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Great stuff - very atmospheric. I see it is a warm-up for "Back From the Depths" - be sure to keep us updated on progress there as I'll be interested to see how it turns out. You should give the FQP boys a nudge about doing something for the Something Wicked.

I liked this on your blog which I saw last night:
http://mygrimmbrother.blogspot.com/2009/08/its-nearly-4am-so-this-seems.html

Nipping over to get that I saw the other recent postings but this caught my... eye:
http://mygrimmbrother.blogspot.com/2009/08/apparition.html

By Jove!! 

I thought "The Prefect" was excellent.

Finished and yes indeed it was - he has yet to disappoint and I can't recommend the books highly enough. I've read most of them (House of Suns next and I'm back up to speed in time for Terminal World) and you can't really go wrong but if you are going to get into the Revelation Space stories (and you should) then it makes sense to read them in order as I suspect they make more sense that way):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alastair_Reynolds#Novels

One ot watch out ofr further down the line - Victorian Undead by someone called Ian Edginton.

I'm pretty sure you can find dozens of photos of Anthrax in 2000 AD t-shorts. Not sure if they count as stars though.

Yeah, I have submitted to Panini on a number of times, both by mail and email, and have never received a reply.

What kind of story length, characters. etc. did you use? No need for details but I'm just being nosey (oh and I do have a couple of ideas for short stories using Marvel characters I've just never thought about doing anything about it).

Have you ever cornered them at a conference? I imagine they must got an awful lot of ropey scripts emailed to them so I was wondering if a personal approach might help you stand out from the pile.

Good advice there!!

One I was wondering about (because kevlev mentioned showing some work to them) is Panini. I know they took over Marvel UK when Marvel hit their problems in 1997 and I know they produce quite a few reprint comics over here but I'm don't know an awful lot about their original comics beyond Al Ewing doing some work for them (in Marvel Heroes).

They do have a submissions page and it looks like you can email them samples (which is handy) but the advice to writers is confusing - isn't their original work also based on US comics?:

Please also send sample scripts which are relevant to our portfolio. Collectors' Editions and Ultimate Marvel titles use material reprinted from US comics, so please make sure you don't send material intended for those titles.

http://www.paninicomics.co.uk/StaticPage.jsp?Id=Submissions.htm

They also seem to be more child-friendly (Marvel Heroes suggests 7-10 year-olds) so it might be best to save that 6 page epic flaying of Wolverine's balllbag for your pitch to Marvel Comics (and may God have mercy on your soul).

I got a bit excited by your teasing the Batman cover and left my comments over on the blog. I do think it well worth showing this to Panini although I don't know what their submissions guidelines are (which I will no take over to the other thread).

Of the British independent publishers there is also Com.x which is also getting back up to speed after being quiet for a few years. However, they are taking things slow and steady at the moment releasing the collections of previous comics (like Cla$$war and Razorjack) and only taking on a few new projects (like Path and the upcoming 45). From what I read they might be open to a pitch but it seems like they are not looking for series (which caught them out with Cla$$war) and, while they don't seem to be looking to put out a lot of titles if you had a graphic novel/novella that could set the world (or at least their pants) on fire then you could drop them a line (or have a chat at a comics convention) - they seem very nice and enthusiastic.

And let's not forget- there are other comic publishers out there who will look at your work too.

That's got that "new thread" smell to it too - other publishers, people's experiences, tips, etc.

Done:
http://2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,26022.0.html

I've also snagged this (great link) and added it in there:

For those looking for other publishers besides the mighty twoofy-

http://calebmonroe.com/?page_id=6

It has alot of useful links.

Following on from a comment from His Lordship it seems like a good idea to have a thread looking at other publishers you can pitch work to, because if any consensus has formed from discussing pitching Future Shocks to Tharg, it is that you should keep writing and keep getting work out there.

We also have discussions on Zuda (which seems like a good way of getting a lot of visibility for your work) and the problems, pitfalls and opportunities available from other competitions.

So we can now throw the floor open to looking at other publishers, people's experience with them and other ideas and thoughts. But first a couple of general links:

Zarjazzer threw in a great link:
http://calebmonroe.com/?page_id=6

Here is one I had bookmarked for a while:
The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

Of course, they could be seen as Militant Gnostics - the divine spark has become trapped in the corrupt physical world and they are only helping humanity by setting thme free from the grasp of the Demiurge.

A gold star to the first person who can come up with a plausible way of connecting the Dark Judges back to the Cathars.

Basically, what story can you tell in one page? A one page Future Shock or Time Twister, maybe, or a one page story with existing characters or even a one page introduction to an all-new character or story.

