Sherlock Holmes: The Liverpool Demon released

Sherlock Holmes: The Liverpool Demon #1, written by British creators Leah Moore and John Reppion and penciled by Matt Triano is on sale now in all good comic shops.

Sherlock Holmes is busy doing what he does best, solving a case of far-reaching international notoriety. It has landed him at the Port of Liverpool, a bustling hub of commerce both legitimate and illicit. As that chapter closes, ours begins. They head to Lime Street Station, to catch a fast steam locomotive home to London and Baker Street, when violent weather keeps The Great Detective and Watson in Britain's second city a while longer. Long enough to encounter a monster, discover the Liverpool underworld, and to become embroiled in one of his strangest cases yet.

Leah and John's work on Dynamite Entertainment's Sherlock Holmes has been widely praised. Artist Mike Carey described their previous story, The Trial of Sherlock Holmes, as "A classic locked room mystery, deploying Conan Doyle’s core cast with huge skill and conviction" while Babylon 5 creator J Michael Straczynski enthused: "Forget what you’ve heard: Sherlock Holmes is alive and well and living inside this book!"

“Arthur Doyle may be dead, but reading Leah Moore and John Reppion’s depiction of his immortal hero, Sherlock Holmes, will make you believe in his soul with us forever," Spider-Man writer Marc Guggenheim  commented. "One of the best revitalizations of a character I have ever read.”

Matt Triano is already known for his storyboard work, motion comic work, and artwork for various ad agency projects developing custom comics for high profile clients. His art can currently be seen in works for Robin Hood Charities in New York, Moonstone (Captain Action), Zenescope (Grimm's Myths and Legends, Robyn Hood, Sleepy Hallow, Story of Mankind), The Discovery Channel and Marvel Trading cards (Marvel Characters), as well as a Batman story for the DC Halloween Special.

• There's more about the Liverpool Demon on Leah Moore and John Reppion's web site. A collected edition of The Trial of Sherlock Holmes is available.

• To read a little more about Matt, go to: http://witterstaetterwrites.blogspot.com/2012/01/spotlight-new-interviw-with-matt-triano.html

Reppion and Moore back on Sherlock Holmes in 'Liverpool Demon'

Leah Moore and John Reppion return to Sherlock Holmes after their acclaimed Sherlock Holmes: The Trial of Sherlock Holmes series for US publishers Dynamite. Sherlock Holmes: The Liverpool Demon features dynamic pencils from Matt Triano and a fantastic cover by the winner of the 2012 Eisner-Award for Best Cover Artist, Francesco Francavilla.

In Sherlock Holmes: The Liverpool Demon #1, Sherlock Holmes is busy doing what he does best, solving a case of far-reaching international notoriety. It has landed him at the Port of Liverpool, a bustling hub of commerce both legitimate and illicit. As that chapter closes, ours begins. They head to Lime Street Station, to catch a fast steam locomotive home to London and Baker Street, when violent weather keeps The Great Detective and Watson in Britain’s second city a while longer. Long enough to encounter a monster, discover the Liverpool underworld, and to become embroiled in one of his strangest cases yet.

“The year is 1888: the Great Detective and the ever dependable Dr. Watson find themselves in the bleak northern port city of Liverpool from whose still bustling docklands grim slave vessels once sailed,” says writers Leah Moore and John Reppion. “Violent gangs roam the streets and the city’s struggling police force are fighting a war against an all pervading criminal underworld. A strange creature is sighted high among the rooftops and soon dead bodies bearing strange wounds begin to mysteriously appear. Only Sherlock Holmes can cut to the heart of the mystery and expose the truth behind the spectre of The Liverpool Demon.”

“Moore and Reppion craft a sober, literate mystery in which historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven,” adds artist Matt Triano. "The Liverpool Demon is whimsical and horrific, an absolute pleasure.”

“We’ve been waiting to release this one for a bit and had to find the right artist to do justice to John and Leah’s work,” states Dynamite Editor Joe Rybandt. “They’ve put a tremendous amount of work into each and every Holmes series, culminating with the Liverpool Demon, enjoy!”

“Sherlock Holmes: The Trial of Sherlock Holmes is one of Dynamite’s most acclaimed series,” adds Dynamite President Nick Barrucci. “It is a pleasure to have Leah and John back aboard for more mystery and intrigue."

Moore and Reppion pen Damsels for Dynamite

Fantasy comics are definitely seeing something of an upswing in popularity right now, a reflection, perhaps of a general desire to escape the doom and gloom of everyday life in a recession. Well, another title is about to join the fray -- Damsels, from US publisher Dynamite Entertainment.

