by Kieron Gillen, art by Steven Sanders (backup strip by Jamie McKelvie)
Marvel Comics
It’s not that I dislike superheroes, more the fact that I really haven’t got the time to decipher the vast, inter-connected-ness of the modern Marvel or DC Universes. So these days I tend to only dip into the Marvel Universe when I’m confident that I don’t need a Marvel encyclopedia at my side just to figure out the first 4 pages. Hence, this is one of the first Marvel books since Captain Britain and MI-13 and the first Ellis Astonishing X-Men I’ve picked up, purely because the whole Civil War, Secret Invasion thing just turned me off – life really is too short.
But having Kieron Gillen write a space opera featuring characters and situations following on from Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men run seemed a nice idea to me. After all, this is the same Kieron Gillen who writes the oh-so lovely Phonogram. All the pre-release press worked for me as well, with Gillen saying all the right things about S.W.O.R.D. – memorably describing it as:
“My Spacegirl Friday. Fury Nick and Green-haired Nora. Joss Whedon writes Deep Space 9. West Wing in orbit (plus zap-guns). 24 with the neo-con-agenda swapped for gags. The fastest-paced comic Marvel puts out, I think. We move at escape-velocity. IN SPACE NO-ONE HAS TIME TO BREATHE.”
(Kieron Gillen on S.W.O.R.D. in this Newsarama interview)
(Two people who really don’t want to work together; Agent Brand and Agent Gyrich, co-commanders of S.W.O.R.D. From issue 1, by Kieron Gillen, art by Steven Sanders. Marvel Comics.)
In this first issue we get a fastpaced intro to everyone, a lot of character stuff, crackling dialogue and a host of subplots all juggled nicely. The green haired lady on the cover is Agent Abigail Brand; half human, half alien head of Sentient World Observation and Response Department (S.W.O.R.D.) that protects Earth from alien threats. She’s currently dating The Beast; supersmart, blue, furry mutant X-Man (who, for reasons unknown is drawn on John Cassady’s cover as the cat headed version from Astonishing X-Men and inside as some equine/goat faced thingy. That really needs sorting out).
Brand, following the events of Secret Invasion, has to share chairmanship of S.W.O.R.D. with Henry Peter Gyrich, the old Avengers National Security Advisor who seemingly exists in the Marvel Universe to annoy people and be an asshole. Gyrich is up to his usual tricks and is manipulating S.W.O.R.D. against Brand with the aim of ridding Earth of every alien he can, including Brand. So while Brand micro-manages every little problem and jets off into space chasing the old Marvel UK bounty hunter Death’s Head who’s nicked off with her half-brother, Gyrich puts his grand plan into action.
(Beast and Brand’s relationship at work – all based around muffins. Maybe the rejection explains the long face? From S.W.O.R.D. issue 1, by Kieron Gillen, art by Steven Sanders. Marvel Comics.)
We also get reacquainted with Lockheed the dragon, who is far smarter and dangerous than people give him credit for, but is currently pining (and drinking) for his companion of many years – Kitty Pryde, last seen phasing her way out of the solar system inside a moon sized bullet. The whole Kitty/Lockheed thing features more in the Jamie McKelvie illustrated backup story, with Brand filling Lockheed in on the things they’re doing to rescue Kitty and Lockheed secretly visiting UNIT, the super smart, alien robot thing kept locked up in the max security brig and used by Brand as an intelligence source. UNIT is obviously very bad news and will feature again somewhere down the line.
As hopefully will Jamie McKelvie, since his artwork is just lovely. Not that Steven Sanders’ art isn’t good, but, just like his work in Five Fists Of Science (review) it comes across as overly simplistic in places and a bit rushed in others. He’s very good with the sci-fi stuff, but his character art lets him down more often than not. Thankfully there’s enough good in the art to make the comic readable, and with a fun, fast-paced script like this, that’s enough to make it work.
