downthetubes.net news blog

In Review: Thought Bubble 2009

2009-11-24T06:43:00.000Z

The weather gods seem to have it in for comics conventions. Hi-Ex is already infamous for its snow while this year, despite the rains that brought misery to Cumbria, Leeds was dry on the morning of Saturday 21 November but foggy – very foggy. The road layout in the centre of Leeds is, shall we say, challenging for non-locals but fortunately Saviles Hall is opposite the Royal Armouries museum in Clarence Dock so it was just a case of following the brown Armouries signs as they loomed out of the murk.

It also seems like the flu gods had it in for convention reviewers. downthetubes Matt Badham, after all the good work he had put into promoting not just Thought Bubble but all the other comics conventions this year, was rewarded with a severe dose of the lurgy and couldn't make it. For that matter neither could Forbidden Planet International’s Richard Burton as he had been similarly afflicted. With the A team incapacitated, welcome to Plan B.

The Dangerous Book For Boys and Scotch Corner artist Graeme Neil Reid had enticed me away from DC Thomson-land and the old comics of Bear Alley into the world of Manga cosplay and American superhero comics to help him out on his table selling artwork, books and sketches, so rather than a full review of Thought Bubble think of this as edited highlights of my few escapes from a sales table.

Clarence Dock has been completely redeveloped over the last number of years becoming a marina surrounded by a multitude of modern flats. Indeed Saviles Hall, for all its size inside, is one of the smallest buildings in the whole complex.

Set-up was simple and swift as we were early, as was Hunt Emerson and a few others at the far end of the artists’ row. That said putting numbers on the sales tables themselves would probably have helped the army of red shirted volunteers find their targets quicker as we soon lost count of the number of them going past muttering “…40, 41, 42, 43…” under their breath as they took another yet artist to their unidentified table.

It was the calm before the storm. The doors opened at 10am and half an hour later the hall was busy and it stayed that way for the majority of the day. Indeed even during the talks in the curtained area at the opposite corner from us, the hall remained busy and the queues for the big name guests turned the far end of the hall into a sea of bodies. Reports from those returning from the distant land of Far End suggested the queues were often an hour long and yet, despite the wait, everyone seemed extremely happy with what they came away with.

Of course part of the fun for those behind the tables is discovering who your neighbours are and we were lucky to be joined by 2000AD artist Leigh Gallagher on one side and Rainbow Orchid’s Garen Ewing on the other.

With copies of his Dafoe 1666 graphic novel to sell, Leigh spent the day sketching for fans while being fuelled by Krispie Kreme doughnuts and coffee. On the other side, Garen politely had a cup of tea before beginning to sketch in, and autograph, copies of his bande dessinee style Rainbow Orchid graphic novel.

But there was more going on than just Thought Bubble with the academic comics conference Possibilities And Perspectives being held in the nearby Alea Casino which proudly boasted on its exterior of its 2 gambling floors, 2 restaurants and 5 bars. This began at lunchtime by which time Leeds was being drenched by rain.

The conference had been organised by Ian Hague of the University of Chichester and ran all afternoon beginning with two keynote speeches, “The Use Of Style And Storytelling Techniques In The Tale Of One Bad Rat” by writer and artist Bryan Talbot and the London University Of The Arts Roger Sabin with “Mavericks and Zinesters: Comics Scholarship in the UK before Comics Scholarship”. In this context ‘Mavericks and Zinesters’ were defined as journalists, collectors, fans and academics writing in a non-academic context, in other words virtually everything that has ever been written about comics throughout the years. This then opened up to a debate as to whether academics should disassociate themselves with comics fandom in general and even, remarkably, from comics professionals as well. While no conclusion to this discussion was reached, considering at that point that there were probably a couple of thousand people at the convention with only a couple of dozen at the conference, the academics probably need us rather more than we need them.

Back in Saviles Hall I took the chance to dive into the sea of people at the far end to catch Dan Dare artist and Scotch Cornerer Gary Erskine doing his best impression of Michael Jackson while trying to keep up with the requests for sketches. One of these days a downthetubes convention review will include a photo of Gary’s face and not just the top of his head – but not today.

Moving over into small press territory, Dave Evans (or BOLT-01 if you prefer) was on the Futurequake Press showing off the latest editions of 2000AD zine Zarjaz and Strontium Dog zine Dogbreath which has reached an impressive 21 issues throughout its various incarnations. More details of Futurequake’s titles can be found on their website.

Next came Graham Pearce and his tongue-in-check take on the Action Force/GI Joe style of comics with Sgt Mike Battle: The Greatest American Hero. The Mike Battle title has now reached issue 14 and more details can be found on Graham’s website.

Further up the same row were Steve Tanner and his wife Suzanne of Time Bomb Comics. Steve’s remarkable jackets are almost as bright as Suzanne’s smile and they were showing off their latest titles including the graphic novel The Furies. They also had previews on display of various 2010 titles including artist Keith Page’s London Calling. The artist for Timebomb’s The Sisterhood title, Dan Barritt, was also there selling posters of his work on the title which Steve describes as “space nuns with guns” but could more intriguingly be described as “The Beano does Durham Red”. More details of all Timebomb titles are on their website.

Also over the far side of the hall was Dave Hitchcock selling his unusual horror title Gothic. Gothic has been out for a while now but remains unique amongst British small press in being a 48 page, mainly black and white, tabloid published on newsprint paper which makes it a completely different tactile experience. There are more details of Gothic on Dave’s blog.

Hidden away in one corner was Francesca Cassavetti of Fabtoons. Francesca is best known for her book on new parents, The Most Natural Thing in the World, which got great reviews here on downthetubes and on the FPI blog, but she also had more titles for sale including Striptacular, Party Pieces and Sole Searching which, unsurprisingly, is about buying shoes. More details of Francesca’s titles are on her website.

Just over from Francesca was John Maybury and Space Babe 113. These adult themed, tongue-in-cheek, science fiction comics feature John’s very minimalist art which show just how few lines of art it can take to tell a comic length story. As Space Babe converses with her artificially intelligent knickers, the art often appears to show little more of her than a bikini and her hair do, and yet it has a charm all of it own. More details of the Space Babe 113 titles are on John’s website.

And last, but certainly not least, there was the enormous stall given over to Olivier Cadic’s Cinebook titles. Olivier (in the centre of the photo) publishes English translations of Franco-Belgian bande dessinees albums and in a few short years has grown into a force to be reckoned with. Their titles range from the humourous Lucky Luke to the thoughtful Chimpanzee Complex, via the fantasy of Thorgal and the science-fiction of Aldebaran. With special deals for multiple purchases, Olivier and his team seemed to always be busy with sales as well as fielding the complements of the many purchasers and readers of their titles. With the first of their Spirou and Fantasio titles out now, featuring one of Belgium’s longest running and best known comics characters, as well as the popular espionage thriller XIII due to begin publication next year, Cinebook look as if they have a very secure future ahead of them. More details of their titles can be found at the Cinebook website.

Not having been to a Thought Bubble before I can’t say if it was as busy as in previous years but it didn’t seem to have been too badly affected by the recession as it was bustling with many happy punters.

Congratulations to Lisa Wood and her team of organisers and volunteers for an enjoyable day as well my thanks to Leigh Gallagher and Garen Ewing and their respective partners, Nikki and Ellie, for being such good neighbours.

There are many more photos from Thought Bubble on Matthew Kitchen’s Flickr account.

Oh,Oh,Oh,Oh,Oh! Happy Birthday Mr Freeman!

2009-11-23T08:34:00.000Z

Since it is a 'significant' one, we would like to wish Happy Birthday to downthetubes supremo John Freeman, without whom there wouldn't be a site or a blog here for you to be reading.

