Author Archives: alexfitch

About alexfitch

Co-presenter / producer of "Panel Borders", Thursdays 5pm Resonance 104.4 FM. Film reviewer for www.electricsheepmagazine.com Podcaster for www.sci-fi-london.com

Electric Sheep Magazine Podcast: The Female Gaze, the Forbidden Room

Electric Sheep Magazine Podcast: The Female Gaze, the Forbidden Room

In the start of a new series, Electric Sheep Magazine editor in chief Virginie Sélavy and assistant editor Alex Fitch preview the London Film Festival and talk to filmmaker Prano Bailey-Bond, whose short film NASTY is screening as part of the Cult section. Sight and Sound production editor Isabel Stevens joins them to talk about the new Female Gaze issue of the magazine. Plus extracts from Evan Johnson’s interview with Guy Maddin, whose latest, The Fobidden Room, is showing at LFF; a sample of William Fowler’s lecture on guerrilla filmmaker Antony Balch at the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, and classic tracks by Hank Mizell, Shirley Ellis, Nina Simone and Piney Brown.

Still from Nasty by Prano Bailey-Bond, Sight and Sound September 2015 cover, still from The Forbidden Room by Guy Maddin

Still from Nasty by Prano Bailey-Bond, Sight and Sound September 2015 cover, still from The Forbidden Room by Guy Maddin

Originally broadcast as the ‘Clear Spot’, 16th September 2015 on Resonance 104.4 FM

Visit www.archive.org, for more info and formats you can stream / download.

Links: Electric Sheep Magazine website
Prano Bailey-Bond’s website
BFI pages on the London Film Festival and Sight and Sound Magazine
Listen to Alex Fitch’s 2008 interview with Guy Maddin about My Winnipeg

Panel Borders: Dave Gibbons, Comics Laureate

Panel Borders: Dave Gibbons, Comics Laureate

In the first of a new series of Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to ‘Comics Laureate’ Dave Gibbons about his career so far, from Doctor Who Weekly strips to Watchmen, Give me Liberty to Kingsman / The Secret Service. Recorded at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, October 2014. Originally broadcast as part of the ‘Clear Spot’, 15th September 2015 on Resonance 104.4 FM.

Dave Gibbons interviewed by Alex Fitch at LICAF, interior art from The Iron Legion, covers of Doctor Who #17 and Watchmen #1

Dave Gibbons interviewed by Alex Fitch at LICAF, interior art from The Iron Legion, covers of Doctor Who #17 and Watchmen #1

For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Interview with Dave Gibbons about becoming Comics Laureate
More info about the Lakes International Comic Art Festival
2008 video interview with Dave Gibbons

Panel Borders: On the Brink of a Brass Sun

Panel Borders: On the Brink of a Brass Sun

Concluding a month of shows about ‘The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic’, Alex Fitch talks to artist I.N.J. Culbard about his work for 2000AD on strips such as ‘clock-punk fantasy’ serial Brass Sun and the forthcoming Brink. Ian also explains his unusual method for drawing Dan Abnett’s anthropomorphic adaptation of The War of the Worlds – Wild’s End published by Boom! – plus his recent graphic novels for SelfMadeHero: Celeste and The King in Yellow. (Last in the current series – Panel Borders will return in a new slot and format in September)
Originally broadcast 27th August 2015 on Resonance 104.4 FM

Covers of Wilds End, Brass Sun and Celeste, interior art from The King in Yellow by I.N.J. Culbard

Covers of Wilds End, Brass Sun and Celeste, interior art from The King in Yellow by I.N.J. Culbard

For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: More info about I.N.J. Culbard on SelfMaderHero’s website
Buy Brass Sun volume one from 2000AD online
More info about Wild’s End at Boom! Studios website
Listen to Alex’s previous interviews with Ian Culbard

Panel Borders: Wagner and Gibbons

Panel Borders: Wagner and Gibbons

Continuing a month of shows about ‘The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic’, Alex Fitch talks to another writer and artist about their work in and after 2000AD. In an extract from a Q and A recorded on stage at The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, Alex Fitch talks to artist Dave Gibbons about his early years, drawing such strips as a reimagined Dan Dare for a 1980s audience. Also, Alex talks to writer John Wagner about scripting Judge Dredd on and off since 1977 and other projects that have been adapted to the screen such as A History of Violence (recorded at London Super Comic Con).
Originally broadcast 20th August 2015 on Resonance 104.4 FM.

