Panel Borders: European adventure comics, Sunday 13th of May at 8pm on Resonance FM, podcast on Panel Borders afterwards

Continuing our trio of shows looking at international comics we have interviews with a couple of European adventure comics creators. In an interview recorded at last year’s BD & Comics Passion festival at the Institut Français, Dickon Harris talks to Yves Sente, one of the current authors of the classic Franco-Belgian strip Blake and Mortimer, who has penned stories set in the current chronology of the comic as well as flashback tales that depict the characters in their youth. Also, in a pair of interviews recorded at Gosh! comics and Laydeez do comics, Alex Fitch talks to Uli Oesterle about his graphic novel Hector Umbra, a surrealist detective story which follows the travails of a painter who investigates the underworld of modern day Munich.

recent podcasts

Reality Check: Dystopian TV and film

In a pair of Q & As recorded at SCI-FI-LONDON, the London International Festival of Fantastic and Science-Fiction Film, Alex Fitch talks to Ilana Rein (director: We are all Cylons), Andrew Mark Sewell (producer: Blake’s 7 audio) and Ben Aaronovich (writer: Blake’s 7 audio / Doctor Who) about dystopian TV from The Time Tunnel to Battlestar Galactica; and to Elizabeth Karr (producer) and John Alan Simon (writer / director) of new Philip K. Dick adaptation Radio Free Albemuth.

The Pod Delusion episode 134

This week we find out why geeks need to get more political by speaking to Mark Henderson, author of the ‘Geek Manifesto’, speak to Professor Jim Al-Khalili about his new book on paradoxes in science, discover why FRAND is no friend of free software, and go down the Ancestor’s Trail. Also, Alex Fitch looks at protest voting in Bradford and London and Peter English investigates the Biobank…

Panel Borders: Belgian graphic novelists, tonight at 8pm on Resonance FM, podcast on Panel Borders afterwards

Starting a trio of shows about international comics, Alex Fitch talks to pair of Belgian graphic novelists about their work. Creator Ivan Petrus discusses The Neuport Gathering, his moving and harrowing tale of Allied soldiers during the First World War, and in an interview recorded at last month’s Comica Comiket, Alex talks to artist Maarten Van Wieleabout his “graphic trash novel” Paris which features sex, drugs and degradation in the French fashion industry (and recently published in English by Knockabout).

Electric Sheep Podcast: Comics and film

In a pair of interviews looking at the crossover between comics and film, Alex Fitch talks to Stefan Hutchinson about his comic book ‘Demons 3′ – a sequel to Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava’s classic 1980s horror films – and to comic book artist Dave McKean about his film of the Port Talbot Passion play, The Gospel of Us. Alex And Stefan discuss the writer’s Haloween comics ‘Nightdance’ and ‘First Death of Laurie Strode’ plus his documentary, Halloween: 25 Years Of Terror. Alex and Dave also talk about the artist’s collaborations with Richard Dawkins and Michael Sheen, plus his earlier film MirrorMask.

recent podcasts:

Panel Borders – John Higgins: Before (and after) Watchmen

Concluding our month of shows about British comics, Alex Fitch talks to writer, artist and occasional self-publisher John Higgins about his career so far. Alex and John talk about the latter’s first experiences in comics, being published in Bryan Talbot’s Brainstorm and 2000AD, his landmark collaboration with Alan Moore on Watchmen and his new strip The Crimson Corsair, which is being serialised in prequel series Before Watchmen.

Reality Check: The work of Warren Ellis

In a Q & A recorded at last year’s SCI-FI-LONDON festival, Iyare Igiehon (BBC 6music) discusses the work of Warren Ellis with Matt Jones (BERG design), Matthew Sheret (We are words + pictures) and Kieron Gillen (X-Men). Jones talks about SVK, the new comic by Ellis and D’Israeli, commissioned by BERG, Sheret discusses how Ellis inspired him to become a writer and Gillen talks about his friendship with the writer and their Marvel collaborations.

Panel Borders: Tim Sale – painting Batman and other Heroes, Resonance FM at 8pm Sunday 18th March, podcast on Panel Borders afterwards

In a Q and A recorded at last year’s Thought Bubble festival, Alex Fitch interviews artist Tim Sale about his career from early work like Thieves’ World and Billi 99 to his award winning collaborations with Jeph Loeb on Batman and the Marvel ‘colours’ tetralogy featuring Spider-Man, Daredevil and The Hulk. Alex and Tim also talk about the latter’s work on the TV series Heroes and the continuation of his most recent mini-seires, Captain America: White.

Electric Sheep Magazine podcast: Exploring The Lair of the White Worm, online Wednesday 20th March

In a panel discussion recorded at The Horse Hospital arts club after a screening of Ken Russell’s lurid Bram Stoker adaptation, The Lair of the White Worm, Mark Pilkington discusses the film with BFI Flipside programmers Vic Pratt and Will Fowler, touching on issues of English legend, titillation and the consequences of Russell’s three picture deal with Vestron Pictures in the 1980s.