The idea behind it is not about getting these pages published (although that would be nice if it happened) but just so aspiring creators can practice on something short and get feedback.

Not sure how to organise it, though, but I do think it would be a useful exercise.

Sure - start a new thread and we'll thrash it out. For reasons that current escape me I thought it'd be fun to try something like "Tharg's Exquisite Corpse" - a kind of comics consequences, a bit like they do with Huzzah (the story so far). You bag the next "page" write the panels if you aren't an artist yourself then the next one along who is interested can hammer it out and post it to a special thread (so people can read it through from start to finish without wading through banter). It'd be something which wouldn't easily translate to a paper publication so takes advantage of the medium.

And let's not forget- there are other comic publishers out there who will look at your work too.

That's got that "new thread" smell to it too - other publishers, people's experiences, tips, etc.

The Nevermore adaptation of Poe's stories by various 2000 AD alumni got good reviews too (although I haven't read it myself yet).

Just scrolling through the list of my comics and picking out anything that might fit:

You could try the Graphic Classics volumes. I have the Lovecraft one and enjoyed it.

Also John Higgins' Razorjack is  science fictiony horror weirdness (not sure if it is really horror but it is definitely something folks here should check out).

Don't forget horror manga and you can't do much better than Gyo and Uzumaki.

Also would Hellblazer, Hellboy and BPRD be too obvious? If so then both Zombieworld books are well worth looking up - a more Lovecraftian take on the dead (and other sundry unpleasantnesses) coming back, starting off with Champion of the Worms, a great tale by Mignola and then Winter's Dregs,  a collection of shorter stories set in the same fictional universe (including one by Gordon Rennie/Gary Erskine and finished off with a long one by Pat Mills and John Hicklenton that should be very much at home with the 2000 AD readership, although it might also get a raised eyebrow or three from some).

You might also be interested in Gravel - what John Constantine would have been like if he'd served time in the SAS.

The three Jonah Hex Vertigo series are superb - top quality Weird West tales from one of the cross-genres leading proponents (you can pick them up pretty cheaply on eBay if you stake them out and are patient). If that wets your Weird West whistles then there are quite a few horror-western comics around but, although it might be I'm getting jaded but "oo look its a vampire/zombie/werewolf" in the Wild West doesn't do it for me anymore and folks have to be clever to tell a good story there days - I've enjoyed the Desparadoes I've read (and the others get good reviews) and The Wicked West was good fun if a little short (and if you liked that then there Black Forest from the same creators is worth a read). I also enjoyed Billy the Kid's Old Timey Oddities, although its Western links are loose but if you loike the period and feel then this is a dead cert. I've got Dead Irons but haven't yet read it.

Practice, as Jim points out, is the key to our goal of becoming droids. Perhaps some of us who share this goal can form a kind of "Twoothy Workshop," where artists, letterers and writers get together to produce short strips for posting on this board so that we can get feedback from each other and, most importantly, the general Squaxxulation. I'd suggest a one page strip or "coming soon" kind of thing telling any story suitable for Twoothy or the Meg. That way, while we're waiting for Tharg to send the helicopter to whisk us away to stardom, we can still be practicing and the readers won't have to wade through a 50 page Dredd v Dante on Counter-Mars epic. Would anybody be interested in this idea?*

*The Twoothy Workshop idea, not Dredd v Dante on Counter-Mars. Although...

While I think it is less helicopters and more disgruntled dwarves with sticks (and ether enemas I'll bet) it sounds like something that could be interesting. Do you have any examples in mind so I can get a clear picture of what you are aiming at?

I've just sent off a Future Shock, looks like I'm gonna be waiting a lot longer than I thought!
Oh, well.
Wont stop me writing. Could even self publish a few comics and sell them at local stores, I know a few artists that might be up for it.

Well you don't seem so shabby as an artist yourself!! But, yes, the general feeling arising from this seems to be keep at it, keep getting your work out and trust in Tharg (the upturn in fortunes for 2000 AD is laid on the foundation of the old Green Gusset being able to recognise talent when he sees it).

Note FP in Brum are making an offer to stock small press comics (I believe the FutureQuake chappies have been on the shelves there before):
http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2009/do-you-make-comics-well-we-want-them-in-our-nostalgia-comics-branch/

Perhaps now might be a good time to start a general publishing thread.

if you are too focused on getting into 2000 AD you are carving the Buttplug of Disappointment for yourself, from a lemon.

Dropped my coffee at that, thanks Emperor. 

Touched a... nerve did I?