WebFinds: Writing Comics Resource

Lee Robson and Matthew Badham alerted me to this last month but it got buried in my in-tray. Writer-To-Watch-Out-For Dan Hill has managed to recompile a huge collection of articles and links from professional comic writers about the various aspects of the creative process that originally appeared on the now defunct Warren Ellis forum, The Engine.

The articles cover pretty much everything you could ever want to know about the process of writing comics, from moulding the initial idea all the way through to pitching it, and all of them are written by pros from across the industry, including Chuck Dixon, Matt Fraction, Gail Simone, Warren Ellis, Mark Waid, Kurt Busiek and a shed load more.

You can find the page at this link: http://dan-hill.org/services, but here's a small selection of what he's unearthed...

• Breaking In Without Rules by Kurt Busiek



• Survival Tips For The Newbie Writer by Gail Simone



• Comic Storytelling Tips by Lee Sullivan



• What A Comics Script Is For by Warren Ellis



• Advice on Writing Comics and Breaking in by Brian K. Vaughan



• Writing Comics by Mike Baron



• On Writing For Comics by Kurt Busiek



• Script Writing by Jeph Loeb and Alan Moore



• Comics Storytelling Tips That Work by John Freeman (who?)



• How To Survive Writing A Graphic Novel by Grady Klein



• Top 10 Writing Tips For Comic Book Writers by Kris Simon (Image Shadowline)

Warren Ellis re-opens 'Three Panels Open' Challenge

(with thanks to Matt Badham): Last year, top comic writer Warren Ellis did a thing for people who make comics called Three Panels Open. Literally, a three-panel comic. The only rules were that it had to be legible at a width of 640 pixels, which is the width of the content bar on his official site, and that it had to be three panels long.

He's now re-lauched the challenge, so perhaps you’d like to do a three-panel comic to be posted on his site. If so, email the image to warrenellisATgmail.com but please include your name and the website and/or twitter account you’d like it to be associated with.

The same rules apply: three panels, and it can’t turn to mud when he runs it at 640px.

The ones Warren likes best will be run on his site betwee 10th - 31st March.

- Read Warren's post on this here: http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=13771

Image by and copyright PJ Holden

Tube Surfing: Three-panel Comics, Interviews, Reviews, Birthday Greetings and Fan Art!

(Above: a piece of fan art for Garen Ewing's Rainbow Orchid by Sarah McIntyre.)

Tube surf time again...

• The Forbidden Planet International blog has really gone to town with their reviews of the DC Comics '52' re-boot (re-launch?) Here's a round-up of all their reviews for the first week of that 'event' (several of the titles are by Brit creators).

• Ed Kaye interviews Rob Williams and D'Israeli for 2000 AD Online about the new series of Lowlife. Plus he also has a chat with Kek-W about his new series, Angel Zero. Ed seems to be that site's resident interviewer now and, I have to say, he's doing good work.

• Warren Ellis is hosting three-panel comic strips at his blog. Good to see him supporting other comic creators (as ever).

• I hope I get a birthday card from and drawn by Jim Medway when I hit 40.

• Paul Cornell directs us to a preview of his Demon Knights comic over at Wired.

Sarah McIntyre does great event reports!

And finally, I do like the readers' art page at Garen Ewing's website.

Titan Books lands Avatar Press distribution rights for the UK

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More comic talent joins London MCM Expo line-up

With the cream of comic book talent gathering at its famous Comic Village, the MCM Expo London Comic Con is the only place to be on 27-29 May if you’re a fan of comics, graphic novels and manga.

Over 100 top comic artists and writers are coming to the show, including a rare UK appearance by Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, The Authority, Fell); Jamie McKelelvie (The Uncanny X-Men: Heroic Age, Phonogram, Iron Man); Gary Erskine (Judge Dredd, Dan Dare, Knights Of Pengragon); Becky Cloonan (Demo, Northlanders and American Virgin) and many, many more.

Not only can you meet all the artists and writers on their stands, but the Comic Village features its own dedicated stage hosting panels from some of the comic world’s top names, giving you insights into their newest creations, offering invaluable advice and participating in audience Q&A sessions.

And that’s not all – Friday 27 May sees the MCM Expo play host to the prestigious Eagle Awards, the comic industry’s most prestigious fan-selected awards.