On sale in comic shops in September, the comic is being written by Leah Moore and John Reppion , with stunning looking art by Aneke, and dynamic covers by J. Scott Campbell and Sean Chen.

In Damsels #1, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, and Snow White come together with other damsels in a new adventure filled with danger and intrigue, as the alluring princesses of classic fairy tales take up arms to save their kingdoms from war.Rediscover the darkness at the heart of fairy tales and why there will be no happily ever after.

Damsels opens with Rapa wishing she had not got out of bed that morning, if she had a bed to get out of that is. The day began badly and has gone rapidly and literally downhill ever since. A series of peculiar and baffling encounters throw obstacle after obstacle into her path, intent it seems on preventing her progress. The thing is, until today she had no idea she was trying to make any progress, toward anything!

A collection of hazy memories and bewildering tattoos are all she has to help her figure it all out, and to be honest, she'd just as soon not bother. Around her, we see the mountain city of Caumont thrown into overdrive by the arrival of Queen Talia and King Aurore of Perrault. The streets are thronged with cheering people, does it matter they aren't exactly sure why they are cheering, or for whom?

Damsels joins a growing number of fairy story inspired comic titles on sale now, which include Vertigo's Fables and Dynamite's own fantasy comics such as their adaptation of Game of Thrones.

"We are thoroughly enchanted to be working on such a spellbinding series," says writers Leah Moore and John Reppion. "It's fantastic fun for us as writers to be able to play with characters and concepts that are familiar, but then put our own Moore & Reppion style spin on things.

"Yes, there are Damsels and yes, there will be plenty of distress, but nothing is how it seems, and there is brutal action and weird surprises at every turn. We have had so much fun writing this, and we are so pleased with the art team Dynamite have set us up with. We can't wait to see it in print."

"We've been talking about Damsels for a long time internally, and trying to figure out who the best writers would be," states Dynamite Publisher Nick Barrucci. "Leah and John were at the top of the list, but they had taken a break from comics. Debating who to approach, we followed up with Leah and John to see if they would script once time freed up. They said yes. It was the best decision for the comic.

"Get ready for one hell of a ride. Not every fairy tale has a happy ending."

- Damsels #1 is on sale in comic shops in September. To find a comic shop near you visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com/

- For art and more information visit: www.dynamite.net or follow the company on Facebook at facebook.com/DynamiteComics, or follow them on Twitter at twitter.com/DynamiteComics

Thrill Electric now on iTunes

At long last the wait is over. The Thrill Electric is now free to read on iPad and iPhone via iTunes.

This free ten-part (150 page) enhanced comic is set in Victorian Manchester and demonstrates the extraordinary parallels between the Internet Age and the Telegraph Age.

Beautifully realised by Emma Vieceli, Windflower Studio, and LittleLoud,  and scripted by Leah Moore and John Reppion, the story weaves around the exciting lives of the young women and men working at The Electrical and International Telegraph Company and tackles 21st Century issues such as gang culture, cyber bullying, coming out and on-line flirtations!

Produced by Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4 education, The Thrill Electric also features stunning animations, loads of contextual information, and a secret code that unlocks a hidden storyline.


• Grab The Thrill Electric from iTunes

Strip! Radio Show News

Continuing adaptation and inspiration month on the show, Alex Fitch talks to writers Leah Moore and John Reppion for his latest radio show, Strip!: Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula, on London's Resonance FM. He chats to the pair about their two current comic book projects, adapting Bram Stoker’s Dracula for sequential art and continuing the adventures of Sherlock Holmes in a new comic for Dynamite Entertainment.

Leah and John talk about the process of condensing Dracula into five 32 page comics, which features art by Colton Worley and covers by John Cassady, while including Stoker’s often neglected prologue Dracula’s guest plus adding to the saga of Sherlock Holmes by putting the Master Detective on trial for murder and terrorist activities…

Coming soon is Strip!: Sherlock Holmes vs. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, with Alex talking to the illustrators of some new and recent literary adaptations in comic book format. Self Made Hero is a relatively new publishing company who have made a name for themselves with their range of Manga Shakespeare adaptations and are now doing European style graphic novels of literary classics. Alex talks to Ian Culbard, artist of Ian Edginton's adaptations of The Picture of Dorian Grey and The Hound of the Baskervilles and to Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal, illustrators and adaptors of The Master and Margarita and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

• Strip!: Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula airs later tonight at 11.30pm (17th May) on Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com, with an extended podcast online at www.panelborders.wordpress.com tonight…

• Strip!: Sherlock Holmes vs. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde airs at 5.00pm on 21 May, repeated 11.30pm 24 May on Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com, with an extended podcast online at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

In Review: Western

Reviewed by David Hailwood

Well, what can I say? The contributors to Accent UK’s latest anthology must’ve played some very bizarre games of Cowboys and Indians when they were children. In fact, I’m willing to bet their games had almost no Indians in them at all. More likely they’d have had zombies, werewolves, Cthulu-esque aliens, demons, mad professors, mutated donkeys, and elves (yes, you heard me…elves!)

