British Super Heroes were Made in Wolverhampton

Just came across this on something called the Tettenhall Blog

The Dark Knight’s comic book adventures were the stuff of legends.

And when I was a lad, I bought all those comics and followed the caped crusader’s adventures with relish, in the days when the visuals were everthing and words just filled in the gaps between the action.

But at the back of my mind something was always niggling away and the thought was simply this: “Why couldn’t the likes of Batman, Superman, the X-Men, Spider Man, the Green Lantern or the Fantastic Four be British?”

Now before someone corrects me and tells me one of them probably was – I no longer care.  The impression we had at the time, as teenagers, was that they were all-American heroes…. even the Joker/Riddler/Lex Luther super villains seemed to be American.

And yet, right here in Wolverhampton, back in the day, there was a fellow called Alf Omega Potter doing just that…. lovingly creating British Super Heroes to die for…. or should that read ‘to be rescued by’?
Enter Alphaman, the Britorian Guard (see what he did there?), the Wolf Child who had been hidden away on Cannock Chase until now, and the PACT warlords Phaze, Detra the Destroyer, Spyglass and, of course, Combat Man!

Seriously, aren’t you just dying to know what their super powers are?   Well, I am not going to tell you …. go and buy Alf’s comics!

Twenty or more years on, now Alf, who has battled against depression and too many set backs to count in a lifetime, has launched his own new fan website and re-launched his comic book career at www.alphaomegaeditions.co.uk and on Twitter @AOEditions

Take a look at his remarkable creations yourself.

What’s more, if you have a little more time, and want to see another independent ‘take’ on Alf’s work, there’s what can only be described as a fan’s extremely honest and down-to-planet-earth review online at www.comicbitsonline.com/2011/04/22/alpha-omega-collection-and-why-i-hope-a-o-potters-never-die-out
Alf’s first two Novels the “Alpha Omega Collection” and “Alpha Omega Adventures” are special one off, three-part mini book sets.

Click on these to enlarge

The Alpha Omega Collection originally went into print between 1988 to 1992, where all the characters made their debut.  Now, like the Terminator, they are back, completely revamped for new and (possibly lots of) old collectors to secretly enjoy again as a guilty pleasure.

Alf’s life work will be on display as Super Hero Graphic novels, with all his characters and stories based in Great Britain, at Wolverhampton’s City show in West Park (near the bandstand) on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th July. Admission is free and the event is open from 11am until 6 pm both days.

We shall be calling in to see him (and his comics) and I’m absolutely certain you would be welcome to do the same. Harry Potter eat your heart out…. I prefer Alf Potter as my hero (;>

After all, it’s not every day you can talk to the creator of a British Super Hero
or is it?

Posted by Tettenhall.co.uk

The answer to that last question is yes, you can, if you contact me!! :-)

Dark Horse: Fatima The Blood Spinners

Fatima The Blood Spinners #1 of 4
Creator: Gilbert Hernandez
Dark Horse
US size
24pp
black and white
$3.99 US  £2.90 UK

A drug called “spin” offers the wildest trip imaginable, followed by its users’ inevitable, rapid deterioration into undead flesh eaters. Despite the side effect, the drug is so popular that the human population is dying out! With no cure to be found, the beautiful, lovesick Fatima may be the only thing standing between the survivors and the apocalypse. Get ready for four issues of zombies, drug lords, and gorgeous women!
Somewhere at the top of my “I Really Do Want To Work With This Artist Soon” fantasy list are Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez.  Jaime does not seem to be as prolific as Gilbert which is a big shame because I drool over his artwork.  However, we are writing about Gilbert here.

Mr. Brown, the 40-something teenage angst ridden wrist-slasher creator of Browner Knowle “hated” this.  I’m guessing he was just not in the mood to read it! The story has some nice twists and turns and works well.  Then we have Gilbert’s art style.  Really, look at the art and ask yourself “Do we REALLY need colour comics?”