Rogue Trooper and Dan Dare drawn by Dave Gibbons, A History of Violence, Judge Dredd and The Bogie Man written by John Wagner

Rogue Trooper and Dan Dare drawn by Dave Gibbons, A History of Violence, Judge Dredd and The Bogie Man written by John Wagner

For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org Continue reading

Panel Borders: Outlier and other 3rillers

Panel Borders: Outlier and other 3rillers

Continuing a month of shows about ‘The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic’, Alex Fitch talks to writer Tom Eglington about writing strips for 2000AD including Judge Dredd and “Tharg’s 3rillers”, plus the serial he originated, Outlier, a space-set revenge saga continuing the periodical’s tradition of weird looking protagonists!
Alex and Tom also discuss the latter’s forays in children’s books such as The Spellbound Hotel, making cut-out paper craft, and his entry into Myriad Editions’ First Fictions competition, Amber Sands. Recorded at Cartoon County, Brighton, June 2015. (Recorded at Cartoon County, Brighton, June 2015 / Originally broadcast 13th August 2015 on Resonance 104.4 FM)

Paper craft by Tom Eglington, art from Outlier, covers of 2000AD and The Spellbound Hotel

Paper craft by Tom Eglington, art from Outlier, covers of 2000AD and The Spellbound Hotel

For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Tom Eglington’s instagram site
Fantastic Fiction page on Eglington
2000AD website
Cartoon County website
Interview with Tom on The Streets Today website

Panel Borders: 2000AD alumni

Panel Borders: 2000AD alumni

Starting a month of shows about ‘The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic’, Alex Fitch talks to a writer and an artist about their work in and after 2000AD. Colin Wilson discusses getting his first work on the periodical and drawing Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper strips in the early 1980s, while, in an interview recorded at Bristol Comic Expo 2014, writer Jim Alexander and artist Pete Woods discuss titles published by Alexander’s imprint ‘Planet Jimbot’, including Amazing and Fantastic Tales, and Food Chain. Originally broadcast 6th August 2015 on Resonance 104.4 FM.

Cover and interior art from 2000AD by Colin Wilson / Cover of Amazing and Fantastic Tales, and interior art from Food Chain by Jim Alexander and Pete Woods

Cover and interior art from 2000AD by Colin Wilson / Cover of Amazing and Fantastic Tales, and interior art from Food Chain by Jim Alexander and Pete Woods

For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Jim Alexander’s blog
Pete Woods’ website
Planet JimBot shop
Colin Wilson’s website and profile at 2000ad.org
Listen to Alex Fitch’s interview with Colin Wilson about working on Young Blueberry

Panel Borders: Wilson and Wyld

Panel Borders: Wilson and Wyld

Concluding a month of shows about Australasian comic book creators, Alex Fitch talks to an Australian writer living in London and a New Zealander artist living in Australia who found fame in Europe… Evie Wyld discusses her collaboration with artist Joe Sumner on her first graphic novel Everything is Teeth, which depicts her childhood fear of sharks in New South Wales, and how it compares to other predators depicted in her novel All the Birds, Singing.

Also, Colin Wilson explores his early comics – Strips and The Adventures of Captain Sunshine – published in New Zealand and explains how he found work in the Northern Hemisphere on European Graphic Albums featuring Lieutenant Blueberry, and American comics such as Star Wars and The Losers. Originally broadcast 30th July 2015 on Resonance 104.4 FM.