• For more on the Comic Village, visit www.londonexpo.com/comicvillage

• For London MCM Expo tickets please visit: www.mcmexpogroup.com/store

Tube Surfing: Comic Heroes, Jon Haward, Dragons and Night Salad

We've run Mr Matthew Badham ragged with our demands on his multi-layered brain, so he's taking a little break. You will, instead, have to put up with my meanderings around various British comic creators equally meandering (at times, anyway) web site... Special thanks to Matt for doing such a great job - check out his ace article on independent press comics in the UK in the latest Comics Now mag from Future Publishing!

(Which also features a great column on the loneliness of the long-distance comics freelancer by Dez Skinn)

• Jon Haward is one of Britain's best comics artists, with credits aplenty for his work for almost every British comics publisher. Sadly, he's the latest victim of the economic downturn and he's giving up on his freelancing and is looking to relocate to find a full time job. Anyone after an in house concept illustrator /storyboard artist or art director should contact him via his Facebook page before he gets snapped up.

• The Forbidden Planet International blog reports that American cartoonist and respected commentator on the scene Daryl Cagle recently posted a comment about US editorial cartooning and ‘the rest of the world’ which has stirred some debate, not least on the blog of the UK professional cartoonist’s association, the Bloghorn, who have taken exception to Cagle painting the rest of the cartooning world outside the syndicated US mainstream with the same brush, his post appearing to infer that ‘world cartoonists’ spend all their time doing relatively obscure works with the aim of getting them into international competitions, while US cartoonists are busy earning a wage and creating cartoons that use both words and pictures to make a point and create humour.

• Emma Viceli's fab manga adventure Dragon Heir: Reborn is now available to buy online from the Sweatdrop store. For direct copies, you can either contact Emma via her blog, or get along to shows like the MCM Expo, London, where she'll be selling the book at the Sweatdrop stand. "If you pick up a copy, whether online or in person, you have my heartfelt thanks and sincere hopes that you enjoy your purchase," she says.

• Warren Ellis joined in with the 'Influence Map' meme that has been doing the rounds among creators for a few weeks now. While he didn't create this one himself, he says it's "very close"...

• A quick plug now for the latest issue of the newly Hugo Award-winning StarShipSofa Stories (volume 2) which features an illustration by Leigh Gallagher. "Quite a while back Dee Cunniffe got in touch to see if I'd like to do an illustration to go with one of the many prose pieces, of which I picked a story called 'Bitterseed' written by Ted Kosmatka," he reports via his blog. "They have an impressive line up of talent of this book -- Neil Gaiman for one -- but what's also cool is this nifty trailer which you can find on Youtube here!"

• Metaphrog reports their new graphic album Louis - Night Salad was featured in The Scotsman on Saturday.

• Writer Dan Abnett clearly had a great time at Games Day along with Jim Swallow and many other ace creators and has written up a photoblog entry here.

• And finally... Sarah McIntyre's Vern & Lettuce has just been voted a young girl's favourite comic of the moment over on the Forbidden Planet International blog, which is good enough for us. It's out soon and we've interviewed Sarah here and will be posting our own review later this week...

Tube Surfing: Warren Ellis, the Bulletproof Coffin and the Galaxy's Greatest Covers!

So, what's happening down those tubes today...

The trailer for the movie adaptation of Warren Ellis-scripted graphic novel Red (art by Cully Hamner) is online to view now. Ellis wrote some interesting notes about the adaptation back on his blog in December of 2009. Well worth a read.

Still with Ellis, he's exhorting everyone to read the first issue of Bulletproof Coffin for free online. This new comic by Dave Hine and Shaky Kane is fab and you should give it a look. (Via the Comics Reporter.)

Artist Shane Oakley (Albion, Channel Evil) shares his thoughts on life, the universe and comics over at horror comics 'zine From the Tomb.

At the Forbidden Planet International blog, Richard Bruton draws our attention to free music magazine, Stool Pigeon. The latest issue contains lots of cool looking comics and also features an interview with Alan Moore. Good stuff!

And finally, have I given a plug to 2000AD Covers Uncovered yet? If not, I should have. It's a blog devoted to, in their own words, '...showcasing artists' covers for 2000AD in all their glory'.

But actually, it does much, much more, providing some great analysis and commentary on said covers. Go and have a look.

Anyway, that's all for now.

Happy surfing!

Ministry of Space discounted

Warren Ellis' and Chris Weston's wonderfully retro Ministry of Space is available for a limited time from Forbidden Planet International for £5.39 - that's 40 percent off the usual price.

This is the 2009 paperback edition - 96 glorious pages.

Ministry of Space has, arguably, proved to be a bigger hit with Dan Dare fans than most recent Dan Dare revivals. Set in an alternative reality where Britain dominated the space race after World War Two but never underwent the social revolution of the 1960s the book is considered a must for sci-fi fans, comic fans and anybody who like a good tale well told.

