Johnny Red ends, Hookjaw begins!

The delayed eighth and final issue of Titan's Johnny Red mini-series is now scheduled to be published on 3rd August, with a spectacular wraparound cover by Keith Burns. Then, in December, Titan Comics launch an all-new Hookjaw series, written by Si Spurrier and drawn by Conor Boyle, inspired by the popular strip that appeared in Action weekly 40 years ago. 

Cover from the Multiversity Comics website.

More info on the five issue Hookjaw mini-series can be read on the Multiversity Comics website here:
http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news/sdcc-2016-exclusive-hookjaw-spurrier-boyle/

Retro cover for Johnny Red No.6

Titan Comics' Johnny Red No.6 will be in comic shops this Wednesday with a fantastic cover by Mick McMahon. The cover had originally been advertised bearing the comic's usual logo (see below) but it's now been given a retro makeover to make it look like an old issue of Battle-Action. 

You can see a preview of a few pages from this issue by Garth Ennis and Keith Burns over at the Comic Book Recourses website here:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic-previews/johnny-red-6-titan-comics-2016

Johnny Red No.6 (of 8), in comics speciality shops on Wednesday 6th April. 

Titan unveils comics of the future

Want to see cover images of British comics that are coming up over the next few months? Anyone interested in comics would, right? Well, in that case you need to check out the official Facebook page of Titan Comics where they show advance cover previews (and some interior art on occasion) of their numerous monthly comics. Above is the fantastic wraparound cover by Keith Burns to the eighth and final issue of the Johnny Red mini-series, on sale in June.

Tank Girl will be back soon! Here's the cover of her second issue...

...and the Fourth Doctor gets his own comic. Here's the cover of issue 5 by Brian Williamson...

To see more covers and art, visit Titan Comics on Facebook at the following link. (You don't need to sign up to Facebook to see it.)
https://www.facebook.com/comicstitan/ 

New British comics out now

I still see comments in the media and online saying that UK comics are dead. In fact I can remember some cynics even saying it back in the 1990s. A simple bit of research proves otherwise. Here's a quick selection of just a few of the British comics that are in the shops now. Today saw the publication of 2000AD Prog 1972 which wraps up all the current strips ready for a Spring revamp with all new stories next week.

Also out today is Judge Dredd Megazine No.370. A great issue with five lengthy strips including the brilliant Goldtiger 2000 by Louis Schaeffer and Antonio Barreti, the classic 1970s strip you never knew you'd forgotten! 

Viz No.254 arrived on the shelves today too. Another 52 pages of mirth and filth for adults of all ages.

Comics aren't just for adults these days of course, and The Beano is still going strong on this, the 65th anniversary week of Dennis the Menace! 

The Phoenix No.219 is still on sale, with the next issue due in WH Smith and selected Waitrose shops on Saturday. Another good issue of light adventure serials and humour.

Tales from the TARDIS: Doctor Who Comic No.4 is a rather long-winded title but a great value for money package of three Titan Doctor Who comics in one 76 page publication. 

The UK edition of Batman No.49 is a 100 page bumper edition with a cover that reflects the upcoming Batman v Superman movie. 

All of the above are available in newsagents (albeit only WH Smith in the case of The Phoenix). However, if you visit a comics speciality shop this week you can pick up a copy of Rivers of London: Night Witch No.1, the start of the second series of the comic based on the Ben Aaronovitch books. Good stuff by Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel with artwork by Lee Sullivan.

Also still available from comic shops is Johnny Red No.5 by Garth Ennis and Keith Burns. This revival of the classic Battle character in new adventures has proved to be a cracking comic.

There are numerous other comics around of course, such as Commando, Doctor Who Adventures, and loads of titles from Titan, not to mention some strip pages in magazines such as Toxic, Epic, and Doctor Who Magazine. While it's undeniable that what some might dub "traditional" British comics have mostly faded away (your Eagles and your Funny Wonders) there is still a UK comics industry. Ignore those who claim otherwise. The proof is out there on the shelves, as evidenced by the cover images above! Misinformed nonsense vs the evidence of your own eyes. What are you going to believe? 

British comics have always changed and evolved. The comics of the 1960s bore little resemblance to those of the early 1900s, and the comics of today are considerably different to those of 50 years ago. Such is life. Nothing stays static. It's saddening that each new generation has less interest in comics (and seemingly has less inclination to buy comics on a frequent basis) but comics are not dead yet! Make sure you support the titles that interest you to keep the industry alive. In the words of Radio Fun's Arthur Askey, "I thenk yow!"

