The International Press Academy yesterday announced the nominations for this year’s Satellite Awards, with nominees shortlisted in twenty-two film categories, plus a number of TV and DVD categories. The late Heath Ledger is nominated in the Actor in a Supporting Role category for his powerhouse turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight, while Chris Nolan has a nod for the film in the Director category; The Dark Knight also receives nominations in the Visual Effects, Film Editing and Sound Mixing and Editing cateogories.

(Heath Ledger as the Joker in the Dark Knight Returns, (c) Warners/DC)

The Motion Picture (Animated or Mixed Media) sees Tale of Desperaux, Horton Hears a Who, Wall-E, Bolt, Sky Crawlers and Waltz With Bashir fighting it out. Waltz With Bashir also receives a nomination in Documentary category, being that unusual film, an animated documentary. And, I have to say, an exceedingly powerful one; I caught it recently (its on general release after a long tour of the film festival circuit) and the use of animation was perfect for capturing the dreamlike (or often nightmarish) quality of the memories of the Israeli conscripts in the war in the Lebanon in the early 80s in a way that live action could never have matched. Tough to watch in places (especially when it deals with the deaths of innocents caught up in the war), but given the subject matter it should be hard to take and its well worth a little bit of your time.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has picked up several noms too, including Original Screenplay and Cinematography, while the box-office conquering Quantum of Solace garners several nominations, among them Visual Effects, Film Editing, Sound Editing and Mixing, Original Score and Original Song. Iron Man picks up a couple in the Visual Effects and Film Editing categories as well as the Sound Editing category; fantasy flick City of Ember and the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still also both feature in the more technical awards categories.

(Catherine Tate as Donna with David Tennant as the Doctor and a Dalek chum in Doctor Who, (c) BBC)

Its not bad for the fantastic genres in the TV nominations either, despite being dominated, as many other US-based TV awards have been this year, by the historical drama/biopic John Adams. Still a few wave the flag - Life on Mars again among them, although this time the US remake, not the original BBC version as Harvey Keitel gets a nod for Actor in a Supporting Role for his US version of Gene Hunt (I love Harvey’s film work, but again, surely he is just physically not right for Gene??). Fringe’s John Noble is also nominated in the same category and Pushing Daisies Kristin Chenoweth is nominated in the Actress in a Supporting Role category. The US version of Life on Mars is also nominated for the Drama category, as is Primeval. David Tennant and his sexy hair make the nominations for Actor in a Drama Series. The full list of nominations (which also include other media such as DVD and games - with Dead Space, Fallout 3 and Civilisation: Revolution among them) can be found on the official site; the awards are announced on December 14th.

The Beeb’s official Doctor Who site has a special Time Lord Advent Calendar online today. Fun, but personally I prefer real Advent Calendars, with little chocolate treats behind them.

Regular Beano artist Kevin Sutherland tells us that the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre (no strangers to those who’ve been to some of the UK’s comic cons) are back in Edinburgh, following their Festival Fringe run with a stint in the gorgeous Spiegeltent in Princes Street Gardens, right in the middle of the city, between the Old and New Towns, as part of the White Magic show in the Winter Wonderland events (which also include outdoor ice skating, a craft fair, rides and the German Market), along with a number of other performers who are also banishing the long, dark winter nights of Caledonia with light, song and mirth in La Gaieté, the old Belgian Spiegeltent set up in the Gardens, with shows running through December; check the Gilded Balloon’s site for full details.

The Geek Syndicate boys are celebrating as their excellent comics and SF show hits the one hundredth episode mark. As Barry commented, its a bit of a surprise to hit that landmark as they never really thought it would get past the fifth show back when they started it all. Hearty congratulations to the GS gang and best wishes for the next hundred shows.

(a scene from Charley’s War, currently being reprinted in hardback by Titan, written by Pat Mills, art by Joe Colquhoun)

Also on the GS front, Dave was at the Comic Museum where he managed to record (with the permission of the Comics Museum)  one of the real giants of British comics, Pat Mills (who must have influenced the comics reading of untold thousands of us through Action and 2000 AD), talking to him about the classic series Charley’s War (without a doubt one of the very best war comics ever, no argument) and his collaboration with artist Joe Colquhoun in bringing the Great War to life. And they guys are not sitting on their laurels - coming up we have an interview with Julian Jones, writer/creator on the BBC’s new Merlin series, some panels recorded at the recent Thought Bubble event and a preview of the upcoming new series Demons (plus recordings of some of the cast talking to the press at the preview event). As they say, don’t touch that dial!

