Small Press Big Mouth

Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Bristol Fitties 2013

Its that time of year again, the sun is out, the sky is blue and Bristol's busting out next weekend. Now, its had its knockers of late but here's a handful of our top tips to keep an eye out for...

Firstly our very own Stacey Whittle, along with Iz McAuliffe, will be hosting another fantabulous 2000AD Mega Panel this year featuring Ian Gibson, Michael Carroll, David Hine, Boo Cook, Mike Collins, Rob Williams, Ben Willsher, Henry Flint, David Roach & John Higgins. Saturday 11th May at 5pm in the Ramada main panel room.

Graham Pearce may or may not have Sgt Mike Battle #19 for sale depending on whether he can get it finished in time. Draw, Graham, draw like the wind! Regardless he will have his back catalogue of SMB and a rough-cut preview of #19.

Jennie Gyllblad ‏will be there with her own table, "being lonely" apparently, so go along and give her a hug from me. She'll also be selling Clockwork Watch Arrival AND Breakaway, Skal, Jenspiration, some new prints along with her old ones.

Dani Abram and Ian Matthews will be there with Razarhawk #1 and #2 along with a special variant cover version of #1 which looks amazing! ‏

Heather L Sheppard ‏will be debuting Sunrise #1 the print version of her gorgeous webcomic. "There's only 75 printed copies, but a digital download with the extra pages will be available to download at the same time - no missing out!" (Print version's £4.50 online, £4 at cons - digital version is £1 online) Heather should also have a few of her travelposter prints, Dinorawr cards and other bits as well.

Gary Erskine will will have the Roller Grrrls sketchbook and will be sketching too.

Kris Carter will have Lou Scannon issues 1 through 5 for sale - highly recommended.

David Wynne says "I'll be at the Orang Utan Comics table on Saturday, sketching. We'll have Particle Fiction and Hypergirl for sale. Woo!" Incidentally, Particle Fiction now has a new webhome HERE, check it out.

And finally, the ever-fragrant and carnivorous Nic Wilkinson informs us it will sadly be the first Bristol con since it came out that she and Cy Dethan won't be able to attend. "So sad as Bristol has always been the spiritual home of Cancertown." But fear not, sweet SPBMers, Cancertown 1 & 2 are available from Cy's comicsy shop

Friday, 12 April 2013

PORCELAIN available from Diamond.

Unless something incredible happens (glances at Cy Dethan out the corner of my eye) Improper Books' Porcelain: A Gothic Fairy Tale by Benjamin Read & Chris Wildgoose is on track to be my favourite graphic novel of the year (though having said they we've still got Butterfly Gate and Night Post yet to come from the Improper folk soooo...) so its without hesitation that we recommend you read the press release below and and haul your peachy buttocks towards your local comic shop to order yourself a copy.

Or you could get yourself one right now from one of these fine establishments who may still have copies left from the advance indie release. Even if you don't live near any of those shops most of them will have a mail order service and you can have it delivered to your door! Man, are we living in the future or what?

Now, true SPBMers will have done this already on the strength of Stace's recent review, haven't you? But I digress. Do your duty, read the press release, buy the book, tell your friends. Peace, out.

*****

PORCELAIN: A GOTHIC FAIRY TALE, NOW AVAILABLE VIA DIAMOND

“Porcelain is a gorgeous and haunting steampunkesque fairy tale.

Creepy, compelling and beautifully realised.”

Kurt Busiek

(Astro City, Avengers, Conan, Marvels)

“A haunting, umbral, and surprisingly charming story, told with confidence and great skill. I can't wait to see what they come up with next.”

Antony Johnston

(Wasteland, The Coldest City, Alex Rider graphic novels)

PORCELAIN: A GOTHIC FAIRY TALE is set for a July 2013 release courtesy of DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS, and is now available to pre-order (Diamond Code: MAY131178).

Porcelain: A Gothic Fairy Tale is the first graphic novel from the new creative team of Benjamin Read (writer) and Chris Wildgoose (illustrator), and the first title from publisher Improper Books. It has received exceptional and overwhelmingly positive reviews, and a limited indie release of Porcelain in the United Kingdom has sold out to fantastic public response.

“Absolutely remarkable. Never in over two decades have I witnessed such a zealous reaction to a new creative team and a publisher’s first-ever graphic novel in advance of publication.”

Stephen L. Holland (Page 45)

“Porcelain is a bona fide hit at Travelling Man, appealing to lovers of exquisite storytelling, and only held off the top spot in sales by the latest League of Extraordinary Gentlemen!”