Not that the cross-genre approach many of the contributors have taken is a bad thing of course. For starters, it means that even if you absolutely hate westerns, there’s still plenty for you here. From Dwight L. MacPherson (of the brilliant Edgar Allan Poo series published by Image) and Kirk Manley (who also provides a glorious wrap around cover for the anthology) there’s a hellish tale about a cursed man who deserted from Custer’s army, only to discover there’s no escaping retribution from Custer’s 7th Cavalry in the afterlife.

Kate Brown’s Coyote and The Giant looks at first a little out of place in a Western anthology, but fortunately comes with a brief explanation that it’s based on a Native American folk tale, which made me a little more accepting of all the pesky elves and giants, and the distinct lack of six-shooters. The fact that it’s brilliantly written and illustrated also helped (and who wouldn’t want to see elves eating their way out of a giants stomach, eh?).

Indio treats us to A Fistful Of Corpse Meat; a story that’s madder than a bag full o’ hamsters that have been permanently deprived of cheese. This particular offering, as you may have cunningly deduced, is one of the strips that has zombies in it. Not only that, but it’s also got a twenty-two fingered banjo player, an evil maggot eaten villain called Black Frank The Hat, and a brainless knife-wielding demonic saviour named Johnny Slash. Insane story, insane art, and definitely one of my favourites. It’s welcoming news that Accent UK are harnessing Indio’s artistic talent for their upcoming Stephenson’s Robot bi-monthly series, which will certainly be one to watch out for.

"But wait one moment!" I hear you cry, "What if I love westerns, but hate zombies, elves and all of the above?’’ Well, there’s plenty in this anthology for the hardcore Western fanatic as well; tales of love, vengeance, betrayal and honour, which incorporate authentic wild west phrases such as ‘Hands up, you varmint!’, ‘Saddle Up!’ and ‘Damn you and the horse you rode in on!’

For instance, Leah Moore, John Reppion and Dave Hitchcock team up once again to tell the emotional tale of Mrs Henry, a woman who’s cheated on by her husband, and decides to settle the matter in a traditional western fashion – with a gun (none of that messy ‘divorce’ business. Things were so much simpler in those days). The story’s nicely juxtaposed against a marvellously grizzled looking musician belting out ‘oh bury me not on the lone prairie’ on the piano.
Steve Bissette’s Tenderfoot displays a terrific piece of scripting, with excellent character descriptions such as "he looked like the hind quarters of bad luck" and "if his brains had been dynamite there warn’t ever enough to blow his nose".

The Men Who Built The West by Kieron Gillen and Andy Bloor rounds off the anthology perfectly (and also this review) by treating us to the best punchline the Wild West’s ever witnessed, and probably had all 54 of the anthologies other contributors muttering "Damn! Why the heck didn’t I think of that?"

Anyway, to sum up: Western is another solidly put together package from Dave West and Colin Mathieson. Out of the 37 strips contained in the anthology, most are good, none are bad and very few are ugly.

• Western is black and white with a colour cover, costs £7.99, has 190 pages, and is available from www.accentukcomics.com. Or you can pick up a copy from their stall for a "convention special price" of just £7 at the upcoming Bristol Comics Convention.

Well, what are ya waitin’ for, pardner? G’wan! Git!

Adlard, Reppion and Moore Interviewed

Along with its usal mix of great comic strip, the new issue of the Judge Dredd Megazine (Issue 283) contains two articles by downthetubes contributor Matthew Badham. They're both interviews. The first, Drawn of the Dead, is with artist Charlie Adlard. The second, The Writer with Two Brains!, is with writing team Leah Moore and John Reppion.

The issue also contains various articles and comic strips by all sorts of venerable creators, including Insurrection by Dan Abnett and Colin MacNeil; and a stonking Judge Dredd tale, The Americans from Al Ewing and Nick Dyer.