Cover of Strips and interior art from Captain Sunshine and Blueberry by Colin Wilson / Cover and interior art from Everything is Teeth and cover of All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld

Cover of Strips and interior art from Captain Sunshine and Blueberry by Colin Wilson / Cover and interior art from Everything is Teeth and cover of All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld

For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Evie Wyld’s website
Colin Wilson’s website
Review of All the Birds, Singing in The Boston Globe
Info about ‘Review Bookshop’, Peckham
Article on Captain Sunshine on From Earth’s End blog
Info about The Young Blueberry by Jean Giraud, Colin Wilson and others on wikipedia

Panel Borders: Bruce Mutard – from The Bunker to The Sacrifice

Panel Borders: Bruce Mutard – from The Bunker to The Sacrifice

Continuing a month of shows about Australasian comics, Alex Fitch talks to Melbourne cartoonist Bruce Mutard about his career so far, from his first graphic novel The Bunker to experimental comics such as Alice in Nomansland, and working on a sequel to his World War II graphic novel The Sacrifice. Mutard also discusses titles published by his fledgling imprint Fabilaux, the varied influences on his style from ligne claire to Crumb, and his experience of doing an MA course in comics. Originally broadcast 23rd July 2015 on Resonance 104.4 FM.

Interior art and cover from The Sacrifice, interior art from Alice in Nomansland and The Bunker by Bruce Mutard, cover and interior strip from Art is a Lie by  Carol Wood and Susan Butcher

Interior art and cover from The Sacrifice, interior art from Alice in Nomansland and The Bunker by Bruce Mutard, cover and interior strip from Art is a Lie by Carol Wood and Susan Butcher

For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Bruce Mutard’s website
Info about the crowd funding campaign for Art is a Lie by Carol Wood and Susan Butcher published by Mutard
Publisher’s website page on The Sacrifice

Panel Borders: Blastosaurus, The Great Gatsby and other fantastical creatures

Panel Borders: Blastosaurus, The Great Gatsby and other fantastical creatures

Continuing a month of shows about Australasian comics, Alex Fitch talks to a pair of cartoonists whose work mixes anthropological characters with unusual situations. New Zealand publisher Richard Fairgray discusses the police procedural dinosaur comic Blastosaurus which he draws and co-writes and his imprint Square Planet Comics, in an interview recorded at London Film and Comic Con (which returns to Olympia today and tomorrow).
Also, Alex talks to Australian artist Nicki Greenberg about her full length adaptations of The Great Gatsby and Hamlet, and her shorter comics on being a cartoonist and finding a zombie in your attic! Originally broadcast 16th July 2015 on Resonance 104.4 FM.

Covers and interior art from Blastosaurus by Richard Fairgray / Cover and interior art from The Great Gatsby and zombie comic by Nicki Greenberg

Covers and interior art from Blastosaurus by Richard Fairgray / Cover and interior art from The Great Gatsby and zombie comic by Nicki Greenberg

For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Square Planet Comics’ website
Nicki Greenberg’s website

Panel Borders: Writing as the Other

Panel Borders: Writing as the Other

Continuing a month of shows about comics that are about or from Australasia, Alex Fitch talks to cartoonist turned novelist Ed Hillyer about The Clay Dreaming – his account of an Aborigine Cricket Team in 19th Century Britain, and how writing a book without pictures differs to his experience of writing comics. Alex also talks to French Bande dessinée creator L.F. Bollée about writing the graphic novel Terra Australis, which depicts the conquering of Australia. Recorded in front of a live audience at the Australia / New Zealand Literature Festival 2014.

Cover and interior art from Terra Australis by L.F. Bollee and Philippe Nicloux / Cover of The Clay Dreaming by Ed Hillyer / photo of 1868 Aboriginal Cricket Team

Cover and interior art from Terra Australis by L.F. Bollee and Philippe Nicloux / Cover of The Clay Dreaming by Ed Hillyer / photo of 1868 Aboriginal Cricket Team

For more info and a variety of formats to stream or download this podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: The Clay Dreaming on Myriad Editions website
Articles on Terra Australis on SelfMadeHero’s website Continue reading