A professional editor, John started downthetubes as a hobby and ten years later it remains a hobby site about British comics, written by fans for fans. It wasn’t until Ian Wheeler ended his long running comics fanzine Eagle Flies Again, which John had helped out on in its later years, that John hauled Ian and several of the EFA regulars over to write for downthetubes and the blog (and site) as we know it today was born.

Small pressers to the end - John on the left with Ian Wheeler at the Lancaster Comics Day in 2006, proud parents of a bouncing baby EFA 14.

John's credits within British comics and genre magazines stretch far and wide, so for your delectation and delight we present a short romp through his history. (Just think of it as our virtual equivalent of writing "Happy Birthday John" on a bed sheet and hanging it from a bridge over the road that he takes to work every morning!)

Scan was John's comics fanzine from the 1980s and ironically we don’t have a scan of it. However we are required by International Comics Law to end any description of it with the following statement, "and Alan Moore was one of its subscribers" while his first professional writing credit was on Dan Dare-esque Science Service graphic novel in 1987 with artist Rian Hughes.

John then applied to Marvel UK and got the job of designer and then, from issue 137, editor of Doctor Who Magazine which of course means that, like it or not, his name is now carved in stone in the annals of the greater Whoniverse.

A hirsute John (on the left) with Telos publisher David J Howe and Sarah Jane Adventures script editor Gary Russell at the DWM panel at Galaxicon in 1990

In 1994 he had the surgery in which The Mighty One fashioned him into a Scriptdroid writing the continued Judge Dredd Megazine adventures of Psi-Judge Karyn and creating Cabal with artist Adrian Salmon.

Back to reality and a move to setting up Titan Magazines as its Managing Editor where, amongst other titles, he created RAF Magazine hence the now familiar photo of John standing beside a Red Arrows Hawk T1A jet.

Staying with Titan and, as if one major TV SF fandom wasn't enough wasn't enough for him, John became editor of the monthly Star Trek Magazine.

Yet perhaps it is his time on DWM that he is best known for so let us leave with this cartoon from Doctor Who Magazine and say “Happy Birthday John” from the rest of us here at downthetubes.

Happy Birthday, Mr Freeman - Other Voices

2009-11-23T08:09:00.022Z

Andrew Pixley: Doctor Who Magazine Archivist

To John

Thank you for having the faith in me to give me the biggest opportunity of my life, and years of happiness in the most wonderful, enjoyable, fascinating job. Thank you for encouraging me when I needed it, and looking after me when things went wrong. And thank you for the boundless enthusiasm you've put into promoting all these very wonderful things in life. Have a terrific time! With deepest gratitude.

All the best

Andrew

DWM issue 137, John's first issue as editor.

Lee Sullivan: Artist, Radio Times and Doctor Who Magazine

Happy 50th John. It's reassuring to know that you're still younger than me. I intend to keep it that way for as long as possible :)
John and Lee Sullivan during the DWM panel at Panopticon 1988

Stephen James Walker: Writer, co-owner & co-editor Telos Publishing

Happy Birthday, John. Thanks for all those commissions you gave me, back in the day. You were a great editor to write for.
Telos partners, David J Howe and Stephen James Walker

Steve Holland: Comics historian and Bear Alley webmaster

Anniversaries are always worth celebrating, especially when it's a biggie like the big five-oh. 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of The Three Bears, Scoop Donovan, John Steel and Rory MacDuff, amongst many others, including the ever-youthful John Freeman, who doesn't seem to have changed much since we first met nearly twenty years ago when he was editor of Overkill at Marvel UK. Wiser, perhaps. As busy as ever, of course. But older? Maybe between scriptwriting, editorial chores and putting together downthetubes (10 years old itself) he just doesn't have time to age. Happy birthday, John, and congratulations on your thirtieth 21st birthday in a row.

Best wishes,

Steve

Chief Bear in the Alley, Steve Holland.

Alan Martin and Rufus Dayglo Signing at Forbidden Planet

2009-11-20T09:00:00.001Z

Alan Martin and Rufus Dayglo (pictured), creators of Tank Girl Skidmarks, will be signing Skidmarks #2 at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Saturday 5th December 1 - 2pm.

Alan and artist Jamie Hewlett created Tank Girl in 1988 for Deadline magazine. Their anarchic heroine is now a cult icon that has given us strips, monthly comics, graphic novels, prose novels and a Hollywood movie. Rufus Dayglo is now working with Alan on Skidmarks - a riotous, all-new Tank Girl mini-series.

Skidmarks is set in Australia in the near future: a post-apocalyptic, but still rather picturesque wasteland. The former bounty hunter turned outlaw known as Tank Girl spends her days drinking, fighting and getting up to all manner of mischief - until she's forced to give up her life of semi-retirement and climb back into the saddle to save the life of her best friend, Barney.

This is everything you ever wanted to know about Tank Girl’s schooldays – and everything you didn’t!

• Read the downthetubes interview with Rufus Dayglo

Strip! for Savage Messiahs, Doctor Who and Al Davison...

2009-11-19T13:56:00.003Z

Here's some info about the shows ace podcaster Alex Fitch is involved with that will be broadcast over the next 7 days:

On air: Strip! - Ctrl Alt Shift: Lightspeed Champion and Savage Messiah

Continuing 'British Mavericks' month on the Strip!, broadcast on ResonanceFM, Alex Fitch looks at the new charity anthology: "Ctrl Alt Shift unmasks corruption", a collection of short comic strips that mixes seasoned professionals with the work of small press artists and creators from other media who are less well known for working in comics. From the latter group, Alex is talking to Dev Hynes*, better known as the musician Lightspeed Champion, who has a sincere interest in comics that led to the creation of two strips in the anthology.

Alex also talks to the cover illustrator Laura Oldfield Ford, whose work can normally be found in fine art galleries in the fields of collage and traditional illustration, but also creates sequential art ‘zines under the name of Savage Messiah...

*(If you want to quibble, Dev was born in Texas but raised in Essex since the age of 2, so he's an honorary British Maverick)

Broadcasts: 5pm, Thursday 19th November, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast soon after transmission at www.panelborders.wordpress .com

We also missed out on reporting on some recent podcasts: of note to downthetubes fans is Panel Borders: Doctor Who and The Spiral Cage, continuing a month look long at ‘British Mavericks’ – interviews with artists whose work brings aspects of the avant-garde to mainstream comics.

In this podcast, Alex talks to artist Al Davison about his career so far, from early graphic novels based on autobiography such as The Spiral Cage and The Minotaur’s Tale which depict Al’s struggle with his identity as an artist with spina bifida to his most recent book Hokusai: Demons which explores Japanese erotic art and bestiaries based on the artist’s dreams; and also writer Tony Lee joins Alex and Al to discuss the latter’s collaboration with the artist on the American Doctor Who comic which depicts David Tennant’s alter-ego having adventures in 1920s Hollywood. Check it out over on www.resonancefm.com

Tube Surfing: Awards, Thought Bubble Signings and Hi-Ex

2009-11-18T18:05:00.001Z

• Leonie O'Moore, Tony Hitchman and WJC from the "New British Comics" anthology will be present at Thought Bubble convention (Saturday, November 21st) and they will be happy to sign your NBC copies. Signing will be available throughout pretty much whole day - you can leave a book on Leonie's Moore stall and pick it up later when it will be signed for you. Also, both issues of NBC should be available for purchase at Smallzone stall during the convention.

• Talking of Thought Bubble, 'Possibilities and Perspectives: A Conference on Comics', an academic event, is also coming up in Leeds this weekend. Tickets are £8 and include entry to the conference and the Thought Bubble Festival's one day comic convention. The conference will take place at the Alea Casino in Leeds, near the Royal Armouries (a 30 second walk from the Thought Bubble Convention venue, Saviles Hall). For a map and directions, visit: www.aleacasinos.com/alea/leeds/location.php. The event includes a Keynote Speech from Bryan Talbot on "The Use of Style and Storytelling Techniques in The Tale of One Bad Rat".