I can only show certain pages because we get a mixed age group of hitters -and CBO also gets a lot of traffic from countries stricter on what people can access. Shame, but I’ve two pages.

I really look forward to adding this series to the space on my shelves put aside for Gilbert Hernandez.  If you see it -buy it!

IDW: John Byrne’s TRIO

I picked up the latest issue of Byrne’s NEXT MEN and to be honest it is a complete joy to read. The “ending” of NM was so good that I read through it twice before looking in detail at the art.
If you’ve not read Next Men yet -shame on you. Buy the trades!!

So, I’m looking around the comic shop and not seeing anything I even cared about when, suddenly….is that a new John Byrne book????? Yes, Trio had slipped right past me because IDW does not send me press releases and I’m so busy writing, drawing and publishing comics that I cannot afford time to internet trawl. IDW -SEND ME PRESS RELEASES!!!!

#2…crap. I’d missed the first issue. I asked shop manager, Tim, if he could get me a copy of #1? “I think we’ve still got a copy on the shelves” he said. Yes!

So here goes the “Get up-to-date on-this” bit:




According to IDW:

  This May, John Byrne will be smashing into stands with a brand-new, creator-owned superhero series, TRIO.  TRIO follows the exploits of three super-powered heroes known as Rock, Paper, and Scissors on a series of explosive adventures!

Along the way, beloved inkers who have finished off Byrne’s pencils in the past will be inking variant covers for the series, starting with “Joltin’” Joe Sinnott on issue 1, and Byrne’s Silver Surfer/X-Men: The Hidden Years cohort Tom Palmer on #2.

“Trio really is Byrne’s return to superheroic form,” said Chris Ryall, IDW’s Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief. Ryall will be editing Trio himself. He added that “fans who’ve loved Byrne at all stages of his career, from his beloved and influential superhero comics to his more recent work with us on Star Trek and Next Men, will love what he’s bringing to bear on this series.”

Their code names are simple ONE, TWO and THREE, but the world calls them ROCK, PAPER and SCISSORS.

Together, they are..TRIO!


Trio #1
IDW
Story by John Byrne
Art by John Byrne
Colors by Ronda Pattison
Letters by Robbie Robbins
Cover by John Byrne & Ronda Pattison
32 pages
Price: $3.99




And at the same time…






Trio #2
John Byrne (w & a & c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
*Variant Covers:
Variant cover penciled by John Byrne and inked by Tom Palmer


His name is Nautilus, and he wants to lay waste to the surface world. Our trio of heroes feel out of their depth—no pun intended!—but they cannot begin to guess that an even greater peril is hurtling toward the planet. One that may herald the end of all life, above and below the waves.

This is John Byrne at his best both story and character-wise. Art-wise…he makes my knees weak (giggle giggle)!  I felt like getting extra copies and sending them to Didio and Quesada with a note:”See? This is how it is done!”

 

 

For me this is a return to fun action comics where the premiss may sound odd but Byrne works his magic.  I think you can still get copies online and if you really want a good read I’ll recommend this highly!

RETURN OF THE GODS: TWILIGHT OF THE SUPER HEROES

 

 

By Terry Hooper-Scharf

View this Author's Spotlight

Paperback, 

A4

197 Pages 

Black & white

Price: £8.00

Ships in 3–5 business days

 

Originally published, after 12 years, in Black Tower Adventure #s1-6, Return of the Gods: Twilight of the Super Heroes sees several storylines combined into one big event. Heroes around the world disappear after being chased by glowing orange spheres -the world believes them dead but they have actually been transported to a huge walled city on a dimensional plane. The home of the gods.

Unknown to the heroes, they are pawns in a game by the gods to use them to fight of the return of the Ancient Old Gods. Meanwhile, on Earth, an alien invasion beach-head action has taken place. the hero community as well as world governments find their resources stretched on several fronts. Join BTCGs Indian, Pakistani, Chinese, Singaporean, British and other international heroes where heroes DO die and death is final.

