10 Questions: Russell Willis, publisher of SEQUENTIAL and Panel Nine

Russell Willis - Publisher of Panel Nine

I've known Russell Willis since the 1980s, first encountering him at the Fast Fiction stall run by Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury at the now-legendary Westminster Comic Marts when he was publishing INFINITY, a zine that included many interviews with leading comic creators back then such as David Lloyd and others.

Russell has worked in publishing for over 25 years, specialising in digital media. In 1993 he set up a multimedia development company in Japan which produced customised language-learning software for Canon and published a large number of successful language-learning software products, including Finding Out, a joint venture with Macmillan described by Modern Education as the "best language- learning software for children available".

He has created products for TIME, the British government, Oxford University Press, and many others.

Russell’s audiobooks, podcasts, and iOS apps have all reached the Number One spot in Apple’s iTunes charts in Japan.

He is the publisher at Panel Nine (which has previously sponsored downthetubes), who have just launched SEQUENTIAL, a new digital store for a range of graphic novels. 

We'd like to thank him for taking time out of a busy schedule to answer our questions...

downthetubes: Tell us what SEQUENTIAL is and what you hope to achieve?

Russell Willis: SEQUENTIAL is a digital graphic novel storefront app for that iPad, that is primarily designed for people who would read Persepolis or From Hell or something by Eddie Campbell or Alison Bechdel, but would never think of going to a typical geeky comic shop. It's a place to put together all the quality material that's out there and provide an environment where a mainstream reader can feel comfortable and not have a virtual She-Hulk scaring them off at the door. This time, we want to be on the main street of culture with our underwear worn *under* our trousers.

SEQUENTIAL has just launched in the UK and Ireland, and will launch in the US and the rest of the world at the end of June. It's free to download with the ability to purchase graphic novels from within the app.

downthetubes: How did the project come about? 

Russell's early publishing
venture, INFINITY (#5)

Russell: As you know, I have been fascinated by sequential art since my teens when I was publishing INFINITY. About 18 months ago, I found myself running a software development and publishing company and realised that I had the ability to do something exceptional in the area of digital graphic novels. 

Having always talked about how graphic novels should be marketed and presented I had the opportunity to put my time and money where my mouth was. 

Right time, right place, it just seemed the right thing to do.

downthetubes: What are the initial titles being offered through SEQUENTIAL?

Russell: We have 21 graphic novels, coming from Blank Slate, Knockabout and Myriad Editions. We've got From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, Bolland Strips by Brian Bolland, Lady Chatterly's Lover by Hunt Emerson, Science Tales by Darryl Cunningham, Hugo Tate by Nick Abadzis, Kickback by David Lloyd… it's a great list and we'll be adding lots of new titles every week. 

We've also got a new "Sequential Mode" reader that is a bit like what Alex di Campi and Mark Waid have done with digital comics but with a few tweaks. There's a story drawn by Terry Wiley that can be downloaded for free from the app (which is also free to download).

downthetubes: How do you see the project developing over the next year?

Russell: The addition of more graphic novels, publishers like Self-Made Hero, Jonathan Cape, Walker Books, Abram Comic Arts coming on board, we'll be creating "Expanded Versions" of many titles, by adding audio commentaries by the creators along with interviews, production sketches, etc. and we'll be marketing graphic novels as a mainstream choice of entertainment, untainted by superheroes.

downthetubes: How will SEQUENTIAL impact on your other publications so far - will they merge with this new platform?

Russell: Yes, the four existing Panel Nine titles are on SEQUENTIAL.

downthetubes: You're busy developing a comics platform based on British and Western comics but Panel Nine is based in Japan... is there interest in the comics SEQUENTIAL will carry there?

Russell: The market for western graphic novels in Japan is quite small, but we are talking with Japanese publishers about doing some things.

downthetubes: What do you think are the main advantages for creators and publishers publishing their work digitally?

Russell: Availability -- in theory anyone with an iPad can purchase one of our titles, and creators can more effectively promote their own titles by directing their fan base straight to SEQUENTIAL to purchase immediately. 

downthetubes: Growing a digital comics audience isn't easy, despite the hype for digital publishing. Are we in an age of 10 per cent perspiration, 90 per cent promotion to compete with all the other offerings out there - legally free comics, other media and the pirates?

Russell: The ubiquitous availability is there as mentioned above, but just because you have a phone number doesn't mean everyone calls you. The promotional aspect of digital comics is, as you suggest, extremely important, and is a demanding ongoing exercise. With printed books, once they are in the shops then the shops are out selling them for the publisher every day. With digital the publisher (or platform owner, in our case) has to be doing that -- through advertising, social media, events, promotions etc.

downthetubes: While generating revenues on the iPad and related Apple platforms seems a given, purchases on other platforms (Android, for example) seem slow in comparison. Do you think there's still a resistance to the concept that digital creations have intrinsic value?

Russell: The stats at the end of last year indicated that for every four iOS apps sold only one Android app was sold. And this is despite Android having a larger installed base. The demographics of Android device owners and iOS device owners has been quite different, and simply put, Android owners tend to buy less stuff, are younger, and more inclined to settle for free stuff.

With regard to digital creations having less intrinsic value, I think that part of the reason for that is that so much digital is of less intrinsic value. Publishers shovel stuff into ePubs or put out apps that work incredibly badly. One point of pride that we have about our apps is that they are often described as "deluxe" "coffee table" apps, which is exactly what we intended. Getting them like that involved sweating hundreds if not thousands of details. 

I think when people use our apps, they do perceive the value. Our problem is that all the crap that gets put out means that people are very wary. 

SEQUENTIAL, being a container app, should partly solve that problem as they can download it for free, try out a free app and get a real sense of the value that we are providing before they purchase.

downthetubes: What one piece of advice do you regularly give new comic creators?

Russell: I don't think I've ever had the opportunity to give a new comic creator any advice. But if I am in that position, I would suggest that people ensure that they have a strong social media following. If there are two artists of equal merit and one has 10,000 Twitter followers, then choosing which artist to publish just got a lot easier. (And that advice is advice I need to take too!)