Simon Campey (Travelling Man)

Thanks to the support of independent retailers and fellow comic creators spreading the word, our stock of the limited UK indie release sold out in a little over a month, with some retailers taking over 150 copies based on customer interest and pre-orders.

Written by Benjamin Read, illustrated by Chris Wildgoose, coloured by André May, and lettered by Jim Campbell, Porcelain is set within a world that’s a darkly magical echo of our own. It follows the story of a street urchin, known as Child, who leaves the cold streets of a snowy city behind when she climbs the high wall into the Porcelain Maker’s secret garden in a bid to steal whatever she can.

The Porcelain Maker discovers Child trespassing but, amused by her audacity, he offers her the chance to stay. He’s a lonely man, kept company only by his alchemically-powered automata, and he and Child form an unlikely friendship.

Shut off from the world beyond the wall, Child wants or needs for nothing as the Porcelain Maker heaps affection and luxury upon her, indulging her like a daughter. In return, she can do as she pleases, except for one command, one rule that must never be broken, she must not look behind the workshop door.

Twitter @ImproperBooks

http://www.improperbooks.com/

Product Title: PORCELAIN: A Gothic Fairy Tale

Creators’ Names: Benjamin Read & Chris Wildgoose

Format: full colour; 96 pages; soft cover, perfect bound 178mm width x 245mm height (7” x 10”)

Retail Price: USD $19.99 / CAD $21.99 / GBP £12.99

On Sale Month/Date: July 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4474-6131-9

Diamond Code: MAY131178

Improper Books is a comic and graphic novel imprint focusing on creator owned stories that have a touch of the fairy tale, the Gothic or the macabre.

Benjamin Read writes comics and makes films. He wrote the TRUE GRIT and SUPER 8 comic adaptations, and also wrote and produced the films WARHOUSE and 500 MILES NORTH.
http://www.benjaminread.co.uk/

Chris Wildgoose is an illustrator, and conceptual and storyboard artist. Northern born, but London based, Chris made his comic debut with the official TRUE GRIT and SUPER 8 comics.
http://christianwildgoose.blogspot.co.uk/

Monday, 8 April 2013

ROK Comics' MASTER MERLINI

New Cy Deathan comic! New Cy Dethan comic! *claps hands* Yes yes yes now shurrup and read the press release!

*****

ROK COMICS RELEASE ‘MASTER MERLINI’ INTERACTIVE AUDIO COMIC

ROK Comics announces the release of Master Merlini, its latest interactive audio comic featuring an all-new incarnation of the real-life, world famous escape artist David Merlini.

Escape artist, crime fighter, adventurer, Master Merlini is all of these things and more, as he battles the villainous Caligari while a mysterious woman helps him discover an incredible truth about his world and his existence!

Written by Cy Dethan, author of the acclaimed Cancertown series and Starship Troopers, with art from Giancarlo Caracuzzo (artist on Marvel'’s Formic Wars and Gorilla Man), the debut Master Merlini audio comic plunges the hero into a strange world beyond our own, linked to a real world event in New York on April 18th 2013!

With full audio 'play' to accompany the comic and escape artist tricks revealed in exclusive videos as well as animations and extra background information on some of the characters, Master Merlini will leave you wondering... where does fiction end and reality begin?

Based on a concept by ROK Comics founder Jonathan Kendrick and David Merlini himself, who also voices his comic alter ego, Master Merlini merges the real world with a fiction that is all too real for its hero!

MASTER MERLINI ONLINE

• Master Merlini Online at www.mastermerlini.com

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Master-Merlini/576738435671570

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MasterMerlini

DON'T JUST READ THIS COMIC - HEAR IT!

• Full length comic strip adventure starring Master Merlini

• Full length accompanying soundtrack

• Exclusive escape artist trick videos

• Animated sequences offering alternate storytelling (selected pages)

• Background feature on escape artist Merlini

MASTER MERLINI: CREATOR CREDITS

Script: Cy Dethan based on a concept by Jonathan Kendrick & David Merlini

Art by Giancarlo Caracuzzo

Colour by Kirsty Swan

Letters and Digital Mastering by Jim Campbell

Voice Artists: David Merlini, Shawn Curran, Kirstin Reitter and George Sanders

Available now for iPad, iPhone and Android

• From iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/app/master-merlini/id615910310

• From Google Play for Android:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rok.comics.mastermerlini001

• Visit Books That ROK at: www.booksthatrok.com

DESIGNED TO BRING COMICS TO LIFE, OTHER ‘BOOKS THAT ROK’ INTERACTIVE AUDIO

COMICS INCLUDE:

For iPhone and iPad

•The Beatles Story

https://itunes.apple.com/app/the-beatles-story/id569176209

•Team MOBILE #1

https://itunes.apple.com/app/team-m.o.b.i.l.e-1/id578981996

Also available for Android

•Team MOBILE #2

https://itunes.apple.com/app/team-m.o.b.i.l.e-2/id579055097

Also available for Android

•Houdini Adevntures #1

https://itunes.apple.com/app/houdini-adventures-1/id579058111

Also available for Android

MUSIC COMICS

•Rick Fury

https://itunes.apple.com/app/rick-fury/id573928983

Also available for Android

OG Niki

https://itunes.apple.com/app/og-niki/id594555051

•ZeZi

https://itunes.apple.com/app/zezi/id573944649

Also available for Android

•Joe Whelan

https://itunes.apple.com/app/joseph-whelan/id562249855

Also available for Android

CDComics' ROBIN HOOD 2020 linkapalooza!

Heads-up, SPBMers! We've received a linktastic press release from CDComics so give it a read and then click any link in green. Link in green, Lincoln green, Robin Hood! Gettit? Shut yer face I'm a comedy genius, me. If you have a better blogpost pun please write it on a £20 note and send it to the usual address.

*****

ROBIN HOOD 2020

ISSUE ONE: THERE IS NO CONSPIRACY

This is something different again from CDComics, after publishing three Surreal Murder Mysteries (Meadowhell, Spring Heeled Jack and Football Crazy), the hard boiled nourish detective narrative of Manhattan 1930, War Nurse, a homage to Golden Age Comics and an alien abduction story from the 1960’s in Carnacki & Hannay.

This time, CDComics have moved into political action thriller territory with their modernisation of the classic Robin Hood legend.

How would Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men respond to the current political and economic climate in the UK ? How will they react when placed just seven years into future and the dystopian nightmare of 2020?

‘It just felt like the right time to write a story like this…” said the writer and artist Craig Daley

The first issue includes the usual humour expected from CDComics, but this time against the backdrop of a society that is divided across old class boundaries. On one side the plebs and on the other those who were born into privilege, the ruling elite class.

Along with a revamped Robin Hood, the comic has many of the characters you would expect to see, Little John, Marion , Tuck, Much and Scarlet who has been through the most blatant transformation and is now a female. Along with the characters, even Sherwood Forest gets a surprising make over as the action moves from the traditional forest locations to the cities of London and Sheffield in 2020.

There isn’t a bow and arrow in sight, but the politics is close enough to the truth that the comic keeps the appearance of reality that flows through CDComics’ output. The comic says ‘THERE IS NO CONSPIRACY’ and unlike political thrills of the X-Files, Robin Hood 2020 doesn’t create one, the narrative uses current and historical events, facts and figures and just takes the reader seven years into the future.

“Id like to think it owed more to ‘A Very British Coup’ with action piled on top, rather than the ‘X-Files’, that was the reasoning behind the title of this first issue.’

The action is full on and takes centre stage throughout this 32 page first issue that introduces all the main characters and the comic also asks enough questions to make you want to read Issue Two.

Issue One of ‘Robin Hood: There is No Conspiracy’, will be available to download from the following sites, priced around £1.25/$1.99 or the Euro equivalent

Available now on
Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/CraigDaley/e/B0070OKNKQ/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Drive Thru Comics: http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?&manufacturers_id=4440
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/CDComics

And after processing by Smashwords will be distributed on…
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=Craig+Daley
Diesel: http://search.diesel-ebooks.com/author/Daley,%20Craig/results/1.html
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/craig-daley?keyword=craig+daley&store=ebook&iehack=%E2%98%A0
Sony: http://ebookstore.sony.com/author/craig-daley_369148
Apple: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/craig-daley/id528912381?mt=11

The CDrom version of the comic packaged in a slim line DVD case with wrap around cover will also be on sale at several Sheffield shops, priced £2.50, when the snow clears...

Sheffield Space Centre on the Wicker, Broomhill’s Galaxy 4 and Record Collector, Rare and Racy on Devonshire Green and Blackwells on Carver Street .

-----

You can find more about CDComics at http://cdgraphicnovels.blogspot.co.uk

Monday, 25 March 2013

Episode 42 is online!

Welcome to the latest episode of Small Press Big Mouth, this is Episode 42: The Meaning of Grice - in which you will learn the answer to The Ultimate Question... of Life, The Universe, Everything. And where the feck we've fecking been for the last four fecking months.*

*Belgium, man, Belgium.