Chris Weston, whose credits include Judge Dredd and Swamp Thing, is the artist on whose designs the new Dan Dare figures are based.

The book is available at the lower price until Wednesday 14th April 2010.

Johnny Red's Real History Revealed in BBC Shows

Comics commentator Michael Crouch reports that Radio 4's excellent From Our Own Correspondent show has just aired an item on the Night Witches - the all-women squadrons that fought for Russia during World War 2 and who featured in the Battle Picture Weekly comic strip Johnny Red, first brought to vibrant life by Joe (Charley's War) Coloqhoun but mostly by John Cooper for the bulk of its long run.

The show talked to surviving 'Night Witches', who recalled their greatest terror, that of being burnt alive in your aircraft. An extra bullet was always carried in their pistols so that if they crashed behind enemy lines they could shoot each other, then themselves, before the Germans could get them.

Noting that Warren Ellis recently revisited these squadrons in his series, The Night Witches, Michael is right to describe it as "a fascinating and horrific period of history."

A new collection of Johnny Red stories is in preparation for release by Titan Books next year, the first in an ongoing series.

The programme is currently available to hear again on the BBC's iPlayer and all the programmes are regularly available as podcasts. Look for Saturday 31st October's podcast here. There is also a BBC slideshow and audio commentary available here and Radio 4 will be broadcasting a documentary on Monday 2nd November at 8.00pm. Both feature contributions from Garth Ennis and there are some pictures from the graphic novel and series on the slideshow.

Warren Ellis' Supergod debuts in October

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tube Surfing: Apple Comic Reader Rumours, Alternative Press and Excalibur

• We're now just days away from the opening of London's Alternative Press Festival will have officially begun. Jimi Gherkin reports that he's seen the first copy of Publish You, the APF Book which includes a huge range of comic creator contributions, "and it looks really awesome!" he says. The Book's official launch is on Wednesday: more info here on Facebook.
During the events the book will be on offer at a special Festival only price of £6! So, if you're London-bound, get along and get your copy, before they're all gone! More info: www.alternativepress.org.uk

• You can already get comics on iPhone, but what about a bigger 'comic reader' from Apple in time for Christmas? Various web sites, including IT Pro, are reporting rumours that the cash rich Mac makers may soon be launching a 'tablet' computer, prompted by a report in the Financial Times suggested the tablet computer would tie in with plans to sell albums, as part of a new deal with record labels. The device itself would have a 10-inch screen, the anonymous source said. More on the downthetubes Mobile Comics blog...

• Over on his blog Warren Ellis has announced he's working on a new film script based on Arthurian mythos.

• Hot on the heels of its recent deal to merchandise Dan Dare, Cynopsis Kids reports Chorion has inked new licensing deals for the Beatrix Potter brand, appointing Haven Licensing as a new agent for the brand in Australia and New Zealand and Bull's Licensing for Scandinavia. Both Haven Licensing and Bull's Licensing will work with Chorion locally to develop and execute a brand strategy to grow the Beatrix Potter program.

• US channel Syfy has announced its new original series Caprica to premiere on 22nd January 2010 at 9pm with a two-hour episode. Subsequent episodes will air on Fridays at 10pm. Caprica - a Battlestar Galactica prequel - is about two rival families headed by Daniel Graystone (played by Eric Stoltz) and Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) who compete in the future world of the 12 Colonies.

Tube Surfing: Comic Cutbacks, San Diego Schedules, Dinsoaurs and Weird Fishes...

• Filming has started on the new series of Doctor Who that will see Matt Smith will take on the eponymous role. Matt is seen here in costume, side by side with Scottish actress Karen Gillan who plays new companion Amy Pond.

Arriving on set in Cardiff for his first day of filming, Smith commented: "I feel very privileged and proud to be part of this iconic show.

"The scripts are brilliant and working alongside Karen, Steven and the rest of the crew is an inspiration because their work ethic and passion for the show is so admirable."

• Talking of Doctor Who, the new free to download Big Finish podcast is a Bernice Summerfield special, the companion created by Paul Cornell for Virgin's New Adventures novels and who went on to star in Doctor Who comics and get her own audio adventures. David Richardson and Lisa Bowerman discuss all things Benny.

