This weekend will see the launch of the CROSS anthology from Disconnected Press at Thought Bubble, a glorious assemblage of political wit, satire and polite British rage!

And we do mean glorious, because Conor Boyle, the co-conspirator in the project with partner Lizzie, has sent us a preview copy which comes with a stonking cover from Pye Parr, and it looks fantastic, featuring strips by…

• Nigel Auchterlounie, writer of “Dennis the Menace” for The Beano

• David Baillie and SPINX: 2000AD writer David Baillie and SPINX bring flair, imagination and a healthy disdain for the powerful to their story The Archaeology Inspector
• Emma Beeby and Gavin Mitchell: Judge Dredd writer Emma Beeby and fantastic emerging talent Gavin Mitchell team up to explore the coalition of Heaven and Hell
• BRICK a political cartoonist since the politically dark but cartoonishly bright days of Margaret Thatcher, and whose work has featured in newspapers and magazines around the globe. More recently, his first graphic novel Depresso, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Embrace Being Bonkers was shortlisted for the MIND UK Book of the Year Award, and he edited the incredible World War One anthology To End All Wars
• Richmond Clements and Nick Dyer: Small press superstar Richmond and 2000AD artist Nick team up to place an unexpected character on border patrol duty at the Channel Tunnel
• Cy Dethan and Matt Timson: From the creator of Cancertown Cy Dethan and internationally published artist Matt Timson comes the story of an individual’s battle against the system

• Tom Eglington and Verity Glass: 2000AD writer Tom Eglington and Doctor Who cover artist Verity Glass channel everyone’s favourite Christmas movie to explore the way life turns out if you vote… and if you don’t…
• Tom Foster: Emerging 2000AD star Tom brings us a story of the sacrifices we all need to make for austerity – we are all in it together, after all.
• David Ziggy Greene whose  Scene and Heard reports have been a staple of Private Eye since 2011 and his work has featured extensively in Time Out, Charlie Hebdo and a lovely collection of graphic novellas
• Howard Hardiman: A terrific indie creator whose book The Lengths combines humour, erotica and dogs in a totally legal way. Now he turns his attention to squirrels and fascism. Obviously
• Owen Johnson and Conor Boyle: British Comics Award nominee Owen Johnson brings a dark edge to this story of our surveillance society, illustrated by Disconnected’s own Conor Boyle
• Mary Talbot and Alwyn Talbot: Costa Award winner Mary Talbot brings us the early years of many of our favourite political figures, with some amazing caricatures and a very cute teddy bear provided by artist Alwyn

“Money Bucket Head” by Rob Williams and PJ Holden

• Rob Williams and PJ Holden: A dynamic duo from the 2000AD stable, their story for CROSS tracks the progress of an earnest and serious young man who is determined to do good in the world by becoming an MP
• Illustrations by small press dynamo and all-round good egg Matthew Soffe (who created the caricatures to the left), lettering by Jim Campbell (because letterers deserve more credit)

Please give this amazing looking project your support. Although it wasn’t successful in gaining its corwd funding it’s to Conor and Lizzie’s credit that they have gone ahead anyway and published this marvellous looking title. They fully deserve your purchase, as do all the creators involved.

• CROSS will be launching at Thought Bubble. For those who’ve already booked their tickets, you can find the Disconnected Press table in the Royal Armouries, at Table 84. To order a copy from Disconnected Press visit https://disconnectedpress.wordpress.com

• Find out more about the making of CROSS, an object lesson in publishing an anthology at https://disconnectedpress.wordpress.com/2014/11/11/four-days-to-go-a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-disconnected-press/#more-493

• About the Author
• Latest Posts

John Freeman

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.

• Still on Sale in WHSmiths: QUANTUM No. 9
• Support kids at Christmas - a quick guide to donating old books, comics and toys to charities
• Thought Bubble workshop schedule includes primers on arts funding, crowdfunding and more

Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Current British Publishers, downthetubes Comics News, Featured News

Tags: Alwyn Talbot, Brick, Conor Boyle, Cross, Cy Dethan, David Baillie, David Ziggy Greene, Disconnected Press, Emma Beeby, Gavin Mitchell, Howard Hardiman, Humour Comics, Lizzie Boyle, Mary Talbot, Matt Timson, Nick Dyer, Nigel Auchterlounie, Owen Johnson, PJ Holden, Richmond Clements, Rob Williams, SPINX, Tom Egling, Verity Glass