Battling on
   War comics a-go-go...

   Float yer boat
   Karni & Saul's video for Float...

    Gruff and ready
   The Gruffalo is coming...

   Gruesome news
   More Grizzly Tales...

    Potty time
   Teapots up for auction...

   The Orchid blooms
   The Rainbow Orchid is almost here...

    Here's to The DFC
   Let's celebrate an inspiring comic... more »

 
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    Battling on    (28.06.09)

    Ah, the glorified delights of war... Not too long ago, war strips with gung-ho
    British soldiers battling the Bosch or the Hun, were a regular feature in our
    weekly comics. The exploits of many of these gun-toting heroes, warriors
    and mercenaries might be considered a bit off by some of today's
    new readers, hardened by the realities of modern warfare which are
    plastered across our tv screens, and streamed live on our laptops,
    but back in the day, they were as commonplace and everyday as the
    triumphant Hollywood war movie. And the hankering for this particular
    breed of Tall Tale simply has not diminished with time.

    As any eagle-eyed visitor to WH Smiths and its contemporaries will tell
    you, can still find that old pocket-size spectacular "Commando"
    nestled amongst the hotchpotch of Marvel editions and Bongo comics
    reprints, and there are a whole bunch of fabulous reprint compilations
    currently selling very well indeed in Waterstone's and Borders. 

       

    So it's no surprise to learn that Egmont UK have now jumped on the
    proverbial war wagon. They've just launched a special celebrational 
    compilation of strips from "Battle Picture Weekly" (52 pages for £3.99,
    on sale now at WH Smith's), which means we can salivate the
    the return of D-Day Dawson, Danny Budd aka the Bootneck Boy, and 
    Fleetway's very own Dirty Dozen, The Rat Pack, twenty one years
    after their last weekly engagement.

    "Battle" was Fleetway's war-fueled flagship title, first published in 1975 as
    a direct response to DC Thomson's "Warlord" and the then fledgling
    comics duo of Pat Mills and John Wagner were hired to put it all together,
    with Carloz Esquerra, Mike Western and Joe Colquhorn drawing strips
    for the title. So there were/are some damned fine panels to get your
    gritted teeth into, perhaps most notably, the ones on show in
    "Charley's War", which has already been granted its own extremely
    popular standalone volume, of course.
    
    "Battle" is actually the second in Egmont's Classic Comic revival, and
    it's followed swiftly on the heels of their recent "Roy of the Rovers"
    compilation. "Buster" and "Misty" compilations are coming soon, too,
    as Egmont continue to mine the Fleetway library they bought in 1991.
    And if this Egmont tester whets your war buds, you'll be even happier
    to hear that Titan Books are soon to publish an even meatier compilation.
    Look out for The Best of "Battle": Volume One in book shops any
    moment now!...
   
                                                         More: Egmont Titan Books

  

    Float yer boat   (24.06.09)

    The Hound's just caught up with the Annecy award winning music video
    for Flogging Molly's "Float". And it's a beauty, so it is:

   

    Gets you, right there, doesn't it? - Film makers Karni & Saul have really
    bottled that special Irish spirit in their depiction of a down-on-his-heels
    cotton bud man, dragging himself through the days, from the streets to
    the ocean, accumulating all that baggage en route. By the time he's
    plunging into the waves you're right there with him, hauling yourself
    through the surge as the vocals brim with defiance... Yep... This is
    what a great music video is all about...

     

    Speaking of Annecy, I'm not sure what happened, but The Hound's
    round-up of news from this very special annual get-together somehow
    went astray this year. So just to confirm "Float" won Karni & Saul the
    award for Best Music Video. And our other big UK award winner was
    Philip Hunt and Studio AKA's adaptation of Lost & Found, which was
    given the Best TV Special award. This is Oliver Jeffers' story of the boy
    and the lost penguin which aired on Channel 4 over Christmas.
    It's a lovely tale that creeps up on you as you're watching until
    you find yourself in inexplicable floods of tears at the end.
    And it's another thoroughly deserving winner, methinks...