The issue is on sale now in all good UK newsagents and available as an online download Clickwheel, which has had a re-design recently, as is 2000AD.

Tube Surfing: 25 February 2008

• Comics artist Doug Noble, whose past works include work for Marvel, Live Static and The Silent Choir and who was recently interviewed by fellow creator Sean Azzopardi, is about to launch a new longform strip called Complex. "Hopefully some of you will be interested in checking it out once it starts," he pitches. "It’s going to be fairly interesting, I hope. An end of the world story, a love story, a murder mystery." Check it out from Monday on www.strip-for-me.com
Doug is currently working with Daniel Merlin Goodbrey on the webcomic The Rule Of Death at serializer.net.

• Fans of Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be pleased to hear the Cartoon Network has announced a second season is in the works. Now showing on Cartoon Network UK, the series features in Titan Magazines' Star Wars Comic, available in all good newsagents. The latest issue sees the start of Shipyard of Doom, an epic Clone Wars action spectacular... As the Republic and Separatist forces race to build their armies, a desperate battle rages at the crossroads of the hyperspace lanes of Nexus Ortai. Our heroes, meanwhile, head beyond droid enemy lines…

• Happy Birthday to the Forbidden Planet International blog! The team there, headed up by Joe Gordon, celebrate four years of comics and genre news blogging, encompassing US and European comics as well as British coverage. "Growing out of our increasing online presence we wanted a way that we could discuss and highlight good comics, graphic novels, SF&F, cool merch - all the things we do through our stores and the webstore and our catalogues," Joe says of the blog's aims. "Mostly we wanted to be able to use it as a platform where we could share our love of comics and SF; we’ve posted news, reviews and interviews and some great comics art, we’ve talked to folks who make comics in their bedroom in their spare time and make up part of the vibrant small press and we’ve talked to some of the best known creators and all of them have been interesting, all of them a part of the medium we love." Never mind all that, where's the cake?

• Dynamite writers Leah Moore and John Reppion will be giving a talk on their latest project The Complete Dracula, a new five issue comic book version of Stoker’s novel illustrated by Colton Worley, at the prestigious Dublin Writers Museum on Saturday 18th April. The talk will begin at 3.00 pm. More details here

• As reported previously, Captain Jack Harkness actor John Barrowman has written a Torchwood comic strip with his sister Carole Barrowman - and she's been interviewed by the Newsarama.com guys about the story that appears in current issues of Torchwood Magazine.

• The Times features an interview with Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons this week. Dave reveals that he was not involved in any earlier attempts to turn the comic into a film but when it came to the eagerly-anticipated Zach Snyder film, it was the top British comics artist who approached him about making it. "I’d been invited along to the London premiere of 300," he tells Michael Moran, "which was based on the graphic novel by my friend Frank Miller. I thought it was a fantastic, a wonderful, true adaptation of Frank’s work. I think it had been announced then that Zach was in the frame to direct Watchmen, so I thought, I’ll have to go and shake him by the hand. I grabbed him on his way to the VIP enclosure at the premiere party and shook him by the hand and introduced myself. I just really wanted to say hello but we ended up talking for half an hour. I realised then that he did understand Watchmen. I got such a gut feeling that he could do it justice.” Read More...

• Talking of Watchmen, Bear Alley notes that the graphic novel has sold around 750,000 copies since it was first published in 1986. Following its appearance in Time magazine's Top 100 English Novels since 1923 and the release of the Watchmen movie trailer, it has been racking up sales at an astonishing rate these past few months and was the highest-selling graphic novel in the USA in 2008. "Brian Hibbs revealing recently that Bookscan figures put the 2008 US sales at 308,396 copies," notes Steve Holland, "and that's probably a low figure as Bookscan does not cover all outlets)." Read More...

(Compiled with thanks to Matthew Badham)

Into the Whispering Gallery

US publisher IDW release a special one-shot Doctor Who title later this month. Titled The Whispering Gallery, superstar artist Ben Templesmith tackles his first full Who project, alongside comic book writers Leah Moore & John Reppion.

In The Whispering Gallery, the TARDIS lands in a maze-like gallery filled with thousands of talking pictures, and the Doctor and Martha discover they’ve come across a planet where showing emotion has been outlawed. The inhabitants have good reason for their supression, but it wouldn’t be like the Doctor to leave them in fear of truly living.

Leah and John have been fans of Doctor Who for nearly as long as they can remember, and pitched IDW Publishing on their story idea for the after Leah had a dream about a two-page spread one night.

