Monday 14 December 2009

Welcome To The World of Tomorrow

This week is the week that the PSN Digital Comics store goes live.

A whole library of comics in your pocket where ever you go? The Future is truly upon us and you can wait up for Santa with free to download chapters of our red-eyed and dark-hearted tales.

Our graphic novels will be published in chapters on the PSN with the first of each being offered free of charge as a taster. Three titles will be on the virtual shelves from launch, with many more to follow.

If you’re looking to try to something different and challenging then our mind bending, skin crawling, heart wrenching books will keep you up all night. So, rub your eyes and take a look at:

Cancertown
Cy Dethan, Stephen Downey, Mel Cook, Nic Wilkinson,


Morley is a man with big problems and a brain tumour like a baby’s fist, living with one foot in a monstrous alternate world. When the lost and dispossessed of London start tripping over those same cracks in reality, Morley must confront the residents of Cancertown - or find his place among them.

“Cancertown will disorientate you, suck you in, chew you up and spit you out and you might well be in need of a change of underwear by the end. Don’t say I didn’t warn you."
Bryan Talbot

“I described it to someone asking me what it was about as a "rip-roaring mindf***.”
John Freeman: Down The Tubes

“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."
The Geek Syndicate

“Cancertown leaps out of the page at you, grabs you by the jugular and doesn’t let you go.”
Sci Fi Pulse


Burke and Hare
Martin Conaghan, Will Pickering, Paul McLaren


From 1827-1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland’s most notorious serial killers, Burke and Hare, murdered 16 people and disposed of their bodies to the eminent dissectionist Dr Robert Knox. Delve into murky, misquoted history and unravel a ghoulish story of medicine, murder and money.

“Burke and Hare is well paced, beautifully illustrated and painstakingly researched. A very impressive launch for Insomnia's new Vigil imprint.”
David Hailwood: Down The Tubes

“It’s not pleasant, but it is truly engrossing. It’s also genuinely chilling

Stripping away the oft misunderstood folk-lore surrounding these two iconic figures the book delivers a ghoulish, yet fascinating account of murder, history, medicine and greed”
Forbidden Planet

“There's a moment in life that I savour: that delicious, perplexing instant when you realise that something you've 'known' for years is actually a crock of nonsense....and when it rights itself, reality has taken on a slightly different hue.

I had just such a mini-epiphany the first time I read Martin Conaghan and Will Pickering's 'Burke & Hare'.”
Alan Grant

Cages
Xander Bennett, Mel Cook


What if you’d spent your whole life in a cage, never glimpsing the world outside? What if everything you knew was darkness, fear and cold, clinical steel? What if one day, an angel came to you with a message of hope – a message that you were about to be set free?

“Lovely… and disturbing. Let’s not forget disturbing.”
Ben Templesmith

“Mother of a compelling read.”
Comic News

“If dark and futuristic stories are your thing, then this is one book not to be missed. The artwork alone is worth reading, and the story is incredibly compelling and will keep you glued to every page until it’s over.”
Moya Dawson

Talking about having a book included in the PSN launch Cy Dethan said:

"You know those really big roller coasters where there's this phenomenally steep climb that tilts you right back so all you can see is sky and then you reach the crest of it and the car tilts down and you see the track dropping away toward the ground and time just sort of freezes for an eternal instant while you wait for the drop and it's both unbelievably cool and unutterably terrifying all at once?

It's been a bit like that."

And Xander Bennet added:

"It feels fantastic to be at the forefront of this as one of the first indie books. The more formats that are available in which to read comics (computer, PSP, etc.), the more choice people have. Hopefully, this means readers will be more inclined to take a chance on indie books and publishers other than just the big names.

Digital comics are absolutely where it's at -- or, at least, where it's going to be. We spend so many hours in the day reading on screens that I think, for most people, it now feels very natural to read comics this way. Plus, those floppy paper comics are getting expensive!"


And they are right.

I've talked about the "UK Indie Comics Renaissance" before on this blog, but in actual fact this incredible explosion of creativity is going on globally as more and more people are realising the power and potential of the form to tell all sorts of stories in all sort of ways.

Technology has a huge impact both on the technical side of art and production, and in allowing people from all around the world to work together easily.

The next natural step was to actually get the results of all that work easily into the hand of of readers whenever they want it and wherever they are.

Personal technology like the PSP hopefully means readers will be able to enjoy a much wider range of creators, styles and genres than just whatever happens to be on offer in any one specific local shop, or even tempt in people who have never read a comic before.

We could even see new creators inspired to produce their own work, not to mention the as yet unthought of new creative possibilites that working for a new medium will undoubtedly bring.

To quote Cy in an interview with Frugal Gaming recently

"Given the enthusiastic welcome that Sony has shown to indies like Insomnia, I think there's definitely an opportunity here to demonstrate the true breadth of the medium... there's nothing preventing the indies from standing shoulder-to-shoulder with giants. I think that's something to be celebrated"

So, go, celebrate, the alchemical wonder of the fusion of comics and technology!

And if you haven't finished making your Christmas list for Santa yet here are some PSP game recommendations from the boys and me:

From Cy:

I'm currently working my way through Motorstorm: Arctic Edge, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and Resistance: Retribution - which is more colons than I've ever put in a sentence before.

From Xander:

Some of the best PSP games recently have been Monster Hunter, Pangya Golf and GTA: Chinatown Wars. But my absolute fave PSP game would have to be Jeanne D'Arc -- I highly recommend it if you're into RPGs.

From Me:

God of War: Chains of Olympus!!! Yeah, baby.

Really, this blog has everything, doesn't it?

Sharing The Love

Loves to share this week are:

  • Richmond Clements "Turning Tiger" which is now out to buy. There is a preview on Myebook if you want to see the first issue.

  • Lee Robson is going to be writing an ABC Warriors story for Zarjaz next year. The Warriors are one of my personal 2000AD favourites so I can't wait to see this.
In Memory of Eric Martin

On November 18th this year Eric Martin, a great supporter of, and contributor to, the world of comics podcasting sadly died of a heart attack in his sleep at the age of 36.

His brother Mike has now set up a Donation fund and all the money will go to Eric’s 8 year old daughter Gracie.

Dave Monteith and Barry Nugent of The Geek Syndicate have organized a small auction of some cool stuff to raise money for the fund.

The auction has now started on ebay. More items will be added as the day and week goes on. Any items which do not initially sell will be auctioned again at a later date with the proceeds going to the fund.

Full details can be found on the Geek Syndicate website

Individuals and companies from throughout the world of geekdom have donated some fantastic items for the auction including:

  • Auction 3 - Two Star Wars RARE art prints here and here donated by Tommy Lee Edwards (Batman, Daredevil, Hellboy, Star Wars) will be donating . Signed artist proofs that he did for Star Wars Celebration shows ( Coming Soon)
  • Auction 4,5 & 6 - 2000AD will be donating a Greg Staples signed sketch, Books of Invasions Vol. 1,2 & 3 signed both by Pat Mills and Clint Langley (with a quick sketch in each by Clint) and a signed copy of Pat Mills’ Requiem Book One.

It's incredible to see this kind of support within the community. The generosity of both Dave and Barry in organising this, and from the contributors themselves are deserving of huge praise.

Thanks guys.
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