                                                                         More: Annecy

  

    Gruff and ready    (23.06.09)

    The Gruffalo has to be the most popular picture book of recent years.
    Julia Donaldson and Axel Sheffler's best-selling tale was first published
    in 1999 and has now sold over 4m copies worldwide. So it's no surprise
    to hear that an animated version of the story is on the way...

    

    Magic Light Pictures are producing a Gruffalo half-hour special, which is
    all set to air on the BBC this Christmas. The model and CGI film is currently
    being animated at the award winning Studio Soi in Ludwigsburg, Germany
    under the stewardship of directors Jakob Schuh and Max Lang, and
    the voice cast includes the likes of Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon,
    Robbie Coltrane, James Corden, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson.

    And if it's a hit - and let's face it, if ever there was a dead cert for
    a hit special, it's this - then you can bet we'll see a follow up,
    because Magic Light also hold the film and ancillary rights to
    The Gruffalo's Child...

                                                             More: Magic Light Pictures

  

    Gruesome news     (23.06.09)

    Time to rub your hands together with grim dribbling glee, because
    Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids is making a curdling comeback,
    thanks to folks at Nickelodeon. As part of a just-struck deal with Sara
    and Simon Bor and Honeycomb Animation all 79 original episodes
    are going to be aired on the channel next year, followed by the premier
    of 26 newly-commissioned cautionary tales in 2011.

    

    Honeycomb Animation's BAFTA-nominated series was, of course, based
    upon the popular books by Jamie Rix. And, wouldn't you know, there's a
    new collection currently available in the form of A Grizzly Dozen, which
    was published at the start of the month. So that's new stories
    and new toons to get your cackling teeth in to!...
    
                                                          More: Honeycomb Animation

 

    Potty time    (20.06.09)

    Wanna get your paws on a unique Mr Benn teapot, painted by
    David McKee himself?

    

    Or a Shaun the Sheep teapot from Richard Goleszowski?

   

    Or maybe you'd like a Beano edition, courtesy of Jim Glen?

    

    Well, these three beauties are up for grabs via an auction for The Willow
    Foundation, the charity that puts together special days for special people
    aged 16 to 40. There are a stack of fab celebrity endorsed teapots in their
    Stars on Teapots online event. Here's a little more press spiel:

    "The small teapots (10.5cm high x 18.5cm long approx) have
    been created in association with the Pottery House Café based
    in Hove. As well as the one-off creations by celebrities and
    artists, a selection of teapots have been donated from London's
    leading hotels, best known for afternoon tea.

    The teapots will be auctioned online from Thursday 25 June
    2009 (closing on Sunday 5 July) - marking the end of the
    charity's Piece of Cake campaign and helping to raise valuable
    funds that will help the charity to provide special days for
    many more seriously ill 16 to 40 year olds...."

    You can check out all the amazing teapots on the foundation's web
    site. But more importantly, if you're at all interested and you've cash
    to spare: get bidding!

                                                          More: The Willow Foundation

 

    The Orchid blooms     (04.06.09)

    At last! - The first part of Garen Ewing's long-gestating work of comic
    strip brilliance, The Rainbow Orchid is published by the fine folks at Egmont
    this August. Drawn in the European ligne claire style, Garen's rip-roaring period
    adventure sees young Julius Chancer and friends taking off around the world
    in pursuit of an infamous mythological flower, with an ensemble of ruffians,
    roustabouts and ne'erdowells in hot pursuit. In other words, we're in the
    same classic territory as Herge and Edgar P Jacobs.

    

    According to the author, there are:

     "...no zombies, no bikini-clad gun-toting nubiles, and
    no teeth-gritting... grittiness. Just a huge slice of
    pure adventure, made to go with a big mug of tea".

