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Northern Lightz no.4

Northern Lightz Publishing

32pp

Black & White

£2.75/E 4.40[Euro]/$4.00 [US]

It’s been a while since I last saw Northern Lightz -which,kiddies,is an “Adult Comic Book”.  Underground Comics are a rare thing in the UK and it takes our Scottish pals to show how it should be done!

Contributors include the 2000 AD writing legend Alan Grant,there’s art by Jim Stewart,Pudsy,Shug,Dave Alexander and others.  The strips have such great titles,too:Ganjaman,The MacBams,Jelejunkies vs Tokemon,Captain Zappa  [John Miller’s artwork looking very similar to a 1980s strip -”The Girl With The Flowery Trousers” which looks unique enough],Z-Men,The Hempire Scores Back,Idea Man and Dope Squad -amongst others.

I just love the look and feel of the comic as well as its rather anarchic humour.  If you see a copy in Forbidden Planet or any other outlet [there are a few “Head” shops out there] try a copy -and Alan Grant writes scripts for it. Tempted?

There should be more like this.

Dangerous Ink 03

Dangerous Ink Publishing

Black & White/Colour

52pp

£2.50/$6.00

Publisher-Editor Tom Green handed me this issue at the Expo and with the incredible Chet Zar cover I’m glad I was in the right place! 

There is more Zar artwork in an article about him. Mind-blowing.  There are also some Kreepy Kat strips [check out www.kreepykat.com ] and also an interview with artist Bob Dob -another purveyor of alternative art.

“My Name Is Bruce” takes a look at actor Bruce Campbell -film,comic and more.

“The Mook Presents” by James Howard is quite humorous and other colour strips include “Jenny’s Weird Friend” by Shug [see  www.reetcomic.co.uk ].

Dave Chung’s work is looked at and I did laugh at “Incorrect!”.

There is a great deal in this publication billed as the “Alternative Arts Magazine”.  Available in the United States and UK the balance of creators and art is a fair mix. I think that too many comic people forget that it isn’t just “Comics” and “Fine Art” -this magazine proves the point.

Highly recommended.

 

SHRIEK!

Moonface Press

One-shot

Black & White

40pp

£2.00/$3.99

Well,Andy Winter writes all four stories in this comic and I did wonder what to expect and the titles had me thinking for a while!

“Tim Skinner:Total W*****” is pencilled by Natalie Sandells and inked by Adrian Bamforth.  Obviously I’ll not give away any plots beyond what I have to but stepping into a magic collection of comic strips can have consequences!  Very nice.

“Bummed” was drawn by Duane Leslie and I think says everything about the You Tube generation and some of the morons who get ideas that sadly,unlike in this tale,do not back-fire.  The art works really well with this story.

“Apocalypse? No!” is drawn by Mikey Ball -the Horsemen Of The Apocalypse will never be the same!!!

“Brimstone Bitch” is the longest strip in the book and drawn by Tim Twelves.  It’s probably the weakest strip art-wise,though I’m assuming Twelves is a young [new] artist so considering its length it is not that bad.

I have to wonder whether Andy writes these scripts as he goes or whether he has a backlist of scripts/ideas?  I worry that I’ll wake one morning to find he’s writing CBO!

Well worth buying but remember:this is for mature readers only!

Recommended.

Although I did mention Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet,as well as interview Sonia Leong and Emma Vieceli about their wor for Self Made Hero,I never got the review copies promised by SMH.

But,I always like to push British companies so here is a little info from the Expo.

PRESS RELEASE -EMERALD

CITY JOSH MEDORS BENEFIT AUCTION RAISES OVER $10K!Even more auctions to come to support Medors! 

May 15, 2008 (Berkeley, CA) - This past weekend the Emerald City ComiCon and Frazetta Comics run Josh Medors Benefit Auction raised over $10,000 for the FRANK FRAZETTA’S SWAMP DEMON artist in his fight with cancer. 

“The response of the comics community and fans alike has been amazing,” Medors said. “The money raised not only helps out with medical expenses, but it also  takes a great weight off my shoulders and helps me focus on what positives I can. I could never thank everyone enough for what they have done for me.” 

