The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

As Doctor Who fans prepare for this weekend’s new episode here’s Alex Fitch, fresh from foraging for jelly babies, to update us to the latest shows he’s involved in, including, appropriately enough, a Doctor Who angle; as ever check the Panel Borders site for more details and links to previous shows:

Strip! – Doctor Who and The Spiral Cage, tonight at 5pm on Resonance FM, podcast afterwards on Panel Borders

Continuing our month look long at ‘British Mavericks’ – interviews with artists whose work brings aspects of the avant-garde to mainstream comics – Alex Fitch 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. Alex and Al are also joined by writer Tony Lee 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. Today’s interviews were recorded last month at the British International Comics Show in Birmingham.

Clear Spot – The Alternative Press Fair, tonight at 8pm on Resonance FM, podcast afterwards on Panel Borders

In an hour-long collection of interviews recorded at a couple of events during August’s Alternative Press week in London, ‘zine creator Dickon Harris talks to a trio of small press creators about their work; these include Paul Rainey, whose comic book paperback The Book of Lists sees the writer / artist collating events from his life into thematic order, poet Ceri May who self publishes and performs her work at alt. press events and accomplished illustrator Paul Ashley Brown who creates a bitter sweet, whimsical ‘zine called Browner Knowle based on observation from life. The broadcast compliments the event “Are you ‘zine friendly?” which is taking place at the same time as the programme at The Foundry in Hoxton.

Recent podcasts:

Reality Check: Time travelling Hobbits and other paradoxes, online at Sci-Fi London

In a pair of Q & As recorded in front of a live cinema audience at this year’s Sci-Fi London Film Festival, Alex Fitch talks to the directors of two new low budget films: The Hunt for Gollum and Cryptic. Joining Alex and director Chris Bouchard on stage, members of the cast and crew of The Hunt for Gollum talk about making an extended short film that stands up to the quality of the official Lord of the Rings movies, in an adaptation of material by J.R.R. Tolkein that was a labour of love for all involved, even when recreating Middle Earth in Epping Forest on limited resources. Alex also talks to producer / co-director Danny Kuchuck about his film Cryptic which mixes teen therapy with tropes of murder mysteries, revenge thrillers and time paradoxes to create an intriguing Sci-Fi drama .

Panel Borders: The Art of Brendan McCarthy

Starting ‘British Mavericks’ month on the show – a series of conversations with illustrators whose work is surprisingly avant-garde for mainstream comics – we have an interview with pop art surrealist Brendan McCarthy. Appropriately for Guy Fawkes’ Night, Brendan’s work is the comic strip equivalent of fireworks, mixing lurid colours with hallucinogenic rendering that he has managed to smuggle into British periodicals such as 2000AD and Crisis and more recently has led to work in the field of film and animation design, working on TV series such as Reboot and the new film ‘Mad Max 4: Fury Road’. Today’s interview was conducted by author and librarian Pedro Galvao in front of an audience of Graphic Novel fans at Minet Library in Camberwell as part of Lambeth Readers and Writers Festival during the summer. (The episode was recorded and edited by Alex Fitch)