• The Guardian newspaper has come under fire for cutting The Comic, its supplement created in partnership largely with the sadly-defunct The DFC comic. The paper's Readers' editor, Siobhain Butterworth, reports today that people have noticed that the newspaper has slimmed down - a response to economic woes affecting all newspapers - and more than 200 print readers have been in touch about the demise of The Comic, reduced radio and TV listings, and the disappearance of environment pages from the weekly Society section. Of these, 80 specifically complained at the loss of The Comic, but this was not the only part of the paper to be hit by cuts. Education and Society have dropped from 10 and eight pages of editorial, respectively, to six, and G2 has also become slighter. Sad times for the paper.

• Talking on the Guardian, artist Eddie Campbell notes that Gemma Arterton has reportedly been cast as title character in movie adaptation of Posy Simmonds's comic strip Tamara Drewe , featured in the paper.
The strip centres on a beautiful columnist who ruffles feathers in a rural writers' retreat.

The director of The Queen and The Grifters is reported to have cast former Bond girl and St Trinian's graduate Gemma Arterton as the title character, a newspaper columnist whose recent nose job transforms her into a seductive flirt, to the chagrin of the quiet village's womenfolk. Tamsin Greig and Roger Allam are also said to be attached to the project.

• Artist and writer Adam Grose reports that the dedicated website for his imprint, Clown Press, has closed down, but all content has shifted to www.adamgrose.com. "This site will be fully up and running from August and will expand over the coming months with the galleries to upload," says Adam. " In the meantime check out the Phoenix: A Warrior's Tale preview on the news page or from the shop. This book is set for release in October."

• Wildstorm have just published the cover of Warren Ellis' Planetary #27, drawn by John Cassaday. The issue is out in October. Warren will be at the San Diego Comic Con and post his schedule here, appearing at the event under the exclusive aegis of Sony, Madhouse and Marvel Anime.

• Talking of Warren, he's just plugged Jamaica Dyer's new graphic novel, Weird Fishes. Pre-order it at this link direct from the publisher and read a bunch of her work here. "The only explanation for Jamaica Dyer is that she was built by aliens and dropped here to show us all how crap we are compared to her," he enthuses.

• ... and talking of San Diego schedules, writer Tony Lee posts his appearances here; Transformers guru and top writer Simon Furman has posted his here; brilliant artist Liam Sharp (Death's Head II, Gears of War etc. etc.) has announced his plans here; and David Lloyd has his schedule here.

• Even Tharg will be in San Diego: well, a sampler of the comic, anyway! Kudos to Rebellion for flying the flag! (with thanks to Chris Weston)

• Lew Stringer has a great post charting the history of the rise and fall of the British comic Summer Special, complete with gallery. It was prompted by a Guardian feature by David Barnett bemoaning their disappearance. Although the Summer Specials are no more, some publishers have launched the Summer Annual in its place - hardback books in the traditional children's Christmas annual format, albeit thinner. Egmont currently have several out, tied into licensed properties, including, this year, the Power Rangers Super Legends Summer Annual and the Disney Princess Summer Annual.

• Comics artist Neil Cameron has just posted some intriguing drawings from a new project, The Pirates of Pangaea, on his blog. It's the sort of posting that really makes you want to know more but apart from the tidbit that it's being written by Dan Hartwell, Mr Cameron is playing coy...

• Also at San Diego will be artist Colin Wilson, making his first visit in 15 years. He'll be appearing at Dark Horse Comics (Booth #2615) from 3 - 4pm on Friday afternoon, and again on Sunday morning from 11 - 12am, so everyone is welcome to call past and have a chat.
"I will be also handling a limited commissions list while I'm at the Con, so grab us while you can as this will be our first, and only, US appearance for the year."

• And finally... the Sunderland Echo has a report on artist Bryan Talbot's recent promotion to Doctor. Bryan was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts at Sunderland University's graduation ceremony at the Stadium of Light – the first time a doctorate has been given to a comic book artist.
The paper reports that Bryan was delighted to accept the honour on behalf not only of himself, but his profession.
"This doctorate, a first in the UK for work in the comics medium, is an indication of the growing recognition of the graphic novel as a respectable vehicle for entertainment, education and communication and the medium itself as a legitimate art form," he said.

"There's still a lot of prejudice and preconceived notions of what comics are but we're getting there."

Tube Surfing: Cursitor Doom, Nitro!, More Moon Stuff and Comics in Limbo...

• Bear Alley Books has just published the first inked and colour 'rough' for their upcoming Cursitor Doom collection. "I've put this together from a low-res scan e-mailed by artist John Ridgway, so this isn't the final version," says publisher Steve Holland, "But I probably won't change much. I was going to try and do something clever with the original logo but it's not something I ever particularly liked and I do like the elegant simplicity of the type."
You can now pre-order both Phantom Patrol (which features a cover by Chris Weston) and Cursitor Doom, due for relase in August, from the Bear Alley Books web site.

