Second Glasgow Comic Convention proves success

Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely at Glasgow Comic Con 2012. Photo: Craig Hastie of Comics Anonymous

David Robertson of Fred Egg Comics reports on a weekend offering a range of big name guests and upcoming comics revelations... Photos kindly provided by Craig Hastie at Comics Anonymous

The second Glasgow Comic Convention moved into two venues this year, giving more room, with small pressers, Waterstones and various signings happening right across the street from The Mackintosh Church at Queens Cross Hall. The event was still a bit tight at times. At one point there was a single line of people that split off to Jim Starlin sketching, a snack / coffee vendor and the toilet.

There were lots of events on, and as with all cons, you had to pick and choose. The first talk I attended was a panel with writers David Bishop, Alan Grant and John Wagner and Multiverse editor Mike Conroy asking the usual questions such as “Why do you think 2000AD has lasted so long?” David Bishop came up with a memorable line, describing the big superhero companies constant representing of their characters and stories as “rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic”.

Next was a Cosmic comics talk with artists Rufus Dayglo and Jim Starlin and writer Eddie Deighton. Dayglo swore a lot, which was disconcerting as there were a fair amount of kids in the room. He also was the most politically vocal of all the guests over the weekend, stating his displeasure at Marvel Comics’ poor treatment of Jack Kirby’s estate.

Artist Jim Starlin. Photo: Craig Hastie 
of Comics Anonymous

Jim Starlin was asked what he thought of the movies that featured the characters he’d created to which he remarked that he had to pay to see (SPOILER WARNING) Avengers, in which Thanos pops up at the end for 30 seconds. He wryly commented that he could find no fault with it.

During Saturday, attendees were encouraged to vote in the SICBA Awards for small press comics. The books were available to read to help you make your choice, and the winners were announced on Saturday night.

There are always things going on at comics conventions that make you wonder what the connection is to comics. The ICW Wrestlers were in attendance, ostensibly to judge a cosplay competition, but really to stage one of their mock bouts onstage to publicise an event they were holding in Glasgow on Sunday night.

Changes to the schedule meant that after going across the road to see Jim Starlin signing as advertised I found he was actually in the church in the dealers’ hall. Also Mike Ploog and Colin MacNeill did not turn up at all, which was disappointing.

Frank Quitely and Grant Morrison appeared on stage to end Saturday. Maintaining his mystique, Morrison appeared only as he walked onstage. He seemed a bit nervous at first, which was perhaps understandable as he was appearing to his home crowd. Notable in his talk was his statement that in his upcoming revamp of the Charlton Comics characters, he plans to update the storytelling techniques of Watchmen. The example he gave was that instead of having a nine panel grid structure on each page, he would have eight panels. This talk was a lot shorter than advertised so they could move on to a signing session.

Cosplayers at the Con. 
Photo: Craig Hastie of 
Comics Anonymous

Sunday was a quieter day from the beginning. It started off with a quiz. Comedian Billy Kirkwood was shouting in order to get the crowd enthused, and asked a organiser if he was allowed to swear. The answer came in the affirmative and it wasn’t long before we’d heard more swearing onstage.

Then came Rufus Dayglo and Karrie Fransman. They were the first comics creators of the weekend to actually talk about making comics, which was great. Specifically, they talked about how they approach the blank page and decide what to put in their stories. Dayglo said he was sick of reading dark superhero stories all the time, and laughingly pointed out a Batman cosplayer off to one side of the stage – “I can see Batman over there giving me the evil eye; “I’ll pull you offstage. I’ll f*** you up”

During John Wagner’s talk he revealed that he can see himself retiring very soon. He said there is one more Judge Death story that he thinks looks really great. Wagner became very enthusiastic when talking about his hobby/small business of keeping chickens and selling eggs around his village.

I quickly ran off to catch up with Frank Quitely, whom I’d first met at Dundee Comics Day last year. He always makes time to encourage small pressers.

Although he wasn’t scheduled to do so, Jim Starlin spent all weekend signing and sketching. In the final talk of the weekend, he revealed that he made up his Warlock stories in the 1970s by sitting down, drawing and making it up as he went along. He also said that when he killed off Robin in Batman, it created lots of publicity, but there was masses of merchandise that featured Robin still in the stores and so Starlin’s name became mud and his DC work dried up in the space of two weeks.

Starlin stated that both his own mother and his mother-in-law are both very ill and this is inspiring him in a direction for a final Dreadstar story. Starlin’s talk was a really great way to end the weekend and when it was over he received an ovation that appeared to make him a bit embarrassed.

The weekend was very enjoyable, and I hope the rumours of a third next year turn out to be true.

Craig Hastie, Sha Nazir of Black Hearted Press, Frank Quitely and Jim Stewart 
on stage at Glasgow Comic Con 2012.
Photo courtesy of Craig Hastie of Comics Anonymous

Edinburgh Napier Creative Writing course plans 'Open Doors' event

The Creative Writing MA at Edinburgh Napier University has been called 'a radical departure' by The Times newspaper, and 'a life changing experience' by recent students.

On Wednesday 27th June, there's a chance to discover how the course could help you make writing your career with an Open Doors Event at the University. It features taster sessions that give you a flavour of the course's unique approach and you'll have the chance to quiz current students about their experiences, tour the creative writing suite, and ask the staff anything you want to know.

This event also offers the exclusive opportunity for a one-to-one consultation with reader-in-residence Stuart Kelly, and finishes with a special performance by writer-in-residence Robert Shearman (writer of the Doctor Who episode 'Dalek', among other things).

