Reprint with comic-style cover

The first issue of Mark Millar's brand new comic anthology, CLiNT, has sold out - and will now have a second printing with a spanking comics-styled cover featuring Kick-Ass.

With its third issue now on sale in UK newsagents and comic shop, the 100-page monthly magazine published by Titan features brand new comics alongside news, features and interviews, with a mix of celebrity contributors and hot new talent.
CLiNT #1, which launched early September, boasts the first-look at Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s Kick-Ass 2, and Titan say it has flown off shelves. This first hit issue also included the start of Nemesis, by Millar and Steve McNiven, and sees two of the UK’s most outspoken TV personalities present their comic debuts.

Turf, by Jonathan Ross and acclaimed artist Tommy Lee Edwards, mixes vampires, aliens and gangsters in a slick period thriller. Rex Royd, by comedian Frankie Boyle, introduces “The Renaissance Man of Madness” in a supervillain strip.

Comics retailers will be able to order copies of the second printing of CLiNT #1 with its new Kick-Ass cover from this weeks Previews Plus and December’s Diamond PREVIEWS.  For more information visit www.previewsworld.com.

CLiNT issue 6, which includes the latest installment of Kick-Ass 2 is also listed in December’s Diamond Previews.

• For more information on CLiNT, visit: www.CLiNTmag.com


• CLiNT #1 trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCRL5PLM7Yo


• Connect with CLiNT on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CLiNTmag
or Facebook: www.facebook.com/CLiNTmag

Panel Borders: Spandex!

Continuing British comics radio show and podcast Panel Borders' month of shows looking at unusual depictions of superheroes, in an interview recorded at the Thought Bubble festival in Leeds, Alex Fitch talks to writer/artist Martin Eden about his small press comics The O Men and Spandex, the latter featuring the world’s only all gay superhero team.

Alex and Martin talk about distribution of small press comics, his experiences with the media’s interest in his new comic when it launched last year and representations of gay characters in sequential art.

This show was recorded live at Thought Bubble, Leeds and the show airs at 5.00pm, Thursday 25/11/10, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast  after transmission.


• More about Spandex at http://spandexcomic.wordpress.com

• Cool review of Spandex 3 by Paul Rainey: http://comicsontheration.blogspot.com/2010/11/review-spandex-3.html