• UK publisher Future is to re-launch its UK boys 5-13 targeted Official Jetix Magazine as Nitro! in September. The first issue will feature kid-related news, toys, comic strips and features, covering characters from TV, movies and games. It's expected to have a 45,000 copy launch run and will offer at least four 'covermounted' gifts per foil-bagged issue.

• More Moon stuff: The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has created a website that allows visitors to relive the flight of Apollo 11 and the Moon landing. Called We Choose the Moon, you can follow the mission from pre-launch to blast-off to the actual Moon landing on Monday.

• BleedingCool has a another feature on Comics We Just Can't Wait For – But Have To, including Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran’s Stealth Tribes – a sci-fi cloudsourcing cyberpunk original graphic novel Collen is still apparently drawing it for Vertigo - but has been for five years; and Warchild by Alan Moore, a series script bought by Rob Liefeld, he hasn’t progressed publication because he says he hasn’t found an artists who is up to the script.

• The Forbidden Planet International blog reports that comics creator Simon Gurr, who collaborated with Eugene Byrne on the special (and well received) Darwin graphic biography for the great scientist’s 200th anniversary earlier this year, has been chosen for a high profile public artwork celebrating famous Bristolians.
Bristol Festival of Ideas and Bristol Cultural Development Partnership recently announced that Simon Gurr, Bristol artist and illustrator, has been chosen to create a new permanent artwork on the theme of Some Who Have Made Bristol Famous, following a citywide call for ideas and submission of proposals. The commission, worth £10,000, is funded by donations from two Bristol patrons. Read the full FPI piece here

• Good news for Futurama fans. Not only is it be returning to our small screens, but more toys are on the way. io9 reports KidRobot is coming out with this cute line of Futurama dolls, due for release next month.

• Gaming news site Kaoktu reports that 2000AD owners Rebellion have been picking through the remains of games company Vivendi’s old portfolio of intellectual property, discarded amidst the company’s merger with Activision, and have found a number of bargains. Among the unwanted, unloved IPs now obtained are Ground Control, Evil Genius, Empire Earth, Lords of the Realm and Lords of Magic. They just can't seem to stop buying stuff, can they? But surely they must now have enough cool properties to launch a game title-based comic as well as 2000AD?

In Review: Timeframes Dundee

Now in its third year, Dundee University's comics conference has become established as a regular part of the British comics year and both the number and the recognition factor of the comics creators who attend has increased year on year. Under the auspices of the Dundee Literary Festival, this year's Sunday conference had the theme of how comics both deal with, and subvert, the passage of time within their stories.

Prefaced by a morning workshop on writing for graphic novels by ex-2000AD editor David Bishop, the main conference began after lunch with an introduction by organiser Dr Chris Murray of the university's English department. After the pink Hawaiian shirt that he sported at the Beano celebration last year, Chris' shirt this time was a more ecological themed lime green. It is worth reiterating that Timeframes was set in a university and billed as a conference rather than a convention and so the first two speakers were academics with what was, to many in the audience, an over analysis of how time passes between the panels of a comic strip and how Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean used time in both the real and fictional worlds in the graphic novel of Signal To Noise.

The dryness of the initial two topics was brought into sharp perspective with the first talk by a comics creator. Manga Shakespeare artist Emma Vieceli bounded to the front of the lecture theatre in an explosion of enthusiasm that lifted the mood of the room considerably. Looking for all the world like a Manga character herself, with her long hair and black and white outfit, she took the audience through her adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing showing the real Italian locations that she had used as well as her more unusual graphical trickery to illustrate parts of the narrative. Borders, who were running the bookstall in the reception area, definitely missed out here as they did not have any copies of Much Ado About Nothing of sale on their stall which would have sold well for them based on the first enthusiastic applause of the day from the audience. The final speaker of the first section was Dr Mel Gibson, who regularly gives talks to non-academic audiences, covered how Bryan Talbot dealt with different time periods and the story-within-a-story concepts of Alice In Sunderland. While the earlier talk didn't inspire me to read Signal To Noise this did make me want to return to Talbot's book and the number of people looking at it on the bookstall afterwards suggested that I was not alone.

