Prisoners of Time: An Interview with artist Mike Collins

British comic creators are heavily involved in US publisher IDW's Doctor Who at 50 celebrations for their 'Prisoners of Time' maxi series, which launched  in January with a First Doctor story drawn by Simon Fraser and continued with a Second Doctor story drawn by Lee Sullivan.

'Prisoners of Time' will feature every incarnation of the Doctor, as well as a long list of villains, some new, some old.

downthetubes caught up with Issue Three's artist Mike Collins, whose both written and drawn several Doctor Who tales down the years

Entering the industry in the mid 1980s, smuggled in under Alan Moore's beard, he drew Alan's Dourdevil - Man Without A Sense of Humour strip for Marvel UK. After that he worked as writer/co-artist on a short-lived Spider-Man UK strip, then moved onto various licensed properties (pretty much all there was at the time): Transformers, He-Man, Action Force, Thundercats, Zoids and oh so many more.

It was here he began his long-running connection with Doctor Who, as occasional writer on the Doctor Who Magazine strip, writing adventures featuring the Sixth and Seventh Doctors (and later drawing Sylvester McCoy while I was editing the title).

Branching out to 2000AD, Mike drew Slaine and Judge Dredd. He was one of the artists press-ganged in the Second DC Wave, working on various of their superhero and fantasy books - Flash, Teen Titans, Dragonlance, Spelljammer amongst them. At the same time he served as artist on the Judge Dredd newspaper strip for the Daily Star.

A brief dalliance at Marvel had him working on Sub Mariner and the X-Men (drawing the first appearance of Gambit), returning to DC to write and draw Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt, then Star Trek, Babylon 5 and various JLA titles, and solo hero books including Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman.

In the last decade he's worked on a series of Norse Noir albums for the Norwegian market Varg Veum, took over the long running Panini Doctor Who Magazine comic strip when the TV series returned, and co-created American Gothic with Ian Edginton for 2000AD.

He's storyboarded for various pre-school TV shows, amongst them: Grandpa in My Pocket, Claude, Hana's Helpline, Igam Ogam and Horrid Henry. Definitely not for pre-school, he also boarded on the recent Warhammer 40k CGI movie. He's also boarded adverts for Colmans, Coca Cola, amongst others.

Outside of comics, he's illustrated for various magazines and newspapers, and runs workshops for schools and libraries using comics, primarily for the Read A Million Words In Wales campaign.

Mike's pencils and colour for his cover for Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time #3

downthetubes: Prisoners of Time is far from your first Doctor Who project but I gather you have a particular fondness for the Third Doctor's era of the show?


Mike Collins: Pertwee was 'my' Doctor - as a little un, I was terrified by the odd snippets I saw of the show (I remember an episode of The Krotons that I caught, maybe round a friends house, but got traumatized by it). I was a bit of a wimp as a kid. When Pertwee took over I was 8, 9... old enough to cope with the scary stuff! So for me, Pertwee was the Doctor.
 Just like the comics you read at 11 are the best ever, whoever is the Doctor at that age is best. (Though if I'm dispassionate about it, Matt Smith is absolutely the best Doctor ever.)

Watching back to back old stories, it's obvious that some of them were better than others, inevitably but Holy Crow, they're so slow! It's the starkest testament to the way we've become inured to rapid cuts and compressed storytelling: you probably get as much plot in a modern 40/45 minute episode as a four part plot back then!

When the Pertwee stories are good though, they're really good: there's a level of sophistication in the plotting and themes that sailed far over my pre-teen sensibilities. When you get past the not-even-Chewits Godzilla ad stop motion SFX, Invasion of the Dinosaurs plays like a cross between a Troy Kennedy-Martin thriller and - in one subplot- a JG Ballard 13 To Arcturus riff. Amazing for a family TV show.

downthetubes: Can you tell us which companions feature in the story?

Mike: The Brig, Liz Shaw and Sarah-Jane. If the Tiptons could have shoehorned Jo Grant and Sergeant Benton in there, I'd've had a full house.

downthetubes: Is there an old TV Monster in this part of the story?

Mike: They're new monsters but fit in exactly with the feel of the best Pertwee stories, as they address ecological and political issues. I can say no more!

downthetubes: How do you approach the thorny issue of 'capturing likeness' - always an issue with licensed series based on real actors?

Mike: Likenesses have been - I hope- one of my strengths over the years. I develop a shorthand for the characters so that if they don't look exactly like the actors, they should look how you think the actors look - it's a bit of a trick - I discovered on the Panini strip that getting screen grabs off episodes is great but the actors mid-scene hardly ever look like themselves.

downthetubes: Were there any particular aspect to working on this story that proved a particular challenge (and why?)

Mike: I had a clear idea in my head when I started this that it should feel like a 70s strip, that aspects of the storytelling and page design should be authentic to the period. I slipped in a couple of TV Century 21 panel designs to add to the ambiance.

downthetubes: You've both drawn and written Doctor Who - do you have a specific approach to tackling adventures for the franchise?

Mike: I always refer to the brief at Panini: always conceive adventures that TV couldn't afford to stage!

