Here’s this week’s round up of new comics in British newsagents and comic shops skewed, as ever to highlighting British creators and publishers.
Lurking behind a cover by Rob Davis (his incredible new graphic novel The Can Opener’s Daughter is out soon, sneak peek here) is a veritable feast of talent from cover to cover of 2000AD Prog 2008. “Hunted”, “Counterfeit Girl” and the Dredd thriller “The Cube Root of Evil” all reach their penultimate instalments the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic surges towards the end of the year, and the bumper Christmas issue awaiting you on 14th December.
Over at Titan Comics, the super-powered surveillance epic Masked starts this week, a tale of powers unlike any other, written by Serge Lehman with phenomenal art by Stéphane Créty. Perfect for fans of Brian K Vaughan and Marcos Martin’s Private Eye. (Read our preview here).
And, as Titan further prepare for the highly anticipated Assassin’s Creed movie to hit cinema screens next month, the current series reaches its penultimate issue in Assassin’s Creed #13 – just in time for our brand-new ongoing next year! Do not miss the tremors through the Animus in this issue, folks.
UK Newsagents Releases
There are plenty of comics on sale in newsagents that still delight in bringing you such subversive delights, including 2000AD, The Beano, Danger Mouse comic, Commando (latest release intel here), EPIC! (recently revamped), Judge Dredd Megazine, Panini Comics Marvel Collector Editions titles, Titan Comics superhero titles and VIZ, with great strips also featuring in titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Doctor Who Adventures, Titan’s Doctor Who: Tales from the TARDIS (collecting their strips from the US format titles), Mega, TOXIC and many others.
Don’t forget the wonderful Phoenix Comic is on sale in many (but not all) Waitrose supermarkets and selected high street WH Smiths stores – and some comic shops (stockist list here), as well as available on subscription.
So let’s not get too downhearted by some British publishers lack of faith in full-blown cover to cover comic strip action and humour that only those of us over a certain age remember.
Hachette Partworks, whose partwork titles include Doctor Who: The Complete History and Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection, continue their How To Draw The Marvel Way, along with their re-release of their hugely successful part work, Marvel’s Marvel Ultimate Graphic Novel series.
Note that you may now have to subscribe if you want to continue buying Part Works some are not distributed in newsagents after their first few issues.
Digital Comic Picks
Aces Weekly Volume 25 is out now! Coming at you in seven weekly parts every Monday night – for just £1, in any currency, per week! There is no better deal on the planet for discerning comics readers!
In Volume 25… Part 3 of “The Flight”, from Jeffrey Vaughn and The Art of Brendon and Brian Fraim ; the tragi-comic, and inimitable, “Why Don’t You Love Me?” from Paul Rainey; “Mercy Killing” from Marcello Bondi and Giuseppe Latanza ; the radical, “Goons Of The Galaxy”, from the spaced-out, Marc Jackson ; feverish fantasy from Jok LP and Rodolfo Santullo in “The Big Hit” ; a beautifully told tale of a drowned world of the future, in, “BOOM! Nowhere”, from Katie Cunningham and Heather Fisher; and, later in the volume, in the tradition of “Blacksad” and Elephantmen, the AW team bring you “Chief Inspector Gator” from Anthony Zicari and Oscar Capristo… up to 200 pages, including Extras. £1 per week. That’s it – that’s all!
Although the many “likes” and “shares” for Aces Weekly on various social media are stratospheric, the team on this digital anthology don’t need a bunch of flowers, just one, like a rose – in the modest shape of a £1 per week subscription – a just £1 per week subscription, in any currency. Without subscriptions there’d be nothing here for you to like and appreciate – none of the terrific images, the extraordinary styles.
Cyberspace publishing benefits reader and creator alike in the way Aces Weekly does it do it, and will always do it, but it needs help to make its way to the target it deserves to reach. Spread the word!
