The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Another Thursday and that means its time for Alex Fitch to update us to his latest audio delights, which I see this week include a chat with our very own Kenny Penman, wearing his Blank Slate hat (its a very nice hat, made out of card and crayons by Oli East and fitted with small reading lights fitted by Sparky O’Hare, which may explain why smoke curls out from under the brim…). As ever for more details or to find archived podcasts of previous shows, check the Panel Borders site:

Strip!: Publishing a Blank Slate , tonight at 5.30pm on Resonance FM, extended podcast afterwards on Panel Borders

Continuing comic book publishing month on Strip!: Alex Fitch interviews Kenny Penman who runs Blank Slate books, a new British publishing company that has been around for just under a year and have 4 books to their name so far including Ignatz award nominee Trains are mint. Alex and Kenny talk about what factors decide the choice of books he publishes, the travails of finding a market for new graphic novels in the middle of a credit crunch and how his history as one of the founders of Forbidden Planet International has helped his new career as a publisher.

(cover to Proper Go Well High by Oli East, published Blank Slate Books)

Recent podcasts:

Reality Check – Red Dwarf / Robot Zoo, online now at Sci-Fi London, with a transcript of the Craig Charles interview here
In a special Easter episode looking at ways you can entertain kids and adults alike over the Bank Holiday, Alex Fitch talks to Craig Charles about playing Dave Lister again after a ten year hiatus in the new Red Dwarf mini-series Back to Earth. Alex also talks to Jo Hatton, keeper of the Robot Zoo at the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill which presents a collection of robotic and animatronic animals to the public and mixes education with the feel of a traveling carnival.

Panel Borders: Zine-age kicks!

Starting a month of shows about comic book publishing on Panel Borders: Dickon Harris conducts three interviews with small press creators at the Brighton ‘Zine fest and at the “Zine-age kicks” event at Trap 2 Gallery in London. Dickon talks to Jimi Gherkin about his new ‘zine “Electric baby,” which is a guide for ‘zine and comic book creators on how to screenprint and self publish their own comics and also about the upcoming anthology Jimi’s editing and how anyone in the small press can submit items to be included. Dickon’s also talking to Dutch artist Kala Newman about her zine – “Impulsive random platform” – which she creates with fellow students from the Slade school of art and to George Cullen about his self published title “Throw away” which mixes cryptography with typography to beguiling effect.

Panel Borders: Daredevil by Alex Maleev and Alex Irvine

Classic heroes month continues on Panel Borders with a look at the red-suited vigilante Daredevil – blind lawyer by day and superhero by night. Trying to break the record for the largest number of people called Alex in any one episode of the show, Alex Fitch talks to the Bulgarian artist Alex Maleev who with writer Brian Bendis brought the periodical back to the forefront of Marvel Comics’ line in an award winning four year run on the title in the mid 2000s. Alex also talks to novelist Alex Irvine whose anachronistic reimagining of the comic – Daredevil Noir – starts next month and combines the Chandleresque storytelling of Frank Miller’s iconic run on the title with the look and feel of classic Film Noir, relocating the adventures of Matt Murdock to Hell’s Kitchen in the 1930s…

In print:

The spring issue of Electric Sheep Magzine focuses on ‘Tainted Love’ to celebrate the release of the sweet and bloody pre-teen vampire romance Let the Right One In, with articles on incestuous cinematic siblings, François Ozon’s tales of tortuous relationships, destructive passion in Nic Roeg’s Bad Timing, Julio Medem’s ambiguous lovers and nihilistic tenderness from Kôji Wakamatsu. Also Alex Fitch reviews Timecrimes and looks at the similarities between Wall-E and the Planet of the Apes (!), Tania Glyde discusses her ‘alter-ego’ in The Last Seduction and Virginie Selavy interviews Tomas Alfredson, author of Let the Right one in… Includes illustrations by Oli Smith, Emma Price and Tom Humberstone and a new comic strip by Mark Stafford.

The April digital edition of Electric Sheep Magazine is online now and includes a reviews of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN by Tina Park, ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Brad Pager and the RED RIDING TRILOGY by Paul Huckerby, plus articles on the London International Documentary Festival, the Flatpack film festival and Sci-Fi London (more about which below).

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.