This is on VERY special offer at the moment -only £8.00 (instead of £10.00) for 197 pages -the original 6 parts from BT Adventure plus 4 pages that lead in to the Black Tower Comics 30th Anniversary "Green Skies" book. I make just over £1.00 for every copy sold. That waterside penthouse apartment is looking further away than before! ;-)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Black-Tower-Comics-Books/136656043030326

Cardiff Expo Ticket News

Fresh and just in from the great Wizard of comic events, Mike Allwood:

Hi,
Well, in response to the emails we keep geting asking when Cardiff tickets will be on sale…

TICKETS NOW ON SALE!

CARDIFF EXPO SHOWCASE

will be ALL TICKET

& STRICTLY LIMITED!

All tickets JUST £4 each

with under 12′s Free

 (with ticket holding adult )

Plus all attendees will receive a

FREE DOCTOR WHO ADVENTURES MAGAZINE

( whilst stock last )

 The 501 GARRISON are BACK @ CARDIFF!

Guests inc. MIKE COLLINS, DYLAN TEAGUE, PATRICK GODDARD, DAVID A. ROACH, KAT NICHOLSON & JASON CARDY

                ….plus MORE tba!

New for 2012 :  EXPO SMALL TALK!

 We launch our new style panel talks and we’ll be

talking “Horror @ the Expo” with special Guests and

hosting a “small talk on small press!”

                 ….full details TBA!

All exhibitor space is sold out

…Stay tuned as MUCH MORE 

will be announced over the next few months!

Mike Allwood
Producer
Cardiff & Exeter Comic Expo
www.fantasyevents.org

“A History Making Cross-Over” -It Says So On The Press Releases!

Right, I think if you are a regular you have seen my other reviews/postings on the Atlas line of comics. I’d like to take a bit more time on “The history-making crossover.”

First:

ATLAS UNIFIED #1
The Grim Ghost, Phoenix, Wulf the Barbarian, and Detective Sam Lomax join forces for the first time in 35 years in a historical Atlas crossover event! Which enemy could make these Atlas Heroes set aside their differences, forge an alliance, and risk everything to defeat it? (Ships with 4 different covers, including a wraparound!)




And now….



ATLAS UNIFIED #2
Writer:  Tom Peyer
Artist:  Jimbo Salgado
Price: $2.99
Full Color, 24 pages

The history-making crossover continues here!  The Grim Ghost, Phoenix, Wulf the Barbarian, Sam Lomax and some familiar faces find themselves battling a time-travelling villain in this epic new storyline that has been over 35 years in the making!

Right. Sergeant Hawk, a Second World War army man. There is absolutely no excuse what-so-ever for an artist to be unable to draw a uniform from that period.  Yes, I, and many other veteran artists, have lots of military reference books but if you are lazy and don’t want to go over to a book-shelf (if you have a book-shelf) then there are so many references online.  The helmet worn by Hawk goes from looking like an Italian 1934 style to 1936 Polish army helmet and the uniform…!!

I could go on -like WHY is the Grim Ghost now wrapped up like a mummy? Proportions on figures are out and it just looks a mess -oh, and on the other variant cover you have Grim Ghost, Phoenix and Wulf facing off a horde of Vicki The Models!  They are all in solo action and NOT working as a team. That said, the cover is possibly the best art.

oh, and if I see the ‘dead’ Phoenix rise once more I am going to fill a vomit bag and send it to Ardden who publish the Atlas books. It is now just a very bad joke to continuously pad out books that do not seem to be going anywhere. Seriously -have you read Phoenix???

And just how in the **** can you claim this is a team up of the old 1970s Atlas Comics (Seaboard Periodicals) characters when they are NOT? They are in no way similar as characters, most things have been altered to such an extent that a true 1970s Atlas fan, such as myself has to shout out loud.

