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)

Edinburgh Napier Creative Writing course plans 'Open Doors' event

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

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

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

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

Happy Birthday, 2000AD! From script droid Al Ewing

Al Ewing

Blog or web site:

I'm on Twitter! @Al_Ewing

Currently working on:

Currently writing The Zaucer Of Zilk for 2000AD and Jennifer Blood and Ninjettes for Dynamite Entertainment. More 2000AD work is on the way, some of which I can talk about, some of which remains a secret. But 2012 is going to be yea big.

First memory of 2000AD?

I have a vague memory of seeing the 1985 Sci-Fi Special - 'I, Beast' sticks in my mind as the first thing I ever read of 2000AD, and that Cam Kennedy art freaked me out good and proper.

The first prog was 423 - 'Dark Judges In Crash Dorm 2!' - and it had one of the best introductions to the Dreddverse a growing boy could have, which was the story where the Judge goes mad. And the week after that you're into the Midnight Surfer.

Meanwhile, in those first few weeks... you've got Strontium Dog and the Slavers Of Drule. You've got Jose Ortiz on Rogue Trooper and he's rescuing a horse from some moths. Nemesis the Warlock gets a done-in-one with some perfect Kevin O'Neill art. You've got Ace Garp dying - the first 'death-and-rebirth' I ever experienced in comics. You've got Slaine getting cliffhangers like 'The Type 2 Battle Orgot killed ten guards getting it back in its cage - and you're fighting the TYPE 3!'

After a cliffhanger like that, there's no going back, is there? And it just got better and better. It's impossible to describe the energy radiating out of those times, when you're a kid and you're listening for the letterbox on a Saturday morning, waiting for your turn to read the prog. These days it's all Aquaman getting upset about internet memes from 1998.

Favourite Character or Story?

So hard to pick just one! Favourite character - Judge Dredd. Obviously. Because he's not quite a total bastard - there's a sliver of actual justice and fairness in there - but he's never, never the hero.

Douglas Wolk described him memorably in one of his blog entries as a 'useful monster'. I was lucky to get into writing him at a point where he was being put through the mill a bit in terms of the larger plot John Wagner was doing, so I got to write the continuing adventures of a tired old man who was keeping himself going through sheer bloody-mindedness.

Dredd's got an incredibly complex personality - if you don't get the nuances exactly right, you're buggered - but 'bloody-minded' is a good starting adjective. Another good tip is to never have him show an emotion when he can imply one. Or imply implying one. Even the omniscient narrator represses his emotions in Judge Dredd!

Favourite story though... it's a tough one, but I have a special fondness for the Strontium Dog story Mutie's Luck. It was a done-in-one in six pages, and is just... perfect in so many ways. The moment when Alpha tips the table over is one of my favourite moments in comics. It's available to read on BARNEY, the 2000AD database.

What do you like most about the 2000AD?

This is a hard one, because... it's the same as asking what I like most about comics. The two things are inextricably linked for me. 2000AD is the heart of comics, or the soul of them - it's everything comics can be. And at the heart of that is the concept of thrill-power, which people are still trying to define thirty-five years later. My brother's written articles on how it relates to pop music, and I mostly agree with his version - the additional kick, the buzz, the rocket-fuel infused into the comic, the way of looking at what a comic is, what it can do. Jack Kirby was thrill-powered. Kevin O'Neill was so thrill-powered the Comics Code had to ban him in case he made children explode. Irony is the enemy of thrill-power - that's why the word awesome doesn't quite mean the same thing. Brevity and density are thrill-power's friends. Thrill-power!

So I guess that's what I like most. The thrill-power. And the freedom.

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

I'd like to see it continue. I have no doubt it will - if anything it feels like it's in a healthier position than a lot of Marvel and DC, at least to me. I guess I'd also like more people to come on board, both lapsed readers and brand new ones, but I think any comic is wishing for that at the moment.

Do you have an anecdote you'd like to share about your experience of Tharg and his minions?

A lot of people think Tharg isn't real, but I remember having a chat with him recently which ended with Mek-Quake crashing through a wall, grabbing me with his metal tentacles and tearing great chunks of pseudo-flesh away from my metallic endo-skeleton while shouting about "BIG JOBS".