    Being the humble artisan that he is, however, Garen neglects to add that
    his strip is completely fantastic, and immediately transports the reader back
    to those giddy times spent hidden under the bedcovers, as a ten year old,
    with a winking torch and a dog-eared copy of TinTin's globetrotting
    exploits in hand.

    Yep. It really is that good.

    Do yourself a favour and pop by Garen's web site for lots more on
    his comics work, the book, and its painfully-long development. It's
    been a protracted labour of love... and the result, well, it's truly
    outstanding...

     

    Last year, just before the Egmont deal came together, Garen put together
    a fantastic collector's edition Orchid book, to help promote his efforts.
    Only 52 were printed up, and number 17 has pride of place in The Hound's
    comic book collection. It even came with a signed drawing of Julius on the
    preface. And now, as the big, fully-fledged, mainstream publication day draws
    near, Garen is promising us even more collectable goodies - signed editions
    and a very limited giclee print. You can bet The Hound will be first in line
    for both of them...

    But on top of all that, there's an even more important reason for
    trumpeting "The Rainbow Orchid" today, because - gawd bless him -
    Garen's celebrating his 40th birthday. So Happy Birthday, Garen, and
    here's to a hugely successful launch in 60 days... and counting!

                                                          More: The Rainbow Orchid
 
  

   Dangerous prints  (26.05.09)

    Crumbs, chief. Star Editions have just unveiled a rather smart selection
    of affordably collectable DangerMouse etchings for folks to sneak off
    with.

    

    There are 13 different images available. Each print measures either
    28x35cm, or 35x28cm, depending on its orientation, and they're restricted
    to just 500 editions. Best of all, they're retailing at pocket money prices,
    which means you won't have to break the bank to buy 'em!

    Star Editions list a bunch of retailers in their links section,
    but The Hound says you can't go wrong if you drop by our friends
    at Lollipop Animation...

                                    More: Star Editions  Lollipop Animation

 

    Toy Tales   (17.05.09)

    If you're Durham-bound this Summer, you might want to take a detour to
    Barnard Castle, and the famous Bowes Museum. That's because they're
    currently showcasing a fabulous Toy Tales exhibition. It's a celebration
    of 60 years of BBC tv for kids, and amongst the goodies on display are
    Peter Firmin's original Bagpuss, Clangers and Ivor the Engine props and
    artwork. Former Bagpuss artist Linda Birch has her storyboards for the
    series on display, and Alan Rogers' has his original Pigeon Street and
    BOD artwork on view, alongside his newly-rediscovered and unmissable
    original Flumps puppets... Oh, and there are Paddington goodies, and
    Watch With Mother bits and clips, and workshops and... well...
    This all sounds great, doesn't it?

    The Toy Tales Exhibition launched 9th May, and it runs through Summer
    and Autumn, to 1st November at The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle,
    County Durham...

                                                                More: The Bowes Museum

  
 
    Movies a-go-go  (28.04.09)

     This is insane. You wait ages for the next big UK animated film
     announcement, only to find not one, not two, but three movie projects
     getting fanfared in the very same week!

     

     In the red corner, we have Aardman Animation who, earlier this week,
     announced that they have two animated features in development as part
     of their production deal with Sony Pictures. The first is a stop-motion
     adaptation of Gideon Defoe's "Pirates!" book series. Now these are fab
     books. Great rollicking fun, in a Terry Pratchett-y kind of way. They're
     hugely eccentric, and would make for a terrific and quirky adaptation.
     Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt will co-direct the film, which will be
     based upon The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists in which
     our jolly band of ne'erdowells travel to London, encounter Charles
     Darwin and a talking chimp, dress up as women and general bring
     chaos and disorder to the order of species...

     Aardman's second feature project is titled "Arthur Christmas".
     It takes on that most curious of questions: How on earth does
     Father Christmas get to deliver all of those presents in just one night?
     Sarah Smith and Barry Cook will direct this one, which will apparently
     be filmed using computer animation (see Flushed Away).

