(photo of Alan Moore by the Northampton Chronicle & Echo)

Hard winter weather, strikes, protests, foreign wars, economic disaster after disaster… But for once here’s something to smile about in the newspapers. In the Northampton Chronicle & Echo newspaper, to be precise, which covers the beat in the manor of a certain, highly regarded gentleman of letters. We know that Alan Moore believes in his own community and that he’s noted for taking part in events to help in his local area, but for the festive season the great bearded magus has donated 300 hampers from his local Co-op to residents in sheltered houses and a homeless drop-in centre at the Salvation Army.

“Those people who are living in sheltered housing and those going to the Salvation Army, who often don’t have homes, are living in very difficult circumstances and I think that any sign that they have been remembered and not forgotten is going to mean something to them. It’s not a lot that we are giving and it won’t sort out their lives, but at this time of year a lot of people get blue and I think this might be a little boost for them,” Alan Moore quoted in the Northampton Chronicle & Echo.

That’s a very generous and touching action by Alan and I noticed Leah Moore on Facebook (whence came the link) saying she was proud of her dad (and rightly so).  And it’s a nice reminder that regardless of relgious belief (or lack thereof) it is moving into the season when we’re supposed to think more about others. We can’t all make the same lovely gesture as Alan, but there’s always something – maybe among your present buying this year you could slip in a couple of gifts from the likes of Oxfam or similar charities, who as well as actual physical gifts you can purchase and have sent to your loved ones also do gifting in kind, where you pay for items needed in their relief work, be it school books for kids in the developing world, water purification systems, all sorts, and send a card to your loved ones to tell them that this gift of help has been given in their name. A lot of the charities operate similar schemes, if a big chunk of us all bought at least one or two of our Christmas gift list from them then we’d make a nice little difference in the world too. Worth thinking about.

This weekend, Lyon (France) will be the scene for the annual LyonBD festival.  A typical French festival, with exhibitions, interviews, and, of course, creators who will gladly adorn your freshly acquired album with a special dédicace.

Three exhibitions are the core of the festival : a show by publisher Bamboo on the relation between memory and comics, a special exhibition on the quite popular character Judge Bao, and an ironic take on the superhero with Vexman.  Amongs the interviews and colloquia, I think the most interesting will be with Trondheim, Parme and Schwartz on their take on the popular Spirou character (in the series A Spirou Adventure By), Frank Margerin on the continuing appeal of his Lucien, and Boulet on autobiography and journal comics.  And about 75 more creators will be present.

A separate part of the festival grounds will be reserved for the smaller press and the alternative comics scene.  Two new fanzines, Papier Toilette and Boochkoozu, will be there, as well as the Arbitraire collective and the quite interesting Café Salé community. On Le Club Bling Bling the up and coming French comics bloggers can present there wares online, and on screens on the festival.

An extra special aspect of this festival, is its so-called OFF programme, a number of events and happenings that are being organised in and around Lyon during the month of June, featuring art combat sessions, theatrical improvisations, exhibitions and concerts.

If you want to go, you’ll need to hurry, but if you still need more up to date information, be sure to follow the festival on Facebook and Twitter.

Later this year, Big Bang León (July 30-31 and August 1) brings popular culture in all its forms and shapes to the Spanish city of León.  There will be board games, real life role playing games, quizes in all fields of geekdom (including Chuck Norris facts), video game competitions, workshops and concerts.  In a special comics an manga area, many artists (as yet to be confirmed) will be present.

All of this is organised in with the cooperation of the should add a lighter note to the celebrations of the 1100th anniversary of the foundation of the Kingdom of León.  Follow BBL on Twitter or Facebook for timely updates on schedules and appearances.

It was pretty much what was expected: thin (0.5in), netbook sized screen (9.7in), running the iPhone operating system with the functionality we’ve come to expect.

All pics in this article from Slashgear

Specs: 9.7-inch display,  0.5-inches thick. Between 16GB and 64GB of flash memory onboard. 10 hrs battery life but with new Apple chip to make the iPad fanless. WiFi 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1 included, also models with integrated 3G. Accesories include dock, keyboard dock.

