It’s been a long time coming, but Roger Gibson and Vince Danks can finally reveal the reason there’s been no Harker for the last 17 months…. they’ve got themselves a book deal with Titan Books:

“Roger Gibson and Vince Danks have just signed a three book deal with Titan Books, which includes a hardcover international reprint of Books One and Two and the commissioning of a third 120 page Harker graphic novel set in New York. The first of the three books will be available in major bookstores and comic shops in May of this year, in the UK, the US and beyond, with a brand new cover by Vince.

Needless to say, this should get the work out to far more people, and Vince and I are both thrilled that the signatures are finally on the contracts. More on this over the coming days and weeks, including a brand new website, a new ongoing blog, and more photos and artwork than you can be bothered to look at. Harker is on the move again…”

My love for Harker was immediate and intense. Such a good book, packed with adventure, action, lashings of humour, great art… this was just a little of my praise for issue 1 & 2:

“This is one of those books that I knew I was going to enjoy within the first ten pages. It had that feel of a great genre work, grabbing you and taking you exactly where you wanted it to go. Every page had something on it that pressed the right buttons for the bit of my brain that goes silly over great genre stuff. A little bit Sherlock Holmes, a little bit X-Files, CSI, it’s all these and so much more. But most importantly it gave me that immediacy that is incredibly rare, that feeling within the first few pages that this was going to be something special, and by the end of issue 2, it still felt like that – a hugely entertaining comic.”

And across 12 issues so far, collected across two volumes – The Book Of Solomon and The Woman In Black, it really was something great, something I always said really should be getting wider attention. Now, with this Titan Books deal, I hope it really, really takes off.

Here’s a lovely piece with Harker and his sidekick Critchley, a perfect summary of the sorts of detecting you’ll be seeing in the books:

There’s talk from Gibson of a new website and blog coming soon, but for now, the old blog and Ariel Comics website is full of Harker goodness, including the free issue zero for download which also includes this taster for Issue #1:

Oh, it’s so good to have them back.

It’s been quite a while since we had any news regarding Harker, a series I very quickly came to love in 2009 and 2010, written by Roger Gibson and drawn by Vince Danks. This was just a little of my praise for issue 1 & 2:

“This is one of those books that I knew I was going to enjoy within the first ten pages. It had that feel of a great genre work, grabbing you and taking you exactly where you wanted it to go. Every page had something on it that pressed the right buttons for the bit of my brain that goes silly over great genre stuff. A little bit Sherlock Holmes, a little bit X-Files, CSI, it’s all these and so much more. But most importantly it gave me that immediacy that is incredibly rare, that feeling within the first few pages that this was going to be something special, and by the end of issue 2, it still felt like that – a hugely entertaining comic.”

And it continued delivering thee goods across 12 issues, subsequently collected in two collections: The Book Of Solomon and The Woman In Black. But then things went quiet. There was talk of a coloured edition, then news of the next series, Gravestown……. and then nothing…..

Well Roger Gibson finally has news on the Harker and Critchley Blog:

“Breaking news! Vince and I are about to start work on a brand new Harker graphic novel, that we’re planning to post free online in fortnightly segments, starting in August. PLUS!! We’re also about to start serious work on our first Gravestown graphic novel, which we’ll also be posting free online in fortnightly segments. Each and every week you’ll get either new Harker or new Gravestown – for free!!! More news as we get it ;)”

There you go, not one but two series. Result? Oh yes.

Whilst we await Volume 3 of the Harker series by Roger Gibson and Vince Danks, Gibson has decided to share with us, over at the Harker blog, the first part of his Harker novel; The Murder Club. Publisher unknown as yet, but hopefully we’ll see it soon. In the meantime it goes a little something like this….

“The face of the corpse was a particularly unpleasant shade of purple, the flesh tinged with gruesome flecks of pale blue. The eyes bulged wide open and horrified from their sockets. The mouth was wide open, the tongue black and protruding. The rope creaked as the hanged man swayed slowly back and forth, a horrific pendulum.