A digression: I've written and drawn Star Trek properties for Marvel and DC. I realized that for DC I was creating Trek stories in comics form but for Marvel, it was a Marvel story that just happened to be about Star Trek... does that make sense to anyone besides me?

downthetubes: Which Doctor Who story you've worked on has been your favourite to date?

Mike: Not dismissing anything I did after, there have been some amazing stories but my favourite Who comic strip I've drawn is The Cruel Sea, written by Rob Shearman, still his only comic script I think. He used the format and genres of comics in a way I've never seen anyone within the industry approach... brilliantly barmy.

In terms of things I've written, episode 2 of The Futurists is probably the tightest scripts I've ever done, and the jokes actually work, also, I ended with the villains proclaiming 'Now WE are the Lords of Time!' which could've be the corniest payoffs but I seemed to get away with it. I could've written a dozen episodes around the Welsh versions of Asterix I'd accidentally created there.

downthetubes: Why do you think Doctor Who has proven such an enduring success over the past 50 years - in print as well as on TV?

Mike: Go anywhere, do anything. Be decent, save lives, right wrongs. It's a concept that reinvents itself every story, every new location.

downthetubes: What's your next project and when is it on sale?

Mike: Currently running in the Judge Dredd Megazine is a three parter featuring Hondo City being besieged by Zombie Samurai. Written by Robbie Morrison, inked by Cliff Robinson and coloured by Len O'Grady, all doing stand-out work it's up there with the art I'm most proud of in my career. And it has ZOMBIE SAMURAI fer gawds sake!

Other than that, I'm back storyboarding for telly right now, on the new season of pre-school fave Igam Ogam... Upcoming for comics, I'm drawing an utterly brilliant Dredd for the Megazine written by old mate Ian Edginton which harks back to Dredd's roots through the darker lens of today. And is very, very funny.

downthetubes: Above anything else, what one piece of advice would you offer aspiring comic artists?

Mike: Draw every day, draw everything. I've sketchbooks full of drawings of foreign walls, plug sockets, window frames. Be aware of the world around you and infuse your work with a plausibility even if you're drawing a 40 foot tall jellyfish in a time vortex full of ruined worlds. Make the reader believe those panel borders aren't ruled lines around your pictures but window frames into worlds that-if you could push through and look around- extend to infinity.

• Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time #3 written by Scott and David Tipton with art by Mike Collins is on sale from 27th March from IDW Publishing.

• Mike Collins Official web site

• Read our interview with Simon Fraser, who drew Prisoners of Time #1

• Read our interview with Lee Sullivan, who drew Prisoners of Time #2
 
• More about IDW's Doctor Who range on the official web site

• Read an interview with David and Scott Tipton about the maxi series on Comic Book Resources  

IDW celebrates 50 years of Who with 'Prisoners of Time' maxi series

British comic creators look set to be heavily involved in US publisher IDW's Doctor Who at 50 celebrations with Simon Fraser and Lee Sullivan among the artists involved in their 'Prisoners of Time' maxi series, which launches this month.

'Prisoners of Time' will feature every incarnation of the Doctor, as well as a long list of villains, including the Zarbi from the TV story best known as The Web Planet.

The opening issue is being offered with two covers, one by Simon Fraser and the other a photo cover from publicity stills from the original Doctor Who episode, 'An Unearthly Child'.

"It's a 12-issue miniseries featuring all 11 incarnations of the Doctor," co-writer David Tipton told Comic Book Resources. "Each Doctor will be featured in one of the issues."

"And of course, there's a larger mystery spanning the course of the series," added co-writer David Tipton, "one which is set up in the opening pages of issue one, and which will increasingly come to light as the series progresses."

As yet, apart from the Zarbi, the villains who will play a part in the story have yet to be revealed.

Lee Sullivan has drawn the Patrick Troughton-Second Doctor story for #2 and Mike Collins has drawn the Pertwee-Third Doctor segment for Issue 3.

As well as the story, each issue will include an essay on the featured Doctor by prominent Who experts. Producer, director and script editor for Big Finish Productions, John Ainsworth provides these for #1 and #2, with Gary Russell contributing to #3.

• Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time #1 written by Scott and David Tipton with art by Simon Fraser goes on sale 23rd January from IDW Publishing. 

• Read an interview with David and Scott Tipton about the maxi series on Comic Book Resources

ROK Comics expands its audio comics range

ROK Comics has announced the expansion of its audio comics range, with Team M.O.B.I.L.E., Houdini now on sale for iPad, iPhone and Android devices – and many more titles in the works.

All ROK Comics titles deliver great comic content, enhanced by a fully authored audio soundtrack and other features that only digital comics can fully exploit, including animation and, in the case of its music comics range, music videos.

Says ROK CEO Jonathan Kendrick: “ROK is pioneering the creation and delivery of original audio comic books across a range of new titles and we are delighted to be bringing comic books to life in this dynamic way via the latest technologies.”

Sales of digital comics are growing rapidly, but many are simply re-formats of existing print titles which fail to take advantage of the opportunities offered by digital devices. ROK has embraced the new medium head on, delivering not just great comics but extras that will appeal to all ages now well used in the potential of modern media.

“With all the extras, we wanted to complement the comic storytelling that make a comic a comic,” says editor John Freeman, “but add new elements that will give the stories even greater appeal.