- You can order your ticket(s) here and there's a full itinerary which includes a talk by former 2000AD editor David Bishop, here

Graphic Novel Night in Polmont

To tie-in with World Book Night, Meadowbank Library in Polmont near Falkirk will be holding a free Graphic Novel Night on Saturday 21 April 2012.

Running from 1900 -2130 the event will bring together graphic novelists and artists to discuss their work and will also include a workshop on comics, small press publishers selling their novels, artists and writers signing sessions, an exhibition of art work and, as part of World Book Night, a free book giveaway.

Creators currently scheduled to appear are David Bishop, Edinburgh based writer and former editor of 2000AD, writer John Chalmers and artist Sandra Marrs of Glasgow's Metaphrog who produce the Louis series of graphic novels, Ed Murphy of Glasgow publishers Rough Cut Comics who publish Rose Black and Demon Seed, and James Lundy of Armadale's small press Emancipation Studios whose current title is Wired.

There are more details of the event on the Falkirk Community Trust website.

There are more details of the venue on the Meadowbank Library website.

Happy Birthday, 2000AD! From former Tharg David Bishop

Artwork for 'The Visible Man', a strip
considered for the launch of 2000AD
View the comic's original dummy

Name: David Bishop

Blog: viciousimagery.blogspot.com

Currently working on: 

Writing for the BBC1 drama series Doctors. My next episode, Fragile Strength, is scheduled to be broadcast on Tuesday May 8th this year.

I lecture part-time on the Creative Writing MA at Edinburgh Napier University, where we offer a unique module in writing for graphic fiction. Guest speakers on the module last year included Andy Diggle, Emma Hayley from selfmadehero, Gordon Rennie, Colin MacNeil and Scott Montgomery from Commando.

First memory of 2000AD? 

The Visible Man - I was fascinated by the fact you could see his guts through see-through skin.

Favourite Character or Story?

1. Judge Dredd, especially when written by John Wagner or Wagner & Grant - satirical, heroic, cynical, brilliant.

2. Nikolai Dante, written by Robbie Morrison - this swashbuckling character's been on amazing 15-year odyssey, just sad it's ending soon.

3. Cradlegrave, written by John Smith - this deserves to be on Channel 4.

What do you like most about the 2000AD? 

The anthology format - even if you hate a story in a particular prog, there'll be something else you love in the same issue.

What would you most like to see in 2000AD as it heads to its Forties? 

Innovation, new talent and boldness - as in the best periods of the past 35 years.

If you worked on 2000AD, do you have an anecdote you'd like to share about your experience of Tharg and his minions? 

Shameless plug moment: all my best anecdotes - at least the ones I could mention without fear of prosecution or legal action - are in THRILL-POWER OVERLOAD, my book detailing the first 30 years of 2000AD.

• This post is one in a series of tributes to 2000AD to mark its 35th birthday on 26th February 2012. More about 2000AD at www.2000adonline.com

2000AD © Rebellion

Comic Art Module launches soon at Jordanstone

A module which looks at historical and contemporary comic art practices and will include visits by top British comic creators is due to commence at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design at the University of Dundee this month.

The expansive module will be available to current level 3 undergraduate students studying under the Communication Design umbrella.

The module will be a mixture of theoretical and practical lectures, seminars and workshops delivered in the studio and in conjunction with the School of Humanities. The module is unique in the current programmes offered in Scottish art colleges and will run for the duration of Semester 1.

Top industry speakers and guests such as Cam Kennedy, Frank Quietly, Colin MacNeil and David Bishop will make visits to the College, delivering workshops and offering practical and career advice to students.

The comics market is part of an ever expanding multi-million pound industry, which feeds into the games, TV and film markets, and the emerging field of Comics Studies, in which the University of Dundee is leading the way, shows students the various ways in which popular culture engages with industry and commerce.

Freelance designer and animator Phillip Vaughan,
who authored the Comic Art Module
at Duncan of Jordanstone College.

"You only have to look at the recent slew of Hollywood comic book adaptations to see that the comics industry can be very lucrative for a top creator," argues freelance designer and animator Phillip Vaughan, who authored the module and who lectures at Duncan of Jordanstone. "We hope to discover the next big comic book talent here in Duncan of Jordanstone!"

Phillip has over 15 years experience in graphic, print and interactive design, motion graphics and the 3D computer games industry and has worked on high profile licenses such as Braveheart, Star Trek, Tom and Jerry, Teletubbies, and Wallace & Gromit, subsequently working as a cut-scene producer for Farscape. He also realised a lifelong ambition and worked with the creators of Judge Dredd on a video game project for Digital Animations.

The students will be tasked to produce an anthology publication in print and in a digital format, utilising their own original concepts and characters. By the end of the module students will be in possession of a creative piece of work which could form part of a portfolio.

The opportunity is to open up an area of undergraduate study that is currently very much underrepresented in the UK, and to take advantage of the increasing demand for courses dealing with comics and graphic novels. The University of Dundee’s commitment to this is seen in the recent launch of the MLitt in Comic Studies by the School of Humanities, led by Dr Chris Murray.

Murray, who is course leader of the postgraduate MLitt in Comics Studies is backing the module at Duncan of Jordanstone, and will assist in delivering it, just as Phillip Vaughan will assist with the delivery of the MLitt course on comics.

"I'm very happy to see Duncan of Jordanstone taking on this course” he says. "It has been obvious for a while looking at the Degree Shows that students at DJCAD are very influenced by comics, so there is a clear demand for this course.

