Thomas Wogan Is Re-Published

Any comic creator out there who wonders if it's worth self-publishing will be pleased to hear that sometimes all those hours slaving away at the photocopier, then stapling comics together until you're sick of the sound of the 'ker-chunk' as you put another copy together, can pay off.

We present as evidence David Hughes Thomas Wogan is Dead, which we reviewed back in January. Publishers Tabella picked up reprint rights to the quirky tale set in Morecambe (and the hereafter - although is there a difference?), and a spiffing new edition of the tale goes on sale at the Birmingham International Comic Show this weekend.

We're pleased to report that the downthetubes review had a small part in the process, and wish both David and Tabella the best of luck with the new edition.

"There are some differences to the original version, the most noticeable of which, I feel, is the addition of a commercial font," says Dave. "I gave this some serious thought after Tabella suggested looking at the lettering. I think I'll keep my own lettering for some projects and use fonts for others, they're certainly not as emotive, but they offer a regularity and overall look which lends itself well to certain projects. I definitely think they work here."

• Thomas Wogan is Dead is available from Tabella Publishing for £5.99: more details here.

Tube Surfing: Davison Who Art, Time Bombs and Herbbs!

• As part of the A Thing About Machines electronic Arts Festival, dedicated to the innovative composer Delia Derbyshire who composed the Doctor Who theme, The Tin Angel in Coventry screened films by local filmakers, including the premiere of comic creator Al Davison's new film Trinity. Meanwhile, Al's Doctor Who exhibition is on till 3rd October at Coventry's Lock Gallery, featuring art from his IDW Doctor Who comic.

• A new 28-page chapter of the time travel graphic novel The Fat Man by Thomas Cochrane has gone live this weekend over at www.the-fat-man.co.uk.

• Fans of Rodrigo D. Ricci's Ligeia the Vampire, which also features on British mobile comics site ROK Comics, can download the Ligeia the Vampire's official wallpapers, this time starring Edgar the Cat from the strip's official web site here.

• Along with hundreds of other creators, the makers of magical mystery strip Harker will have a stall at the Birmingham International Comics Show this coming weekend. "We'll have copies of every issue so far (including issue eight, hot off the presses)," says writer Roger Gibson, "and we'll also be launching Harker: The Book Of Solomon - our first 122 page graphic novel, collecting issues 1-6." Issue 8, available to order on the Harker online website from Tuesday, here on the comic's official web site, will also be available in a number of comic shops, all listed here.

• Talking of BICS, Time Bomb Comics tells us they'll be there, marking the occasion with the release of the dark, apocalyptic 100-page original graphic novel The Furies, written by Steve Tanner with artwork by Andrew Dodd, the first graphic novel to be released from the two year old company.

Time Bomb Comics will also have previews available of a few of their forthcoming projects including Bomb Scares, an anthology that promises disturbing horror stories in a twisted vein, featuring work from brand new talent such as Katja Lindblom and Rachele Aragno to established creators Gary Crutchley and Shane Oakley; and London Calling described as an "Ealing Studios meets Hammer Horror in a uniquely British one-shot featuring art by well-known Commando artist Keith Page.

• Writer Stephen Paul Coffey reports The children's book Rosemary Herbb and the Zodiac Ghosts is now for sale on Amazon.com. This book tells the very first tale of Rosemary Herbb, an 11 year old girl who is able to see ghosts. "The book is perfect for readers for all ages and a great gift to children," says Stephen.

Striker Heads Into the Net

Long-running soccer strip Striker recently came to an end in The Sun - catching many fans by surprize, even though creator Pete Nash had been saying for some time he planned to end the saga. But, after 24 years of publication, both in The Sun and as a self-published nationally-distributed comic, Pete still hopes the series will enjoy new life in new forms - including the online publication of the first ever adventure on myebook.

