Topics

Former Preston College art lecturer Bryan Talbot is back in the city with his wife for a discussion session on their work in comics.

Bryan, who was a graphics tutor at Preston College in the days when it was known as WR Tuson College, is famed in comic circles for drawing 2000AD's iconic Nemesis the Warlock and Judge Dredd and DC Comics' Batman and Sandman.

The artist, who lived for many years on Bairstow Street, in Avenham, also created Britain's first graphic novel, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, and The Tale of One Bad Rat, Heart of Empire and Alice in Sunderland, which the Guardian listed in the top 10 best graphic novels ever.

More recently, he published his acclaimed series of Grandville books and also illustrated Dotter of her Father's Eyes, the much lauded first graphic novel written by his wife Dr Mary Talbot.

The couple, who now live in Sunderland, are to come to Preston's New Continental on Friday April 13 to discuss their work in a talkback session, entitled Artists Talking: Bryan Talbot and Mary M. Talbot. Tickets are £4 from the Continental on 01772 499 425.

www.lep.co.uk/lifestyle/culture/ex-preston-lecturer-s-comic-art-talk-back-1-4431488

Following on from the things you've never done thread, this is for the things you've done that are so unusual you doubt anyone here has done it.

I thought we might as well have a thread for half-remembered films.

This topic has been moved to Film & TV.

http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=35751.0

Dave Elliott has been announcing a few projects this year, like the return of Atomeka Press' Monster Massacre (initially through two special issues of Heavy Metal) as well as some new projects he is writing himself:

www.bleedingcool.com/2012/01/13/odyssey-graphic-novel-from-dave-elliott-garrie-gastonny-jim-steranko/

www.bleedingcool.com/2012/01/25/return-of-dave-elliotts-monster-massacre/

www.bleedingcool.com/2012/03/15/heavy-metal-revives-monster-massacre-for-san-diego-comic-con/

www.bleedingcool.com/2012/03/30/dave-elliotts-shiny-new-things/

What was largely missed was that that first Odyssey teaser image includes the Atomeka logo, so I pressed Dave on the matter and he said it is indeed coming back:

You got me!

:-)

The MONSTER MASSACRE collection will be out under ATOMEKA.  I'm not planning on reprinting anything from back then and all the old A1 material was all owned and controlled by the creators.  That's why Garry and myself did it in the first place,  Back then creator driven and owned material was a little thin on the ground, especially in the UK so we only took one printing rights on everything.

The Monster Massacre collection this October will be a hardback containing the two Heavy Metal issues I'll have put together by then.  The September issue of HM from last year I did with Imaginary Friends Studio and the Monster Massacre September issue this year with a couple of new pieces in for good measure.

Will there be more Atomeka projects?  I certainly hope so and if the stars align properly either a monthly Monster Massacre or A1 will be launched before the year is out.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

- Dave

Happy days - A1 was like a continuation of Warrior, with all sorts of top talent contributing to a creator-owned anthology (something the mainstream comics industry needs more of), and if it or its horror-themed cousin make a comeback then that can only be a good thing.

More as it emerges...

On CL2K's social life problem I suggested a more general thread, but thought "Getting Any?" might not set the right tone (although I suspect it may end up being a better reflection of the thread's eventual contents, but we should always start with the best intentions even if they are dragged down and dry-humped within days).

So have at it.

Do you have any tales of triumph or disaster? Tip or tricks? Requests for advice?

This topic has been moved to Classifieds.

http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=35721.0

This topic has been moved to Books & Comics.

http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=35701.0

This topic has been moved to Books & Comics.

http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=35697.0

I thought I'd posted on this before, but apparently not - anyway Leigh "lovely hair" Gallagher has put some of his art up for sale:

A general batch of art including a Defoe cover, his fine Zarjaz cover and lots of other goodies:
http://leighgallagherart.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/original-art-for-sale1-batch-1.html

Lots of Defoe pages:
http://leighgallagherart.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/2000ad-defoe-original-art-for-sale.html

He also takes commissions:
http://leighgallagherart.blogspot.com/2012/02/commission-list-now-open.html

Recent ones:
http://leighgallagherart.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/recent-commissions.html

Kindle introduced Kindle Active Content which allows some scrpting with an eBook:

www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200505220

This has been jumped on by the chose-your-own-adventure publishers and the first Fighting Fantasy book is already out:

www.amazon.com/The-Warlock-of-Firetop-Mountain/dp/B004JWHW92
www.fightingfantasy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1853&Itemid=2

It struck me that Dice Man would be perfect for this type of treatment too.

The Kindle Development Kit is in closed beta:

http://kdk.amazon.com

I've signed up for this but not received anything from them.

Actually searching the forum for anything similar I turned up the Dredd gamebook:

http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,34738.0.html

Lew Stringer has reminded everyone that the first issue of Warrior came out in March 1982, making this month its 30th anniversary, how time flies - I still remember keeping that battered first issue close on our (awful) school trip to Aviemore.

http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/30-year-flashback-warrior-no1.html

John Freeman is having a draw Marvelman challenge:
http://downthetubescomics.blogspot.com/2012/03/marvelman-challenge.html

But why not pen it up a bit - draw anyone you fancy from Warrior or give us your thoughts on the comic that, along with 2000AD, helped eventually reinvigorate and even revolutionise American comics (even if they slipped back a bit in the early 90s).