S.W.O.R.D. begins very well indeed – fast, witty, silly, big sci-fi stuff with the characteristic scattershot dialogue of the Ellis, Whedon school of superhero sci-fi writing. If that’s your sort of thing, you’ll be along for the ride. I certainly shall.
S.W.O.R.D. issue 1 is out right now, issue 2 is due mid December.
Over the last few months the Forbidden Planet International blog, Down the Tubes and Fictions have been cross-posting Q&As by Matt Badham with the organisers of various British comic conventions. Our aim is to give the conventions themselves some well-deserved publicity and also to, hopefully, spark a wider debate about what’s good and bad about the convention circuit in this country. (Answers have been edited only in terms of spelling, punctuation and grammar, and not for style or content.)
For this ninth instalment of the series, Matt chatted to Lisa Wood of the Thought Bubble comic convention, just head of this year’s Thought Bubble, which kicks off this weekend in Leeds. (NB: this will be the last of these interviews for the foreseeable future)
MB: Please tell us about a little about the history of the Thought Bubble.
Lisa: Thought Bubble started in 2007. I had been toying with the idea of running some kind of comics based exhibition or a series of workshops and the idea grew from there. I was really keen to bring a comics festival to the UK that was in the same vein as some of the European festivals; something that wasn’t just a convention but a celebration of comics on lots of different levels.
I feel really passionately that comics should be recognized as a valid art form like in France, when they are called the ninth art and regarded very highly. The public’s perception of comics and graphic novels is changing at the moment due to the popularity of comics-based movies. We are not only seeing superhero comic movies at the moment but films such as Road to Perdition, Scott Pilgrim and A History of Violence too, which are all based on great graphic novels.
MB: How is the Thought Bubble funded, by ticket sales, the exhibitors, a grant, some other means or a combination of these?
Lisa: Thought Bubble is funded by Ticket sales and exhibitors. We have also just found out that we have Arts Council funding which is amazing! It is great to know serious funding bodies such as The Arts Council are recognizing the benefits of comic books for learning and literacy. Hopefully this is the beginning of something really special.
MB: What are Thought Bubble’s overall aims?
Lisa: Our aim has always been to bring comics and graphic novels to the mainstream, and to show they can be an excellent educational tool to be embraced by libraries, schools and local councils. We want to put on a great show celebrating the amazing art and writing in comics.
MB: Who is Thought Bubble aimed at? What sort of punters do you hope to attract? Are you family-friendly?
Lisa: We are very family-friendly. We pretty much aim the con at everyone! We try and programme events that will appeal to all ages and types. At our Alea event we host panels, screenings and talks, which are for adults. However, we also run lots of workshops and events especially for young people! We recognise the importance of introducing young people to comic books so the art form can keep growing and growing.
(Yishan Li taking the first Thought Bubble workshop of 2009, pic borrowed from the TB blog)
MB: How effective have you been in getting those kind of people to attend?
Lisa: Because we run as part of the Leeds International Film Festival we tend to get a wide range of people attending our events. We also tend to get people coming along who are just curious, which is great for us because we have the chance to introduce newcomers to this wonderful art-form, this is what we always intended to do.
MB: Can you give a projected (or actual) attendance figure for the Thought Bubble?
Lisa: Figures for our festival and one day convention were: first year convention 500, festival as a whole 1100, our second year convention was 1500, festival as a whole 2500 and we are hoping this year will be 2200 for our convention and 3000 for our festival as a whole.
MB: What lessons have you learned during your time running Thought Bubble, in terms of its marketing and advertising?
Lisa: I think we are still learning how best to approach these areas. We will probably concentrate more on online advertising this year rather than printed matter, just because costs can be so high. The way we have approached this in the past is where possible find in-kind sponsorship. We have worked with various magazines to promote ourselves and in return we have helped promote them. We also work with various shops around West Yorkshire to promote our event as much as possible. Getting people on board to help us spread the word and our brand is invaluable.
MB: Do you use emerging technologies to spread the word about Thought Bubble? Do you have a website or blog, or use email mailing lists?