When Striker came to a conclusion earlier this month, Pete, tells downthetubes he had a holiday, a little relived at no longer being beholden to the deadlines the strip imposed on his life. But on his return he was gobsmacked to find his inbox full of emails from anxious fans, wondering what had happened to their favourite football comic, as The Sun itself had given no indication it was coming to an end!

"I received hundreds of them and they're still arriving," says Pete, "so I hope fans will forgive me for not replying to each one personally." Instead he is posting news about the strip's post-Sun developments on www.striker3d.net, which has long been its official internet home. This includes hopes Pete's long-held dream that the Striker saga will become a blockbuster movie or TV series as well as releasing the entire archive into a volume of books available in print.

"I have been warmed by so many kind comments and somewhat surprised by the strength of feelings expressed," Pete told fans via the StrikerWorld forum (registration required), also revealing the ending of Striker was rather more rushed than he would have liked because The Sun decided to stop the Saturday pages in August, so he had to reduce the final episode he had written by five or six strips. "I left the story with an open ending to allow for the possibility of an eventual relaunch (Romeo and Todd would provide excellent scenarios) but The Sun clearly want to pursue their own ideas. Having said that, one would have thought they could have come up with a better replacement for Striker than web virals."

Explaining the strip's completion, he told fans, "Last year, I gave notice to The Sun that I felt the time was approaching to end Striker as it was becoming increasingly difficult to create fresh storylines for the characters and I did not want to run the risk of it becoming stale.

"There was always the possibility of re-launching it in the future and to this end I offered to create a replacement strip for The Sun or to rerun earlier adventures showing how Warbury Warriors were formed when Nick and Eric first got together. Sadly, The Sun did not wish to discuss this possibility.

"I ended the strip with a scenario that both wrapped up the storyline and left it open to the possibility of being restarted at a later date. I had no idea The Sun would leave their readers in the dark by failing to announce the strip was ending."

This, of course, is not the first time The Sun has decided to leave fans in the dark about the strip's future. Back in 2003, when Pete decided to launch his own weekly Striker comic, The Sun gave readers every impression the strip was over for good, even featuring the Warbury Warriors team being killed in a plane crash in its replacement strip, The Premier.

Behind the scenes, as the Press Gazette reported, the paper also accepted £85,000 for a series of adverts to mark the end of the comic strip appearing in The Sun and to tell readers it was launching as a comic in its own right - then refused to run them. The paper also touted replacement strip The Premier in a news item, only mentioning the new Striker comic toward the end, declaring it would be "The most exciting and innovative strip to be launched in a British newspaper for decades". (It wasn't).

Despite this - and the unfortunate demise of Pete's Striker comic after 87 impressive issues, which even offered shares to readers to try to keep going, with huge success (but not enough to save it) - eventually Striker returned to The Sun, ousting The Premier, reaching a finale this month, much to the dismay of many fans of the strip, which has been created in digital form using Maya software for over 10 years. But even though the strip has ended its daily newspaper appearances, Pete still has plans for its future now he is back in full control, owning all rights to the saga.

"For a long time now I have wanted to publish the entire Striker archive as a series of books and develop it into a movie or TV series," he says. "I now have the time to explore those possibilities."

• Striker fans wanting to keep up to date on Striker developments should visit www.striker3d.net where you can also read some of the earlier Striker adventures free online.

In Review: Salem Brownstone - All Along the Watchtowers

The Plot: A sumptuous and rich gothic fantasy following the adventure of Salem Brownstone as he falls into a strange and magical world after the death of his father.

As he twists the key and slowly creeps into the grand gothic mansion left to him in his father’s will, Salem’s life takes a decidedly unusual turn. Aside from the money and house, his father’s secret legacy includes an unfinished battle with creatures from a world beyond ours. Immediately thrown into the sinister conflict, Salem must make contact with his guardian familiar and get help from the colourful performers of Dr Kinoshita’s Circus of Unearthly Delights, if he is to ward off the evil spirits and avoid the tragic fate of his father...

