Reality Check: the True Love of Arthur Sleep

Alex Fitch talks to graphic designer turned film-maker Sam Harris about his short silent film Arthur Sleep, a half hour Stygian odyssey that mixes elements of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari and Eraserhead, as a trip on the London Underground takes a traveller into more mysterious destinations than he envisioned. Also, in a Q and A recorded at last year’s SCI-FI-LONDON, Alex talks to the writers and producer of True Love, an SF thriller that tests a couple’s devotion to each other as a set of innocuous questions in a surrealist prison turn to torture.
(Originally broadcast Friday 26th April on Resonance 104.4 FM)

Arthur Sleep is premiering at Deptford Old Town Hall, New Cross, London SE14 6AF on 28 April at 4pm with a live score performed by members of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and London art-rock bands – more info at www.freefilmfestivals.org / True Love is released in Japanese cinemas on 27th April and this year’s SCI-FI-LONDON festival takes place at various venues around London from 30th April – more info at www.sci-fi-london.com

For more info about this podcast and a variety of other episodes you can download, please visit the home of this episode at www.sci-fi-london.com

Links: Arthur Sleep website
Join the Arthur Sleep facebook group
True Love writers Fabio and Fabio facebook page / website
Info about the SCI-FI-LONDON screening

Recommended events:

Help fund COMIC BOOK BABYLON: A Cautionary Tale of Sex, Drugs & Comics on Kickstarter

Tim (Erotic Comics) Pilcher’s memoir about the years I spent working at DC Comics’ Vertigo office in the mid-Ninties. The book has reached its target of raising £3,850, but the printer has increased costs since the kickster campaign began – the new “Stretch Target” is now £5,500.

“…For a few glorious years only, before cost-cutting set in, there was Vertigo’s ‘British Office’ – the comics equivalent of the Loaded HQ in the ‘90s. Vodka, mushrooms, Es, sex, money, travel and the pure unleashed creativity of young people having a good time together.”—Grant Morrison, author of Supergods, All Star Superman, Batman Inc. and The Invisibles.

There are three versions of Comic Book Babylon available: eBook (with additional images), paperback, and 200 limited edition hardbacks, with covers created by design genius and comic book artist Rian Hughes. “Rian’s out done himself,” said an impressed Pilcher, “The punky/acid house colours perfectly reflect the rave mood of the times in the book.” Hughes has also designed a limited edition print and three “Sex, Drugs and Comic Books” badges as incentives.

Comic Book Babylon: A Cautionary Tale of Sex, Drugs & Comics ENDS on Kickstarter on Thursday 3 May, 2013. See it here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2016810024/comic-book-babylon-a-cautionary-tale-of-sex-drugs

Gosh Comics Signing

April 27th:

Ian Gibson signing copies of the new edition of HALO JONES.
http://www.goshlondon.com/2013/03/ian-gibson-signing-halo-jones

All of these are listed on the events page.
http://www.goshlondon.com/events

Gosh! comics, 1 Berwick Street, London

50 years of Doctor Who spin-offs, at SCI-FI-LONDON

As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of Doctor Who, SCI-FI-LONDON is proud to host an event looking at some of the under appreciated aspects of the franchise.

12.30pm: Novelists Paul Cornell (Scream of the Shalka), J.T. Colgan (Dark Horizons), Terrance Dicks (Players, Doctor Who and the Giant Robot) and Tommy Donbavand (Shroud of Sorrow) talk about continuing the Doctor’s trips in prose fiction and why they wanted to tell tales of the thousand-year-old time traveller…

1.15pm: Comic book writers Andrew Cartmel and Scott Gray, and artists Mark Buckingham and Adrian Salmon, discuss their serialised strip adventures of the TARDIS, printed in Doctor Who Magazine, the American Doctor Who comic and fanzines.

The need for Doctor Who spin-offs became increasingly important since the end of the original series in 1989, with both novels and comics filling the gap when the show was off air, with many writers of the modern TV show being strip and book alumni. Print stories have also been used as the inspiration for TV episodes in the 21st century, such as the memorable David Tennant dramatisations of Cornell’s novel Human Nature and Doctor Who Magazine comic, The Lodger.

2pm: Followed by a screening of the 1965 film DR WHO AND THE DALEKS, starring Peter Cushing in the lead role.

More info / book tickets at: http://www.sci-fi-london.com/festival/2013

Exhibitions at Orbital Comics

Andrew Hickinbottom

is a digital 3D illustrator who specialises in stylised pinups. His work has been showcased on the internet over 60 times, and has been featured in many international books and magazines, appearing on 4 covers. Some of his clients include EA, Tassimo, Seat, Intel and The international Olympic Committee.

This exhibition of his personal works features a wide range of his appealing female character illustrations, with signed prints, an artbook and even a VERY limited edition figurine for sale.

17th April – 10th May

Reappropriating Lichtenstein

Artists Jason Atomic and Rian Hughes are curating an exhibtion at Orbital Comics, on the subject of Reappropriating Lichtenstein to coincide with the final weeks of the exhibtion at Tate Modern in May. Any practising comic book artists who would like to trace back one of Lichtenstein’s images to its original source, crediting the original artist in the process, and produce a new version themselves are invited to submit proposal for exhibition by April 6th.
More info here: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/03/19/a-call-for-comic-artists-to-respond-to-roy-lichtenstein

Orbital Comics, 8 Great Newport Street, London WC2H 7JA

Help launch The Black Cloud

Support Charles Cutting’s new graphic short story compilation… If you think it’s the kind of thing you would be cool with posting about, liking and sharing on Facespace and Twitter, Charlie would be most grateful…

Over the last year and a half Charles has produced three short stories in graphic form for three different authors.

‘After The End’ is penned by Tauriq Moosa and deals with a secret scientific experiment.

‘Two Little Boys’ concerns an intriguing coincidence linking the lives of Adolf Hitler and Ludwig Wittgenstein and is written by Christian David. It first appeared in Issue 29 of The Illustrated Ape.

The final story ‘The Bleeding Horse’ is an adaptation of a macabre story by Brian J Showers about a haunted Irish pub.

Charlie needs $2000 to cover the printing and shipping costs. By pre-ordering a copy of Black Cloud via Indiegogo you will be entitled to various perks depending on how much you wish to chip in to the campaign. These cost between $15 and $200 and include sketches, advertising space and original artwork.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/black-cloud