Treasury of British Comics exhibition closes today

Don't forget that this CLOSES today people...

In case you missed it Orbital comics are having an exhibition to celebrate all the good things associated with Rebellion's 'Treasury of British Comics' line, look forward to some beautiful British original art in the month of June in central London...

The website is here

Final days of Action art on display at Orbital comics (2)

Arthur Ranson's Beatles strip, more Action art and a page of Marney the Fox by John Stokes - exhibition closes tomorrow, don't be late!

Final days of Action art on display at Orbital comics (1)

The last few days of the Treasury of British comics exhibition at Orbital comics; plenty of art from Action

Red Dagger cover gallery - part 4

a small hiatus recently but I am back with the Red Dagger cover gallery, we're now up to 4 Ian Kennedy covers in this batch of 5, impressive strike rate!

Part 3 is here 
Part 2 is here
part 1 is here

Dix & Jim Broadbent tonight @ Gosh comics

This is happening tonight people, don't forget!

Gosh comics (and Paul Gravett) have announced an intriguing sounding evening at Gosh on Tue 26th June 7:30 - 9pm 

as they say here...

We'll have Jim Broadbent and Dix here to discuss their new graphic novel Dull Margaret with Paul Gravett on Tuesday the 26th June, 7.30-9pm. We'll also have copies of our exclusive Dull Margaret Gosh! Bookplate Edition available on the night!

Academy Award-winning actor (and some might say national treasure) Jim Broadbent has turned his hand to the graphic novel format, teaming with Dix, of Guardian strip Roll Up! Roll Up! fame, to present a tale that finds its start in the Pieter Bruegel the Elder 16th Century painting Dulle Griet, with its striking image of a breastplated woman with a sword in one hand in front of the mouth of hell. 

Dull Margaret leads a miserable life hunting slippery, slimy eels to sell at the marketplace. In town, she finds that she does not belong: the locals shun her, steal from her, and send her away to her crude shack far away from civilization. Fed up with the cruel world, she decides to take fate into her own hands, mixing a witch’s brew to bring her friendship and riches. But she soon learns to be careful what she wishes for, as this powerful magic sends her down a series of shocking and gruesome twists and turns. Intense, bleak, and darkly humorous, Dull Margaret is one of the most unexpected and original graphic novels of 2018.

We're thrilled to be able to offer a Gosh! Exclusive Bookplate Edition of Dull Margaret, available to buy on the night. If you can't make it along but would like a copy, you can pre-order now via our webstore.

Jim Broadbent and Dix will be here to discuss their work with noted comics scholar Paul Gravett, from the genesis of the project through to their collaborative process, on Tuesday the 26th June, 7.30-9pm. We will close briefly at 7pm for setup before letting people in shortly before start time. No need for tickets or reservations, seating will allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Red Dagger cover gallery - part 3

Three Ian Kennedy covers in this short run of Red Dagger covers... 

Part 2 is here
Part 1 is here

Look Alive - issue 1 - Don Lawrence art and more

Following on from some online chat at the weekend about Don Lawrence dinosaur art (which has been neatly summarised here) I promised I'd fetch a few more images out from the comic magazine they originally came from...

So here we have some pages from Look Alive #1...  

This is the original Genghis Grimtoad strip - that would be re-drawn by Ian Gibson for Marvel UK

Don Lawrence dinosaur art...

Wilf Hardy aviation art

John Cooper art accompanying a text feature

Look Alive only lasted 5 issues, was edited by Kelvin Gosnell and was ambitiously priced at 40p (when new Eagle was half the price).

Pat Mills: Kiss my Axe cover revealed

Some details have emerged from Pat Mills about his Slaine book...

Pat and Lisa Mills (and John Freeman) at 2000ad 40th anniversary convention in 2017

In Part One of Kiss My Axe!

• The key Celtic sources of myths & legends and where the warp-spasm comes from;
• How I based the plot of Sláine on myself;
• The secrets of Zarjaz and the failed artist coup d’etat;
• The secret story of Mike McMahon’s incredible Sky Chariots and the special edition we all want to see;
• With illustrations of key scenes such as the original helmeted version of Sláine!

Plus: find out why many fantasy writers give up on the Celts and what made me persevere; what the readers really thought of the first three Sláine artists: Angela Kincaid, Massimo Belardinelli and Mike McMahon – and how Fandom disagreed with them.

Includes 11 chapters, plus a ‘Skull Duggery Timeline’ of the creation and early episodes, and illustrations of key scenes such as the original helmeted version of Sláine, how the artists based Sláine on themselves, and the greatest warp spasm of all!