“I’ve supervised dissertations on comics and graphic novels by art students at the College for several years now but it is clear that what they have been looking for has been a creative outlet and a dedicated module in this area," he continues, "so Phil’s course is a very positive development, and fits in very nicely indeed with what I’m doing at the School of Humanities.

"Collaboration between Humanities and the Art College has been a very important part of making the development of Comics Studies at Dundee possible, and we have plans to pursue this further, making Dundee a focal point for comics training, teaching and research”.

• For more information contact: p.b.vaughanATdundee.ac.uk or visit: http://www.dundee.ac.uk/djcad

Dan Dare of Eagle Force? A British comics mystery...

The mystery Dan Dare art - who
drew it, who wrote the script and
what was it for?

(Updated 28/2/11 PM) Dan Dare and Eagle fans were spoilt for choice last December and January when, in addition to the latest Dan Dare reprint book, Trip to Trouble, released by Titan Books, two other books on the creation of the original 1950s Dan Dare comic strip in Eagle were published. One was Tomorrow Revisited by Alistair Crompton, his long awaited follow up to The Man Who Drew Tomorrow, which focused on Dare creator Frank Hampson and was lushly illustrated with Eagle pages reprinted from the original art boards.

The other was the more mass market Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future: A Biography by Daniel Tatarsky, which dealt with Dan Dare throughout the 1950s and 1960s along with mentions of his ongoing adventures elsewhere and with a few illustrated colour sections amongst the text.

Both books received good reviews but one image used in The Biography, not picked up by the reviewers, started to puzzle some Eagle fans.

The colour end pieces of the book have illustrations of original Dan Dare art boards. Both the front and back have the same head shot of Dare as well as each having separate full pages of painted comic strip. At the rear is a page from the Dan Dare story The Moonsleepers featuring Dan, Digby and the villain Xel while the front has a page featuring a space fighter training session run, apparently, by Colonel Dan Dare for an organisation called Eagle Force.

The Xel page was published in Eagle Vol 16 No 16 (17 April 1965) as the second page of that week's Dan Dare story but, so far, no one seems to recognise the other one and it was not referenced in the book's text. Since Eagle has had an active fandom since the 1960s and the current Eagle fanzine, Eagle Times, is now in its 24th year, it was very unusual for anything new or unknown to turn up.

This image shows where lettering
balloons once were.

The page is fully painted with stuck on hand written lettering much of which has now separated from the board and is missing. While this makes it more difficult to determine what is happening in the story it appears to be a space fighter training session run by a colonel for an organisation called Eagle Force. Since the colonel character has a kinked eyebrow (and it is published in a Dan Dare book) the assumption is that the character is Dan Dare. However no fans remember a published Dan Dare story in which he works for "Eagle Force" and the artist has not been identified.

Biography author Daniel Tatarsky told downthetubes the art was supplied direct from Dan Dare copyright holder Colin Frewin, and was a piece bought from Sothebys in a whole package of Dan Dare artwork. "We have the full artwork frame," says Colin, "but there is no signature or detail on it."

So what is it, who wrote the story and who drew it?

Since the art is fully painted, it is most likely aimed at an annual or a photogravure publication such as a high quality weekly comic or a summer special. The style suggests 1970s or 1980s although lettering stuck straight on the art board was going out of fashion in the 1980s. But if it isn't from original Eagle, 2000AD or new Eagle, or their annuals or summer specials, then where is it from?

It isn't the unused Dan Dare strip created by Costas for the 2000AD dummy issue which is illustrated in David Bishop's Thrill Power Overload. "None of the dummy material for 2000AD was in colour," he tells us, bar a very bad colour rough. Certainly none of the strip work was in colour, nor was much of it lettered."

Pat Mills, who worked on later incarnations of Dan Dare for 2000AD and new Eagle, is equally mystified, but agrees with us that it seems to echo the kind of action associated with Star Wars X-Wing fighters from the 1977 film. "I think you're right in your analysis," he says. "My guess is this was something devised after I'd left 2000AD, perhaps commissioned by Kelvin Gosnell post Star Lord.

A dummy cover for a proposed 1970s
version of Eagle, using art by Frank
Bellamy.

"Then again, it's quite conservative - despite the Star Wars veneer - so it may have been a traditionalist at Fleetway who devised this."

Could it be an unused story intended for a 1970s Eagle annual, as those annuals had stories increasingly divorced from the original Hampson Dan Dare concept? In 1998, Sufferin' Satellites fanzine published artwork by Frank Bellamy for a dummy of a 1970s Eagle comic that never happened - could it be a strip page from that dummy?

At present, we know more about what it isn't, rather than what it actually is. It certainly wasn't commissioned by New Eagle editor Barrie Tomlinson.

"This doesn't ring a bell," says Barrie, whose more recent work includes writing the recently-ended Scorer for the Mirror. But he thinks he does know who drew it (as do some other Eagle and Battle fans).

"Do my beady old eyes deceive me... is the artwork by Joe Colquhoun?" he suggests, directing us to the artist on Charley's War and early episodes of Johnny Red. "I never realised he worked on Dan Dare."

Battle Picture Weekly Dave Hunt tells us it's a possibility, although he can't be definite. "When the 'New Eagle' was being thought of and during its early production, Barrie and myself invited a clutch of top British artists to have some fun and complete a Dan Dare sample page for our consideration," he tells us. "I can only think that this just might be one of those sample pages.

