Action comic strip Hookjaw to return in Strip Magazine

PJ Holden's cover for Strip Magazine #1

Hookjaw, a Jaws-inspired strip that first appeared in the controversial 1970s British weekly comic Action, will feature in the new Strip Magazine, which will launch in early 2011.

Lancaster-based Print Media Productions has agreed a deal with UK publisher Egmont to feature Hookjaw in the Magazine, re-publishing the strip in colour – and also has an option to publish Dredger, the hard-nosed secret agent who also featured in Action.

Probably the best-remembered and certainly most popular strip in the comic, HookJaw, inspired by the classic blockbuster movie Jaws, was created by Pat Mills, scripted by Ken Armstrong and drawn initially by Ramon Sola, followed by Felix Carrion and Eric Bradbury. Consistently topping reader polls, it was Mills who decided to make the shark the star of the strip which tackled environmental issues and corporate greed with equal relish.

The strip also caused controversy on publication, one of the stories that rapidly saw Action become a target of campaigners outraged by its violent content -- and its social commentary. The controversy Action created saw the comic 'banned' after just 37 issues, returning to the news stands only after its characters had been toned down and effectively emasculated by management demands on the editorial team.

The entire controversy was documented in Martin Barker's book, Action - The Story of a Violent Comic, published in 1990 by Titan Books.

In all, three Hookjaw stories featured in Action before the ban.

"Pat Mills gave the strip an environmental edge," notes Strip Magazine editor John Freeman. "This was a shark that never balked at eating corrupt humans or criminals out to make money from our oceans - along with anyone else unlucky enough to get near him.

"Hookjaw was just one of the strips that provoked the public campaign against Action, but its success also paved the way for comics like 2000AD and it's interesting to read the strip in that context today.

The first page of  Hookjaw as it will appear in Strip Magazine, coloured by Gary Caldwell and re-lettered by Jim Campbell

"We're sure there are plenty of the shark's original fans out there eager to catch up with the beast – and younger readers will be interested to see what all the fuss was about."

The strips have been coloured by Gary Caldwell and re-lettered by Jim Campbell.

One challenge remains for the new publisher: tracking down good quality of some issues of the original comic, which can fetch high prices.

"The printing on the comic, as with many classic British weeklies, was variable," notes Freeman. "Some pages of the comic we've sourced so far are fine while others are muddy, with print errors and heavy blacks. We're hoping collectors might be able to help in our quest to ensure the very best reproduction of these classic strips."

Hookjaw joins a line up of strips that includes work by PJ Holden, Michael Pennick, John Ridgway, James Hudnall, John McCrea, Phillip Hester and others.

Alongside STRIP Magazine, Print Media Productions is releasing a range of graphic albums that include creator-owned projects by Ferg Handley, Kev Hopgood, Gordon Rennie, SMS and more.

The first of these, the steampunk adventure The Iron Moon by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page, will be on sale from next month (October 2010), launching at the British International Comic Show in Birmingham.

• For the latest news about Strip Magazine visit: www.stripmagazine.co.uk

Hookjaw © Egmont UK

BBC3 seeking comic fans for new show

New downthetubes forum member Bee Smith works for Renegade Pictures, a TV Production company based in London whose productions include The Lion Ranger and Cherry Goes....

They are currently looking for people to take part in a new four-part factual entertainment show for BBC3 that is all about young couples who have just moved in with each other for the first time and are trying to come to terms with the realities of living with someone of the opposite sex.

Amongst many other things they're looking for guys who have passions and hobbies that their girlfriends may have to come to terms with - and they're particularly looking for men with a passion for comics, films and gaming.

• If this sounds like you or you just want to find out more please get in touch by emailing living@renegadepictures.co.uk or telephone 0207 449 3292.

Tube Surfing: Tony Lee on writing, Richard Starkings on Elephantmen and Pete Ashton on comics (what's not to like, you lucky, lucky people!?!)

Links, link, links.

Links, links, links.

Links, links, links, links...links, links, links (sung to the tune of Postman Pat):

Tony Lee shares his comics-writing process over at his blog...