Harker knew a violent death when he saw one. He’d been around enough of them to be sure. Dead bodies and cornflakes were the two constants of his morning routine. But it was the unusual ones that always stayed with him. These were the ones that left an indelible mark on his brain. In this instance: a lone body suspended by the neck from a rope in the centre of a small, darkened room.

Around the body Jenny Griffin’s white-clad forensics team continued their work, crammed into every corner of the room. The dangling corpse was photographed from every angle, captured and stored in digital perpetuity. The cameras flashed again and again, freezing the corpse in time.

A final photoshoot for the family album, Harker thought to himself. Look, here’s me stood in front of the caravan in Bognor Regis. And here’s me riding the donkey on the beach in Skegness. Oh, and here’s me dead. I’m not really at my best in this one.”

Continue reading this first extract at the Harker blog and return weekly for more.

Panel Borders: Gravestown Valentine, tonight at 5pm on Resonance FM, podcast afterwards on Panel Borders

Continuing this month’s series of shows on horror and dark fantasy comics, Alex Fitch talks to Roger Gibson and Vince Danks, creators of the ‘Fortean’ murder mystery comic Harker and the forthcoming Gravestown and to Alex De Campi, short film-maker and writer of the e-comic Valentine.

Alex discusses with the creators the importance of a good location in comics, whether it’s the real world locations of Harker or the fictional haunted every town of Roger and Vince’s new project and the reasons that Alex chose Russia in 1812 as the initial location of Valentine and the various formats you can download the periodical in. The interview with Roger and Vince was recorded at this year’s British International Comics Show.

Recent shows:

Panel Borders: Books of Magic and Spirits of the Earth

Continuing our month of shows looking at horror and dark fantasy comics, in a pair of interviews recorded at this year’s British International Comics Show in Birmingham, Alex Fitch talks to artists Charles Vess and Peter Gross about their work. Charles is the World Fantasy Award winning illustrator of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust (adapted into a film in 2007), two issues of Sandman featuring William Shakespeare and an unusual graphic novel that saw Marvel Comics’ most famous character visit Scotland in Spider-man: Spirits of the Earth. Peter was the main artist (and later writer) of the much loved American fantasy series The Books of Magic which was probably was an influence on Harry Potter and more recently has worked on Vertigo titles Lucifer and The Unwritten with Mike Carey.

Reality Check episode 3.09 – Monsters / Inception Special Effects Special on SciFi London

In this edition of the Sci-Fi London Podcast, SFL web editor Chris Patmore guest hosts to bring interviews with two people working and different ends of the special effects budgetary scale. First we speak to Paul Franklin, visual effects supervisor on Chris Nolan’s INCEPTION, BATMAN BEGINS and THE DARK KNIGHT, as well as on the two latest Harry Potter movies.
Then we speak with Gareth Edwards about his debut feature MONSTERS, and how he got to make it, and doing special effects on his home computer. Gareth was the winner of the first SCI-FI-LONDON 48 Hour Film Challenge, and his feature film is garnering rave reviews around the world.

Alex isn’t just a voice on a microphone though, for those who doubt his corporeal existence he will also be seen soon at a couple of upcoming events as part of Comica:

Transitions Conference at Birkbeck College

Alex Fitch will be chairing a session on comics and academia at the Transitions multi-disciplinary research conference on comics and graphic novels with Laydeez do Comics’ Sarah Lightman and Nicola Streeten

Friday, November 5th, 1.30pm (TBC) / conference starts at 9.30am
Birkbeck College, Clore Centre, 25-27 Torrington Square, London WC1E 7JL
(nearest tube: Russell Square / Goodge Street)

Charlie Adlard and The Walking Dead

Alex Fitch hosts an hour long talk with British artist Charlie Adlard about drawing various strips for 2000Ad including Savage, Nicolai Dante and Judge Dredd plus his ongoing commitment to the monthly American survival horror comic The Walking Dead which he has been drawing since 2004 and has just been turned into a new TV series produced by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption). Followed by a signing with the artist.