Which would have been fine - it's all part of the work-for-hire process - except Tharg had actually been loudly asking for a milkshake and didn't want Mek-Quake at all. Also, it happened in the middle of the New York Comic Con, and several convention-goers were mercilessly crushed to death beneath Mek-Quake's vicious treads.

You'd have probably heard all about it except Marvel happened to be releasing a special Wolverine pog that day which obviously dominated the news cycle.

• 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

The Script Archive Needs Your Help

We're sorry to report that the fab comic writers resource, the not-for-profit Comic Script Archive might be going down.

"It sucks because I know it’s been really helpful to a lot of you – even some pros have emailed me, happy that the site exists – all of them commenting that they ‘wished something like this was around’ when they were breaking in," says the site runner (whose name I can't actually find on the site -- which is really annoying!)

"That said, my hosting dues are up and I’m at a point, until December, where financially I’m living in a bunker. There’s just no way I can justify the cost (which is around $120 a year, not exactly life changing money, but that’s a utility bill).

It's a great resource for would be comic strip writers and we reckon it should continue. If you can, please donate whatever you feel comfortable with here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=8587754

On the chance that the site does not make its goal, any donations offered will get kicked over to legendary comic writer John Ostrander’s cause: www.comix4sight.com/. As we've previously reported, John has been battling glaucoma and is need of support.

Plus, in the event that the site OVERshoots its goal, all overages will also go to John’s cause.

For the full details on the appeal here's a Tinyurl that directs back to the post: http://tinyurl.com/yecmors

• The Comic Book Script Archive is at www.comicbookscriptarchive.com

UK Comic Creators Launch "Cartoon Classroom"

UK comic creators are encouraged to sign aboard a new initiative, Cartoon Classroom, which aims to foster links between artists, writers and others and educational institutions, and detail events and workshops that promote the comics form in Britain.

"Cartoon Classroom is the inspiration of Steve Marchant, a cartoonist and teacher of cartooning, who began his tutoring career at The London Cartoon Centre," explains one of the project's backers, V for Vendetta and Kickback artist David Lloyd. "That was a charity-run, full-time evening school of cartoon and sequential art creation, which I was connected with for many years before it ran out of funding. Efforts to raise cash for it were continued until it became obvious the Centre could not be resurrected and continued for any worthwhile period.

"It then became a matter of deciding whether to return these donations to their source, or - at the permission of the donors - to use them to initiate something else that might generally help the cause the Centre espoused.

"Steve decided that a good extension of the service the school once offered would be a website which had the main aim of centralising access to all the various means of studying cartoon and comic strip creation which exist throughout the UK - and Southern Ireland if we can."

David is asking professional cartoonists and comic creators, or those aspiring to being such, or are interested in the study of cartoon art as a teacher or an educationalist, to register their interest in the project.

Cartoon Classroom aims to put educational institutions in touch with cartoonists/comic art creators who teach this specialised art form on a part-time or full-time basis, and to document whatever is available through art colleges, workshops, recommended manuals and other media, which can help anyone studying to be a good cartoonist/comic creator.

The site will also eventually list all museums and galleries in its target area which have comic/cartoon art on public view or in their archives, and to encourage those without any to acquire examples from local notable creators.

"It's our intention that only a fraction of the information required for the site's operation will need to be supplied to the site by us - its administrators," David explains. "Instead, details of courses, collections, locations and availability of tutoring will be added directly to the site by all those who use it. Ideally, it should be almost self-generating.

"The most important thing for the site's effectiveness is that it offer comprehensive coverage of its designated area," he continues, "and for this to be achieved, we initially need to maximise our communication to all those institutions and individuals who'll make use of the site. Prior to its coming launch, this is the toughest job we have.

"The site's initiators and supporters have time-consuming jobs and responsibilities which limit the hours we can devote to phoning and emailing - so the more work that can be done by simply spreading the word about it, the better."

If you can, please help by contacting any person or institution you feel would add content to the Cartoon Classroom database, and/or make use of it. To register an interest, and/or register a wish to enter Cartoon Classroom's database, is easy - go to www.cartoonclassroom.co.uk.

Brief details of what you'd like to put on the finished site can be sent to us at the email address following. Fuller information on what you have to offer can be entered when the site launches in October. Email to contactcartoonclassroomATyahoo.co.uk

Adventures in Wonderland

downthetubes is pleased to announce an interview by Matt Badham with Dracula and Sherlock Holmes writers Leah Moore and John Reppion.

