Phil Gascoine Tributes pour in

Tributes to one of Britain's unsung comic heroes, Phil Gascoine, who has died after a short illness, have poured into downtheubes after an online appeal. You can read them alongside a 2006 interview with Phil on the main downthetubes site here, while over on Bear Alley, comics archivist Steve Holland has posted a more formal obituary.

Because of the minimal credits for creators on many British comics, Phil was a virtual unknown to many comics fans who admire his work, despite working on titles ranging from Bunty to Blake's 7, Battle and Look-In during his 45 year comics career. But he was a popular figure with many comic creators, always happy to mix with all generations, offer advice, and turn his hand to any assignment, even if it was to "fill in" for a regular artist, often at very short notice.

"I have been desperately trying to get some kind of acknowledgement of Phil's work with no success," Phil's longtime editor Bill Graham at DC Thomson, told downthetubes. "Your tribute is spot-on and summed up the man so well.

"I can't remember when I first started working with Phil. He just seems to have been around for ages," he reveals. "But one of my first memories is, after he had been drawing football stories for me for some time, he amazed me by saying that he didn't really like football. You would never have known it from the quality of his work.

"This summed up Phil - he was a total professional. He could draw anything and make it look like he was an expert in that particular subject.

"The same guy who drew action heroes and footballers was also producing quality artwork for me on Wendy - picture stories about teenage girls and ponies.

"Phil had just started work on a new episode when he took ill. He assured me that it wasn't serious and that he would be back to work in a few days. Typical of the man.

"Over the years I met Phil several times, mostly in pubs in London. He was always terrific company.The last time we met, a couple of years ago, he wandered into a seminar we were holding for the Wendy artists in Richmond. He was wearing shorts, tee shirt and a great tan. He looked great. I'll miss him."

"Phil was always up for anything, a good friend and always busy," recalls Barrie Mitchell. "There aren't a lot of artists who can turn their hands to anything but he was one of them."

Tributes from Dave Gibbons, David Lloyd and John Ridgway are among others already posted with more to be posted as they arrive.

We'll be sinking a pint to you at BICS, Phil. If not before.

Reboot Competition

Here's some news of a great competition (its deadline 26 August) for comic artists courtesy of Josh Roberts, who runs the terrific comics web site comicspace - if you want to track down your favourite comic creators, try here!

Vancouver-based effects company Rainmaker Entertainment is working with Zeros 2 Heroes to bring back the classic ReBoot television series. As part of this campaign, Zeros 2 Heroes will be creating a new comic based on ReBoot.

Here's the twist: the art team will be picked solely from online submissions: essentially users upload a sketch, painting, even lettering work for one of the ReBoot characters. These sketches are then voted on by the ReBoot fans, with the winners being called on to make up the art team.

So, it's an unpaid audition, but it will be a paid gig starting in September. The winner will be announced at FanExpo in Toronto on 26th August 2007.

If you've got the time/interest, here's how to get involved:

(1) Go to www.zeros2heroes.com and join the site.
(2) The ReBoot pitches are found here (http://live.zeros2heroes.com/content/view/87/118/) - you need to be logged in.
(3) Launch the Flash viewer by clicking on any of the pitch thumbnails.
(4) Browse through the pitches and pick the CHARACTER or WORLD you think is the most interesting
(5) Upload a sketch using the UPLOAD button

If you haven't got the time to get involved in this process (or you don't really think ReBoot is your thing), no problem. But you may want to join the site anyway... Zeros 2 Heroes will be hiring a LOT of artists in the next few months to work on a number of upcoming projects.

By the way, don't forget the humour competition to win $10,000 being run by ROK Comics - the comics to mobile service I'm Managing Editor for - runs until the end of this month. More details on www.rokcomics.com

Celebrity Chef

First we had Fanny Craddock, next Delia Smith, then Nigella Lawson, and now we have Maw Broon! Courtesy of those nice people at Waverley Books, Maw Broon's Cookbook is due to be released on an unsuspecting world in October, just in time for the Christmas puddings to be made.

A facsimile of Maw Broon's own cookbook, borrowed from the sideboard at No 10 Glebe Street, "it was made for Maw by her mother-in-law when Maw married Paw, it has been added to over the years with recipes from friends, family and neighbours – complete with clippings, family comments and stains!"

Also from Waverley Books and available now, is Fo Bhruid, the latest version of Alan Grant and Cam Kennedy's Kidnapped graphic novel, this time translated into Scots Gaelic by Ian MacDonald of the Scottish Books Council. That now makes six versions of the book published - the original Alan Grant text version in hardback, standard softcover and One Book One Edinburgh softcover, followed by the modern text softcover, the Lowland Scots softcover "Kidnappit" and now the Scots Gaelic version. Is it any wonder they are already working on the follow up, The Strange Case Of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde?

CBBC LIne Up includes "Sarah Jane Adventures"

The BBC's revamped CBBC launches its new programming season on 3 September 2007 with a slew of fantasy and drama shows including Adventure Rock, a new online game and play environment for children which allows children to inhabit a virtual online world; The Revenge Files Of Alistair Fury, a new show of 'revenge fantasies' adapted from the best selling Jamie Rix books; Summerhill - a school where you don't have to go to lessons, you make all the rules yourself and climbing trees and building boats are definitely part of the curriculum - and Escape From Scorpion Island, a real life adventure game, set on an exotic island off the coast of Brazil. Also in the mix is The Secret Show, about secret people doing secret things.

Of interest to downtheubes readers will of course be the ten-part series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, centring on investigative journalist and former companion of the time travelling Doctor of Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Smith. Having travelled the universe with The Doctor, Sarah Jane is used to dealing with alien encounters. But when her young companions Maria, Luke and Clyde become embroiled in a mysterious world of chases, danger, and monsters from outer space, they soon discover that life on earth can be an adventure too.

Another show of interest may be Young Dracula, a new take on one of the most popular literary figures, with a single dad Count Dracula moving to modern-day Britain from Transylvania with his two children, Vlad and Ingrid. To his father's horror, Vlad – the show's eponymous hero – wants not to bite, but rather to fit in with his new-found British friends, but it's not easy when you are one of the undead.

Returning shows include M.I. High II with the jumior spy team again juggling the protection of Britain with handing their homework in on time Prank Patrol, the brilliant Shaun The Sheep, entertainment show TMi and Evacuation (a reality show in which six boys and six girls from cities around the UK are taken on an adventure back to wartime Britain – to live life as members of the household of a manor house), plus Blue Peter and Newsround.