• Download SEQUENTIAL for free from the iTunes here

• Read an interview with Russell about SEQUENTIAL by Paul Gravett

• Read our 2008 interview with Russell about his early days publishing INFINITY

Call for Papers: Contemporary Uses of Fairy Tales

Melissa Leons - hunting fairies in
contemporary culture

Doctor Melissa Lenos, an Assistant Professor of English at Donnelly College in Kansas City, Kansas, is inviting submissions for an edited collection of essays on contemporary uses of fairy tales in popular culture.

Contemporary Uses of Fairy Tales, which offers the chance for commentary on comics such as Alan Moore's Lost Girls and Bill Willingham's Fables, will focus on recent reinterpretations and reboots of classical fairy tales, ways the contemporary texts address the original tales and narratological implications of the repetitions and adjustments of these stories.

In essays that explore the functions and consequences of fairy tale reboots, remakes and updates, authors will consider the ways fairy tale generic conventions have been revised over time, representations of race, gender, class and sexual identity, the roles of archetypes, mythic tropes and patterns and the emergence of self-referential and meta-tales within these texts.

Essays may also address fan culture influence on contemporary tales, opportunities for interactivity and the roles of stars in fairy tale reboots.

Text focus could include television series, feature-length films, comic books and graphic novels, games and animation.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

Fables (Bill Willingham/Vertigo, 2002-present)

Lost Girls (Alan Moore/Top Shelf, 2006)

The Red Shoes (Kim Yong-gyun, 2005)

Hansel and Gretel (Yim Pil-Sung, 2007)

Sydney White (Joe Nussbaum, 2007)

Bluebeard (Catherine Breillat, 2009)

The Sleeping Beauty (Catherine Breillat, 2010)

Red Riding Hood (Catherine Hardwicke, 2011)

Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011)

Beastly (Daniel Barnz, 2011)

Once Upon a Time (ABC, 2011-present)

Grimm (NBC, 2011-present)

Snow White and the Huntsman (Rupert Sanders, 2012)

Mirror, Mirror (Tarsem Singh, 2012)

Hansel and Gretel (Anthony Ferrante, 2013)

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (Tommy Wirkola, 2013)

Jack the Giant Slayer (Bryan Singer, 2013)

Submit a two-page proposals by the deadline of June 19, 2013 to Dr. Melissa Lenos at melissalenosATgmail.com; questions may be addressed to the same. Please also include a short bio. If your proposal is selected, the final essay (5000-8000 words) will be due on December 1, 2013.

Melissa teaches film studies, composition, popular culture and whatever else her tiny department requires. Her research interests include narratology in Hollywood, mythic structures and archetypes. Visit her blog at: http://cargocollective.com/flyover/index

From Hell gets a Companion

Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell occupies a monumental place in the history of the graphic novel: a Victorian masterpiece of murder and madness which has won numerous awards, spawned a major Hollywood film, and remained a favourite of readers around the world for over two decades.

In May, Knockabout Comics and Top Shelf Productions will publish The From Hell Companion, an astonishing selection of Alan Moore's original scripts and sketches for the landmark graphic novel, with copious annotations, commentary, and illustrations by Eddie Campbell.

Included in the Companion for the first time are a set of pages, including some of Moore's greatest writing, which have never been seen by anyone except his collaborator. Joining them are Campbell's first-hand accounts of the project's decade-long development, complete with photos, anecdotes, disagreements, and wry confessions.

Arranged in narrative order, these perspectives form a fascinating mosaic, the publishers say the book offers "an opportunity to read From Hell with fresh eyes, and a tour inside the minds of two giants of their field."

• The From Hell Companion by Eddie Campbell and Alan Moore; 288-page paperback with flaps (with 32-page full-colour insert); £19.99; ISBN 9780861661848

• More info: www.knockabout.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Knockabout
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/KnockaboutComix

In Review: Nemo - Heart of Ice

By Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill
Publishers: Knockabout/Top Shelf
Out: February 2013

The Book: It's 1925, 15 long years since Janni Dakkar first tried to escape the legacy of her dying science-pirate father, only to accept her destiny as the new Nemo, captain of the legendary Nautilus. Now, tired of her unending spree of plunder and destruction, Janni launches a grand expedition to surpass her father's greatest failure: the exploration of Antarctica.

Hot on her frozen trail are a trio of genius inventors, hired by an influential publishing tycoon to retrieve the plundered valuables of an African queen.

It's a deadly race to the bottom of the world -- an uncharted land of wonder and horror where time is broken and the mountains bring madness..

The Review: This 56-page hardcover graphic novel, set in the richly-textured world of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, offers a delicious side story of Nemo's daughter, Janni, as she seeks to emulate her father's last doomed mission and explore the dangers of the deepest Antarctic - a land steeped in dangerous myth and magic.

Homaging HP Lovecraft, Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe (to name but few), Moore and O'Neill weave a disturbing and unsettling tale of fate-filled exploration, crammed with startling and horrific yet hypnotic imagery - and I'm not just talking about a human-sized penguin in a fur coat.

Ever pushing boundaries, the tale is crammed with literary and visual detail from start to finish, opening with the finale of a daring raid to steal the valuables of a sadistic, deposed Queen in New York and not drawing breath until the final page.

Included in the adventure is is a head-scratching three-page sequence where time runs together and Janna's expedition run afoul of Cthullu creations; and more references to the inspiring work of several masters of science fiction and horror than you can shake a stick at.

Overall, it's a dark, gloomy and unsettling story, peppered with horror and the deaths of some of Janna's most loyal Nautilus crew members - but, without giving too much away,  the tale does close on a happier note for some of the cast. O'Neill's art is as ever, glorious and unique, successfully startling more than once with a range of stunning panels as Nemo's daughter descends ever deeper into the world first conjured by Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness story..

Moore and O'Neill are by no means the first to tread into Cthullu mythos, but between them they conjure imagery and story that successfully emulates the original. As ever with such work, it should hopefully prompt some readers to seek that out (perhaps even picking up a copy of INJ Culbard's stunning graphic novel adaptation, published by SelfMadeHero).

This project is, possibly, just a taster of more Lovecraft-inspired work to come from Alan. Last year, during the first N.I.C.E. convention, he announced his new 10-part comics project, Providence, a sequel to his four issue mini series Neonomicon, which will be published by Avatar Press. Set in 1919, featuring Lovecraft himself as a character, it will explore the inspiration behind the horrific mythology he created.