What started off with a couple of e-mails and phone calls to a few friends turned into a mega event, with over 130 lots of donated original art, books, prints, posters, toys and statues all sold at the auction.  Fans unable to attend the event can still support Josh in the Ebay auctions, an original John Romita Sr. Mary Jane sketch, Willow Creek sketch books by artists such as Eric Powell, Tim Vigil and an the opportunity to appear as a zombie in THE WALKING DEAD. 

“Please, bid high and bid often, it’s for a good cause,” WALKING DEAD creator Robert Kirkman said. “To benefit Josh Medors in his time of need we’re auctioning off a chance to have you (yes, YOU) appear in The WALKING DEAD as a zombie. You’ll get a good appearance, and a good kill, it’s not just a background thing–you’ll get a full appearance that people will see–I promise.” 

Frazetta Comics Editor/Artist Jay Fotos added, “The auction went off without a hitch even though it was completely overwhelming. We had a small timeframe to auction and a large amount of donations, with people donating lots even during the auction! I can’t thank enough to Jim Demonakos and all the ECCC staff that donated their time to help the auction move along smoothly. My hat’s off to them, as this was all truly inspiring.” 

Monetary donations to Josh can be made via PayPal to jmedors1@insight.rr.com.

 

 All items are searchable under “Josh Medors Benefit Auction”. 

Image Comics is a comics and graphic novels publisher formed in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Since that time, Image has gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the

United States. There are currently four partners in Image Comics (Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino), and Image is currently divided into four major houses (Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline and Image Central). Image comics and graphic novels cover nearly every genre, sub-genre and style imaginable, offering science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. Visit

www.imagecomics.com.

 

 

I know that I keep saying Dr Master and other Independent books seldom,if ever,get onto our shop shelves.  So imagine my surprise when I visited the Cinebook table at the Expo and Olivier,between selling books,introduced me to Claire Thompson of Turnaround Publishing Services Ltd..

 

There,on their table,was Wing Shing Ma’s “Chinese Hero”,the King Of Fighters book and even Four Constables.  And the prices were very reasonable.

 

Who are Turnaround?  According to their site:

 

 

“Since 1984 Turnaround Publisher Services has provided a sales and distribution service for a variety of British, European and North American publishers to the

UK, European and Eastern book trades. We are pleased to make our titles available to all independent and chain stores and actively sell to all key retail outlets, wholesalers, specialist wholesalers, school and library suppliers.”

 

 

The April-September 2008 New Titles Catalogue is a 112pp eye-opener and it just proved my point that comic shops can get Independent titles if they want to!

 

If you are an Independent comic shop then contact Turnaround;if you keep getting told by your local retailer that they cannot get the books you want –tell them to try Turnaround!

 

Still no luck –contact Turnaround to see if there is a retailer they supply with the books you want in your area.

 

Their site is:

www.turnaround-uk.com

 

 

Incidentally,despite what Forbidden Planet [

Bristol] told me,all the Cinebook titles are available from Turnaround so there is no excuse.

 

 

 

No.2

Black & White

24pp

£3.00

contact:15 Wedmore Vale

Bedminster

Bristol BS3 5HQ

or:paulashleybrown@googlemail.com

When I first saw the cover I thought Mr Brown had commissioned another artist.  Hmm. Maybe people won’t realise that’s a joke?  Won’t put it into the review -oops!

Seriously,the cover illo is very eye-catching and looks like a still-frame from a b&w 1950s/1960s film.  Probably one of the best illoes I’ve seen from  this doyenne of the Bristol Art World.

Music to read this publication to:”I Started A Joke” by the BeeGees;”Fool On The Hill”,the Beatles or,by the time I got to the last page:”Seasons In The Sun” by Terry Jacks!

Not actually that depressing but the lad needs to sit down with The Jack Kirby Collection for an hour or two!

There are the nice figure studies,drawn in and around Bristol and if you are a resident of South Bristol then you’ll probably recognise the “Oddfellow Local”!  You might even notice the fellow from “So The Wind Won’t Blow It All Away”

“Fine Day”,well,been there.  Done that! There are some fine pieces here and “Short Stories”,”Sept. 27th” and “Stardust” stand out.  Of course,it would not be Browner Knowle without the “Pretty Vagrants!” back cover.  This issue it’s No.4:”Dylan”.

If you missed the South Bristol Arts Trail which starred Mr Brown,and if you were unlucky enough not to get a copy of Browner Knowle No.1 [there are a very few copies left-check] then you must get a copy of this!