This week's UK comics (Updated)

Another bunch of comics have arrived in newsagents this week. First up is Thunderbirds Are Go No.5 from DC Thomson. Admittedly some people don't consider this a comic as it's mostly photo strips from screen grabs of the episodes. However in that case it's closer to the Italian fumetti, which they consider to be comics so that's good enough for me. I only wish they'd create new stories by using screen grabs from different episodes, as I did for Egmont's CiTV Tellytots magazine years ago.

This month's issue continues its line of free Thunderbirds models and this time it's the new Thunderbird 5 which comes as a little four section kit to clip together. Next month presents a free Thunderbird S model, which I'm sure will be very collectable. 

Also from DC Thomson of course is the latest Beano, No.3820, with 36 pages packed with all-new fun from top creators such as Nigel Parkinson, Laura Howell, Hunt Emerson, Paul Palmer, David Sutherland, and many more. 

2000AD Prog 1966 continues its line up of strips that began in the Christmas issue. A striking cover by Neil Roberts this week. There's some fantastic work on view in this comic these days proving that today's artists can easily hold their own against the veteran greats of the past. Richard Elson's artwork on Kingdom continues to impress me more every week.

Doctor Who Magazine No.496 should please fans of brilliant cartoonist Roger Langridge as it contains a new 12 page strip, Theatre of the Mind, written and drawn by him. (There's also my regular Daft Dimension strip in there too.) 

There's also a new issue of Doctor Who Adventures (No.11) out now, with more brilliant artwork by Russ Leach.

The Phoenix No.214 is also out now. You'll find issues in WH Smith and selected branches of Waitrose and Waterstones. There's some cracking talent in its pages including Jamie Smart, James Turner, and Long Gone Don by the Etherington Brothers.

On the reprint front, there's Marvel Legends No.18 from Panini, The Flash No.5,  Batman Gotham Central No.1, and Batman/Superman No.14 (now monthly) from Titan Comics. 

Also available is the latest volume of the DC Comics Graphic Novel Collection from Eaglemoss. This time it's a nice hardback of JLA: Earth 2 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, originally published in the USA 16 years ago.

The back up in the book is a reprint of The Flash of Two Worlds; the first meeting of The Flash with his Golden Age Earth 2 counterpart from way back in 1961. There's also a few bonus features, making this a very nice collection indeed. I picked up my copy from WH Smith but you'll also find it in Asda and elsewhere. 

All the above are available in newsagents (limited to WH Smith in the case of The Phoenix). However, on sale in comic shops right now is the 4th issue of Johnny Red from Titan Comics. Another splendid issue by Garth Ennis and Keith Burns, with a guest cover by Kev Walker. 

As far as digital comics go, this week's Aces Weekly awaits you in cyberspace. Visit http://www.acesweekly.co.uk and subscribe at only £6.99 for 7 weekly issues!

There may even be more British comics out now but the above are the ones that I bought or that sprang to mind. Most comics are monthly or 4-weekly now of course, which means there'll be several different titles out next week, the week after and so on. And this doesn't even cover any new independent comics and graphic novels that may have been published this month. Are British comics dead? Not on your nellie! 

Johnny Red No.6 cover preview

Although Titan's Johnny Red monthly comic is currently only on its third issue, the publisher today released an advance preview of the cover to issue 6. And what a great cover it is; a fantastic composition by Mike McMahon! Marvelous artwork.

Johnny Red No.6 is scheduled for publication in April.   

This week from Titan

Who says the UK comics industry is dead? This Thursday London based Titan Comics release five of their titles to comics speciality shops, all featuring brand new material. 

Johnny Red No.3 
by Garth Ennis and Keith Burns
Cover by Alex Ronald
Having been removed as leader of his beloved Russian fighter squadron, the Falcons, Johnny 'Red' Redburn is curious. What is this 'all-Russian' secret mission the Falcons are on and why has been forbidden to take part?

However, he now has a more pressing problem: he has to shepherd a bunch a new pilots who have cannon fodder written all over them!

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor No.2:1
by Robbie Morrison and Rachael Stott
The Golden Years of the Doctor and Clara begin, as the Twelfth Doctor comics leap into Series 9! Writer Robbie Morrison is back with a year-long extravaganza that kicks off with an excellent jumping-on point for new readers - while Rachael Stott (Star Trek/Planet of the Apes) joins the comic as new regular series artist.

Kung Fu Panda No.4
by Simon Furman and Lucas Ferreyra
A daring robbery takes place and someone is trying to tear the Furious Five apart! The evidence points towards… Tigress! Is she really a traitor? All will be revealed in ‘Divide and Conquer’.

Bloodthirsty No.4
by Mark Landry and Richard Pace
While New Orleans' privileged prepare to party, the city's disenfranchised batten down for the storm of the century.  But with Rosa already on the horizon, can Virgil stop the horror headed for his town before she hits?