       

     And on we now go to today's big news announcement, which involves
     Ricky Gervais and those wibbling, wobbling Flanimals. Remember them?
     They were a book, at first, written by Gervais and illustrated by Rob
     Steen. Then they became limited edition figurines - that's The Hound's
     very own Puddloflaj, above - and we had news of a proposed tv series,
     which was going to be brought to life by the talents behind The Trapdoor.
     And now, three more books later, we're apparently getting a feature-length
     adaptation. Illumination Entertainment, who are based with Universal,
     will be bringing those outrageous creatures to life using 3D animation.
     The film's producer is Chris Meledandri who has "The Simpsons Movie"
     and "Ice Age" on his credits. So this one's not strictly Brit-news, but
     there is that Gervais/Steen connection. It could be an interesting
     adaptation, this one. There's no word if they're going for a straight
     narrative/drama, or whether they'll opt to do a mockumentary, like
     some alternative Attenborough film, which could be a hoot as well
     as being topical. After all Earth is currently raking in some tidy
     box-office dollars, Stateside...

  


    A perky disc   (22.04.09)

    Better get ready - let's go! - here's "The Pinky & Perky Show"...
    er.. on DVD...

    

    This really shouldn't work, you know. The Pinky & Perky Show
    is a computer generated updating of a teatime puppet classic that
    has no right to be as good as it is. But it's a funny show, with lots of
    giggles to be found left, right and center and at the heart of it are
    those two piggies we know and love from the past, bickering and
    bantering and as brilliant as ever. Sure, a lot of it has changed.
    The strings are gone. The live-action has gone. But the spirit of
    the Dalibors is still right there. Gawd bless those piggies.
    They love to hate each other as they run rings around the folks at
    at PPTV. The design's spot-on too. It's retro-modern, and this viewer
    is inexplicably reminded of  those TV Comics of the 60s and
    early 70s - which is probably the idea...

    Okay, we can all scoff at the trend for remaking classic toons and
    reimagining tv characters from days gone by, and let's face it,
    The Hound has had his own tuppence to add to the debate over
    the years. But it is indisputable that a number of these upgrades
    have been very successful indeed. Bill & Ben were flobbadob-tastic.
    Basil Brush has divided folks, although this viewer thinks he's
    terrific. And Captain Scarlet had a CGI makeover that seemed to
    go down very well indeed with most Anderson fans. Now we
    can add Messrs Pinky and Perky to that list.

    Well, that's The Hound's view. But you can judge the show for
    yourself by watching their new DVD. License To Swill was
    released by ITV Worldwide on Monday (20th April) and features
    eight oinking tails... er.. tales...

                                           More: The Pinky and Perky Show

 
 
   Here's to The DFC  (29.03.09)

    How sad it is to witness the demise of The DFC - in its current guise,
    at least. It appears to have been a victim of these uncertain times,
    more than anything else. But undoubtedly, it's been a huge jolt in
    the arm for the UK comics scene, and it's brought a wealth of cartoon
    talent out of the small press woodwork and into the mainsteam.
    Which is something to celebrate. Why, even The Hound has been
    inspired enough to dust down his old drawing board. And if The Hound's
    been inspired, well, you can bet a whole bunch of those DFC subscribers
    have also got themselves worked up enough to pick up a pen...

    If you think back to the giddy heydays of DC Thomson and IPC/Fleetway,
    those top weeklys stuck quite religiously to a house "style" throughout
    their strips. But The DFC has bravely presented an array of styles and
    tones to its readership. Each strip has had its own voice. That's been
    so exciting for this reader to see. And inspiring, because it encourages
    folks to think outside the box, as it were... Look at this... Look what you
    can do... The possibilities are endless...

    Who knows, maybe a whole new generation of cartoonists
    will look back upon those 43 issues of The DFC as being the  
    birth-point of their career...

    How exciting is that?
       
    Till next time!

              thehound@toonhound.com

 
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