Bringing V for Vendetta to the stage: an interview with Dean Thackeray

Daniel Thackeray as V. Photo: Laura Evans

V for Vendetta is writer Alan Moore and artist David Lloyd's seminal comic series from the 1980s. The story depicts a near-future police state in which a Fascist party called Norsefire hold power. It is against this backdrop that V, an anarchist revolutionary, undertakes a campaign to bring down the government.

Next week, a new stage adaptation of V for Vendetta is being performed at the Lass O'Gowrie pub in Manchester as part of Lassfest (an arts festival featuring comedy, drama and music, as well as various other cultural events). Adapted by Sean Mason (who also adapted Ballad of Halo Jones), we're delighted Matt Badham decided to find out more about this premiere of this new adaptation of this prescient tale of a struggle against oppression in the surveillance society.

In this interview, Matt talks to Daniel Thackeray, who will be portraying V in the new production.

 

Matt Badham: You've said to me that staging V for Vendetta was your idea, although it's Sean Mason who's actually written the script.

Daniel Thackeray: I decided pretty early on that I wanted to act in it, so I stepped back from the production side of things.

Sinead Parker as Evey Hammond and
Daniel Thackeray as V. Photo: Laura Evans

MB: Why do you think the comic is a good choice for a stage adaptation?

DT: We wanted a good quality follow-up to [our adaptation of] The Ballad of Halo Jones, which is also an Alan Moore property. We're on quite good terms with Alan Moore and some of the rights-holders for his various works. 

Both Halo and V have similar points to make and they were both written at roughly the same time, in the 1980s. There's criticism of consumerism, capitalism, the herd mentality of people and the way that governments can be somewhat uncaring when it comes to the needs of their citizens. It seemed logical that if people enjoyed Halo and engaged with it as a stage adaptation -- and we did get some good reviews for it and positive feedback from audiences -- they would like V for Vendetta as well. Possibly more, because I think it's arguably more relevant to our current times.

MB: What specific challenges have there been in putting V for Vendetta, a comic, on stage?

DT: V is an unusual comic in that it's actually very verbose. This is one of the reasons I thought it would be good as a stage play. It's dialogue-heavy and the art style is quite deliberately grim and gritty. That's a good stylistic choice when it comes to representing this slightly drab life that everybody is living in the comic. It's a world that can be presented quite easily on stage.

MB: I suppose the term that could be used is kitchen sink…

DT: Yes. However, one challenge was that V for Vendetta does have quite a few action sequences in it that we've had to change or remove. We've either placed those off-stage or simplified them. There's a big scene where V takes down five cops and we couldn't do it. You could do it on-stage - but you can't do it on-stage in a small space, which is what we've got to work with.

We're taking the opposite approach to the film adaptation, which I think emphasised and even extended the action sequences and turned V into an action hero. We imply that he is a capable fighter but we don't see most of the fights themselves. Instead, it's mainly his theatricality and his politics that are emphasised in our version.

V Police: Creedy (Brian Gorman), Finch (Marlon Solomon) and Stone (Michael Whittaker) Photo: Laura Evans

MB: Can you give me a specific example of your approach to the action sequences?

DT: There's a scene in the comic on a train where V appears and kills two cops and kidnaps [Norsefire propagandist] Lewis Prothero. That's totally gone. Prothero just wakes up in V's lair.

Larkhill's Dr. Surridge (Carly Tarret), Lewis Prothero (Jeremy Smith) and Bishop Lilliman (Stuart Hudson)

MB: And that works?

DT: In the comic, you have a later scene where police officers talk about what has happened and the fact that Prothero has been kidnapped. And that is actually a bit pointless because you've already seen it all. But in the play, it works well for us as a device to explain the detail of the kidnapping.

MB: Are we still going to get that sense of V as a deadly figure? As someone to be feared?

Photo: Laura Evans

DT: Yes. In the dialogue we emphasise points that are mentioned in the comic, like the fact that he kills with his bare hands. He does have a thing of using knives but there is also this detail that he will sometimes 'stab' people with his fingers, which indicates both his physical power and his terrifying determination.

MB: I suppose the police procedural elements that exist in parts of the comic are a bit of a gift in that they offer valuable opportunities for exposition.

DT: Yes. Like I said before, it is all very 'talky'. But there are some striking visuals there too, of course. Theatre needs strong imagery and V, if you get him right, provides that with his mask and the way he talks and the way he moves.

MB: Just before we finish, it's probably worth mentioning that Halo Jones is coming back to the Lass and that there will be a V for Vendetta and Ballad of Halo Jones double-bill.

DT: Yes. It will be both plays on the same day with a two-hour break so people can grab a bite to eat and mingle.

Photo: Laura Evans

MB: That seems as good a place as any to end this short chat. Thanks for your time, Dan, during what I know is a fairly frantic rehearsal period as you gear up for your first show.

DT: No worries. Thank you.

• V for Vendetta at the LassFest features V, played by Daniel Thackeray; Evey Hammond - Sinead Parker; Creedy - Brian Gorman; Finch - Marlon Solomon; Stone - Michael Whittaker; Dr. Surridge - Carly Tarret; Lewis Prothero - Jeremy Smith; and Bishop Lilliman - Stuart Hudson.

• All photos by Laura Evans

• For more on V for Vendetta and Lassfest, please go to http://lassfest.co.uk/?p=750

In Review: The Ballad of Halo Jones stage play

(Re-posted here with the kind permission of Matthew Charlton from the Fictionstrker blog)

The Story: Halo Jones lives on the Hoop, a futuristic floating slum tethered to a future Manhattan. Citizens of the Hoop live on State Benefit and a diet of soap operas. Halo wants out, and when her best friend is murdered and another joins a youth cult called the Drummers, she might just get that chance…

First created by Alan Moore and drawn by Ian Gibson as a comic strip for 2000AD, their aim was to break out the mold of one-dimensional comic strip characters and create a ordinary heroine – something unlike what was in the comic at that time. The rest, as they say, is history...

The Review: [Not for the first time, as we noted in our first news item on this new adaptation], Alan Moore’s timeless story of the 51st century girl next door made a surprisingly smooth transition to stage back in January. The critical reception made it a logical choice to remount, and where better than the UK’s premier comic convention – Thought Bubble! But as we see, The Ballad of Halo Jones has undergone a few changes since its original staging..

