Panel Borders: From Wonderland with love

In the last of this month’s shows about ‘cross-cultural comics’, Alex Fitch talks to Steffen P. Maarup about the collection of Danish comics he’s edited and translated into English: ‘From Wonderland with love – Danish comics in the third Millennium’, an anthology that surveys the current comics scene in Denmark and collects creators from outside the world of comics also, including illustrators and fine artists alongside their sequential art peers. Alex and Steffen also talk about the wider world of Danish comics, including Danes who have found work on American titles and the controversy over the dozen cartoon illustrations printed in the Jyllands-Posten (Jutland Post) which led to death threats for the creators.

Extracts from From Wonderland with love by Jacob Ørsted with Søren Mosdal and Simon Bukhave

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

Links: Steffen’s publishing company – Aben Maler
The Comics Journal message board thread on From Wonderland with love
Info about Komiks.dk – the International Comics festival in Copenhagen

Recommended events:

London ‘zine symposium

Saturday 29th May 2010, The Rag Factory, off Brick Lane, London sees the finest ‘zine, small press comics, art pamplet and radical literature creators convene for this one day festival. Badges, cakes, prints and comix!

The Rag Factory, Heneage Street, London E1 5LJ / www.londonzinesymposium.org.uk

Spring 2010 MCM Expo

…or heading further East, is this first of this year’s MCM Expos in the London Docklands – cast and crew from SF series Caprica, Fringe and Stargate: Universe rub shoulders with some of the top UK comic creators such as Ben Templesmith, Jock, Paul Cornell, Richard Starkings, Andy Diggle, Paul Duffield, Marc Ellerby, Kieron Gillen, Gary Northfield, Jamie McKelvie, Daniel Merlin Goodbury, Emma Vieceli, Jon Scrivens, Sarah McIntyre, Melody Lee, Gary Erskine, Oliver Lambden, John Aggs, Lizz Lunney, Ilya, Ian Churchill, Simon Spurrier and Kevin Maguire!

Saturday 29th / 30th May, Excel Centre, Docklands, London E16 1XL / www.londonexpo.com

Panel Borders: From Wonderland with love [ 29:44 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders: Manga Jiman 2010

Continuing ‘cross cultural comics month’ on the show, we’re looking at the winners of last year’s Manga Jiman (Pride in Manga) competiton run by the Japanese Embassy in London to find the best new Japanese style comics made in the UK. Dickon Harris talks to the runners up – Zarina Liew and David Lander – about their entries to the competition and the crossover between British small press and manga styles in their work; while Alex Fitch talks to Yuri Kore about her winning entry “The boy who runs from the sun” and drawing comics again, having moved to Britain from the Manhwa industry in Korea.

Excerpts from Manga Jiman winning entries in 2010 by Yuri Kore, Zarina Liew and David Lander

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

Links: Info about the winners on the Embassy of Japan website
Read an ebook about the winners, including extracts from the ten shortlisted comics
Winners’ websites: Yuri Kore / Zarina Liew / David Lander

Listen to Alex’s interviews with the winners of the 2007 competition
Listen to Dickon’s previous interview with David Lander about his work

Recommended events:

City of Abacus at The Book Club

Throughout May at The Book Club cafe and bar in Hoxton, London there is a month long exhibtion of the art from The City of Abacus by VV Brown and David Allain, illustrated by Emma Price and Lee O’Connor.

Opening hours: 8am-late Mon-Fri, 10am-late Sat/Sun
100 Leonard Street, London EC2 4RH
More info at www.wearetbc.com
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Panel Borders: Manga Jiman 2010 [ 32:23 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders: British bande dessinee

Continuing our month long look at ‘cross-cultural comics’, Alex Fitch talks to veteran British comic book writer Pat Mills about his forays into the French market over the last 15 years, writing such titles as Sha and Requiem Vampire Knight illustrated by Olivier Ledroit which have only been released in English in the last couple of years. Alex and Pat also talk about the latter’s collaborations with the late artist John Hicklenton which have found a greater and more appreciative audience in Europe, translated into French and other European languages and released as Graphic Albums, than they did in their country of origin.

Excerpts from Requiem Vampire Knight illustrated by Olivier Ledroit and Inspector Ryan by John Hicklenton, written by Pat Mills

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

Links: Wikipedia pages on Requiem Vampire Knight, Pat Mills, Olivier Ledroit and John Hicklenton
Pat’s French language comics company: Nickel Editions
Read (the French language version of) Inspector Ryan by Mills and Hicklenton at 2000AD online
Read Pat’s eulogy to John on the Forbidden Planet blog
Listen to Pat’s previous appearances on the show
Continue reading →

Panel Borders: British bande dessinee [ 31:37 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders – Lingua Franca: English language comics in Europe

Commencing our yearly, month-long look at ‘Cross Cultural comics’, Alex Fitch talks to Paul Gravett about co-curating a gallery show on Jack Kirby in Lucerne, Switzerland and the film adaptation of the bande dessinée Largo Winch which was shot mainly in English, even though the film is a French / Belgium co-production. Alex also talks to Francesca Cassavetti, Dan Lester, Sean Azzopardi and Oliver Lambden about their anthology B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S. which was created as a survey of the best small press creators in London for dissemination at the Angoulême comics festival in France at the beginning of the year.

