ComicZine May/June 2023

From the ashes of ComicScene comes ComicZine – the 21st Century fanzine about comics. We will be talking comics here every two months and we hope you will continue to join us. You can read these articles first when you subscribe to the weekly CS+ International and get access to your CS+ Cloud Comics Library. You can then catch up here every two months in ComicZine with the best features and articles.



This issue we speak to Steve Tanner of Time Bomb Comics, Alan Holloway and Ed Doyle of Sentinel, Ben Cullis of the77, Fraser Campbell of the Berg, Tim Pilcher gives us his ‘Perfect Comic’, there are details of the latest comic events and kickstarters, we take a look at 45 Years of Starlord and Star Wars Weekly and you get two free comics from the library – the History of Comics 1977 and Atomic – to celebrate Free Comic Book Day.



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Steve Tanner of Time Bomb Comic s talks Quantum










Hi Steve, how are you?



I’ve very well. Very busy, but that seems to be coming with the territory these days.



Quantum is Time Bomb Comics new comic. Where did the idea for Quantum come from?



It was born out of a desire to do something different and unexpected. In recent years, Time Bomb Comics seems to have become on a lot of people’s radar, and while that’s a wonderful thing it always brings with it a weight of expectation. We won the Best UK Indie Publisher Tripwire Award last year so we needed to up our game accordingly to make sure that the hundreds of readers who independently voted for us didn’t feel their support of us wasn’t being taken for granted. Quantum is one aspect of Time Bomb doing that.



You’ve gone direct to retail newsagents. What prompted that decision?



Two things. Firstly, because nobody really does that anymore. It used to be the only way you’d see new British comics, it was definitely the only place you could buy them from. Part of the reasons why it’s no longer the usual method is because of the costs and risks involved; they’re a lot bigger than what’s involved trying to get a couple of hundred people to support your Kickstarter campaign!



Second, the success of Spectrum in WHSmith’s opened our eyes a bit. That book had already had a very healthy crowd-funding campaign and direct to comic shops distribution via Diamond, but still did really well through that traditional retail outlet. It was a realisation that whilst there’s some crossover of audience, it’s not self-consuming. There’s a whole audience out there that want to read a comic that they buy from a newsagent – so let’s give them one!



Is Quantum available in just newsagents or can you get it in comic shops too?



Mainly newsagents, though our distributor has let us know Quantum will be available in Forbidden Planet in the UK and Midtown Comics in the USA. That may expand, if there’s interest from comic shops to stock it, but we see Quantum being a newsagent fixture for the moment.



What characters feature?



Major Rakhana: Pax Galactica Part One, written by Steve Tanner, artist Pete Woods, colourist Dan Harris, letterer Rob Jones.



WesterNoir: Moon Cursed Part One, written and lettered by Dave West, artist Joseph Parangue, colourist Matt Soffe.



Memphis, written, drawn and lettered by David Morris.



Whatever Happened to the World’s Fastest Man? Part One, written by Dave West, artist Marleen Lowe.



The Clockwork Cavalier, written by Steve Tanner, artist Ed Machiavello, colourist Dan Harris, letterer Bolt-01.



So it’s a mix of established characters familiar to Time Bomb readers and new characters making their Quantum debut. WHTTWFM and the Clockwork Cavalier are reprints that we thought really deserve to be seen by Quantum’s different audience, the rest is brand new material.



Having said that, we’ve tried to make the reprints fresh too, such as bringing in Dan Harris to colour to the Cavalier story that was previously in black and white.



Going forward, we’ll be reducing the reprint content further for Quantum No.2 when another new serial, “Death and Taxes”, makes its debut. That’s the first reveal of that, so you have ComicScene exclusive there!



How many times a year will Quantum come out?



Every two months, beginning with Quantum No.1 on 20th April.







You also launched Spectrum in newsagents. How did that go? Any more planned, or other licensed comics from Time Bomb?



We’re happy with Spectrum, our licensors Anderson Entertainment are happy with Spectrum, and #2 is well underway. This week I’ve had approval through for the suggested cover artwork (Yes, it’s brilliant! No, I’m saying nothing more!) and seen some of the completed interior artwork.



It’s all coming together very nicely.






The third Brawler has just finished on Kickstarter. What should we expect?