“Historical” -very definitely NOT.  “35 years in the making”?? WTF???? No, Ardden only got the rights to use, I assume, the names what..3-4 years ago? I know the time between issues is getting longer and longer but really.

Tom Peyer has been around as a comics writer-editor for a good while -he was “discovered” by Roger Stern, who gave him co-writing gigs on a few of his (Stern’s) DC assignments in the late 80s.  So, he definitely has not been working on this story or script for 35 years! Still, the story seems disjointed and to jump at times to such effect that I thumb back to make sure I’ve not missed a page.

Now, look at this:




Unless there are TWO jimbo Selgado’s can someone explain to me how he can pencil the above pages but, for Atlas, produce pencilled/inked pages such as the below?




Perhaps, if there are NOT two Selgado’s there is a very clear message here:do not under any circumstances allow him to ink his own pencils!!! Or, make sure he IS inking his own work because the pencil style and inked styles do not match -an assistant being used?

For the amount of time and the delays it takes Atlas/Ardden to get an issue out there is no excuse for this. Do the publishers -Jason Goodman, Brendan Deneen and Richard Emms need glasses? Are they proud of this? And what of Editor-in-Chief Mike Grell -how is he letting this through????

To date only Wulf has shone out as an Atlas title. I feel really, really bad about being negative over these books and particularly the art but when you hear that your old favourites are to return you expect the same high quality art and story as in the 1970s. Not pale clones.

Already a large number of old Atlas fans have jumped ship. Newer fans are just dropping the titles from their pull lists.

No one from Ardden reads these postings (though I have sent links and messages -unanswered) but if they did I would beg that they take a hard long look at what they are producing and if they really want to keep the old and new fans -PLEASE shake things up because your reputation is not doing well from this.

And where, I ask, is the Wulf comic after all this time…?

Bilbolbul newsletter di giugno

NEWSLETTER del 29/06/2012

 

SONO APERTE LE ISCRIZIONI AL
DIPLOMA DI SECONDO LIVELLO
“LINGUAGGI DEL FUMETTO”

 

Diffondiamo per conoscenza questa comunicazione:
Sono aperte le iscrizioni per il nuovo anno di “Linguaggi del fumetto”, corso di diploma di secondo livello attivo all’Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna dal 2009. La scadenza per la presentazione delle domande è il 20 luglio.

Il corso, tenuto da professionisti del settore e da artisti riconosciuti in ambito nazionale e internazionale, mira in primo luogo a formare autori completi in grado di confrontarsi con i diversi linguaggi della narrazione per immagini, e le forme con cui questa ha saputo esprimersi fino ad ora, dalla narrazione di fiction a quella autobiografica, dal reportage alle forme di contaminazione con l’illustrazione, la grafica, il disegno e l’arte contemporanea, pur nella valorizzazione dello specifico linguistico, artistico e narrativo propri del fumetto.
Il corso da una parte è il logico completamento del triennio di “Fumetto e Illustrazione” inaugurato nel 2004 – primo e unico di questo genere nelle Accademie italiane – ma dall’altra è aperto a studenti che hanno desiderio di costruire una propria identità artistica nell’ambito nella narrazione a fumetti.

Particolare attenzione si darà alla costruzione di una poetica personale di ogni singolo studente, attraverso i più diversi stimoli culturali e un esercizio continuativo nei laboratori, e all’analisi approfondita di tutte le fasi in cui si articola la creazione di un fumetto – dall’ideazione al soggetto, dalla sceneggiatura alla realizzazione e pubblicazione.

I diplomati del corso specialistico hanno l’opportunità di proporsi sul mercato internazionale sia come fumettisti sia come collaboratori in realtà editoriali. Oltre ai diversi ambiti specifici legati al medium fumetto – sceneggiatura, lettering, colorazione tradizionale e digitale, character design – potranno trovare sbocchi professionali nella comunicazione visiva (manifesti, locandine, immagini coordinate), nella pubblicità (layout e storyboard) e nel settore del cinema d’animazione.

