The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

On a very spring-like Thursday Alex Fitch tiptoes through the budding flowers to bring us news of the latest shows he’s involved with; as usual check the Panel Borders site for more information and links to podcast versions of previous shows:

Strip! – Watching the Watchmen, tonight at 5pm on Resonance FM
James DC hosts a panel discussion about the new Watchmen movie, exploring the merits – or not -  of the film adaptation of the original Watchmen graphic novel, and asking ‘was it worth the wait?’. The panel will also discuss little known aspects of the graphical novel and the cultural impact of the Watchmen phenomena. With film journalist / comic book expert James DC, cartoonist / sequential art teacher Steve Marchant and props / set designer Andy Gaskell.

Reality Check – Have you heard the one about the Ghost, the Vampire and the Werewolf…? Online at Sci-Fi London on Tuesday March 24th

Alex Fitch talks to Toby Whithouse, writer of BBC3′s excellent horror / dramedy series Being Human about his writing and acting career, the slow process of turning an ordinary series about a flatshare into a supernatural drama and writing the episode of Doctor Who (School Reunion) which brought back Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 to the series…

In print:the new issue of the digital magazine Wheel Me Out is online now and includes interviews by Alex Fitch with artists Dave Gibbons and Bryan Talbot plus the audio adaptor of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, Mark Wright plus interviews by Ananda Pellerin with Che / Ocean’s Eleven director Steven Soderbergh and Resonance FM DJ Max Tundra. More info at www.wheelmeout.com

Recent Podcasts:

Panel Borders: The Mighty Thor by Walt Simonson

Continuing ‘classic heroes’ month on Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to artist and writer Walter Simonson, whose exceptional 4 year run on the Marvel comic The Mighty Thor in the early 80s remains the most appreciated version of the character since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought the Viking hero to Marvel comics a generation before. Alex and Walt talk about combining European mythology and space opera, esoteric character design (why does Beta Ray Bill have a face like a horse’s skull?), turning the Norse god of war into a talking frog and the joy of revisiting classic heroes.

Panel Borders: the art of Philip Spence

Belatedly (due to technical reasons, sorry) concluding Indie comics month on Panel Borders: Alex Fitch talks to artist Philip Spence about his self published mini-comics / web comic The Adventures of Ninja Bunny. Mini-comics are an offshoot of the zine and small press comics scene, measuring approx 9cm square and have a more collectible appearance for causal comics browsers who may pick up the titles in art fairs and markets. Philip has recently branched out from his minis into regular sized autobiographical titles and talks about his interest in fine art prints and the production process.