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There's an interview with Emma Beeby focusing her Dredd strip with Gordon Rennie and Paul Davison over at CBR

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=45867

Shame this didn't run when the strip was, but either way good to see Karl back in action over at the website.

More cover of 2000ad over at CBR. Nice long interview with Mr Mills focusing on Defoe.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=45848

Well have you missed me, I know you have and so being the kind hearted type I've come back to flog more tat... offer you all once in a lifetime deals you would be fools not to snap up.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/colin-at-home/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

All hail the glory off my offerings to you... and honestly you should see the prices listed for that 1st Showcase Presents Sgt Rock over at Amazon, bloomin' heck I'm cheap!

Okay so comics 'news' site Newsarama has this really annoying habit of doing Top 10 lists, normally about pretty banal things. Top 10 Superhero hairstyle, Top Ten DC Characters that should be made into a breakfast cereal that type of crap... this one though, this one I'll forgive them.

http://www.newsarama.com/17970-beyond-dredd-10-more-2000-ad-characters-you-should-know.html

Not only a great topic that all American's non-readers should be discussing and thinking about BUT it also affords us  (well me) endless hours of bitching about how cocked up their order is. I mean Nikolai Dante only number 7 - MADNESS.

Well we've not had one of these for a while...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwribmirJgM

Not sure if this is official but Rich (ECBT2000ad) says from 2000ad so maybe it is?

Well as was discussed here a while back (in the Star Wars addiction thread) Dark Horse are releasing an Omnibus called 'Wild Space' which has a load of the odds and sods of Star Wars comics collected, often never before reprinted stuff. Its out Wednesday and there a very nice preview over at CBR, which includes a complete 6 page Alan Moore strip.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=16667

Which is kinda cool. I'm sure this used to be in black and white?

All this talk of Zenith news bubbling under... well somewhere... possibly... in our dreams etc, reminded me that I don't think I've linked to this here. Over at The Beat there's been a superb series of articles dealing with the rather complex matter of 'Who the heck owns Miracleman, Marvelman and the various versions there of.

Not sure if people have been following Padraig O Mealoid's work in the area but its well worth checking out (with occasion illustrations by our own Michael Carroll)

http://comicsbeat.com/poisoned-chalice-part-15-who-owns-marvelman-part-i/

After dealing with the characters convoluted history Padraig is now getting to the meat of the matter, who the heck has the rights... of course I suspect the answer is 'I dunno really' but its been a fascinating read.

(Apologies if this has been mentioned before, I know I intended to but can't find a thread so figured I'd forgotten!)

[is]

I've just completed a reread of the whole of Red Seas and didn't want to do so without passing comment and hoping to draw comment from at least one other person, I believe has done this lately too. I think the passing of this series, in the shadow of the end of Nikolai Dante, was rather overlooked. I think many people felt done with it and didn't really feel they were going to miss it. I get the impression some might have lost patience with the series, as with another favourite of mine, as it was victim to some irregular scheduling and just like Sinister Dexter doesn't have trade releases to encourage people to go back and revisit it in one go. So yeah I really wanted to stand up for it.

The trouble is I didn't have much to say about it.

I managed to write about 17 short articles over at ECBT 2000ad when I re-read S&D, that amounted to some 20,000ish words. Red Seas... not so much to say, its just... fun. Its simple fun... mind not having anything interesting to say never stopped me before, so why start now?

When starting my re-read I wondered if Red Seas really was just going to be an extended Ray Harryhausen movie, or whether reading it over the years, in its episodic nature, had masked a more complex story. You know what it is just a majestic claymation picture. For those late to the show it's the story of a pirate, Jack Dancer, his crew, or what's left of it and their adventures trying to save the world from the devil. They travel to amazing, exotic locations, tangle with witches and warlocks, giants of deep, armies of undead pirates (before that film) and armies of metal warriors, dinosaurs, lizard men and Gods, numerous Gods, all have their part to play. As well as pirates his companions include, Isaac Newton some years after his 'death', the disembodied heads of the guardian of the underworld, a cowardly musician and family members not too impressed by him. It offers such a lot of excitement, swashbuckling adventure and crazy action. Its not mindless by any stretch, but it doesn't try too hard to be anything its not. Its an action adventure, its designed to be a high octane read and I felt it was even structured to be like those movies of old to a degree.

