STRIP Magazine publishers at British International Comic Show

Print Media Productions, publishers of the upcoming monthly STRIP Magazine, have confirmed they will be exhibiting at the British International Comic Show.

Publisher Ivo Milicevic, whose Bosnian comic titles include Strip, Metal Hurlant and science fiction title Plavi, will be at the event, as will STRIP Magazine editor John Freeman, who is also owner of downthetubes.net.

PJ Holden, one of the creators working STRIP Magazine, will be on the PMP stand at the weekend, as will screen writer Stephen Walsh and Commando artist Keith Page, signing copies of their new steampunk-inspired graphic album – The Iron Moon, the first PMP graphic album.

John Freeman will be appearing on a panel organised by the Comic Book Alliance on Saturday, talking about the British comics industry.

PMP has a range of graphic albums planned through 2011 and a special preview of these and STRIP Magazine will be available at the event.

New originated stories planned for the range include The Quest, drawn by 2000AD and Interzone artist SMS; Age of Heroes by James Hudnall and John Ridgway; and a selection of European albums published in English for the first time, including L’ Heritage du Diable (The Devil’s Heritage) by Gastine & Felix.

Creators whose work features in PMP titles include PJ Holden, John Ridgway, Keith Page, Jim Campbell, Michael Penick, Jon Rusby, Dean Deckard, Nick Spender, Mauricet and Gary Caldwell. More creators will be announced soon.

Charlotte Corday is briefed by Queen Victoria and the Duke of Wellington
about the mysterious Iron Moon. Art © 2010 Keith Page

THE IRON MOON

A Charlotte Corday adventure…

RULE BRITANNIA! BRITANNIA RULES THE STARS!

The twentieth century is just around the corner and Queen Victoria is hale and hearty as she heads into the second century of her reign. The British Empire stretches from the white cliffs of Dover to the red skies of Mars. Go-getting men and women of the imperial dominions flock to the colours, eager to make reputations and fortunes in the wilds of high space.

Take lieutenant Charlotte Corday, for instance. Born in what used to be known as France, she has risen to prominence through the ranks of the Royal Space Navy and now finds herself up to her neck in her greatest escapade yet. Watch as she travels to the mysterious Iron Moon! Marvel as she grapples with a conspiracy that may see the galaxy plunged into war! Goggle as she meets new and strange races, both mechanical and biological! Ponder how she manages to put away so many cups of tea! And prepare to have your brain scrambled as she scoops us up and carries us to the very limits of this universe… and into the next!

Iron Moon writer Stephen Walsh has written multiple volumes of DC Thomson’s Commando Picture Library, as well as the graphic novel The Acid Bath Case (illustrated by Kellie Strom). He co-wrote the feature films How Harry Became A Tree, released in 2001, directed by Goran Paskaljevic and the upcoming Where The Sea Used To Be, directed by Paul Farren. He’s currently working on a documentary about John Ford with the director Sé Merry Doyle, as well as preparing further adventures of Charlotte Corday with Keith Page.

Inspired by the great British comics artists of the past such as Frank Hampson, Don Lawrence and Joe Colquhoun, Keith Page has worked full-time in comics and illustration for some 17 years.  Subjects have ranged from television-related material such as Thunderbirds, science fiction, and his current war stories of all periods for Commando. A variety of Keith’s work can be seen on www.keithpageukcomocsartist.blogspot.com.

• If you would like to know when The Iron Moon is available, drop PMP a line at the dedicated email address for this project – johnfreeman6-ironmoon@yahoo.co.uk

Ex Astris heads to Spaceship Away

I’m pleased to announce that Ex Astris (www.exastris.co.uk), a new SF adventure that is the brainchild of Mike Nicholl, written by me, has two new homes in addition to the mobile comics version on ROK Comics.

We have a ten pager, ‘Homecoming’, scheduled for appearance in UK anthology title Bulletproof #2 (on sale later this year) and we’re working on a 3 part story for publication in the Dan Dare-inspired magazine Spaceship Away, starting in Issue 16, on sale in the Autumn.

‘Homecoming’ will be published in balck and white but the Spaceship Away story will be in colour.

I’m also working with Mike on a three page story for the next ‘Misty’ anthology.

Kickback, the mobile version

David Lloyd has produced a special mobile comics-styled preview of his highly praised crime thriller Kickback (http://www.rokcomics.com/full_player.php?comicid=61838494), available to read on your mobile via wap.rokcomics.com.

The trailer comprises a special four-part preview for the book, first published in France by Editions Carabas and more recently in English by Dark Horse Comics.

"I enjoyed creating Kickback more than anything else I’ve produced in years," says creator David Lloyd of the book, an artist perhaps best known for V for Vendetta but whose credits include James Bond, War Stories, Captain America, Doctor Who, Sandman and many other titles.

"I always wanted to do a crime story that had the quality and style of some of the crime movies I admire," explains David, "where no-one says more than they need to in order to move the story along, and you care more about the people involved in it than the action sequences."