Lisa: We are really into using social networking sites to spread the word. We are also currently setting up a Youtube account, where we can post our favourite clips and hold competitions. We also have a Wordpress blog that is updated daily at the moment and a Twitter. Our next goal is to record all of our workshops and talks to build up an online library of educational information for anyone and everyone to access.
MB: What about print? Do you use print advertising, have a newsletter, anything like that?
Lisa: Because these cost tend to be fairly high we try and avoid buying adverts in magazines and work on in-kind deals as I mentioned before
MB: What’s the mix in terms of exhibitors at your con? Do you even have exhibitors?
Lisa: We have over 170 exhibitors. The mix is usually, small press 50%, guests and pros 20% and retailers 30%. It changes year on year though.
(last year’s over-16s comic art competition winner by and (c) Kristyna Baczynski)
MB: What are your thoughts on the small press comics scene in this country? Does Thought Bubble support the small press and what form does that support take?
Lisa: We absolutely support the small press scene. We love it! We hold weekly small press features on our blog, highlighting some of our favourite small press people.
MB: How much are the tickets for the Thought Bubble? How did you arrive at that price? Please tell us about any concessions.
Lisa: Our tickets are £8 full price this year, half price for cosplayers and under-12s are free. For this price you get to spend the whole day listening to various talks and have the chance to take part in workshops, watch screenings, meet artists and writers and ask for sketches. It is a tough call trying to keep prices low. venue costs can be really high. There are also lots of hidden costs such as insurance and trading licence, the stage, tables. Running a convention can end up being very pricey. When dealing with ticket prices you need to look at your own costs and what your competition is charging.
(Dan Lester and Oliver Lambden at TB, pic from Richard’s 2008 report)
MB: How much are exhibitor tables for the Thought Bubble? Again, how did you arrive at that figure?
Lisa: Again we try and keep this low where possible, especially for small press as most of the time they end up losing money attending cons. Our small press and professional tables are £40, retailer and publisher tables are £60.
MB: Do you run workshops/events/panels at the Thought Bubble? Please tell us about those and how they are organised.
Lisa: Most or our programme is full of free workshops for young people and adults, our Arts Council funding helps us to do this. We invite industry professionals to come along and let people know how they write or draw and how to get in to the business. Our workshops have been incredibly successful, with most of them selling out before our brochure comes out. So far workshops have been run on a voluntary basis by industry professionals who are kind enough to give us and the public their time.
(video of Thought Bubble by and (c) Russ Entwistle, borrowed from RJaymoon’s YT Channel)
MB: As you’ve been kind enough to answer these questions, please fell free to big the Thought Bubble up a bit. Tell us what you do well, what the Thought Bubble’s main attractions are and why our readers should attend the next one.
Lisa: Thought Bubble is a four-day annual event which celebrates sequential art in all its forms, including everything from superheroes to independent small press. We are a non-profit making organisation dedicated to promoting comics and graphic novels as an important cultural art form. Taking place at a variety of venues across the city, our aim is to cater to both long-time comic book fans and those who have never picked up a graphic novel before!
Thought Bubble will take place 19th -- 22nd November 2009 with a centrepiece one-day convention on Saturday 21st. Thought Bubble will include art and writing based workshops for young people and adults, panels and talks lead by industry professionals and a programme of sequential art related film screenings. The special one-day convention includes an incredible line up of leading artists and writers, and over 150 tables selling comics and merchandise. The day will also feature portfolio viewings and competitions. This promises to be one of the best events of its kind in the UK, where you’ll be able to meet some of your favourite comic book creators and browse the huge selection of memorabilia on sale -- brought to you by the biggest and best exhibitors and dealers from across the country. Keep an eye on the website for more updates, or join us on MySpace or Facebook to share your thoughts and ideas.