While that may prompt riotous laughter from those who get the answer to "Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?" as "It Came to Me in a Vision," Leah says the couple had a hard time initially thinking up an original storyline.

“Everything we could think up had already been done, or was not the right kind of story. We went off to bed one night after brainstorming fruitlessly for hours, and I went to sleep worrying that we’d not be able to think of anything and miss out on writing it altogether.”

After the dream, Leah says she woke up knowing clearing what they would do for Doctor Who, and got the story turned around very quickly after that.

Moore and Reppion became involved in the project after being approached by artist Ben Templesmith, an admirer of their work and whose credits include Star Wars and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

“Ben actually approached Leah via the modern miracle of Twitter and asked her if we’d be interested in pitching for a Doctor Who one-shot with him as the artist,” explains John. “Naturally, we were thrilled and said yes immediately. Ben is a fantastic artist and we both really admire his work, so it’s great to be able to work with him on such a brilliant little project."

John has some strange memories of Doctor Who from his youth. In an interview about The Whispering gallery project for Comic Book Resources, he revealed his earliest Who memory was an inflatable version of the TARDIS. “It may even have belonged to one of my Uncles before me, I'm not sure,” Reppion said. “Doctor Who is just part of the fabric of UK mainstream culture, really; it's like being asked when you were first exposed to cowboys or something like that. Doctor Who has always been there so far as I remember. The Doctor of my youth was Sylvester McCoy.”

John also has fond memories of the Marvel UK Doctor Who comic book crossovers with the likes of Death’s Head, which as we recently reported, is to feature in a new collection of Seventh Doctor adventures from Panini UK, A Cold Day in Hell.

• Doctor Who: The Whispering Gallery goes on sale in the US and Canada on 29 February from IDW Publishing. Diamond order code: DEC084084. The title is not officially available in the UK

• Ben Templesmith's Blog
• Leah Moore & John Reppion's New and Improved Web Site

Tube Surfing: 30 January 2009

• British independent publisher FutureQuake Press have just released the latest issues of their brilliant anthology titles, FutureQuake and MangaQuake. FutureQuake #12 offers its usual mix of science fiction comics tales and boasts a cover by Eagle award-winning artist Declan Shalvey, with strips from writers Tom Davies, Robert Murphy, Martin Hayes, Kieran Murphy, Raz Greenberg, Mike Lynch, Gareth Whitty, Karl Stock and Dan Whiston, and art from Chris Geary, George Coleman, Jim Boswell, Paul Carter, Charley Spencer, Ed Traquino, Toby Philip, Adrian Bamforth, Gibson Quarter and James Kircough. FuruteQuake has always been one of my favourite indie mags and I have no hesitation in recommending it.

• If you're in London at the weekend, don't forget the The Alternative Press Fair 2009 is on tomorrow, Saturday 1st February. Bringing together the worlds of alternative comics, zines, self-produced art-books, poetry and diy/punk culture for one amazing day, like a great colourful blancmange that you can’t eat. Meet the artists, see their work, buy some if you like it, then relax and enjoy an exciting evening of music, song and melody, starring the Singing Sensation of the Nation, Mr. Trent Miller (& The Skeleton Jive)...

• The February 2009 issue of Thomas Cochrane's Fat Man comic is now online -- a 25 page bumper edition. You can also view it at myebook.com.
Responsible for the death of millions, the mysterious 'Tegel Project' threatens the very core of civilisation. Betrayed by MI5, the Fat Man finds himself caught between the blazing guns of would-be assassins and the blood-red lips of silent movie star Louise Brooks.
Unable to trust anyone and faced with a series of unpalatable choices, he careers madly along the arch of time on the seemingly impossible mission of keeping himself and his lover alive. Read Part Five...

• What is it with Panini UK and their total inability to update their web site properly? Thus, it falls to Al Ewing to point out that Marvel Heroes #3 is now on sale in the UK while the official web site is still promoting #1, the fools. "tt's a giant monster special," says Al, "with my Iron Man story with Kev Hopgood joined by an absolute gem of a Fantastic Four tale by Rik Hoskin and John McCrea, containing what I think might be one of the best Thing moments I've seen all year... It's a beautiful bit of business that turns a fun story into a great one."
(I suppose I should confess I haven't updated my New Comics page lately, either, but then again no-one's paying me to do this...)

• Doctor Who Adventures #100 is offering 100 prizes in its 100th issue, on sale now, including books, DVDs, audiobooks and toys. The issue also has a special feature about some of the sonic devices in the series – everything from the sonic screwdriver to the sonic blaster - and the comic strip for the issue sees The Doctor and his new friend Heather take a trip to the planet Delquis.

