The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Another Thursday rolls around and its time for Alex Fitch to update us with details of his forthcoming shows and some recently broadcast ones which are now available via podcast; as usual for more details and links check the Panel Borders site:

Strip!: The Work of Garth Ennis part 2, tonight at 5pm on Resonance FM

Alex Fitch and Duncan Nott continue their talk with one of Britain’s most popular and critically acclaimed comic book writers, and this week look at Garth Ennis’ move to creator owned projects, his bemusement with superheroes as demonstrated in the comic “The Boys” and the differences between scripting his own ideas and characters vs. being hired to work on existing properties.

Clear Spot: The work of Osamu Tezuka, tonight at 8pm on Resonance FM

Alex Fitch talks to manga expert Helen McCarthy in front of an audience of comic book readers at Streatham Library about the work of manga and animé pioneer Osamu Tezuka who is the subject of a season now on at The Barbican. Alex and Helen look at Tezuka’s manga work from New Treasure Island to MW and also Tezuka’s career in animé from early experimental shorts to the big budget adaptation of his classic manga comic Metropolis.

(cover of Dark Horse’s new Astro Boy 1 & 2 collection by Osamu Tezuka)

Online now:

To help give Helen’s season of Tezuka shorts at the Barbican a bit more publicity, tonight’s show is already available to download in two parts as:

Panel Borders: The manga of Osamu Tezuka. Alex Fitch talks to manga expert Helen McCarthy in an interview recorded live in front of an audience of comic book readers at Streatham Library about the work of manga and animé pioneer Osamu Tezuka who is the subject of a season now on at The Barbican. Alex and Helen look at Tezuka’s manga work from New Treasure Island to MW…

and:

Electric Sheep podcast: The animé of Osamu Tezuka. An episode of The Electric Sheep Magazine Podcast – Alex Fitch talks to anime expert Helen McCarthy in front of an audience of manga fans at Streatham Library about the work of manga and animé pioneer Osamu Tezuka who is the subject of a season now on at The Barbican. Alex and Helen talk about Tezuka’s career in animé from early experimental shorts to the big budget adaptation of his classic manga comic Metropolis. Also comedienne and actress Jessica Fostekew reviews the cinema release of Eden Lake and the DVD release of Annie Leibovitz – Life Through a Lens…

plus:

Panel Borders: Osamu Tezuka @t Bristol. Introduced by Dickon Harris and recorded live at this year’s Bristol International Comics Expo, Helen McCarthy talks to a panel of fans, artists and experts about the work of Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of modern manga and animé. On the panel are Tim Pilcher, Sean Michael Wilson, Akiko Shimojima and manga / DFC artist John Aggs… Due online on Panel Borders on the 19th.

*yes I know you don’t normally add an extra “t” after the @ sign, but in homage to the Millennium development in Bristol, I’ve gone with their spelling…

In print:

Electric Sheep Magazine Autumn 2008 is available in shops now and features reviews of Dark City by Alex Fitch and Tom Humberstone, a review of Cube by Alex, and his feature on the two versions of Death Race which includes an interview with Paul W.S. Anderson…

The website also includes exclusive content, such as Alex’s review of The Girl who leapt through time and Oli Smith’s review of ‘Who saw her die?’ / Chi l’ha vista morire?  The print magazine also includes illustrations by Smith, Humberstone and Sean Azzopardi plus a comic strip by Mark Stafford.

Previous podcasts:

Panel Borders: The work of Garth Ennis part 1

Alex Fitch and Duncan Nott talk to one of Britain’s most popular and critically acclaimed comic book writers who’s famous for such mildly controversial titles as Preacher and The Boys, both of which are probably going to be adapted for the small and big screens in the not too distant future. Having worked for the main US publishers: Marvel and DC comics, Garth Ennis has started to take his projects to small companies such as Avatar and Dynamite while in terms of British characters, he’s also written the likes of Judge Dredd for 2000AD and Dan Dare for Virgin comics. (part 1 of 2)

Panel Borders: The Tale of One Bad Rat

Alex Fitch talks to graphic novelist Bryan Talbot about the new printing of his classic book The Tale of One Bad Rat which tells the story of an abused homeless girl who finds solace in the works of Beatrix Potter…

I’m ready for my close-up: Malcolm McDowell & Lindsay Anderson

Alex Fitch interviews star Malcolm McDowell and director Mike Kaplan about their film Never Apologise – a personal visit with Lindsay Anderson. Never Apologize (sic) is currently showing at the Curzon Soho cinema in London and will shortly tour the UK – more details at www.vervepics.com/neverapologize/cinemas/.com