Recent podcasts:

Panel Borders: Klaus Janson – Superhero Noir

Continuing our month of shows about iconoclastic American comic book artists, Alex Fitch talks to German-American artist Klaus Janson about his work from inking and eventually providing most of the art for Frank Miller’s run on Daredevil and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in the early 80s to his recent acclaimed tenures on Wolverine and World War Hulk. Klaus also talks about his love of teaching new artists and his experiences at comic book conventions over the years. (Recorded at Comics Launchpad, Birmingham 2011)

Laydeez do podcasts: The female form in comics

In two talks recorded at Laydeez do comics, Dr. Ann Miller, lecturer and joint editor of European Comic Art journal talks about stereotypical representations of women in bandes dessinées, particularly Penelope Bagieu, creator of ‘chic-lit’ comic Joséphine; and Karrie Fransman talks about her new comic The House that groaned, an incisive graphic novel about body dysmorphia and desire in a Victorian tenement house.

Panel Borders episode 250 – Alan Moore and the horrors at Red Hook, broadcast Sunday 11th at 8pm on Resonance FM, podcast afterwards on Panel Borders

Continuing our month of shows about H.P. Lovecraft, Alex Fitch talks to Alan Moore about his final graphic novel that isn’t part of the continuing League of Extraordinary Gentlemen narrative – Neonomicon – which has just been published, along with its prequel The Courtyard, as a graphic novel by Avatar Press. Both comics follow on from Lovecraft’s tale ‘The Horror at Red Hook’ and Alan discusses why he chose that story in particular to explore further, plus the origins of The Courtyard in an abandoned short story collection called ‘Yuggoth Cultures’, and examples of Lovecraftian imagery in his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen saga.

Recent shows available as podcasts on Panel Borders:

Panel Borders: Illustrating the Mountains of Madness

Beginning a trio of shows about the influence of writer H.P.Lovecraft on comics, Alex Fitch talks to I.N.J. Culbard about his graphic novel adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness and forthcoming adaptation of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward  for Self Made Hero. Cartoonist Rob Davis briefly joins the conversation (recorded at last month’s Thought Bubble convention) as Alex, Rob and Ian discuss Lovecraft’s short stories and the difficulty of illustrating prose that is alternatively wordy, obtuse and unnamable.

Laydeez do podcasts: Magical realism

In a pair of talks recorded at Laydeez do comics, cartoonists Kripa Joshi and Mawil (Markus Witzel) discuss their work, plus Alex Fitch visits Woodrow Phoenix in his studio to discuss his editing of the new graphic novel Nelson. If there is a common theme between the three, it is a sense of magical realism in their art which juxtaposes the ordinary with the out of the ordinary, from Woodrow’s use of road furniture in Rumble Strip, to Kripa’s use of Indian mythology in her tales of domestic incidents and Mawil’s blue collar stories of life in Germany through the lens of his alter-ego Sparky O’Hare. Recorded by Nicola Streeten and Alex Fitch, introduced and edited by Alex Fitch.

Leonard Lopate has two stellar comics guests on his WNYC show – Seth and Dan Clowes, both currently touring North America with The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists and Death Ray respectively. Better still the audio for the show is up on the WNYC site now to listen to. (thanks to Adam Cadwell for the link)

Panel Borders: Exploring war comics, tonight at 5pm on Resonance FM, podcast afterwards on Panel Borders

Continuing our month of shows about war comics, Panel Borders is pleased to present a selection of interviews recorded at the launch of “Draw your Weapons – the art of Commando comics”, a new exhibition at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, as Alex Fitch talks to curator Robert Fleming, current Commando editor Calum Laird, and former editor George Low about the history of the comic and the art on display at the museum. Also in another recording taken from last month’s ‘Comics and conflicts’ festival at the Imperial War Museum, Roger Sabin and Martin Baker give a presentation about the depiction of the Iraq war and PTSD in thje US comic strip Doonesbury.

I’m ready for my close-up: Autumn Sci-Fi, online at SciFi London on Sunday 10th

As the Autumn nights start to draw in, we have a couple of recommendations of DVDs worth staying in for, as Alex Fitch interviews a pair of directors who have both earned cult followings for their work in the SF genre. Duncan Jones talks about his new film Source Code, a time travel thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal and about how themes in his new movie consciously and unconsciously reflect some of his concerns of humanity dislocated by technology in his debut Moon. Alex also chats to John Hough, director of the classic Disney film Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), starring Ray Milland and Donald Pleasance. Hough followed his first family film with a couple more for Disney – Return from Witch Mountain and The Watcher in the Woods – and talks about how the company’s approach to live-action filmmaking has changed over the years.

Previous podcasts:

Panel Borders: Garth Ennis’ Battlefields

Starting a month of shows about war comics, Alex Fitch talks to award winning writer Garth Ennis about his interest in the genre, from the backdrop of conflict in his debut strip Troubled Souls to his exploration of wars throughout the 20th Century and beyond in his series War Stories and Battlefields. Alex and Garth also discuss his past and forthcoming projects for Avatar, Dynamite and Marvel Comics and there are questions from the audience on the subjects of putting his stories into context for younger readers and the use of drones on the battlefield. This interview was recorded live at the Imperial War Museum, London as part of the ‘Comics and Conflicts Festival‘, August 2011.