Saturday, November 6th, 4.30pm (TBC)
London Print Studio, 425 Harrow Rd, London W10 4RE
(nearest tube: Warwick Avenue / Westbourne Park)

Comic Cuts – controversial comic books and banned periodicals

Alex Fitch discusses examples of banned and censored comic books in the last quarter of the 20th Century with publisher Tony Bennett and (via speaker phone) writer / artist Rick Veitch. Tony’s publishing company Knockabout has seen its titles seized by British Customs, has been taken to court for publishing “drug related titles”, and for promoting the work of Robert Crumb. Knockabout have also commissioned comic book adaptations of previously banned novels such as Lady Chatterly’s Lover.

Rick is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, including the drawing of an issue of Moore’s Miracleman comic in the 1980s which was withdrawn from many shops due to its “graphic depictions of childbirth” and then when he took over as writer on another Moore comic – Swamp Thing – left the periodical when the publisher refused to print a certain issue.

Wednesday, November 10, 6pm
Whitechapel Idea Store, 321 Whitechapel Road, London, E1 1BU
(nearest tube: Whitechapel / Bethnal Green)

But the pair aren’t ones for resting on their laurels and, in addition to the upcoming Harker relaunch, there’s an 11 page Torchwood strip in issue 24 of the Torchwood magazine and they’ve recently announced that they’ve a new series coming out shortly.

Called Gravestown, it’s a complete reworking of a comic Gibson wrote and drew in 1997 which managed just 1 issue. This time round, based on the schedule they managed on Harker, not to mention my tremendous enjoyment of the comic, I have high hopes for this one. And the cover to issue 1 is another of those “how long did that take?” pieces, worthy of Gerhard’s Cerebus architecture style and looks absolutely fabulous to me.

Over on the Harker blog Gibson’s been posting up various snippets of the genesis of the series, together with sneak peeks of their Torchwood strip and the ongoing story of what’s happening with Harker.

by Roger Gibson and Vince Danks

Ariel Press

Anyone who regularly reads the FPI blog will know I’m a huge fan of Harker. Take this quote that the Harker boys have put on the back of this volume:

“A great detective thriller with intriguing story, wonderful art, cracking dialogue and moments of laugh out loud comedy … an absolute triumph of a comic.”

That was me, talking about Harker when I first discovered it in comic form. I’ve continued to talk it up with every single issue and it still hasn’t disappointed through any of it’s 12 issues.

So here we are at the second collected edition, where we join DCI Harker, the grumpiest cop in the world, mixing up all that’s wonderful about every great police stereotype from Jack Regan to Gene Hunt, on holiday in Whitby. Except his holiday gets interrupted and he gets annoyed, first by an annoying crime writer on a murder mystery weekend and then by that same annoying crime writer getting annoyingly murdered. Annoyed is Harker’s default emotion.

(Harker annoyed. A familiar refrain. And a funny one. From Harker Volume 2 by Gibson and Danks)

I’ve written enough about the individual issues over the past few months that I’m not going to bother you with recapping anything of the actual plot. (See here for everything Harker on the FPI blog)

What I will say is that Volume 2 takes everything that worked so well in Volume 1 and keeps on going. The murder mystery isn’t the most original here, just like it wasn’t in Volume 1. But that’s really not the important thing in a good police procedural (and this is an excellent police procedural), it’s far more important that the journey from murder discovery to solving the crime and catching the killer is an entertaining journey. And Harker is a thrilling, hugely entertaining journey.

One thing that reading the collected volume really brings home is the perfect pacing of the book and the murder investigation(s). Each stage of the investigation, every introduction of each new suspect, every false trail, every twist and every turn is exactly where it should be to generate the best reading experience. Cleverly disguising the identity and motives of the killer until the penultimate episode, Gibson and Danks craft a story full of intricate twists and turns as every murder leads to yet another possible suspect.

(Harker – annoyed again. The murderer’s ruining a perfectly good holiday. Personal indeed)

Yet, as I’ve said many, many times before, the story is only part of the enjoyment in Harker. The characterisations are wonderful – completely and brilliantly unbelievable melding every stereotype of great cop dramas over the years. And the dialogue throughout the book, especially in the special relationship between Harker and Critchley, is fantastically funny stuff.