Halo Jones originally first appeared in weekly anthology comic 2000AD in 1984, written by Alan Moore and drawn by Ian Gibson, it turned ‘typical’ 2000AD on its head. Instead of an action hero, it has as its main character an ordinary woman and an unemployed one at that. And where 2000AD was known for its satire, then and now, Halo Jones’ tale of poverty and unemployment resonates. Here people identified with Halo, rather than the authority figures featured elsewhere in the comic.

Not only that, but where 2000AD normally features slang in place of people or more obvious words, Halo Jones takes this to another level with the slang used by the characters, and specifically, the recurring newscaster Swifty Friscoe. Zoe Iqbal reprises her hilarious role as Swifty in this production. Iqbal captures Swifty’s ridiculous nature down to a tee, accentuating every pout and movement with unique style. Cheekily flirting with the audience, she is a vital window into events.

One of Halo Jones’ biggest successes is the world it builds. Carly Tarrett’s Brinna, and Will Hutchby’s Toby meet Halo’s mother as she arrives on the Hoop in a prologue. Adam Beresford, in the first of four demanding, but comic cameos, introduces Halo’s mother to the concept of Increased Leisure Citizens – or the great unemployed. These unfortunates are kept in line and in check on the Hoop through the use of Mam Cards giving credit every thirty days.

Tarrett’s Brinna is a revelation. She effortlessly conveys the timeless wisdom of someone over a century old in a youthful body. Hutchby’s Toby quizzically cocks his head (but thankfully not his leg!) throughout the play. His silky smooth tones are almost perfectly robotic when dispensing Toby’s one-liners.

Less effective is Toby’s appearance, the stocking over his head and jaw mouthpiece not wholly convincing. Always going to be a contentious issue with such highly regarded source material, top marks must go to Hutchby for managing to convey a canine presence through his body language alone.

In a sensible creative decision from Director Dan Thackeray, a projector screen at the stage rear takes visual cues from the comic strip, treating the audience to flashes of Ian Gibson’s iconic artwork. Even more successful is the incredible soundscape of Halo. Atmospheric effects take you from the Hoop with its writhing crowds to the snowy wilderness of Charlemagne via the ethereal songs of the Clara Pandy.

Morag Peacock’s Halo makes an understated entrance to the stage, but remains at all times at the heart of the story. Her humanity and radiance shines through as her desperate yearn to escape becomes more and more apparent. Yet, her vulnerability and story really come to the fore when her world falls apart, and her escape becomes a deadly dance of cat and mouse.

In comparison to Halo, Rodice Olsun is! on paper, a much more unsympathetic character. The status quo defines Rodice. Instead of working the system, the system works her, making her afraid of the outside and turning her into everything that Halo isn’t. Yet Sinead Parker’s comedic background pays dividends with a very witty and funny portrayal. With the lion’s share of gags, Parker moulds her into a force to be reckoned with.

Rounding off the ladies of the Hoop is newcomer Ellie Beesley as Ludy, the Ice Ten singer broken by the Hoop. Beesley shows promise at such a young age, no mean feat, especially as the part requires her to sing live to the audience.

Ross Kelly and Ian Winterton’s script manages to turn the soapy, episodic nature of the second book into a much more fulfilling experience. Halo’s death-defying experiences on the Clara Pandy culminate in one particularly effective sequence as she meets the Rat King.

Added into this mix is Halo’s new sidekick, Leni Murphy’s Toy. Murphy, again playing a space siren brings a mixture of steel and care to Toy with some amusing moments as she rebuffs Adam Beresford’s advances and shares some touching scenes with Halo.

Sean Mason brings in a particularly memorable performance as the Gl.. Ge.. er.. who? Joking aside, Mason brings a tangible depth to an unforgettable and mysterious character who is easily one of the more interesting things about the second act. Marvellously obvilious to Halo’s attempts at advances, Marlon Solomon flexes his comedic muscles with some impeccable comic timing as cybernetic obsessed Mix Ninegold.

With a reworked, and slightly less optimistic, ending more in tune with the comics, we are promised that Halo Jones will return, possibly hinting at an adaptation of the third book.

A few technical niggles aside, the presentation of Halo Jones was pretty much as good as it could get on stage. With a larger stage and reimagined visuals and sound, it feels more epic than ever and has clearly grown and organically evolved from its previous incarnation only earlier this year! One thing is for sure; The Ballad of Halo Jones has lost none of its relevance or style and continues to be as rich as when it was first published.

• The Fiction Stroker is actually Matt, a Environmental Consultant from just outside Manchester. By day, he’s recycling various floorcoverings into new exciting products. By night, he's either out at local events, watching some (variable) telly, or reading on his Kindle. He has a lot to talk about. Check out his blog at: http://thefictionstroker.wordpress.com



 

Alan Moore releases single in support of Occupy and Anonymous

Art: AD

Anonymous and Occupy supporters around the world are in for a special treat today, Monday 5th November, as Alan Moore, author of Watchmen and V for Vendetta from which those infamous Guy Fawkes masks became popularised, releases his first ever single as a world exclusive through Occupation Records, the record label born out of the Occupy movement.

The song, entitled 'The Decline of English Murder', tells the story of the 'English murder' imposed on the people by the greed of the banks and incompetence of the state, and is written and sung by Moore with music by Joe Brown.

Available to download via the Occupation Records website (www.occupationrecords.com), with the chance of one lucky person to win an Alan Moore signed V for Vendetta mask, this is the first single to be released from Occupation Records' upcoming second album.

A supporter of Occupy from the beginning, Alan Moore visited the Occupy London Stock Exchange camp by St Paul's in London, where he said of the Occupy movement: "A tidal wave cannot be said to have succeeded or failed. All that it can be said to have done is changed things. Often monumental ... I would say to critics - what are you doing about the current situation. If you are happy with it, what the hell is wrong with you?"

The release of Alan's track comes on the day that almost 5,000 people are potentially set to re-enact the final scene of V for Vendetta by descending on the British Parliament as part of Anonymous' Operation Vendetta (#OpVendetta), alongside other actions around the world and online.

