downthetubes News Archive: September 2004

APCOMICS TO PUBLISH GRAPHIC NOVEL BASED ON BESTSELLING CHILDREN'S FANTASY BOOK
29/9/04: UK-based APComics, publishers of titles such as Assassin School, The Chase and Monster Club, has obtained the rights to produce a graphic novel version of a best selling children's boo. Work will commence once a talented artist has been found to work on the project.
APComics say that, as yet, cannot disclose what the project is -- and any artist that is hired will be working on this project in secrecy, until an official announcement is made from both publishers.
Artists (including colourists) interested in submitting their portfolios for consideration can contact APC's publisher, Richard Emms via the company's web site (www.apcomics.com) or alternatively via mail to: APComics, FAO: Richard Emms, Suite 3, 7 French Row, St. Albans, Herts, UK.
Artists providing portfolios via mail are asked not to send originals -- but copies of their work -- as APComics will not be able to return artwork.
The successful participant hired will be offered the further books in the series in a project that APComics believes could last several years. "How can a person put into words what this actually means for such a young company that has only been publishing for the past two years?" says Richard Emms, APC's founder and publisher. "We are just blown away with the reaction to what was submitted to the publisher -- although we thought, in the beginning, that we had a very small chance of actually working on such a great series of children's fantasy novels. "We're looking for portfolios from artists -- known and unknown -- and there is a certain style we need for the book," he adds. "We're going to have a short list of five people with the successful artist being notified by mail with the contract within the next few months. "Ultimately we're looking at a summer 2005 release for the first 140-page graphic novel followed by the second volume around Christmas 2005."

DANDY REVAMP ON WAY
DC Thomson will relaunch The Dandy -- the world's longest running comic -- on 7 October, revamping old characters and introducing new ones. Desperate Dan has been updated -- losing his gun, but still drawn by veteran Ken Harrison -- and a new cast of contemporary characters wil be introduced, including Dreadlock Holmes, a streetwise amateur detective and his Afro-Caribbean family, and Jak, a modern-day Dennis who causes mischief with a "sense of responsibility".
"The new Dandy is about putting the humour back into children's lives," says editor Morris Heggie. "We're going back to our roots with the mischievous humour that still appeals to all children."
"Office Hours" is a nother new feature which will take readers behind the scenes as a "fictional" editorial team pulls together a comic from chaos. It's not a new idea of course -- DC Thomon's Sparky comic featured "Sparky People" in a similar setting with an always unseen editor back in the 1970s.
The changes, which follow research by the publisher into the views of both children and adults, commissioned to bring The Dandy up to date, are said to be the title's most radical revamp in the magazine's history. DC Thomson claims in promotions for its key titles that The Beano and the Dandy combined have a current total sales of over 156,000 (see DC Thomson's promotional PDF on the title), but the Dandy sells just 45,000 copies a week compared with two million in the 1950s.
DC Thomson told the Daily Telegraph they are trying to win back readers lost to television and computers. Ben Gray, the company's executive manager, acknowledged that children were not politically correct and "still like to climb trees and play cowboys and Indians" -- but feels many Dandy characters were out of date and "a bit boring".
Mr Gray said the company could no longer rely on adults buying the comic for children. "While the Dandy still evokes nostalgia and loyalty among parents and grandparents, the comic has been finding it harder to grab the attention of seven- to-11-year-olds who are bombarded with so many entertainment choices."
"Kids need to be bowled over in the newsagents," Gray told the BBC, "and then engaged by characters and stories they can really identify with.
"Our designers, illustrators and editorial team have come up with the kind of comic that kids today will really enjoy and we're now looking forward to another 70 happy years of The Dandy."
Comics insiders say that if the revamp does not halt declining sales Dandy may well merge with the Beano next year.
• In other Dandy news, a first edition of The Dandy complete with free gift -- a whistle -- has been sold for a record £20,350 according to the Comic Postal Auctions, who handled the sale. The buyer wishes to remain anonymous but apparently has one of the best comic collections in the country.
A copy of the second edition of The Dandy, published a week later with a free jumping frog toy, sold at the same auction for almost £4,000.

Derek Lord photographed by Edmond Terakopian in 2001. "Mr Lord was a joy to meet and a joy to photograph," Edmond recalls. Photograph used with kind permission.