On the Steampunk Magazine blog the lovely man who is John Reppion talks to one of our best artist/writers, Bryan Talbot, discussing the influence of Steampunk (and proto-Steampunk) on his work and indeed the influence he in turn has had on other creators, taking in the Luther Arkwright classics and also talking about Bryan’s current work in progress, Grandville:

“John Reppion: How and when did the idea of Grandville come about? I think you said you were still working on Alice at the time weren’t you?”

“Bryan Talbot: Yes, just at the tail end. That’s when I usually start to get new ideas for graphic novels – just as I’m finishing the previous one. I was looking through a book I have on the work of 19th century French illustrator Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard who worked under the nom-de-plume of Grandville. He was a big influence on the original Alice in Wonderland illustrator John Tenniel. He frequently drew anthropomorphic animal characters, dressed in contemporary French fashions and his pictures were often politically satirical.

It suddenly occurred to me that it could be the basis of a graphic novel – Grandville could be the name of Paris in the centre of a French Empire in a steampunk setting. The 19th century proto-SF French illustrator Albert Robida is another influence.”

(Bryan Talbot portrait by Leah Moore, borrowed from the Steampunk interview and (c) Leah Moore)

Bryan talked about Grandville at this year’s Edinburgh Book Festival and I have to say I’m very keen to see the finished article - certainly be on my books to watch for list for 2009. To get a little taste of what’s coming, have a look at Bryan’s site where he’s been posting up some preview pages. (Thanks to Leah for the link)

(Inspector LeBrock of the Yard from Bryan’s upcoming Grandville, to be published in 2009; art by and (c) Bryan Talbot)

Continuing with our exclusive preview from the new Blank Slate Books translation of Mawil’s Sparky O’Hare:

(Sparky O’Hare preview courtesy of and (c) Mawil, published by Blank Slate Books, click the image for the larger picture; you can visit Mawil’s site here)

After the post yesterday where the writers and artists involved had their say about the DFC it seemed only fair that the rest of us had a chance as well. So I’ve gotten together some quotes from friends, colleagues and people who were kind enough to send comments.

Matthew Badham
‘I’m not really enjoying the DFC,’ says occasional comics journalist and full-time dad Matt Badham, ‘although I highly rate Jim Medway’s strip, Crab Lane Crew, and the work of writer Ben Haggerty and cartoonists John Welding and Sarah McIntyre, who also contribute to the comic.

‘However,’ he continues, ‘when I apply the Doctor Who test to the DFC, it passes with flying colours. If I don’t like an episode of Doctor Who, I ask my 15 year-old nieces what they thought of it and defer to their opinion. Usually their response is that the episode in question was great. I defer to them because, as a 34 year-old man, I’m not the target audience for the show. Likewise, I’m passing my copies of the DFC to my nieces once I’ve finished with them. They’re loving the comic, in particular the strips Sailor Moon and Violet. Job done, I think. I hope the DFC can market itself to enough kids and teengers to survive. Judging by my nieces’ response to the DFC, it deserves to succeed.’

Peter Duncan

We’re slightly older in our household.  My daughter is 11 and I’m 48.  I initially subscribed to DFC more or less because I felt the enterprise deserved support but it is now a real part of our Friday night/Saturday morning.  Love the variety in the art-styles, some good writing and I probably enjoy it more than my weekly 2000AD habit.

What I’m enjoying most about it though, is reading it with my daughter and the impact it has had on her.  Comics have ceased to be those weird things Dad likes and are now something she thinks about as a worthwhile medium.  So much so that there have been a few early attempts by her to draw her own comics from our bedtime stories into her school art book. Neither of us quite get Mo-Bots but most other stories have been enjoyed by one or the other of us or in most cases both.  I was delighted to see Mezolith when it first appeared, very European, very traditional in style and yet it seems to fit in quite neatly. I’ve been working away this weekend so we are an issue behind, but my
daughter is totally captivated by the single image of the Swan Women from Mezolith which appeared on the DFC web-page.  I’m delighted with the comic and hope it does well  enough to survive for some time to come.