"While tomorrow Americans decide if a candidate who ran on "change" four years ago keeps his job, we know that change never comes from leaders but always from the people. Alan's character "V" understood that perhaps better than most and why we are honoured to be able to release it," said Adam Jung, Artist Relations at Occupation Records. "As Anons prepare to march on Parliament in London, and Occupy Wall Street coordinates post-Sandy relief efforts in New York, Alan's song is an appropriate gift to the people."

Occupation Records - set up to spread the word and benefit the Occupy movement through music - on 17th September, in collaboration with Occupy Guitarmy, released a version of 'Which Side Are You On?' with Jello Biafra, Tom Morello, Occupy Guitarmy & more, recorded live at Foley Square with proceeds going to the Occupy Wall St. #S17 Bail Fund. Its debut album - Folk the Banks - was released in June 2012 on a pay what you can afford basis featuring 17 tracks from artists including Billy Bragg, Tom Morello, Ani DiFranco, Get Cape. Wear Cape and more.

The collective behind Occupation Records, who are currently involved as activists with Occupy Wall St and Occupy London, came together at the Occupy London Stock Exchange camp, putting on events with Thom Yorke (Radiohead), 3D from Massive Attack, Ani Di Franco, Billy Bragg, Enter Shikari, Alabama 3 and more.

• Occupation Records: www.occupationrecords.com

Hunt Emerson invades the iPad as Only He Can

According to comics historian Paul Gravett's 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die Hunt Emerson is "Britain's greatest underground cartoonist". According to the The Comics Journal his mind "works on a level untouched by most humans". According to the French he is, with Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton, one of the legends of underground comics.

According to his mum, he's still a lovely boy.

Now in celebration of over 35 years of cartooning madness, digital publisher Panel Nine has released The Certified Hunt Emerson - a smashing collection of his incredible work (can you tell I'm a fan of his work, yet?). The collection - available now for iPad - features over 200 pages of the finest cartoons and comics from Emerson's warped mind.

The release comes just as Knockabout and Top Shelf release Hunt's adaptation of Dante's Inferno in print, a fabulous new work by Hunt with Kevin Jackson, which is another gem of a title from the man who also created comic strip versions of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Amongst the 27 different strips included in The Certified Hunt Emerson are his collaboration with Alan Moore on Leviticus, his take on Gilbert Shelton's Freak Brothers, the adventures of cats Firkin and Calculus, Puss Puss, Alan the Rabbit and much, much more.

The one thing missing for me is his album cover for Scandal in Bohemia for Jazz Butcher, (the only album I ever bought for the cover first rather than the music but was glad I did) but hey, with digital editions there's always an update!

The comprehensive set of extras includes audio commentaries and introductions to the strips by Hunt, a stunning cover gallery spanning over three decades, a gallery of self-portraits, a special section of astounding illustrations that have rarely or never been seen, and an exclusive interview with the artist for this collection that includes embarrassing photos of Hunt and comics creators such as Bryan Talbot and Robert Crumb.

Priced at only $9.99 / £6.99, the collection is, the publisher believes, a mind-warpingly attractive bargain.

Features:

• Specially-designed Panel Mode where you can double-tap on comics pages to zoom in and swipe from panel to panel

• Audio commentary synchronized with selected pages, recorded by Hunt Emerson exclusively for the app

• Beautiful high-quality digital images, with a specially-designed user interface that gives you fast, smooth swiping from page to page and flawless pixel-per-second movement

• Visual contents and bookmarks that let you view thumbnails of all pages and navigate quickly and easily

• High-resolution JPEGs and PDFs to enable users to zoom in to panels at up to three times the original size without loss of resolution

• Introductory notes to each comic strip written by the artist

• Buy The Certified Hunt Emerson now from iTunes

Notice: Panel Nine sponsors and supports the continued production of downthetubes

Further Notice: Hunt Emerson is quite simply brilliant. We'd have published this anyway!

Rummaging Around in Alan Moore’s Shorts!

The Comics Forum has published the first in a series of articles about the short works of Alan Moore over on its blog. This series, cheekily entitled ‘Rummaging Around in Alan Moore’s Shorts’ has been guest edited by Maggie Gray, and comprises a wonderful selection of pieces on a wide variety of subjects.

The full list is:

• ‘Rummaging Around in Alan Moore’s Shorts’ (Introduction) – Maggie Gray
• ‘Doctor Who and the Genesis of Alan Moore’ – Lance Parkin
• “Will You Listen to That!”: (Dis)Ability in Moore/Willingham’s ‘In Blackest Night’ – José Alaniz
• ‘Alan Moore’s Lost Treasures: ‘The Bowing Machine’ & ‘The Hasty Smear of My Smile’’ – Marc Sobel
• ‘The shadow over Northampton: the transmogrification of the Lovecraft mythos by Alan Moore’ – Daniel Leal Werneck
• ‘Moore vs. Albarn: Between the Angels and the Apes’ – K. A. Laity

The series will be presented on the blog over the month of September; you can make sure you don’t miss any of the articles by checking http://comicsforum.org regularly, or by subscribing to their RSS feed or email subscription service.

As always, any comments are welcome.

Comics Forum was established in 2009 as part of Leeds’ annual sequential art festival Thought Bubble, which takes place at various venues across the city every November. Taking the festival’s emphasis upon the educational value of comics as its starting point, Comics Forum aims to increase the visibility and accessibility of comics scholarship through an academic conference that brings together scholars, artists and fans in a spirit of mutual cooperation and development.

Nemo: Heart of Ice set for February 2013 release

(via GOSH London): In a fast-paced, self-contained adventure, Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill will be expanding on Janni Dakkar, one of their most memorable characters created for League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century in Nemo: Heart of Ice next year.

Alan Moore first announced the 48-page project, which will again be published jointly by Knockabout and Topo Shelf back in February, describing it as a refresher between courses.

Venturing into dazzling polar territories and fictional domains including those of Edgar Allen Poe and H. P. Lovecraft, the story, due for release in February 2013, is being touted as and "unforgettable encounter at the living, beating and appallingly inhuman heart of ice".

It’s 1925 - and fifteen long years since Janni Dakkar (aka 'Pirate Jenny') first tried to escape the legacy of her science-pirate father, only to eventually take on his mantle and accept her destiny as the new Nemo; the next captain of the legendary Nautilus.