Chapter Headings:

1. By The Bogs!
2. The Masks of Sláine
3. Kiss My Ex
4. Celtomania
5. The Zarjaz Move
6. Chariots of Fire
7. Warp-out!
8. Sky Chariots and Shoggey Beasts
9. No Winners
10. Dragonheist
11. ‘He didn’t think it too many.’

The cover is by Alex Ronald (who also did the Be Pure...cover)

The complete book is, sadly, quite a way off: I'm backed up with projects and unlikely to get started on Parts Two, Three & Four until much later in the year. So it'll probably be early 2019 before Kiss My Axe - the complete works, is published.

This sounds great (and I think the cover looks ace as well), roll on 2019 I say!

Women cartoonists @ British Library tonight

Don't forget that this in on tonight at the British Library...

Women Cartoonists and Comic Artists

Fri 22 Jun 2018, 19:15 - 20:15

A celebration of the work of over 100 women artists spanning 250 years

The suffragettes’ use of cartoons and visual propaganda helped turn public opinion their way and from the 1920s, women cartoonists’ work began to appear regularly in newspapers. Nicola Streeten, Cath Tate, editors of The Inking Woman, and artist Kate Charlesworth discuss the history and politics of women’s comics.

Nicola Streeten is an anthropologist-turned-illustrator, cartoonist and comics scholar. She is the author of Billy, Me & You (Myriad, 2011) and co-founder of the international comics network Laydeez Do Comics. Her PhD from the University of Sussex is The Cultural History of British Feminist Cartoons and Comics from 1970 to 2010, with a particular focus on the use of humour. 

Cath Tate is an author of humourous books and has been publishing the work of women cartoonists for over 30 years, as featured in The Guardian. 

Kate Charlesworth was born in Barnsley and lives and works in Edinburgh. After art college in Manchester she began work as a freelance illustrator in London where she was part of (as it was then known) the ‘golden age’ of gay publishing. Her work has appeared in The Guardian and many other newspapers,
magazines, books, comics, exhibitions and electronic media, and she has drawn storyboards for Hot Animation and Aardman Animations. In 2014 she collaborated with Costa award-winners Mary and Bryan Talbot to illustrate Sally Heathcote: Suffragette, now translated into several languages.

Image: Sally Heathcote: Suffragette by Mary M Talbot

When:	Fri 22 Jun 2018, 19:15 - 20:15
Price:	Full Price: £10.00 Member: £10.00 Senior 60+: £8.00 Student: £7.00 Registered Unemployed: £7.00 Under 18: £7.00 Friend of the British Library: £10.00
Enquiries:	+44 (0)1937 546546 boxoffice@bl.uk

Sniper Elite Resistance - exclusive Ian Kennedy cover revealed

Sniper Elite Resistance is the first new comic series from Rebellion to use the old school British comics legend's Battle logo. The first cover has been out for a while...

...but now 2 other covers have been revealed...

...including this Ian Kennedy cover to a Forbidden Planet exclusive variant

You can order a copy here or a signed version here (note that the signed version is signed by Patrick Goddard and Keith Richardson - it is NOT signed by Ian Kennedy). There will also be a signing at Forbidden Planet in London on Saturday 1st September @ 1pm featuring Patrick & Keith but not Ian (yet!).

A (7th) Doctor Who signing tonight

This is tonight folks, don't forget!

Over here on the Forbidden Planet website a Doctor Who signing has been announced for the London megastore on the evening of Wednesday 20th June, from 6-7pm.

A the website says...

BEN AARONOVITCH, ANDREW CARTMEL and LEE SULLIVAN will be signing DOCTOR WHO SEVENTH DOCTOR #1 and RIVERS OF LONDON WATER WEED #1 at the Forbidden Planet London Megastore on Wednesday 20th June from 6 – 7pm!

From the writers of the fan-favourite episode Remembrance of the Daleks, Andrew Cartmel and Ben Aaronovitch, Doctor Who Seventh Doctor #1 brings us a brand new comic adventure featuring the Seventh Doctor as played by Sylvester McCoy, and Ace as played by Sophie Aldred. Also includes a short back-up strip, written by Richard Dinnick, with art by Jessica Martin.

And in Water Weed #1, the digital and bookstore smash-hit series returns with an all-new miniseries. When two of the less well-behaved river goddesses, Chelsea and Olympia, decide to earn a few quid on the side, Peter Grant and Bev find themselves drawn into a sordid cannabis smuggling operation, controlled by London’s new queenpin of crime, the brutal and beautiful Hoodette.