The news you've been waiting for an hour earlier than expected:

Chris Ryall ‏ @chris_ryall

Just announced we've partnered with @2000AD to do Judge Dredd! We are the law!

https://twitter.com/#!/chris_ryall/status/180749245350023170

That is IDW Publishing's Chris Ryall.

Which is all for now. More details will be announced at a later point.

He's just launched a new Crossed webcomic, Wish You Were Here. He's got an Xbook coming to an end. Then there's his novels, his 2000AD and his travelling band of singing Welsh walruses. I'm not even sure I made that last one up.

And then there's Si Spurrier's new comic from Boom!. Extermination, amongst the remaining superheroes after a successful alien invasion, trying to mount a strike back

Includes a Frazer Irving cover.*

www.bleedingcool.com/2012/03/15/si-spurriers-extermination-from-boom-in-june/

* Insert Gutsville comments here

Today's Garudian has an extract from Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking by Susan Cain:
www.amazon.co.uk/Quiet-power-introverts-world-talking/dp/0670916757/

It deals with the importance of the Introvert in society:

Yet today we make room for a remarkably narrow range of personality styles. We're told that to be great is to be bold, to be happy is to be sociable. Closet introverts pass undetected on playgrounds and in corporate corridors. Some fool even themselves, until some life event – redundancy, an empty nest, an inheritance that frees them to spend time as they like – jolts them into taking stock of their true natures.

We live with a value system that I call the Extrovert Ideal – the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha and comfortable in the spotlight. The archetypal extrovert prefers action to contemplation, risk-taking to heed-taking, certainty to doubt. He or she favours quick decisions, even at the risk of being wrong; works well in teams and socialises in groups. We like to think that we value individuality, but all too often we admire one type of individual – the kind who is comfortable "putting himself out there". Sure, we allow technologically gifted loners who launch companies in garages to have any personality they please, but they are the exceptions, not the rule, and our tolerance extends mainly to those who get fabulously wealthy or hold the promise of doing so.

Introversion – along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness, and shyness – is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology. Introverts living under the Extrovert Ideal are like women in a man's world, discounted because of a trait that goes to the core of who they are. Extroversion is an enormously appealing personality style, but we've turned it into an oppressive standard to which most of us feel we must conform.

www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/mar/13/why-the-world-needs-introverts

They also have a quiz - I scored 20/20 (although I am not shy - a distinction the article goes into):

www.guardian.co.uk/science/quiz/2012/mar/13/quiz-are-you-an-introvert

Links from the comments over there:

www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html
http://theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/
http://ideas.time.com/2012/01/26/dont-call-introverted-children-shy/
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/03/caring-for-your-introvert/2696/


If that isn't your cup of tea there is also Introverts Suck: Why You Need to Be More Gregarious, Assertive and Outgoing...and How To Do It!:

www.amazon.co.uk/Introverts-Suck-Gregarious-Outgoing-ebook/dp/B0072ZREXM/

Just thought I'd pass this on:

http://toobusythinkingboutcomics.blogspot.com/2012/03/on-american-reaper.html

Well we've had one on Baltimore and Mignola's work seems very popular around these parts so I thought we might as well have one on Witchfinder - I've read the first trade and really enjoyed it, so tonight will be getting stuck into the second one.

You can read the first short story online still, if this link doesn't work (it did but I can't seem to get it to function properly) then click on the comic and scroll down to the bottom where there is a sidewise scrolling panel which takes you to issue #16

http://myspace.com/darkhorsepresents?issuenu=16&storynum=1

There have been two stories since, both of which have now been collected:

In the Service of Angels with Ben Stenbeck on art:
www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21661
www.amazon.co.uk/Witchfinder-Service-Angels-Dave-Stewart/dp/1595824839/

Lost and Gone Forever with co-author John Arcudi and the recently deceased John Severin on art:
http://ifanboy.com/articles/sdcc-2010-mignola-arcudi-and-severin-head-west-for-witchfinder-lost-and-gone-forever/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Witchfinder-2-Lost-Gone-Forever/dp/1595827943/

It came up in another thread but was off topic, so I thought

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_terror
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia

Here is my account written many years ago, I've not had anything similar happen since, although I have had the false awakenings:


I rarely have nightmares (a lot of my dreams are violent and disturbing but I'm rarely the victim!!) but the dream that scared me was a form of the Black Dog/hag/night terror/sleep paralysis which some people over the ages have interpreted as some kind of alien abduction/demonic attack (there was a very good program on it the other day). It only happened once but it left an impression.