A 30-year-old Pirate Jenny, tired of punishing the world with an unending spree of plunder and destruction, now resolves to finally step from her forebear’s lengthy shadow by attempting something at which he’d conspicuously failed, namely the exploration of Antarctica.

In 1895, her father had returned from that ice-crusted continent without his reason or his crewmen, all of whom appeared to have mysteriously perished or to otherwise have disappeared. Now Captain Nemo’s daughter and successor plans to take her feared and celebrated black submersible back to the world’s South Pole in an attempt to lay her sire’s intimidating ghost forever.

There are others, though, who have become as tired of Janni’s freebooting as she herself. An influential publishing tycoon, embarrassed by the theft of valuables belonging to a visiting Ugandan monarch, sets a trio of America’s most lauded technological adventurers on the pirate queen’s trail, commencing a nightmarish chase across the frozen landscape with the pinnacles of the forbidding mountains where Prince Dakkar’s sanity had foundered growing ever nearer…

Top Shelf and Knockabout announce Alan Moore's 'Unearthing'

Top Shelf Productions and Knockabout Comics have just announced a project several years in the making: a sumptuous new book from Alan Moore, serving as a biography of his close friend and mentor Steve Moore (no relation), a history of London, a mystical journey, and a tribute to human imagination.

Described by the New York Times as a "poetic and densely allusive text," Unearthing has now been transformed by Alan Moore and photographer Mitch Jenkins into a stunning narrative art-book.

And while Unearthing will be offered in the upcoming October Diamond Previews in two editions, to help fund the production of this enormous expensive work of art, the creators have graciously agreed to an exclusive third edition incorporating a letterpress bookplate, hand-signed and numbered by Alan Moore and Mitch Jenkins, limited to 300 copies worldwide.
These 300 Signed & Numbered “double-sized hardcover” copies are being pre-sold (starting today), as a Top Shelf website exclusive.

By pre-ordering one, you’ll not only be able to secure one of these rare Signed and Numbered editions, but Top Shelf and Knockabout say you will also have done your part to help to get this gorgeous project off the ground.

An intensely poetic and innovative work of biography, Unearthing maps the lifetime of author, orientalist and occultist Steve Moore, author of various comic strips for many years but most recently the strange but compelling novel Somnium (see our news story on this from last year); while simultaneously investigating the extraordinary history of South London with which that life has been intertwined.

Integrating text with haunting and exquisite imagery Unearthing excavates a territory at the margins of a city, of reality, and of human imagination.

Starting life in Iain Sinclair’s seminal anthology LONDON: City of Disappearances, this dazzling and hypnotic piece has evolved through a series of live performances and acclaimed recordings, culminating in this breathtaking full-colour volume.

• Pre-order one now from Top Shelf

In Review: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – Century: 2009

Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Kevin O'Neill
Colourist: Ben Dimagmaliw
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Chris Staros
Publisher: Top Shelf productions / Knockabout
80 PAGES Paperback, 260 X 170mm
ISBN 9780861661633

The Book: The third chapter of the third volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen continues the adventures of the three surviving members of the League – Allan Quartermain, Wilhelmina Murray and Orlando – from the preceding instalments.

As the story begins, in the titular year of 2009, Orlando is the last survivor of a massacre he is responsible for in the fictional Middle Eastern locale of Q'Mar and about to be given a medal as a war hero. The character returns to the underground base as seen in Century: 1969, and while beginning one of his regular transformations into a woman, Orlando is visited by Prospero from the Blazing World and instructed to reform the league and find the missing Quartermain and Murray before the apocalypse they've been trying to avert all century comes to pass.

To aid Orlando on this mission, she contacts a character previously seen in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – Black Dossier for help and begins a quest to stop the now adult moon-child / Antichrist, which series antagonist Oliver Haddo has managed to create, from destroying the world.

The Review: An epic finale to volume III of the increasingly inaccurately titled League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – although a league is equivalent to three miles, common parlance would suggest it should be a team of more than three members, and volume IV looks likely to feature a league where the women outnumber the men – which sees the plot strands of the previous two instalments, as well as many elements from Black Dossier wrapped up before setting up the future of the team.

The comic displays the creative team's exemplary talent in creating a gripping, thought-provoking and entertaining title as much as ever, however while the story does provide an appealing conclusion to volume III of the franchise, 2009 is less satisfying than its predecessors in using the recent cultural landscape to provide a fictional universe.

The previous instalments of Century used iconic pieces of fiction and fact to weave compelling backdrops to each issue's story. 1910 combined The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill with Moonchild by Aleister Crowley, mixing in the actual events of the year such as the coronation of George V and the appearance of Halley's Comet, while 1969 combined elements of Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin, Performance by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg and Get Carter by Mike Hodges and Ted Lewis with the backdrop of events happening in 1969 in the lives of The Rolling Stones such as the death of Brian Jones and the band's performances in Hyde Park and Altamont.

In comparison, 2009 sees Moore and O'Neill mainly use only one popular fantasy franchise as fictional inspiration and little – beyond the opening scene in the Middle East – from the real 2009, which saw such events as increased militaristic posturing by North Korea, the second activation of the Large Hadron Collider and the death of Michael Jackson, which could have informed the plot. Vaguely hysterical newspaper headlines from around the time of the release of the comic on June 18th 2012 will probably have spoiled the identity of the Antichrist in 2009 for many people, but this was signposted in the previous instalment when Tom (whose “middle name is a Marvel” and “last name's a Conundrum”), a teacher of “occult studies at a school up North” absorbs an evil spirit and disappears through a wall next to Platform 10 at King's Cross station.

Certainly, the fictional franchise this character is the main antagonist from, is one that has been incredibly successful in both print and film formats, so you can see why it would be tempting for Moore to co-opt some of the characters and situations, particularly as the film adaptations have been a major cash cow for Time Warner, owners of previous League (and Watchmen) publishers DC Comics. However, the fictional landscape in recent years has been richer than that, regardless of Moore's protestations on the subject, so there could have also been references to the work of Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman and even the author's own work (beyond a character transforming from a 'real' person into a drawing, as previously seen in his Neonomicon). In the League's timeline, fantastical creatures were banished from the Earth in the 17^th century, but the massive re-emergence of fantasy as a genre due to the work of Pratchett, Gaiman and J.K. Rowling should have seen more fantasy in the fictional mash-up of the year being presented to us, which the League has always typified in the past.

