May 2011 Archives

AFTER OVER a decade, writer Steve Ahlquist returns to his Oz Squad mythos in his new novel, Oz Squad: March of The Tin Soldiers, a follow-up to his comic book series that set the stage for Fairy Tale Noir.

In Oz Squad: March of The Tin Soldiers new readers will find that Dorothy Gale was born on Earth, but her home is Oz. With the brilliant Scarecrow, faithful Nick the Tin Woodman and the fearless Lion she has protected each world from the other for over a century.

Rebecca Eastwitch is Dorothy's oldest enemy. Rebecca has a plan that will send the companions to Hell and back. She will strike at the heart of Oz and test the faith of Dorothy's oldest friends.

An updating of L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz series, Oz Squad focused on the adventures of Gale Force, a tactical organisation designed to protect Oz from all manner of bizarre threats, reuniting Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion as members. The complex and clever series was the first modern reimagining of the Oz mythos and it updated Baum's work for an adult audience.

In addition, Ahlquist has also co-created the anthology Strange Eggs and wrote a story for Disney's Haunted Mansion, both published by Slave Labor Graphics; was nominated for four Harvey Awards with collaborator Chris Reilly for the comic PupHedz; and has written for Paranoia: The Conspiracy Reader. He also writes a regular column, Applied Mythographics for the webzine Forces of Geek.

The novel is currently available through Smashwords and will be available as a print on demand book via Lulu. Two volumes of the complete, annotated comic book series are available as well.

NEW EDITIONS of the popular Classics Illustrated are available.

Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days has been released as has another edition to Classics Illustrated Junior series, featuring the story of Rapunzel.

For more information on Classics Illustrated visit: www.classiccomicstore.com

CLICK ON the episode below and it will expand to fill your screen for this week's Keystone Cops styled saga!
If you're new to Carter's Column head over to the Search button and check out the previous online serials where you'll find previous featured artists have included John Royle (Wolverine: Evilution, Spider-Man) and Gary Crutchley (2000AD, Death Race).

What's more it's not just the previous serials you'll find but features about the series along with exclusive character sketches and special interviews with the various creators and news about their other current projects.

Donald Jackson lettered the Carter's Column series Seek & You Will Find (still available for viewing via the Search Button). As a teacher at the Global Concepts Charter School in Buffalo, New York, USA, he made a series of videos on Chinese art, the second of which we are sharing with you today... By sheer coincidence, it is about drawing dragons!

For more information on the creators:

For Donald Jackson visit: www.cognitivecomics.webs.com

CLICK ON the Farmageddon strips below - They're hanging out their dirty laundry for all to see!

Below is a preview video for the Farmageddon animation series that is in development:

For more on Farmageddon visit: www.farmadeggon.tv

For more on Gordon Fraser visit: www.freewebs.com/gordonfraser/

Creators of the weekly Dandy comic strip, the Etherington Brothers, share their secrets at the free two-day Book Bash at Aston Hall this bank holiday Sunday and Monday.

The two authors are set to inspire the opening day of the bank holiday children's book festival, Sunday, May 29.

From 11am until 4.30pm seven marquees will be filled with around 100 performances activities for children and their families. Poets, storytellers and children's characters will be providing entertainment.

For more information pick up a copy of the Young Readers programme from any Birmingham library, or visit www.birmingham.gov.uk/youngreaders

GLENN DAKIN returns to the children's book publishing world with a gripping sequel in Candle Man 2: The Society of Dread, published by Egmont.

The Emmy award-winning co-writer of the Shaun the Sheep TV series has worked in comics for publishers ranging from Escape to Marvel UK, with his Robot Crusoe comic strip running for eight long years within the pages of The Funday Times.

Candle Man told the story of a young lad named Theo who found that his power to melt evil by the touch of his hand was inherited from his father; the original Candle Man, now with this second volume we are promised a dark thriller set in a subterranean world of extraordinary creatures, deranged villains and incredible powers.