• The 15th Cartoon Trust Awards will be presented at an entertaining fundraising dinner at The Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1 tonight (18th November 2009). The dinner, whose guests and award presentes include Barry Cryer and Steve Bell, celebrates and coincides with the 21^st birthday of the Cartoon Art Trust, the charity behind the Cartoon Museum. The winners will be announced on the Trust's web site at: www.cartoonmuseum.org

• Eden Court Theatre in Inverness will play host to the third HiEx International Comic Convention on the 27th-28th March 2010.

“The first two years where such a success that we really had no choice but to do it again," explained organiser Vicky Stonebridge.

Co-organiser Richmond Clements adds: "We have some very exciting guests already confirmed- among them the incredible John Higgins, Gary Erskine, Colin MacNeil, Asia Alfasi, Alan Grant. Many more artists and writers will be coming along, as well as the popular stormtroopers from the 501st UK garrison. Keep checking the HiEx website, (www.hi-ex.co.uk) as we’re adding all the time." Over the course of the weekend, visitors can expect a range of events. “Our children’s workshops have proved to be very popular, and we’re planning to run even more of them this time around," Vicky said. "There will also be workshops for both art and writing, for adults.

Tickets go on sale soon, with a special discount for early booking through the HiEx website.

• After 18 months, many conventions and quite a few web sales UK indi publisher CD24 is finally down to the last few issues of Last of the Chickenheads issues 1 and 2, and Crowman issue 1. As in the future they're going to be concentrating on publishing graphic novels, they’ve decided to host a quick fire sale and are offering them for £1 an issue. So this is your final chance to get your hands on these titles in the single issue format as once the only way you'll be able to get them is in a graphic novel format (at some point in the future).

• Anyone wanting to purchase these issues, or Jack in the Box, can get them at www.c2d4.com.

Win a PSP 3000 thanks to the Geeks!

2009-11-18T16:17:00.001Z

To celebrate the launch of the Sony Digital Comic Store, top British comics and SF news site Geek Syndicate has teamed up with Sony and Insomnia Publications - publishers of titles such as Cages, Cancertown and Burke and Hare - to bring you an awesome competition to win a Sony PSP 3000 supplied by Sony.

The PSP 3000 will come with the a selection of graphic novels provided by Insomnia Publications, who are one of the first British publishers on board to take advantage of this latest digital comics delivery platform.

To be in with a chance to win all you need to do is send the Geeks an email with the title “Going digital with Geek Syndicate, Insomnia and Sony!” to geeksyndicate@hotmail.co.uk.

The first entry they pull out of the hat will win. The closing date for entry is 1st December.

For folks heading to the Thought Bubble convention in Leeds this weekend you can enter by heading over to the Insomnia Publications stand and filling in an entry form. Please note, this competition is only open to entrants who are 18 or over and have a UK Postal address.

The new Digital Reader on PSP kicks off Sony's Digital Comics service, with the company proclaiming it will revolutionise the way you read and open up a whole range of media to your fingertips.

Sony's Digital Reader service will start with Digital Comics in December 2009, offering a brand new way to read comic books via a huge library of digital comics you can download from PlayStation Store to your PSP – both classic and new comic titles.

The new service will offer content from Marvel Entertainment and IDW Publishing, as well as graphic novels and comics from a variety of local publishers and the latest underground sensations such as Insomnia.

Currently, Insomnia are the only UK indy
who will have books in the Sony Playstation Networks Digital Comics store when it launches in December.

More titles will arrive on PlayStation Store with monthly content updates, offering a huge choice of quality titles at your fingertips, allowing you to take your favourite comic characters with you on the move.

"This is a great new service that offers PSP owners even more options for entertainment on the go and makes PSP a must for comics fans,” says Isabelle Tomatis, European Marketing Manager, Hardware and Platforms, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

“Digital Comics will sit alongside the new PlayStation Network video download service as yet another way that PSP offers a whole world of entertainment in your hands.”

"We are incredibly excited to be partnering with Sony in the launch of the Digital Comics Service," says Crawford Coutts, Managing Director of Insomnia Publications. "Insomnia is committed to nurturing the very best new art, new writing and new concepts in its original graphic novels and the unprecedented scope of this Comics Store will connect independent publishers and readers around the globe."

• Full details of the Geek Syndicate competition here

• More about Insomnia's Digital Comics Plans here on their official blog

New "Soldiers Zero" iphone Comic Launched

2009-11-18T15:39:00.001Z

US e-publisher Underwater Samurai Studios Publishing have just released their first made for digital comic, Soldiers Zero, utilising technology developed by Irish iphone comics makers Infurious Republic, the creators of digital titles such as Beatnik High and the controversial Murderdrome, which was created by PJ Holden and Al Ewing.

Written by Rob McClellan with art by Martin Montiel (The Darkness, Legendary), Chris Summers (G.I. Joe) and Charles Pritchett (Noble Causes), the first issue of Soldiers Zero follows the exploits of four prototype super-soldiers deployed to Afghanistan in August 2007, and the tragedy that befalls them.

UWS say the great-looking adventure strip, which runs to 185 screens and costs just 99 cents, is the start of an ongoing digital comic series made exclusively for the digital market, and the first salvo in a bold digital publishing agenda.

Back in January, Rob McClellan, who is a US naval officer, and his two partners Tim Welch and Tom James, formed UWS Publishing to produce content primarily for digital devices, a drastic departure from the current approach to publishing.

"People keep telling me that comics can only make money in print, but there are over five million iPhones out there being used every day," says McClellan.

"Even a quarter of a percent of iphone market share is 12,500 downloads – that's much better than most books by small publishers would ever do in print."

While the digital comic market is something now finally being embraced by large publishers such as Marvel, Rob feels there are opportunities for strong independent titles on mobile.

“I don't view this as a competition thing, actually” he says “Marvel's entrance to the scene is a fantastic indicator for digital comics. By placing their comics to the iphone, they are legitimizing this type of content and bringing a lot of die hard paper fans to the small screen. I think it's fantastic – the better they do, the better the digital comics market will do.”

To provide that quality experience, the UWS team felt it was imperative that the app perfectly synchronize with the book and, after a lengthy search, the right comic book app materialized from a small, Irish software company, Infurious Republic, the team behind Infurious Comics.

Over Skype, Rob and Philip Orr, the CEO of Infurious Republic, hammered out the details and, three prototypes later, settled on the app for Soldiers. The final result, feel the UWS team, is a digital comic experience unlike anything else currently on the market.

The navigation method for the Soldiers app is a simple tap on the far right or left sides of the screen and the word balloons can be removed to allow for better appreciation of the artwork. The reader can also quickly access "visual scrolling", a unique feature which yields fast, accurate navigation through the issue's 185 screens of content. Screen advances are quick, but subtle. The effect is a surprisingly easy and effortless read.

"Going digital required thinking a little differently," says McClellan. "There are a lot of differences between digital and print. We made Soldiers around those differences, fully accepting them and the result is a comic that feels organic to the device.

"I think it will change how people look at digital comics."

At a time when more and more books are gravitating to large Digital Comic Distributors such as iVerse and Comixology, Soldiers stands on its own. "We felt that putting the book behind an "in-app" purchasing application added another barrier for readers to get to our comic," says Rob. "Anyone can search for Soldiers in the app store, or link directly to it and share via blogs, e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook. We wanted to be able to capitalize on the impulse buy nature of digital."

Asked about his digital focused approach, Rob replied, "I realize that many feel this is a risk, but this is where we are going. A year ago video games were only played on massive systems, but now they're everywhere on the iphone. The digital comic audience is rapidly expanding and they're hungry for quality content.”