Price: iPad costs $499 for WiFi 16GB model. $599 for WiFi 32GB, $699 for WiFi 64GB. 3G capabilities costs $130 extra. What this will translate to in terms of £ is to be seen. But a 1:1 $:£ conversion wouldn’t be a surprise (a rip-off yes, but not a surprise). As for the data plans, international details are to come in June/July. US data plans: $14.99pm data plan up to 250MB of data, $29.99pm unlimited data. Partnered with AT&T.

Apps:Regular iPhone apps run unmodified on the iPad, either normal size in a window in the middle of the iPad display or full screen at lower resolution. Apps written specifically for iPad run full screen. During the presentation Apple showed the New York Times iPad app, essentially looking like the newspaper on a 9.7in screen. You flip between portrait and landscape by flipping the iPad, resize using pinch zoom just like the iPhone and there’s a live update feature that can pull breaking news into the app live.

iBooks: Jobs announced a new program/application called iBook with a new iBook store to buy/download books just like you would music from iTunes. Partners mentioned include Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, MacMillan and Hachett Book Group. The books appear in the app on a bookcase style interface, clicking on the cover opens the book. Publishers have choice of black & white or colour.

So what will it all mean for comics? In all honesty, no-one knows. But the guessing and the speculating is always fun, so here goes……..

There will be comics on the iPad in some form. How they get on there is up to debate. Whether these come in through the iBook app on the iPad or existing iPhone apps retooled to fit the iPad or brand new iPad comic reader apps only time will tell. The long touted Longbox app hasn’t been mentioned and Rantz Hoseley hasn’t said a word, but it seems like it’s too far along to be stopped now so expect that to crop up again as a comic alternative for iPad. The iPad may also mean a lot of webcomics start changing – like the iPhone, this thing is Flashless. And that’s going to mean some websites are going to have to change.

One very important distinction here is that between comics as single issues and comics as graphic novels/collections. The former is more analogous to magazines and newspapers, the latter more like books in this context. And, just as we’ve seen today, the iPad treats the two things differently. Personally I can’t see individual comic issues being given space in the iBook app so they will need apps of their own.

When will publishers start dabbling with putting comics out in dual format?
Exactly how long will Marvel, DC and the other “big” publishers leave it before joining in?
What about the big book publishers with a graphic novel section – will those be the first major digital graphic novels we see published?
Who will be the first to drop the physical format of single issue comics?
Who will be the first to start digitally publishing single issues as a taster for the collection?
Or possibly this will see the model change – will those single issues of trailer material be published concurrently with the print collection – read the comic, like the comic, buy the collection whilst it’s still fresh in your mind?
Who’ll put out the first big name digital only graphic novel?

Feel free to add your own questions to this one….

This is very much the start of something new. The possibilities are huge and far ranging. Yes, there are problems with it, but the iPod wasn’t/isn’t perfect either. That didn’t stop it having a small effect on the music industry. And in time, the iPad may be something that changes the comic industry as fundamentally as the iPod changed the music industry.

Kate’s been blogging about receiving her advance copies already – and they look really lovely, hardbacks  with a Euro album style:

But there’s also been a bit of blogging activity going on all around about other future DFC releases: The Etherington Brothers have put up a few sneak peeks from Monkey Nuts: The Diamond Egg Of Wonders, and Sarah McIntyre’s blog is full of titbits about not only her Vern & Lettuce collection (out in September 2010) but also Neill Cameron‘s Mo Bot High.

So maybe those three are part of the second round of DFC Library boks? Just in time for Christmas – which means I’m sorted for Christmas presents this year. I always try to have some comics to give out, one set for adults and one for children – 2009 was a rarity – Andi Watson’s Glister books for young and old. 2010 looks like being DFC books for all! Looks like this sad goodbye from Vern & Lettuce was a little premature…..