“We’re hoping our carefully-created titles will appeal outside of comic fandom. We’ve had feedback from parents who tell us our audio comics are a great help with children coming to grips with learning to read for example.

Available now for free are Team M.O.B.I.L.E. #1, Team M.O.B.I.L.E. #2 and Houdini #1 – with many more comics in the works.

• An ongoing adventure comic, Team M.O.B.I.L.E. centres on the story of teenagers recruited into a secret organisation to battle crime, terrorism and other dangers – some stranger than others. The series was created by Jonathan Kendrick and features art by Andrew Chiu.

Team M.O.B.I.L.E. #1 is FREE for iPad and iPhone:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/team-mobile-comic/id516600477

Team M.O.B.I.L.E. #1 is free for Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rok.comics.teammobile01

Team M.O.B.I.L.E. #2 is free for iPad and iPhone:
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/team-mobile-2/id549502691?mt=8

Team M.O.B.I.L.E. #2 is free for Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rok.comics.teammobile02

• Houdini is an ongoing adventure comic recounting all-new adventures of the world’s greatest escape artist. Written by magician Jamie Allan Nicklin and composer and script writer Simon Wheeler, the launch issue features art by the highly-regarded Spanish artists Rafael Broseta and David Belmonte.

The comic includes exclusive videos revealing magician’s secrets – some included for free, some offered as in-app purchase.

• Houdini #1 is FREE for iPad and iPhone at:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/houdini/id531385730?mt=8&ls=1

• Download Houdini #1 FREE for Android at:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rok.comics.houdini

Titles to come include:

• Tomorrow We Live, a gritty no-holds-barred action adventure set in a world of jaded spies and dangerous villains, adapted from a story by Simon Piers Thurlow and Hollywood screen writers Shawn Curran and George Sanders by Mike Collins, acclaimed artist on several titles for Marvel and DC Comics, as well as Doctor Who Magazine

• The Beatles Story, an eight-issue limited digital series collecting, in full, the stunning creator-owned comic co-created by Angus Allan and Arthur Ranson, which will include rare video of the Beatles

• The Elvis Story, an eight-issue limited digital series by Angus Allan and Arthur Ranson telling revealing the legend of the King, never re-published since its first appearance in British comic Look-In in the 1980s

• Ex Astris, an amazing science fiction comic set in the far future on an Earth transformed by alien intervention and environmental disaster, by Bill Storie

ROK is also publishing a number of “music comics”, featuring audio-enhanced comic strip, videos and other bonus material, including:

• Rick Fury, an ongoing “action music comic” starring an alternate version of one of Britain’s best-known emcees, written by Rick himself with art by Marc Olivent

• Banned Across the Universe… In space, no-one can hear you sing – unless you pretend you’re someone famous, and probably dead! An ongoing action-humour strip by John Freeman and Kev Levell

• ZeZi: The Story so Far, a bio-comic about the Birmingham-based rap band, scripted by Jasper Bark and drawn by Andrew Chiu

• OG Niki: The Story So Far, a bio-comic about the controversial British rapper OG Niki, scripted by Jasper Bark and drawn by Marc Olivent

• Joe Whelan: The Story So Far, a bio-comic about the amazing Heavy Metal guitarist, scripted by Jasper Bark and drawn by Marvel Comics artist Giancarlo Caracuzzo

• Visit ROK Comics at: www.rokcomics.com

Declaration: John Freeman is Managing Editor at ROK Comics

In Review: Kate & William - A Very Public Love Story

On the day of The Wedding it seems appropriate to review Markosia's Kate and William: A Very Public Love Story, their take on the story that will climax in Westminster Abbey round Noon today. Written by Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston and illustrated by Mike Collins on the bride's side and Gary Erskine on the groom's side, the book version of the tale combines the two separate comics, Kate Middleton: A Very Private Princess and William Windsor: A Very Public Prince, into one double length flipbook.

It is a safe bet that you already know the plotline so suffice to say that the book takes both its hero (beginning at the "back" of the book) and heroine (beginning at the "front") from their childhoods to their appearance on the steps of Westminster Abbey as a married couple, which is shown as a centrespread in the middle of the book. Writer Johnson tells the two separate stories as snippets from their lives with Kate's in a girl's diary format and William's as newspaper style headlines. As the story reaches St Andrew's and their lives intertwine, so the two stories show some of the same incidents from both sides including the now famous fashion event with Kate in the see-through dress.

The Kate story works better, possibly because it is less familiar, but more likely because it seems to have fewer jumps in the narrative showing as it does Kate falling for William while in the William version they are apparently suddenly a couple.

It is interesting to see how the two artists deal with the similar subject matter. Collins take on the Kate story makes the characters more elegant than Erskine's more accurate style on the William story, but they are well assigned to their stories as I can't imagine the book working at all if the two had have been swapped around. Indeed the one major event that they both cannot get away from is that dress and Erskine's take is typically accurate, based on the available photos and showing what the audience saw, while Collins take is rather more glamorous and possibly more in keeping with what William thought he saw.

The book is good, not great, but good and an interesting addition to the biographical comics that are becoming more prevalent nowadays. Personally I think that my interest in it will increase in the years to come as a record of how the couple were perceived today, much in the same way that I find DC Thomson's Princess Margaret: Told In Pictures, that was issued in time for her wedding over half a century ago, fascinating as a period piece.