British Comic Publishers
2000AD/Rebellion
2000AD Prog 2008
Cover by Rob Davis
Featuring: Judge Dredd: Cube Root of Evil by Arthur Wyatt (w), Jake Lynch (a), John Charles (c), Annie Parkhouse (l); Savage: The Marze Murderer by Pat Mills (w), Patrick Goddard (a), Annie Parkhouse (l); Hunted by Gordon Rennie (w), PJ Holden (a), Len O’Grady (c), Simon Bowland (l); Counterfeit Girl by Peter Milligan (w), Rufus Dayglo (a), Dom Regan (c), Ellie De Ville (l) and Flesh: Gorehead by Pat Mills (w), Clint Langley (a), Ellie De Ville (l)
STILL ON SALE Judge Dredd Megazine 378
Cover by Ryan Brown
In this issue: Judge Dredd: Psicho by Peter Milligan (Writer) Jake Lynch (Artist) Tiernen Trevallion (Colourist) Annie Parkhouse (Letterer); Blunt by TC Eglington (Writer) Boo Cook (Artist) Simon Bowland (Letterer); Angelic: Home is The Hunter by Gordon Rennie (Writer) Lee Carter (Artist) Simon Bowland (Letterer); Anderson: The Deep End by Alec Worley (Writer) Paul Davidson (Artist) Len O’Grady (c) Ellie De Ville (Letterer).
Features: interview with Glyn Dillon, obituary of Steve Dillon, Thrill-power Overload. Bagged reprint: Sinister Dexter: Pros and Cons.
Still On Sale:
The 2000AD Script Book
Original scripts by leading comics writers accompanied by the final art, taken from the pages of the world famous 2000AD comic. FROM THE MINDS OF THE MEGA-MASTERS For the first time Rebellion presents an astonishing and insightful collection of 2000AD scripts, written by some of the most successful and critically lauded talent behind the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic.
Featuring original script drafts and the final published artwork for comparison, this is a must have for fans of 2000AD and is an essential purchase for anyone interested in writing comics.
• Order this book from Amazon.co.uk here (using this link helps support downthetubes)
Dan Dare: The 2000AD Years Volume Two
Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future is a British icon. He was created by Frank Hampson in 1950, and first appeared in the Eagle comic where he was an instant hit with the British public. Almost a decade after the original series had ended, Dan Dare was resurrected in the pages of a brand new sci-fi comic for boys – 2000 AD! In this volume: Dan Dare and the crew of the Eagle One continue their journey through deep, uncharted space, where they encounter a host of evil alien tyrants, including dare’s arch-nemesis the Mekon! This volume of Dan Dare concludes the iconic British hero’s adventures within the pages of 2000 AD.
• Order this book from Amazon.co.uk here (using this link helps support downthetubes)
Titan Comics
Masked #1 Cover A by John McCrea
Masked #1
Writer: Serge Lehman
Artist: Stéphane Créty
Frank Braffort has returned from war suffering from PTSD, but he is thrown headfirst into a terrifying new reality where phenomena, called Anomalies, appear out of nowhere. Facing this mysterious and lethal enemy, Braffort is called on to go into battle once again for the safety of the city!
COVER A – John McCrea
COVER B – Benjamin Carré
COVER C – Steve Kurth
COVER D – Stéphane Créty
COVER E – Stephan Perger
Assassin’s Creed #13 Cover A by Nick Percival
Assassin’s Creed #13
Writers: Anthony Del Col, Conor McCreery
Artist: Neil Edwards
Tensions are running high in the Erudito camp as it becomes clear that Charlotte’s memories may hold the key to the code they’ve been trying to piece together. But it won’t be easy to decipher, as Charlotte encounters the mysterious Consus once again, in the mind of Giovanni Borgia.
COVER A: Nick Percival
COVER B: Antonio Fuso
COVER C: Ian Culbard
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Volume 2 #16 Cover A: Claudia Caranfa
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Volume 2 #16
Writer: Nick Abadzis
Artist: Giorgia Sposito
The epic finale of the tenth Doctor’s second year continues in a story so big, we had to give it two extra issues! The emergence of the Time Sentinel! The return of an ancient entity long thought dead! Anubis trapped between this universe and the next! A galaxy of impossible possibilities! Companions locked in mortal combat! Gabby’s mysterious powers in full flow! And at the heart of it all, the Doctor, with the lives of billions in his hands! As the universe shatters and time starts to die, can the last son of Gallifrey win the game by changing the rules? You won’t believe his answer! Be back here next month as Year Two ends in flames!