Leah and John are the husband and wife writing team behind Doctor Who: The Whispering Gallery, The Complete Dracula, The Trial of Sherlock Holmes and, of course, the British comics-inspired saga Albion.

In this exclusive interview for downthetubes with Matt, they talk about their career so far, their approach to comics writing, their new Alice in Wonderland project for Dynamite Entertainment, their work for the British small press comics scene and the joys of Twitter...

• Read the interview on the main downthetubes site

Sharp Advice on Breaking Into Comics

British comics artist Liam Sharp (publisher of MamTor, artist on Gears of War and, many moons ago, Death's Head II) has just posted a revamped version of his excellent guide to breaking into comics over on DeviantArt.

The post is packed with a huge amount of useful advice and suggestions for aspiring creators, building on an article he first wrote a couple of years back.

"Getting into comics is something a lot of people want to know how to do, but there's a lot of questions you want to ask yourself first," he advises. "There's such a vast array of genre and subgenre, technique, approach, and so on, that it’s important to be clear on where you want to go with your work at the outset – and you have to be really honest and tough with yourself at this stage!

"If you're into the capes and tights and you want to go mainstream you’re going to have to want it incredibly badly, as the competition is the most extreme I’ve ever known it right now," he warns. "...Right across the industry there's an enormous amount of competition.

"One thing I'm not seeing at cons is break-the-mould, edgy and accomplished new types of comic art," Liam notes. "Invariably it's by-numbers superhero fare of a fairly similar standard - what I would typify as three or four years off pro-standard but showing promise. I often wonder when we're going to see the next Sienkewicz, the next great stylist. Originality is not only becoming rarer, it seems less desired - either by the industry or the fans, who want above all else consistency."

• Packed with advice on indie publishing and promotion, you can read Liam's article in full on DeviantArt here.

Tube Surfing: 4 May 2009

• Over on Comic Book Resources, Brian Cronin has just completed a month of posting reviews of a different self-published comic book each day. Check out the archive of reviews here

• Meanwhile, Matthew Badham has perhaps taken a leaf from Brian and has started his own recommendation challenge for self-published work etc., entitled 100 Days, 100 Cartoonists, so far plugging the likes of British talents such as Francesca Cassavetti, Steve Larder, Eleanor Davis, John Allison and others. Follow Matt's blog here

• Talking of self publishing, over on Bear Alley, Steve Holland has announced he's risking his bank balance with his first Bear Alley book, reprinting an as-yet un-named collection of an old British comic. We have no idea what the comic is, but we're rooting for a collection of Come on Steve by Roland Davies, which we know one of Britain's top comic experts has a fondness for, as do we.

Seriously - given the work Steve has done bringing the work of talents such as Don Lawrence to the attention of today's modern comic fans, he deserves support. "The artwork is scanned, the introduction written in rough, a cover is being prepared and I have some quotes in from printers," Steve says.

"At the moment it looks like it will be a 300-copy limited edition hardcover which means the unit cost is huge so the eventual selling price will be £15. Which isn't unreasonable for a hardcover...

"The title... well, I'll be announcing that shortly. I'm still trying to figure out how the hell I'm going to sell 300 copies and what I'm going to be living on while all my savings are tied up in piles of books. Roast book... fried book... raw book..." Check Bear Alley for updates

• Web site 2000AD Review has posted a round table feature with creators Alan Grant, Al Ewing and Rob Williams, talking about writing the comic's most famous strip. "Mega-City One is one of the most prescient SF worlds ever created," argues Ewing along the way. "After all, we're more than halfway there - MPs, making full use of the 'Big Lie' technique and our own increasing hysteria, are now legislating everything they can imagine and a few things nobody else dared to. Did you know that there's an upcoming law that could technically make owning a copy of Watchmen a sexual offence? And if you don't agree that that's necessary, you support paedophilia. Maybe the Judges will be knocking on your door one of these nights..."

• Talking of writing comics, Jim Medway offers some thoughts on that process - in particular, speech and thought - on his blog, part of his ongoing publication of his work as a Comic Workshop tutor. Well worth checking out if you're interested in writing comics.