• Discworld author Terry Pratchett has just been interviewed by The Times on Alzheimer's and his best work and notes how some Harry Potter fans have accused him of plagiarism even though his 'school for wizards' has been around for, what, 20 years? "I've had letters from Potter fans, less so these days, mostly from America, accusing me of plagiarism,” he says. When one newspaper “fabricated” a row between Pratchett and JK Rowling - in fact they have met and get on - he received death threats from American Potterites. “E-mails,” he says, “ and very stupid.”

• Fancy yourself as a superhero? InvestigationDiscovery.com has launched Homespun Superheroes, a fun new Flash game designed to develop skills such as memory, observation and response time to help build up "superhero stamina." Specially designed tests will help improve rank and supply your avatar with a hero rating that will help you to master the streets and "clean up crime."

• The trade paperback edition of Leah Moore and John Reppion's four-part Top Cow/Dynamite Entertainment crossover mini The Darkness vs. Eva - Daughter of Dracula is out this week, as is Mike Raicht's Creature Feature #2 from Th3rd Wold Studios, which features a 12 page story called "Imago" written by Leah and John and drawn by 2000AD's P J Holden.

Complete Dracula Announced

US publisher Dynamite have announced the launch of The Complete Dracula, written by Bram Stoker, Leah Moore and John Reppion, with art by Colton Worley and covers by John Cassady.

Issue 1 of the five-issue comic series will go on sale in April, and begin "the complete story of the Lord of the Undead -- Dracula!

"For the first time in 112 years the tale that Bram Stoker intended to tell is told (including "Dracula's Guest"!)," their PR proclaims. "If you thought you knew how it began or how it ends, you were wrong! A five-issue issue odyssey of life, death and the blood that flows within us all!"

In addition to the comic, fully-painted in a rich, moody style by Worley, Moore and Reppion also provide bonus material such as script pages, annotations and samplings of the original text by Bram Stoker.

• Dynamite Entertainment: www.dynamiteentertainment.com

Tube Surfing: 20 January 2009

• On the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration as 44th president of the United States, surely only a warped mind like The Guardian's Steve Bell could come up with a cartoon like this, published in yesterday's paper. Well, it made me laugh out loud... Art © Steve Bell, More Cartoons by Steve here

• downthetubes' Jeremy Briggs has been doing a little digging into the mysterious trailers for the upcoming activities of London Underground Comics. "I searched on the 176 that LUC are referencing," he informs us. "There's a gallery space called 176 very close to Camden Market, were LUC used to be, which is open at weekends and has a cafe. It looks like the sort of place that would go for a zine fair style event..." Could this be what LUC are planning?

• Beano and Fortean Times cartoonist Hunt Emerson has been in touch to let us know about some updates to his web site (www.largecow.com), including five new Phil Stamp Covers and two new Beano Poems in the Gallery and information about New Products he has for sale including Ancient Mariner Mugs, t-shirts and tea towels and his classic t-shirt design for that great band The Beat. You're invited to take a look!

• The DFC's Faz Choudhury, creator of Dead Pets for the comic (and one of the artists involved in the web comic jam Huzzah along with Paul Harrison-Davies and others), has posted some early samples of the strip on his blog. "Before being given the go ahead to start, I did a sample piece to give a general idea of how the strip might look," he explains. "The characters changed a little from this initial piece, Frazzle the cat, in particular." Dead Pets is also being serialized in The Guardian - read episode two and three.

• (via Warren Ellis): Ben Templesmith is drawing a new Doctor Who strip, scripted by Leah Moore and John Reppion. "It's a one-shot comic from IDW," says Ben, who has posted some sample pages on Flickr. "It would make a cool tv episode if it weren't a comic."

• There's a new podcast interview with 2000AD and DC Comics artist Steve Pugh online via ComicBookPage. "It's the first time I've been interviewed over the phone, and I seem to have developed a charming girlish giggle," he notes on his blog.

• Talking of interviews, Forbidden Planet International has just posted one with Super Sam creator Darryl Cunningham (it's more than a year since FPI posted the very first Super-Sam and John-of-the-Night on the FPI blog), while Adam Cadwell, the main man behind the Manchester Comix Collective, has been interviewed by Bugpowder.

