Madcap wrestling strip heads to The Dandy

Who'd have thought Birdsong and New British Comics artist Warwick Johnson-Cadwell would get a chance to appear in The Dandy? But he is - albeit as part, we think, of the revamped comic's experimental line up of strips that are subject to reader vote for their survival.

Tag Team Tastic is the latest addition to the weekly comic - a strip writer Robin Etherington describes as a ridiculous, comedy wrestle-fest starring two hapless fighters, Huggles and Big Thumper - which will soon be making its debut alongside another Etherington brothers story, YORE.

"Warwick and I first met at a Bristol show a few years back," says Robin, "when he humbly showed me his portfolio.

"Lorenzo and I see a lot of work by upcoming amateur and professional artists but this was something else. Warwick was already an extremely successful illustrator but the guy just loved comics with all his heart and wanted to make some more - which was lucky really, because so did I!

"We now cannot wait to share the adventures of Huggles (the large fella) and Big Thumper (his blue-haired cohort) with you all," he adds.

Robin also reveals that this isn't the final part of the Etherington's bid to be a major part of The Dandy - as a third strip by one - or both - of them - is also due to be revealed soon.

• More on Tag Team Tastic on the Etherington Brothers blog


• Warwick Johnson-Cadwell's blog


• Warwick Johnson-Cadwell's portfolio at the Eastwing agency

New Year, New Fallen Heroes Teasers...

The team at Fallen Heroes - the comics adaptation of the top-selling novel by Barry Nugent - have released a second teaser poster in advance of the project's launch at the Cardiff Comic Expo next month.

The comic is being written by Martin Conaghan, whose work includes stories for Caliber Comics and works in sports broadcasting at the BBC, with art from Steve Penfold.

This is the second of six teaser posters for the upcoming Issue 1 launch. "I’ve now seen 18 pages of art and I know I’m biased, but I love every single page of what I’ve seen," says Fallen Heroes author Barry. "It’s blown me away seeing my story translated to the comic form.

"This was something I never expected to happen," he adds. "I can’t wait to hold the finished comic in my hands and hopefully that won’t be too long a wait. This is right up there with the first time I walked into Waterstones and saw my book staring back at me on the shelf.

To celebrate its launch  at Cardiff International Comic Expo Fallen Heroes - The Comic Adaptation #1 will be numbered and contain exclusive artwork from Andie Tong (DC Comics, Marvel, Darkhorse, Mirage Studios, Image and Markosia), Leigh Gallagher (DC Comics and 2000AD) and Emma Vieceli (SelfMadeHero, Marvel, Image, Random House, Toykopop and Future Publishing).

This numbered limited edition will only be available at the Cardiff Comic Expo (any reprints of issue one will not contain this artwork). Once they’re gone they’re gone - so make sure you pick up your limited edition copy at the convention.

The team tell us they also have an awesome motion trailer for the comic which will be launching soon - so keep an eye on the Fallen Heroes website for that.

Banksy's Jungle Book-inspired art sells for £78,000

Save or Delete by Banksy

An original art work by the legendary street artist Banksy, created for a Greenpeace Save or Delete campaign photographic poster, sold for £78,000 last night at Bonhams, New Bond Street, as part of its Urban Art sale. The unique piece, which was given to the vendor by the artist himself, was among a host of Banksy’s that fetched top prices in the sale.

It was originally commissioned by Greenpeace to highlight the problems of global deforestation as part of their Save or Delete campaign and features some of the main characters from Disney’s The Jungle Book transposed onto a picture of a devastated forest. Intended for use on posters, billboards and postcards, it was printed, but never put into circulation because of the protectionist policies at Disney.

It is believed that the vendor of this lot is donating a percentage of the proceeds to Greenpeace.

Other Banksy highlights in the sale included Portrait of an Artist, circa 1998, believed to be the first work that he created for sale, which sold for £60,000; Everytime I Make Love To You I Think Of Someone Else, 2003 (left), which made £42,000; Balloon Girl, 2004, which fetched £12,600; and Rude Copper, 2002, which sold for £9,600.

The sale saw an enormous turn-out and competitive bidding (both on the phone and in the room) following Bonhams’ two-year break from holding Urban Art auctions.

Other works to achieve excellent prices included a performance piece created by American graffiti artist, Futura 2000, for punk rock band The Clash’s Combat Rock tour, which sold for £38,400 (it was estimated it might sell for between £15,000 – 20,000); French artist JR’s Street Kid, Favela Morro da Providencia, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 2008, which made £31,200 (estimate £15,000 – 20,000); and the catalogue’s cover lot, Shepard Fairey’s Peace Goddess on Wood, 2008, right, which fetched £27,600 (estimate £8,000 – 12,000).

• Auction catalogue online at: www.bonhams.com/urbanart

Thunderbirds are Go - Again!

A re-imagining of the classic 1960s TV series Thunderbirds is in the works from the man who originally co-created the show - Gerry Anderson.

With the launch of a new set of Royal Mail stamps celebrating the work of Gerry Anderson, the 81-year-old producer has been conducting interviews about his work and told Radio 5 Live a new show was finally in the works.

The new Royal Mail stamps
celebrating the genius
of Gerry Anderson

Fan club Fanderson confirmed Gerry had finalised a deal to make a new series, with Gerry revealing that he has signed a non-disclosure agreement for the time being.

"I don't want to sound conceited," Gerry told Radio 5 Live, "but because I'm going to make it...I'm confident that it will be a smash hit!"

The news has been picked up by media as diverse as the Daily Telegraph and Ain't It Cool News.

Gerry has long wanted to re-imagine Thunderbirds, but rights issues apparently prevented this for some time, so instead he re-worked another of his Supermarionation series, Captain Scarlet, into a gritty CGI show, first broadcast in 2005. It had a mixed reception, perhaps in part due to a decision to re-design all the original show's iconic vehicles such as the Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle and Angel Interceptors - but many praised its scripts and delivery.

The design for Thunderbird 2
by David Warren

Thunderbirds was brought to the big screen as a live action movie in 2004, directed by Star Trek's Jonathan Frakes, but was panned by critics.

In 2005, plans, as noted on our Gerry Anderson links page, were afoot to revive the show - again as a puppet show. Showrunner and director David Freedman (whose credits include the highly successful Legend of the Dragon and animated comedy series King Arthur's Disasters starring Rik Mayall and Matt Lucas) was one of the people involved.

Brought in to create a new vision for modern puppet relaunch, Freedman says the goal was to bring the series up to date, but stay true to the magic of the original series. "Redesigned, reworked, re cast, re everything!

The series was to have coincided with the release of the live action film, but Freedman says the merger between Granada and Carlton (in which Carlton was sort of swallowed whole) "put the kibosh on the whole thing".

"It ws the best show never made," he enthuses on his current web site.

• Gerry was also interviewed about his career for BBC1's The One Show this week You can listen to the interview on BBC iPlayer (begins playing at about 8 minutes - available for the next week)