US publisher Platinum Studios, also owners of the Drunk Duck webcomics site, has announced the launch of The Comic Book Challenge 2008 – a Pop Idol-styled comic book contest – at www.ComicBookChallenge.com, coinciding with the release of Jorge Vega’s 2007… Read More ›
Month: March 2008
Sean Azzopardi Interviewed
With the release of his new book, Twelve Hour Shift, Matthew Badham has just interviewed London-based cartoonist Sean Azzopardi and both have kindly given permission for us to republish the piece here. Sean Azzopardi is a self-published cartoonist living and… Read More ›
Paul Cornell Interviewed
British podcast producers Geek Syndicate have just released an epic 90 minute journey through time and space and into the mind of comics and TV writer Paul Cornell, whose credits include Doctor Who, Primeval, Wisdom, Robin Hood and a host… Read More ›
In Memoriam: Dave Stevens
Writer Mark Evanier has paid tribute to Rocketeer artist Dave Stevens, who died this week after a long battle with leukaemia. He was just 52. A tributes page has been added to the American artist’s official web site, and in… Read More ›
New Columbo DVD out 31 March
The next volume of Columbo DVDs is due out in the UK on 31 March. The Season 8 box set comprises the four episodes which made up the 1989 season – at the time of broadcast they were the first… Read More ›
Doctor Who Fun in the 1990s…
I recently came across this spoof Doctor Who Magazine cover in my archive, which once graced my office wall at Arundel House, Marvel UK when I was editor of the title in the 1990s. Do you think it will sell… Read More ›
Martin’s Match of the Day
Artist Martin Baines, whose work includes strips for Spaceship Away, DC Thomson and work on Titan’s Wallace & Gromit, is busy working on the BBC’s new, weekly, Match of the Day magazine, which has just launched. The title features a… Read More ›
ROK Comics Creator Interviews Online
Several interviews with creators of UK-based comics to mobile service ROK Comics, have been posted on the downthetubes.net main site. The questions were compiled by David Hailwood. • Artist Josh AlvesJosh Alves is a Graphic Designer/Cartoonist/Stand-up Comedian residing in the… Read More ›
Gerry Anderson In Glasgow
Television producer Gerry Anderson has appeared at the Aye Write Book Festival in Glasgow, talking about his career in series as diverse as Four Feather Falls, Stingray, Space:1999 and Lavender Castle as well as his career defining Thunderbirds, and giving… Read More ›
MamTor’s Mother of a Comic
Mam Tor Publishing, the brain child of Liam (Death’s Head II, Man Thing etc.) and Chris McCormack Sharp has collaborated with Mother (London) Advertising Ltd. to produce a 16 page quarterly comic inside the London edition of Time Out magazine… Read More ›
Happy Birthday, Oor Wullie!
He is Scotland’s most famous son, a dungaree-wearing, spiky-haired scamp who has sown mischief in Auchenshuggle for 70 years — and first appeared in the Sunday Post on 8th March 1936. Oor Wullie, who celebrates being “nine years auld” today… Read More ›
The Last Lecture: People versus Things
I came across this video completely by chance — but that should be no surprise, because at the moment it’s a version of one the most viral videos on the Net. This is virtual reality pioneer Randy Pausch, who is… Read More ›
Merlin Begins Filming at Last
Former One Foot in the Grave comedy star Richard Wilson is to star in a new 13-part drama Merlin BBC1 is lining up for a Saturday teatime slot which will screen later this year. Independent production company Shine, who also… Read More ›
In Review: Henry V
With the release of Classical Comics Macbeth (read our interview with artist Jon Haward here), artist Paul Harrison-Davies reviews the company’s first outing Henry V for downthetubes… There seems to have been a bit of a trend in classics adapting… Read More ›
In Memoriam: Smoky Dawson
Over on Comics Down Under, Kevin Patrick recently paid tribute to Australian musician Smoky Dawson, who died last month but who was at one time famous enough to be the star of his own comic. “Even if you’re not a… Read More ›
Spaceship Away Now on Sale
The latest issue of Dan Dare magazine Spaceship Away is now on sale from specialist shops and the official web site, but if you’re a subscriber and haven’t received your copy yet, read on… As Richard Sheaf noted last month… Read More ›
Marvel on Facebook, following other comic companies
Marvel Comics has launched its first digital comics application for the Facebook social network, a community already home to several unofficial Marvel-friendly groups and other comics-related services. Marvel says the application allows fans to peruse the entire Marvel Digital Universe… Read More ›
Watchmen Film: Character Designs released
The official blog for the Watchmen film, due for release in the US 6 March 2009, has just published several character sketches from the new movie based on the designs created by British artist Dave Gibbons for Alan Moore’s seminal… Read More ›
In Memoriam: Gary Gygax
Mourning the death of a gaming legend
Dan Dare Sale
Steve Holland reports on the recent collection of the late Bob Rothwell, a major Dan Dare fan and collector, over on Bear Alley. “A huge number of collectable Dan Dare items went under the hammer—so to speak—and some were fetching… Read More ›