The break after this allowed for free refreshments before the audience moved upstairs to the Lamb Gallery where the exhibition of artwork from DC Thomson's Starblazer digest was formally opened. Starblazer editor Bill McLoughlin gave the attendees a gallery talk as he walked around the exhibits pointing out details and relating tales of his time on the title. Also at the gallery talk were artists Ian Kennedy, Keith Robson and Colin MacNeil with cover artists Kennedy and Robson each getting a wall of the gallery devoted to their work while one of MacNeil's covers had been blown up into an enormous poster sized print. This free exhibition is now open to the public until 22 August 2009.

The second selection of talks began with editor Bill McLoughlin and artist Keith Robson talking about their work at DC Thomsons in general and on the Starblazer title in particular with some good natured needling of each other over the differences between editorial and artistic concepts of the same idea. As much as they did overrun their time slot, I could have listened to much more of this. Next up was academic Peter Hughes Jachimiack with a presentation given the less than riveting title of "Days Of Future Passed: A 1970s Britain, Economic Downturn An Utopian Futures In Children's Science Fiction Comics". This actually turned out to be an interesting overview of Starlord comic with an emphasis on Ro-busters and in particular the Lep-R rocket/Midpoint Tower collision story, as illustrated by Ian Kennedy, with its 9/11 overtones. Next up was ex-Tharg David Bishop, a university lecturer himself nowadays, with an entertaining look at how Alan Moore dealt with the concept of time in two different 2000AD Future Shocks and the final Halo Jones story. Artist Gary Erskine came next with a heavily illustrated talk on his work on the Virgin Dan Dare series from concept to completion emphasising writer Garth Ennis' attention to visual detail on his designs. A short presentation from Insomnia's Cameron Coutts on the Edinburgh company's current and forthcoming range of graphic novels completed the session.

After more refreshments and a popular signing session from all the professionals still in attendance, the conference moved into its final section with its two keynote speakers. Writer Alan Grant had originally been intending to talk about his career in comics but had been inspired by the academic nature of the event to instead change his theme to his thoughts on the current state of comics aimed at primary school age children. Emphasising the general lack of stories in the titles and the blandness of those that were included, he ranged from Barbie to biblical Armageddon making the point that children just are not interested in bland stories. The conference concluded with a short talk from writer Warren Ellis which had been, if his blog is to be believed, written earlier that day and fuelled by Red Bull and cigarettes. With Ellis seated comfortably at the theatre's microphone he concluded with a long Q&A session allowing the audience more of an interactive opportunity with him than with any of the other guests.

With other literary and book festivals regularly charging upwards of £9 per guest talk, at £10 for the entire day, plus refreshments during each break, Timeframes was an absolute bargain. The university theatre was well equipped and spacious, if a little warm at times, and the reception area outside, with its good selection of graphic novels and comics related books for sale, allowed for socialising between sessions. In addition, with most guests taking the opportunity to chat in the reception area during the breaks, the day had a friendly feel which is what organiser Chris Murray was aiming for.

That said, the extant dichotomy between the erudition quest emanating from the divergent knowledge levels of the independent researchers present and the referential requirements of academic study may always prove to be a cause of concern prior to each Dundee event, treading as it does the fine line in its temporal ratio of conference vs convention, so the event chairs should remain aware that the interest length of the non-academics present will show an inverse ratio to the sentence density of dictionary level words used during the presentation of academic papers.

In other words, as long as the academic presenters remember that they are not presenting to a university level peer review but to a general albeit attentive and knowledgeable audience and that an illustrated conversational style is therefore preferable to reading from sheets of A4 with too many long words and too few full stops, then Dundee will remain as it was this year, an interesting as well as an unique part of the comics events diary.

Starblazer Exhibition Details Announced

As we've previously reported, top comics writer Warren Ellis will be headlining the Comics Conference at this year's Dundee Literary Festival, but the Festival has now also released details of its planned exhibition dedicated to the 1980s SF comic Starblazer, published by DC Thomson.

The exhibition marks the first time artwork from the now defunct, but much missed British sci-fi comic Starblazer has been exhibited, which, in addition to art by the likes of Keith Robson, Jaimie Ortiz, Ian Kennedy and many others featured the early work of Grant Morrison, the hugley successful Glaswegian comics writer. The comic has such a cult status it's even recently spawned its own Roleplaying Game (see news story).

In addition to the exhibition, the publication's editor Bill McLoughlin and artist Keith Robson will discuss their experiences on Starblazer during the day.

Ellis, now best known for his work with US comics giants Marvel and DC, and relative newcomer, Avatar, will be discussing his career when he appears at the third annual Dundee Comics Day, part of the University of Dundee-organised Festival, on Sunday 28th June.

He's just one of a number of star names from the world of comics lined up to take part in the event, which features talks, exhibitions, book signings and workshops.