"While I'm pretty sure that the mighty Joe Colquhoun did complete a Dan Dare page and that this artwork could well be from him, I would not be 100% certain that this is indeed his work. You have to remember that Joe was heavily committed to the incredible Charley's War series at about the time we started 'New Eagle' and subsequently he would have been working day and night on that masterpiece. "

However, while the colouring might suggest Joe's work there are no distinctive Colquhoun faces, and his daughter Jane tells us she has had a look in diaries of the dates we suggested it might have been and there is no mention of a Dan Dare cover. "Dad seemed to list JR (Johnny Red) and CW then series number and whether or not he had an additional cover to do and often how many pages," she says. "But there's no mention at all of Dan Dare cover.

"He probably would have said no because his work load with the other strips was always rather overwhelming, especially if they threw in a cover as well.

"My mother thinks that he would have mentioned it and he didn't, so it may not be by him after all."

We can also tell you it wasn't drawn by two other suggested artists, Oliver Frey or David Pugh.

"It's definitely not me," says Oliver, whose comics art credits include War Picture Library and Trigan Empire. "I only got to do any Dan Dare from around 1980: two Annual covers, some Specials, then stories for the cheap and pulpy Eagle; all with the revamped 'modern' Dan.

"Unfortunately, while I recognise the style, I can't put a name to the creator. But this is still the original look Dan… so it goes back way before my time."

"Despite working on Dare from 1989-1994, I've not come across this piece of art," says David Pugh, who now has scans of much of his art on his Facebook fan page and will soon be selling much of it for charity. "It must be a try out before my time," he suggests, "as I was responsible for bringing in the more macho/aliens look to the strip, which a lot of the traditionalists hated."


Despite help from the comic creators listed above, plus David Bishop, Martin Morgan, Richard Sheaf, the Dan Dare Yahoo Group, at the moment Dan Dare of Eagle Force - and the artist who drew it - remains an intriguing British comics mystery.

If you can identify the page, whether it is from Dan Dare or another comic strip, or suggest who the artist is then feel free to leave a comment.

With thanks to Colin Frewin, Pat Mills, Daniel Tatarsky -- and many others!

Dan Dare © Colin Frewin And Associates

Oxfam Comics Event 2010 - Saturday 17 July

The Oxfam Comic Event 2010 will be taking place next Saturday, 17 July 2010, as part of the 2010 Oxfam Bookfest. The Comic Event begins at Noon in Edinburgh's MacDonald Road Library which is only a 10 - 15 minute walk from the city's main bus and train stations. This is an informal discussion based event with comics and books from Oxfam's three Edinburgh charity bookshops available to buy on the day.

After last year's discussions about Scotland in comics and Scottish comics in general, this year's theme will be the evolution of a comic from original idea to writing, art and publishing. Since our last post more guests have been confirmed and the current guest list includes - 2000AD and Megazine writer Gordon Rennie, Superman and Batman artist Frank Quitely, Marvel Heroes and Commando writer Ferg Handley, 2000AD writer and editor David Bishop, Doctor Who Adventures artist John Ross, DC Thomson artist Gordon Tait and DC Thomson archivist Morris Heggie.

Tickets, priced at only £3 - the same as last year, will be available on the door but are also available in advance from eBay and the Morningside Oxfam Bookshop which once again is organising the event. It is located at 210 Morningside Road, Edinburgh, EH10 4QQ, and the telephone number is 0131 4469169. The shop can also be contacted by e-mail via oxfamshopf5808AToxfam.org.uk.

The fun poster for the event is the work of Edinburgh based artist Ben Morris who is a regular illustrator on Doctor Who Magazine and the junior Doctor Who Adventures.

T• here are more details of the 2010 event at the event's Facebook page and on the Oxfam Morningside Twitter feed.

• There are videos of Ferg Handley and David Bishop at the 2009 event on YouTube.

Frank Quitely Interview Podcast

As part of the West Port Book Festival on Friday 25 June 2010, David Bishop interviewed artist Frank Quitely at Edinburgh Books second hand bookshop in Edinburgh's West Port. Since the event was always going to have a small audience due to the size of the venue, the interview was recorded and has now been made available as a podcast on the Festival's website.

The talk lasts just over 50 minutes during which time the two men discuss the artist's work both for UK comics, including his work for 2000AD when Bishop was Tharg, and for the American comics that he is now better known for.

In addition to the podcast the website links through to photos of the event taken by Chris Scott, one of which we have borrowed, which show that Edinburgh Books looks very much like the public's perception of what a traditional second-hand bookshop should look like with Bishop and Quitely surrounded by bookcases stuffed full of large, old books.

For those who could not make the West Port event, both Frank Quitely and David Bishop will be appearing again in Edinburgh at the Oxfam Comic Event on Saturday 17 July 2010.

The podcast is available on the West Port Book Festival website.

The photos of the event are on Chris Scott 's Flickr account.

Frank Quitely @ West Port Book Festival

The Edinburgh International Book Festival may be the largest literary festival in the UK but Edinburgh also has one of the smallest. The West Port Book Festival was set up by the many second hand books shops that crowd together in the city's West Port, the original western gateway of the city, in the shadow of the castle itself.

The small festival begins on Thursday 24 June and runs to Sunday 27 June and they have just announced that they are to be joined by artist Frank Quitely at 3:30pm on Friday 25 June for a talk on his artwork which includes WE3 and All Star Superman. The event will take place at Edinburgh Books at 145-147 West Port where writer and editor David Bishop will chair the talk.

Tickets are free and can be collected from Edinburgh Books either from 5pm-6pm on Thursday 24 June or from 10am on Friday 25 June until they are all allocated.

There are more details of the event on the West Port Book Festival website.