• Time for Werewolves! Part 3 of Frontier is now appearing in issue 33 of The DFC, available by subscription. Just as things were getting weird they now get… scary as werewolves threaten our heroes, Mitch and Daisy in this new strip by Andrew Wildman and Jason Cobley. More info at www.weirdwildwest.com

• And finally... here at downthetubes we were very sad to hear about the death of artist Tony Hart (read obituaries from The Telegraph, Guardian and Indpendent), an artist who inspired thousands down the years to pick up a pen or pencil and start drawing thanks to his appearances on shows such as Vision On and Take Hart. Many comics creators have paid tribute to him over the past few days. "He had a gentleness and kindness that you just don't see any more on TV," noted Jon Haward, while Gary Erskine says "He made drawing and painting and sculpting fun and encouraged a whole generation to explore their potential. Even cutting up paper was a marvel to watch and what he did with simple coloured chalk shapes still surprises and warms me."
"I loved Morph, and the Professor, but for me, it was always about Tony," says Rufus Dayglo. "He truly inspired generations of artists..and I'm certainly one of them."
"Hart managed to get a generation of kids picking up materials and making things, which gets you halfway towards being an artist," commented artist Michael Landy in The Guardian. "Who could replace him? None of the artists I know. Not one of us can draw like he could."
Lew Stringer noting that in addition to his many TV credits Hart was himself a comics artist, drawing strips for TV Comic in the 1950s, including Sooty and Packi the Elephant.

• You can send your own tributes to Tony's family via his official web site

Tube Surfing: 16 January 2009

• The Cybermen have taken over and 'upgraded' Doctor Who Adventures. Issue 98, out now in newsagents, features an extra-tall cover, a free set of Cyberman figures and the second part of a double-sided poster. There's plenty more Cyber-stuff inside, along with the usual comic strip.

• Frazer Irving is interviewed by the Barking and Dagenham Record this week, the interviewer, Navtej Johal, noting 37-year-old "Frazer is something of an enigma - he is renowned for being a comic artist who works with elements of horror and, in his own words 'the dark and diabolical', yet throughout our interview he remains candid and is constantly breaking into a beaming smile.' The artist is conscious of how quickly life as a freelance artist can change. "I have made so many epiphanies," he says. "You know that saying 'you don't know what you got 'til it's gone'? Well, I always thought that applied to objects or people, but it can also be applied to artistic ability. The fuel for my art, my motivation, was taken away last year when I was going through a rough time. So now I put a lot more into my work."

• 2000AD have posted a teaser of the D'Israeli's Lowlife series this week. "This one stars my (and Dr. F's) favourite, Dirty Frank," the creator reveals on his blog. "A bit daunting to be following in the footsteps of Henry Flint and Simon Coleby, but it's huge fun, and I've been trying to work with Rob Williams for a couple of years now.
"As of writing, I'm finishing episode 5 of 8, and it's madder than a snake's armpit with a bag of hammers, I can tell you. I don't think I've ever laughed out loud so many times reading a set of scripts."

• Talking of D'Israeli, and we are, the collected Torchwood: Rift War is now on pre-order from Amazon.co.uk. Due for release in April, the Titan collection comprises the whole of the Rift War story arc that ran in Torchwood Magazine, the work of Paul Grist, Ian Edginton, D'Israeli, Brian Williamson and Simon Furman.

• The London Underground Comics website has a new look, and a mysterious teaser, above. LUC had its last stall ever in Camden Market in December and seems set for a change of direction in 2009 while still doing its best to promote comics. We're looking forward to developments.

• David Bishop has just posted a short but useful post offering advice on writing story treatments. "Treatments are something that vex a lot of writers," he notes. "They resent spending time on treatments, let alone polishing a treatment until it shine. Audiences never see treatments, the logic seems to be, so why bother making them exciting or fun? But treatments are seen by those with the power to advance your work - editors, script executives, producers and literary agents." Read the post

• Al Ewing is among the guests at Hi-Ex 2 convention in Inverness next month "...where, presumably among other duties, I'll apparently be doing a panel on How To Break Into Comics with Frank Quitely and Graham Neil Reid." For details of more guests and the charity auction, see our earlier story

• Anthony Johnson's Wasteland #23, Hounds of Love, is now on sale. Johnson urges his fans not to forget to pre-order issue #25, a special double-length, full colour anniversary issue. Anine-page preview of the issue can be found on Comic Book Resources.