Lee and Stace have a good old rambling chat about all sorts of thing - including The British Comic Awards, Porcelain, Babble, Lou Scannon, The Spooky Womb and Razarhawk. Lee couldn’t hear Stacey at times and Stacey barely finishes a sentence – that’s right we’re back!

Direct Download: Episode 42

Stace portrait of the week.
Lee stinks and Stace is surrounded
by ~~flowers~~ fried eggs

Linkypoos

British Comic Awards

The 3 Snake Leaves

Into The Woods 2: The Morning Wood After

ELYSIA Kickstarter takes flight

I've been aware of this project percolating away behind the scenes for quite a while as writer Serena Obhrai is a friend and I've been a huge drooling fanboy for artist Jennie Gyllblad's comics (Skal, Jenspiration, Clockwork Watch, Bayou Arcana) for yonks, so its great to see Elysia break out into public view at last.

Elysia is an epic and ambitious project that has been gestating inside Serena's fevered noodle for decades - a huge and intimate urban fantasy of angels and demons and self-discovery.

Anyhoo, read the press release below, ogle the artwork, click the links and check out the Kickstarter fundraiser...

*****

An original 300-page graphic novel

that centres around self-identity and

friendship after a young girl

turns into an angel.

The Story

Elysia’s wings begin to grow when she hits puberty and her whole life is thrown into disarray. Her journey to discover her new form is more than she bargained for.

Having been born with a lot more power and responsibility than she can accept, we follow Elysia on this epic coming-of-age journey where everything she knows no longer exists. Her estranged angel mother and scientist father have a lot to answer for as Elysia grows into her new body.

She is soon to learn that she is to become a fighter in a secret training facility to ward off the Demon Angel Overlord - who has also kidnapped her father. Settling for nothing short of Elysia’s soul, the Demon will not rest until he has destroyed the Higher Order of angels that rule over the lands.

The story encapsulates a healthy respect for science, friendship and self-discovery. Don't be fooled by the angels - they are led by planetary alignments, not religion. Elysia makes many friends along the way all with their own angel powers and they all combine to create the formidable force to take on the Fallen Angel attack that is about to take over the world and all its inhabitants.

The Book

Elysia is a full-colour, 300-page original fantasy graphic novel written and created by Serena Obhrai, which will be split into three chapters. Jennie Gyllblad was appointed to join as lead illustrator in the Spring of 2012. The graphic novel operates under Ermahgerd Entertainment Ltd and the company are now excited to be launching a Kickstarter campaign.

Each chapter will be printed in full colour, sized 260mm by 170mm and approximately 100 full colour pages each. The first chapter scheduled for release in September 2013.

There are also options for Elysia superfans to be in the comic themselves! Many of the higher end tier rewards are such that fans can be written and drawn into the story.

There are future plans to turn Elysia into an animated TV series and computer game.

The Main Cast

The Creative Team

SERENA OBHRAI

CEO and Lead Writer

Serena was born in London and has worked in online communities for a decade. She is now working on Elysia full time. As a classically trained actress with a Psychology degree, and someone who has been writing since she was 11, Serena has a unique ability to tell epic character-driven stories.

JENNIE GYLLBLAD

Lead Illustrator

Jennie is an illustrator, designer and graphic novel artist, who currently lives and works in Bath. She has studied graphic design. Interior comics and graphic novel illustration is not her only strong point, Jennie is able to also ink, work on tattoo designs and private commissions, as well as corporate branding.

E-link-sia

KICKSTARTER

http://bit.ly/ElysiaKS

WEBSITE

http://elysia.me

BLOG

http://blog.elysia.me

FACEBOOK

http://facebook.com/elysiafans

TWITTER

http://twitter.com/elysiacomic

Thursday, 14 March 2013

Please Stand By...

Normal service will resume shortly.

Welcome to Small Press Big Mouth's Blog

Small Press Big Mouth is our podcast focusing on the small press and indie side of the comic world. It is hosted by Stacey Whittle and The Lovely Lee Grice and we are incredibly proud to be part of the Geek Syndicate Network.

We have started this blog for all the reviews, news, con reports , web comic recommendations etc we can't fit into our show. We think every geek worth their salt should also be checking in at www.geeksyndicate.wordpress.com everyday for comprehensive all round geeky news.

You can find us on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/stace_w

http://twitter.com/LovelyLee_G

and email us at

smallpress_bigmouth@yahoo.co.uk

Here's our at-a-glance index to all our episodes so far...