"It expands the Candle Man universe, introducing the slithering crelp, and a terrifying villain from Victorian times, Dr Pyre!" Glenn told Speech Balloons recently, having just returned from promoting the books over in the United States.

"Egmont USA sent me to Texas for a week to promote Candle Man - which was a wild experience. I spoke to 2,000 kids, holding 14 events in 4 days. At one place they had even provided Candle Man cookies!"

It's not only foreign shores that are taking to the book, but other media too.

"The exciting news is that the BBC have made an audio of Candle Man, which will be out in June/July," said Glenn. "It's read by Christian Rodska, who is an excellent character actor, who has been in host of BBC dramas. He is known for narrating Ice Road Truckers and Dr Who audios - he appeared with Tom Baker in Hornet's Nest" Rodska has also acted in children's TV series such Follyfoot and The Tomorrow People.

Advance reviews for the Candle Man 2: The Society of Dread, indicate it is "better" than the first, and that was a great read that captured the imagination, and not only of it target youth market.

Candle Man 2: The Society of Dread, published by Egmont, is available from all good bookstores and online shops.

Glenn Dakin is also running a competition on his own website to win copies. For more information visit: www.glenndakin.com/competition

REED CRANDALL is the featured artist in AC Comics' Golden Age Greats Volume #5.

Celebrated for his deeply rendered realistic style, Crandall worked on Blackhawk when published by Quality during the 40s, contributed to E.C; Classics Illustrated and Treasure Chest during the 50s and Gold Key and Warren from the 60s to the early 70s.

Inside Golden Age Greats #5 is an overview of Crandall's work, with crisp black and white reprints of 15 stories drawn by the artist, taken from his early days working out of the Eisner/Iger Shop through to the 60s.

Classic characters such as the aforementioned Blackhawk, along with Dollman, The Ray and Flash Gordon make their appearance as do two fantasy/science fiction tales and biographical material.

For more information visit: www.accomics.com

Stately Homes of England and Hunt Emerson have released what's been called, "the single to end all singles", Josephine, a song by John Otway.

Josephine is described as "an epic tale of innocence lost set on a village green during traditional revels".

Dripping with pagan passions, Josephine comes in a variety of mixes and several collector editions including:

*8 track CD in beautifully designed sleeve (£5).

*CD plus 4 signed A3 prints by Hunt Emerson (£20).

*8 track download (£2) or individual tracks (79p).

*Deluxe edition limited to ten copies only - thisincludes a CD, A3 prints, an original drawing by Hunt Emerson, and a top quality Spritely Records apron, all packaged in a special envelope. Along with the regular 8 tracks the Deluxe CD includes two extra mixes, with one of them being exclusive to each individual CD (The highly collectable Deluxe edition of Josephine will be priced at £100).

For more information, and to hear the short version of Josephine, go to www.thecrowdscreams.tumblr.com

For more information on Hunt Emerson visit: www.largecow.com

GM JORDAN of The Comic Book Alliance reports on the recent Bristol Comic Expo:

Every year birds fly north, wildebeest take part in the great migration and every May the great and the good of the comic world head to the Ramada Hotel in Bristol for the its Comic Expo. Why?

The answer is simple: the Expo is special. It's not the biggest show of its kind and it doesn't have the attendance to compete with the London events, or the floor capacity of others, but what it has is history and spirit.

The Bristol Expo brings people together, having been forced to downsize over the last couple of years because of the lack of suitable venues, that problem should hopefully be addressed next year when everything comes back under one roof. Last year's Small Press Expo had been held on one day at the Mercure, this year it was extended to take place over the whole weekend and was proving very popular.

Guest of honour Rick Veitch shared the signing table with the likes of Si Spencer, Jasper Bark, Dave Gibbons, Mark Buckingham, D'Israeli and many others. The only problem with the signing tables were they were held in a smallish room and with so many people queuing to get signatures it became crowded and very hot, something with has never been full addressed from previous years.

