Panel Borders: Alan Moore and the Horrors at Red Hook

Continuing the Panel Borders radio show's month of shows about H.P. Lovecraft, Alex Fitch talks to Alan Moore about his final graphic novel that isn't part of the continuing League of Extraordinary Gentlemen narrative - Neonomicon - which has been published, along with its prequel The Courtyard, as a graphic novel by Avatar Press.

Both comics follow on from Lovecraft's tale 'The Horror at Red Hook' and Alan discusses why he chose that story in particular to explore further, plus the origins of The Courtyard in an abandoned short story collection called 'Yuggoth Cultures', and examples of Lovecraftian imagery in his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen saga.


Neonomicon is the full-colour sequel to The Courtyard, with original series artist Jacen Burrows providing art, in which Alan Moore takes his re-invention of HP Lovecraft mythos to new levels of madness as investigators look into what happened to legendary FBI man Aldo Sax.  The path it leads them down is one of the most intense and disturbing works Moore has ever written. 

• Panel Borders: Alan Moore and the horrors at Red Hook - the show's 250th episode - airs at 8.00pm, Sunday 11th December 2011, Resonance 104.4 FM/ / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / extended podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

Titan Books lands Avatar Press distribution rights for the UK

Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin
will be distributed in the UK by Titan Books

Titan Books has announced it is partnering with Avatar Press, the highly regarded independent American publisher of comic books, founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, to distribute their award-winning line to the book trade in the UK and Ireland.

Featuring exciting work from major stars of the comic book universe including Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, George RR Martin, Christos Gage, David Lapham, and more, Avatar Press is notable for offering creators an opportunity to publish creator-owned books with no content restrictions whatsoever.

Titan plans to distribute approximately 40 new books a year, with full PR and marketing campaigns on lead titles. In addition Titan will make the rich Avatar back catalogue fully available to the book trade.

The first titles will include Game of Thrones author George R.R Martin’s Fevre Dream, Night of the Living Dead 2 and Alan Moore’s much anticipated Neonomicon, which will all be available in the UK from Titan in late 2011.

Fevre Dream is an adaptation of George R.R Martin’s 1982 historical horror novel about vampires on antebellum Mississippi river steamboats. "'Bram Stoker meets Mark Twain,' one might say," says the author of the book, "or even 'Huck Finn Meets Dracula.'" It was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award.

“We're proud and delighted to be working with a wonderful publisher like Avatar," commented Publisher Nick Landau, currently at the San Diego Comic Con, "and are confident we will raise their business to new levels in the UK”.

“The UK book market is a challenging environment to sell into," notes William A. Christensen, CEO of Avatar Press. "We are happy to have an institution like Titan Books to help us navigate the waters and provide long-standing relationships with the biggest booksellers. The opportunity to work together with their highly regarded distribution network will allow us to reach new readers in the UK.”

Avatar Press produces a wide variety of cutting-edge comic books, graphic novels, and original web content. Their high-quality publications include the work of such industry luminaries as David Lapham (Caligula, Crossed: Psychopath), Alan Moore (Neonomicon), Warren Ellis (FreakAngels), and Garth Ennis (Crossed, Chronicles of Wormwood). They also produce a diverse range of licensed projects including the classic zombie epic Night of the Living Dead and George RR Martin’s Fevre Dream.

Titan Books is part of the Titan Publishing Group, an independently owned publishing company, established in 1981. With offices in London's Bankside area, close to Tate Modern, the company publishes books and magazines on a world English basis, as well as territory by territory, with domestic sales teams and distribution in the US, UK, Australia & New Zealand, and export agents in other territories. The Books Division has four main areas of publishing: film, TV and music; fiction; graphic novels; and illustrated books.

Its own catalogue includes a range of British comic collections including Charley's War by Pat Mills and Joe Colqhuhoun and Darkie's Mob by John Wagner and Mike Western.

• For more about Titan Books range visit: http://titanbooks.com

•  For more information about Avatar Press, their publications, and creators visit www.avatarpress.com

Warren Ellis' Supergod debuts in October

Warren Ellis has been talking about his new Supergod project for Avatar Press, which launches in October.

