Tube Surfing: Drinking, Drawing... and other stuff too!

• If you're in the area this Sunday, you could do worse than pop along to Manchester Comic Collective's (MCC) monthly Drink 'n' Draw. It kicks off at 4pm and is usually lots of fun (although I haven't made it down for a fair few months). From the MCC blog:

'[It's a] casual get together of people who like to draw and also drink. Anyone is welcome... Free entry, materials and snacks provided and 10% off at the bar.'

(This monthly event is usually held at Sandbar, but you better check their official site in case the venue has changed.)




The Shoot from Tony Lee on Vimeo


• The Shoot, a short film written by comics writer Tony Lee (Doctor Who, 2000AD, The Gloom), is now online. He'd like feedback, so go watch it and then... well, feed back...

• Indie comics news site  Bugpowder has just done a handy little round-up of activity on the Irish comics scene. Worth a look...

• Can someone please give Dan McDaid the cash to realise this 'Sherlock Holmes meets the Doctor' commision as a full strip?

• And finally, the Blank Slate Books website appears to have had a makeover. (Or maybe I didn't notice and it all happened ages ago.)

Working 9 to 5 - Superheroes for hire is Markosia's latest adventure

British publisher Markosia's new comic Hero 9-5, written by Ian Sharman with art from David Gray focuses on a world where being a super hero is just another job.

A world where only the rich can afford the comprehensive hero protection policies that ensure that the best heroes will come to their aid in an emergency. The poor, however, have to make-do with protection from government sponsored agencies with limited resources whose staff are…shall we say… a little less heroic.

Jacob Reilly, aka Flame-O, is just one such hero, an everyday guy who just happens to be able to shoot flames from his hands. He didn’t want to be a super hero, he wanted to be a musician, but he wasn’t good enough to make a living at it. So he ended up getting a job at “Heroes For Zeros,” a government sponsored hero agency. So, Jacob clocks on, works nine to five (unless he’s short on cash and does overtime or, worse, a night shift) and fights z-list villains for a pathetic pay cheque.

Despite being a super hero, Jacob has all the problems of regular folk – an irritating boss, bills to pay, professional jealousy, and also certain problems that are unique to his profession…like the fact that his girlfriend is also his alter-ego’s nemesis, Frostica (and she’s insanely jealous of his teenaged sidekick, Pink Girl).

Written by Ian Sharman (Alpha Gods, Eleventh Hour) with art by David Gray and colours by Yel Zamor, Hero 9-5 offers a fresh, funny take on the idea of real world super heroes.

Ian is perhaps best known as Managing Editor of Orang Utan Comics, and the writer of Alpha Gods and has been working professionally in comics for several years now. His professional inking credits include the Contraband OGN from Slave Labour; work on the Eagle Award nominated antholgy Eleventh Hour from Orang Utan Comics Studio and AAM/Markosia; and work on Marvel's UK comics, Spectacular Spider-Man and Marvel Heroes, published by Panini.

• Available in the UK via specialist comic shops, you can find it in Diamond's August Previews catalogue under publisher AAM/Markosia, where the Diamond order code is - AUG10 0726

• A 20-page preview of Hero 9-5 is available for viewing on MyEBook

• Hero 9-5 - YouTube Promotion

• Markosia Official Site: www.markosia.com  

• All of Markosia's publications are or will be available from their Markosia Store. You can purchase everything that the company has released, including special editions, signed copies, variants, and merchandise.

Burke and Hare first editions on sale from creators

With the news that Insomnia Publications, the company behind graphic novel Burke & Hare, has ceased trading, its creators Martin Conaghan and Will Pickering can now offer out copies for sale of the first edition of the book.

"Will and I are in the process of negotiating a deal with a new publisher," says Martin, "which will necessitate a new cover and some amendments/additions to the book in the second edition. This means the first edition will never be seen in print again in its current form.

Fortunately, I have around 300 copies that were sent to me by the Insomnia distributor when the company landed in financial trouble."

Burke & Hare delves into the  12-month period from 1827-1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland, when two Irishmen by the names of William Burke and William Hare murdered 16 people and disposed of their bodies to the eminent dissectionist Dr Robert Knox.

Delve into the murky, misquoted history of Scotland's most notorious serial killers with a research-based graphic novel that unravels a ghoulish story of medicine, murder and money.

The price of the book is £10+£2 P&P. if you live in the UK. If you're outside of the UK, contact Martin via sales@burkeandharecomic.co.uk and he will give you a price on postage.

• If you want a copy, you can send Martin the money via PayPal to sales@burkeandharecomic.co.uk and he will get it sent out to you as soon as possible.

• Read David Hailwood's review of Burke and Hare

Bellamy's "Happy Warrior" Reprinted

(with thanks to Dave Wilson and Norman Boyd): Some web trawling by Eagle comic fans has thrown up the find of new collection of Frank Bellamy's world-famous strip Winston Churchill: The Happy Warrior.

The collection is only available from the US Publisher Levenger Press' web site and is not cheap at $39 a copy, but the new edition was welcomed by Churchill's great grandson, Jack, one of the team working on winstonchurchillshop.com

The edition - available in hardcover, which we believe was published sometime last year - collects all 50 weekly installments of The Happy Warrior as they appeared between 4th October 1957 and 6th September 1958, along with commentary by Richard Langworth, the Churchill Centre historian, offering added background and context.

"The Happy Warrior is history," says Jack Churchill of the book, "but hopefully reading about the adventures that Winston Churchill got up to in his 90 years will inspire others to experience their own exciting stories and write about them.

Drawn by Frank Bellamy, The Happy Warrior told Churchill's life story when the wartime Prime Minister was still alive and is regarded by many as the strip which established Bellamy's name as an artist of note. "His thorough research of actual military ephemera and the beginnings of his attempts to improve the dynamic composition of the page layouts are clearly in evidence throughout the story," notes Bellamy fan Chris Bishop.

The Happy Warrior has reprinted before, first by Eagle publishers Hulton Press themselves in 1958 and by Dragon's Dream in 1981. It has also been published in Dutch. Full details here on the Frank Bellamy checklist site)

Established in 1987 by Steve and Lori Granger Leveen and based in Florida, Levenger, which describes itself as the publisher of "uncommon titles", has retail outlets in Boca Raton, Boston, Chicago and the Washington, D.C as well as offering its catalogue online.

• More about Winston Churchill - The Happy Warrior on the Levenger web site

• Levenger Press Home Page