On the trail of Erin Starfox

Writer-Artist Will Jarvis has just launched his new sci-fi novel Erin Starfox on Kickstarter, illustrated science fiction that's just a little different.

"It's not a comic or graphic novel exactly, but it shares some elements of that form," Will told downthetubes, "and some of the folks who worked on it also toil in the comics field, so there might be some interest from the comics community. Some of the writers and artists are British, others are from the USA and Australia."

Written by Will along with Simon Guerrier (writer of Doctor Who and Professor Bernice Summerfield stories), Tessa Schlesinger and others, with art by Frank Brunner (Marvel Comics artist of Doctor Strange and Howard the Duck), plus Carolyn Edwards, Marcus Jenkins and others, the book explores life and relationships in the far future.

"Erin appeared in my mind one day and I haven't stopped writing about her since," Will says. "She's a multifaceted character with wit and charm and love of life. Her stories are timeless and endless, and the world (the universe) she inhabits abounds with wonder and delight, and is a joy to explore in words and pictures.

"The book was inspired by stories that influenced me as a reader such as Home From The Shore by Gordon R. Dickson (writer) and James R. Odbert (artist); Dan Day's illustrated versions of the Sherlock Holmes stories; Gil Kane's Blackmark; and Jim Steranko's Chandler graphic novel, and other works of visual literature."

Will is a published author and artist, with experience as a magazine and book editor. "I know the steps necessary to take a project like this from start to finish, " he says of the project. "I've done it before. The first and most important challenge I faced with this project was coming up with something different, something worth publishing.

"I thought long and hard for a couple of years, let various ideas percolate around in my brain. When the characters and concepts coalesced, I wrote a Writer's Guide and then invited other writers, and artists, to contribute to the saga. The positive response from them, plus the positive response I got from speculative fiction fans when I took the Starfox concept to SF conventions convinced me that Starfox was something that should be pursued.

"I raised the money to pay the writers and artists for their work, then set about editing the manuscript. Once I was sure that we really had something, I began looking into options to get the book printed and published. A friend of mine, who had successfully funded her book via Kickstarter, suggested I give it a try. Starfox has been a group effort practically from the start, so crowdfunding seems quite appropriate."

"I believe in the message of hope and promise in Starfox," enthuses Terry Brussel, co-founder of Live The Dream (a Los Angeles area sci-fi group), "and believe that message could be as important as the message in Star Trek. Polyamorous civilizations, human drama, great characters, amazing stories, beautiful illustrations; Starfox has it all."

• The Kickstarter page is here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/2049996496/erin-starfox

• More about Erin Starfox: www.erinstarfox.com

Happy Birthday, 2000AD! From writer and fan Simon Guerrier

Name: Simon Guerrier

Blog or web site: http://0tralala.blogspot.com

Currently working on:

I'm writing lots of silly AAAGH! strips for Doctor Who Adventures (art by Brian Williamson) and have just written 100% Awesomes, a superhero comic for use in classrooms to teach kids about autism with art by William Potter

First memory of 2000AD?

My older brother read it before I did. My earliest memory is the covers from the Dredd strip City of the Damned, which were really haunting. I started buying it from 626 - hooked by Simon Bisley's take on Slaine and the amazing one-off Dredd strip, 'In the Bath'.

Favourite Character or Story?

So much to choose from, but I love DR and Quinch. "DR and Quinch go to Hollywood" is spectacular.

What do you like most about the 2000AD?

The variety. And that, at it's best, the stories were smart.

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

Me.

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

Sadly, I've not worked for 2000AD. I have a pile of nice rejection letters, though.

• 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

Autism Education Trust creates 'Awesome' superheroes

A new set of comic book characters, The 100% Awesomes, has been created by Doctor Who Adventures and Blake's 7 audio adventures writer Simon Guerrier for the Autism Education Trust to promote awareness of difference and autism.

The superhero characters are the stars of new teaching materials aimed at pupils in years five to seven.