Royston Robertson

It’s really interesting to see the child’s point of view.

My son, who is six, reads the DFC (because his cartoonist Dad was interested in it … but he does really like it!) He also goes for the funny ones rather than the adventure ones.His friends are also largely unaware of it because it has such a low media profile. It really needs to get into the shops, for longer than a week. I agree about Crab Lane Crew. My first reaction was, “What is all this about?” But when you read a few you realise it’s all about friendship and it’s actually quite moving in places.

And finally, some of the letters and comments from the DFC website.

Thanks very much to the folks at the DFC for permission to reproduce these:

Me and my dad really enjoy the DFC. We think the best stories are Mobot High (bring it back soon!), John Blake, Crab Lane Crew, Spider Moon and Monkey Nuts. Don’t make the strips too cartoony or silly - we like the adventurous ones, and are looking forward to Mezolith.
Katie

We like getting the DFC on Fridays . We take it in turns to read first (not dad). Our favourites are:
Sneaky the cleverest elephant - Molly
Strange Strange World of Weird - Henry
Violet - Kasia
John Blake - Dad
Thanks for the comic!
Kasia, Henry and Molly (and Dad)

I’m still loving all the characters and their crazy adventures. I’m glad Rivet and Sid retrieved the diamond egg. I think Fish-Head Steve is hilarious (where does Jamie get his ideas???) Are their any new strips coming up??? And when’s The Boss coming back??? My sister is eagerly awaiting MO-BOT High.
From James

“Since getting The DFC [my grandson] has suddenly been able to read.” Angela (Grandparent)

“I am the Most Popular Mother ever! My eight year old son has devoured the first issue … and is now rivetted to Desktop Publisher devising his own version. Inspirational!” Alison (Parent)

And whilst we talk about making your own pictures…..

Neill Cameron; writer and artist on Mo-Bot High writes about how much fun it is to receive fan art, something the readers of the DFC seem to love doing. And with his permission, here’s one he received from Maz Wardle, aged 8.

Says Neil on his blog:

I was absolutely delighted to receive the drawing above from a reader - the very talented Mr. Max Wardle (age 7)! This totally reminds me of the drawings I would make after reading a new issue of Transformers when I was a kid… and look how that worked out.

He’s got it all in there - Asha, the DMC pictograms, and a BIG BLUE MO-BOT and everything. Awesome job! I can only hope that when I get to Season 4 of Mo-bot High, my version is half as exciting as Max’s.

(Check out the DFC website for more reader art and fun stuff like how to draw a mo-bot yourself!)

And lastly, my favourite comment of the lot……

Dear DFC
The DFC means don’t free chimpy.
When will their be more Boss mystery? I like it when the Boss tells everyone what to do and solves the crimes. And I like Lettuce and especially Agent K because he tells everyone how to solve the mystery.
This is my comic.
Love Sonia (age 10)

This is MY comic. That’s exactly how the DFC should be making children feel. And it seems it is doing it very well indeed.

For the past few days, I’ve had my say and Molly’s had her say on the DFC Comic and how much we’re both enjoying it. But I thought it might be interesting to see what a few people who make the comic strips in the DFC thought when asked the question:

What do YOU think about the DFC?

(Links in the titles take you to the DFC creator pages)

Emma Vieceli (Violet)

I can’t speak highly enough of it. It’s one of the best things to hit the UK comic scene in years, but as to the readership - because of the young target age, we don’t actually get to hear much in way of feedback. the DFC offices quite often get really sweet letters from readers telling them which stories they like, but this isn’t the kind of age group to go discussing the stories online sadly.
I hope, hope, hope that word spreads and more people catch onto this amazing project. It’s an injection of life into the industry, and we’d be mad to let it go. ^_^

(Violet by Emma Vieceli - website)

Peadar O Guilin (Sneaky)

I am one of the contributors — I write Sneaky. As a result, I’ve been getting all the issues, reading them, and passing them on to an eight year old child I know. Just like you, I find that we have radically different preferences.

I grew up on 2000AD and still gravitate towards those sorts of stories, particularly “Mezolith” with its amazing atmosphere. He’s more into “Animal Adventure Squad” etc.