• Buy Soldiers on iTunes via this link, or search iTunes for “soldiers zero”.

Matters of Convention: Thought Bubble

2009-11-18T00:01:00.001Z

Continuing our series of interviews with British comic convention organisers, for this ninth – and for now, final – instalment Matthew Badham talks to Lisa Wood of Leeds' Thought Bubble Festival.

Thought Bubble is a four-day annual event which celebrates sequential art in all its forms, including everything from superheroes to independent small press. We are a non-profit making organisation dedicated to promoting comics and graphic novels as an important cultural art form. Taking place at a variety of venues across the city, our aim is to cater to both long-time comic book fans and those who have never picked up a graphic novel before!

Thought Bubble will take place next weekend, 19th - 22nd November 2009 with a centrepiece one-day convention on Saturday 21st.

These convention features are being cross-posted on downthetubes, the Forbidden Planet International blog and Fictions. Our aim is to give the conventions themselves some well-deserved publicity and also to, hopefully, spark a wider debate about what’s good and bad about the convention circuit in the UK.

downthetubes: Please tell us about a little about the history of your event.

Lisa: Thought Bubble started in 2007. I had been toying with the idea of running some kind of comics based exhibition or a series of workshops and the idea grew from there. I was really keen to bring a comics festival to the UK that was in the same vain as some of the European festivals; something that wasn't just a convention but a celebration of comics on lots of different levels.

I feel really passionately that comics should be recognized as a valid art form like in France, when they are called the ninth art and regarded very highly. The public's perception of comics and graphic novels is changing at the moment due to the popularity of comics-based movies. We are not only seeing superhero comic movies at the moment but films such as Road to Perdition, Scott Pilgrim and History of Violence too, which are all based on great graphic novels.

downthetubes: How is your event funded, by ticket sales, the exhibitors, a grant, some other means or a combination of these?

Lisa: Thought Bubble is funded by Ticket sales and exhibitors. We have also just found out that we have Arts Council funding which is amazing! It is great to know serious funding bodies such as The Arts Council are recognizing the benefits of comic books for learning and literacy. Hopefully this is the beginning of something really special.

downthetubes: What are Thought Bubble’s overall aims?

Lisa: Our aim has always been to bring comics and graphic novels to the mainstream, and to show they can be an excellent educational tool to be embraced by libraries, schools and local councils. We want to put on a great show celebrating the amazing art and writing in comics.

downthetubes: Who is Thought Bubble aimed at? What sort of punters do you hope to attract? Are you family-friendly?

Lisa: We are very family-friendly. We pretty much aim the con at everyone! We try and programme events that will appeal to all ages and types. At our Alea event we host panels, screenings and talks, which are for adults. However, we also run lots of workshops and events especially for young people! We recognise the importance of introducing young people to comic books so the art form can keep growing and growing.

downthetubes: How effective have you been in getting those kind of people to attend?

Lisa: Because we run as part of the Leeds International Film Festival, we tend to get a wide range of people attending our events. We also tend to get people coming along who are just curious, which is great for us because we have the chance to introduce newcomers to this wonderful art-form, this is what we always intended to do.

Thought Bubble 2008: Alex Maleev (Daredevil, Halo), Adi Granov (Iron Man concept artist) and Barry Kitson (Amazing Spider-Man). Photo: Matthew Kitchen

downthetubes: Can you give a projected (or actual) attendance figure for the Thought Bubble?

Lisa: Figures for our festival and one day convention were: first year convention 500, festival as a whole 1100, our second year convention was 1500, festival as a whole 2500 and we are hoping this year will be 2200 for our convention and 3000 for our festival as a whole.

downthetubes: What lessons have you learned during your time running Thought Bubble, in terms of its marketing and advertising?

Lisa: I think we are still learning how best to approach these areas. We will probably concentrate more on online advertising this year rather than printed matter, just because costs can be so high. The way we have approached this in the past is where possible find in-kind sponsorship. We have worked with various magazines to promote ourselves and in return we have helped promote them. We also work with various shops around West Yorkshire to promote our event as much as possible. Getting people on board to help us spread the word and our brand is invaluable.

downthetubes: Do you use emerging technologies to spread the word about Thought Bubble? Do you have a website or blog, or use email mailing lists?

Lisa: We're really into using social networking sites to spread the word. We have also set up a Youtube account, where we can post our favourite clips and hold competitions. We also have a Wordpress blog that is updated daily at the moment. Our next goal is to record all of our workshops and talks to build up an online library of educational information for anyone and everyone to access.

downthetubes: What about print? Do you use print advertising, have a newsletter, anything like that?

Lisa: Because these cost tend to be fairly high we try and avoid buying adverts in magazines and work on in-kind deals, as I mentioned before.

downthetubes: What’s the mix in terms of exhibitors at Thought Bubble? Do you even have exhibitors?

Lisa: We have over 170 exhibitors. The mix is usually, small press 50 per cent, guests and pros 20 per cent and retailers 30 per cent. It changes year on year though.

downthetubes: What are your thoughts on the small press comics scene in this country? How do you use Thought Bubble to support it (do you try and support it)?

Lisa: We absolutely support the small press scene. We love it! We hold weekly small press features on our blog, highlighting some of our favourite small press people.

downthetubes: How much are the tickets for Thought Bubble? How did you arrive at that price? Please tell us about any concessions.

Lisa: Our tickets are £8 full price this year, half price for cosplayers and under-12s are free. For this price you get to spend the whole day listening to various talks and have the chance to take part in workshops, watch screenings, meet artists and writers and ask for sketches. It is a tough call trying to keep prices low. venue costs can be really high. There are also lots of hidden costs such as insurance and trading licence, the stage, tables. Running a convention can end up being very pricey. When dealing with ticket prices you need to look at your own costs and what your competition is charging.

downthetubes: How much are exhibitor tables for Thought Bubble (if you have any)? Again, how did you arrive at that figure?

Lisa: Again, we try and keep this low where possible, especially for small press as most of the time they end up losing money attending cons. Our small press and professional tables are £40, retailer and publisher tables are £60.

Women in Comics panel at Thought Bubble 2008 From left to right, Emma Vieceli (Manga Shakespeare), Robin Furth (Dark Tower), Hannah Berry (Britten & Brulightly). Photo: Matthew Kitchen

downthetubes: Do you run workshops/events/panels at Thought Bubble? Please tell us about those and how they are organised.

Lisa: Most or our programme is full of free workshops for young people and adults, our Arts Council funding helps us to do this. We invite industry professionals to come along and let people know how they write or draw and how to get in to the business. Our workshops have been incredibly successful, with most of them selling out before our brochure comes out. So far workshops have been run on a voluntary basis by industry professionals who are kind enough to give us and the public their time.

downthetubes: As you’ve been kind enough to answer these questions, please fell free to big Thought Bubble up a bit. Tell us what you do well, what Thought Bubble's main attractions are and why our readers should attend the next one.

Lisa: This year, Thought Bubble will include art and writing based workshops for young people and adults, panels and talks lead by industry professionals and a programme of sequential art related film screenings.

The special one-day convention includes an incredible line up of leading artists and writers, and over 150 tables selling comics and merchandise. The day will also feature portfolio viewings and competitions.

This promises to be one of the best events of its kind in the UK, where you’ll be able to meet some of your favourite comic book creators and browse the huge selection of memorabilia on sale - brought to you by the biggest and best exhibitors and dealers from across the country.

Keep an eye on this website for more updates, or join us on MySpace or Facebook to share your thoughts and ideas!

downthetubes: Thanks to Lisa for his time answering our questions. Check out their blog, by the way, for some brilliant comic creator interviews with the likes of Frank Quitely and Charlie Adlard!