• And since we seem to be plugging writers in this round up, Alan Moore has just been interviewed over on Newsarama about the just release League of Extraordinary Gentlemen volume, Century: 1910. Moore expresses high regard for publishers Top Shelf in the piece and a shift in his way of working for this project as a result. "It’s been something of a revelation. Not because I’m surprised at the production job Top Shelf is doing, or how pleasant they are to work for, because those are things I decided when they published Lost Girls by me and Melinda. But what has been a bit of a revelation is the effect working at Top Shelf has had on me, and I think Kevin [O'Neill] as well.
"I think we both decided that because we were not working for anything we recognized as a mainstream comics publisher, we have changed the way we think about the work. It’s a subtle thing, but if you’re working in mainstream comics, as both of us have been doing for getting on 25 years or more, then really, it’s a thing that you kind of take in by osmosis. You absorb the values of the field in which you’re working." Read the full interview here

• Hunt Emerson has a new strip in the Beano, a revamp of the classic Fred’s Bed which many of you reading this may be suddenly remembering very fondly right now. "Reprints of the Tom Paterson Beezer strip Fred's Bed had been running for a couple of years," notes fellow Beano artist Lew Stringer, "but now the strip has been given a makeover with an all new series illustrated by Hunt Emerson. The reprint had always proven popular with Beano readers but the source was finite, so commissioning new strips was always likely... The new version of Fred's Bed has a few changes to the original; Fred himself has been redesigned and he now sets his alarm clock to control where he travels in time instead of the random occurrence in the original strip."

• (via Forbidden Planet International): Paul B Rainey has just published the ninth part of his There’s No Time Like Present series (available from his web site). Paul says he’s been pondering endings and now thinks that the whole TNTLP series will wrap up with part twelve - although he adds that “I have been warned by people more intelligent than me that endings can often take longer than anticipated"...

• Quick Surfs: Declan Shalvey has just posted preview covers for Boom! Studios 28 Days Later book, which he's drawing; to celebrate The Specials reforming (yay!), Brendan Mccarthy has published some vintage artwork of the band from 1979, and some Johnny Rotten artwork done around the same time; and Dave Morris pays tribute to the legendary comic store Dark They Were and Golden Eyed here.

• Compiled with thanks to Matthew Badham

Scottish Uni Launches Comic Writing MA

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

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

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

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

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

• School of Creative Industries web site

Tharg's Head Revisited

In October 2008, occasional downthetubes contributor Matthew Badham interviewed freelance writer Andy Diggle (who is also the ex-editor of 2000AD). An edited 2000 word version of that interview was published in the February edition of the Judge Dredd Megazine.

Now, with the kind permission of Andy and Megazine editor Matt Smith, the full, un-edited transcript of the interview has been posted at Citizen Badham, Matthew's blog.

In the interview, Andy talks about writing comics and video games, editing 2000AD and gives his thoughts on the future of comics and the British comics scene:

"Yeah, I've always enjoyed telling stories. I tend to think very visually, and I was always more drawn to script writing than prose. I remember when I was a kid, back before we had a VCR, I recorded The Empire Strikes Back on audio tape off the TV and then transcribed the asteroid field sequence in screenplay format. Just to get a feel for the medium, I guess.

"Weeding through the submission pile was always grim, but you made up for that when you found the occasional ruby in the dust. Guys like Jock and Frazer Irving were sending me unsolicited submissions; now we're not only working together, we're good mates. A lot of great talent came out of that slush pile: Mike Carey, Ben Oliver, Si Spurrier, Boo Cook, Rob Williams, Ian Edgington, Al Ewing...

"As for British comics, there seems to be quite a thriving small press scene at the moment. So much so that I've been seriously considering setting up a small comic con. Watch this space."

• Read the full interview at Matthew's blog here.

Tube Surfing: 20 February 2009

• Ben Templesmith has donated some art from IDW's Doctor Who - The Whispering Gallery book to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund which they are currently auctioning off on eBay. The aution ends later today (Feb-20-09 15:00:00 PST) so now is the time to get in there and bid. As of writing this item, the current bid stood at over $360.