Oxfam Comic Event Tickets Now Available

Following on from last year's event, tickets are now available for the snappily entitled Oxfam Bookfest Comic Event in Edinburgh - Issue 2. This discussion based event will take place on Saturday 17 July 2010 in Edinburgh's MacDonald Road Library which is only a 10 - 15 minute walk from the city's main bus and train stations.

After last year's discussions about Scotland in comics and Scottish comics in general, this year's theme will be, like the Dundee Comics Day three weeks beforehand, the evolution of a comic from original idea to writing, art and publishing. As with last year the day will feature contributions from Marvel Heroes and Commando writer Ferg Handley, writer and former 2000AD editor David Bishop and Insomnia publisher Crawford Coutts. The four hour event begins at Noon with tickets costing only £3, the same as last year.

Tickets are now available from the Morningside Oxfam Bookshop which once again is organising the event. It is located at 210 Morningside Road, Edinburgh, EH10 4QQ, and the telephone number is 0131 4469169. The shop can also be contacted by e-mail via oxfamshopf5808AToxfam.org.uk.

The fun poster for the event is the work of Edinburgh based artist Ben Morris who is a regular illustrator on Doctor Who Magazine and the junior Doctor Who Adventures.

There are more details of the 2010 event at the Oxfam BookFest website and on the Oxfam Morningside Twitter feed.

There are videos of Ferg Handley and David Bishop at the 2009 event on YouTube.

David Bishop launches graphic novels collection in Scotland

(Adapted in part from David Bishop's Vicious Imagery blog and reposted here with his full permission): Comics writer, editor and TV script writer David Bishop was at the Greenock Public Library, Scotland last night to help promote its new collection of graphic novels.

Having clocked the fact that teenagers and young adults were not using the library much, Inverclyde Libraries chose graphic novels as a way of getting that audience in. The library now has 300 titles ranging from Kick-Ass to Gemma Bovary, 300 and Robert Crumb.

Despite some dismal weather, the launch got a great turn-out (four times the audience for Ian Rankin, apparently). But the event was not a one-off. The library is also running a ten-week course on reading and writing graphic novels (already fully subscribed) and books were flying off the shelves while David was there last night.

"There was coverage in local papers beforehand, and I got interviewed for a local radio station and by STV for one of its news magazine shows," says David. "All in all, a well organised and enjoyable event. I wish other libraries would follow the example of Inverclyde Libraries. If you want to reverse an aging readership trend, you need to take action. (That applies to comics publishers, too)."

Inverclyde Council says it hopes the project will increase the use of libraries across the local authority area.

Speaking before the launch event, Jim Clocherty, the council’s regeneration convener, told The Herald: “We are keen to attract younger users into our libraries, where they can borrow books but also benefit from the wide range of services and activities we have on offer.

“The graphic fiction collection features the usual fantasy superheroes, but also includes books dealing with hard-hitting issues such as coping with cancer, epilepsy and autism.”

Here at downthetubes we think this is a terrific in initiative from Scottish libraries, and one we hope more libraries, funds permitting, will also pick up on.

In a separate development, the charity Children in Scotland will be using a comic book to encourage pupils to take part in their school councils.

The Herald reports every school in Scotland will this week receive copies of the innovative comic book that highlights the findings of Having a Say at School – the largest Scottish study of pupil councils ever undertaken, which was conducted by Children in Scotland and Edinburgh University.

• Article compiled in part with grateful assistance from David Bishop, with thanks. Read more about the event from David here

Former 2000AD Editor Turns "Pill Pusher"

Pill pushing of the fictional kind, of course (what did you think we meant?), as tomorrow (Wednesday 10th February at 1.45pm) see the broadcast of former Judge Dredd: The Megazine and 2000AD editor David Bishop's first drama commission - an episode of the award-winning serial drama Doctors titled A Pill for Every Ill.

Doctors is, currently, the only UK made soap that gives all of its episodes a title.

"It's official," David recently enthused on his blog. "I am a TV drama writer. Now comes the tough part, getting a second commission. Onwards!"

In the episode, Doctor Simon Bond (David Sturzaker) finds himself out of his depth when treating a woman with extreme PMS symptoms, while Elise (Hannah Steele) invites Immie (Charlie Clemmow) to spend the night at her house. Meanwhile, Daniel Granger (Matthew Chambers) has to apologise to Zara when his jealousy almost gets the better of him.

"I appreciate most people won't be at home to watch the show," David told downthetubes, "but it'll be available on the BBC's iPlayer from late tomorrow afternoon if you felt the urge to have a look.

"Personally I think director Seán Gleeson, the cast, crew and production team have done me proud..."

David has had a busy career since his 2000AD days, continuing to write comic strips such as The Phantom and authoring several novels and audio dramas. In 2007, he won the PAGE International Screenwriting Award in the short film category for his script, Danny's Toys. He's even won an episode of The Weakest Link, back in 2008.

Last year, he began work as a tutor at Edinburgh's Napier University for its MA in Creative Writing course taken by Sam Kelly. As we previously reported, guest speakers included comics luminaries such as Alan Grant, Mark Millar and Leah Moore.

And to think, when he finally gets that much sought-after Doctor Who commission, I can say, "I shared a house with that bloke, once"... Congratulations, David!

• Doctors Official web site (for iPlayer links and episode information)


• Vicious Imagery: David Bishop's official blog


Doctors: A Pill for Every Ill image © BBC

Tube Surfing: Comics Academia

In the aftermath of Thought Bubble and its associated academic conference on comics, Possibilities and Perspectives, here is round up of what is happening comics-wise in the hallowed halls of academia.

