Friday 24 August 2012

50 Shades Of Graeme*


*apologies to Nic Wilkinson & Cy Dethan for blatantly nicking the title of this blogpost from theirs. Its just too good!

Hello inmates! ...I mean playmates, check this out: you can cut yourself off a slice of Cancertown and have it for your very own - and at an insanely bargainy price too! Pustulous pencil-pusher Ghastly Graeme Howard is selling off the original art for Cancertown 2: Blasphemous Tumours at five quid a pop! Here's what he said on his blog yesterday...

*****

Well with only three pages to go on Cancertown 2. I'm up for selling the original art. 

Issue 1 has already been grabbed by Markosia publisher Harry Markos, but there's still loads of other pages up for grabs. They're going for £5 per page with £2.50 p&p (they will be posted in a cardboard tube).

I will of course be taking the pages with me to the launch of Cancertown 2 at Thoughtbubble in November.

But you will be able to contact me via email and order them that way.

*****

He wants locking up. 






Wednesday 15 August 2012

At last its... News Bites 20!



This is some stuff what you might be interested in so read it. All of of it. Or there's no pudding for you.

*****

The first issue of new 'street press' comic OFF LIFE debuts in September and they are open for submissions and looking for talent. "Published bi-monthly, OFF LIFE will be free to read and distributed across London and Bristol in bars, shops, galleries and comic expos." A free online version of each issue will also be published on their website. Full details - including how to submit - can be found there and you can follow them on twitter HERE

ITEM! Daniel "Denis" Clifford wants us to let you know there's loads of pages to read on http://SugarGliderComics.co.uk - all of Sugar Glider #1 and half of Sugar Glider Stories #1 (with the rest to follow) All for free and everything. Oh, and Carlisle MegaCon is next Saturday and he'll be there with his stuff. And that.


ITEM! Luke (Moon Freight 3) Foster's new daily webcomic The Center of Somewhere has launched. You can find it at 


ITEM! Jennie Gyllblad has revealed the followup comic to Clockwork Watch: The Arrival is currently being illustrated. "It's called Breakaway and I'm snuggling some inks right now." No, I'm not sure what 'snuggling some inks' means either, but hey. Keep an eye on her blog for sketches and updates. Jennie has also recently signed on to illustrate angelic urban fantasy Elysia written by Serena Obhrai. You can follow the progress of that project via facebook or twitter.


ITEM! Jon Lock tells us there's a new chapter of DEAD DAYS, the latest AFTERLIFE INC. miniseries, just online. You can check that out here: 


ITEM! STRIP Digital #5 is now on sale from iTunes HERE

ITEM! Barry "Indiana" Nugert would like to draw your attention to a couple of announcements in his Unseen Shadows universe - namely THIS and THIS. Its total sneakypeeksville, man!

ITEM! A few items now arguably a bit outside of SPBM's remit - but sod it, that's one of the reasons for the blog in the first place. I want to recommend a couple of excellent Commando Comics reprints out in newsagents this week - Gas-Bag Gunmen (fab early art by comics legend Cam Kennedy) and The Deadly One (equally art by Victor De La Fuente) which was especially requested by me! I even get a wee mention in the introduction to the issue which is an absolute treat. You can read previews of this week's issues HERE

ITEM! Talking of Commando - they recently reprinted a story complete on their FB page free, gratis and for nothing - The Sand Devils features brilliant rare interior strip art by frequent cover artist Ian Kennedy.

ITEM! It surely couldn't have escaped regular SPBMers notice that there's been quite a kerfuffle this week about the possible cancellation of Britain's longest published comic The Dandy. There's been an awful lot of coverage online, in print and n the telly & radio. SPBM tooncrush Jamie Smart was  interviewed by Al Jazeera (see the video on Jamie's blog  HERE) as well as writing a piece for The Guardian which you can read HERE. Gary Northfield has also been valiantly fighting Desperate Dan's corner appearing with the mighty Paul Gravett on Sky News

ITEM! Ever wanted to draw for 2000AD? Well now you're in with a chance - Rebellion is running a contest in conjunction with Thought Bubble in which you can win a paying gig to draw a strip for Tharg's Mighty Organ. Full details HERE

ITEM! Another free comic alert! Do you remember A1? Dave Elliott's superb anthology from the 1990s? Well he's bringing it back and you can read Atomeka Presents: A1 issue 0 for  FREE here!

Cancertown 2 will grow on you

We stand second to no man nor beast nor skinless, snaggletoothed, jawfaced, mollusc monster in our admiration of writer Cy Dethan and his extended clan of cannibalistic brethren. And I'm not just saying that because I'm scared, but I swear you see their table at a con and its like The Comics Have Eyes or something. Shit. family of talented co-creators. So it was with bladder weakening terror great joy that we received the following death threat press release hidden inside the bodily orifice of a dead tiger shark left rotting on the doorstep of SPBM mansions in our email. Pin you eyelids back, pilgrims, and read...

