Markosia's mind-bending comic releases!

It’s not often you get to release a book that causes people to worry about reality and feel unstable after reading it - which is how I felt after reading one of them. It’s almost unthinkable, dangerous even, that you might release two such subversive creations at once. That, however, is just what Markosia Enterprises is planning to do this November. Stay tuned to find out what will be left standing when these monsters collide.

Broadcast: The TV Doodles of Henry Flint

“The mind of Henry Flint is a galaxy of beautiful atrocities – a nightmare factory where the bestial becomes benign, the mundane magical. Henry Flint is at once a full-service doodling savant and a one-man alien zoo, and this never-before-seen collection of his personal work is an attempt to chart a single, crooked leg of the artistic journey he takes daily. Welcome to the best of the bestiary.”

Broadcast offers something very different from Henry Flint’s narrative artwork, familiar to fans worldwide from his books for 2000AD, Vertigo and Dark Horse. With writer Cy Dethan acting as guide to the reader, the book is at once a treasure map and an open invitation to explore Henry’s personal work and zen-like experiments in art.

The Indifference Engine: A Holographic Novel 

“Responding to a strangely specific job advertisement, Alan Blake, a distinctly ordinary twenty-something suburban slacker finds himself in the middle of an inter-dimensional task force staffed entirely by superhuman alternate versions of himself. Struggling to fit in, he uncovers a conspiracy that strikes at the very heart of the organisation – a conspiracy that only he can stop.”

“Being a science fiction fan,” says Wayne Hall of Sci-Fi Pulse, “I sometimes ache for a comic that will challenge my perceptions of the world, of the universe, of my way of thinking... The Indifference Engine scratches that itch spectacularly!"

This is Cy Dethan’s third original graphic novel from Markosia and he is joined this time around by hot-shot new artist Rob Carey, along with colourist Mel Cook and letterer Nic Wilkinson. Following the convention-busting performance of the horror-noir Cancertown and the surreal gangland thriller Slaughterman’s Creed, it already looks as if Dethan’s first creator-owned sci-fi story, which I'm happy to declare a gripping, nihilist alternate reality adventure, so let's hope it will be enjoying the same levels of success.

Dethan first explored the genre for Markosia as writer of their Starship Troopers line.

The digital version of the book has already been incredibly popular. Cy Dethan's script is superb, and this is a tightly-written multi-universe-spanning adventure tale and it's...definitely a book to look out for.

• A free preview of The Indifference Engine can be read at http://www.cydethan.com/index.php?page=free-online-preview. 

• Pre-order Broadcast through the Markosia website: http://www.markosia.com/wordpress/titles/broadcast-the-tv-doodles-of-henry-flint/

• Pre-order The Indifference Engine through the Markosia website: http://www.markosia.com/wordpress/titles/The-Indifference-Engine/

Treating Comics Seriously - Belfast's Linen Hall Library

As part of their Northern Ireland Political Collection Lunchtime Lecture series, this week Belfast's prestigious Linen Hall Library will feature talks on comics and political cartoons.

The Linen Hall Library, opposite Belfast's City Hall, was founded in 1788 and is the oldest library in Northern Ireland's capital city as well as being the last subscribing library in the island of Ireland.

On Tuesday 8 November 2011 Dr Gordon Gillespie will examine comic books and graphic novels produced in response and reaction to Northern Ireland’s political turbulence while on Friday 11 November Linen Hall Librarian John Killen will take his audience on an historical tour of political cartoons created throughout the 20th century.

Both lectures begin at 1pm and are free.

There are more details of the Linen Hall Library lunchtime lectures at the Linen Hall Library website.

Millar and McCrea Create A Blue Peter Superhero

The creator of Kick-Ass and Wanted creating a comic strip for the BBC children's programme Blue Peter?

As odd as it sounds writer Mark Millar visited the new Blue Peter studio in Manchester on 1 November along with STRIP Magazine artist John McCrea to talk about superhero comics and reveal the first page of a Blue Peter themed comic strip. Talking to presenter Barney Harwood, and with Blue Peter dog Barney dressed in a Superman style cape, the pair discussed superhero comics and introduced a one page comic strip written by Mark and illustrated by John.

The Curse Of Bad Peter shows Barney Harwood receive a summons via his Blue Peter badge which turns him into a superhero who has to battle Bad Peter at Manchester's Arndale Centre. The strip is one page long with a second page ready for viewers to complete the story in any way they see fit.

And yes, both creators did receive a Blue Peter badge.

The Curse Of Bad Peter comic strip is available to download as a PDF from the Blue Peter website.

The episode of Blue Peter that Mark Millar and John McCrea appeared in is available for another week on the BBC iPlayer. They appear approximately 12 minutes into the programme.

The annual Blue Peter books used to run comic strips by Bleep and Booster creator Tim. There are more details of the comic strips in the Blue Peter books on Bear Alley.

Dundee Comics Day 2011 - Other Voices

downthetubes has been reviewing the Dundee University comics events run by Dr Chris Murray for many years, long before they were labelled as the Dundee Comics Day, and those reviews were often the only independent record of those events. Indeed Dundee University regarded those reviews highly enough to link through to them from their own website. So it is good to see that this year's Dundee Comics Day has generated many more reviews and comments than normal.

Laura Sneddon at Comic Book Resources provides a detailed review of the event talks with lots of quotes from the guests.

Ariadne Cass-Maran at Graphic Scotland reviews the event and points out the lack of female guests without actually suggesting any female creators that could have been invited. Indeed this is the first Dundee event for many years not to have any female guests who, in the past, have included The Beano's Laura Howell, Vampire Academy's Emma Vieceli, Manga Shakespeare's Nana Li and Metaphrog's Sandra Marrs as well as Northumbria University's Dr Mel Gibson.

Rich Clements and Vicky Stonebridge of Inverness' Hi-Ex comics convention show the sense of community that exists amongst comics fans in Scotland by giving DCD a glowing review on the Hi-Ex blog.

Gillian Hatcher of Team Girl Comic, who just might have managed a sneak preview of one of the runner-up entries in the Tartan Bucket Prize, enjoyed her day and hopefully made some useful contacts as well.

Writer and former Tharg David Bishop remembers John Wagner's words of wisdom.

Artist Katie Morrison reviews the day with a good selection of photos.

And finally, a selection of people from the 2000AD Online forum discuss the day.