• Photos by Matthew Kitchen: http://matthius.deviantart.com

• Thought Bubble Official Site: www.thoughtbubblefestival.com. Full details as to this year’s programme can be found on the Festival Information 2009 page, while Thought Bubble’s guest list also looks amazing and they have some brilliant small press exhibitors in attendance.

More Matters of Convention by Matthew Badham

• 176: Oli Smith of London Underground Comics

• Caption: In Conversation with Jay Eales and Selina Lock

• The British International Comic Show: Interview with Shane Chebsey

• Hi-Ex, Inverness: A Conversation with Vicky Stonebridge

• The Bristol Expo

• The Alternative Press Fair

• Web ‘n’ Mini Comix Thing

• ComICA

Fractured Images, Broken Words at Lancaster University

2009-11-16T14:30:00.005Z

Comics writer and former 2000AD editor Andy Diggle will be one of two keynote speakers at an academic conference that will include discussions on the comic form at Lancaster University next year.

Together with Professor Terry Eagleton of Lancaster University, he'll be discussing comics at Fractured Images, Broken Words, a postgraduate conference at the University on 12th June 2010 which will also feature art installation by Christine Dawson.

Visual and multi-modal texts are an integral element of both popular and literary culture, contemporary and past and the conference is inviting papers which engage with the notion of text and image, through, for example critical examination of graphic novels, television, film, illustrated texts or adaptations.

Papers with an interdisciplinary approach are being actively welcomed, allowing for a collision of meaning and interpretations of both text and image. The organisers are particularly interested in – but not limiting the remit to – topics which focus on the fusion of word and image, and perhaps on the gaps which can be perceived between, and within, visual and textual representation. Where do textual spaces exist? Where do word and image meet? Where do they separate? Where does meaning fuse? Where does it disintegrate?

"As the conference title suggests, we’re also interested in the duplicitous and unstable nature of texts and images," say the organisers, "and would also like to explore issues such as: How words and / or images be misappropriated, misused or misdirected to create alternative and divergent meanings; The fragility of meaning created by words and / or images; Problems of reading and interpretation."

It's hoped the conference will provide a stimulating environment for postgraduate students and other researchers to present work and to share and discuss ideas stemming from the examination of texts employing varied representational modes, adaptations and interactions between text and image.

"We hope to encourage speakers from multiple disciplines, working across historical, cultural and literary periods, and with a wide range of texts.

Suggested topics, themes and disciplinary approaches include Film, Cultural and Literary Studies, Language, Propaganda Texts, Journalism / Photo Journalism, Graphic Novels and Picture Books, Children and Young Adult Literature, Television, Identity, Ownership of Truth, Authenticity, Biographical Texts, Gender, Ethnicity, Sexuality, Translation, Gaps and Silences and Absences – or any other topic which the conference title inspires.

Abstracts of no more than 300 words for papers not exceeding 20 minutes should be submitted by 15th February 2010, to the organisers at: conference@lancasterluminary.com. Please include the title of your paper, your name, e-mail address, institutional affiliation, and a brief summary of your research interests.

• For more info and conference fees visit www.lancasterluminary.com/contents/conference.htm

New Commando Titles

2009-11-16T14:04:00.001Z

(with thanks to Calum Laird): Here are details on the new Commando titles from DC Thomson on sale until 25th November in all good newsagents...

Commando No 4243: Dangerous Despatches

Story: Norman Adams Cover and inside Art: Keith Page

Intrepid reporters Fred "Ferret" McGlone, Harry Hornby et al − are back in the thick of the action! This time the Headline Heroes find themselves slap bang in the middle of the first Sino-Japanese War of 1894. It’s dicey work and they’ll have to keep their wits about them to survive. This is the second instalment of a four-part mini-series featuring the Headline Heroes – there are stories to come in December and January.

Commando No 4244: The Medal

Story: Ferg Handley Cover: Ian Kennedy Inside Art: Vila

At the height of the Korean War in 1951, new recruit Gary “Jonesy” Jones was hailed a hero when his instinctive act of bravery saved the life of a high-ranking Allied officer. Jonesy gained the respect of his comrades. However, he also gained an enemy, his spiteful lieutenant. Driven by jealousy, the officer hatched a plan to break Jonesy…and his squad if need be!

Commando 4245: Protection Squad

First published in issue 2712

Story: Mike Knowles Cover: Ian Kennedy Inside Art: Gordon Livingstone

Bored with paperwork and traffic duties, Lance-Corporal Jack Johnston of the Royal Military Police was on the lookout for excitement. So he volunteered for special duties and, after a spell of tough training, became a member of the elite Close Protection Squads. That was when he began to understand what real excitement was!

Three Commando stalwarts combine to put together this book. Gordon’s first book was No 4 “Mercy For None”, Ian Kennedy’s No 435 “Seek And Strike”, while Mike Knowles started with No 1125 “Coward In Khaki.”

Commando No 4246: Last Ditch Defenders

First published in issue 2601

Story: C G Walker Cover: Ian Kennedy Inside Art: Denis McLoughlin

As the Red Army flooded through the gates of Berlin for the final battle, ordinary German soldiers surrendered in droves, knowing that the end could only be days away. But for Fritz Langer’s penal battalion, surrender was not an option. Many of Fritz’s men were Russians themselves, having sided with Germany when the Wehrmacht was winning the war. The best they could hope now was a quick death − for soon there would be nowhere to run...

• For more information, check out the official Commando site at: www.commandomag.com

• Click here for subscription information or write to: D.C. Thomson & Co Ltd, The Subscribers Department, Commando Library, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL or Freephone (UK only) 0800 318846

Free Comics Workshops at ThoughtBubble

2009-11-16T12:00:00.003Z

Leeds comics event Thought Bubble, which takes place this coming weekend, has just announced several free workshops for children and adults run by industry professionals. If you or anyone you know wants to come along for some comic art and writing fun just sign up!
To book a place email thoughtbubblefestival@googlemail.com

Digital Colouring Masterclass with Peter Doherty. 14:00-15:00, Carrigeworks, FREE, 16+

Famous for his work on The Wachowski Brothers' Shaolin Cowboy, and Judge Death, Peter will take participants through the stages of how to digitally colour line art in photoshop. A basic understanding of photoshop is required. Places are limited, book soon to avoid disappointment.

Sequential Art and Literacy Workshop. 14:00-15:30, Leeds Art Gallery, 12-18 year olds, FREE

Award-winning artist, curator, and academic Sarah Lightman, who trained at 'Slade School of Art', will go through the stages of creating your very own publication. She will explain how young people can use the comic format to reflect their own feelings and experiences. Places are limited, book soon to avoid disappointment.

Yishan Studio Shojo Manga Workshop with Yishan Li. 14:30-15:30, Leeds Central Library, 7-12 year olds, FREE.

Yishan Li, a leading manga artist, and creator of the Yishan Studio 'How To Draw Manga' books, will run this fun workshop for younger children. Yishan will take them through the steps of how to create characters and figures.

Creation of Computer Game Concept Design. 14:50-16:50, Leeds Central Library, 16+, FREE

Steve Beaumont, character design and storyboard artist, will look at how the two are produced within the video games industry. There will be an opportunity to work from a typical client brief to create a gaming character. Steve will also touch on what the gaming industry looks for to give you a heads up in this ever growing field.

Manga Character Art Workshop with Emma Vieceli. 14:50-15:50, Leeds Central Library, 12-18 year olds, FREE.

Sweatdrop Studios' Emma, is well known for her presenting on Anime Network, and her fantastic art on the Manga Shakespeare series. In this session, Emma will demonstrate techniques used in manga styled pages and show participants the foundations needed to create their own characters. This workshop will be fun and informal.

