Mirabilis: Year of Wonders advance copies go on sale

Advance copies of Print Media Productions hardcover edition of Mirabilis: Year of Wonders - Winter Book 1 are now on sale exclusively from First Age Comics, Lancaster.

A huge graphic novel project by Dave Morris and Leo Hartas, Mirabilis is a fantasy adventure story for young adults which opens New Year’s Day 1901, when a green comet appears in the sky. As it gets bigger, the line between reality and fantasy blurs. Soon there are mermaids in the Thames, elves in Parliament and a dragon roosting on Big Ben. But then the comet rounds the sun and starts to fade. Will the world be able to go back to a life without magic?

The full-colour graphic novel was originally serialized in The DFC, the weekly print comic published by Random House UK, who financed the production and has been released as a digital edition for iPad.

"We couldn't be more pleased with the production design on these books," says Dave Morris. "Typography, colours and layouts all add to the reading experience, and Print Media have carried all that through with professionalism and a real eye for detail.

"The end result is not simply our comic between hard covers, but a beautiful work that we think readers will treasure."

Mirabilis: Year of Wonders Volume 1 was solicited by Diamond (Order Code FEB111949), joining Keith Page and Stephen Walsh's Iron Moon title as the first graphic album projects from the new British company. Both albums will be re-solicited in July Previews.

• Advance copies are available now only from First Age Comics, The Assembly Rooms, Lancaster; order it online from the First Age eBay Store


• More about Mirabilis: Year of Wonders on the STRIP Magazine blog


• Mirabilis on iTunes

• Learn more at www.mirabilis-yearofwonders.com

X-Men First Class arrives in UK Cinemas

X-Men First Class, which was mostly shot in the UK, arrives in cinemas here next week (1st June) and here's a trailer for the film, courtesy of the distributors.

Set in the 1960s and focusing on the relationship between Professor X and Magneto and the origin of their groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants, the film stars James McAvoy as Professor X and Michael Fassbender as Magneto. Other cast members include Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, Zoë Kravitz, and Lucas Till.

The film is directed by Matthew Vaughn (who also directed the film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Stardust in 2007) and the screenplay's writer credits include Jane Goldman, who is partner to comics writer and TV presenter Jonathan Ross.

Other British connections for the film include its official single, 'Love Love', by Take That, released via Polydor Records. (Stardust which featured Take That’s massive hit 'Rule The World', one of the biggest-selling singles of the year).

Twentieth Century Fox envision this film as the first in a new trilogy to reboot X-Men on the big screen.

Don’t be a mug – obey the law!

A top-quality mug lovingly wrapped in classic Judge Dredd artwork from one of the greats of 2000 AD – the latest merchandise from The House of Tharg is perfect for sitting back and sipping your synthi-caff!

This limited edition Mega-City One Justice Department-approved beverage holder features the stunning wraparound cover from Prog 169 in 1980, drawn by legendary Judge Dredd artist Mick McMahon. It shows Dredd leading a charge of Mega City forces in one of the most iconic images from the early years of 2000 AD.

Exclusive to the 2000 AD online shop for just £7.99, this new mug joins a host of 2000 AD merchandise from t-shirts and action figures to badges and sketch books.

The new mug is available from http://shop.2000adonline.com

Panel Borders: Small Press Soundtracks

Continuing radio show Panel Borders month of shows about the crossover between music and comics, Alex Fitch talks to the creators of a couple of small press publications which feature music in their stories and contain a soundtrack to listen to while you read the comic.

Writer Sam Gardner and contributing artist Lee O’Connor talk about Sioux Warrior, a new comic about a mysterious hero who is one part Sitting Bull and one part Phantom of the Opera and while enjoying his adventures, the reader is also serenaded by a sound chip built into the publication itself.

Alex also chats to Babak Ganjei about his graphic novel Hilarious Consequences, an irreverent but touching autobiographical book in which the author documents his travails in being a singer-songwriter and father while breaking the fourth wall in humorous asides to the reader; the book contains a compilation CD of tracks from Babak’s label, "Records Records Records Records"…

• Panel Borders: Small Press Soundtracks airs at 5pm, Thursday 26/05/11, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com


• More about Sioux Warrior at: www.capefearcomics.com