In the end it doesn't really matter what any reviewer says about this book. If you are already sick of hearing about the wedding then you won't be touching it with a barge pole (but still no doubt making the most of your Friday holiday) while if you are sitting in front of your TV with your union flag ready to wave as the couple recreate the book's centrespread and step out onto the Abbey steps as man and wife, you probably already have it.


• There are more details of Kate & William: A Very Public Love Story, and the two separate comics it comes from, on the Markosia website.

IDW's Doctor Who Classics reaches Seventh Doctor era

The first issue of US comics publisher's latest Doctor Who Classics volume went on sale earlier this month across the pond, featuring re-coloured Seventh Doctor stories by a slew of creators I've worked with down the years.

The Seventh Doctor's initial adventures were edited by Richard Starkings, and originally hit the ground running in Doctor Who Magazine Issue 130 back in 1987 with the four-part Ice Warrior story 'A Cold Day in Hell' written by Simon Furman with art from John Ridgway and Tim Perkins. It's the first episodes of that story that feature in this issue of Doctor Who Classics: The Seventh Doctor, which features an all-new cover by Robert Hack and new colours by Charlie Kirchoff.

'A Cold Day in Hell' featuring the Ice Warriors – used with the full permission of Brian Hayles’ estate, the use of TV monsters in the strip requiring such approval – saw the departure of John Ridgway as regular artist, as well as an end to shape-changing Frobisher’s journeys in the TARDIS. For many DWM readers neither decision was popular, and there were appeals for both John and Frobisher’s return. This was the last regular appearance for the shape-changing Frobisher, however, who had been stuck as a penguin for some time and although making an appearance in the Colin Baker-penned comic special Age of Chaos, wouldn't return to DWM until Issue 329, in Where Nobody Knows Your Name, a story by Roger Langridge, in which it turns out he now runs a pub!

Panels from 'A Cold Day
in Hell', re-coloured by
Charlie Kirchoff.

Writer Simon Furman was determined to have a TV villains the Ice Warriors in the story, which required clearance from (and payment to) creator Brian Hayles' estate. "My first two Who strip stories had obeyed the unwritten directive 'thou shalt not use established villains straight out of the gate,'" he recalls, "but with my third story, the first to feature the Seventh Doctor in strip form, I felt a grade A Who villain was called for.

"I’d always loved the Ice Warriors, back from when I was a little kid (I caught the original Troughton Ice Warriors story when he was partnered with Victoria and Jamie and it blew my whatever-year-old mind), and the chance to do a new Ice Warriors story was simply too tasty to resist."

 Tim Perkins recalls feeling rather daunted by the opportunity to work with John Ridgway on the story, but his inks proved very popular with readers, who voted him their favourite back in 1988. "Working on Doctor Who meant working with John, whose work I really admired, although I’m still not sure I was ready for it,” he says, "but John was brilliant and lent his advice where it was needed and made me feel I was doing it right. I had a ball on the series and was pretty much left to ink it the way I saw fit.

 "John basically draws with ink, with very sparse pencils, but everything is there, so even though he was pencilling more for me than he would for himself, there wasn’t as much on the pages as some of the other artists I had worked with at the time, which also meant there was more of me in the art.

"I think I can now do a good impersonation of a John Ridgway ink job, but back then it was just me inking like I would anything for anyone. I was learning such a lot.“

Next month, Issue 2 completes the Ice Warrior story and features 'Redemption' by Simon Furman, Kev Hopgood and Tim Perkins, and Death's Head's first appearance in Doctor Who - 'The Crossroads of Time'. Simon Furman again scripts that story, with art by Geoff Senior.

The story was designed to free the robot bounty hunter from his battles with giant robots in Transformers comic and, eventually, get him into his own US-style title.

“It was an enjoyable experience to pit Death's Head against the Doctor,” recalls artist Geoff Senior, “mainly because I didn't expect it to happen! I never thought they would ever meet, so when they did I was pleasantly surprised.

Geoff had no problems realizing a battle between the giant Death’s Head and the diminutive Doctor. “The scale didn't really cause me a problem. It was something that may have troubled Simon more – he had the problem of figuring out a way to shrink DH down in size.

“Death’s Head was initially a 'throw away' character who proved too valuable to throw away,” Geoff notes. “It was important to find an excuse to reduce him in size, so that he could interact with other more normal sized Marvel characters.”

Issue 3, on sale in April, features 'Claws of the Klathi' by Mike Collins and Kev Hopgood, with inks by Dave Hine.

“I was going through one of my 'more writer than artist' phases,” recalls Mike Collins of 'Claws', “doing scripts for various licensed books and Future Shocks for 2000AD. I'd written one Who story before – Profits of Doom – which sowed the seeds for a major arc featuring the Sixth Doctor who unfortunately got 'moved on', so it never got completed.

“I was lured back to Doctor Who by Richard Starkings,” he continues, also admitting the commission, like many others, “may have been in a pub and may have involved Guinness.

“I love Victoriana,” the artist-writer, who has since written modern-era Who for DWM, reveals. “Talons of Weng Chiang is one of my favourite ever Who stories, and I wanted to do something with that vibe.