FPI would like to thank Lisa for taking time out from a busy schedule to talk to us and Matt for a fascinating series of interviews. This year’s Thought Bubble takes place in Leeds from the 19th to the 22nd of December (you can read Richard’s report on last year’s TB here on the blog). You can read the previous Q&As with other British comics con organisers in this series here on the blog: Comica’s Paul Gravett, Patrick Findlay of the UK Web’n’Mini Comix Thing, Jimi Gherkin of the Alternative Fair Press chats with Matt, Matt talks with Bristol’s Mike Allwood, Hi-Ex’s Vicky Stonebridge, BICS’ Shane Chebsey, Caption’s Jay Eales and LUC’s Oli Smith.
Just as we were preparing this interview the Thought Bubble crew updated us on a whole raft of (mostly free) comics classes that will be running during the weekend for children and adults:
Digital Colouring Masterclass with Peter Doherty. 14:00-15:00, Carrigeworks, FREE, 16+. Famous for his work on The Wachowski Brothers’ Shaolin Cowboy, and Judge Death, Peter will take participants through the stages of how to digitally colour line art in photoshop. A basic understanding of photoshop is required. Places are limited, book soon to avoid disappointment, email thoughtbubblefestival@googlemail.com
Sequential Art and Literacy Workshop. 14:00-15:30, Leeds Art Gallery, 12-18 year olds, FREE. Award-winning artist, curator, and academic Sarah Lightman, who trained at ‘Slade School of Art’, will go through the stages of creating your very own publication. She will explain how young people can use the comic format to reflect their own feelings and experiences. Places are limited, book soon to avoid disappointment, email thoughtbubblefestival@googlemail.com
Yishan Studio Shojo Manga Workshop with Yishan Li. 14:30-15:30, Leeds Central Library, 7-12 year olds, FREE. Yishan Li, a leading manga artist, and creator of the Yishan Studio ‘How To Draw Manga’ books, will run this fun workshop for younger children. Yishan will take them through the steps of how to create characters and figures. Places are limited, book soon to avoid disappointment, email thoughtbubblefestival@googlemail.com
Creation of Computer Game Concept Design. 14:50-16:50, Leeds Central Library, 16+, FREE. Steve Beaumont, character design and storyboard artist, will look at how the two are produced within the video games industry. There will be an opportunity to work from a typical client brief to create a gaming character. Steve will also touch on what the gaming industry looks for to give you a heads up in this ever growing field. Places are limited, book soon to avoid disappointment, email thoughtbubblefestival@googlemail.com
Manga Character Art Workshop with Emma Vieceli. 14:50-15:50, Leeds Central Library, 12-18 year olds, FREE. Sweatdrop Studios’ Emma, is well known for her presenting on Anime Network, and her fantastic art on the Manga Shakespeare series. In this session, Emma will demonstrate techniques used in manga styled pages and show participants the foundations needed to create their own characters. This workshop will be fun and informal. Places are limited, book soon to avoid disappointment, email thoughtbubblefestival@googlemail.com
Frank Quitely Art Masterclass. 15:15-16:45, Carriageworks, 16+, £5 Entry. Thought Bubble is delighted to welcome Frank Quitely, one of the world’s most respected comic book artists, for a special insider look at his art. Frank is best known for his work on Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, Batman and Robin, and We3. Talking to Peter Dohert of 2000AD fame, Frank will reveal the creative process he employs in this fascinating masterclass. For tickets go to www.thoughtbubblefestival.com
Young People’s Comics Writing Masterclass with Adam Lowe. 16:00-17:00, Leeds Central Library, 12-18 year olds, FREE. Local author Adam Lowe’s first novel, Troglodyte Rose, mixes sequential art and prose. In this workshop for young people, he gives tips on writing scripts for comics, including dialogue, pace, and visual cues in this fun and informal masterclass. Places are limited, book soon to avoid disappointment, email thoughtbubblefestival@googlemail.com
Icelandic singer and all round engima Björk is working with Sjón to create a song especially for a new film being made by the Finnish Filmkompaniet studio and due next year, “Moomins and the Comet Chase”. Hard to think on someone more suitable to sing for a Moomin Troll! I’ve been loving the really beautiful Tove Jansson Moomins collections that Drawn & Quarterly has been publishing over the last couple of years, how lovely to hear of a film too, although I wonder if we will get it in the English language cinema world? Fingers crossed.