Exactly what it says on the tin! Brawler’s release schedule is perhaps a little lengthier than some of its readers would like, but part of the remit is to make sure that the content is really worthwhile. If some of the creative teams need longer to deliver, so be it, as one thing Brawler will never have is filler material. A lot of the favourites from Brawler #2 are back: Wolfheart, Amnesia Agents, Space Banshee Exorcist and of course Major Rakhana. We also have a new Baker St Irregulars story from David Morris – they first appeared in the Brawler Special we co-produced with ComicScene and Shift but this is their debut in the regular Brawler title.



Oh, and a new exclusive story done just for us by Mike Carey, That too.



John Higgins did the cover. How did you arrange that?



No arcane chicanery was involved. We reached out to John, explained the brief, and we were all in agreement. He continues the Time Bomb Comics tradition of releasing books with A-list cover artists: Ian Kennedy, John Burns, Steve Pugh, Phil Winslade et al.



And you’ve partnered with Dave West? How did that come about?



Bringing Dave into Time Bomb seemed a natural thing to do. I love what he produces as a creator and he was really enthused about what Time Bomb has already achieved and where it wants to go.



Having him as part of the core management team has already made a difference, and of course I now get to put the Time Bomb logo on all his Westiverse titles.



Any other plans for Time Bomb we should know about?



We have lots of things in various stages of development, but you’ve already had your ComicScene exclusive so that’s yer lot!



Thanks for your time Steve.






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Ed Doyle and Alan Holloway the Bolt-01 Dave Evans tribute annual










Hi Ed and Alan, how are you?



Alan:  A bit worn out from a year of putting BOLT-01 together and finishing up the campaign and printing for our latest Sentinel: “The Pack”



So how did the idea for the Bolt 01 tribute come about?



Alan:  It was all Ed – it usually is!



Ed:  I think myself and Alan were talking one day, back in 2022, about Dave Evans and how he had supported us by printing our strips in the 2000Ad Fanzines Zarjaz and Dogbreath. I was missing these unique publications and suggested wouldn’t it be great to do a tribute comic to him. I read a post on Facebook, looking back on these fanzines and I think someone must have been on the same train of thought, as they had mentioned in the comments section, that they would love to see another Zarjaz or Dogbreath issue.



Alan:  We were expecting one of his closer friends to put something together, maybe a final issue of Futurequake or something. There was nothing, so we simply decided to do it ourselves as there were a lot of people eager to commemorate his life. We asked the two creators closest to him if there were any objections and none were forthcoming.



When did you decide to go for the Annual format?



Ed:  It started out as a A4 comic magazine. Both of us loved Annuals, so we started to lean towards a 64 page Annual.



Alan:  64 pages! We thought we’d have trouble getting even that.



Ed:  Then that became a 96 pager. Finally it has morphed into a monster 146 page book.



Alan:  Like many people of a certain age we have a huge fondness for the old annuals, and using that as a format just seemed fitting once it became viable.



Is it an out in August for Christmas Day release?



Ed:  It’s out in May actually. Planning to launch it at Lawless the end of May and Enniskillen Comic Fest, the first week in June.



Alan:  Yeah, it was always planned to be launched at Lawless because Dave loved it there and would design the programme. They even have a charity type thing where they pay for someone to come that wouldn’t normally be able to, in Dave’s name. It is very fitting that we launch it there, and we won’t be sending out copies until after it.



The annual seems to have grown arms and legs. How did you ensure quality control?



Ed:  Alan was Script Editor on this so he would go through the submitted scripts, make changes, reject those that weren’t up to scratch.



Alan:  I read every script and assigned artists when needed. I turned down a few and suggested changes to a few, but I really didn’t need to do much as most people involved were involved with Dave, and I know from my own experience that he helped me make my scripts tighter.



Ed:  For me it was putting the pages together as the art that came in for this was amazing. No editing needed there. Really talented, creative people in the Indie Scene. Plus getting support from those, doing comics professionally, was fantastic.



Alan:  When we were offered strips that he himself had edited and lettered but were unpublished due to his death, they were simply accepted without question. It was very emotional to read some of them, and we’re so grateful to those involved for letting everyone finally see them in print.



What stand out strips and posters do you have?



Ed:  There’s so many to choose from. My fave strips are Flawless by Pete Howard and Garry Wharton,



The Wedding by John Wagner, Dan Cornwell, Dylan Teague and Jim Campbell and The Letterer by Pete



Howard and Simon Chinook but all the strips in this annual are really good. We have 13 pin up artworks featured. My faves out of these is John Farrelly’s rendition of Dave as Bolt-01 Editor Droid and Matt Sandbrook’s piece.