Mike wasn’t the only person enthused by the strip’s Victorian setting. “I did do a load of research for that one, I was really fired up by Mike’s script,” says Kev. “I’m really into Victoriana, too, which I think Richard knew from our time 'working' in fanzines. It was great having Dave ink my work on this job as well. Although he’s now gone more into writing, he’s one of the few inkers that I’ve been absolutely happy with.

“It was a bit of a jolt to go onto the good Doctor after having drawn Zoids and Action Force.”

"This strip was very different to my previous collaborations with Kev Hopgood," recalls David Hine. "I was used to producing a slick brush line but this strip called for a very different style because of the Victorian setting.

"This was shortly after Berni Wrightson's illustrated Frankenstein had appeared: his illustrations recalled the pen-and-ink work of American illustrators like Joseph Clement Coll, John R. Neill and Franklin Booth. Intricate pen work that looked almost like etchings.

"Kev and I were both big fans of Wrightson and we set out to emulate that work. I ditched the brush, took up the pen and spent long days and nights finishing the job to deadline. It was a lot of work, but I think we achieved the look we were after and I remember that story going down very well with the readers."

The stories pace and shorter episode count marked a major change from previous Doctor Who comics which, during the Fifth and Sixth Doctor eras, had  more of an 'epic' feel to them.

“I wanted to do whatever I could to make the strip more reminiscent of the show,” editor Richard Starkings reveals of his approach to the strip. “I loved Steve Parkhouse's stories for the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Doctors, but felt that he was very much doing his own thing – toward the end it was practically autobiographical.

'Planet of the Dead', coming in May
(Issue 4) features seven Doctors

“The one thing I wanted to avoid was a lame duck companion slowing the strip down,” he reveals, “so we got rid of the heat vampire, Olla, Simon Furman introduced in Cold Day in Hell and I asked writers to focus on characters in each story that could fill the companion role.” (That device is of course one recently employed in more recent Doctor Who TV Specials such as The Christmas Invasion and The Runaway Bride).

Looking back on the strips now, Richard feels many stand the test of time. “I think Kev Hopgood and Dave Hine's art for 'Claws of the Klathi' is amongst the best work either of them produced to date,” he argues, “and even though I got a lot of stick for crossing over with Death’s Head and The Sleeze Brothers, they still make me giggle, and I think, along with the Keepsake story, they're the equivalent of 'Doctor Light' episodes in the recent series."

• On downthetubes: A Cold Day at Marvel UK
An extended feature going behind the scenes on the early Seventh Doctor stories featuring interview material with many of the creators

• IDW Doctor Who Classics - Official Information. IDW's Doctor Who comics are not officially available in the UK but they tell me they will be available as digital editions later this year

10thology project to debut at Cardiff comic expo

The Cardiff International Comic Expo takes place at the end of this month - and with it, the launch of 10thology, an exciting looking comics project featuring a host of top Welsh comic creators, including Mike Collins, Si Wyatt and Dylan Teague.

10thology features 10 stories, each 10 pages in length, written and illustrated by some of Wales' brightest and best creative talents. From comic industry legends such as Mike Collins, to Indie/Small Press creative studio Monkeys with Machineguns, and newcomers to the world of comics from the fields of film and animation, these creators have come to together to create a unique set of stories all linked with a distinctly Welsh theme and flavour.

Welsh artist Stu.Art (Stuart Tipples) is the man behind the project and explains the idea behind the book.

"I would go to regular social meetings with the writers  and artists that feature in the book to get together, catch up, and see what everyone was working on or meet up at the various comic conventions (usually taking place on the other side of the bridge).

"It occurred to me that there was such a wealth of Welsh talent from creators living and working in Wales at these events that we could create a very original and unique book."

The Knights of Craig Y Ddinas:
Words Stu.Art Art Mike Collins
Colours Kris Carter

The line up, is impressive and is as follows:

• The Knights of Craig Y Ddinas written by Stu.Art with art from Mike Collins and colour by Kris Carter
• Dai Hard by Rich McAuliffe with art by Jenny Clemments
• Devoloution by Chris Lynch with art by Patrick Goddard, Dan Harris, Mark Smith, Craig Lewis & Stu.Art
• The Valley of the Gwadni by Si Wyatt
• Humour Rights by Steve Morris
• The Hidden Flame by Dave Clifford & Jamie Lambert
• Project Phoenix by Terry Cooper
• Mallt Y Nos by Chris Lynch with art by Stu.Art
• The Edge of World by Jon Rennie, art by Dave Young & Lucy Artis
• The Valley of the Gwadni by Si Wyatt
• Red Cave by Pete Rogers, art by Stu.Art
• Plus an exclusive pin-up by Dylan Teague

Dylan Teague's stunning pin up
for 10thology

•  10thology will be released at the Cardiff International Comic Expo on Saturday 26th February 2011. Tickets are available for pre-booking online at http://www.fantasyevents.org/cice - but they've almost sold out, so hurry along now! 

• All advanced ticket holders to CICE will receive a promotional 10thology postcard that gives them £2.99 off the RRP of £14.99 and entry into a competition to win original 10thology art. 10thology goes on general release summer 2011.