DEREK LORD - A TRIBUTE
28/9/04, updated 2/10/04: by comics artist John Ridgway: Derek Lord died at 10.10am on Thursday 23 September 23 having been rushed into hospital for an emergency operation for a perforated bowel. He was 77 years old.
I'd known Derek for about five years -- from when I contacted him about the possibility of working on the proposed Eureka magazine. I spoke with him on the 'phone on the Tuesday morning before he died. I spoke to him regularly -- always on my telephone bill. The only communications I had from him were little notes and postcards. He communicated with everyone that way. His notes have been turning up on my reference desk all over the weekend.
Since that first contact there have been many setbacks and disappointments on Eureka but Derek was not the type to give up. For every door that closed he opened another three. He was up to date with his information and knew precisely the right person to get in touch with.
Derek was editor fro two years on the Eagle. He left the title, along with many others, when it was taken over by Amalgamated Press and the entire ethos of the Eagle was changed. He worked for Reader's Digest and the Milk Marketing Board before an inheritance enabled him to go freelance and allowed him to concentrate on the idea of a replacement for the Eagle. Prior to Eureka there was to have been Excalibur and Terra Nova, the latter with Ron Embleton, Don Lawrence and Keith Watson. For various reasons neither publication got off the launching pad.
I met Derek face to face only four times. Although wearing thick glasses, stooped and elderly, he nevertheless impressed me with decisiveness and clarity of thought. He knew what he wanted in Eureka and I found that I wanted very much the same. He wanted to produce something modern and of lasting quality -- a difficult task.

Goodbye, Derek - I'm going to miss you.

Read Steve Holland's obituary from the Guardian (registration required):
www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1315814,00.html

PAPER TIGER RELEASED!
23/9/04: Paper Tiger Issue One, a UK 'zine featuring a variety of comic strips from 18 different creators, has just been released. The first issue includes a never-before-published Really heavy Greatcoat by John Freeman and Nick Miller along with many other comics with bite, comics with claws, even comics that purr occassionally!
Paper Tiger Comix publish comic anthologies created by an international band of artists, though they are mostly based in the UK (many from Brighton).
Paper Tiger's plan is to showcase the work of the small press, underground comix, alternative strips, non-mainstream up and coming talent, and whatever other subcultural catagories you can invent (with not a superhero in tights in sight).
Details of Paper Tiger's aims and origins can be found at:
www.dirtysquatters.com/papertiger/index.html

EAGLE EDITOR DEREK LORD DIES
23/9/04: John Ridgway called me today to say Derek Lord has passed away after an operation on a perforated bowel which his doctors warned him he might not pull through.
In addition to being a former editor of the Eagle, Derek was the "brains" behind Eureka a new comic he and many other British comic creators were trying to get off the ground as a twenty-first century version of Look and Learn and Eagle.
John Ridgway told me he has every intention of trying to get Eureka off the ground.
Derek was involved in the Eagle since its inception, joining the comic's team in 1950 as a sub editor from the defunct title Leader (click here for more on the origins of Eagle).

MANGA MOVER
23/9/04: boychild productions has just launched Manga Mover, as a regular anthology comic book of stories by Japanese creators.
Manga Mover will showcase new manga ka to a western audience. This will be a distinctive effort in comparison to many manga translations as most of these creators will be new and upcoming manga ka, who are unknown in the west.
"The stories will be mature level, some with an intelligent mainstream flavour, others being more alternative in approach," explains publisher Sean Michael Wilson. "The book is split into two sections, with two stories being read in western format from the front and two in Japanese format from the back -- meeting in the middle. One of these Western format stories will normally be by non-Japanese creators in a broadly manga style or influence.
First issue features Sakura Mizuki, of recent hot Manga The Spiral‚ in a new story not even seen in Japan yet. Other contribuotors include Misako Rocks, female creator Tomoko Amemiya, published in English for the first time. Sean Michael Wilson provides another story with art by Juan Chavarriga who has recently signed to do some books for Platinum Studios.
Issue one of Manga Mover is £4 UK, $5.99 in the USA, 68 pages, perfect bound. Available in shops via Diamond distributors November Previews Catalogue, or Redroute distribution in the UK or direct from boychild productions.

THE NORM ASKS FOR HELP
17/9/04: Cartoonist Michael Jantze is backing a scheme to completely transfer his strip, 'The Norm' to the web, shortly after deciding to stop drawing the strip after eight years of battling the syndicate-newspaper corporations.
"Over the past few weeks I have read thousands of emails from fans expressing their sadness about the strip ending," explains Michael's partner Nicole, who is convinced that if enough people became members of TheNorm.com, "I think we can convince Michael to keep drawing the strip -- new strips -- beginning on 1 November. So, in the short-term, you would get to keep reading a comic strip you love and in the long-term, we just might change the world of comics. Susbscribing to the site will cost $25 (reundable if the project doesn't get enough subscribers), offering full access to the new strips and past material. "Michael thinks I'm crazy," says Nicole, "but I truly believe that together we can break the cycle of syndicates and newspaper editors determining what comic strips we read.
"If one syndicated cartoonist can break away successfully, then future creators might have a better chance of getting the respect they deserve from syndicates and newspapers. With the decline of newspaper readership, it is time to ask yourself, where will you find your favourite comics? If you really enjoy this comic, what is it worth to you? The price of a book? The price of three Starbuck mocha, choca, frosty, yummy coffees? The price of a pizza? The price of two movie tickets?"
Michael has given Nicole six weeks to generate enough subscribers to make the site work: the deadline is 31 October 2004.
"Join today and don't forget to tell all your friends (and family too)," urges Nicole, "because together we can start a revolution."