• Fancy winning a signed copy of Titan Books' Schoolgirl Milky Crisis, a new collection of nearly two decades of articles, speeches and interviews by Jonathan Clements on anime, manga, and Asian culture? Well, now's your chance.
The book's official blog (yes, even books have blogs these days) reveals that Schoolgirl Milky Crisis is described as ‘A stupid name for a generic anime show, made up to protect the innocent in Jonathan Clements’.
To win a prize, all you have to do is come up with your own stupid name for a generic show in the style of Schoolgirl Milky Crisis. It can be anything you like and feel free to submit multiple entries (though we would advise that you avoid profanity!). There is no need to include a synopsis of your imagined show as this contest will only be judged on the title itself!
To enter this contest, all you need to do is simply email your entry to schoolgirlmilkycrisis@titanemail.com

• Faz Choudhury's latest contribution to online webjam strip Huzzah!! is up. "It's been a huge amount of fun doing these but that doesn't mean to say I'm not daunted by the setting, it's not the kind of thing I'm used to drawing," he says. "And that's all the more reason to take part, being pushed out of whatever comfort zone I may have!"

• The officially-recognised Mistycomic.co.uk site, devoted to the 1970s girls' comic Misty, is looking for artists to illustrate some tales of horror and intrigue for the next Mistycomic Special. They already have several strips "in the bag" but there have been some drop outs and delays to promoised material, so release of the special has been put back.

• Thrill-Powered Thursday, put together by "Grant, The Hipster Dad", has a new home, prompted by concerns about changes at LiveJournal. It's a weekly look at the world of 2000AD, prompted byt Grant's re-reading of his collection of 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine, one issue an evening, and once each week for the foreseeable future.
Grant also complies Reprint This, a blog offering suggestions for collections of long gone comics, a theme which has been taken up recently by Chris Mautner over at Comic Book Resources in a new column Collect This Now!

• Script writers out there may be interested in this article in Script Magazine, offering advice on "How Not to Annoy a Reader". While it's greared toward film scripting writing, comic strip writers may find this passage particularly pertient: "Don’t assume I know what you’re talking about. This problem is especially popular with writers of sci-fi and fantasy scripts, scripts based upon highly technical or academic premises, or those featuring characters with highly specialized knowledge or abilities." Writer ray Morton also opnines that, as a rule of thumb, script writers should "Assume your reader is a dolt who needs everything spelled out for him. But spell it out dramatically, using action, character and behaviour."

• Tim Pilcher, author of the two volumes of Erotic Comics published by ILEX, has been interviewed by Chicago-based journalist Steve Bunche. The interview is online via Steve's blog, but may later show up on Publisher's Weekly Comic Week.
Exhaustively researched and approached with an enthusiastic and scholarly eye, the two handsome hardcover Erotic Comics editions chronicle the evolution of erotic comics and gives readers intimate looks at the lives of the pioneers and legends in the field. Volume 2 is released in March: Mature Readers Only...

Northern Ireland's Verbal Arts Centre Launches Comic Art Courses

The Verbal Arts Centre in Bishop St Within, Derry, has created a series of new, accredited Comic Art courses which will commence in September 2008. These short courses have been developed in response to the success of the various comic projects delivered here and also the popularity of the recent 2D Northern Ireland Comics Festival.

The Festival has been running for two years and is an extension of the comics-related work that the Centre undertakes throughout the year.

The new courses will examine the process of creating comic art and study the artistic techniques involved, which can then be applied in other areas such as concept design for video games, movies and animation. The skills are also relevant and useful in commercial illustration.

"This is an exciting opportunity to improve on traditional art skills," says 2D Festival Organiser David Campbell, " apply them in a comic art context, build a portfolio and develop knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and how it is used in the comic industry."

The centre will also be developing a printing press to be used in the printing of their own comic publications in order to showcase Irish comic talent.