• Web: www.10thology.co.uk or Email: infoAT10thology.co.uk
• Story thanks to this report on Geek Syndicate

Markosia publishes Royal Wedding tie-in comic by Johnston, Collins and Erskine

British graphic novel publisher Markosia Enterprises is proud to present to the nation a dramatic retelling of the lives of Prince William and Kate Middleton in their new graphic novel Kate & William - A Very Public Love Story.

Written by Rich Johnston, it tells the life story of the happy couple in two directions.

Mike Collins, perhaps best known for his Doctor Who and Star Trek work, tells Kate's story in the manner of a 1970's girls comic book, with some very modern touches. Each event is given added depth and resonance by the use of a fictional diary.

Meanwhile, Scottish artist Gary Erskine delivers a more bombastic story, following William from the rugby pitches of Eton to army officer training at Sandhurst before his army and RAF exploits, all the time narrated by newspaper headlines and mission briefings in a style more familiar to the army and sports comics for boys.

Markosia Enterprises say they've set out to tell the story of Prince William and Kate Middleton's romance in a very different way, offering a dramatic biography with two separate stories told from either end of the comic, coming together in the middle with a fictional look at the wedding day itself, with a kiss. How could it end any other way?

Rich Johnston, a major contributor to the comic news site Bleeding Cool, is a well-known comics industry figure, with appearances on The One Show, Channel 5 Movie Shows, and Radio 4's The Today Programme. His previous work, The Flying Friar and Watchmensch received rave reviews, as did his stint on IDW's US Doctor Who comics.

"I suggested the idea to the publisher on Instant Messaging," says Rich Johnston, who tells us the biggest challenge for him in doing this book was "taking out books about the royal couple from the library while still appearing to be male."

A panel from Mike Collins
Kate Middleton story

"Gary Erskine suggested me to Harry as a good 'girl' artist," says Mike Collins, who has been illustrating comics and working as a graphic designer for over 25 years and whose adaptation of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol selected as one of the top ten graphic novels back in 2008 by The Sunday Times. "Rather than take that as some kind of Alpha Male challenge, I ran with it, embracing my inner Jackie!

"The biggest challenge on this job for me was realising that these are real people, not actors playing roles."

"Harry Markos called me last year and said that he had a special project in the offering and asked me if I was interested," says Gary Erskine, who has been illustrating comic books for 18 years of his role. "Rich had recommended me as a perfect choice for a 'real book about real people' and felt it played to my strengths (or lack of superhero strength?) It also needed to be grounded visually and my realistic work had helped secure the job! It certainly was an offer I couldn't refuse."

"Thankfully I was given the opportunity to work on the William book (leaving the lovely Kate Middleton in Mike Collins more sympathetic artistic hands) My approach was more of a Boys' Own adventure book to compliment Mike's Mandy girl comic style for Kate."

"The biggest challenge for me on this was trying to remain respectful to the subject matter but still producing a good looking book," he adds.

In addition to his comics work, Gary has contributed character designs and storyboards for television, commercials and games development, working with various companies including DC, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse, Virgin Comics and Titan Books and, like Mike, is used to working with licensed properties and ensuring he's delivered an accurate likeness, but feels that when you're dealing with real people as opposed to licensed characters or even actors there is also a responsibility to portray them well.

"Having dealt with licensed properties (and actor and agent approvals) it is always better to flatter the principals," he feels. "Both Mike and I will be honest to a degree, but never cruel.

"Besides, the two books are basically romances and that will be our primary focus for the art.

"This book is a celebration of Kate and William's lives leading up to their engagement and we have tried to remember that. We'll leave the salacious gossip and snooping to the red tops and celebrity rags.

"I'm not really a Royalist but I respect what they do to promote the country abroad and welcome their charitable work. William's continuation of his mother's landmine work is particularly admirable."

A panel from Gary Erskine's story

How do the creators think it will be received? "With cynicism, suspicion and mockery," feels Rich, until they start reading it."

"I think we've got real cross-over potential with this," feels Mike, "getting comics into the hands of an audience that has neglected the medium, maybe has never read a comic. Whether we're just the four-colour equivalent of a decorative plate, we'll see."

"There will no doubt be cynical naysayers and public sniping for our books from certain comic buyers and parts of the general public," Gary feels, "but to be honest... there's enough of that crap around anyways. We're producing a celebratory edition and would hope that most readers will see past their own personal cynicism and enjoy the book for what it is. There's darker books out there if that's their choice.

"We would only hope that we got it right and it is found to be popular and welcomed everywhere.

"I think Rich has done a great job with the script," he adds, "balancing the very public perception of William and allowing for a little creative license. It's always a delicate matter when dealing with real people and the obvious sensitivities that come with their history. He has written a very good script for all that and I am delighted to be working with him on the story."

But what does the man who greenlit the project feel about it - publisher Harry Markos?

"How do I feel? Well, I am about as excited about a book as I have ever been as a publisher,' he told us, "recognising the possibilities and success that it could have. The response we have had from all over the world has been overwhelming, it hasn't stopped!

"Put simply, if we are able to negotiate viable terms this could be one of the best selling graphic novels in the UK in years," he continues, "so you can imagine I am somewhat nervous as well as excited!"