Display from the Jack Kirby exhibition in Lucerne + extract from the cover of B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S. by Francesca Cassavetti

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

Links:

B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S.blog
Reviews at Midnight Fiction and Forbidden Planet International
Review of Francesca’s comic book on Angoulême

Kirby at Fumetto website
More info on Dan Nadel’s blog and comicsbeat.com
Paul’s guide to the Kirby exhibition

Largo Winch at Ciné lumière – screening times
Buy the English language graphic novels from Cinebooks
Trailer at Daily Motion

Sci-Fi London 9: Life in 2050, April 28th - May 3rd, 2010

presents…

Futureproof: the Timehacks and Life-mods of Cory Doctorow

Panel Borders: Lingua Franca [ 43:03 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders: The art of The Losers

Edited version broadcast 29/04/10 as an episode of Strip! on Resonance 104.4 FM

Concluding our month long look at the crossover between comics and film, Alex Fitch interviews Jock, the main illustrator of The Losers, a 32 issue comic book series that has just been turned into an action film of the same name, based on the first half dozen issues of the comic. Alex also talks to Jock about his career so far, working on such characters as Lenny Zero and Green Arrow with writer Andy Diggle as well as illustrating the world of Judge Dredd, both in print and on the forthcoming movie written by Alex Garland.

The Losers - in print by Jock and Andy Diggle and on film

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

Links: Jock’s website
Info about The Losers on wikipedia and the IMDb
Official website

Recommended events:

Sci-Fi London 9 – Life in 2050

Starting tonight at the Apollo Piccadilly on Lower Regent Street is Sci-Fi London, the twice yearly festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic film and there are a number of comics related events I’ve organised:

60 Years of Dan Dare

A panel on 60 years of the lantern jawed space pilot -Alex Fitch will be talking to:
Garry Leach, who drew Dan’s return to print in 2000AD, ten years after the end of the original Eagle, in the late 1970s and more recently covers for Virgin comics’ revival of the ‘Pilot of the future’ in 2008.
Rian Hughes who drew the Eagle inspired comic The Science Service in 1989 and then the Mekon’s final revenge in the Thatcherite satire Dare in the adult comics Revolver and Crisis a year later.
Gary Erskine who drew Dan Dare’s most recent official comic book adventures in the Virgin Comics periodical of the same name.
John Freeman, a comics historian and writer. He previous wrote The Science Service and now writes the strip Ex Astris in the 00s Dan Dare magazine Spaceship Away and
Rod Barzilay the editor and one of the writers of Spaceship Away,

10.30am Saturday 1st May

30 years of MARVEL UK

Alex Fitch hosts a panel on the British arm of the American Superhero publisher, featuring:
Dez Skinn, a pioneering Marvel UK editor who launched titles such as Hulk Comic and Doctor Who Magazine which featured early licensed work by Alan Moore, David Lloyd, Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons.
Dan Abnett, who gave Captain Britain a new, darker spin in the 1990s by adding him to an Arthurian team of heroes with
Gary Erskine, co-creator of the Knights of Pendragon
John Freeman, who designed many of Marvel UK’s early 90s titles such as Death’s Head II, Warheads, Killpower and Motormouth, contributing strips to several issues as well.
Simon Furman, primary writer for Marvel’s Transformers, and a dozen issues of Doctor Who magazine. He created some of Marvel UK’s most memorable SF titles including Dragon Claws and Death’s Head.

11.45 am, Saturday 1st May
Continue reading →

Panel Borders: The art of The Losers [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders: Mister Green and The Incredible Hulk

Continuing our month of shows looking at the crossover between comics and film, Alex Fitch talks to comic book author and film-maker Greg Pak about his experiences in creating both media. Greg is the writer/director of a handful of short films including Mouse, Super Power Blues and the award winning Mister Green, the feature film Robot Stories and also the writer of a variety of Marvel comics. Alex and Greg talk about the similarities of both media, the freedom to develop characters over a fairly long stretch of time and seeing the first storyline of his run on the Incredible Hulk being adapted into the animated feature Planet Hulk.

Clockwise from bottom left: still from Planet Hulk animated movie, cover of Incredible Hulk vol.3 no.98, stills from Mister Green and Robot Stories

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

Links: Wikipedia pages on Greg Pak and Planet Hulk
Greg’s website: www.pakbuzz.com
Trailers for the Planet Hulk animated film / original comics
Planet Hulk / World War Hulk covers gallery at marvel.com
Info about screenings of Mister Green and other short films at this year’s Sci-Fi London festival
Follow Hercules‘ sidekick Amadeus Cho on twitter
Listen to Alex’s interview with Greg’s Incredible Hercules co-writer Fred Van Lente

Recommended events:

Sci-Fi London 9: Life in 2050 from Wednesday 28th April – Monday 3rd May features a variety of comics panels, on topics such as 60 years of Dan Dare, British Female Manga creators, Comics and film and Marvel UK with guests including Kate Brown, Rian Hughes, Gary Erskine, Emma Viecelli, Dez Skinn, Woodrow Phoenix, Garry Leach, Karen Rubins, Dan Abnett, Cyriak Harris and many more. More info at www.sci-fi-london.com

Sci-Fi London 9: Life in 2050, April 28th - May 3rd, 2010

Continue reading →

Panel Borders: Mister Green and The Incredible Hulk [ 41:06 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel Borders: British Noir

Continuing our month long look at the crossover between comics and film, Alex Fitch talks to Paul Tanter, the writer of the ‘Jack Says‘ trilogy of British films noir. To accompany the first film, Paul wrote a prequel graphic novel ‘Jack Said‘ which in turn was filmed after the success of the first movie. Paul then wrote a graphic novel sequel ‘Jack Falls‘, which like the first book is illustrated by Mexican cartoonist and animator Oscar Alvarado and now is also entering preproduction as a motion picture.

Panels from the graphic novel Jack Said by Paul Tanter and Oscar Alvarado / the filming of that scene featuring Simon Phillips and Jimmy White

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

Links: Official movie site www.jacksays.co.uk
Wikipedia pages on Jack Says, Jack Said and Oscar Alvarado
Buy Jack Falls from Soaring Penguin Press
Listen to Alex’s interview with Soaring Penguin’s John Anderson

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