Details are as follows:

1. Name: OCR Level 3 Comic Art and Digital Illustration (for students aged 16+)
Examine the artistic techniques used in the creation of comic art and use these to create your own characters and stories. Learn how to colour your black and white artwork digitally using Adobe Photoshop.
Duration: 15 weeks Start Date: 23/09/08 Finish Date: Jan 09
Day: Tues Time: 4pm – 6pm Venue: Verbal Arts Centre
Cost: £30

2. Name: OCR Level 3 Comic Art and Digital Illustration (for adults)
Duration: 15 weeks Start Date: 25/09/08 Finish Date: Jan 09
Day: Thurs Time: 7pm – 9pm Venue: Verbal Arts Centre
Cost: £30

• Enrolment for the Above Courses begins on Monday 8th September: 6:30 – 8:30 at the Verbal Arts Centre, Stable Lane and Mall Wall on Bishop Street Within, Derry BT48 6PU

Creating WebComics: A Brief Guide

After some online discussion on creating WebComics over the past few days on a couple of comic creator forums, I've done a bit of digging around and compiled a brief article for downthetubes about Creating WebComics which is now posted on the main site.

It includes some other links I found along the way which may be of interest to would be or indeed existing webcomic creators.

If you've got any thoughts on the subject yourself, please feel free to leave your comments here.

And talking of webcomics, what better moment than to mention Ian Stacey's arrival on comics-on-mobile service ROK Comics, a much-praised cartoonist we've plugged here before.

Ex Astris heads to Spaceship Away

A bit of self-promotion: artist Mike Nicoll is at work on a ten page Ex Astris strip of mine, "Homecoming" which will appear in black and white in UK Indie title Bulletproof #2, which is edited by Egmont editor Matt (TOXIC) Yeo in his spare time (check out the web site at www.bulletproofcomics.co.uk). Mike's also working up a colour version of the same strip and there's an early draft of a panel of the opening page here, right.

The good news is that the early visuals for this so impressed Spaceship Away editor Rod Barzilay that we are now also working up a three part story for that Dan Dare-inspired prozine, which will run from Issue 16, on sale Autumn 2008.

Mike and I are also contributing a three page story to the next Misty special, an anthology inspired by the 1980s British girls title. This is being published with the full blessing of Misty copyright owners Egmont. Check out the official web site: www.mistycomic.co.uk

ROK Comics, the comics to mobile project I am Managing Editor for, is going very well. We 've now had initial sales figures from China where strips such as Garfield, TMNT and Crazy Mary are appearing on mobile in translation and these are looking good: we're about to publish a lot more strips in Chinese there including David Fletcher's Crumb.

ROK Comics now has partner WAP subscription sites in Pakistan, South Africa and the UK via retailer Claire's as well as the main site (www.rokcomics.com) and more are in the pipeline: we've had interest from elsewhere so the future for mobile comics - already huge in Japan, where they are known as ketai - looks very encouraging.

Digital Comics APA

The Temple APA is currently looking for contributors to its first Digital Comics Anthology, deadline 1st May 2008.

For those who've never heard of the Temple (formerly titled 'Temple of Heroes'), it's the UK's longest running comics anthology, whose membership includes David Hailwood, John Freeman, John Kirkham, Neill Cameron and other comics creators.

The Temple APA is non-exclusive and welcomes artists (that includes writers too) of all shapes and sizes, from amateurs to professionals.

"Contributions should be a maximum of five pages," says David Hailwood, "with a front cover that contains contact details and a short piece about yourself. (Here's a link to the full guidelines in PDF format). They should preferably be JPGS, of 150 DPI and 1200 pixels in width (as this'll help keep the PDF down in size).

"You can either email pages directly to me at purecrass@hotmail.com or post them on the Temple APA site, once you've joined (www.templeapa.ning.com)

"Once a PDF is put together, the plan is to attach it to online forums and other places, so as to get more exposure for the creators work inside," David explains. "We also we hope to put the PDF onto a CD which will be distributed at conventions. The Temple site will be used to provide critiques on the work, which may help creators to improve or spot mistakes they wouldn't have otherwise noticed.

"If you have a web comics, feel free to reprint pages as your contribution."

Comix Thing in London today

Just a quick reminder that today (22 March) sees the 5th UK web comix Thing, a gathering of the British and overseas small press en masse to present their wares and promote new work, at the Great Hall, Queen Mary University, Mile End, London.

Over 100 exhibitors from around the world will be in attendance, presenting some of the most exciting stories ever told. The event now stands as the premier event for creators and suppliers of mini comics, web comics, distributors and publishers.

You can learn more here: ukwebcomixthing.co.uk

Cartoonist Jim Medway interviewed

downtheubes contributor Matthew Badham has just interviewed cartoonist Jim Medway, a self-published cartoonist whose comics might best be described as anthropomorphic, all-ages fun.