2000AD writer Alan Grant will also speak about his work while other speakers will discuss 2000AD. David Bishop, former editor of the comic, will discuss the work of Alan Moore, author of Watchmen, while other talks, delivered by scholars researching comics, will address how comics represent time.

The programme will begin with a workshop in Writing for Graphic Novels hosted by Bishop, which will prove an invaluable insight into the process of creating comics. Manga artist Emma Vieceli, creator of the recently released Much Ado About Nothing, a manga version of the Shakespeare play, will also discuss her creative process.

Comics Programme organiser Dr Christopher Murray said he is delighted to have been able to put together such an exciting line-up of authors, artists and writers.

"Comics are a wonderful form of literary and artistic expression," he feels. "They're entertaining for all ages, a unique artform blending words and images, and Dundee is a city with a long and proud history of comics production.

"The Third Annual Comics Day promises to be an important meeting of comics scholars and comics creators, and everyone with an interest in comics is welcome to attend. We're also proud to be be bringing together the considerable talents of writers Warren Ellis and Alan Grant, and artists Emma Vieceli and Keith Robson. Each year the annual Dundee Comics Day grows in profile and it is my intention to make it a staple event, underscoring Dundee's central position as the home of comic culture in the UK.

Comics Day not only gives the Festival a dimension not present in other literary celebrations, but also celebrates the city's position as a world leader in comics, established by the likes of The Beano and The Dandy, published by DC Thomson".

Tickets are priced £10/£5 (concessions) for the entire day's programme including workshops, and £3 for the workshop only.

The Dundee Literary Festival is now in its third year, and is bigger than ever, with star authors from the fields of philosophy, fiction, politics and poetry set to appear in Dundee. They include David Peace, renowned author of The Damned United and the Red-Riding Quartet and Straw Dogs writer John Gray. Talks, book signings, workshops and other events take place across four days.

• Exhibition Web Link: www.dundee.ac.uk/museum/starblazer.htm

• The full programme for the Dundee Literary Festival, and the Comics Day, is available online at www.dundeeliteraryfest.org

• Read our Starblazer feature on the downthetubes main site by Jeremy Briggs

Tube Surfing: 5 June 2009

• Busy racing between secret locations in an effort to find an internet connection that worked, we missed out on wishing Garen Ewing, creator of The Rainbow Orchid, a happy birthday yesterday (4th June) but there's still time to enter his competition to win a signed and sketched cover proof of the upcoming collection from Egmont UK! The deadline is midnight GMT on Sunday 7 June. See this post on his official web site for details.

• Talking of competitions, Garen reports Sarah McIntyre decided to celebrate his "40th of June" birthday celebrations (along with the likes of Jason Cobley, Gosh! Comics, Forbidden Planet, Paul Harrison-Davies and many others by holding her own competition - you have to draw a suitably extravagant moustache on this terrific portrait of Garen she's drawn. See Sarah's blog for details - and again, the deadline is Sunday evening (7 June).

• Matthew Badham has a brilliant interview with artist John Higgins on the Forbidden Planet International blog, talking about his new book, Razorjack, and how his comics career. "There was a certain element of lucky accident when it came to my art, particularly with colour," he reveals. "I was spending ages and ages on my painted art, probably a week on each page. But what I was doing in those days was learning on the job. You’re experimenting and you’re trying new things and if it goes wrong, then you have to start all over again. Or you discover something that’s completely and utterly wonderful by accident that you wouldn’t have been able to think through." Read the full interview

• Warren Ellis talks about "the dubious virtues of ebooks" in his latest column for wired.co.uk, which you can read online for free on the new magazine's web site. It's titled "The Kindle is a mewling, crippled, pining thing" so you can guess the gist. Warren argues that right now, British book publishers have less to fear from ebook publishing (the Kindle doesn't even work in the UK, apparently): their worry is that "the threat to reading comes only from our education system – and the fact that most children are born to 15-year-old foetal-alcohol-syndrome cases." (Episode 57 of Freak Angels is live now, by the way, just as an aside...)

• Lee Robson reports there's a great review of Accent UK's Robots over at Newsarama where it's compared very favourably to the Popgun anthologies from Image Comics. Read the full review here.

• And finally... Rob Jackson reports that with the arrival an awesome page for the Pasty Anthology from Jim Medway, his long-awaited collection is almost finished, and hopefully he'll be sending it off to the printers next week. It sounds like a fun assembly of creative talent!

Johnston Announces new Comic Comment Site

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

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

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

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

Cool!

