Comic Cuts — 7 March 2025

With any luck I'm close to finally announcing the title of the four-volume set that I have been hinting at for the past few months. All four books are almost done. The internal pages are now with the copyright holder to be checked over to make sure they're happy and we're not accidentally using something that is not theirs to license. 

I'm working on the covers. I had volume one ready to go, but I wasn't happy with what I'd done with the rear cover. I had a chance to play around with it on Wednesday and came up with something that works with the various logos that have to be included. Selling direct to customers, even through eBay and Amazon, means that I don't have to worry about a barcode. And it saves a pound per book because to buy a single ISBN costs almost £100 and I can only license books in limited numbers.

To take Phantom Patrol as an example of this perilous form of publishing, say (for ease of the maths) I make £10 per book and license 100 copies. The license plus the cover cost me £550. So you have to write off the first 55 copies, after which you make your profit. I've sold about 70 copies, so for the six weeks or so that it took to scan, clean and retouch, write introductions, design, and negotiate a price that was affordable to readers, I've made £150.... but that's not quite the case as I had to supply the copyright holder with a number of printed copies and sent some to Chris, who did the beautiful cover, and there are a couple of proof copies sitting on my shelf that can't be sold, so my profit on the book is closer to £100 to date and I'm looking at a total of £400 by the time the license runs out.

I would not recommend getting into publishing! I must be mad.

Anyway, expect an announcement in the next week or two.

We had a cheerier week this week, with friends over from Canada and a trip out to the Colchester Arts Centre to see Andy Zaltzman (The Bugle, The News Quiz), who I have wanted to see for years. It topped off what had been a little bit of a miserable week (funeral, low levels of enthusiasm) with a bit of political satire, pun-filled gags and general silliness of a kind that hit just the right note. Oh, and there was a stuffed penguin sitting on a suitcase on stage for over half the set. A penguin in a tinfoil hat. This is why I love Andy Zaltzman. And should he stumble across this (I don't know if he Googles his own name), please send Alice Fraser.

Mel is away at a convention, so I'm thinking of doing a binge watch of something or try to catch up on some movies. The calm before the storm. Hopefully I'll have some news next week.

Rebellion Releases — 5 March 2025

2000AD publisher Rebellion are having a big sale on collections of British comic book classics in the Treasury of British Comics sale!

You can get 75% off.

Choose from some of the finest comics from the Rebellion archive, including House of Dolmann, Adam Eterno, Karl the Viking, The Steel Claw, Concrete Surfer, The Best of Cat Girl, Tammy & Jinty: Remixed, The Best of Jane Bond, Spell of Trouble, and the Cor! Buster Bumper Fun Book!

Plus there’s up to 80% off issues of Monster Fun!

And now, this week's releases...

2000AD Prog 2422
Cover: Cliff Robinson / Dylan Teague.

JUDGE DREDD // THE SHIFT by Ken Niemand (w) Nick Percival (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK THREE by Alex de Campi (w) Eduardo Ocana (a) Giulia Brusco (a) Simon Bowland (l)
PORTALS & BLACK GOO // A QUORUM OF FIENDS by John Tomlinson (w) Eoin Coveney (a) Jim Boswell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
HAWK THE SLAYER // THE LAST OF HER KIND by Alec Worley (w) Simon Coleby (a) Gary Caldwell (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FIENDS OF THE WESTERN FRONT // WILDE WEST by Ian Edginton (w) Tiernen Trevallion (a) Jim Campbell (l)

• 10 Mar. British cartoonist R.E. (Becky) Burke has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during her four-month backpacking trip around North America. She tried to cross the border into Canada on February 26, but was denied entry due to a visa issue. Returning to the US, she was arrested as an illegal alien and has been held in detention in Tacoma, Washington. Her father has written an urgent appeal (available at the second link). "Burke is known in the comics community, setting up at Thought Bubble, writing for Broken Frontier and making some pretty good comics." An update has revealed that her troubles began when she mentioned at the Canadian border that she was staying with a family "in exchange for doing light household duties", which constituted work under the letter of the law.
• 5 Mar. More on the Neil Gaiman allegations as he tries to have the court dismiss the case. "[His accuser, Scarlett] Pavlovich filed her lawsuit to district courts in Wisconsin, New York and Massachusetts; Gaiman filed the motion to dismiss in Wisconsin."
• 3 Mar. Frank Quitely has been drawing a series of illustrations based on myth for Bowmore since 2021 which are used across labels and boxes for their whisky.
• 25 Feb. Geek Retrospective has an interview with Mike Collins who "has worked for some of the biggest names in comic publishing (Marvel, DC Comics, and 2000 AD). He has illustrated such characters as Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Judge Dredd, Sláine, and Rogue Trooper. As well as a series based on Star Trek, Doctor Who, Transformers, Zoids and… Well the list goes on and on!" (video, 46m)
• 24 Feb. Bill Morrison has posted a fascinating article about the highs and lows of his adaptation of Yellow Submarine (Titan, 2018), first mooted for publication on the film's 30th anniversary, later expanded for the 50th anniversary and still missing pages from a planned expanded version. "I decided that if I could make certain pages of the book resemble psychedelic posters in their design, I might be able to create an adaptation of Yellow Submarine that would be faithful, but also offer Beatles fans something new and exciting."
• 18 Feb. A look at Steven Appleby's latest exhibition. "Steven has had many solo shows but this is the biggest to date and covers all aspects over such a long and varied career."
• 16 Feb. Keir Starmer has said that his favourite "book" was Roy of the Rovers, while visiting a Ukrainian school. "It's a fabulous book—well known in Anfield. I love football, so all my books are about football."
• 16 Feb. Want to know some of the financial details about Diamond Comic Distributors (UK), formerly Titan Distributors... their 62 staff distribute comics and other goods to 400 accounts in the UK, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. More at Rich Johnson's Bleeding Cool website.
• 15 Feb. Martin Rowson explains why he is cutting back on his committments to The Guardian and announces a new subscription service to obtain prints of his cartoons. "Given that half the UK’s national daily newspapers now no longer publish a daily political cartoon, the Guardian’s commitment to and support for cartoons needs acknowledging, as does their quiet nurturing of new and diverse cartooning talent."
• 14 Feb. Forbidden Planet has bought out Mega City Comics from retiring Martin Kravetz. The Camden Town store will close briefly for a refit before reopening in a few week's time as Forbidden Planet Camden.