First the scene is set and a major peril is introduced, a evil to drive the rest of the series forward. The world is then explored in a series of adventures, each introducing some new element and each introducing some fantastic and wonderful inhabitants of their world. All of it throwing danger and excitement the way of our heroes. Once this is done, the world in place, the main players established, more and more of the over arching plot is revealed, building towards a conclusion. Things become more intriguing, I'd never say intricate, mysteries are firmly established, interesting themes are exploded, faith, family relationships, but the action is kept so relentless that we don't ponder on them too much.

Many people complained that the concluding story felt slight, had no substance, but it I think it was meant to, in the best possible way. Read in context of the whole series, its the thrilling, big action end sequence, where all the pieces of the puzzle come together, all the elements we've visited (well almost) collide in one pulse pounding showdown between the good guys and the bad guys. Its does read incredibly fast, that emphasizes the break neck speed of it all. It was fantastic and entirely appropriate. The casual, relaxed, happy final celebration, in the final splash panel is the perfect way to round things off. Loved it.

Aside from the structure our led reminds me of Ray Harryhausen films as well. Jack Dancer isn't that great a character, he's no Nikolai Dante, he's no Sinister or Dexter, he's no Joe Dredd, he's all the heroes from from Ray Harryhausen films. What do you remember from Jason and the Argonauts, Jason or the Skeletons? What do you remember Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, Patrick Wayne (I had to look his name up) or the troll fighting the sabretoothed tiger? I could go on, but I hope to have made my point. After all the series isn't called 'The high adventures of Jack Dancer', its The Red Seas for a reason.

Jack Dancer isn't a bad character at all, I should point out, he's fun, he's sharp, witty, brave, full of bluff and daring do. He's just not the star of the show, he's the lynchpin that holds together our exploation of the world and the real stars the wondrous mystical beast and monsters, Gods and demons that inhabit it. This is borne out when you see how must of the stories and adventures resolve themselves. Jack often stands witness to colossal forces at play, barely having an impact on the outcome, many times he's the vessel that carries some deux ex machina to its required location, to set unimaginable powers into action. He's a real man in a world of wonders.

Likewise most of the supporting cast have a similar role, oh they are all nicely released, each with a role and function, we're made to care for each enough that their fates keep us interested, but there's no need to flesh them out beyond that. They serve a purpose for the story perfectly. The one notable exception being Erebus, the decapitated (two) heads of canine gatekeeper to the underworld. That he stands out should be no surprise, after all he's one of the astonishing beasts the story relishes in and so no shock he's the best character of the lot, the most rounded and it could be said the star of the show.

If the majestic world Red Seas is set in is the highlight of the series, then its going to take some pretty astonishing art to make that work and Red Seas is perfectly served there, every page being drawn by the magnificent Steve Yeowell. Now its fair to say I'm predisposed to Steve Yeowell, I adore his art, he's one of my favourites. In Red Seas he excels, in ways that I don't think he gets full credit for. His designs make all these fantasies come to very vivid life. His storytelling is always clear and easy on the eye, regardless of the crazy excesses of imagination he's having to portray. Frequently in mainstream comics these days the double page spread is used too much and as such they lose their impact. Every artist tasked with creating one for the 'big two' should be made to read Steve Yeowell's Red Seas and see how they should be used, to real impact, to make the world he's creating genuinely widescreen.

The artist came into a lot of flack, towards the end of the series, for his scant use of ink. Lots of empty backgrounds, a perceived lack of detail, acres of white space, not crammed with little lines showing every tiny element. For me that was clearly the work of an artist at his height. He had the confidence to leave space, to not weigh panels down with detail and linework. He opened his work out and by doing so removed the boundaries it might otherwise of had and left it light and open, expensive and without limits. Always he gave enough for the readers, so their imagination could to fill the space on the page and most importantly beyond, with whatever vast expanses were required. He used his art to free the readers imagination, not shackle it. Steve Yeowell created the epic scale the story needed, but did so with real bravery and skill, by allowing the reader to set the limits and see so much more than they otherwise might and I admire for that and love the work he created here.