Laura Howell (Sneaky, The Mighty M)

Sadly, there are absolutely no 8-13 year-olds in my acquaintance, so I’ve never once been able to speak to a genuine human child about their DFC reading experiences. But I’ve heard a lot of positive feedback from people like Jim Medway, who go into schools regularly.

For my own experience, I’ve grown more and more keen on the DFC over time - which is not to say I didn’t like it at the beginning, but for me it started hitting its stride in the teen issues, when things like the DFC Olympics and Mezolith appeared . I think it offers today’s kids the closest experience to the one that I grew up with and loved, reading serialised stories in comics such as Mandy and Bunty (and for the lads, in the equivalent boys’ comics). And contrary to popular opinion, I don’t for a second believe kids have lost interest in serialised stories - just look at how they buy endless volumes of Manga, or follow the soaps, and there’s those seven volumes of books about some wizard or
other… I could see it becoming such a big deal amongst both kids and older comics fans, it’s just the question of how the raise awareness. I’m being boringly evangelical about it to anyone who’ll listen these days, but I want to see it on billboards and buses, I want
to see kids at comics conventions cosplaying as DFC characters! Bring Molly along to Bristol next year in a Verne outfit, that’ll be a start ^_^

(Sneaky cover to DFC issue 10 by Laura Howell - website.)

Robin Etherington (Monkey Nuts, Strange Strange World of the Weird)

I’ve been lucky enough to spend a number of days hosting comic workshops with children ranging from 6-13, a surprisingly wider demographic than the target 8-12 that the DFC initially hoped to attract. The first, and most notable response from all the children who have read the comic (and this percentage has been steadily rising over the sessions, from 10% to around 50%) is one of sheer joy. The original intention was to create an anthology styled comic with ongoing, serialised adventures, but there was a concern that children might find this a difficult reading concept to grasp. What we have discovered is that they positively RELISH the bigger multi-episode adventures, and cannot wait for the next instalment. The range of storytelling and artistic styles is also gaining appreciative noises from the young readers, as boys and girls of different ages constantly nominate different strips as their ‘favourite’, often citing three or four tales as equally fun.

The importance of Language plays a major role in our sessions with the children. I’ve been a firm believer that a child will read AT LEAST two years above their intended age, if provided the material. Words they cannot understand, or pronounce, they will simply skip over, their enjoyment utterly unimpaired by the experience. This is an opinion I’ve found exemplified through our workshops as children read sections of the DFC to us (which they take immense pleasure in!) happily engaging with challenging concepts, language and jokes. Wonder and Imagination are the two watchwords that my brother Lorenzo and I actively instil in every page of our work, and the DFC is rapidly inspiring this sentiment in readers of all ages. Children are happily buying into fantastical lands and mythical worlds, as easily as the more accessible school child based strips. Parents have engaged equally well with the DFC reading experience. The quality standard is something that David Fickling and his editorial team go to great lengths to guarantee, challenging the various creators to produce consistently superior material. Thankfully, the results have resonated well among those parents whose children are subscribing, praising the variety and originality of the tales.

All in all the feedback is superb. As good as it could be at such an early moment in the life-span of this title. 24 issues old and going strong, the future looks bright for the children of the UK!

(Monkey Nuts cover by the Etherington Brothers - website)

Jim Medway (New At The Zoo, Crab Lane Crew)

I  think David Fickling has compared it to a TV channel with loads of different shows on, and while that might be a good analogy for kids, Comics are a far more active and involving medium which is constantly asking the reader to fill the gaps and make mental connections. Other than that, he’s a real hero, and certainly very brave, and I think his risk has paid off. Every week you’ve got top quality adventure (such as the astonishing Mezolith) and humour (Little Cutie, Sausage & Carrots and Vern & Lettuce my personal ‘first reads’), beautifully produced AND the reader doesn’t have to put up with a single advert or commercial spin-off. for me that’s a really important plus, as it seems if kids do read other comics, more often than not it’s a TV or film tie-in. And while the Simpsons are excellent, it’s essential kids are shown that there is comic entertainment out there that is not instantly familiar. I ask in every school I work in, and it’s depressing how few recognise (let alone read) Tintin or Asterix. As far as I can make out, these are his models - use the comic to grow weekly strips into eventual published volumes.

