Neil Roberts creates Sarah Jane Adventures comic for the BBC

By John Freeman on October 17, 2010

A panel from the BBC’s new online Sarah Jane Adventures comic

As Jeremy Briggs notes in his report on Doctor Who Adventures, the BBC have published a new online Sarah Jane Adventures comic.

Although published in a web-friendly ‘sliding frame’ the original art, downthetubes can reveal Return of the Krulius, drawn top science fiction illustrator and 2000AD stalwart Neil Roberts, has actually been drawn in a standard comic page format. With that in mind, we’re wondering if the BBC will eventually consider publishing a print edition of the new adventure.

Recently interviewed on a blog I’ve created promoting my new art book, SciFi Art Now, Neil reveals comics have always been a source of inspiration for him – of all kinds, from Nutty, Oor Wullie, Victor to Starblazer and Eagle.

“I was really into artists like Ian Kennedy, Gerry Embleton, Mike Noble, Frank Bellamy – although I didn’t know their names at the time,” he says. “I came to 2000AD and American comics quite late, but I instantly loved Dave Gibbons and Colin Wilson’s work.

“In addition to that, I remember in one of the 1980’s Eagle annuals there was an article about how computer games were made and that switched a light on in my head. This was quite an exciting moment for me as a young child, as it was around the time Tron came out and my family had just bought a Commodore 64, so the prospect of using computers to make pictures seemed a very real and exciting idea.”

• Read the full interview here

• Check out Neil’s online gallery at: www.skinnyelbows.com and his art blog atwww.skinnyelbows.blogspot.com

• Read Return of the Krulius

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as 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.