The 100% Awesomes characters have been devised in consultation with the AET Youth Council, who decided how they should look and what super powers they should have. Written by science fiction writer Simon Guerrier, who has written Doctor Who novels, short stories and comics, and illustrated by William Potter, who has created comic strips for Doctor Who Magazine.

The four superheroes are The Moth, Alley Cat, No Beard and Tricksy Richard. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses and two of them have autism. One does not speak and uses an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device to help her.

The Autism Education Trust is dedicated to coordinating, supporting and promoting effective education practice for all children and young people on the autism spectrum.

Launched in parliament in November 2007 with support and funding from the government, the AET is the only umbrella organisation working specifically on autism education across the voluntary, public and private sectors. It's funded by the Department of Education and was founded by Ambitious about Autism, The Council for Disabled Children and The National Autistic Society.

The AET helps raise awareness of the importance of appropriate educational provision for children and young people on the autism spectrum through a range of dedicated events, information sharing conferences, web based resources and ongoing research and project work.



The 100% Awesomes teaching pack includes a complete lesson plan, the comics, character cards and a teacher-guide DVD showing films of classes taking part in the lesson and interviews with teachers and pupils, as well as suggestions for follow up activities. During the lesson, students complete the comic strip adventure and solve the problems it presents. They must consider their own strengths and weaknesses and learn to celebrate differences in others.

• The 100% Awesomes lesson whole class resource pack for schools,  including DVD guide is priced at £14.99. To order your copy call the AET on: 020 7903 3650 or email

Tube Surfing, 30 June 2008: Baxendale, Bernice Summerfield and Graveyards

Above: The Bash Street Kids, drawn by Leo Baxendale, start a circus in a story from Beano Issue 1063, published in 1963. Bash Street Kids © DC Thomson

• (via FPI): Leo Baxendale features in The Times today, recalling the early 1950s and his first approaches to DC Thomson, them taking on Little Plum, Minnie the Minx then the immortal Bash Street Kids. More details and links over on Forbidden Planet International's blog, or jump straight over to The Times. Talking of Leo, his next volume of memoirs, Hobgoblin Wars, is due fairly soon.

• Big Finish have announced that Simon Guerrier's book, Bernice Summerfield - The Inside Story, will be out in August. The book is a warts-and-all guide to the character first created for Virgin's Doctor Who New Adventures by Paul Cornell, but who quickly grew to feature in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip and get brought to life by Big Finish in several audio adventures, voiced by actress Lisa Bowerman. More info here on the Big Finish web site.

• (via Bear Alley): The latest Eagle Times (Volume 22 Issue 2, Summer 2009) continues a run of excellent issues with more of the same. The cover story is a look at the nature artwork of Tom Adams, nowadays best known for his covers for Agatha Christie novels but who has had quite a diverse career over the past sixty years. Other features include looks at the Dan Dare stories Operation Saturn and The Man from Nowhere, Eagle Autographs, Rex Keene (the first in a new series of 'Rivals of Jeff Arnold'), the third part of a look at Heros the Spartan, a P.C. 49 text story, pop music in 1965 and a look at Eagle Holidays.
Subscriptions are £22 (overseas £34 in UK pounds) for four issues a year from Keith Howard, 25A Station Road, Harrow, Middlesex HA1 2UA. More info at: eagle-times.blogspot.com

• Congratulations to Neil Gaiman, who has picked up yet another award for his novel, The Graveyard Book, this time the 2009 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book.