We have recently mentioned on downthetubes the Fractured Images, Broken Words postgraduate conference at Lancaster University on 12 June 2010 which will include former 2000AD editor Andy Diggle as one of the key-note speakers.

Before that on 13-14 April 2010 Manchester Metropolitan University will host an academic conference entitled The Graphic Novel and Comic Conference: Comics, Cultures & Genres, hosted by Dr David Huxley and Dr Joan Ormrod who have previously organised the university's 2007 Aesthetics of Trash conference on animation and comics. This conference will tie-in with the launch of a new academic comics publication, the Journal Of Graphic Novels And Comics, from the university's Faculty Of Art And Design.

The longest running of the various academic journals is the American based International Journal Of Comic Art which has been running since 1999, although their website is not that up-to-date. We mention it here as the current issue has a long interview with Scottish comics artist Ian Kennedy on his work which includes Dan Dare, Judge Dredd and of course Commando.

Closer to home is European Comic Art from Liverpool University Press which is the first English language scholarly publication to study European language graphic novels and comics. This has been going since 2008 and is published in association with the Glasgow based International Bande Dessinee Society and the American Bande Dessinee Society.

Due to begin publication in 2010 is Studies In Comics from Intellect Books, one of the editors of which is Dr Chris Murray of Dundee University who has been instrumental in organising the Dundee University Comics Day for the last three years as well as the Beano 70th Anniversary exhibition and event. Plans for the fourth Comics Day in Dundee to be held in the middle of 2010 are at an advanced stage.

Perhaps the best known academic tie-in with comics is Edinburgh's Napier University with its MA in Creative Writing course taken by Sam Kelly and former 2000AD editor David Bishop. This is in its first year and is scheduled to include guest speakers such as Alan Grant, Mark Millar and Leah Moore.

More details of academic publications and conferences will appear as we receive them.

Judge Dredd's Crime Chronicles Released

Top audio adventure company Big Finish, perhaps best known for their Doctor Who productions, has just made a long-awaited return to the 2000AD universe with a brand new series of adventures in crime and space.

Judge Dredd: Crime Chronicles finds the iconic lawman of Mega City One starring in four new stories where he faces off against foes old and new and, for the final story, partners up with a fellow Judge played by Doctor Who’s Louise Jameson, who played companion Leela in the 1970s.

Officially licensed by Rebellion, each story is a dramatic reading, with full sound design and a specially drawn cover by 2000 AD artist Cliff Robinson, and features Toby Longworth as Judge Dredd.

The series begins with Stranger Than Truth, written by former 2000AD editor David Bishop and told by Brit-Cit academic, Eliza Blunt (Helen Kay). Captured and imprisoned by Judge Dredd, author Truman Kaput has spent years in the Mega City One iso-cubes, his work banned. His crime: writing lurid detective novels in which the ficticious Slick Dickens repeatedly outwits the cowardly bully, Judge Dredd. Now a new Truman Kaput novel is being serialised, and each chapter predicts an imminent murder with chilling accuracy. Has Slick Dickens escaped the page to commit real crimes in Mega-City One? Is a serial killer using the chapters as templates for their crime?

Where does fiction end and the truth start? And, perhaps most importantly: can Dredd stop the plot before his nemesis fulfils the finale of Slick Dickens: I Killed Judge Dredd?

In Blood Will Tell by James Swallow, due for relese in November, a frenzied mutant attack on Mega-City One's shield wall is revealed to be the cover for a group of infiltrators. Judge Dredd tells the story of how he was forced to face a deadly opponent from his past: Garris Hale, a man whose life he destroyed. Back from exile in the radioactive wilderness of the Cursed Earth, Hale has possession of a dark secret – a secret so explosive that it could plunge the entire city into anarchy and chaos! With his judgement in question and the future of his city in the balance, Dredd must face a lethal enemy intent on revenge at any cost...

The third tale, to be released in December, The Devil’s Playground by Jonathan Clements, is narrated by Wendy Plainfolk (Gemma Wardle) and finds Judge Dredd hunting a killer on the loose, his only lead a girl who's never seen the sky or the streets. Raised in a religious commune, locked in a closed farming habitat in the heart of the city, Wendy Plainfolk knows nothing of the temptations and dangers of Dredd's world. But she is the only link to a double homicide in a place she calls the Devil's Playground: Mega-City One.

January 2010 see Louise Jameson narrate James Swallow’s Double Zero in the guise of Judge Anderson. On the Mills-Wagner scale of psychic potentiality, the Double Zero rating is ranked as the lowest possible level of human telepathic receptability and/or psionic ability.

When a strange premonition draws Psi-Judge Cassandra Anderson to her fellow law officer, Joe Dredd, what begins as an inkling of something sinister soon becomes a matter of life and death. With telepathic secret agents from a dozen city-states infiltrating the Big Meg in search of a psychic weapon called 'the pariah', Anderson and Dredd find themselves in a race against time to save the life of an innocent child – with the power to start a war...

• The Judge Dredd: Crime Chronicles are priced £9.99 per CD and £7.99 for an MP3 download. Subscritions are also available from www.bigfinish.com/Judge-Dredd:-Crime-Chronicles

Scottish Uni Launches Comic Writing MA

Edinburgh Napier University has announced a new MA course in creative writing aimed at aspiring computer games and graphic novel writers.