Frank Quitely Art Masterclass. 15:15-16:45, Carriageworks, 16+, £5 Entry.

Thought Bubble is delighted to welcome Frank Quitely, one of the world's most respected comic book artists, for a special insider look at his art. Frank is best known for his work on Grant Morrison's New X-Men, Batman and Robin and We3. Talking to Peter Dohert of 2000AD fame, Frank will reveal the creative process he employs in this fascinating masterclass. For tickets go to www.thoughtbubblefestival.com

Young People's Comics Writing Masterclass with Adam Lowe. 16:00-17:00, Leeds Central Library, 12-18 year olds, FREE.

Local author Adam Lowe's first novel, Troglodyte Rose, mixes sequential art and prose. In this workshop for young people, he gives tips on writing scripts for comics, including dialogue, pace, and visual cues in this fun and informal masterclass.

• For more information go to www.thoughtbubblefestival.com

• We'll have a fab behind-the-scenes feature by Matthew Badham on the Thought Bubble event here on downthetubes on Wednesday, with info on how it's put together and more!

Hi-Ex Gets Funding Boost

2009-11-16T11:27:00.003Z

Fab Scottish comics convention Hi-Ex has just secured local council funding for its next gathering in 2010.

BBC News reports the Highland Council has offered funding for the outreach programme which would see artists and writers hold workshops in schools - the first time the event has secured funding from Highland Council and a great boost for all the hard work organisers Vicky Stonebridge and Richmond Clements have been putting into the convention and their work promoting comics.

Guests at next year's event at Eden Court in Inverness from 27-28 March include Al Ewing, Alan Grant, Ferg Handley, John higgins and many others. More info: www.hi-ex.co.uk

AntiFolk Goes Zine Friendly

2009-11-16T11:17:00.003Z

In order to try and get more zines, comics and self published material out to a wider audience, Britain's Alternative Press team are teaming up with like-minded events organisers to ensure they have a table for the sale of zines and comics etc., making it "Zine Friendly".

One of the first of these alliances takes place next weekend with the AntiFolk UK Autumn Festival (Friday 20th – Saturday 21st November) in London's Soho, an evening of music from the Anti-Folk UK collective. A zine friendly event, Alternative Press will have a table or two to sell zines and comix. Also, self publishers who come to sell will receive a discount of £2 off daily ticket price (so, £4 rather than £6).

Plus, who could miss comic creato Jimi Gherkin playing some sounds, along with the Tuscan Troubadour, Trent Miller and The Skeleton Jive?

The AntiFolk event is at the 12 Bar Club, Denmark Street, Soho, London WC2H 8NL

• 12 Bar Web Site: www.12barclub.com
• AntiFolk: www.antifolk.co.uk

Commando Webbing: 16 November 2009

2009-11-16T06:11:00.000Z

Norway sends us Nemi (published daily in The Metro and compiled annually by Titan) and in return we now send them Commando.

DC Thomson's official CommandoMag site is reporting that Commando comics are being published in Norway by Egmont Serieforlaget with each issue of the new Kamp Og Kommando (Action and Commando) digest including four translated issues of British Commando. This is not the first time that Commando has been published in Norway as translated Commandos were originally published in the digest Kamp.

The cover for Kamp Og Kommando issue 1 is from Commando issue 46, Phantom Fighters, originally published in the UK in December 1962 with script and internal art by Peter Ford and cover art by Ken Barr. This story has already been published in Norwegian by Kamp as Fantom Jagerne.

Elsewhere in Scandinavia, Finland continues to publish Commando stories in Korkeajannitys, which translates as High Voltage.

More details of Kamp Og Kommando are available on the CommandoMag website.

More covers of Kamp and Korkeajannitys are available at the Where Eagles Dare website.

Returning to the English speaking world and the Tainted Archive blog has a new interview with Commando editor Calum Laird and writer David Whitehead. In the interview they talk about their work on Commando and speculate on exactly why the 48 year old title continues to be successful.

Read the Tainted Archive interview here.

Read the downthetubes interview with Calum Laird here.

Finally back on CommandoMag, and the site gives us a preview of the title page of artist Jose Maria Jorge's latest Commando work. The issue, written by Steve Coombes, is due for release next Spring and has the working title of Crossed Sword Squadron. Jorge's reputation of being the best regular Commando artist is well displayed in his typically accurate art of three Second World War RAF Tempest fighters flown by Polish pilots. Rather than spoil CommandoMag's preview by reprinting it here we will leave you instead with the the cover of Commando issue 3177, Fatal Contact, showing Jorge's original art for an American Sabre jet's encounter with two flying saucers - one of a wide selection of Commando cover paintings available on his website.

See the Commando artwork preview here.

More details of Jose Maria Jorge can be found on his website.

Most Bizarre British Comics Tie-In 2009

2009-11-14T11:29:00.016Z

And the 2009 downthetubes award for the most bizarre British comics tie-in merchandise of the year goes to...

Firstly let's remember that our favourite piece of bizarre British comics tie-in merchandise to date has been the Jackie Knitting Set. DC Thomson have licenced a lot of different Jackie products over the last few years on the back of the success of the original Best Of Jackie hardback book published by Carlton/Prion in 2005. These have included mugs and key rings with the Jackie compilation music CDs being perhaps the most successful of the recent batch with the fourth album, Jackie The Annual 2010, being released last week. Despite these the Jackie Knitting Set still takes the biscuit and when we spoke to DCT editor Bill McLoughlin, who now works for the company's licencing department, about it he described it as "probably the most unusual and I'd be hard pushed to come up with something more quirky!"

In the meantime Ron Grosset and his team at Waverley Books have had a lot of success with their Broons tie-in books beginning with Maw Broon's Cookbook in 2007. These have always been lovingly compiled, beautifully produced and competitively priced. One reason for the competitive price is Waverley Books' deliberate policy that they are not sold for a big reduction in shops such as Bargain Books or as a loss leader in supermarkets.

The selection of Broons tie-in books from Waverley now include both the Maw Broon's Cookbook and Maw Broon's But An' Ben Cookbook as well as the Broon's Burns Night, Broon's Book Of Gairdening Wisdoms and the recent Maw Broon's Remedies An' Suchlike. Earlier this year Waverley branched out with Maw Broon's But An' Ben Apron which is exactly what it sounds like, an apron, even if Amazon confusingly list it as a 1 page paperback box set. The latest item from Waverley is Maw Broon's But An' Ben Spoon.

Never mind Nigella's solid beech Serving Hands or Jamie Oliver's Ubuntu Pinch Pot, for a mere £1.99 you can now get a wooden kitchen spoon with the Broon's But An' Ben design on it, 12 inches long and, as the packaging proudly proclaims, designed for both "right-handed or left-handed operation".

Now that gets our award for the most bizarre British comics tie-in of the year.

In Review: Spandex

2009-11-13T10:57:00.005Z

The Book: Welcome to Spandex – super-heroes with a difference! From the creator of The O Men (www.comix.org.uk/theomen), Spandex is a brand new super-drama with a very unique spin. And even if you have heard what it’s about, it’s really not what you might expect – trust me…

The Review: First, a quick apology: I'm painfully aware I have been sent a number of books for review lately and the creators have yet to get a full review. At present I'm juggling work for ROK Comics and Titan Books full time during the week (and anyone in publishing will know how 'full time' extends to 'every waking hour' if you're not careful), so downthetubes, which is put together in my spare time, unpaid, has had to take a bit of a back seat.

Right, now the excuses are out of the way, on with bigging up Spandex - because it deserves it.