(a scene from the first volume of the Complete Tove Jansson Moomin from D&Q)
Our colleagues in FP Dublin have kindly sent us over a batch of pictures from Saturday’s Irish launch of the Eclectic Micks Sketchbook with Nick Roche, Stephen Thompson, Bob Byrne, Will Sliney, Stephen Mooney and Declan Shalvey meeting readers, signing books and comics and creating sketches; looks like a good time was had by all! (more pics from the event on the FPI Flickr stream, click the pics for the larger versions; thanks to the FP Dublin crew for the images and to the Micks for a fun event and fans for lending their support).
Ah, the great commute, that strange modern ritual which will no doubt be puzzled over by anthropologists and archaeologists in the far future (why did millions do it? Was it a ritual devotion?); sometimes lovely little moments of intimacy can happen on those commutes though. Although its fair to say Somersault’s version of Brief Encounter is a little different:
(Somersault this week is (c) Richard Cowdry, with a nod to Rebecca; if you want to reproduce any part of it you should ask him first; click the pic for the larger version. If you’ve missed any episodes you can find all of the strips archived here)
Website Twitch posts five glorious Kirby-esque covers for an imagined Inglorious Basterds comics series spun off from Quentin Tarantino’s last movie. Absolutely pitch-perfect for the material, I think, wouldn’t it be cool to see a whole comic done this way? I think the cover for issue #5 (below) is my favourite. Someone show these to QT, please, he’d probably love them. (via Paul Harrison Davies and numerous other Twitterers).
Following yesterday’s news from Dirk at Journalista that the contents of The Comics Journal’s 300th issues (and the final one in its present form as it moves to a larger bi-annual publication) would be free online, with more content to follow on the web, I notice this morning that Oli East has left a comment on yesterday’s post noting that it’s not up there anymore. A quick visit to Journalista confirms that clicking on the free content announced yesterday yields only a message that this area if for subscribers only and Dirk has updated the post on Journalista to say that this freshly announced experiment in offering online content to encourage reading of the print versions has been pretty much stillborn, cancelled and withdrawn already. Which is a great pity; as I said yesterday a number of artists in various mediums from comics and prose books to music have found offering free versions of their work online has lead to an increase in interest in the work they actually sell to make a living. It also seems a bit confusing to make that sort of announcement of a new online initiative only to cancel it a few hours later for whatever reasons the TCJ crew had (one would have thought if they had reasons for not doing it then why make such an announcement only to withdraw it within hours?). Shame.
And here we are again, another issue of Harker, another review (for the others try here). By now you can probably write these for yourself. But for those who haven’t been paying attention this is my standard description of Harker:
“Harker’s a great detective thriller with intriguing story, wonderful art, cracking dialogue and moments of laugh out loud comedy … an absolute triumph of a comic”
This issue is the third part of the second volume. You don’t need to read the first volume to enjoy this (although I’d obviously recommend it), likewise you don’t really need to read issues 7 & 8 before this one – but why deny yourself that pleasure? All you really need to know is on the inside front cover:
“Detective Chief Inspector Harker and his assistant, Detective Sergeant Critchley, specialise in cases of multiple homicide. Harker’s seaside holiday in Whitby is ruined by the brutal stabbing of mystery author Agatha Fletcher, who was at the hotel with her assistant Jasmine Burns to host a murder mystery evening.
Reluctant to deal with the murder case on his vacation, Harker calls in Critchley and Griffin, leaving them to deal with the investigation whilst he spends much of the day on the dodgems. Finally discovered by Critchley, Harker suggests that the case should be left to the local police – as it isn’t a multiple homicide, he feels it’s not a case they should be handling. Critchley agrees and decides to hand the investigation over to the local constabulary in the morning. But as our detectives stroll back to the hotel, a second corpse washes up by the bridge….“
The only other thing you really need to know is that Griffin is Harker’s favourite pathologist, although she has a healthy cynical and sarcastic attitude towards “Starsky and Hutch” as she’s taken to calling them.