The one-year postgraduate course, part of a range from the University's School of Creative Industries, has been created by former 2000AD editor and The Phantom writer David Bishop and former literary agent Sam Kelly and starts in September. It will include guest lectures from leading writers, including Ian Rankin, Mark Millar, Denise Mina, Alan Grant, James Moran and Doctor Who writer Robert Shearman. A Writer-in-Residence is also part of the course, yet to be announced.

Crime writing and science fiction will also be part of the syllabus, but not poetry.

"We're embracing the kinds of creative writing that get ignored or patronised by other courses," says David. "We've already had a fistful of applications and marketing has only just begun. There's been a steady stream of people coming to see us at the Craighouse campus in Edinburgh, eager to find out more.

"We're offering something different from the usual mix of literary fiction and poetry on other creative writing MA course - and it's proving popular."

• School of Creative Industries web site

Tube Surfing: 2 March 2009

• The Century 21 hardbacks -- TV Century 21 and Lady Penelope comic collections lovingly put together by British publisher Reynolds & Hearn (see news story) featuring art by the likes of Frank Bellamy, Mike Noble and others -- are now available for pre-order from their website (www.rhbooks.com).

• Stickleback artist D'Israeli (aka Matt Brooker), currently working on a new project, Lowlife: Creation, has been discovering an old dog can learn new tricks thanks to an old book, How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way - funnily enough, a book I regularly recommend to aspiring artists, not talents like Mr D!

• Artist Andrew Wildman tells us there's an exhibition of art from his Frontier comic, which is running in The DFC at present. The exhibition is being held at Jaffe&Neale Bookshop in Chipping Norton and will run until 24th April. On 28th March Andrew and writer Jason Cobley will be at the shop answering questions and signing copies of The DFC.

• No comic strip in this mag, but a quick plug for the latest issue of the really bizarre title The Chap, which features a fab feature on steampunk and a chap's guide to Doctor Who, "maddest of all scientists". Plus, Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore tackles The Chap questionnaire. If you think you might be a Chap, send them a photograph and they'll assess your Chappist credentials and may feature it in the mag. There are some comic creators who definitely qualify...

• Caption 2009 will be happening on Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th August at the East Oxford Community Centre in erm, Oxford. Mark your diaries now!

• Congratulations to former 2000AD editor and flat mate David Bishop (no, we never had Tharg round for tea), who has just penned his 40th issue of The Phantom, and completed the first draft of a talking book project for Big Finish. He says he can't reveal any more details about the latter job yet, "but it proved to be more fun than I'd expected."

• Rufus Dayglo has moved house and finished a Tank Girl cover for Judge Dredd: The Megazine. How organised is that?

• 2000AD artist Cliff Robinson is featuring the pencils and final inks of a 2007 Judge Dredd story he did with Mike Collins on his blog. "Mike and I had talked about working on a strip together for years and it was good to eventually team up with him on this Dredd story," he reveals. "I had an absolute blast working over Mike's blue line printed pencils ( I also had photo-copies of the 'normal' pencils for reference). We've also just recently finished collaborating on another Dredd strip which was just as much fun."

• Matt Badham points us to Guardian cartoonist Tom Gauld’s work is now up to browse at your leisure on Flickr. Ace!

• Warren Ellis reports that Angel of Death, a tv series for the net written and created by Ed Brubaker, starts today over on the Crackle web site. A new seven-minute episode every weekday for the next two weeks.

• Do you live in the North East and make comics? If so, comic artist, illustrator, shark wrangler, intrepid explorer, professional ninja and fighter pilot Leonie is keen to make contact with small press or self publishers. Contact her via her blog and spread the word. (Some of the description for her may not be true, but you'll have to visit her main web site to find out which at: www.lomoore.com.

• And finally... there's a review of Rian Hughes Yesterday's Tomorrows collection from Knockabout on Hipster Dad, praising the Dare strip but noting The Science Service script by one John Freeman "left me a little cold, as though it was waiting for a good deal more meat and background before letting readers embrace it..." Hey! I wrote that over 20 years ago. I think I'm a littel better now!

Thrill Powered Paperback!

Former 2000AD and Judge Dredd: The Megazine editor, author and comics writer David Bishop reports that his massive book about the history of 2000AD, Thrill-Power Overload, will be released in paperback next year.

"Steady reorders mean Rebellion is down to its last handful of hardback copies" David reveals on his blog (a darn useful read, especialy if you're an aspring writer btw). " Once those first editions go, the book will be switched to paperback. The new edition is due out in February 2009, with a cover price of £25. I've already been through the text correcting minor errors that crept into the first printing. No idea if the new edition will also get a new cover - probably not. But it's a joy to know the book is staying in print."

• Buy the hardcover Thrill-Power Overload from amazon.co.uk

Tube Surfing: 9 July 2008

• Jas Wilson has sent me a copy of Smuggling Vacation, now available in all good bookshops. I'll post a longer review later in the week as I've only had chance to flick through it today, but I love the art and the story I've read so far. There's a very French bande dessine style and panache to the book, evocative of the work of Hunt Emerson, Lew Stringer and others... and it's damm funny, too.
Soon to be available from Smallzone, anyone outside the Midlands wanting a copy right now can get one from the Smuggling Vacation website at www.smugglingvacation.co.uk or order through any bookshop (ISBN:9780955917004) priced £6.99.

