The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Its Thursday afternoon so it must be time for the man who likes to Strip! for radio, Alex Fitch, to tell us about some of his upcoming audio treats and some recent broadcasts which are available now online to listen to if you missed them first time round; as usual check the Panel Borders blog for more details and links:

Strip!: A (small) band of Dans, tonight at 5pm on Resonance FM

On today’s episode of Strip! – Alex Fitch is talking to cartoonist Dan Lester about his humour comics such as Monkeys might puke and use of satire and reoccurring characters in gag strips. Dan is also writing a new murder mystery comic that’s being drawn by Oliver Lambden, so Alex and Dan talk about the similarities between humour and crime fiction and solving the problems of both on the page.

(a page from Monkeys Might Puke #2 showing clearly that Dan Lester is a very, very bad man. In fact so bad you should go to his website right now to see just how twisted he is then buy some of his comics to make him better. art and (c) Dan Lester)

Also: Alex is talking to Dan Berry, a lecturer from North Wales School of art and design about the new Illustration for Graphic Novels course he’s going to be teaching from this autumn, about introducing a new generation to the craft of making comics and also about Dan’s interest in typography and how it is one of the most under appreciated aspects of comic books.

(*couldn’t think of a decent pun, so went for an obscure They Might Be Giants reference instead. Unlike the two Daves, this wasn’t planned in advance!)

Reality Check: The sound of Wall-E, online from the 25th on Sci-Fi London

A special presentation of the press conference for Pixar’s new (and apparently greatest) movie Wall-E including a Q & A with voice actress Sigourney Weaver, director Andrew Stanton and Star Wars alumni, Ben Burtt, who did the sound design on the movie…

Previous podcasts of interest online now -

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: Guy Maddin and the mythologizing of Winnipeg; video podcast on the Panel Borders site
Alex Fitch talks to experimental Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin about his career and interests on the eve of the release of his new film My Winnipeg and a retrospective at the BFI Southbank. Alex and Guy talk about small town life, silent movies, Isabella Rossellini, male sexuality and Greek tragedy! Also Alex talks to another (former) resident of Manitoba, Polish teacher Kinga about her Winnipeg and Canadian culture.

Panel Borders:  The art of Tom Humberstone (originally broadcast 17/07/08 as part of Strip! on Resonance 104.4 FM)

Alex Fitch talks to Tom Humberstone about the various illustrated endeavours he’s been involved with such as comics which range from Art school scum to Everything you never wanted to know about Crohn’s disease and the Eagle award winning How to date a girl in ten days. Tom also runs a pen club in South East London which allows amateurs and professionals to meet in a friendly pub and draw together and most recently illustrated the blog / sold out graphic novella My Fellow Americans about the democratic nomination process earlier this year.

Panel Borders:  Best Crime Comics (originally broadcast 17/07/08 as part of Strip! on Resonance 104.4 FM)

Alex Fitch talks to comics historian and critic Paul Gravett about the new book he’s edited and collated, The Mammoth book of best Crime Comics. Alex and Paul talk about the crime genre in sequential art from the 1930s to the modern day, about Paul’s choices for inclusion in the book and the relationship between crime on film and in graphic novels.

Coming soon:

Strip!: The Strange(r) world of Steve Ditko

James DeCarteret hosts a 1 hour special round-table discussion about the recent Steve Ditko book “Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko” that has just been released by Fantagraphics. James is in discussion with comic book artists Brendan Mcarthy and Steve Marchant in the studio and author of the book, Blake Bell over the phone.

Ditko is best known as the co-creator, with Stan Lee, of Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, and other classic Marvel and DC characters. But, in the context of Steve Ditko’s 50-year career in comics, his creative involvement with Spider-Man is merely the tip of the iceberg. Strange & Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko is a coffee table art book tracing Ditko’s life and career, his unparalleled stylistic innovations, and his strict adherence to his philosophical principles, with lush displays of obscure and popular art from the thousands of pages of comics he’s drawn over the last 55 years.