This issue is another dialogue heavy issue – and we all know that that means lots of good opportunities for some great sarcastic, funny stuff from the cast:
(From Harker issue 9 by Gibson and Danks. Harker’s pathologist Griffin gets off on the wrong foot with the local DI. Not to worry, Harker will be along to put him in his place any moment.
Oh, hold on – here he is now……….)
(Master of the sharp put-down, but also a man very protective of his own team is our DCI Harker. From Harker issue 9 by Gibson and Danks.)
It’s a hugely enjoyable issue, although so far we’re halfway through the volume and we’ve had just two murders and very little actual policing. But I have a feeling that Harker, Critchley and Griffin will come through in the end. They’re busy this issue making connections and identifying suspects – in between the sarcastic one-liners of course.
But the thing we have discovered this time around, especially with Harker’s desperate dash away from the murder last issue and his unwillingness to let the nastiness of his work intrude upon his Whitby retreat, is a little more of the characters of our leads. Harker’s character is becoming far more than a hard-nosed, gruff John Thaw mix of Regan and Morse. And the relationship between Harker and Critchley is slowly coming through as well. Take Harker’s protective attitude to his sergeant in the page above, or Critchley’s reciprocal determination to protect and support his boss in this scene:
(“So, yes, he’s off to have a think”. Critchley looks out for his boss, who’s off to decipher the clues to the double murder. From Harker issue 9 by Gibson and Danks.)
The art by Danks is, in all honesty, getting better and better. He’s refining his line as he goes along with Harker, stripping it all down to minimal lines and it works beautifully yet again. He’s also become rather sparing with his wonderful backgrounds – content sometimes to allow his figures to operate against a completely white backdrop when it’s necessary and then, when the story calls for it, back into lush, detailed, wonderfully busy backgrounds once again. Harker’s definitely not just a great story – it’s artistically great as well.
So, no surprise, I’m still going to be shouting, as loud as I can, for you all to be buying and reading Harker. Nine issues in and it’s still one of the books I enjoy most each month. Harker is available from the FPI store, selected comic shops (the good ones) and from Gibson and Danks directly. Support them, enjoy the book. I know I am.
A couple of days ago we reported, admittedly rather belatedly, that the Angoulême Festival organisers had run into a bit of trouble in financing the next edition of the festival. A dispute with the local government on who should pay for the construction of the festival tents lead to a huge gap in the organisation’s budget. The story was indeed picked up by some, and was criticised (with some grounds) by others.
In the mean time some new developments have occurred; according to a report last week in the Nouvelle Observateur, at least the festival’s press conference, which traditionally precedes the actual festival with about two months, will take place on December 4th. Angoulême mayor Philippe Lavaud in the mean time has repeatedly confirmed that the city will indeed keep up its financial support for the festival (which amounts to a whopping million Euro’s on a total budget of 3.5 million). In the same article, Benoît Mouchart, artistic director for the festival, confirms that the Festival will take place early next year as usual, on January 28th to 31st, 2010 :
“We will not hold a discounted edition. Whatever happens, there is no question of cutting down on the exhibitions. All events have been scheduled for several months, and most of them have been under construction since the summer. I am not worried about this issue, what bothers me is the improvisation by the mayor, this sudden decision to speak in the local press, which suggests that the BD is not a priority for this city.