Alan:  I totally agree with Ed’s choices, I love that John and Dan did a strip as it was Dave that put them together and kickstarted Dan’s professional career, giving us “Rok Of The Reds” and more. It’s just one page but it’s absolutely beautiful, as you’d expect. There’s a strip called “Holding Onto You” by Yousaf Khan and artist Katie Pinch that Dave Lettered and I genuinely can’t read it without shedding a tear, so that one stand out for me, but there SO MUCH high quality content it just seems a little unfair to single stuff out. I’ve read a lot of compilations that have their fair share of slightly duff material, but I honestly think what we have here will hit the 90% good mark for everyone who reads it. Pin up wise, it has been very special to get one from Dave’s eldest, Danni, who has done a great pic of Whistler, Dave’s bounty hunter character.



The book is for charity but Is there a message in there about talking to someone if you need help, particularly around Christmas and New Year?



Ed:  There’s a message in the Kickstarter regarding those who may feel they’re in a dark place to not be afraid to talk to someone. Unfortunately Dave succumbed to his own mental health issues which was a terrible shock to his family and all who knew him.



Alan:  It’s always an important message, but the annual itself is a celebration. All proceeds are going to Survivors Of Breavement by Suicide (SOBS), so I hope that someone somewhere will benefit form what we’ve done. The charity was nominated by Dave’s family, who are 100% behind the book. As well as the pin up I mentioned Danni Evans has also written the book’s introduction, which is unsurprisingly emotional and touching.



What indie comics do you like?



Ed: There is one Indie comic that I’m a MASSIVE fan of and that is Ash Redburn’s Cinecrypt. Brilliant. Black and white comic, featuring photo strips, artistically manipulated based on schlock horror movies. Well worth checking out. Ash has a 3 page strip in the annual to give you a taste of what his work is all about.



Alan:  Ed’s spot on with the Cinecrypt recommendation. I like one and done titles, such as David Metcalfe-Carr’s “England Made Me”, and I very much enjoyed Time Bomb comics’ “Flintlock” series.







Sentinel is a great format. What have you got planned?



Ed:  There are a number of strips coming up/being worked on. Issue 14 will be Heartbreak Spotel written by Alan and drawn by Paul Spence, his second issue for Sentinel.



Alan:  It looks amazing, Paul really is the spiritual successor to Massimo Bellardinelli, and for that reason I only gave him alien characters so his imagination could go mad. It’s a sort of follow up to his first issue “A Fare To Remember”.



Ed:  Then there’s They call her Trinity with art by Atholl Buchan.



Alan:  I wanted to do a Strontium Dog type thing, where it’s basically a western with the sci-fi trappings more of an aside. It’s a gritty tale of a female bounty hunter, Trinity, tracking down the father that sold her into slavery. The title is a riff on one of my favourite westerns, “They Call Him Trinity”, and if we ever do another it will be called “Trinity Is Still Her Name”, after the film’s follow up.



Ed:  Ian Beadle is working on his third issue, a follow up to Issue 11’s Dark Matter. And a young artist called Jack Parsons, is working on Wolf Riders. His art is very Manga looking, a first for Sentinel.



Alan:  “Wolfriders” is interesting in that I write it to compliment Jack’s Manga-ish style. He’s only, I think, seventeen, and was introduced to us at Lawless by the lovely sometimes 2000AD droid Kek-W. “Dark Matter: Implosion” is another old school action story. Ian was ready to give up but he loves the characters we created so much I wrote him a follow up. At his suggestion the villain is Tezhol, based on legendary UK strongman Terry Hollands. Ian got his permission and because we are both fans of that scene it’s a lot of fun to have him in it. Because there’s very little money in it (we wish that were different but hey ho) we don’t nag artists and not everyone can commit even after saying they’d like to. This means I actually have several scripts that just haven’t been done and that’s a shame.



Any other projects from the two of you?



Ed:  Will be starting on a strip written by Alan for Paul Deadeye’s Grimm Prairie Tales comic that will be launching on Kickstarter in October. A Mature Readers title that. I’m going through commissions at the moment plus I do live caricature drawings at weddings. I’ve a couple of those coming up.



Alan:  As a writer I’m always up for anything as I’m pretty quick and don’t give a damn about payment as long as it’s a good project. Pete Howard and I are writing a new one off horror comic for mature readers which Ed should be doing a strip for. It will probably be called “DREAD” and will hopefully be a Halloween release with some dark stuff inside.



