Sneak Peek: Rivers of London comic launches this week

By John Freeman on July 13, 2015

This Wednesday (15th July) sees the release of Issue One of the eagerly-anticipated Rivers Of London: Body Work comic written by Ben Aaronovitch (creator of the eponymous fantastic crime fantasy novel series) and former Doctor Who script editor Andrew Cartmel.

I am so looking forward to seeing it at last.

Rivers of London: Body Work is drawn by Marvel and Doctor Who comic artist Lee Sullivan, whose credits also include Robocop and William Shatner’s Tek War – one of my favourite artists of those I’ve worked with over the years, so I’m delighted he’s involved.

In this all-new Rivers of London story, set between the novels Broken Homes and Foxglove Summer, Peter Grant has come a long way since first entering the special branch of London’s Metropolitan Police. With his hard-earned powers and a flair for the supernatural, it’s his job to investigate those shadowy crimes that involve urban vampires, weird folk in the Underground and, in this case, why cars are suddenly taking on lives of their own and killing innocent people!

The novel series is one of my current favourite reads (you can read my review of the latest, Foxglove Summer, here). Given that I already like the concept and Ben’s inventive storytelling, enjoyed working with Andrew on Doctor Who Magazine back in the 1990s and Lee, too, I’m really looking forward to reading this comic – and I sincerely hope this series won’t be the last!

• Rivers of London #1 is on sale in all good comic shops on Wednesday 15th April 2015

• All three creators will be signing on Wednesday, 15th July, 2015 at 18:00 – 19:00 at the Forbidden Planet London Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR. More information here

• More about Rivers London on the official web site at www.the-folly.com/books/rivers-of-london-uk

• Follow Ben Aaronovitch on Twitter @Ben_Aaronovitch

• Follow Andrew Cartmel on Twitter @andrewcartmel

• Visit Lee Sullivan’s great official web site at www.leesullivanart.co.uk or follow on Twitter @LeeSullivanArt

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.