I mean,£3! Get something other than X-Men and if you are an artist try something similar but based where you live! There are many thousands of you out there so you must have taste!

And if you want to see more Paul Brown art -in colour- then try Osnap were he is the featured artist. The link is:

http://www.osnap.co.uk/profile_pb.htm

Now,sadly,with very few microphones around I must admit that I sadly missed the names of all those on the Manga Euro Style panel with the exception of author and Manga officianado,Fredrik Stromberg.  So my apologies to all those nice people from the Yokaj Studio.

I think that there were a few very good points made by the Yokaj team and Stromberg that wannabe Manga creators should note.

The Japanese and Chinese guests all had one thing in common:they worked late into the night and pointed out that the everyday things need to be done before getting to their Manga drawing -work!shopping,washing up,cooking.  It isn’t as most of us would really like it to be -get up 7.00 a.m. and work til 12 noon.  Restart work til 9.00 p.m. and so on.

Of course,if you are a “mummy’s boy” and your parents are supporting you til you make the big time you are probably calling out every half hour “Mama -tea!”,”Mama -sandwiches!” and so on.  Not everyone can lounge around doing no work all day..unless you are Paul Brown!

A set routine helps but how often can you stick to a set routine?

There were a few laughs,intentional and unintentional,which is far better than a rigid.set-piece Q&A.

Stromberg,and the Yokaj folk made a very valid point which I think worth noting here.

It does not matter if you are in the UK or Sweden,but if you want to draw comics or create comics in a Manga style then do so but base those stories on your own experiences or on things that happen in your own country.  Don’t try copying Manga based in countries you don’t know about -make it so that comic fans from your country can point to something and say “that’s so true!”

Talking to Fredrik later I found out that he really was a very nice man and passionate about his subject.

And to be honest,if we can attract more of this type of guest over in future it’ll be great!

 

 

Eleventh Hour

Graphic Novel 1

Trade Paperback 80 Pages

Black and WhiteRelease Date:Thursday, June 05, 2008 Price: £5.95 $9.99 

Well,this is the first volume of Orang Utan Comics anthology series published by Markosia. 

 

Now when I reviewed the comic a while back I was a little critical.  So,when I met artist Simon Wyatt and [oh please let my memory work!] Peter Rogers,at the Comic Expo I was pleased that they took it all in their stride.  In fact,they handed me a copy of this book!

 

This book is great.  I can’t really criticise any of the art because there are no real problems.  “Black and White” is a bit of a fib that doesn’t tell you that grey tones have been used.  Normally I get a little critical about grey tones because a lot of artists use it either badly or to hide problems in their artwork.  Not the case here.  The grey tones are used to great effect and add a lot to the art –the strip “Mamluk” was in fact colour work that was grey-toned.

 

“Eye Of The Storm” written by Peter Rogers and drawn by Azim Akberali was in the comic I reviewed and is included in this book due to someone letting the editor down at the,uh,eleventh hour. Still a good strip.

 

The same team produce “Seniors” which is interesting.  Two old men meet in a retirement home and immediately the sparks fly.  In their younger days they were deadly enemies –Doomhawk and Captain Courage!  Can’t wait for part 2!

 

“Daughters Of Lilith” is written by Ian Sharman and art is by Diego Simone –a nice stylish piece.

 

Some very nice art on “The Sweetest Thing” by Cherie Donovan and art by Dhonnie “Dagger” Punzalan.

 

“Rise And Shine” by,again,Sharman is drawn by Eric M. Smith.  This is my favourite. There is a great villain and the art is slick.  Remember the name Eric M. Smith because if he does not have a future at Marvel,DC or some other big comic company then there is no justice. Excellent.

 

“Danick and the Dragon” is written and pencilled by Ian Sharman and inked by Simon Wyatt.  I’m hoping to spotlight some of Simon’s work on CBO soon.

 

“The Mist” by Cherie Donovan is pencilled by Scott Larson and inked and toned by Sharman  and a nice piece.  “Innocence” is again by Donovan with some great looking art by John Charles who,like Eric M. Smith should have a bright future ahead of him.

 

Sharman writes “Ghost Boy” which is drawn by Donna Stewart and is definitely there for the Manga fans who might complain there is nothing in the book for them!  Nice work.