ACTION COMIC ARTIST DIES
6/9/04, info from Steve Holland: Leandro Sesarago, recognised as one of the great exponents of the Argentinian comic strip and a dean amongst artists, passed away on 2 August 2004. Although he seems not to have drawn a great deal for the UK, his work appeared alongside a number of Argentinian artists in the pages of the British comic Action where he drew episodes of 'Dredger' in 1976.
Trained at the Escuela de Dibujantes de Juan Oliva, his career began in 1944 and his early strips included 'Dick Malvan' (1946) and 'La hija de los faraones' [The Daughter of the Pharaohs] (1947), published in the magazine Aventuras. In the 1950s his comic strips, illustrations and covers appeared in magazines like Ping-Pong, Pasiones Blancas, Poncho Negro, Intervalo and various magazines for Editorial Codex including Pimpinela, Odi selandia and El Libro de la Guerra. For Hora Cero Extra, Sesarego drew two episodes of the famous 'Ernie Pike' in 1959. Sesarego's work also appeared in the Italian version of Skorpio with 'Il grande labirinto' (1980). When Walter Ciocca retired from drawing, Sesarego took over the artistic chores on 'Ezequiel Barrales, criollo de ley' which Ciocca continued to write. In 1983 he wrote and drew 'El Gato Moro' for the newspaper La Razón. In the 1990s he drew 'Ahorcado' [The Hanged Man], scripted by Robin Wood, for Editorial Columba. Sesarego explored his enthusiasm for the history of comics and their creators in the comic fanzine, Crash!, launched in 1979.

FUTURE LAUNCHES JETIX
2/09/04: Future Publishing has created a new team to produce magazines specifically for children. The Jetix Magazine, an official title based around the Jetix brand, formerly Fox Kids TV, and Official Duel Masters magazine are its first titles (Toontastic will launch a Duel Masters comic next year).
The formation of a dedicated editorial team for kids magazines marks Future’s intent on entering into this growing sector. The children’s magazine sector saw impressive increases in retail sales value and copy sales last year respectively while recent independent research indicates that 93% of children read magazines. With its first partner already in place, the publisher is set to announce further officially branded titles over the coming weeks.
In charge of the new studio are 'big kids' and Future veterans Cavan Scott (Editor), Karl Jaques (Art Editor) and Richard Owen (Deputy Editor) – who will be responsible for the launch of The Jetix Magazine, as well as any forthcoming launches in the sector. Working with Mike Goldsmith (Senior Editor), the team has a rolling brief to identify new trends, seek out new licences and publishing opportunities and work on establishing the publisher’s own children’s magazine brands.
The Jetix Magazine will be the first kids title from Future and launches on 9 September priced at £2.99. Jetix is the new name for the Fox Kids TV channel and the magazine will feature posters, puzzles, competitions, comic strips and fun features based on hit Jetix TV shows, including Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sonic X and Spider-Man and Jetix exclusive, Martin Mystery.
The Jetix Magazine will also feature a monthly covermounted DVD. Taking the covermounted disc concept pioneered by Future one stage further, the exclusive DVD will feature two new episodes of Jetix shows, plus the latest movie and videogames trailers. The DVD (for use on DVD players and game consoles) will also feature an interactive Jetix quiz that rewards users with bonus footage if all questions are answered correctly. The disc can additionally be used in a PC and features loads of playable kids game demos and cool content for young PC users.
"By creating our own dedicated team Future is taking its entry into the kids sector very seriously," said Mike Goldsmith, the Senior Editor, responsible for the kids studio. "We see it as an extremely exciting and appealing sector to enter, not least as we have considerable experience creating youth magazines through our videogames portfolio plus a strong heritage of creating high-value covermounts – crucial in this market.
"We believe the best way to establish ourselves in the children's sector was to work with leading companies. We are very happy and proud to be working with Jetix, a name sure to soon be on the lips of kids. The Jetix Magazine enables us to talk about the key brands that matter to today’s kids and marks a solid start in the sector, with further announcements to come."