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor No.2:4
by Nick Abadzis and Leonardo Romero
It's back to the deep, deep past and the dawn of humanity for the Doctor and Gabby, as their travels take them to the Pleistocene – and the epic struggle between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon forces for the future of humankind! Plus: Anubis's galactic quest comes back to haunt them.

All info from the Titan Comics website. To find out more information on their range of comics click on this link:
http://www.titan-comics.com

As I said, all of these comics are only available in comics speciality shops (such as Forbidden Planet) but if you add those to the numerous titles available in newsagents this week (which I covered here) it becomes evident that the British comics industry is still alive and kicking. And that's just the comics available this week. There'll be more along next week, and the week after... Support UK comics in 2016!

JOHNNY RED No.2 out now!

The second issue of Titan Comic's new Johnny Red monthly was published this week. It's available with a choice of two covers; one by series artist Keith Burns, and the other by veteran UK comics artist Ian Kennedy (shown above). Despite his advancing years, Kennedy is still an incredible artist and one of the best in the business.

After last issue's set up, this time we see Johnny and his squadron in action. Garth Ennis deilvers another tight, no-nonsense script and the artwork by Keith Burns really shines in the battle sequences.

This is the ideal comic for readers who grew up on Battle weekly. It takes a harder, more mature approach to the story than the classic weekly tales did, but compliments those old adventures.

There's also a four page back up feature with Garth Ennis interviewing David Hunt (who was the editor of Battle back in the day).

One of the best British comics around at the moment, Johnny Red is available from comics speciality shops and online sellers.  

Titan Comics website:
http://titan-comics.com/     

Review: JOHNNY RED No.1

This week London based Titan Comics published Johnny Red No.1, an all-new 8 issue monthly comic mini-series reviving the WW2 fighter ace from long-defunct Battle comic weekly, thanks to an agreement with copyright holders Egmont UK. 

Of all the Egmont properties that Titan could have revived, it seems a brave move to bring back a war comics character. Johnny Red is only available in comics speciality shops, usually visited by customers mainly interested in SF, fantasy and superheroes. One would think that Adam Eterno, Doomlord, or even The Leopard of Lime Street would have been a better option for that demographic, but time will tell. What Johhny Red has on his side is fan favourite writer Garth Ennis, whose work is always worth a look, and artist Keith Burns, who is new to me but handles the artwork admirably.

The comic itself, although British, is in the American format, and has 32 full colour pages. The Johhny Red story is 20 pages in length and unexpectedly the first half is set in the present, concerning the salvaging and imminent repair of a familiar old Hawker Hurricane airframe. This is an aircraft that has seen some action in the past and the story eventually leads to a flashback to World War 2 when the plane was in its element. No prizes for guessing who the pilot is. 

As is often the case these days, this first issue is quite slow moving initially and full of exposition. Garth is clearly writing with the collected trade paperback in mind. Don't let that put you off though. The first issue sets up the story and it'll be interesting to see where it goes from here. Keith Burns' artwork is very interesting. In some ways reminiscent of traditional British adventure comics, but also looking modern. His depictions of aircraft are wonderful and he's obviously the right man for the job.

There are also two back up features, with one giving the background of Johnny Red in Battle comic. Although it correctly credits Tom Tully and Joe Colquhoun as the creators of the character, it makes no mention of artist John Cooper who illustrated most of the series. Quite disappointing, especially as they use some of John's art to illustrate the piece. Perhaps this will be rectified in a future issue. The second feature is a historical item on the Hawker Hurricane aircraft.

Johnny Red is a good, solid comic that I hope will appeal to old fans of the character as well as a new audience. It's great to see the character back and I for one will be following the rest of this series.    

Johnny Red No.1 (of 8), published by Titan Comics. $3.99 

Johnny Red returns in a new comic

Classic 1980s British comics character Johnny Red returns this November courtesy of London based publisher Titan Comics, by arrangement with Egmont UK.

The monthly eight-issue mini-series Johnny Red is written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Keith Burns. With a 'mature readers' advisory it promises to be a grittier take on the character than that of his days in the boys weekly Battle-Action. Ideal then for those who grew up with the character and who are now adults. (Although I suspect some will still want him exactly as he was in 1980.)

Johnny Red No.1 goes on sale in November and will be available from comic book speciality shops (not newsagents). However, from personal experience some shops order low on non-superhero comics so I'd advise placing an advance order right away to ensure your copy.

For more details of Johnny Red and the other Titan Comics being published in November, see the Bleeding Cool website here:
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/08/19/titan-comics-solicits-for-november-2015-doctor-who-johnny-red-and-the-sdcc-specials/

For an interview with artist Keith Burns, see the excellent The Beat website here:
http://www.comicsbeat.com/interview-introducing-keith-burns-artist-extraordinaire/