Featuring an all-gay superhero team, this sexy mature readers-only dramedy follows the adventures of Liberty (Britain's newest transvestite superhero), Diva (best described as a lesbian Wonder Woman), Prowler (who can absorb the skills of gay people), Glitter (a male Dazzler), Indigo (a beautiful French teleporter), Mr Muscles and Butch (strong twins). Issue one, ‘The Attack of the 50 Foot Lesbian’, is a 40-page beastie available as a print comic and PDF, introducing the team and their Brighton headquarters as they do indeed, battle a 50 Foot Lesbian, and next year will see the release of a 120-page Spandex graphic novel, featuring more adventures with the team. In between these, ‘Spandex Shorts’ will be released – mini-comics spotlighting various characters.

This is a book with all the plotting and scripting style that Martin honed to near perfection in The O Men. He has a real gift for superhero group dynamics and his new team of gay superheroes, fighting evil and their own personal demons, continues his high standards. Art-wise, watch out for visual gags and a clear knowledge of Brighton and its populace, delivering a fun adventure yarn with just the right amount of brooding menace as the story develops and you realize not everything is as it appears.

Martin 's O-Men was a superb riff on superhero group dynamics, but Spandex takes his usual skilled scripting to an entirely new level. This first issue shows huge promise for the series and I look forward to reading more.

•To buy Spandex #1 though Paypal, just click here or to get the PDF click here

• Official web site: www.spandexcomic.com

• 2008 Interview with Martin Eden on Forbidden Planet International

More Reviews...

• Jonathan Wilkins for Total SciFi

"Whereas many contemporary comic book heroes are dark and brooding, the protagonists of Spandex are real people who just happen to have superpowers. There are dark ideas covered, but they’re mixed with a winning humour, because life isn’t always as oppressive and difficult as some comic creators would have us believe... Thought provoking, funny and highly original."

• P B Rainey

"Martin describes Spandex as a superhero strip the likes of which you'll never have seen before and he's right. In it he explores the sexual dynamics between the cast and introduces some of the team's main villains, including as a 50' tall lesbian. Great strips, colourfully illustrated with some fun Smash Hits magazine styled extras and fantastic value for money; what more could you want?"

New Harker Debuts

2009-11-13T10:28:00.004Z

You'll all be pleased to hear that Issue 9 of the fab indie detective series title Harker, from Ariel Press is out now. It's available from all the usual comic shops (listed here on the offcial blog) and it's also available directly from the Ariel Press shop here.

This issue follows on from the murder of an unpleasant crime author at a Whitby hotel police detective Harker was staying in. Something smells fishy when a second corpse is washed in on the tide, and Harker is back on the case.

Can he find out how the murderer got away with it? And what dangers lay in the foggy mire? Don't stray off the path!

The team of writer Roger Gibson and artist Vincent Danks continue to maintain high standards with the issue, and stick to their demanding release schedule for the book, which is helping keep the book in the comic public eye. The next issue due out on 14th December, or slightly before!

New British Comics #2 Released

2009-11-09T14:36:00.001Z

The second issue of anthology title "New British Comics" is now on sale, available, just like the first issue in both English and Polish.

Edited by Karol Wisniewski, the new edition comes wrapped in a superb cover by Nelson Evergreen, this issue includes strips by the likes of Dan White, Leonie O'Moore, Dave Thomson and a few new faces such as downthetubes contributor David Hailwood, Craig Collins and Iain Laurie.

The Polish edition has already successfully premiered at the 2009 International Festival of Comics in Lodz, again raising awareness of the UK indie comic scene and the concept of exchanging work between both countries.

Retailing at £4.00, "New British Comics" issue #2 is approximately B5-ish format - well, it is made in Poland - with 84 b/w pages and is available from Badpressltd.com and SmallZone.co.uk

• For further information and to view sample pages, visit the totally revamped web site at www.polygobooks.com/newbritishcomics/

• Blog: http://newbritishcomics.blogspot.com

Titan Launches Wallace & Gromit iPhone Comic

2009-11-09T10:59:00.001Z

Britain's Titan Publishing has just launched its first digital comic for iPhone and iTouch - featuring Aardman Animations' inventors extraordinaire and Oscar winners, Wallace & Gromit.

Launched as the animated pair celebrate their 20th Anniversary, each comic is a complete Wallace & Gromit adventure and is packed with bonus features on the inveterate inventor and his faithful canine companion - and one of them is free-to-view.

“It’s really exciting to see Wallace and Gromit at the forefront of such a cracking new technology," commented Wallace & Gromit Digital Comic editor Ned Hartley, "although I secretly suspect that Wallace would be more comfortable with the type of apple that comes with cheese.”

• For more general information visit: http://titanpublishing.com/iphone/ and to keep up to date on new W&G phone releases visit this Facebook fan page

• Wallace & Gromit Comics are available from Apple’s App store now. Initially there are four comic stories to download...

• The W-Files Download now: US ($free) | UK (£free)

When strange shapes and flashing lights are seen in the night sky, there are only two paranormal investigators that can solve the problem. Sadly they aren’t available, so Wallace and Gromit might as well have a crack at it. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

• Parts & Labour Download now: US ($0.99) | UK (£0.59)

Where does he get those wonderful toys? Ever wondered where Wallace gets the parts for his eccentric, wonderful (and occasionally useful) inventions? Find out here!

• Big in Japan Download now: US ($0.99) | UK (£0.59)

Wallace and Gromit take time out to visit Wallace’s biggest fan in Japan, Hiro Worship. It turns out all is not well in the land of the rising sun, and it’s not long until Gromit has to deal with some monster problems!

• Where there’s Muck there’s Brass Download now: US ($0.99) | UK (£0.59)

Nothing gets Wallace as worked up as the disbanding of the local brass band, despite the fact that they aren’t very good, no-one wants to see them and they don’t really want to play anyway. This calls for... an invention!

Back From The Depths Presents Hallowscream! 2009

2009-11-06T22:53:00.001Z

It's finally here! The 2009 Back From The Depths Hallowe'en Special is an anthology horror comic that's not for the nervous, inspired in part by the short-lived Scream! title published in the 1980s.

The comic, which includes contributions from creators such as David Hailwood, Malcolm Kirk, Tim West, Andrew Milne, Dave Windett and John Gatehouse is available as a totally free pdf file from the Back from the Depths forum or via Clickwheel.

I particularly enjoyed The Golem Rises by Mister Roberts, with art by Simon Mackie; Mo Ali and Brian Gorman's Avenger; Bucket of Blood, written by Andrew Milne & Carol Kewley, with art from Matt Soffe; and the fun features such as "How to Sell Your Haunted House"!

November Commandos Revealed

2009-11-06T22:13:00.001Z

Internet spooks delayed the arrival of DC Thomson's latest information on its new issues of war digest Commando, but thanks to a bit of counter espionage from downthetubes and the Dundee offices of the monthly magazine, we're finally able to bring you details of comics on sale in November.

As usual, the latest offerings comprises two new and two reprint titles.

"The two reprints this month were drawn by guys who are still working for us," says editor Calum Laird, "and anyone who has bought copies in the last month or so can compare then and now to see that their stuff is still as good as ever.

"Ian Clark, who wrote Rag Tag Army was a real stalwart of Commando, although I first came across him as the author of photo-stories on teen title Blue Jeans!"

Commando 4238: Nightmare Mission

Previously issued as Issue 2582 in 1992

Story: Cyril Walker; Inside artwork: Olivera; Cover: Alan Burrows

The flare rose high in the sky to burst with a blinding light which turned night into day. The British patrol illuminated below hugged the ground, bare though it was of any real cover, and hoped they would not be spotted. For Don Wells it was yet another dangerous patrol into no-man’s-land, yet another chilling part of what had become a nightmare mission...