'So recently on my Twitter page,' he writes, 'I spoke about blocking out comics, and in particular how I work. And, having spent a large amount of today scripting a chunk of pages that I spent much of last week getting ready, I thought I’d take the tweets that I put up a few days ago, re jig them about a little and put down in words just how I write a comic, blocking out pages and all.'

• There's still time to enter Thought Bubble's Northern Sequential Art Competition (the closing date is 9th October 2010):

'The theme of this year's competition is 'November in the North of England'. Your story can be told with text and illustrations or by imagery alone. It must be a new, complete story with six panels or more. The page must contain the story's title. Your story must be A3 in size so that if you win we can be sure the reproduction will be good quality for print. One entry per person.'

• Ooh, there's a Self-Publishers' Fair in Manchester on 3rd October 2010...

• I very much enjoyed this interview with writer, editor, publisher, letterer and karaoke singer Richard Starkings...

'If you’re a regular comics reader, your life has probably already been touched by Richard Starkings – his company, Comicraft, has provided lettering and graphic design for Marvel, DC Comics, Dark Horse, and Image (among others) on some of their most prominent titles, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, Marvels, Astro City, Batman: Hush, and many more. However, Starkings is also very well known for his science fiction/noir/adventure series for Image Comics, Elephantmen! We were fortunate enough to be able to interview this very talented writer (and, full disclosure, one of our karaoke pals) and ask him about the future of Elephantmen.'

• Blogger, photographer, (ex) zinester, DIY culture enthusiast, social media specialist, comics fan and all-round 'man about the Internet' Pete Ashton has been talking about small press comics. Here's a video of his presentation on the emergence of the British Small Press Comics scene in the early 1980s.

Anyway, that's all for now, folks. Ta ta until my next Tube Surf...

Art agency Pickled Ink's hunt for new comic artists

Art illustration agency Pickled Ink has launched a new award in a bid to find an artist to draw a new graphic novel by Super Gran creator and writer Jenny McDade.

Working with Jenny, the creator/writer of the TV series Super Gran, who cut her teeth writing strips for the British girls comic Tammy, and comic book author and editor Pat Mills, the agency is searching for an outstanding character-led artist to illustrate Jenny’s first graphic novel script, Party Girls. The winner will be awarded £1000.00 and a contract of representation at Pickled Ink, whose current artists include Hanako Clulow, Hattie Newman, Hannah Bagshaw and many others.

In brief, they're asking for: character design of two lead characters; and a 20 frame sample sequence and a front cover design. The winning artist must be an existing or recent graduate, able to draw modern fashion, facial expression, great storytelling, and be generally '2011'.

"There's a huge gap in the comic market," notes Pat Mills. "In my view, 50 per cent of the population are largely not catered for. Female comics were once massive - more popular than male comics. But because the industry is now so male fan-based, this whole market disappeared.

"Girls comics like Tammy were selling 250,000 copies a week, compared with 2000AD once selling 200,000 copies a week," he points out via Facebook. "People still read 2000AD, but there's no female equivalent now. Yes, there's Manga and female fantasy, but nothing - to my knowledge - that could be called mainstream female drama, aimed at an audience who would not describe themselves as fans.

"So Pickled Ink and Jenny decided to do something about it. Jenny has put together a female graphic novel with a Sex in the City flavour.

"I think this is a really exciting move," he feels. "Bear in mind we often have to go outside the regular artpool to find the new look we are after in comics. I went outside the regulars to find Glenn Fabry to draw Slaine. The editor of Eagle went to his local art college to find Dan Dare artist Frank Hampson. With a new artist, they will often put so much more into their work because they have so much to prove.

"And Jenny's excellent story requires a really strong fashion spin, lots of drama and emotion and comedy. So many artists who could produce this kind of work are booked up forever or are locked into male comics only. So this is definitely the way to go to find someone new and dynamic.

"I can't wait to see who we discover!"

• The deadline for entries is Monday 8th November 2010. Download a PDF of the full brief here on the Pickled Ink web site

• Pickled Ink web site

• Pat Mills on Facebook

• Creating Tammy: a downthetubes feature by Jenny McDade