My only problem with the comic is hopefully a temporary one, and that is distribution. Even if a kid has heard of The DFC, it’s a very small handful that have ever seen a copy. And if you’ve not ever seen it, you’re not going to know what you’re missing. And even if you’ve got the money, you still can’t buy a copy because you can’t spend coins online. The sooner it can be found in the shops the better, and I know they are working towards that, and doing a big push to get it into schools. Once kids can find out about it and access their own copies without relying on a parent subscribing, then the best British kids comic ever will truly gain the readership it deserves. I don’t know how many are subscribing, but I do know it’s building up slowly and steadily, which I think was always the plan.

(Crab Lane Crew cover by Jim Medway - website)

So there you have it, the thoughts of some of the people involved with the DFC each week. The thing that most jumps out from all of those different responses is the passion that everyone working for the DFC has about the DFC. Everyone seems to want it to do well, which of course means that they continue to do well from it, but I really get the impression that it goes deeper than that. There’s an evangelical tone to a lot of this. People really do believe in it!

But then again, so do I and so does Molly.Which is probably one of the reasons that what was meant to be a short couple of pieces about the DFC this week has turned into some sort of marathon! More tomorrow!

Just as a little addendum to the ongoing series of posts about the DFC this past week, I need to draw your attenbtion to the Advent calendar that the website is starting from Monday. You can go over there now and see, but the surprises aren’t quite ready to be revealed yet….

However, one Christmas present the DFC is giving out right now to it’s subscribers is this lovely Christmas card:

Except it’s a card with a twist. Each subscriber gets four of them in their DFC envelope this week. Inside each one is a message to the lucky recipient that they can go online and claim their free copy of the DFC. It’s a great little marketing idea.

As part of our week long look at the weekly DFC Comic, currently celebrating six months of publication, it’s time to have a look at two more strips that feature high on the must read list each week for both myself and Molly, my 9 year old. She’s already talked about these in the interview we did, but here’s two of her favourites in a little more detail.
Vern & Lettuce

by Sarah McIntyre.

(Vern & Lettuce cover to issue 14 of the DFC. Art by Sarah McIntyre.)

Vern & Lettuce appears in the DFC comic each week and it’s definitely one of my daughter’s favourites. Molly loves this quiet, simple strip and it’s always one of the first she reads each week. Each week Vern (the sheep) and Lettuce (the rabbit) have their little adventures that have, so far, involved babysitting little Rabbits, learning the Tuba, a road trip into the city and much, much more. Molly thinks it’s funny and loves how cute the characters are.

(Vern & Lettuce strip from the DFC issue 1, by Sarah McIntyre)

It’s also my favourite strip in the DFC. There’s something quite lovely about it. The art is playful, the stories simple, each episode is self contained but has built up into quite a long story which is always great fun to read each week. But above all else I like the look of the strip. It’s the colours that Sarah McIntyre chooses to use that make it my favourite; it’s got quite a muted palette, but it’s subtly, beautifully effective.

Molly was going to add some words to this herself but in the end settled for drawing Vern & Lettuce instead. But she did say to tell you how much fun Vern & Lettuce is and how she thinks Sarah McIntyre’s great. That goes for us both.

(Sarah McIntyre’s Vern & Lettuce - artwork by Molly.)

Sarah McIntyre’s website is here, live journal is here, there’s an interview with her here and Vern and Lettuce have their own Facebook pages here.

Sausage & Carrots

by Simone Lia

I wanted to add something about Molly’s other favourite strip; Simone Lia’s Sausage & Carrots, but it’s very difficult to write that much about a strip that’s just 3 or 4  panels long. But each week Molly opens her DFC and, more often than not, flips it over to the back cover and reads Sausage & Carrots before she’s even got her shoes off. Now that’s a recommendation.

(Sausage & Carrots from the DFC preview website. Art by Simone Lia)

I get the feeling it’s a strip you either love or hate. It’s simple, silly, funny and drawn in Simone Lia’s clean style that she used oh so beautifully on one of my books of 2007; Fluffy. If you hadn’t guessed by now, for the Bruton household, Sausage & Carrots is much loved indeed.

(Simone Lia’s Sausage & Carrot. Art by Molly.)

Simone Lia’s Sausage & Carrots appears each week on the back cover of the DFC.

Simone Lia’s website.