 

“The Last Days Of Cydonia” is another Sharman piece with  pencils by Riccardo Latina,inked by  Slamet Mujiono and toned by

Carolina bertacchi.  Nice piece of sci fi with a little twist at the end.

 

“Mamluk” should also make the sci fi buffs happy.  Written by Trey Wickwire,pencilled by Steven Yarbrough,inked by Dylan Johnson and toned by Melissa Kaercher and lettered by Richard Nelson.  Veeeery slick.

 

“Just Married” by Peter Rogers is drawn by Edson Alves and toned by Walter Porto. Now come on –an out-of-the-way bar;who stops at those?

 

I have to say that this book was far better than I expected and I’d recommend it.  Great talent and great book.

 

 

If you want to see what else is available from Markosia you can go to:

www.markosia.com

 

 

 

Chris Staros of Top Shelf Comics,who I have to admit I could not locate at last week’s Comic Expo,sent out this release on his Swedish trip.

 

 

THE “SUMMER OF LOVE” AT THE SWEDISH SMALL PRESS EXPO 

The relationship between the Swedish and American alternative comicsscenes got a lot stronger a few weeks ago at the 10th Annual Swedish Small Press Expo (SPX) held at the famous and opulent KULTURHUSET — Sweden’s “House of Culture” in the heart of gorgeous downtown Stockholm.

I was lucky to be invited as a guest of both the convention and the publishing house ORDFRONT/GALAGO, as this September Top Shelf will be distributing FROM THE SHADOW OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS, the first ever all-English anthology of Swedish alternative comics. GALAGO, the publishing imprint/anthology that has showcased Swedish alternative cartoonists for over 30 (!) years, thought it would be good for me to check out the comics scene in Sweden and meet the cartoonists featured in NORTHERN LIGHTS.  And I am so glad I did!

The efforts of all the Swedish publishers, creators, and especially theconvention organizer, Kristiina Kolehmainen — who incidentally is the head of the Swedish Comics Library (Serieteket) and who has run the Swedish SPX since the beginning — coalesced this year’s convention into something quite remarkable: a true “SUMMER OF LOVE” of the Swedish comics community

With a couple thousand comics fans, a hundred Swedish creators/exhibitors,and a dozen Scandinavian independent press publishers all putting out intensely personal and literary works, the Swedish SPX has developed into one of the most important comics events in the EU — on par with the indy scenes in the U.S. and France. And from the mood on the floor and at the cool parties held each night, I personally witnessed an amazing amount of energy and goodwill between the cartoonists and fans, who realize that the Swedish comics scene is — after years of hard work — finally in full bloom.

In any event, next April Top Shelf will head back to the Swedish SPX,bringing along Jeffrey Brown and debuting Niklas Asker’s SECOND THOUGHTS — the first of several excellent Swedish cartoonists that we’ll be taking on.

And, by the way, a dozen Swedish creators told me they’d be visiting MoCCA this June,and the crew from GALAGO told me that they’d be coming to the American SPX this October to help showcase FROM THE SHADOW OF THE NORTHERNLIGHTS. Let’s be sure to welcome them in the States as much as they welcomed me over there.

  

A special thanks to Johannes Klenell, the Editor at GALAGO, who set up the entire trip for me and was my guide throughout Sweden the entire week.

 

 

Also a big thanks to my other host, Fredrik Stromberg, the Director of the prestigious comics school in Malmo. I journeyed there and spoke totheir talented students as well. And finally a big thank you to Anders, Asa,David, Federico, Fredrik, Ingemar, Jakob, Jamil, Jan-Erik, Jessica,Johannes, Kim, Knut, Kolbeinn, Kristiina, Liv, Loka, Markus, Martin,Mats,Mattias, Melika, Niklas, Ola, Rolf, Simon, Sofia, Steffan, Stina, Ulli,Victor, and everyone else who made my stay in Sweden so special.  

Chris Staros

 

 LINKS: FROM THE SHADOW OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS:

http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog.php?type=12&title=627

 SWEDISH SMALL PRESS EXPO:

http://www.kulturhuset.stockholm.se/default.asp?id=5760&refid=21527

 KULTURHUSET — SWEDENS HOUSE OF CULTURE

http://www.kulturhuset.stockholm.se/default.asp?id=5617

 GALAGO:

http://www.galago.se

COMICS

SCHOOL IN

MALMO (SERIESKOLAN):

http://www.serieskolan.se