Null Space is a new weekly webcomic beginning today, Friday 6th October, the brainchild of 2000AD artist PJ Holden, featuring a veritable feast of big name writers from science fiction and fantasy, some making their debut as comic writers with this project.
“Each story will be self contained, set in its own world and be a delicate little gem of a one pager,” says PJ, whose many comic credits include strips for 2000AD, including “Judge Dredd” and “Rogue Trooper”, and X-Men for Marvel.
He is also co-creator of “Black Ops Extreme”, published in STRIP Magazine, and “Dept. of Monsterology”, the latter published by Renegade Arts Entertainment. His latest inprint project is Fascinating Folklore: A Compendium of Comics and Essays, working with John Reppion, due for release next month.
“This is my tribute to the Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Black Mirror and Inside no 9,” says PJ of his Null Space project. “I love an anthology.
“The project started because I wanted to do another weekly thing, and I just happened to know a few scifi writers and so I propositioned them and suddenly I had a bunch of scripts. What was especially interesting to me was working with people who hadn’t done comics before. I figured this would be my one way to get them to write something for free!”
Null Space launches today, on PJ Holden’s web site here, with “Spider-Killer” by British fantasy and science fiction author, Adrian Tchaikovsky, who’s best known for his series Shadows of the Apt, and for his award-winning novel, Children of Time.
Lee Harris, who has partnered with PJ on the one page strip “Life Time”, is a British editor of science fiction, fantasy and horror. He is the only British editor ever to have been nominated in the Hugo Awards “short form” editing category (with two nominations), and the first British editor ever to have been nominated in the editing “long form” category.
Gareth L. Powell is a British author of science fiction, who has provided the script for “Comfort Viewing”. He’s the author of several novels, including Silversands, The Recollection, Ack-Ack Macaque, Hive Monkey, Macaque Attack, and Embers of War. He has won the BSFA Award for Best Novel twice, for Ack-Ack Macaque in 2013 and Embers of War in 2019.
Also in the works are stories written by Scottish writer and podcaster Lizbeth Myles, Canadian author Geoff Ryman, the award-winning Tade Thompson, author of numerous novels, including the critically acclaimed sci-fi novel Rosewater, and comic writer and editor Chrissy Williams.
“To date, I’ve fourteen scripts in hand,” Holden noted last month of what’s likely to be a purely web-based project, “of which I’ve already drawn ten. That’ll take us in to the New Year, and depending on how things go, we might get beyond that. We’ll see.”
• Check out Null Space at pauljholden.com/series/null-space
• PJ Holden is online at pauljholden.com | Buy his books | BlueSky | Instagram | Mastodon | Twitter
• PJ also has an ongoing microzinem, titled A4, where he gets to play with short simple genre ideas. Check it out at pauljholden.com/series/a4
Coming Soon: Fascinating Folklore: A Compendium of Comics and Essays
by Johnn Reppion and PJ Holden
On sale from 9th November 2023
• Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
• Buy it through Bookshop.org (Affiliate Link)
Fascinating Folklore: A Compendium of Comics and Essays is a truly impressive and innovative project that has sprung from the creative seed of the popular Twitter hashtag #folklorethursday. The brainchild of the talented duo, Reppion and PJ, this project began as a creative challenge between friends but has rapidly blossomed into an extraordinary compendium of folklore.
By harnessing the power of writing prompts on folkloric themes and combining them with PJ’s stunning single-panel comics, this project has become a feast for the senses and a unique way to learn about everything folklore. Reppion has expanded each prompt into a rich and informative essay that delves deep into the topic at hand. The breadth of topics covered is truly expansive, ranging from the mystical legends of Boudica to the haunting ghost of Okiku, to the Wandjing spirits of Western Australia.
This compendium is a testament to their passion and dedication to their craft, and it is a must-read for anyone seeking to explore the vast and diverse world of folklore. With every turn of the page, readers will be swept away on a journey of discovery, wonder, and enchantment!
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.
Categories: 2000AD, British Comics, Comics, Creating Comics, Digital Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
Tube Surfing: Digital comics funding, real robots, 2000AD Regened, and an upcoming “Fables” Box Set