• As previously reported and hotly debated here, rumours of a remake of The Prisoner have been circulating for many years, all of which proved to be unfounded. However, as Lew Stringer reports, the new series is now definitely on, co-produced between ITV Productions, Granada International and AMC, the US cable network behind the critically acclaimed Mad Men. Starring Jim Caviziel (Passion of the Christ) as Number Six and Sir Ian McKellen (X-Men) as Number Two, the six part mini-series begins filming in August in Africa and is expected to premiere worldwide early in 2009. (More info at AMC's official blog: blogs.amctv.com/the-prisoner).
Lew has drawn an exclusive Prisoner-inspired cartoon, exclusively for the upcoming Prisoner convention PM2008 at Portmeirion, North Wales (the original location for the 1960s series), which will be auctioned off on the day.

• Former 2000AD and Megazine editor David Bishop is posting a series of articles on writing for TV, the first titled "How One Doctor Led Me Toward Doctors". He charts the right and wrong ways of submitting scripts in the UK and as usual has plenty of useful advice to offer would be writers.

• Like others, Warren Ellis has posited a different future for the web, away from the "curator" style of sites such as BoingBoing (while recognising a continued need for such a terrific site) to something more formative and creative, citing services such as Tumblir as an example of what he's thinking of

• The Guardian has interviewed Russell T. Davies on "Life After Doctor Who", dismissing a small enclave of Doctor Who fans who have railed against his popular interpretation of the character. "They are not real fandom," he argues. "They are a core of mostly men who like to complain. Fandom is bigger and richer than that, and they are only about 1,000 people who give everyone else a bad name and build their life around a show."
The award-winning producer, who is soon to collect his OBE and will be delivering a masterclass on Saturday 23 August at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, says says if he had his time again there is "nothing" he would do differently on Doctor Who. However, he admits that the year-round schedule on the show has been "exhausting". He always planned to work on the show for four or five years, the longest he has pursued any one project.

• We're sorry to belatedly report the death of SF writer Thomas M. Disch, author of titles such as Camp Concentration, who committed suicide on 4 July. He had become, we're told, increasingly depressed over time. His EndZone LiveJournal is still "live", unlike him: one tribute simply and succinctly reads "Good night, Tom. Sorry the darkness was bigger than you could handle." Steve Holland offers a concise bibliography on Bear Alley.

(TubeSurfs courtesy of Jas Wilson, Matthew Badham and others)

Tube Surfing: 26 June 2008

• Writer Mark Millar has just been interviewed for Scotland's Evening Times, just back from the opening of Wanted in Hollywood (Check out this viral site inspired by the movie...).
"To see it polished and finished up on the big screen was mad," says Mark of the film, which stars James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. "You were looking sideways and looking at the actors from the film which was kind of weird."
The article notes Millar, like one of the superheroes he writes seems to live a curious double life. In one guise, he's the doting father taking his 10-year-old daughter Emily to the flicks or walking the family's spaniel. The next he's chatting comic books with Jonathan Ross, enjoying nights out with Simon Pegg and Ben Affleck or being invited to dinner parties at the home of Mr Claudia Schiffer, film director Matthew Vaughn. Read the Interview

• The Phantom writer and former 2000AD editor David Bishop will be in Cheltenham next Tuesday (1 July 2008), one of the guest speakers at the Screenwriters' Festival there, talking about the similarities and differences between creating comics and screenwriting. Afterwards local comic shop Proud Lion is hosting a signing from 2.00pm. "It's part of an outreach programme by the festival organisers," says David, "though a mid-week signing is unusual for any comic shop, unless you've got a big name guest like Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman."

• Over on Bear Alley, Steve Holland reports the Don Lawrence Collection's boxed set of Karl the Viking is approaching the finishing line. "The project dates back quite a few years," Steve explains. "I think Rob [van Bavel] - publisher and king-pin of DLC -first discussed it back in 2006... but it took a long time to bring the scans of the original artwork up to scratch and Rob had the idea of reproducing the original lettering as it had appeared in Lion when the strip ran in the 1960s. Not the easiest task as all the balloons that were missing from the artwork had to be painstakingly scanned, cleaned up and reinserted into the artwork."
Karl the Viking, many stories drawn by Don Lawrence, originally ran in Lion in 1960-64 and six stories were reprinted in Smash! as 'Erik the Viking' in 1969-71. This will be the first time in over forty years that the whole series has been made available.

• The leats issue of Fortean Times Magazine (#238) features an extract from John Reppion's forthcoming book 800 Years of Haunted Liverpool. The article is all about the elusive Spring-heeled Jack and his reported appearances in Everton.

The magazine costs £3.99 and is available in all good newsagents.

• Bugpowder has just plugged Last Bus, a new self published ongoing comic book from Irish creator Patrick Lynch. The first issue contains three separate stories: “Last Bus”, “What Became Apparent...” and “These Things I Know” engaging such diverse themes as public transport, street violence, absent friends and dream logic. Read more about it here

• The Guardian reports on Doctor Who fans work recreating lost stories from the 1960s in today's Technology section. This will not come as news to most Who fans but it's good to see the not-for-profit work of the WHO3D group in the spotlight -- let's just hope they don't suffer the same problems as the lady who came up with Adipose knitting patterns...

Bishop is Not The Weakest Link

Former editor of 2000AD David Bishop did comicdom proud this week by winning BBC contest The Weakest Link. In an episode broadcast on Friday 23 May (available via iplayer for the next seven days), David beat a sports journalist for an impressive cash prize of over £1400, although he modestly gave credit to rival Graham as the better player through the actual game.

David, whose credits include the recently published history of 2000AD, Thrillpower Overload, and who writes The Phantom for Egmont Sweden will I suspect soon become quite sick of people asking him what the Milky Way is also known as based on its Greek derivation.

I expect he's got a very pointy sword to go with that dashing moustache and Musketeer-ish beard, so don't push your luck!