Panel Borders: Gosh! It’s Electric Man! Tonight at 5pm on Resonance FM, podcast afterwards on Panel Borders

Concluding our month of shows looking at comic book shops, Alex Fitch talks to Josh Palmano and Andrew Salmond, the proprietors of Gosh! Comics in London which, after 25 years, has relocated from Great Russell Street to the heart of Soho and to Dave Barras, director, and Scott Mackay, co-writer, of the new UK comedy film Electric Man about a rare stolen comic, set in the Edinburgh independent shop, Deadhead comics… (film reviewed here on the blog)

Recent podcasts:

Panel Borders: The shop around the corner

Continuing our month of shows looking at comic book shops, Alex Fitch talks to the former proprietors of comic shops that existed in the 80s and 90s and have left lasting impression on their fans. Dark Horizons opened in the back of Terri Hooley’s cult record shop Good Vibrations, Belfast in 1985 before graduating into a shop in its own right; in its first incarnation, the store was co-owned by John McCrea who went on to become a popular comic book artist on such titles as Troubled Souls, Hitman and Herogasm, written by Garth Ennis. At much the same time in Richmond, Jon Browne opened They walk among us, a store he co-owned for 22 years which found fame as the comic shop featured on TV in Spaced and in the most recent series of Red Dwarf. Alex talks to John and Jon about their memories of running comic shops, the vagueries of stocking popular titles and how one shop burned down and the other became absorbed into a chain in the 2000s.

Panel Borders: War (comic), what is it good for?

In an episode of Panel Borders previously broadcast as a live ‘Clear Spot’ on Resonance FM, Alex Fitch talks to Paul Gravett, Ariel Kahn, Eileen Cassavetti, Francesca Cassavetti and David Blandy about about the importance of war comics in culture and bringing the experience of war and conflict to new readers in a way that text alone can’t fully realise. Paul and Ariel discuss classic war comics and Francesca and Eileen talk about publishing the latter’s war time diary in comic book format, plus, in excerpts from a couple of classic episodes, Alex talks to Garth Ennis, and Grant Rogers interviews Pat Mills about Charley’s War.

Panel Borders: Comic Therapy, tonight at 5pm on Resonance FM, podcast afterwards on Panel Borders

In a panel discussion recorded at the 2010 Comics and Medicine conference, Institute of English Studies, University of London, Paul Gravett talks to Brian Fies, Phillipa Perry and Darryl Cunningham about their work in portraying aspects of medical care and therapy in sequential art. Paul and the panel discuss issues of biography and autobiography on the page, the process of portraying a narrative that has a story structure as well as an element of education to it and what they learned from the experience. (Recorded and edited by Alex Fitch)

Reality Check: Apocalypse cinema, online at SciFi London on the 13th of June

In a pair of on stage interviews recorded at this year’s Sci-Fi London festival, Alex Fitch talks to a couple of film makers about their recent takes on the apocalypse in film; Dekker Dreyer whose film The Arcadian stars Lance Henriksen and Brian Thompson, and mixes the iconography of shamanism with elements of the road movie in a post-apocalyptic setting and Maxì Dejoie whose film The Gerber Syndrome is an Italian take on 28 Days Later…, using a pseudo-documentary style to follow a member of a biohazard clean-up crew who is scouring the streets looking for the contagious and is the first overtly political zombie film in a long time.

Recent podcasts:

Panel Borders: Mom’s Cancer

Starting a month of shows about medical comics, Panel Borders is proud to present a talk given by cartoonist Brian Fies about his web comic / graphic novel Mom’s Cancer, recorded at last year’s Graphic Medicine conference in London. Brian talks about the history of the comic, his experiences of working on a strip with such emotive content and his thoughts regarding the comics medium as a whole as a method for helping people deal with medical and life threatening situations. (Recorded and edited by Alex Fitch)

Electric Sheep Magazine Podcast: Nightmare Movies

Horror maestro Kim Newman discusses the new, updated edition of his essential book Nightmare Movies: Horror on the Screen since the 1960s with Electric Sheep Magazine editor Virginie Sélavy. (originally broadcast 20/05/11 as an episode of I’m ready for my close-up on Resonance FM)

One of the blog’s consistent fave creators, Darryl Cunningham, gives us a peek at another of his pop science comics, which this time will be tackling the subject of evolution. I was going to say the ‘controversial’ subject of evolution, but then thought nope, it is only controversial if you deliberately decide to ignore decades of scientific evidence, in which case you probably won’t be reading this anyway… And a reminder that Darryl was interviewed on BBC Radio 4′s All in the Mind programme earlier this week – if you missed it you can find the programme here and use the Beeb’s indisensable iPlayer to listen to it for the next few days.