Ellis, Grant in Dundee for Comics Day

Warren Ellis and Alan Grant are to headline Comics Day at this year's Dundee Literary Festival.

The pair will give a talk about their careers at the festival on 28 June, which will also include a session devoted to 2000AD, considered the most successful and influential British science fiction comic still in publication.

"Each year the Comics Day grows in profile," Dr Christopher Murray, the organiser of Comics Day, told The Scotsman, "and it is my intention to make it a staple event, underscoring Dundee's central position as the home of comic culture in the UK."

He added Comics Day gave the festival a dimension most literary celebrations lacked.

• Dundee Literary Festival: www.literarydundee.co.uk

Tube Surfing: 2 March 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tube Surfing: 21 January 2009

• Comics Bulletin have run the first review of Thunderbolts #128, writen by Andy Diggle and drawn by Roberto de la Torre, on sale today in the US, which sees Black Widow and Ant-Man engaged in covert ops aboard Air Force One. "Writer Andy Diggle uses dialogue quite well, with the entire cast sounding unique and true to their character. The art is excellent, both the consistent and sharp pencils and the mood setting colors," they say. The issue is already selling for $20 on eBay. Read the whole review, plus a six-page preview, at Comics Bulletin.

• IDW's Doctor Who: The Forgotten #6 is also on sale now in North America (technically, the only place they're on sale...), written by Tony Lee with art by Kelly Yates. It's Timelord vs. Timelord in this final issue as The Doctor takes on the Clockwork Droids and the Robots of Death! But, weakened and disorientated, can the Doctor really beat him this time? Or will he need a little help from each of his prior incarnations… and a variety of previous companions including Sarah Jane, Harry, Kamelion and Adric? Ben Templesmith provides a special cover for this concluding issue.

• (via Forbidden Planet International): Continuing the theme of Brits Abroad, over on his blog, artist JH Williams reveals what we’d all been suspecting: there will be an Absolute Promethea from DC Wildstorm in October 2009, as confirmed tonight by the DC solicits that have just been released. Promethea, for those who came in late, was of course written by Alan Moore.

• Insomnia Publications has now posted its 2009 brochure on MyEbook.com. "It's an impressive line-up, and endorsements from industry figures like Alan Grant and Ben Templesmith speak volumes about the company's commitment to putting out high-quality books," says writer Cy Dethan.

• Talking of e-publications and variants, Warren Ellis kicked off a discussion about Print on Demand services on his Whitechapel site. Check out the debate here. Views on services such as Lulu, Ka-Blam.com, blurb.com and others feature.

• Rufus Dayglo has posted a stunning cover rough for The Mythid, a project he's working on with done with Brett Ewins and Scott Brown, on his blog.

• Tim Perkins has released the first of his Fantasy Bookmarks based on his Wizards Keep project, that only folks that have visited the Wizards Keep stand over the past couple of years at Comics Conventions here in the UK have seen, or you may have seen on his Blog. The Troll bookmark is on sale from his website, under the Fantasy Bookmarks section of his Shop.

• (via Jon Haward): John McShane started a new Scottish cartoonists site and forum over on Ning (scottishcartoonists.ning.com). Talking of Ning, the downthubes forum's membership has had a flurry of new members after Andrew Wildman very kindly went on a recruiting drive off his own bat, including The DFC's publisher David Fickling and son Will, comic creators Sarah Macintyre, Laura Howell, Stephen Baskerville, Izzie Tun and Richard Starkings. Why not sign up and join in the fun?

• Long-time readers of Bear Alley, the blog of British comics expert and writer Steve Holland will know he's a big fan of Roland Davies, whose "Come On, Steve!" strip has been mentioned there quite a few times over the years, so you can imagine how pleased he was to have stumbled across a previously unrecorded strip by Davies in the pages of Everybody's: "Sporty Shorty"— or "Sporting Shorty" as the title seemed to change each week. Read more...

• Happy Birthday for yesterday to former Doctor Who Tom Baker (although you never really escape that role), who is now 75. Star of television, time, space and everything, one of my favourite interviews I did while editor of Doctor Who Magazine was spending a couple of hours in his bonker presence. I shall also never forget that at a US Who convention, his minder was armed. That was scary...

• And finally, while not comics related, I note with some irony that having made the vast majority of its technical staff redundant, my former employers ROK Entertainment (the company behind ROK Comics, which it's good to see is still live) have launched the ROK Developer Challenge with an open invitation to developers around the world to submit their ideas with a view to partnering with ROK on the commercial deployment of the best and most innovative new applications received. It's one way to keep innovating, I suppose...