Furthermore, we have nothing against the mayor of Angoulême, this is not a problem of personalities. In any case, the trouble did not start today. I found a letter from Pierre Pascal, festival director in the 80s, which was addressed to cartoonist Greg: he was already complaining of problems with the infrastructure, technical problems, lack of hotels to accommodate sponsors, exhibitors and visitors…
We can’t ask publishers for a contribution – it’s unthinkable, as it is already expensive enough for them, with the booths, bringing in their authors, taking care of lodgings. The infamous technical services that the council suddenly wants to cut down on, especially target the New York tent, which hosts the small and independent publishers, those most vulnerable. After so many years, I am concerned that the BD is no longer a priority for this city. ”
In the mean time, Sud Ouest is quoted by ActuaBD on some happier news for the festival. TheHigh Commission for Youth Affairs, which is chaired by Martin Hirsch, is said to reinstate a subsidy to the Festival which was scrapped for last year’s edition. High Commissioner Martin Hirsch promises further financial assistance “between 55,000 and 75,000 €” which had been previously suppressed by the former Ministry of Youth and Sports. Furthermore, the paper also states that “The community of Greater Angoulême, whose annual grant to FIBD rises to € 55,200, expressed readiness to make an effort under certain conditions. ”
Like the French would say, le festival n’aura pas lieu. And all this may turn out to be much like a storm in a teacup. Or in a glass of wine, if you must. At least its a relief to know the 2010 festival will be business as usual.
The BBC website reports that the Hi-Ex comics convention held for the last two years in the heart of the incomparably beautiful Scottish Highlands has secured some funding from the Highland Council. I know organisers Rich and Vicky have been campaigning hard with the authorities, pointing out the event’s success in bringing in audiences and creators to the area, with subsequent economic and cultural benefits, as well as related outreach programmes, notably with schools, to make the event a part of the community as well as stimulate kids’ interest in the medium and in the creative arts, never a bad thing (it probably helps that they can point out how many fellow Scots writers and artists can boast international success in the medium).
(artwork for the 2010 Hi-Ex convention by Declan Shalvey)
I’m sure many of our readers will know first hand how hard it can be to obtain grants and funding for any artistic project, let alone one based on comics, so I think its a bit of a triumph to secure such funding and it speaks highly of the success this young comics festival has created and the work that’s been put into it. Rich and Vicky posted a press release to update us on the latest developments:
“Eden Court theatre in Inverness will, on the 27th – 28th March 2010, play host to the third Hi-Ex International Comic Convention. The first two years where such a success that we really had no choice but to do it again,’ explained organiser Vicky Stonebridge.
Co-organiser Richmond Clements said, ‘We have some very exciting guests already confirmed- among them the incredible John Higgins, Gary Erskine, Colin MacNeil, Asia Alfasi, Alan Grant. Many more artists and writers will be coming along, as well as the popular stormtroopers from the 501st UK garrison. Keep checking the Hi-Ex website, as we’re adding all the time. For the first time this year, we’ve had some Highland Council funding which will help us attract some great guests.’ Over the course of the weekend, visitors can expect a range of events. “Our children’s workshops have proved to be very popular, and we’re planning to run even more of them this time around,” Vicky said.
There will also be workshops for both art and writing, for adults. Tickets go on sale soon, with a special discount for early booking through the Hi-Ex website. Hi-Ex will be organising a series of outreach events in schools all across the Highlands in the run up to the weekend with support from the Highland Council. Richmond said, ‘Any school’s who want to get involved, and would like to have a visit from a writer or artist should drop us a line.’”
If you’ve got several grand to spare the world-famous Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles is auctioning a guided tour of the iconic facility (seen in many films and shows) – the tour guide for the occasion being none other than Leonard Nimoy. Now that would be quite brilliant. Bidding is already in excess of $5, 000 and the closing date is December 2nd (via BoingBoing).