Asked if they would be doing more royal projects in future if  the graphic novel is a success, Mike is cautious but hopeful.

"When Rich and Harry came up with this project, I think they both understood this was one of those zeitgeist moments," he says. "With all the other misery and bleakness in the world here was a shiny, upbeat tale. It's a love story, it's corny but that's that. Whether that moment comes again, I really don't know."

"Maybe when it's time for their eldest to get married!" says Rich.

"Are you suggesting a Royal Markosia imprint? Great idea!," Gary says, laughing. "We could create our own universe and run with that on a monthly series. The Windsor's are basically a large family with constitutional powers and plenty of history and constant interest to the public. All we need is to spandex them!

"Seriously, this is a one-off special project. Harry and Rich saw an opportunity and grasped it. Very much of the moment. There may well be similar books in the future but I don’t see it becoming a staple for the current market."

"We have discussed the possibility of releasing other books that are more suitable for a wider audience," hints Harry Markos, "as opposed to the more niche comic market, and we are not letting anyone know in advance what they are!

"What I can assure you is that they will be tastefully produced by quality creators for as large an audience as possible, so watch this space..."

• Kate And William: A Very Public Love Story will be sold in bookshops, select comic stores, supermarkets and all good outlets from April 2nd.



• Order Kate & William - A Very Public Love Story from amazon.co.uk


Order Kate & William - A Very Public Love Story from amazon.com

• Markosia Enterprises: www.markosia.com

• Mike Collins Official Site


• Gary Erskine Official Site and Blog

Draw the World Together Art Auction Begins Tonight

Spider-Man by Mike Collins

Today sees the start of the first of three Draw the World Together auctions, organised by comic creators using comics to raise money for charity.

The auction on eBay features sketches provided by some of DWTs favourite artists and the list will go live at 11pm GMT on the group's eBay page. These sketches were mostly done at the recent Bristol Comic Expo and there are some real gems in there that you won't want to miss, including this Spider-Man by Doctor Who artist Mike Collins.

Draw the World Together hope to make this their biggest online DtWT fundraiser to date, so spread the word.

The auction runs for 10 days. Overlapping with that will be the second auction, which starts on 2nd September. More news on that one soon...

• Draw the World Together eBay page

• Draw the World Together Official web site

• Draw the World Together on Facebook

• Draw the World Together on DeviantART 

• Draw the World Together on Twitter

Doctor Who Magazine features first Eleventh Doctor strip

The latest issue of Panini UK's Doctor Who Magazine (Issue 421) sees the debut of the Eleventh Doctor in its comic strip pages, with the delectable Amy Pond in tow to boot.

While Matt Smith's Doctor has already appeared in the BBC title Doctor Who Adventures, this is the first comic to feature him in DWM, in a story titled Supernature set on a distant, jungle-dominated alien world - the location of a penal colony where the human residents are turning alien themselves.

The story by Jonathan Morris, who has written several Doctor Who stories for audio drama producers Big Finish, is drawn by veteran Who comics artist Mike Collins, with David Roach providing some superb inks on the opening episode.

Fans will also enjoy a feature offering a guide to the TARDIS - reminding readers of rooms rarely or only ever seen once or twice on TV, including the infamous 'Boot Cupboard' (a full Regncy-style dining room) and the bath (a full-size swimming pool). While the TARDIS has been covered before in features, this is a pretty exhaustive and entertaining item, just part of another great issue of the Magazine.

• There's more information here on the Panini UK web site (although this is actually a 'pop up', you may want to navigate to it from the main site at www.paninicomics.co.uk). Alternatively, check out the latest news from the Magazine team on Facebook.


The latest issue of Doctor Who Adventures - which now has its very own official web site at www.dwamag.com - features the usual mix of features and comic strip aimed at a younger audience than Panini's Doctor Who Magazine including a fantastic FREE Weeping Angel mask.

This week's monster mag is crawling with Weeping Angels and comes with a Angel mask... don't blink!

Along with the usual comic strip, features include top moments from The Time of Angels, hilarious bits from the Eleventh Doctor's first adventure (involving a lot of food he can't stand) and a lowdown on the new Doctor Who Adventure Games, a Dalek quiz and am exclusive competition to become the editor of Doctor Who Adventures for the day.

• More info at: www.dwamag.com

Cold Day at Marvel UK: Strip by Strip Feature

As previously noted, Panini UK has just released Cold Day in Hell, its first collection of Doctor Who strips featuring the Seventh Doctor, played on TV by Sylvester McCoy, in May 2009.

downthetubes has now published an in-depth 'strip by strip' feature based on interviews with most of the strip creators - including Lee Sullivan, John Ridgway, Mike Collins, David Hine and Alan Grant - who worked on the stories featured.

The feature is an extended version of material provided fora back up article published in the collection, and includes comments from writer Simon Furman, who was unable to contribute to the print edition version due to time contsraints.

It also includes material cut for space reason but does not include interview material with the strips' editor, Richard Starkings -- you'll have to buy the book for that!