The other thing that viewing every episode in this collected form shows me is that it’s possibly a good thing that Harker is on a temporary hiatus whilst a publishing deal is being finalised.

Vince Danks has been hitting a deadline every month for a year now, producing a beautifully rendered comic – and on top of that, he’s part of a two man team responsible for every aspect of Harker’s publication. Dave Sim managed 300 issues of Cerebus and (almost) never missed a deadline on a beautiful looking comic. But Dave Sim had Gerhard doing some of the best background art there’s ever been. And whilst Vince Danks’ artwork shares so many of the best aspects of both Gerhard and Sim – gorgeous, detailed, intricate backgrounds, fantastic architecture and striking figure work, he has to do it all on his own.

Which is why a slight drop in quality on a few panels and a few pages in the last couple of issues, barely noticeable when reading the issues in comic form but obvious when seen in direct comparison to the start of this volume isn’t all that unexpected.

Not that the art in those last two episodes is in anyway bad, far from it. But Danks will benefit greatly from the (hopefully mercifully brief) break that Harker finds itself on right now.

(Annoyed again, Harker finds himself on his way to the annual Goth football match – his cup runneth over)

In the introduction to this volume Roger Gibson talks about his and Danks’ plans for their wonderful comic. Future storylines head for Prisoner style spy action, Victorian ghost mysteries with a hint of Scooby-Dooby-Doo and a grand New York cop adventure. It sounds like it’s going to be great. They also talk online about future publishing plans, for which I’m keeping at least a few fingers crossed. Harker is a highlight of my comic reading and I really, really want it to continue.

So do yourself a favour, get on board Harker now, you’ve only got two volumes to catch up with, and after that you can say you were there all along with the most thrilling, most enjoyable, most entertaining new British comic for a long time. Like I said – it really is an absolute triumph of a comic.

by Roger Gibson and Vince Danks

Ariel Press

The final issue of Book Two, and a most satisfying conclusion to “The Woman In Black” mystery it is too. I’ll be reviewing the collected Book 2 in a little more depth soon, so I’ll keep this brief.

To be honest, I’ve already said so much about Harker and how I still find it one of the few comic books I look forward to reading in it’s monthly form that I can’t really add anymore to what I’ve already said (see here for previous writings).

The important thing with issue 12 is that it wraps everything up in most fitting style. The murderer was revealed in issue 11, so this is the wrap up, including a manic chase across the Yorkshire Moors, Critchley up to (nearly) his neck in trouble and Harker stepping in to the rescue yet again:

(No Critchley, no…….. oh, dear. Harker and Critchley in typical action up on the moors from Harker issue 12)

As usual, there’s not just a great story in Harker but some lovely, funny, scattershot dialogue, especially between the two leads. Gibson’s writing and Danks’ art has been consistently wonderful throughout 12 issues. The stories are never allowed to get away from the realistic(ish) confines of reality, the influences are obvious, but celebrated and much loved. There’s an awful lot to love in Harker.

The big news this time around is that this is the final issue for a while, but as Gibson says in his introduction to the issue, this is merely a temporary hiatus, caused by the ongoing negotiations with “a major UK publisher”, which have necessitated the break until all is settled. A shame that I’ll have to do without the regular fix of Harker for a while, but great news if it secures the comic’s future. And this future includes new storylines including a Portmeirion spy adventure, a Blackpool case of Victorian ghost stories and Scooby-Doo style hi-jinx and a New York adventure taking in all the great American crime dramas and promising an epic French Connection style car chase.

I’ll be around for everything Harker has to offer, hopefully you’ll be there as well – all of the Harker issues are available from the Ariel Press website and there’s a list of the comic shops stocking it here. If your comic shop doesn’t have it on it’s shelves – ask them why not. Likewise, the collected volumes – available right here from FPI.

by Roger Gibson and Vince Danks

Ariel Press

I can’t really say any more about Harker than I already have (see here for all the examples so far – it’s fair to say I’m a fan); so I’ll simply state yet again that it’s consistently entertaining and wonderfully enjoyable stuff and issue 11 is just more of the same, except this time there’s a little football thrown into the mix.