One of the things the Expo excels at are the panels. Mike Conroy held one of his face-to-face meetings with Rick Veitch, giving an insight to the creator's methods and allowing fans to take a stroll through his memories of working in the comic book industry. Gary Spencer Millidge took time away from his table to introduce the world to his new book; Alan Moore: Storyteller, to be released in July.

Fans were also treated on Sunday to the Just a Comic-Pickin Minute event, always fun and a great way for creators to shake off the hangover from the night before (and there were many sore heads this year.). John Freeman also took to the stage to launch Strip Magazine, the new monthly publication from Print Media Productions.

The Comic Book Alliance showed off the Spirit of Hope anthology created to raise money for the victims of the Japanese and New Zealand natural disasters. Markosia were showing off their new zombie book Quarantined which was well received by fans and reviewers alike, and in the Small Press Expo Cy Dethan, Stephen Downey and their creative team unveiled their startling new book, Slaughterman's Creed.

One of the nice surprises of the show was the attendance of Finnish creator Jaana Suorsa; her range of piggy books and badges were a delight and if you can track down her books, some of which have been translated into English, then treat yourself. She has a wonderful sense of humour that reminds me of the early Frank Cho offerings.

David Morris and Patrick O'Connor released The Baker Street Irregulars (BSI) on Corvus Press. In a move that has delighted many of the creators in attendance, Morris is also working on new material with GM Jordan (Raggedy Man), and the BSI partnership have also teamed up with Joel Meadows and Andy Grossberg to produce Dee for Detective. Both new books were available as a flip book preview that sold out very quickly.

Because of the size of the venues there were a limited number of places for members of the public, and that was one of the few complaints. Once again that should be rectified for next year's show so a lot of dealers and publishers will be breathing a sigh of relief when there are a greater number of customers and the Expo feels less fragmented.

But will the Expo survive in an age of increasing conventions and one day shows? Yes it should, it still retains an intimate, special feel and the wonderful mix of big name creators and independent fan favourites give it a unique atmosphere.

For more on G.M. Jordan visit: www.jordanx.co.uk and www.comicshopvoice.co.uk

IN WHAT might be a welcome turn, the Dungeon series, which has become increasingly dark, goes various shades of goofy in its latest volume from NBM, the 14th in the series.

Dungeon combines suspenseful adventure with a spoof of heroic fantasy in telling the tales of a castle filled with monsters. It is the creation of Joann Sfar and Lewis Trondheim, two of France's best-known and most popular artists.

Trondheim's peers have honored him with the Grand Prize at the annual Angouleme comics festival. Meanwhile, Sfar is a star with the success of The Rabbi's Cat, published by Pantheon. Both also have titles coming out from Roaring Brook's First Second imprint. NBM has been active in bringing out work by Trondheim, including his hit Mister O and Mister I, and most recently the very successful release of his comics blog, Little Nothings. This Autumn, NBM's sister company Papercutz will start publishing his Monster series for kids with Monster Christmas.

Monstres Volume 4 is a 96-page, full-color, trade paperback to be published in June by NBM.

In the first title story, drawn by Jean-Emmanuel Vermot-Desroches, his first graphic novel, Horus the Sorcerer is seen in earlier years in school wheeling and dealing his way to power already but set up by someone out to embarrass him publicly. A hex has been cast that makes women all declare their baby is his!

In the second, Ruckus at the Brewers, dimwitted Gro-Gro is entrusted with a mission to bring back a special beer brewed by a village of curmudgeonly rabbits. This is the first time Gro-Gro must make decisions on his own, at times instinctively, at times randomly, just never after much thought. The artist on this, Yoann, is noted for having been given the large assignment of being the newest artist to continue one of Europe's biggest series for children: the adventures of Spirou & Fantasio. The most notable artist for this series was the genius André Franquin.

For more information on Monstres visit: visit: www.nbmpub.com