• A new web portal, Talenthouse launches today, aggregating the works of artists from multiple disciplines including music, fashion, fine art, graphic design, film and photography.
Based in California, the site is the brainchild of British recording artists Amos Pizzey and run by CEO Roman Scharf. It allows artists to build their own profiles for free to display their work in full screen mode, gather followers and alert friends when new work is posted.
Cynopsis Digital reports the site's business model includes selling subscriptions to its database to TV and film studios and talent agencies (like the Amazon-owned IMDBPro), as well as launching brand-triggered creative competitions to source the community for new designs (sort of a multidisciplinary Filmaka)

• Bloggers and other writers may be interested to know Google-owned YouTube has launched its own portal to help instruct citizen journalists about how to practice better reporting. YouTube's Reporter's Center features house-made videos, clips from seasoned Pros from Dover including Katie Couric and Bob Woodward and practical shooting tips from sources such as Howcast. Check it out at www.youtube.com/reporterscenter

Tube Surfing: 13 March 2009

• Lucasfilm has published a feature on Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore’s connections to Star Wars, documenting the pair's early Star Wars work. Alan wrote several Star Wars tales for Marvel UK while Dave's first contribution was as an artist on the second set of Star Wars Galaxy cards from Topps. Moore's Star Wars contributions went largely unknown outside the UK until the mid-1990s, when Dark Horse Comics collected them into a two-issue limited series, Classic Star Wars: Devilworlds. Pictured here is a frame from the story Rust Never Sleeps.

• The Guardian reports a man dressed as Batman villain the Joker has been shot dead by police in America after pointing a loaded shotgun at them...

• The splendid fellows at Doctor Who podcast Radio Free Skaro have posted up an MP3 interview with Simon Guerrier, conducted at the Gallifrey convention in LA last month. "Hear me stumble my way towards the articulate without ever quite getting there," says Simon.

• As part of the Bradford Laisterdyke Business & Enterprise College's innovative mini-literary festival and literacy promotion event Leap Into Books, Tony Lee will be doing two days, Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th April at the college. Also as part of the evening programming, he'll be live on stage at the Bradford Playhouse on the night of Wednesday the 8th from 7.30pm - 8.30pm, doing a 'one man show' for the more mature comic reader. The He's Only a Writer event is at 7.30pm-8.30pm, Wednesday 8th April. Tickets are £5.00 (£3.00 concession) and are available from the Playhouse Box Office (01274 820666), or online from www.leapintobooks.org.uk (payment is either using Paypal or personal cheque)

• The upcoming Cold Day in Hell collection of early Seventh Doctor Who stories from Panini, out in May, will include a background feature on the 'making' of the stripsincluding interview material with Lee Sullivan, Ricard StarKings, Mike Collins and others. (I know this because I just filed it...) Richard Starking also provides an introduction to the volume.

• More Watchmen "and I know there’s been plenty of those around recently, but I think this one is a bit different," says Forbidden Planet International's Joe Gordon. New York writer Tom Crosshill kindly offered FPI a combi review/interview piece on the Watchmen: Portraits book after he met the photographer Clay Enos at the MoCCA Art of Watchmen exhibition and interviewed him. "I know some folks were less than impressed with the idea of that book but I thought it had some gorgeous photography and I like the fact Clay avoided Photoshop in the work," says Joe. "There’s plenty of gorgeous, luminous black and white photos to enjoy in the article too." Read it here

• Jim Boswell has posted pages of his Michael Owen strip from Kick! that is on sale now in the UK.

• (with thanks to David Hughes) Hungry? This won't help but it's worthwhile swinging by Rob Jacksons website as a matter of regularity, his work on a Pasty Anthology is continuing apace with a great planet of the apes painting, erm with a twist. The anthology is based around Greggs Pasties - the food of modern Britain. "The story of Greggs is a Viz style tale of the centuries of loyal service done for the people of Britain by the bakers, and lots of other stuff about pasties too," Rob explains. Small press at its best, although my favourite food-related comics idea was one from former Fantasy Advertiser editor Martin Skidmore who, when asked to contribute a recipe to a fanzine wrote soemthing along the lines of: "Get Some Money. Go To a Fish and Chip Shop. Buy Fish and Chips. Eat Them." Priceless...

• And finally on Comic Relief Day, over on Bear Alley Steve Holland has uncovered a classic comic-styled cookery book from Disney: Cooking with Pooh. No, really...