"I think of it as the third leg of a superhero-fiction trilogy, following Black Summer and No Hero," he reveals on his web site. This one is much more of a science-fiction piece."

In the world of Supergod, superhumans are the ultimate expression of the Messiah complex, and scientists can build Messiahs who will fly down from the skies to save the world. Unfortunately, no-one thought about how they’d save the world — or even if they’d want to...

So begins the apocalyptic tomorrow of Supergod — the story of how supermen killed us all and ended the world just because we wanted to be rescued by human-shaped things from beyond Science itself.

"Take every superhero comic ever published, shove them into a nuclear-powered blender, soak it in bad vodka and set the whole thing alight — and Supergod will crawl out and eat your brain," Warren assures us.

In addition to the standard cover for #1 above, there will be various variant covers including a wraparoud and an "extremely pure and pious" Church of Supergod variant cover.

• Watch out for more info over at warrenellis.com.

Johnston Announces new Comic Comment Site

Lying in the Gutters columnist Rich Johnston has posted his final column for Comic Book Resources this week, but he isn't finished with the industry, because he's about to launch a whole web site devoted to comics comment. The site, Bleeding Cool, will launch on 1st June.

"A good gossipmonger never dies," says Rich over on Warren Ellis' Whitechapel site today. "He just goes from a weekly column to a daily blogsite.

"Bleeding Cool will feature everything you love and hate about Lying In The Gutters, but every day, reacting to topical news and featuring a host of columns, features, interviews, reviews, previews and… let’s go with familiar names. Expect real innovation."

The site is funded by Avatar Press, who have promised a hands-off editorial process, but whom Rich says he'll give an Avatar Plug Of The Week to to keep them happy. It will also feature other contributors, including Warren Ellis.

Cool!

Moore's 'Beat Poem' Finally Published

US publisher Avatar Press has announced publication of Light of Thy Countenance, an adaptation of Alan Moore’s damning poem/essay on television, fully painted by Felipe Massafera, five years after the script was written.

Moore wrote might best be described as a freestyle beat poem for the anthology Forbidden Acts in 1995, which was adapted five years ago by Antony Johnson, who describes it as a damning essay and historical treatise all in one, "condemning both the bland, commercial and hypocritical disgrace that has usurped the medium's potential, and the sheep who accept such dross without criticism.

"I wasn’t sure would ever see the light of day (no pun intended)," he comments on his web site, after Avatar Creative Director Mark Seifert announced the book would be published in January 2009 in a thread on Whitechapel, Warren Ellis’ message board.

"[It's] a piece which is both enlightening and disturbing," says Antony, whose numerous credits include Wasteland, Dead Space and other adaptations of Moore's work such as The Hypothetical Lizard and The Courtyard. "I actually finished the script for this book more than five years ago but finding someone capable of illustrating it has been tough -- it’s a very demanding script that requires a fanatical attention to detail, enormous amounts of visual research, and a somewhat surrealist imagination. I’m glad to see it’s finally on the way."

Artist Felipe Massafera also painted the cover to The Hypothetical Lizard: he's a hugely talented painter whose work includes covers of Doktor Sleepless, Lady Death and more. He recently donated a painting of Bizarro to the Siegel & Shuster Society, to save the house in which Superman was created for more access to the site, which sold for $255 on eBay. More information on that campaign on the OrdinaryPeopleChangeTheWorld web site.

• More information on Antony Johnson's web site
• Flickr gallery for Light of the Countenance

Ellis has new novel on the way

Warren Ellis, who recently swept the boards in the 20007 Eagle Awards, the writer behind Transmetropolitan, Planetary, and Marvel's hot new Thunderbolts, has put his uniquely deranged imagination to work on a brand-new series, Doktor Sleepless, from Avatar Press this July.

He recently talked to the web site Playback about Doktor Sleepless and also about his first novel (Crooked Little Vein, due out this summer in the US from William Morrow and August in the UK from HarperCollins).

A story centring on a burned-out private detective enlisted by an army of presidential goons to retrieve the U.S. Constitution -- the real one -- it sounds to me that this might just be the kind of tale to get picked up as a film.

• Click here to read the interview on the Playback site