Regular readers will recall we plugged the upcoming launch of indie project Raygun Roads back in July – an incredible-looking multi-media project that includes a music album, written by Owen Michael Johnson, designed by Andy Bloor, drawn by Indio and lettered by Mike Stock.
Owen has dropped us a line to tell us the full album will be complete at the end of this month – and that the first Raygun Roads show it will debut at is Lakes International Comic Art Festival.
“I’m really proud of how it’s shaping up,” says Owen, who recently launched an art competition that’s open to any medium – be it writing/art/music – to dream up a Raygun universe-inspired item that could win you a page of original art from the comic.
Dang! This Raygun Roads comic must be pretty hard hitting!
The 56 page Raygun Roads & The Infinity Loop Death-Trap of Ulysses Pomp is a post-modern psychedelic science fiction comic concerning a fictional pop culture messiah, Raygun Roads who – along with her cosmic punk band The Kittelbach Pirates – kidnaps the teenager that invented her.
Exploding through the wall of the job-centre in their Suicide Machine, The Kittelbach Pirates rescue Vince from murder at the hands of his personal spiritual virus, D-Void. Raygun and Vince take a road trip through his psyche with the intention of assassinating Ulysses Pomp – head of D-Void and mastermind of the Infinity Loop Death-Trap; a mechanism with the power to destroy all teenagers.
Influenced by counter-culture, the work of Jack Kirby and Moebius, and 1960’s pop-music (the flip-book is split into SIDE A and SIDE B – the story dictates flipping like a vinyl record), Raygun Roads is a punk-rock sugar-bomb in the vein of The Invisibles and Bulletproof Coffin. It’s an allegorical piece of trash about recession politics, our unemployed young and the raw cosmic power self-expression.
“A smart and witty comic book that ticks off all my pop culture boxes…” enthuses Storm Dogs and Bulletproof Coffin writer David Hine, while Brendan McCarthy (Shade The Changing Man, Zaucer of Zilk, Zenith) calls it “Good work! Paul Pope meets Shaky Kane…”
• Check out the web site designed by Inigo Saen, which includes the comic, music created by Steve Harrison, details of the Raygun Roads tour and more (mature content warning!): www.raygunroads.com
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
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: British Comics, Comics Competitions, downthetubes Comics News
Related Articles
-
Writer Dan Slott headlines latest Doctor Who Panel to Panel podcast
-
Win a trip to Dundee, home town of the BEANO
-
Quantum, new comics anthology, launches, with first issue cover art competition aimed at promoting newsstand sales
-
Don’t miss your chance to win the Observer / Faber / Comica Graphic Short Story Prize!