Commando 4240: Rag-Tag Army

Previously issued as No 2597 in 1992

Script: Ian Clark; Inside Artwork: Carlos Pino; Cover: Ian Kennedy

The invading Japanese stood between "Bobby" Chang and his dream of going to America. As an orphan in war-torn China he had little hope of realising his dream − unless he could help get rid of the Japs.

One way was to join the Chinese Nationalist Army, a collection of half-starved, poorly-trained peasants with few weapons and tattered uniforms. No wonder they were called the Rag-Tag Army...

Commando No 4241: Dead Men Tell Tales

Script: Colin Howard. Inside Artwork and cover: Keith Page

It’s said that dead men tell no tales. Usually it’s true. But the discovery of a body in a small French town nearly 20 years after the war proved that dead men could tell a tale - and for the crew of a US Flying Fortress it was not a pleasant one, either....

Colin's first Commando story, Fight Fire With Fire, was published in June as Issue 4202. "He's a relatively new writer to us, one of a couple of new guys we've brought on board," Calum reveals.

Commando Issue 4242

Script: Sean Blair; Inside artwork and cover: Jordi Macabich

The end of the Napoleonic Wars was a mixed blessing. There was an end to the slaughter but men who had only know military service found it hard to settle in to normal life.

Men like sailors Jim Stent and Andrew Manning. Men who would be tempted to become mercenaries. Men who would be known as Sailors of Fortune...

• For more information, check out the official Commando site at: www.commandomag.com

• Click here for subscription information or write to: D.C. Thomson & Co Ltd, The Subscribers Department, Commando Library, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL or Freephone (UK only) 0800 318846

Tube Surfing: Comics Good for You, Superhero Homage in 2000AD... and Moore

2009-11-06T21:26:00.001Z

Yes, we know we haven't done one of these for a while: juggling work for ROK Comics and Titan Books as well as a few other things is proving a welcome but all-consuming challenge most days of the week...

• Chris Weston reports on his new 2000AD Future Shock, "Whatever Happened to the Green Pedestrian Palm?", which appears in 2000AD's Christmas issue, Prog 2010, on sale 16 December 2009. "It is cearly inspired by the star of Seventies Public Information Films, The Green Cross Code Man, whose previous comic-strip exploits were handled by The Govenor himself, Mr. Dave Gibbons..." Expect some merry mickey taking of merchandise superheroes, including Mr. Muscle.

• Comics Are Good For You: but that's the message from Carol L. Tilley, a professor of library and information science at the University of Illinois, who insists that looking down upon graphic novels as being inept at benefiting the children is a mistake. She argues comic books are as valuable as any other form of literature to be a part of children's education. So ditch those books and break out the Beano now!

"A lot of the criticism of comics and comic books come from people who think that kids are just looking at the pictures and not putting them together with the words," Tilley said. "Some kids, yes. But you could easily make some of the same criticisms of picture books -- that kids are just looking at pictures, and not at the words." More on this story here on Science Daily.

• We're sorry to report the passing of Belgian Josette Baujot, who has died aged 88, was responsible for colouring Hergé's Tintin albums for more than a quarter of a century during the peak years of his popularity, and established the "colour code" that helped take Tintin far beyond Belgium and France to an international audience. Phil Davison pays tribute to the colourist in The Guardian here.

• Tweeters out there will be pleased to hear that the comics charity Draw the World Together is now on Twitter! Follow its work there

• Comics-related podcast Small Press Big Mouth dropped by CD24's table at BICS 2009, and bought a copy of the Jack in the Box graphic novel. There's an audio review on episode 11 of their podcast, and they've got some really nice things to say about the book and are "infectiously enthusiastic" about the comics scene in general, and you may find some rather cool recommendations (apart from Jack in the Box) if you're stuck for something to read!

• And finally... for those of you who are fans of Alan Moore but are not necessarily on the Alan Moore Yahoo! Group mailing list, Pádraig Ó Méalóid tells us there has recently been a YouTube channel set up to collect all of Alan's appearances that are on YouTube. "We're still adding things to it, so it's by no means complete and definitive," says Padraig, "but it's a good start, at the very least.

"One of the things I'd particularly draw your attention to is the most recent posting, under the name of Alan Moore Swamp Thing Interview. A wee while back I bought a video on eBay which turned out to be something he'd done for DC in about 1985, which I believe was for showing in comics shops and the like, where Alan talks very enthusiastically about his work on Swamp Thing, and about his forthcoming work on Watchmen. With the help of a few different people, I got this put up on YT, as I'm no good with technical stuff, and anyway it's a US video. It's kind of sad to see how enthused he is there, compared to how he feels now after how we was treated by DC."

Frank Bellamy Art Auctioned

2009-11-05T16:09:00.001Z

The Winter 2009 auction at British auction site Compalcomics is now open and includes a mix of gems, including rare Frank Bellamy artwork from Eagle and more.

Issues of Beano, Dandy and Wizard from the war years are again on offer in this auction, and there are further complete years of Beano bound volumes for 1947, 1950, 1956 and 1968. Also on offer are the first issues of Hotspur, published in 1993 and Tiger Tim Weekly, published in 1920; bound volumes of the 1930s Modern Boy title, featuring Biggles stories; plus a complete 136-issue run of Lion Picture Library and the rare Front Line Picture Library one lot ahead of it.

Artwork offered includes the usual appearance of pages featuring Desperate Dan, Oor Wullie and The Broons, but some Garth strips by Martin Asbury and two magnificent boards by Frank Bellamy of Montgomery Of Alemein and Heros The Spartan, both published in the Eagle, are sure to catch the eye of the artist's many fans, just as Dan Dare fans are sure to bidding to buy the Dan Dare Walkie Talkie on offer - an item produced by Merit.

However your favourite could be an early Dennis The Menace artwork by Davy Law in which he hilariously... no, we'll let you enjoy wander over to the auction site itself to enjoy it.

Girls comics continue to sell well and Diana (featuring The Avengers TV series strip) Princess, Schoolgirl's Own, June And Schoolfriend are all hockeying for your attention.

Marvel UK fans have something to vie for, too, with first issues of several 1980s titles on offer in one lot, all with free gifts - Future Tense, Marvel Action, Marvel Team-Up, Super-Adventure, Star Wars, Captain Britain and Thor.

Also available is a selection of the first British Superman reprints in Triumph comic (lot 59) and a rare Australian first edition Superman without the 'No 1' printed on the cover.

The US section profiles a rare All Star Comics #21 and a fine selection of 1940s-60s Batman and Detective Comics issues, all CGC encased. There's a fresh looking Brave And The Bold #28 at lot 233, a full run of Vampirella and a The Incredible Hulk #181.

• Bids will be accepted until Tuesday 24 November at 8 PM UK time.To go directly to the main page for the catalogue, click here

• You can now access Comic Book Auction's 11 year, 45 catalogue run of comics, annuals and artwork in our searchable database. Over 15,000 lots of comic titles, prices, issue numbers, years and grades all readily available. Just go to the top of the site's home page, click on ComicSearch and find what you need.

Daleks: Animated!

2009-11-04T13:55:00.001Z

Inspired by Big Finish's Dalek Empire audio series, here's an animated version of the opening scenes from the first story, animated using Carrara 6, Daz studio and Crazytalk 6.

After centuries of peace, the galaxy is invaded by the Daleks. And nothing will ever be the same again... the first story, Dalek Empire I: Invasion of the Daleks, written and directed by Nicholas Briggs stars Sarah Mowat, Mark McDonnell and Gareth Thomas. The narrator, who isn't listed in the animation's credits, is Joyce Gibbs.

The work of "android65mar", the animator says he's always had an interest in animation and a fascination with science fiction, particularly Doctor Who and particularly at the moment it seems Daleks. "It must be my age, which I have now decided with all my vanity to be a bit coy about..."

More info about the Dalek Empire audio releases here on the Big Finish web site