Heretic Tomes in the Black Library

(with thanks to Matthew Badham and Jonathan Green):
As of January 2010, Black Library will be launching a range of Print on Demand titles which will allow them to bring back classic and fan-favourite novels, graphic novels and even artbooks previously published by them that have been out of print for some years now.

The Black Library, which is owned by Games Workshop, has announced via its blog that most of these titles will be brought back through this special service whilst a few will have minor edits to reflect changes to the background of the Warhammer and Warhammer 40000 worlds. But there are a few books that were written in a different time and place, when the worlds of Warhammer and 40K were different from what they are now. These books will be available under the Heretic Tomes banner.

The first three months' Print on Demand titles will be exclusively revealed in the December issue of White Dwarf magazine and future titles will be announced on the same day they become available to purchase exclusively at www.blacklibrary.com Although these titles will not be announced in advance of their release date, the Black Library team will be dropping hints through Facebook, Twitter, the BL Blog and other online sources.

The Black Library is an imprint of the British publishing house BL Publishing producing a range of all-action novels, art books, background books and other cool items, all set in the dark and gothic worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. BL Publishing in turn is a part of Games Workshop, a leading creator of fantasy games.

Tube Surfing: Marvel Mash Ups, XIII and a Dalek Competition

• Those Marvel-Disney mash ups just keep on coming. Two locations for growing collections of these on the Super Punch blog here and here. This Buzz/Iron Man mash is by Dave Mott.

• Indie creator Adam Gregory has started releasing the animated versions of his popular comic, The Flowfield Unity.
"They're micro-animations, all under one minute in length," he tells us. "I'm planning on releasing one every week, based on the existing strips and I'm taking requests too." You can view the first one here on YouTube

• Hot on the heels of the news of Cinebook's upcoming publication of cult classic XIII, here's the cover to their first volume, which will be released next year.

Launched in 1984 by two Belgian authors, Jean Van Hamme and William Vance, XIII has been turned into a video game by Ubisoft as well as a TV miniseries starring Stephen Dorff and Val Kilmer, which premiered on France’s Canal+ in October 2008 and on NBC in the US in February 2009.

Such is the popularity of the graphic novel that a gallery of its characters drawn by Vance was used to illustrate special-edition XIII scratch card tickets in France since 2000. Read our new story here

• Paul Anthony Long will be appearing at Red Lion Books in Colchester on Friday 11th September to launch his debut novel Joe Fury and the Hard Death. While it's not strictly the normal fare for downthetubes, we're told the book is written very much in the style of a comic/graphic novel, but presented in the form of a text novel. Among those who have commented positively about it so far are 2000AD's Pat Mills - so hopefully it may be of interest to readers here. Paul will also be signing copies of his book at Red Lion Books, Colchester, Essex, 7.00pm to 10.00pm on Friday 11th September and at Waterstone's in Portsmouth on 3rd October from 12.00pm to 3.00pm.

• Talking of events, Stref's "Free comic book art exhibition of work from his graphic novel, Milk for Insomnia, at the Fine Art Library (Located in Central Library), George IV Bridge, Edinburgh has now opened and runs until 29th September.

• Another reminder: the latest issue of the mystic detective comic Harker 7 is now available - you can buy it direct from Ariel Press's online store or it'll be available in the shops listed here. It's the beginning of our new six part storyline.

• And finally - there's a new Doctor Who-related competition on ace creator site Scotch Corner. The winner gets a large original inked illustration, an A3 print of the finished illustration and a copy of Remembrance of the Daleks on DVD. What are you waiting for? Head on over there now. Don't dally!

Andersonic 8 Is Go

The latest of the superb Gerry Anderson fanzine Andersonic has just been released. Issue 8 includes a new interview with artist Mike Noble, who discusses his work on Anderson-related comic strips in TV Century 21 and Look-In, talking about his techniques, influences and drawing everything from cowboys to bedsteads!

Other features in the latest 40-page magazine include:-

• Stingray - is there more to Stingray's longevity than all that colour? Line out to Deepsville with Commander Daddio to find out about the Andersons' foray into inner space.

• Joe 90 - City of Dolls - a look at how the series captured the zeitgeist of the late 1960s.

• The Metamorph Retrospective - Changes were deemed necessary to get the series back on the air, but did they do the trick? Andersonic examines the colourful opening episode of Space:1999's reboot.

• Beyond Century 21 - A look at the fate of costumes, instrumentation and miniatures from the Anderson series after the closure of the studios... but where exactly do Sid James and mashed potato fit into the equation?

• Space:1999/ Missing Link - a look at Edward di Lorenzo's thoughtful offering from the first series. Is it more important to feel than to think? Koenig's not sure...

The magazine also features reviews of two classic episodes – Joe 90: Business Holiday and UFO: The Square Triangle, reviews Fanderson's Stingray CD and two volumes of Reynolds and Hearn's TV21 reprints, and more.

• Andersonic Issue 8 is available via the website www.andersonic.co.uk - price £2.25 including UK postage and also from eBay for a limited period. If you'd prefer to pay by cheque or PO, please get in touch for our postal address.

Moore on Marvelman at Marvel

Alan Moore has commented on Marvel's acquisition of Marvelman, saying he's pleased the deal, which will mean his Marvelman stories will be re-published, will see the character's creator Mick Anglo benefit once again.

"After being initially informed by Neil Gaman’s lawyer, I had to think about it for a couple of days," he told Kurt Amacker at mania.com. "I decided that while I’m very happy for this book to get published—because that means money will finally go to Marvelman’s creator, Mick Anglo, and to his wife. Mick is very, very old, and his wife, I believe, is suffering from Alzheimer’s.

"The actual Marvelman story is such a grim and ugly one that I would probably rather that the work was published without my name on it, and that all of the money went to Mick," he continued. "The decision about my name was largely based upon my history with Marvel—my desire to really have nothing to do with them, and my increasing desire to have nothing to do with the American comics industry. I mean, they’re probably are enough books out there with my name on them to keep the comics industry afloat for a little bit longer.

"..." Neil will [also] be able to finish his Marvelman story because he has a completely different relationship with Marvel than I have with them — or rather, don’t have. The main thing is that I will feel happy to know that Mick Anglo is finally getting the recompense he so richly deserves. And, I will have distanced myself from a lot of the deceit and ugliness that surrounded the relaunching of Marvelman as a character."

• Read the full interview, in which Alan also talks about the origins of his Marvelman story for Warrior, the first part of an ongoing interview with Alan, here


• News story compiled thanks to Paul Eldridge