“Linguaggi del fumetto” è aperto a tutti gli studenti europei in possesso di un Diploma Accademico o di Laurea di I° livello e studenti provenienti da paesi extracomunitari con titolo di studio equiparato e riconosciuto.

Il corso prevede un numero programmato di 20 allievi. L’ammissione è subordinata a un colloquio attitudinale in cui presentare il proprio curriculum di studi e un portfolio dei propri lavori. È prevista l’eventuale attribuzione di crediti e debiti formativi agli studenti in relazione ai percorsi di studio effettuati.

PER INFORMAZIONI
www.ababo.it
www.linguaggidelfumetto.it

PRESENTAZIONE DEL GRAFIC NOVEL
IL SIGNORE DEI COLORI

Lunedì 2 luglio ore 19 alla Libreria Modo Infoshop (via Mascarella 24/b) si terrà la presentazione del graphic novel Il signore dei colori alla presenza dell’autore Roberto La Forgia e con l’intervento di Emilio Varrà.
Sud Italia, Puglia, estati assolate: tre ragazzini e la scoperta del sesso in una fumetteria di paese. Non era Avetrana e non ci sono morti, solo un meraviglioso e delicatissimo graphic novel… con la cadenza pugliese, la stessa cadenza di Andrea Pazienza - Vincino

SACCHETTIDI PATATINE.BLOGSPOT.IT

Cinebook The 9th Art: XIII v.13 -TOP SECRET

XIII 13: Top Secret


Authors: Vance & Van Hamme
Paperback
Full colour
Size: 18.4 x 25.7 cm
Number of pages: 48 colour pages
Age: 15 years and up
Publication: May 2012
ISBN: 9781849181211
Price: £5.99 inc. VAT

The Mongoose is dead. So is Number I. But, since he was the President of the United States, XIII’s friends are all on the run again. McLane, though, has been arrested, and he’s being judged in secret by the heads of the American intelligence community. Sentenced to life in a secret prison, he has no illusions that he’ll ever reach it. The ruthlessness of the NSA Director proves him right—but he’s not the only one who wants XIII dead.

Can I just point out that the cover features a woman looking hotter than the Black Widow (“hot” as “hot” can be when you are talking about a comic book character!). And there are some very well drawn, but quite deadly, women in the story obviously –I just can’t think of things to write to praise Vance’s art anymore. I just soak it up.

And XIII reaches volume 13 which, as you may have guessed from the story blurb, is possibly not a very lucky number for him! The double-dealing, action and twists are all here and if you have not gotten into XIII yet…I’m saddened by your loss of pure comics enjoyment.

One of the best from Van Hamme –and Vance!

Cinebook The 9th Art: Antares Episode 2

Antares – Episode 2

Authors: LEO
paperback
Size: 18.4 x 25.7 cm
48 colour pages
Age: 15 years and up
ISBN: 9781849181204
Price: £5.99 inc. VAT
Publication: May 2012

The Antares mission is underway. Kim, her daughter and her companions are on board the interstellar ship that carries the would-be colonists. Conditions are far from ideal, though. The fanaticism and bigotry of a large number of the passengers, all members of the project leader’s sect, are putting everyone on edge. As well, there are rumours of substandard equipment for the expedition. By the time they reach Antares, Kim and her friends are already disillusioned… and the worst is yet to come.

I love this cover.  So far Leo has not failed to disappoint in either his stories nor the art. I could say more about what goes on but that would definitely be a spoiler. Let me just say that the last page is a real doozy!!!

I like this but I’m not really into science fiction comics. That either says something about me or this series!

