Overload yourself at the Glasgow Comic Con

By John Freeman on 16 June 2011

If you’re at the Glasgow ComicCon this Saturday, then look out for copies of Martin Conaghan’s new title, Overload, which comes wrapped in this ace cover by Roy Stewart.

All work in the title is creator-owned, with Overload reserving some reprint and digital rights.

“I started up my own company, The Copydesk Ltd, a few months ago with a view to publishing some of my own projects,” Martin says of the project “and I’m starting with a US-format black and white anthology title called Overload. It’ll be short run stuff, but will hopefully build.

“Issue #0 comprises my old six-page stories, previously published in Negative Burn and some other places, but it helps me get it off the ground.

“I’m planning for it to be semi-regular, perhaps quarterly at first and I’m aiming to crowdsource some of the money to cover costs etc.

“I’ve started gathering a roster of names for issue #1,” he reveals, which I’m aiming to have done by October (in time for the Leeds’ Thought Bubble convention) and then I’ll work on a schedule from there.

“So far, I’ve recruited Gordon Rennie, James Peaty, Vito Delsante, Cy Dethan, Matt Gibbs and Martin Hayes (plus me) for issue #1. It’s a good blend of established, semi-established and up-coming writers. For now, it’s invite-only, so I’m being careful about how I source contributors.”

• Overload #0 will be sell at the Glasgow Con, price £4 (44 pages, b/w, colour cover).

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.