Panel Borders: Making Marvels in the UK

Continuing our month long look at British creators who have written and drawn superhero comics for both the American and domestic markets, in a panel recorded in front of a live audience at the London Science-Fiction Film Festival, Alex Fitch talks to a quartet of Marvel UK luminaries who were responsible for some of the best action / adventure titles in the 1980s and 90s.
Simon Furman, was (and still is) the primary writer of Transformers, as well as the scribe behind a dozen installments of the Doctor Who comic strip, plus many of Marvel UK’s most memorable SF titles including Dragon Claws and Death’s Head. John Freeman, helped create many of Marvel UK’s early 90s titles such as Death’s Head II, Warheads, Killpower and Motormouth. Dan Abnett and Gary Erskine co-created the Knights of Pendragon, a series which gave UK superhero Captain Britain a new, darker spin in the 1990s by adding him to an Arthurian team of heroes.
Alex and the four creators discuss the rise in popularity of Marvel UK as a producer of original material in the 1980s and some of the memorable comics they founded along the way. (Part 1 of 2)

For more info about this podcast and a variety of formats you can stream or download, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.org / Listen to part two of the Marvel UK panel

Links: Wikipedia pages on Marvel UK, Dan Abnett, , Gary Erskine and John Freeman
John’s website on British comics news: www.downthetubes.net
Gallery of Marvel UK covers at the Grand Comics Database
Marvel UK fanblog: It came from Darkmoor
Interview with Gary Erskine in The Guardian about working in the British comics industry

Listen to Alex’s interviews with Chris Claremont and Alan Davis / Paul Cornell about Captain Britain
Listen to Alex’s interview with Simon Furman about Transformers: part one / part two

Recommended events:

Signing: Black Library Invasion!

FORBIDDEN PLANET is delighted to be hosting one of our famous multi-author events. Offering a unique PRE-PUBLICATION release of the Black Library’s SABBAT WORLDS ANTHOLOGY, at 6pm on Thursday September 9th, Forbidden Planet 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London will be playing host to: – Dan Abnett – Christian Dunn – Nick Kyme – Graham McNeill – Sandy Mitchell – Nik Vincent – James Swallow

6 pm – 7 pm, Thursday September 9th, Forbidden Planet, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London

Orbital BECKY CLOONAN EXHIBITION EXTENDED TO SEP. 30th

Due to the big success of Becky Cloonan‘s show at the Orbital Gallery, we have extended the exhibition dates until the end of this month.
The show features original artwork from Demo, Pixu, the upcoming series Wolves and East Coast Rising, as well as limited screenprints, postcard sets and a hand-painted guitar.
The Orbital Gallery is open on our usual shop hours, from 10:30 to 19:00 Monday to Saturday and 11:30 to 17:00 on Sundays.

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

bigpicture: Britannia Hospital screening

Big Picture is a series of screenings which takes place at The Paradise (By Way of Kensal Green). The film screening is followed by an open discussion around the ideas presented in the film.
The final part of Lindsay Anderson’s trilogy that began with the machine-gun toting public schoolboys of If… and contuned with O Lucky man!, sees Malcolm McDowell’s Mick Travis as an investigative reporter on the trail of a contemporary Frankenstein, as protestors try to stop the Queen Mother making an official visit. Made in 1982, just as ‘Thatcher’s Britain’ was beginning to take shape, Britannia Hospital is an unlikely comedy with a biting sense of social justice.
Monday 13th September 2010, 7.30pm (doors 7pm)
The Paradise, 19 Kilburn Lane, Kensal Green, London, W10 4AE
More info: www.bigi.org.uk / www.theparadise.co.uk

Birmingham ‘zine festival

Film Night: 7.30pm, Friday 10th September 2010, £1 entry
@ The Edge, 79-81 Cheapside, Digbeth, Birmingham
Come and view ‘$100 & A T-Shirt‘, Joe Biel’s documentary on zine culture, also: special guest speakers Pete Ashton and Rob Horrocks talking about the emergence of the small press comics scene and music zine influence in the 80s.

‘zine fair: 12 noon – 6pm, Saturday 11th September 2010
@ The Victoria 48 John Bright Street, Birmingham B1 1BN
The fair will feature a varied collection of exhibitors who self-publish books, comics and zines. Individual zine-makers and distributors are coming from all over and there will be communal tables for those not able to make it or have a table of their own. We’ll be screening animations by The Brothers McLeod throughout the afternoon and there will also be live acoustic music 4pm – 6pm.

Workshop: How To Run a Zine Event 2pm – 2:30pm, Saturday 11th September 2010
@ The Victoria 48 John Bright Street, Birmingham B1 1BN
Peter Lally runs through the history of Alternative Press and curates a Q&A session on running your own zine events.

Workshop: Drop In + Draw, 5pm – 6:30pm, Saturday 11th September 2010
@ Island Bar 14-16 Suffolk Street, Birmingham B1 1LT
A chance for creators and the public to unwind with pencil and paper. We Are Words + Pictures host an informal session that artists of all abilities can join in. We’ll have material to help you get started, and a few people on hand to guide you and answer your questions, all free of charge!

Workshop: T-Shirt Printing, 6:30pm – 8.30pm, Saturday 11th September 2010
@ Get A Grip, Unit GW2, The Custard Factory, Digbeth, Birmingham, B9 4AA
Kay and Sam from Get A Grip will guide you through the process of making your very own totally unique t-shirt. T-shirt, equipment, inks, images and expertise supplied for £20 per person. Payment for the workshop will need to be in advance due to the limited number of spaces available.

Atta Girl Zine Party, 8pm – 2am, Saturday 11th to Sunday 12th September 2010
@ Island Bar 14-16 Suffolk Street, Birmingham B1 1LT
Atta Girl is a monthly club night in Birmingham with a dedicated following. The DJs play an eclectic range of music featuring female vocalists.

Zine Picnic, 1pm – 4pm, Sunday 12th September 2010
@ Cannon Hill Park Birmingham
Join us for an informal and relaxed picnic in the park. This is a free event with nothing for sale. Bring food and drink and bring your zines! We’ll meet at The MAC and we can shelter there if the weather turns bad.

Postcards: Mail Art Exhibition, Wednesday 1st to Wednesday 8th September 2010 / Wednesday 15th to Tuesday 28th September 2010
@ The Framers Gallery, The Custard Factory, Gibb Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B9 4AA
This exhibition will feature a collection of postcards from a range of different artists connected to the alternative press. Each postcard will be a unique work of art. At the end of the exhibition, in the true spirit of mail art, all of the postcards will be posted to the contributors, each receiving someone else’s work of art.

Zine Art Exhibition, Thursday 2nd – Thursday 30th September
@ Urban Outfitters 5-7 Corporation Street, Birmingham B2 4LP

www.birminghamzinefestival.com