The Review: While the plot of what I assume may just be the first Salem Brownstone novel - a story first serialised in the award-wiining anthology Sturgeon White Moss - may read like your 'standard' children's novel, the story's visuals make it so much more. There may be echoes, too, of plots from Marvel's Doctor Strange or DC Comics Doctor Fate, but for all both sagas strengths, I'm at a loss to think of one which has such a unique, quirky and, indeed, sinister interpretation like that given Salem Brownstone by artist Nikhil Singh.

From the opening gambit of a son coming home to find their parent isn't what he thought and having to follow in their footsteps, Dunning and Singh weave a macabre tale full of surrealist imagery, combining the the rich history of Lovecraft-inspired demons just itching to break into our world and wreak havoc with odd, unsettling characters in our own dimension, whose motives remain unclear. Not only do Dunning and Singh offer a bizarre tale of good versus evil: without being vital to enjoying All Along the Watchtowers, they lay the seeds, I assume, for a far bigger tale, with mystery a-plenty about Salem's father, his friends - and even his enemies, one of whom plays a vital part in the resolution to this demonic invasion.

Acclaimed by the likes of Alan Moore and Paul Gravett, there's some decidedly unsettling imagery within the covers of this beautifully produced, 'velvet'-covered hardback edition aimed at the 12+ audience - not least of them being the point at which a dupe of the otherworldy demons/gods accepts their offer of great power and has to swallow a flying insect to do so. There is action aplenty, too, as Salem and new found friend, Cassandra, battle to save the world - all rendered with the kind of vision that will surely have tremendous 'Gath' appeal and beyond.

There are some wonderful cameo moments, too, as equally bizarre characters comment on the 'weirdness' of Salem Brownstone's new home and lifestyle, oblivious to their own repugnance. These kind of scenes are so often missing from mainstream fantasy comics, but for my money, must take inspiration from the hapless neighbours of witch Sammantha in 1060s TV series Bewitched, for example, but twist them into something both beguiling and bizarre.

This is a terrific, odd, but haunting first novel from Dunning and Singh, perhaps made memorable more for the art than plotline: but it is Dunning's rich world of human versus demon that gives Singh's art life, and the partnership is evident on every page.

• Salem Brownstone is on sale in the UK from 5th October 2009. The US launch is July 2010

• John Harris Dunning and Nikhil Singh will be in conversation during ComICA in London at the ICA on 24th October, 7.00pm, Nash Room. More details here

More Reviews...

"A wonderfully imaginative and stylish piece of work and a perfect example of the adventurous new directions that comic books should be taking in the future." (Comic creator Alan Moore)


"Our new century demands a new charismatic comic-book magician to weave his spells on us. Updating classic conjurors like Mandrake and Doctor Strange with a twist of Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley, John Dunning and Nikhil Singh have crafted a haunting, hypnotising master of the mystic arts in Salem Brownstone. Their sharp, surprising storytelling and intense, imaginative illustration combine to create real magic on the page." (Comic editor and commentator Paul Gravett)


"Salem Brownstone is a graphic novel that is both original and compelling. There's a seamless relationship between the images and the text, and the characters linger in the mind." (Director Anthony Minghella)

Web Links

• Nikhil Singh: Official Website

Nikhil is an artist, writer and musician. He lives a reclusive life, but works prodigiously. He has released two albums, formed a theatre group, written the soundtrack to two Canne Film Festival films, done stage design and murals for Miss Kitten, serialised Salem Brownstone with Sturgeon White Moss and staged two solo and several joint exhibitions of his artwork. His mutant alter ego is also the front man for the pop punk outfit, The Wild Eyes...

• John Harris Dunning on Facebook

South African-born John has written for newspapers such as The Guardian and Metro and contributed to magazines that include Esquire, Arena and more. Salem Brownstone is his first graphic novel.

• Salem Brownstone on Facebook

• Sadly, the web site for the wonderful anthology, Sturgeon White Moss, which spawned Salem Brownstone, seems to have been hijacked. If anyone has information or links, feel free to let us know...