(self portrait of and by Leonard Nimoy; I had no idea Leonard was a gifted photographer until I saw this via One Digital Life’s blog. More of Leonard’s photography here; warning, contains nudity. pic (c) Leonard Nimoy)
The 300th issue of the excellent Comics Journal, one of the best reads about the medium you’ll find in the English language (and now the final issue in the traditional format as it moves to a bi-annual, larger format), is now available to read free online – From Dirk’s description of the line-up in #300:
“* Art Spiegelman and Kevin Huizenga
* Jean-Christophe Menu and Sammy Harkham
* Frank Quitely and Dave Gibbons
* Dave Mazzucchelli and Dash Shaw
* Alison Bechdel and Danica Novgorodoff
* Howard Chaykin and Ho Che Anderson
* Denny O’Neil and Matt Fraction
* Jaime Hernandez and Zak Sally
* Ted Rall and Matt Bors
* Jim Borgman and Keith Knight
* Stan Sakai and Chris Schweizer”
You really should go and check this out; from what Dirk says on Journalista it looks like Fantagraphics intend to post up more online content from the future, new edition of TCJ to boost its profile and hopefully interest more readers in picking up the print version. Why pick it up when you can read online for free, some will ask? Well SF writers like Cory Doctorow and Charlie Stross among others have found similar strategies with their fiction has boosted their profiles and helped sell more of the traditional books as people who might not otherwise have bought one read material online for free and thought hey, I like this, I will buy their next book to enjoy reading properly. And its certainly worked for a lot of bands who post tracks online to generate interest. Here’s hoping it does the same for TCJ. And you should check out Noah Van Sciver’s Cartoon Interview with Fanta’s Gary Groth:
UPDATE: as Oli East just noted in the comments, less than 24 hours later TCJ #300 is back off the air; a quick visit to Journalista confirms that this free online access idea has been cancelled already.
The great Gilbert Shelton signing a stack of the newly released Fat Freddy’s Cat Omnibus from Knockabout at our Nostalgia & Comics store in Birmingham at the weekend. I can’t help but notice Gilbert has a wee pile of recent Blank Slate releases (Sparky O’Hare, Spleenal and Proper Go Well High) by his side.
Brit comics legend Hunt Emerson came along specially to lend some support. I’m quite jealous of the folks who could be there! (more pics on the FPI Flickr, click the pics for the larger versions, thanks to Dave and the crew at N&C for the pics)
“Welcome to Robot City — the metal metropolis that never rusts! Here, highly developed robots are part of everyday life, living and working in harmony with humankind. The city that never rusts . . . is rusting! The well-loved robotic dance troupe, the Automettes, has been struck down by rust, and who else would they call on but Robot City Confidential Investigations — the city’s premier private detective agency? Detectives Rod and Mike smell a rat. Can they track down the villain and find a cure before rust panic spreads? This thrillpacked graphic novel will grip readers with its action, adventure, and humor.”
Hmmmm. That’s what I thought after finishing this one. Sure, I may not be able to put myself squarely in the “perfect for boy readers of 8 plus” demographic that the press release talks about, but then again, based on the content, the dialogue and the gags, neither can Paul Collicutt either. I didn’t find it thrillpacked, and I really don’t think there’s enough here to grab an average 8+ boy either. It never really took off on the fun filled adventure I felt it really wanted to be. The Robot and human private detective angle is nice enough, allowing for some flashes of funny dialogue, but the whole film noir gumshoe voiceover style of the dialogue may well be referencing something the average 8-10 year old boy just doesn’t recognise. Nice for me perhaps, but not for the younger audience.
In many ways this just smacks of a publisher doing the old favourite of “quick, graphic novels are popular, didn’t we get a submission for a graphic novel series a while back?” method of publishing. Because I could give a long list of comic creators in the UK more worthy of publishing than Collicutt’s Robot City Adventures.
(There’s some nice retro-futuristic touches in Collicut’s art, and a nice gag here and there, but not enough to excite either me or the 8+ year old boy I tried to be as I read it. From Rust Attack, Templar Publishing)
But I really don’t like being quite so negative, so here are a few nice things about Robot City Adventures.. the art shows occasional signs of some nice touches. Reminiscent of Dean Motter or Michael Lark in parts, with it’s sparse layouts and figure work, and with the Robot City architecture. And there are some nice bits of comedy dialogue, which may well fly right over the heads of it’s intended age range, but had me smiling at least.
But all in all, it just left me feeling very hmmmm. There’s very little here to justify it being given a nice book publisher release, especially not when there’s much better work around. Of course, I could be completely missing the appeal here, as like I said, I’m far from the 8 year plus boy target market, but when I was a lad I doubt this would have had me crying out for more.
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 posted by Richard
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