If Steve Yeowell's art is the creative heart of the strip, it is only because Ian Edginton allows it to be so. He writes to the strengths of his artist, he creates a world that Yeowell is able to delight in, he sets the scene so the artist can run with it. In Red Seas Ian Edginton manages another rather impress feat. He creates incredible, fanciful situations, environments and characters, he generates situations and solutions to dilemmas that stretch the imagination, test the readers ability to suspend belief. He's able to push these limits by having, in the pirate crew we follow, very grounded, real people, simply realised and neatly crafted, so as to always keep even the most incredible events grounded. Next to the pirate there's a scientist or magician, a mystical beast or musician, even Jack himself to provide well disguised explanation to boot. Even his Devil is a cheeky chap that we can relate to. Its a deceptively clever trick and allows him to get away with so much. Each time the spectacular occurs there's some pirate or other to remind you how much it all stinks, or how tested their breeches were, to keep you right in the story and engaged with every flight of fancy, on a real level. Its a fantastic bit of writing.

So there you go, as you can see I've got nowt to say about Red Seas. Its such a shame that the original trades, apparently, didn't do so well, so this glorious tale is not now bound into easily accessible packages for all to enjoy. Maybe, in a few years, we'll get lucky and Tharg will see fit to put the whole thing into 'Case File' type volumes, I reckon it'd only need two, maybe three at most, so that people can enjoy the series again and hopefully re-evaluate it. See 'cos Red Seas deserves to be read again and again, just as Ray Harryhausen films can be watched again and again, as its blistering, magnificent, astonishing, epic old school fun. The way comics (and films) used to be.

I love me some worthless sales data and so being the giving sort I'll share this worthless info with you for the fun of it.

Over at The Beat they've started to run another sales chart for Top 100 Graphic Novels, using some Amazon data

http://comicsbeat.com/introducing-the-amazon-graphic-novel-bestseller-list/

Now the top 100 data that's collected is really an absolute snap shot, as apparently its up-dated every couple of hours BUT the figure I found interesting is the total number of days any given item has been on the chart. So in the guise of research for work I decided to do a similar search of the UK chart, to see what sells well here (I've mentioned elsewhere we sustain a graphic novel collection in the Libraries I work in).

Now the snap shot itself isn't too useful, but what I do find of value is the total number of days an item has been in the chart. It doesn't give you any sense of actual sales, it does however let you know which books have legs and have sustained and therefore one can assume, high sells overall in comparison to their 'peers'

So why on Earth am I boring you with all this stuff, guess what, when I looked and of course this was just a snap shot so some items where not present (no Watchmen much to my surprise) The Case Files One had been on the chart for more days than all but 4 items, being on the chart for 1476 days. Those being Maus (way ahead on 2298 days), Persepolis 1788 days, How to draw comic the Marvel Way (glad and very surprised to see that old gem there!) and From Hell 1886 days. That's some pretty illustrious company.

Now of course what value all this is is open to debate, after all on the face of it Case Files one is 'ahead' of ALL the Walking Dead titles, but of course they have been out, generally for no where near as long, so for example Walking Dead Compendium One has charted for 1285, but was released some 4 years after Case Files One... so the detail is very slippery BUT it does make for very good interesting vague impression of how well stuff is doing.

Edited to add: If you want to waste time looking at worthless data, its all here

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bestsellers-Books-Comics-Graphic-Novels/zgbs/books/274081/

Interesting piece on comics in libraries (US focus) from Publisher Weekly

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/57093-how-graphic-novels-became-the-hottest-section-in-the-library.html

I run a Further Education College's Library service (I'm not allowed to call it that I have to call it a Learning Centre, but I'm amongst friends here right) and over the years we've built a graphic novels collection in support of broader reading. Its proved incredibly popular, even more so than our prose section.