Specific fictional events in previous instalments have come from fictions written both before and after the years each issue has been set in – for example the events in a fictional 1910 (or thereabouts) as later conceived of by Brecht and Crowley – and there have been a handful of apocalypse fictions set in 2009, such as the backstory of the films I am Legend and Roland Emmerich's 2012, not to mention alien incursions witnessed by the media in Cloverfield, Doctor Who and Torchwood – the latter two being referenced anyway via pictorial cameos by a couple of Doctors and Captain Jack Harkness. Instead, the rest of the fictional landscape of 2009 is used to cameo various British comedies from The Thick of it to The Fast Show and fifty years of James Bond on screen. One could argue the dismal world presented in Century: 2009 is due to much of our recent fiction being overshadowed by the rise of 'reality television', but if I could find half a dozen SF antecedents for a fictional 2009 by spending five minutes on wikipedia, it seems odd that Alan Moore hasn't provided his 2009 with a richer fictional backdrop.

The previous two instalments of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – Century, not to mention Black Dossier, which is also a must read to recognise a handful of returning characters and situations in Century, were more ambitious and challenging than the original two volumes published by DC. Criticisms levelled at 1910 and 1969 have been mainly due to too many obscure references and the odd habit of characters breaking into song, and neither criticism is that valid, looking at Moore's work as a whole. With 2009 both the obscure references and the singing are kept to a minimum and ironically the issue is less satisfying, as it sacrifices some of its meta-textuality for a simpler narrative than its predecessors.

However, while the main plot may be a little over-familiar and derivative – which is at least suitable, considering the franchise Moore is riffing on – the excellence of the characterisation both in terms of script and Kevin O'Neill's sensitive handling of the characters is as great as ever. The continuing theme of immortals dealing with the emotional and intellectual problems of their continued existence becomes increasingly paramount in this instalment (references to baryonic matter and immortality via Century's back-up text story 'Minions of the Moon', suggest an influence by Stephen Baxter, a writer who's also a fan of and sequel writer to the works of H.G. Wells and Arthur C. Clarke) and I sincerely look forward to the continuation of this narrative in volume IV and the proposed shorter issues set in between the instalments we have already.

WebFinds: Writing Comics Resource

Lee Robson and Matthew Badham alerted me to this last month but it got buried in my in-tray. Writer-To-Watch-Out-For Dan Hill has managed to recompile a huge collection of articles and links from professional comic writers about the various aspects of the creative process that originally appeared on the now defunct Warren Ellis forum, The Engine.

The articles cover pretty much everything you could ever want to know about the process of writing comics, from moulding the initial idea all the way through to pitching it, and all of them are written by pros from across the industry, including Chuck Dixon, Matt Fraction, Gail Simone, Warren Ellis, Mark Waid, Kurt Busiek and a shed load more.

You can find the page at this link: http://dan-hill.org/services, but here's a small selection of what he's unearthed...

• Breaking In Without Rules by Kurt Busiek



• Survival Tips For The Newbie Writer by Gail Simone



• Comic Storytelling Tips by Lee Sullivan



• What A Comics Script Is For by Warren Ellis



• Advice on Writing Comics and Breaking in by Brian K. Vaughan



• Writing Comics by Mike Baron



• On Writing For Comics by Kurt Busiek



• Script Writing by Jeph Loeb and Alan Moore



• Comics Storytelling Tips That Work by John Freeman (who?)



• How To Survive Writing A Graphic Novel by Grady Klein



• Top 10 Writing Tips For Comic Book Writers by Kris Simon (Image Shadowline)

99 Per Cent launch record label - backed by Alan Moore

Occupation Records: The 99 per cent to launch a record label from You and I Films on Vimeo.

Occupation Records is a benefit record label set up to fund Occupy London and the global occupy movement. The label is run under the ethos of Occupy and has recently been backed by V for Vendetta creator Alan Moore.

In the drive to gain funds for the project, Occupation Records are offering signed "V" masks by Alan, as well as signed copies of V for Vendetta, limited and signed prints by Jamie Reid (who designed all the Sex Pistols album art) as well as vinyls, CD's and T's in exchange for donations to support the label and the work of Occupy.

"Music has the power to inspire and reach people who haven't heard about Occupy yet - and that's what Occupation Records intends to do," said a team spokesperson. "Also lots of artists want to find a way to help and thank those already involved and we can help them with that.

"We are creating a new record label that plans to help musicians and artists around the world to get involved, build, support and fund the Occupy movement in London, around the UK and Ireland, and globally.

"All profits from Occupation Records releases will go to Occupy London, occupations across the UK and Ireland, and the global movement."

Financial support will help fund start up costs for Occupation Records as they prepare for the release of the Folk the Banks album - and the other four albums currently being lined up! The initial funding asked for includes office set up costs, marketing, licensing, manufacturing and worldwide distribution costs.

• To fund the project and be in with the opportunity to grab some of those goodies, visit: www.sponsume.com/project/occupation-records-99-cent-launch-record-label

Re-staging Halo Jones: the inside story

When the Forbidden Planet International blog heard that there was going to be a new stage version of Halo Jones produced at the Lass O'Gowrie pub in Manchester (a spot already well known to local science fiction and comics fans), they sent roving reporter Bat Cardigan to find out what it was all about!

The following interview with Lass landlord and staunch comics and SF supporter and promoter, Gareth Kavanagh is the result of Bat's Mancunian adventure and is re-published here on downthetubes with full permission of all involved (thank you!)... 

Bat: Gareth, who are you and why would what you're doing be of interest to readers of the FPI blog?

Gareth: Well, over on Twitter I describe myself as "award-winning Northern hospitality operator, management consulting guru, publisher of Vworp Vworp and gentleman of the road."

In essence, I own and operate the Lass O'Gowrie, a very nice little pub down the side of the old BBC [in Manchester] and publish a very nice fanzine and (with luck) comics if we can get the rights to the odd interesting property.

I suppose it's of interest because I use the Lass as a platform for all the things I love, so it's festooned with original comic art, old collectables and vintage arcade machines. We also programme plenty of genre shows, including, come January, Russell T Davies' Midnight and a brand new adaptation of Halo Jones. 