The penultimate issue in the second storyline of Harker reveals the murderer responsible for thoroughly messing up DCI Harker’s seaside holiday in Whitby and, bizarrely enough, ends at a football match between the Whitby Gazette and Real Gothic during Whitby’s famous Goth Weekend. Hence the Roy Of The Rovers moment on the cover with Harker looking grumpily on as DS Critchley, drafted in by the Goths, does the business on the pitch. Harker’s neither a fan of Goths or football – “surprise me, why don’t you“:

As usual, the to and fro of the main cast’s sarcastic commentary is as good as ever and putting the nations grumpiest copper in amongst not only the wonders of Whitby’s Goth weekend but a football match as well is great fun.

But even though he’s obviously having fun playing with all of these disparate comedy elements Gibson never loses sight of the main thrust of the book and Harker and Critchley’s investigation into the multiple murders at the hotel finally bears fruit this issue, with all of the pieces coming together early on. And it’s this careful mix of crime procedural, comedy dialogue and a mild sense of the bizarre running through Harker that makes it all so worthwhile.

Harker still makes it straight to the top of the reading pile. It still makes my day with a glorious mix of sardonic humour and precisely constructed crime thriller. With 11 great issues so far, I imagine issue 12 will be out towards the end of April, followed by the second collection just after that. Then we’ll be into the next storyline, with Gibson and Danks delivering more of the same with enough variety thrown in (plot, setting, new characters etc etc) to make it seem fresh once more and I honestly can’t see it going anywhere but up.

All of the Harker issues are available from the Ariel Press website and there’s a list of the comic shops stocking it here. If your comic shop doesn’t have it on it’s shelves – ask them why not. The excellent first volume is available right here from FPI.

by Roger Gibson and Vince Danks

Ariel Press

Here we go again….. by now you know how much I enjoy Harker (see the review of Volume 1: The Book Of Solomon for a reminder), so when I got the latest issue I was almost tempted just to write a quick piece announcing it’s release and linking to past reviews.

But….. the problem is that Harker’s struggling along, with no US distributor and is relying on UK sales to keep it going. And I for one, definitely want it to keep going and going and going. It’s the monthly (near enough) comic that I really look forward to getting, a guaranteed slice of regular enjoyment. So to quickly recap, my reviews of the previous three issues in this story are here; issue 7, issue 8, issue 9 and here’s the blurb from the inside 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. Although initially reluctant to investigate, when a second corpse is washed up on the morning tide, identified as the hotel chef, Harker gets on the case…….

And now you’re right up to speed. Issue 10 starts with a mysterious memory and then barrels straight into Harker and Critchley getting on with the job of finding the killer. As usual, we have two coppers with vastly diverging ideas on how best to approach the case and a fine line in verbal sparring as they try their best to bludgeon the other into taking their viewpoint.

The story moves along with pace and gusto, packed with the beautiful visuals that I’ve come to expect from Vince Danks by now. But to stop myself taking his art for granted, it’s always nice to reread the issue a couple of times and at least once let the words fall away and just luxuriate in a bloody brilliant artist doing some fine, fine work.

One of the key attractions of Harker is the interplay between the main characters and the comedy that results, cutting, sarcastic stuff. And, seeing as we’re in Whitby with one of the grumpiest coppers in the world, how better to milk a moment for a few great gags than to bring out the Goths? (Whitby, if you didn’t know, is famous for it’s bi-annual Goth weekends, where the town is inundated with revellers revisiting the sites made famous in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.) You can just hear the exasperation in Harker’s voice as he heads to the bar for a quiet pint and walks into this…..

But Harker has a cunning plan…….to get to the bar…

Great, great scenes and more evidence, as if you needed it, that Harker is still going strong, mixing the humour with the criminal investigation and making this a very, very enjoyable crime thriller with a wickedly funny streak. It’s still the best British monthly comic out there right now.

All of the Harker issues are available from the Ariel Press website and there’s a list of the comic shops stocking it here. If your comic shop doesn’t have it on it’s shelves – ask them why not.

Richard Bruton.

Here’s the first few tweets – read from the bottom up:

Follow DCI Harker on twitter here.