What's always good to see is the diversity of material taken. Our most popular titles fall into the predictable stuff, so Walking Dead, Scott Pilgrim and some of the superhero stuff (we keep the bulk of the collection in one Centre by the DVDs to get tie in). So when its discussed that success on the screen doesn't translate to sales, that may be the case, but it does led to interest, which I guess leads to the question of price. The students in our college are largely 16-19 year olds with limited income. Outside these more predictable successes we get some pretty good stuff being borrowed. I always remember being pleased when David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp become one of our most borrowed items a few years back. Dredd and other 2000ad stuff has also proved popular, even before the movie.

So yeah this got me thinking. I know a lot of people use their local libraries (use 'um or loss 'um) to access graphic novels and trades but I was wondering what sort of selection do people see and how are they labelled? Are they stuck with the teen fiction, mixed in with the more general collections? Do people think their librarians understands the medium and how diverse it is?

(Originally saw the article linked from here http://comicsbeat.com/todays-big-read-the-oral-history-of-graphic-novels-in-libraries/)

I've seen Zenith mutterings around the net due to the appearance of 2000ad staffer, including Molch-R wearing Zenith tee-shirts at C2 E2. But its just been muttering. the Beat is the first site I've seen that's taken the plunge and out and out started to speculate on what it means

http://comicsbeat.com/is-grant-morrisons-zenith-going-to-return/

Of course it might just be to draw attention in a crowd of people doing just that. But hey nowt like Zenith speculation... well aside from Miracle Man speculation that is...

While The Beat live blog gave some info there's much more detail on stuff revealed over at CBR in an interview between Karl and Molch-R

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=45148

Also a couple of gems about up-coming artists, including RM Guerra on Dredd.

Apparently there was also a live feed of the panel alas missed that. Hopefully the video will appear later. Anyway in the meantime here's a live blog of the panel from The Beat (Heidi MacDonald was on the panel)

http://comicsbeat.com/c2e2-liveblogging-dredd-and-beyond-the-whole-wide-world-of-2000-ad/

Not hearing anything new, but nice to read. aside from a 6 part Dredd next week (this week for subs?)

Apparently from adverts in the forthcoming FCBD comics comes a teaser poster for Judge Dredd - City of Courts By Douglas Wolk (I'm assuming the Douglas Wolk?) and Ulises Farinas.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=45163

Not sure what this is about, but all interesting stuff.

Remember all that talk when IDW published the JD vs. Mars attacks variant cover? People thinking it was a comic not just a cover. Well it would appear that now it will be.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/04/26/mars-attacks-judge-dredd-gets-a-series-more-idw-at-chicago/

Regardless of whether this is a good idea or not it all equals more publicity for Dredd state-side so from that angle at least must be a good thing!

Any of the Southern Contingent going to this?

http://www.comicafestival.com/index.php

Only just heard about it via The Beat and have to say the Website ain't great (when I click on Events it tells me all about what happened in previous years but nowt about this year!) but there seems to be some good stuff happening.

Brian Bolland is doing a talk and Fraser Irving and Warren Pleece seem to be involved?

The Beat continues its recent trend of giving 2000ad loads of coverage (and about time too I should say!).

This time Steve Morris (who seems to be The Beats answer to Karl at CBR a real 2000ad supporter) does a great interview with Arthur Wyatt.

http://comicsbeat.com/interview-arthur-wyatt-explores-the-streets-of-dan-francisco-for-2000ad/

There's a list of the nominations for this years Eisners over at Bleeding Cool and much to my delight 2000ad has been nominated in the best Anthology category

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/04/16/the-eisner-nominations-2013-fantagraphics-get-twenty-four-dc-comics-gets-two/

Has 2000ad been nominated for an Eisner before? I don't recall it being, but that might well be my ignorance.

So either way YAY 2000ad!

In finding the the Simon Davis news I also discovered 2000ad has a YouTube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/feed/UCWP4rwZ4m2eoBZFqjGBevLA

Is this news, or am I just slow on the up take...

Well this is such big news its going to get two posts. Firstly

Over at Robot 6 they have the story that Simon Davis is the new Slaine artist.

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2013/04/2000ad-announces-simon-davis-as-new-slaine-artist/

Including a QnA... but as well as that there's the news... to another thread...