*****


Remission Impossible: 
Cancertown Returns as Volume 2 Pre-orders Open

Cancertown 2: Blasphemous Tumours
Writer: Cy Dethan
Pencils and Inks: Graeme Howard
Colours: Peter Mason
Letters: Nic Wilkinson
Original Designs: Stephen Downey
Publisher: Markosia

Released: November 2012

Sequel to the “Where the f*** did that come from?” indie hit, Cancertown: An Inconvenient Tooth, Cancertown 2: Blasphemous Tumours finds a dangerously ill Vince Morley tumbling between warring worlds as the barriers between his two realities cave in around him.

In May 2009, an unknown team unleashed their first creator-owned work, Cancertown, on an unsuspecting world. As the scrappy indie outsider flew off the stands at Bristol Con at its astounding launch weekend, comic book legend Bryan Talbot said:

For a first graphic novel from a new creative team, Cancertown is remarkable... We’re seeing here the first outing of creators who will make their mark on the future comic industry.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you."


It seems the warnings weren't enough as the sickness has returned. November 2012 sees the launch of the sequel at the Thought Bubble Sequential Arts Festival in Leeds, and it's taken a turn for the darker.

The Cancer Cell has grown and mutated to include the talents of Graeme “Dick Turpin and the Crimson Plague” Howard on pencils and amazing new discovery Peter Mason on colours.

With nightmarish intensity in both visuals and storytelling, this second volume of Cancertown hurls the reader head-first through the looking glass. The foundations are shaking, the old powers are falling and all the scores must be settled before the dust ever will.

Read a free 11-page preview: HERE

Pre-order Offers:

Pre-order and Thought Bubble Launch Special Offers

£12 Cancertown 2 (prepaid, pre-order for posting or collection) 
£15 Cancertown 2 (buy from the table at Thought Bubble Launch)

£20 Cancertown 1 and 2 (pre-order or from the table for posting or collection)

Everybody who pre-orders will be entered into a draw to win a framed original sketch of the Cancertown characters by Graeme Howard.

Every pre-order will also have a DVD containing the following:

  • Scripts for all 6 chapters
  • Script for a previously unseen Crosshair origin short story
  • Cover concepts
  • Full chapter in inks
  • Full chapter in colours
Postage: £2.50 UK, £4.00 Rest of World.

Payment must be received for pre-orders by 1st November 2012 to qualify for pre-order price, competition and extras DVD.


Normal cover price of book is £16.99 (180 pages, colour).


You can pay by cheque or Paypal.


Please visit HERE or email cy@cydethan.com for more details, to place your order or for payment information.

Should’ve known better than to trust an angry, blinded monster with a spaz-hand and a grudge.”

Six months after the events of Cancertown: An Inconvenient Tooth, Vince Morley is a dangerously sick man. Bugf**k is in a psychiatric hospital, sticky fingers picking through the darkest corners of the mind that brought Cancertown into existence. The crossing points between Morley’s two realities are wearing thin and all the rules are changing.


I got my hand bitten off trying to save the world’s biggest c**t from something worse than him. Don’t pretend you know anything about me.”

Within Cancertown, something new has appeared – a creature of horrific violence and limitless rage. The foundations are shaking and the old powers are falling, one by one. Papercut, deadliest of the Cancertown players, seeks out Morley to claim the favour he owes her – a favour that could cost him more than just his life.

We can no longer protect you. Cancertown 2: Blasphemous Tumours is coming...



Reviews of Cancertown 1: An Inconvenient Tooth
"I described it to someone asking me what it was about as a "rip-roaring mindf***".
John Freeman, Down the Tubes



"The book grabs you by the throat right from the start and drags you kicking and screaming into the vividly twisted world of Cancertown...what we have here is a well crafted, fantastical story that demonstrates what a comic book should be. I for one can't wait to read more tales from Cancertown."
The Sidekickcast


"Cancertown: An Inconvenient Tooth is one of those rare treasures in its originality, well written and beautifully drawn.

Cy Dethan has scripted an exceptional story. If you like horror stories mixed with detective novels you are going to love it."
Comic Shop Voice

" I bloody loved this graphic novel.

“It was a complex, dark and twisted fantasy with a heavy noir feel to it.Think Maltese Falcon crossed with Criminal Macabre and a dash of Alice in Wonderland, trippy as hell (God knows what sort of dreams I'm going to have tonight!)...Seriously though, pick this up as it’s one hell of a read."
Geek Syndicate



"The thought put into the story was exceptional, the heart between Bugf**k (not really her name) and her father was real and Vince's predicament is never far from his mind and he knows it. The twist behind the origins of the leaders of Cancertown wasn't something I was expecting. Essentially, Dethan put together a hell of a book."
Comics Related



"Cancertown leaps out of the page at you, grabs you by the jugular and doesn’t let you go. Simply put, it’s weird, disturbing and any number of other words that you’d associate with horror. It is also compelling and, in the tradition of the best horror comics, has just the right mix of action, adventure and mystery thrown in to keep you guessing."
SciFi Pulse