Cinebook The 9th Art: The Scorpion (5)-In The Name Of The Father

The Scorpion v.5 – In the Name of the Father

Authors: Marini & Desberg
paperback
Size: 18.4 x 25.7 cm
48 colour pages
Age: 15 years and up
ISBN: 9781849181228
Price: £5.99 inc. VAT
Publication: May 2012

The lights of Rome have dimmed. When the Scorpion and his friends get back to the Holy City it is a place of fear and death -a city cowering under Trebaldi’s boot. Their only chance to destroy the Pope’s power is to heed Rochnan’s last words and look into the past of the Scorpion’s mother. Dodging warrior-monks and Inquisitors, they begin to unravel a story that could yield some answers too horrible to contemplate…

Treachery, intrigue, violence, sexy women and, oh yes, a lot of swashbuckling all in 48 pages! Can that be done? YES! The Scorpion has all of this and more and at the end of this book a very nice cliff-hanger ending.  Desberg cannot be faulted here.

The art…well, the bustling streets, architecture, costume, weaponry  -carriage chases, roof-top escapades and all added to by the sheer perfection (oops! Must not get too fan-boyish) of the colour work.  Marini is fast becoming one of my favourite European artists (yes, that is a bit of an ever growing list –but Marini is toward the top!).

Fantastic stuff.

Cinebook The 9th Art: Lucky Luke 35: The Singing Wire

Lucky Luke 35- The Singing Wire

Authors: Morris & Goscinny
Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm
Paperback
48 colour pages
Age: 8 years and up
ISBN: 9781849181235
Price: £5.99 inc. VAT
Publication: June 2012

1861. Abraham Lincoln orders that the First Transcontinental Telegraph line, currently interrupted between Nevada and Nebraska, be completed. Two teams, one heading east from Carson City and the other west from Omaha, will meet up in Salt Lake City. Lucky Luke joins the eastbound team. But when a $100,000 reward is offered to the first team to arrive, there’s suddenly more to fear than the natural obstacles of the journey: A saboteur seems to be at work!

I still find it hard to believe that the Lucky Luke series has now had 35 volumes published in English.  This is an amazing achievement by Cinebook The 9^th Art and if you have youngsters that you want to get into comic reading or just plain reading this series is one you need to start buying.

Even a crusty old goat like me smiles at these and it’s no secret that I was NOT a big admirer of Lucky Luke before these books.  We learn as we get older. Hey –a library of Lucky Luke books is good for you…an investment for your kids and even their kids!

Will this involve some crooked politician, some rather naughty cowboys, injuns and a bar scene?  You are joking –right?  Of course it will!

The cover…that expression on Luke’s face –I wonder if it was similar to the one on my uncle Gunther’s face when he realised he’d sawed through the tree he was sat in while tree felling??

Cinebook The 9th Art: Billy & Buddy 3: Friends First

Authors: Jean Roba

Billy & Buddy – Friends First
Paperback
Full colour
48 pages
Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm
Age: 8 years and up
Publication: June 2012
ISBN: 9781849181242
Price: £5.99 inc. VAT

Billy’s got a good life with Mum and Dad. Plenty of play, a little homework, and a smart, loving dog. Of course there’s the occasional hitch: that nosy, bossy old maid of a neighbour—and her Siamese cat—or the cheeky beat cop Agent 22. But it’s never too serious, and even Dad’s occasional embarrassing blunders can’t spoil things for long. After all, as long as you have friends, everything will be all right in the end!

These one pagers have that lovely clean style that, combined with the colour work, gives you a slightly warm and fuzzy feeling (if it’s just me gets that it’ll be the meds then).  It’s all rather deceptive because some of these pages are sheer slap-stick while others are rather gentle in their humour.   Roba never disappoints here.

I just sit back and think that the current generation of youngsters starting out reading comics have nothing that can be recommended from UK publishers but have a new Golden Age all of their own thanks to Cinebook.  At a time when literacy is not great Cinebook is producing titles a parent can buy for their kids to encourage early learning through fun (then the parents can read the books!).

I am certainly going to pass these along to my…erm…great nephew Leo (yes, unbelievably I’m a Great Uncle!) and his soon-to-be kid brother.