I basically woke up to find a large Black Dog in the corner of my bed room (I have a largish Black Dog but this one was much larger and much more malevolent) but I was unable to move. In panic I woke up sweating with my heart pounding only to look over to the corner to find the Black Dog still there and I still couldn't move. I then woke up in panic and the dog had gone, I struggled out of bed but came over faint and collapsed on the floor only to wake up in panic in bed. This kept happening again and again Black Dog/fainting then waking in panic. Eventually I woke up to find the Black Dog was pinning me face down in the bed with its hands gripping my upper arms (it had changed into more of a Gigeresque Alien-type creature although I couldn't see its face - changing the whole thing into more of a Hag-like incident). I then kept waking and trying to escape and fainting and waking and being pinned by the Hag until I finally actually woke for real (heart pounding, soaked in sweat, actually out of breath) although it took a while for me to realise I was finally awake. I must have 'woken' about 15-20 times before actually coming around.

As an interesting footnote I found bruises on my upper arms where I was gripped by the Hag although the explanation is that one of my friends was giving me a few friendly punches in the pub or I was actually gripping my own arms in my sleep.

Although it was clearly a dream it has left me much more sympathetic to the claims of 'abductees' and it is clear that the experiences are part of a continuum. I certainly feel sorry for people who suffer from these kind of things on a regular basis and I could imagine such things would turn me into a basket case (esp. if it wasn't as obvious that it was a dream with the continual 'waking').



I have since heavily researched the topic on and off, over the years (I have a Future Shock bubbling under about it too), so if anyone is interested:

David Hufford's book The Terror That Comes in the Night An Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions is excellent, it is largely based on his research in Newfoundland but also looks at the wider issues. An aspect he brings out is that the locals have developed defences against the attack, and there are people with serious books offering defence techniques against alien abduction, some of which may work in similar ways:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Vl8HAAAACAAJ

Susan Clancy's Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens is more general and looks at how things like SP can be the basis for alien abduction accounts through the influence of hypnotherapy and pop culture. As I've said above it is a genuinely shocking experience* (one that appeared to also result in physical injuries, even if there is a different reason for those, I believe) and people searching for an explanation may find an abduction narrative works as an explanation for them, as attacks by supernatural creatures did in the past. Then again, it could be argued that as I was aware of SP this explanation fitted me experience and worked for me. Hmmmm.

* I now know someone who has them a lot and they are punishing and wearing even though she understands they are a form of parasomnia

Anyway enough about me, I'll throw this open to anyone who has been visited by the Night Mare or has found themselves Hag Ridden (and yes please, leave your jokes about the ex-wife at the door ).

I split this off to form a new thread dedicated to The Wicker Tree:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Tree

It is the third film in The Wicker Man Trilogy three conceptually linked films, of which only the first two have been made (although if The Wicker Tree does OK we may well see the third: Twilight of the Gods):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Man_Trilogy


Now back to the original thread:

Don't go and get confused about the Wicker Tree on Film4 tonight, as I did. This is not The Wicker Tree, the second film in the rather loose Wicker Man trilogy (which is a bit cheeky as there is currently no third film).

Eh? when did this happen? last i heard it had been called off - again.

It was out in 2011, DVD is coming in a month:

www.amazon.co.uk/The-Wicker-Tree-DVD-Christopher/dp/B007682IE0/

There is a Wicker man/Wicker Tree doublepack too:

www.amazon.co.uk/Wicker-Tree-Double-Pack-DVD/dp/B0076KQI7G/

I already have it queued up on LoveFilm.

Hopefully if it does well we'll get the Twilight of the Gods third part.

Anyone on here seen it?

John Smith has I believe, as part of his folk horror research.

Might be worth a separate thread if this is a surprise to folks.

Not just a comics creating course, but a comic:

Due out later this month is the first issue of a new comics series, Anthology, published under the new UniVerse imprint, which will showcase the best creative work that is emerging from the new comics courses at the University of Dundee and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.

Dundee has long been a haven for comics creation due largely to the city being home to DC Thomson. However in recent years the University of Dundee and its related colleges, specifically Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD), have been taking more of an interest in comics creation due in no small part to Dr Chris Murray of the University's School of Humanities. This has lead to various comic art exhibitions, often in association with DC Thomson, and the annual Dundee Comics Day, a full day of talks from a wide variety of British comics creators, as part of the Dundee Literary Festival.

And it gets better:

With a cover by DJCAD alumnus Colin MacNeil

Colin king of covers!!

Sounds like they've got some top pros pitching in:

Chris Murray is course leader of the Comics Studies MLitt at the university and director of the newly formed Scottish Centre for Comics Studies and helped to deliver the course. Chris said, "It is an exciting time for Comics Studies at Dundee, and the DJCAD module has been even more successful than we'd hoped - the results are impressive, and the students clearly benefited from workshops with industry professionals such as Frank Quitely, Cam Kennedy, Colin MacNeil and others".

But where will it be on sale?

Anthology One will be available at the Hi-Ex comics convention in Inverness on Saturday 31 March and Sunday 1 April.

Ah ha.

http://downthetubescomics.blogspot.com/2012/03/anthology-one-due-from-dundees.html