Then there was a Gaiman Twitpic the other night with Ms Palmer wearing a very obvious rock:

But last night we had the formal announcements, via twitter and their respective blogs of course:

Dear The World,
we are going to get married,
signed,
Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman

This seems to have passed everyone by until the last few days, but Paul Gravett talked about the plans for bringing Escape back in 2010 over at an online interview with Dazed Digital back in mid November 2009. Escape magazine, and later Escape Publishingwere vitally important pieces in the jigsaw that saw comics recognised as a more mature, inventive and relevant literate medium. It was a great thing back in the 80s and boasted an incredible line up of some of the very best in comic talent, including the very first comics work by two complete unknowns: Mssrs Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. For more on the history of the mag see the article on the Escape site or Gravett’s biography on his site.

And in 2010, Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury are bringing back Escape magazine as part of their new UK Publishing house; Escape Books. Absolutely marvellous news, we’ll look forward with interest to see what develops. Here’s Paul speaking in the interview:

The time seems right. There’s such a wealth of comics creativity here in the UK that needs showcasing nationally and internationally. Escape helped launch major names like Eddie Campbell, Dave McKean, Neil Gaiman and Jamie Hewlett in the 80s, and there is a similar abundance of talent now.

Peter Stanbury and I are reviving Escape as an independent publishing house early next year. We’re envisaging presenting both some of the former Escape artists from the original incarnation, and new artists who have emerged since or are emerging now. A number of projects are hatching including the first in a line of Comica reference books about comics and a range of graphic novels and graphic short story compendiums, and related events and exhibitions. Further ahead, the magazine itself will be relaunched. It’s a very different landscape for publishing now thanks to the internet and Escape will change and adapt to this exciting climate while remaining true to its original focus on comics of style and vision.

Oh, and if you happen to make comics rather than just read them, Escape are looking for submissions. What are you waiting for, get in touch with them now. Escape part 2. Like the last 20 years never happened.

Oh dear, after last week being a no new comic week because of that whole Christmas and New Year thing, it seems that this week might be a bit short of new comics as well.

Diamond Comic Distributors has it’s warehouses in the North West, which is currently under a little bit of snow. The carriers can’t get to the warehouse today so there will definitely be no deliveries from the distributors on Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th January to your local comic shop.

hopefully, all will be well for a Friday 8th January delivery, but it’s obviously all dependant on the weather.

Just caught this over at the BBC site: Danish police shoot intruder at cartoonist’s home.

Kurt Westergaard, the most outspoken of the 12 cartoonists involved in the furore over cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed back in 2005, had to escape to a panic room in his house with his grand-daughter following the break in by a Somali man wielding an axe and a knife.

Danish police shot the man, who is currently in custody. He is reported to be a member of the Somali Al-Shabab Islamist rebel organisation. Muslims in Denmark have condemned his actions.

Westergaard’s 2005 cartoon showed the prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban, and although Westergaard’s paper withdrew the cartoon, it was reprinted all over the world, sparking violence, rioting and attacks on Danish embassies around the world. The cartoonists involved received various death threats at the time and, as this latest attack goes to show, these twelve men who did nothing more than exercise their rights of free speech, are still under threat.

It brings to mind the 2008 quote by Philippe Val, the editorial director of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo:

“If we no longer have the right to ridicule those who inflict terror on us, that’s a problem”

(Left: Murphy and husband Simon Monjack, pic borrowed from BBC. Right: Murphy’s role as Shellie in Miller’s Sin City)

Breaking  news: The actress Brittany Murphy died today. She reported suffered a cardiac arrest at her home in Los Angeles. The cause of death remains undisclosed at this time. She was just 32 years old.

Her break in films came with Clueless (1995), with a major role in 8 Mile (2002) and the role as Shellie in Frank Miller’s Sin City in 2005. She was also the voice of Luanne in Kingh of The Hill and her vocal work featured in the recent Futurama: Beast With A Billion Backs direct to DVD release.

More: BBC News, NY Daily News, Huffington Post.

Another anniversary, this time everyone’s favourite claymation man and his dog. Nick Park’s wonderful creations, Wallace and Gromit are 20 years old this week. Just like Sesame Street this week and Asterix last week they got their own Google Doodle, just as they should….

Happy birthday lads, here’s to many more.

Aardman Animation W&G site.