The DFC is published weekly, subscriptions and back issues available online.

I love the cover art to the next issue of Whores of Mensa by Jeremy Dennis, Ellen Lindner and Mardou. Its got a bit of a Sgt Pepper’s cover vibe to it, but angled to the feminine and filtered through the undeniable style of Paris.  Jeremy has it up on the Clean Skies blog and as an extra treat Jeremy has also posted up a gallery of some of the women portrayed, from French screen goddess Jeanne Moreau to groundbreaking travel writer Freya Stark, cartoonist Marjane Satrapi to Marie Antoinette and Ludivine Sangier. Go and look at the larger version, its simply one of the coolest covers I’ve seen in ages; you can order it from the guy’s WOM site now and from the British Small Press section of the FPI site.(thanks to Matthew Badham for the link)

(a detail from the cover showing some of the women, including Josephine Baker, Marjane Satrapi and Marie Antoinette; (c) the WOM crew, who are all presumably sitting back smoking Gauloise and drinking Pernod in a pavement cafe in Montmarte as we speak)

Following on from both the review of Crab Lane Crew and the round up of Comica reports, I just had to post this great cartoon report on Comica by Jim Medway. It seems Jim got a little starstruck meeting Groening and Spiegelman!

Art from Jim Medway’s blog. (c) Jim Medway.

Ever since Bruno Bonnell announced in September that BoDoï, one of the best and most authoritative information magazines on all things BD, would cease print publication in favour of going strictly on-line, the magazine’s site has changed from a sales tool into one of the best French comics news sites.  Before, the only items you could find here, were listings of new comics and when they were supposed to arrive in the stores, and the contents of new issues of Bo Doï.  These days, every day brings new scoops, reviews, interviews and reporting.  Here’s a quick round-up of recent items of interest you may have missed (the links are in French, so brush up your je ne sais quoi before you dive in) :

An interview with Achdé , the new artist for the popular series Lucky Luke, on his take on Lucky Luke creator Morris’s legacy;

An interview with Ella, Claude, Frédé, Juan et Fern , better known as Les Chicou-Chicou, and probably even better known as Boulet, Aude Picault, Domitille Collardey, Lisa Mandel et Erwan Surcouf, five of France’s best cartoonists who have banded together to create a new, collective comic;

News on David B publishing his Italian sketchbooks in the Shampooing collection, which would reunite him with fellow Association founder Lewis Trondheim, who is creative director of that collection;

A report from the Montreuil Children’s book fair, which focused on scary literature for children, and on the question what children really are afraid of;

News on the Hergé Museum , which is set to open in May,

(pensée coupable  - which I think roughly translates as ‘guilty thoughts’ - by and (c) Nicolas Poupon)

quite funny cartoons by Nicolas Poupon (which were published in the magazine before);

A long interview with Clément Oubrerie et Marguerite Abouet on their very succesful African saga, Aya;

An interview with the Lebanese cartoonist Zeina Abirached , who’s quite fed up with being compared to Marjane Satrapi;

and more…

The paper version of Bo Doï will return at least once, to coincide with the Angoulème Festival in January, 2009.

Wim Lockefeer lives in Belgium where he has been discoursing on comics culture online for years (BoDoï take note, he is available for articles and children’s parties); you can read more of his work on his own Ephemerist blog.

It’s a busy old time in comicdom right now. Last weekend was Thought Bubble, the Leeds Comic Convention (FPI report here). And all through November the Paul Gravett curated Comica 2008 event has been taking place in London. We gave you a run down of some of the events taking place in a series of posts a few weeks ago: Opening weekend events, Week one and two events.

But Saturday 22nd November saw Paul Gravett working with the gang at London Underground Comics to put on Comiket 2008; the small press fair at Comica.

I couldn’t make it, but lots of other people did, so here’s a quick and handy round up of the online reports of the event.

Joel Meadows (Tripwire)

London Loves Comics

Moleitau’s Flickrstream - Comica photos

Mondo-a-go-go

Sarah McIntyre

Wild Tyme

Continuing with our exclusive preview from the new Blank Slate Books translation of Mawil’s Sparky O’Hare:

(Sparky O’Hare preview courtesy of and (c) Mawil, published by Blank Slate Books, click the image for the larger picture; you can visit Mawil’s site here)