COVER A: Claudia Caranfa
COVER B: Photo
COVER C: Question No. 6
Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #7
Writer: Cavan Scott
Artist: Chris Bolson
The intrigue continues! While Jack infiltrates the UNIT barracks in search of the truth, Rose gets an idea of the Doctor’s life before she met him. And the Doctor is overwhelmed by a glimpse back into a “simpler” time, when he didn’t have the weight of the Time War on his shoulders.
COVER A: Verity Glass
COVER B: Photo
COVER C: Pasquale Qualano
Pacific – Graphic Novel
Writers: Romain Baudy, Martin Trystram
Artists: Romain Baudy, Martin Trystram
Young Udo’s first mission in the Second World War is as a radio operator aboard a German U-Boat, patrolling the Pacific. In his personal effects, he carries a book banned by the Nazis. When the war hero and master of the vessel, Captain Kaleunt, tries to destroy it, the book mysteriously reappears.
Puss In Boots – Amazing Tails
Writers: Christopher Cooper, Max Davison
Artists: Egle Bartolini, Dave Alvarez
Eight thrilling adventures starring everyone’s favorite swashbuckling cat! In this cat-tastic graphic novel collection, Puss gets a job at sea (with an Owl in a pea-green boat), faces the threat of El Moco, and attempts the challenge of being a 24-hour crime-fighter!
Small Press Spotlight
Note that not all copies of “Rok of the Reds” are disfigured by the creators autographs.
Rok of the Reds is one of the best independent British comics out there right now. Read Richard Sheaf’s review of #4 here
New US Comics On Sale in UK Comic Shops
Information courtesy of First Age Comics from their order list. For details of every US comic release (and more) in all comic shops, visit Diamond Comics Previews page. Not every comic shop stocks the full range but every comic can be ordered from your local comic shop
• Check out our British and Irish Comic Shops Map | Art by Nick Miller. We’ve got a range of merchandise featuring this art on sale via CafePress
2000ad prog 2008
Action Comics #968
All New X-Men Annual #1
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
Batgirl #5
Batman Beyond #2
Bloodshot USA #2
Blue Beetle #3
Buffy TVS Season 11 #1
Cage #2
Captain Marvel #10
Civil War II #7
Deadpool Too Soon #2
Death of X #4
Deathstroke #7
Detective Comics #945
Doctor Strange Sorcerers Supreme #2
Doctor Who 9th #7
Empress #7
Flash #11
Futurama Comics #81
Future Quest #7
Gaddamned #5
Hal Jordan & the GL Corps #9
Harley Quinn #8
Hellblazer #4
Jem & the Holograms #21
Lumberjanes #32
Marvel GN Collection vol129 Superior Spider-Man
Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-man Sinister Six #5
Mighty Thor #13
Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur #13
My Little Pony Friends Forever #34
Ninjak #21
Outcast #23
Predator VS Judge Dredd VS Aliens #1 special order
Rom #5
Scooby Doo Team Up #20
Sixpack & Dogwelder #4
Snotgirl #4 (Hung/O’Malley covers)
Spider-Gwen #14
Star Wars #25
Star Wars Han Solo #5
Super Powers #1
Teen Titans #2
Thief of Thieves #37
Titans #5
TMNT Ongoing #64
Transformers Till All Are One #5
Ultimates #2
Venom #1
Vigilante Southland #2
Wayward #18
Wonder Woman #11
• First Age Comics will be hosting a Small Business Day / Christmas / book-signing event in store on Saturday 3rd December 2016.
• First Age Comics, 3 Moor Lane, Lancaster LA1 1QD | Open: Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5.30pm | First Age Comics also has a shop site on e-Bay: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/First-Age
- About the Author
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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 - Current British Publishers, Digital Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, US Comics