Thanks Ed and Alan






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Starlord at 45











Established under orders from management, the resistant editorial staff of 2000AD whose job it was to spin this extra plate didn’t believe that Starlord’s existence should have even been considered. Following the long-standing IPC dictum that fresh new titles be regularly launched and older comics whose lustre had gone off eventually be folded into them, it was initially planned that 2000AD be gobbled up by and integrated into Starlord. Yet even in the first year of its life, 2000AD was proving to be no ordinary comic, and the momentum of its runaway success carried on throughout the five months and twenty-two issues of Starlord’s life. In the end,it was Starlord which was swallowed up by 2000AD in October of that year’s Prog 86.



In many ways, the title was a footnote in the more than forty five-year history of 2000AD, but for two key points; Starlord was the first home of a pair of British comics’ most enduring and well-loved series, JohnWagner and Carlos Ezquerra’s mighty mutant bounty hunter epic Strontium Dog, and Pat Mills and co-creator Kevin O’Neill’s robot disaster squad satire Ro-Busters, who, following their transfer to 2000AD, morphed into the ABC Warriors.






“The two comics were very similar,” says Mills, who had left his post as 2000AD’s launch editor after four months of the title’s existence to freelance as a writer, just before the Starlord idea was floated to his replacement, Kelvin Gosnell.“There was little difference in readership, and predictably it backfired. Comics should be different to one another – you’d think that wasn’t rocket science, but people endlessly make this very obvious mistake.”



“We had been working as a team, me, Mills, Kev(in O’Neill) and Jan (Shepheard, art editor), since God was a boy,” says Gosnell, who was given Mills’ old job from Prog 17 of 2000AD. “At the same time I was offered the editorship, I was also told to start Starlord. This was John Sanders’, the publisher of all of th uvenile’s (titles). He said, ‘Pat’s leaving,and you’re going to start a new comic called Starlord which will do the same sort of thing as 2000AD’. I had no choice, I could either do it or go. I felt quite stunned. “I immediately said, ‘I don’t think that’s the right thing to do,’ because it meant falling into IPC’s sausage machine production line. The pattern was to open a title, then let it grow, then six months later you start preparation for a new one, which you launch six months after that. Another six months later, when your original title is starting to fall off and the other one is still healthy, you merge them together. We all thought 2000AD was the time to break that chain, because everything about it was so good. We felt – and with the benefit of hindsight, now know – that we had something a bit special. I remember coming out of that meeting and bumping into Pat by a coffee machine, and telling him about it. He agreed with me that it was the wrong thing to do, but I had to do it, so I did.”



With another ‘character’ editor in place much like 2000AD’s Tharg – this time, the square-jawed intergalactic freedom fighter Starlord – the new title was to be launched with much the same quality of production and creative elements as 2000AD. Yet Gosnell had other ideas. “I wanted to upgrade the printing quality, because 2000AD was produced on Fleetway’s good old Number 6 press, which was this ancient thing, three storeys high, down on the river somewhere in Gravesend. We wanted to go for something like web offset, where you get a much better quality of colour reproduction – everything about 2000AD was its quality, and we wanted to do everything we could to increase that. We got into deep shit from Sanders, because he thought it was going to be on Fleetway Number 6 again. The new printing cost two or three times as much.”



With Starlord now his main focus, and one eye on 2000AD – which had largely been delegated to his assistant Nick Landau – Gosnell had a lot of work on his plate. “I was more or less on autopilot,” he says. “I knew I had to get John and Pat on Starlord, and I knew Ro-Busters was going to be a big part of it, because Pat and Kev had been wanting to do this for ages. In fact, I think that came from Kev in large part, because he was mad keen on Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds, and then it was Pat who came up with the idea of getting them to charge for rescues. It worked beautifully, there’s a film that should have been made; I think Gerry Anderson was keen on it, but it never happened.”






Although O’Neill was the co-creator of the series, it was Carlos Pino and Ian Kennedy who drew the Starlord episodes. “I knew I could just let John get on with it, so when he came up with Strontium Dog, I left it alone,” continues Gosnell. “As a team, he and Carlos were an editor’s dream. Otherwise I had to come up with various ideas, talk to writers and match them up to artists. Timequake was written by Chris Lowder and drawn by Ian Kennedy, and was a particular hobby horse of mine – I love time travel stories.”



The launch issue also featured Planet of the Damned, a series devised by Mills for 2000AD, which featured a cast of artists. “Overall, although Starlord gave us some good stories, it wasn’t something I wanted to do,” says Gosnell now. “It’s interesting that when it came time to close it,