• Writing team Leah Moore and John Reppion have been technomaging and fiddling with spells that means the domain name www.moorereppion.com is now showing a placeholder. "We have switched from Godaddy to One.com for our domain name hosting, and from Geocities for our web storage," Leah explains. "We discovered we were paying tons to Godaddy and Geocities for all the different bits and bobs of the website, and it was cheaper and simpler to have it all in one place.
"We should have a proper placeholder up soon, and then we can get the new website underway. In the mean time, the forum is still the same, and this blog will be the same so we can let you know whats going on as it happens." So all you really need to know is, they're doing there technomagic and the Reppion-Moore mayhem will continue...

Win Copies of Gothic

Creators Leah Moore and John Reppion have dropped us a line to say that one of the highlights of the Birmingham International Comics Show this past weekend (see their report) was getting their hands on copies of David Hitchcock's new newspaper format anthology Gothic (see earlier news story).

Leah and John have three copies of Gothic to give away, all of which have been signed by them and Mr. Hitchcock.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning them is to answer the following question, as highlighted here on their official site:

To date, Leah and John have collaborated with Dave on three stories for Accent UK's yearly anthologies. Two of the stories are contained in Gothic and one is set to be published in 2009. What are the full titles of those three stories?

Email your answers to moore_reppionATbtinternet.com and the lucky winners will be announced here on the Reppion and Moore web site on Hallowe'en.

• Visit the Leah Moore and John Reppion web site
• Find out more about Gothic on Dave Hitchcock's blog or via this earlier downthetubetubes story

Reppion and Moore in Manchester

This coming Saturday (27th September) Leah Moore & John Reppion will be appearing at the Golden Orbit sci-fi, comic and card fair in Manchester.

The fair is being held at the Sachas Hotel on Tib Street , Piccadilly, Manchester M4 1SH between noon and 4.30 pm.

Also appearing are DC & Marvel artist James Hodgkins, promoting his new book Civilians NIL, and the Accent UK guys will also be plying their trade.

Leah and John will be signing and selling Raise the Dead hardbacks and they'll be only too happy to sign any other stuff (such as Accent UK anthologies) or just have a bit of a gab!

• For more information visit www.goldenorbit.co.uk

Haunted Liverpool book materializes

John Reppion's new book, Haunted Liverpool, featuring art by Andy Bloor, David Hitchcock, Declan Shalvey, Mo Ali, Oliver Redding and others has just gone on sale via the Leah Moore and John Reppion's web site shop.

On offer is the special edition of 800 Years of Haunted Liverpool (limited to 24 numbered and 26 lettered copies) featuring an exclusive bookplate by artist Mo Ali, signed by John Reppion.

Also included is a special bonus article “The Underground Empire of Joseph Williamson” in the form of a handmade booklet signed by John and its illustrator Leah Moore.

Each volume costs £9.99 (plus postage and packing) and will ship in early July 2008.

Hanuted Liverpool is a creepy collection of true-life tales that takes the reader on a tour through the streets, cemeteries, alehouses, attics and docks of Liverpool.

"Containing many tales which have never before been published, it unearths a chilling range of supernatural phenomena," says John, "including the Grey Lady of Speke Hall, the poltergeist who scrawled ‘I want you out’ on a blackboard in a cottage in Hunts Cross, and the truly terrifying tale of ‘Spring Heeled Jack’, the unidentified apparition who terrorised the citizens of Everton during the 1830s."

Illustrated with more than sixty photographs, maps and drawings, this book will delight anyone with an interest in the paranormal, folklore and local history.

• Visit the HauntedLiverpool.blogspot.com for more information.

More from Moore-Reppion Duo

Hot on the heels of the release of Space Doubles #1 from US publisher Th3rd World Studios (a five-issue mini-series in a flipbook format, emulating the old Ace doubles paperbacks) and the Raise the Dead hardback from Dynamite Entertainment which should be coming early this year, British writing team Leah Moore & John Reppion have anounced a couple of other projects they'll be involved with over the coming months.

The Darkness/Eva - Daughter of Dracula is a four-issue mini series Dynamite has confirmed will continue its “Eva” property (though now re-named “Eva: Daughter of Dracula”) in March, when the character will crossover with Top Cow’'s computer game-inspired tie-in The Darkness, marking the two company'’s second such collaboration.

The project will be written by Leah Moore and John Reppion, with art by Edgar Salazar, and covers by Brett Booth, Salazar and Paul Renaud.

Image Comics has also announced Comic Book Tattoo, an anthology which will feature stories inspired by Tori Amos songs edited by Rantz Hosley and scheduled to be out in time for Comic-Con International. Leah and John will be collaborating with Y the Last Man artist Pia Guerra on a story for this mega huge book.