Bat: Please tell us about this new production of Halo Jones? It's not just a re-staging of the 1980s stage play, is it? Who's involved and what's your role?

Gareth: No, it's a fresh adaptation of Books One and Two, going back to the source material. The odd thing we'll be looking at [changing] and there are a lot of healthy debates going on in the team as to location, characters and design.

There are some practical things to get over too, so Toby is now a humanoid dog character to get him off all fours, but it works trust me! I'm involved this time round as Producer, so I'm overseeing it, chipping in where I see fit and making useful suggestions.

The chaps have termed me Joel Silver, which I'm taking in the spirit it was intended (honest; you're fired, chaps!). Alongside me is Ross Kelly, who has been scripting, Daniel Thackery who is directing and a top-secret script editor who has asked not to be revealed, but has been brilliant to work with.

And, as of today, we've cast all but one of the roles and it's the best cast I've ever worked with. We've settled on Louise Hamer as Halo and she's perfect. See Casting Call Pro [now The Mandy Network - Ed] if you don't believe me. In fact, if you don't fall in love with Halo all over again after this then frankly, you're dead inside.

Bat: Halo Jones is part of the Mid-Winter Lassfest. What else have you got on that may be of interest to the blog's readers?




Gareth: A whole heap of goodies. An event with genre publisher Hirst Books. They will be bringing along a host of his writers for a day on Saturday, 7th January. Three episodes of Coronation Street from 1968 penned by the legendary Jack Rosenthal and performed on the ground floor of the pub, cast by the great June West of the Road to Coronation Street fame.

A revival of Jack's Play for Today from 1974, Hot Fat', never since repeated and the tapes have been long wiped by the BBC.

Oh, and an adaptation of Russell T. Davies' Midnight, originally from the 2008 run of Doctor Who in our claustrophobic Salmon Room upstairs.

Bat: How did you get permission to put on a performance of Halo Jones and also Russell T Davies' Midnight?

 G: Well, we asked Rebellion [publishers of 2000AD] very nicely and they very kindly allowed us to perform Halo. Similarly with Russell, who is a fan of [Gareth's rightly celebrated Doctor Who fanzine] Vworp Vworp and knows the Lass from his BBC Manchester days (apparently he lost his watch there in the 1990s. We've still not found it!), although what we're adapting is the script and characters created by Russell. Nowhere are the Doctor or Donna to be seen, but a brand new mysterious stranger known only as John Smith. You may recognise him. 

Bat: Word is that you had to chat to Tharg himself, the mighty Mr. Moore and that you've been seen in the company of television giant, Russell T Davies. It must be a big thrill to be rubbing shoulders with (or making phone calls to) these guys. Are you in geek heaven?

Gareth : Oh absolutely. In fact, it's like being controller of your own TV channel! Alan has been very kind to us with Vworp Vworp and he's such a pleasure to work with. I was adamant we wouldn't do Halo unless Alan was cool with it, even though it's not his IP, it's important to let people know what you're about and what we're here for.
Ditto with Russell who we've got to know again through Vworp Vworp, so we want it to be right.

 The Lass doesn't profit by a penny from Halo or Midnight. We do it, because we want to and we love the material. And it's often completely forgotten, but these guys are fans of things too. We're all fans.

Adrian Salmon's original art for the
new Halo Jones play poster

Bat: Please tell us about the theatre space you've got at the Lass.

Gareth : Well, we have a wee space above the pub called the Salmon Room (named after our good pal, the artist Adrian Salmon) which we've developed as we've gone along into a great studio space that seats around 35 people. Our budget is non-existent, but we work our capital hard and with support from sponsors, we do manage miracles. Of course, a first for us this January is to use the ground floor of the pub to stage things, so Halo and Corrie will be down there and that will be amazing.

Bat: Tell us about the mighty publishing adventure that has been Vworp Vworp. It's a fanzine that, I think, is fair to say, has exceeded expectations?

Gareth: Again, we've been blown away by the supper for our little fanzine, but the love and nostalgia seems to have been there, which is lovely. I mean, what could be better than publishing a lost Abslom Daak tale from Steve Moore?

Plus, working with people whose work I so admire like Steve Dillon, Steve Moore, Dez Skinn, Mick McMahon, Alan McKenzie, Ade Salmon and Martin Geraghty is so not work. It's an honour.

Bat: What's the word on Vworp Vworp 3? What's in it and when's it out?'

Gareth: Well we're beavering away myself and co-editor Colin Brockhurst and we're aiming for Summer 2012. And you can look forward to a frankly amazing chat with Alan Moore talking about his early Doctor Who and Empire Strikes Back strips, his thoughts on contemporary Doctor Who and something so top secret, you'll weep when you read it.

Elsewhere, we've more Abslom Daak as well as a sequel to the seminal Iron Legion strip penned by Lance Parkin with pencils and inks by Dan McDaid and colours by Charlie Kirchoff. And, of course, another wizard free gift that will top issue #1 2s transfers and #2 2s Weetabix cards.

Bat: What's next for you, the Lass and for your 
adventures in pub theatre?

Gareth: Well, we've ambitions for a much bigger space up there to make the Lass a proper, London-style theatrepub. We'll see.

Bat: Finally, there's quite a lot going on year round at the Lass. What regular events might the blog's readers want to pop along to?

Gareth: We open our doors to Doctor Who fans on the last Saturday of every month in the Snug for drinks and the occasional screenings. We also hold retro gaming nights on the second Friday and last Tuesday of the month, as well as open mics, book clubs, karaoke, meat-free Mondays and the like. Come see us on Facebook, or bob over to www.thelass.co.uk!'  

Thanks to Gareth and Bat for taking the time to conduct this interview. Bat, a short, balding man with (according to his dad) shifty eyes' was last seen at Manchester Piccadilly Station clutching a stained copy of Fantastic Four #6. If anyone has any information about his whereabouts, please contact us here at the blog. His mum is very worried about him. ' (To be honest, we're not that bothered, we know he'll come home when he gets hungry enough.) 

• The Halo Jones stage production runs from the 2nd to 7th January, a fine way to start the New Year if you're in town please do go along and give them some support.'

• Read the original interview here: http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2012/manchesters-answer-to-joel-silver-an-interview-with-gareth-kavanagh/'