• Read the Cold Day in Hell Strip by Strip feature on downthetubes

• Buy A Cold Day in Hell from amazon.co.uk

• Buy A Cold Day in Hell from amazon.com

Convention Report: Raptus, Norway, 2013

2013 RSS Viewers: This is an old story from the main downthetubes site which I am transferring to the blog. I'm sorry it has unavoidably popped up in your RSS feed

Here's a quick report on my trip to Raptus 2003 in Bergen, Norway. This feature is an overview of the Norwegian comics scene itself rather than a report on the Festival itself which was great fun and included UK comics artists sushc as Mike Collins, Lew Stringer, Dave Windett, John Armstrong, John Cooper and Barrie Mitchell as guests. Pat Mills and Carlos Ezquerra and one of my all-time favourite creators, Will Eisner, were also at the event.

Thanks to Arild Wareness and the rest of the Raptus team for inviting me.

Jenni Scott has written a report on the convention which appears on the Silver Bullets web site.

The Raptus 2003 Comics Festival, part funded by the Norwegian government, proved a busy event attracting some 5000 fans from across Scandinavia and beyond. Guests included Will Eisner, Pat Mills, John Cooper and many European artists. I helped arrange some of the guests on Raptus behalf as an unofficial UK liasion. Jenni Scott has written a more detailed report on the event appears on the Silver Bullets site, but the information below is about the Norwegian Comics scene. This information is based in part on UK Comics Festival organiser Kev Sutherland's comments on the event on the Comics2000 yahoo group and my own observations and feedback from Norwegian creators and the convention organisers.

The number off new publishers and magazines hitting the Norwegian news stand is staggering. This autumn four new magazines will launch from mainstream publishers, their launch supported by government subsidies for new comics publishers, responding to concerns at the amount of reprint on the news stands and also to promote Norwegian creators. A committee meets regularly to decide which new creators and strips should get a break. This funding also extends to assisting with the production of albums and graphic novels, all of which means Norwegian comic creators don't have to rely solely on the free market and have been supported in their building of a popular audience. The numbers off smaller publishers and underground magazines is also rising. Major newspapers -- Norway has one of the most literate and well read populations in Europe -- use their columns to give reviews of comics, and both mainstream and underground strips get publicity. A typical newsagents has a healthy collection of comics -- not just cartoon-based, like the UK. Disney's Donald Duck dominates of course -- he is the most popular comics character, with over 100,000 sales of his top comic. While there are many import titles, there are many home-grown titles such as Nemi (now published in the UK in Metro)

Thus on newsagents shelves you have Disney titles; Fox Kids; plus newspaper strip anthology compilations such as Glen Larson's far Side, adventure magazines such as Conan, Agent X-9 (leading with Modesty Blaise reprints) and The Phantom (published by Egmont and edited by Ulf Granberg, who also edits Lew Stringer's strip Suburban Satanists. While Fantomen does reprint some of the old Phantom newspaper strips (along with Tom Strong), the lead 30-page strip is usually originated. These strips are reprinted in English by Australia's Frew Comics).

There's also: Cosmic(an Image compilation), Marvel characters (Spider-Man, X-Men - Marvel characters have started to be published in Norway in the same compilation format as Panini UK, but on better stock), plus Nemi, Pondus (a newspaper strip anthology) - lots of those on sale, Rex Rudi (a band who have their own comic strip - ever seen Norwegian rockabilly?) and Gorilla.

Although I can't read Norwegian these are vibrant and fun, the Norwegian titles -- all characters creator-owned -- are very MTV generation, vibrant and basically fun with a sassy look to them, far more self-assured than any humour comic currently published in Britain. They are published on good quality stock. They retail for around 35 kroner, about £3.50 - £4.00. (Norwegian prices are about three times as much as UK). The Nemi magazine is also using some reprint such as Lenore (little dead girl zombie who accidentally kills a lot of people). It was Nemi that led the resurgence in originated comics sales in Norway, with 70,000 sales in Norway alone. This is pretty impressive when you consider the population of Norway is just five million... The strip is now running, uncredited, in Metro, across the UK.

UK cartoonist Lew Stringer's Suburban Satanists is published in the Egmont title Herman Hedning. Herman is the lead strip; a sort of troll character. The comic is published as both a Swedish and Norwegian language edition.

Essentially, you have maybe a few more comics titles than a big UK newsagents but dedicated shelf space is far more in even small newsagents, such as railway stations. There's also a diversity of content and very few promotional gifts on covers (in fact, Norwegian creators held up their hands in horror at the very idea). Most publishing is on better paper stock and of a high quality.

On the magazines front, there is a huge amount of reprint going on from Emap, IPC etc. with the same title (Digital Camera, Elle, Mojo etc.) but in Norwegian. The same happens elsewhere in Europe of course, I saw the same kind of thing in Italy.

Bergen's only comics and games store, Avalon, was also an experience. The layout and stock is similar to, say, Forbidden Planet, but the layout is more spacious. In fact all the shops I visited seemed to have more space except those in the older quarter. Maybe they don't have rates like we do, since they're also able to include a small cafe area.

US imports are plentiful as well as a section for homegrown comics and magazines, foreign graphic novesl and a section of SF (US) books. Not much underground comics in evidence though there was a small press section. Seems to be a big market in comics stores for English language titles. Farscape Books spotted on sale, and SFX. Sadly, no sign of Dreamwatch.

• Raptus Festival: www.raptus.no