He has recently been invited to pitch ideas to the new anthology comic from Random House, The DFC.

Jim is also a much in demand educator who teaches cartooning to children and adults in both formal and informal educational settings. In this interview, he talks about his influences, balancing teaching with making comics, and why less is sometimes more when it comes to cartooning.

• Read the first part of the interview on the Overspill blog

Paul Cornell Interviewed

British podcast producers Geek Syndicate have just released an epic 90 minute journey through time and space and into the mind of comics and TV writer Paul Cornell, whose credits include Doctor Who, Primeval, Wisdom, Robin Hood and a host of other projects (some of which may surprise).

"On this whistle-stop tour we learn some interesting stuff about Paul including how we got started in writing, who his favorite doctor is, his favourite superhero as well as his favorite medium to work in," says Barry Nugent of Geek Syndicate, the podcast guide "to the murky underbelly of geekdom".

The podcast also delves into some of Paul's renowned Doctor Who episodes and discovers some of the inspirations behind them, and Paul takes listeners through a typical writing day and gives some tips for any would be writers out there, especially his thoughts on writer's block.

In the pipeline from Paul is the new Marvel comic Captain Britain and MI-13, and Paul shares his thoughts on Cap's place in the Marvel Universe and, more importantly, the fast growing legend that is Captain Midlands.

The Geek Syndicate, part of the UK Comic Book Podcast Group, are a UK based group fronted by David Monteith and Barry Nugent, producing a critically-acclaimed weekly podcast celebrating and commenting on all aspects of "geek life", including comics, books, movies, tv, games, technology … and booze!

• Geek Syndicate Episode 72

Edinburgh Book Festival Comics Talk Now Online

(with thanks to Joe Gordon) Last August, the Edinburgh International Book Festival held its first ever events discussing graphic novels, with a major, hour-long discussion – entitled “Graphic Novels - Literature of Pulp Fiction” – held between three Scottish authors: British comics legend Alan Grant, bestselling crime novelist-turned comics scribe Denise Mina and the incredibly popular crime writer, lifelong comics fan (and soon to be comics writer) Ian Rankin, with Gregor Urquhart chairing. The discussion ranged from early influences, how the authors first got into comics writing, how different people perceive the genre and how that perception is changing.
Now, the EIBF have very kindly supplied the Forbidden Planet International blog with a recording of the event to share with you. You can listen to it via this news story

What Editors Really Think

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been having an email discussion with a few creators about the Joy of Pitching -- that dark art of trying to sell a script to an editor.

For some years now, downtheubes has had a guide to writing comics on its pages, but just for fun, here's my take on interpreting rejection responses.

If you're outright rejected don't give up: an editor has several levels of response. (What they really think is in brackets)

- Thank you, but no thank you. Here are our guidelines for submitting stories.
(Don't write in crayon - and yes, I did once get a pitch in crayon).

- This is great, but it's not what we're looking for. Have you actually read our top title, BLUG BLADDER BEAST AND CHUMS?
(If you're submitting stories, read a company's output first).

- This is great, but it's not what we're looking for right now.
(We like your stuff, it made us laugh/cry/scared us, but we're not printing that kind of book, but if you wrote something that was our kind of book we'd look at it)

- This is great. With a bit more polish, we could buy this
(We're giving you the chance to re-write it but if you screw up we won't ask again)

- Have you got time to come to the office or chat?
(We like the work, we want to employ you, let's see if you're amenable to us re-writing it, find out if you are sane, and how mad we make you are when we re-write)

- This is great, send us an invoice, it's being drawn by Brian Bolland as we speak. Would you like to write a 12-issue mini series about anything you like?
(This never happens)

Of course, these days some editors are more direct and say exactly what they think, but I've always felt a little common courtesy goes a long way -- after all, do you really want to lose a reader by being rude to them, especially an active one who likes your book so much they want to be part of it?

One final more serious point. As an editor, I always found it easier to comment on a script if I saw it drawn -- I recall showing some of my stuff to Alan Grant that way back at one of the London UK Comic Art Conventions and he said it was easier than reading a script. That's why fanzines are such a valuable way of crafting skills, and these days, the additional editing being done on the best of these is really paying off.