BMX-O-Ball

Hmm, haven’t done a lot here for a while, so how about a from the archives strip in my gallery section from my old fanzine SCAN, penned by SMS and drawn by Matt Bingham back in the 1980s, re-lettered for a 2000s audience? Enjoy BMX-O-Ball, sports fans!

Mobile Combat launched on ROK Comics

ROK Comics creator David Hailwood (http://www.rokcomics.com/artist_info.php?userid=14) has come up with a novel way of using our comics-to-mobile format to create Mobile Combat, a new card game — except the cards are electronic and delivered straight to your mobile.

The first game has been released on time for Hallowe’en.

"Think ‘Tim Burton does Top Trumps," David who has been working on the game for several months and busily fine tuning this first wave of the game for the last few weeks, explains.

The card designs feature some terrific and scary art by the likes of Stu Smith and Kerry Santo.

"This brand new game is designed to be highly replayable and infinitely flexible, with many more game decks, rules and sets in the making," he says.

To find out more, check out the strips at http://www.rokcomics.com/artist_info.php?userid=14&series=129, or download a free PDF of the extended user guide and first two sets of rules at http://www.blogger.com/www.mobilecombat.ning.com.

"Read the rules. Download the deck. Play the game," urges David. "It’s that easy."

So, what are you waiting for? Grab yourself a game deck and get killing zombies today!

Tribute: Phil Gascoine

I’m very sorry to report that British comics artist Phil Gascoine (http://lambiek.net/artists/g/gascoine_phil.htm) has died after a short illness.

For those of you who knew him the news comes as a terrible shock. He was once chairman of the SSI and always a consummate professional.

In the words of his good friend, fellow artist Barrie Mitchell, who I spoke with this morning, "There are not a lot of artists who can turn their hands to anything, but Phil was one of them."

A 2006 interview and tribute to Phil for my downthetubes web site is at: www.downthetubes.net/features/interviews/phil_gascoine.html

I would welcome memories of Phil if you have them. He was always one of those creators who would mix with all generations and was still working on DC Thomson’s Wendy. He will be much missed by all who knew him or worked with him.

Thanks in advance for any feedback you may have if you knew Phil personally.

ROK Comics Managing Editor John Freeman Interviewed

31st July 2007: Comics to mobile project Rok Comics’ Managing Editor John Freeman will feature in an upcoming ‘Nightgig’ podcast (http://gigcast.nightgig.com/), talking about the $10,000 Humour Comic competition which runs until end August 2007 — and the opportunities ROK Comics offers publishers and individual creators alike to create and sell strips for mobile phones.

The Gigcast is an independent popular Podcast for fans of webcomics, by fans of webcomics which this week celebrated its 100th episode.

Publishers already signed aboard ROK Comics include the Britain’s Daily Express and Daily Mirror, Egmont, Look and Learn, Markosia and more with "Garfield", "Doonesbury", "Too Much Coffee Man", "Robin Hood" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" already available on site, soon to be followed by the likes of "Andy Capp", "Garth", "Jeff Hawke" and other classic strips.

ROK Comics also features "Half Moon Investigations", a mobile version of a comic strip drawn by British artist John Royle based on the book by Eoin ("Artemis Fowl") Colfer, in association with Puffin Books.

Creators publishing via ROK Comics include the critically acclaimed Chris Reynolds ("Moon Queen"), Michael Colbert and J.K. Woodward ("Crazy Mary"), Toshrio de Smeyter ("Scoff), Steve Tillotson ("Banal Pig"), Dave Hailwood ("Ups and Downs"), Dave Berner ("Hunted", "Shades"), Josh Alves ("Tastes Like Chicken"), startrek.com’s David Reddick and Vince Aviles ("El Profe").

Creators and publishers can earn a 50 per cent share of revenue earned by ROK Comics on strip sales. The company has relations via its parent, ROK Entertainment, with over 30 telecoms worldwide including operators in China, Pakistan, India, South America and elsewhere.

ROK Comics launched its ‘Hot Talent’ competition with a grand prize of $10,000 in July. Simply create or upload a humorous comic strip on www.rokcomics.com and be in with the chance to win .

Full details are at http://www.rokcomics.com/competition.php but here’s how you enter:

1) If you haven’t already, sign up to ROK Comics at www.rokcomics.com

2) Create a humorous comic following the ROK Comic guidelines using the Creator Tool and categorise it as ‘Fun’ (The comic must be published in English)

3) Publish your strip as a Freefall or Pro "Fun" strip between now and 1 September 2007

4) That’s it! You will have entered the competition and are in with the chance to win $10,000!

——————————–
ROK Comics: www.rokcomics.com

Rok Comics seeks hot talent and offers $10k prize

Rok Comics seeks hot talent and offers $10k prize – and publishing opportunity – for best original comic or cartoon received

Comic Prize is Serious Business

ROK Comics, the UK-based online and mobile phone creative aggregator and publisher of comics and cartoons have announced a competition with a prize of $10,000 (