Friday, June 29, 2001Posted by Pete The Borderline press release is up on the site. This is the official version! My version is down below, here... (Interesting to note the stats for this site have gone way up since Sunday...) 3:33 PM | Posted by Pete [Distraction] For anyone who remembers 'Bod' and who probably also grew up with Star Wars Garen Ewing presents: Here Comes Darth... 3:31 PM | Posted by Pete In all the Borderline excitement I forgot to mention on this blog that Jez Higgins has joined Andy Luke as TRS2 admin guy, meaning he does all the photocopying, collating and distributing of the real paper TRS2s. Good man! 2:58 PM | Posted by Pete
Ben Catmull (who I found posting on the On Your Head Boards) has some samples of his work on his Paper Theater site. Really nice line work - almost like woodcut in places but with a subtle depth. Worth investigating. 2:53 PM | Thursday, June 28, 2001Posted by Pete
 Matt Abbiss has released Fidgit issue 3, and a wonderfull read it is too! Nice glossy printing to boot. Email Matt for ordering details. And do check his stuff in the Gallery. 2:38 PM | Sunday, June 24, 2001Posted by Pete Very Important Announcement Right. This is going to be revealed to the general comic reading public over the next week with a formal press release coming out on Monday, but I figured that since BugPowder has such a relatively low number of readers (60-70 a day) and since most of you will potentially be involved with the project in some form (and trust me, you will), I'd go it alone and do my own announcement here. At the end of July a magazine called Borderline will launch it's first issue. It will be a professionally produced publication covering all aspect of the comics industry and medium. It will be monthly with news, reviews and features. It's being produced by some of the key people on the UK comics scene and it has support across the industry. Borderline will be distributed for free as a PDF file to download and print out for the first 6 or so issues. Should a gap in the market appear it will naturally take that opportunity to jump in and be the main magazine for comics news and information in the UK. But as far as we're concerned it's not in any competition with any existing publications because the way it's being produced is unique. Borderline is taking as it's inspiration and source the enthusiasm that was evident at the Comics 2001 festival at Bristol last month where everybody, en mass, suddenly realised that it's not about money or power or any of the bullshit that has run comics down over the last decade. It's about COMICS. The editorial in the first issue puts it perfectly. "We're doing this because it's what we're doing anyway. Whether it's via an Internet discussion group, letters, fanzines, emails, webzines, pub meets, comic marts, conventions or just talking to a guy in your local comic shop."All Borderline is doing is taking this mass of enthusiasm and energy and turning it into a magazine. Which means everyone who's in any way prepared to write about comics is welcome on board. And that means you. Did I mention I'm one of the two assistant editors? My task is co-ordinating the Features and Reviews - everything that's not News or Interviews. My instructions are to keep it interesting, varied and enlightening. We don't just want the same old features on the same old comics. We want pieces on all kinds of comics, from X-Men to Gemma Bovery, from Calvin and Hobbes to Ally Sloper, from histories of the Golden Age to spotlighting the New Breed in the small press. Everything. Borderline will replicate that moment when you were first getting into comics and you suddenly realised comics were much bigger than the selection in your comic shop and were much more important than you ever thought possible. Every month. So, how does this affect BugPowder? As far as I'm concerned BugPowder.com will continue doing what it's doing but will join a whole swathe of comics websites as an affiliate to Borderline. BugPowder will in some ways act as a feeder for Borderline for information about the small press scene, but more importantly, the association, via myself, to Borderline means BugPowder's profile is raised. By raising BugPowder's profile, I hope everything associated with BugPowder is raised too. The ideas expressed in the "mission statement" and all those who share those ideas are now affiliated with Borderline. This is an opportunity too good to pass up and I'm going to make sure the best is made of a good situation. The ideas, motives and morals of those who think BugPowder, Caption, TRS2, Top Shelf, Escape, etc, etc, etc, ETC, are about to be firmly placed in the middle of the UK comics scene because everybody who really cares about comics shares them. I will, of course, keep you informed of developments. If you're interested in contributing in any way, or just want to offer your support, please get in touch with me. I've set up a temporary page of contributor guidelines for anyone wanting to write an article or feature. This will be streamlined and formalised this week when the official Borderline site is up. So, who's actually behind this monumental project? Well, for some reason he wants to keep in the background until the formal press release comes out, but if you check out Rich Johnson's gossip column you can probably figure it out... 2:05 PM | Friday, June 22, 2001Posted by Pete BugPowder has been quiet this week for a reason, and you might have noticed other areas of the UK comics related internet have been quiet also. Big Things are afoot. Very Big Things. Check back here on Sunday evening for a Very Important Annoucement. 5:21 PM | Posted by Pete Jeff Levine (who runs the On Your Head message boards) is finally doing comics again! His probably-weekly strip is on the main page of his site. Check it out! 1:24 PM | Wednesday, June 20, 2001Posted by Pete Comicgeek is a weblog that gathers together comics related news from various media. Pretty comprehensive stuff across all genres by the looks of things! 11:47 AM | Sunday, June 17, 2001Posted by Pete Robert McGregor of The Industry writes: ...don't suppose you're doing even a little small press distribution at the moment? [No...] Any chance you might have contacts you could pass on to us? =)Anyone with experience of publishing a pro-looking comic from ground level got any advice? CC it here and I'll post it up. 5:08 PM | Posted by Pete I have a feeling this has been mentioned on this blog before, but after seeing the link on Apeshot I figured what the hell. Some innovative shockwave comics are here, plus some really cute, cool stuff, and it's all in Japanese so navigating is a big adventure! 3:00 PM | Posted by Pete
2:34 PM | Saturday, June 16, 2001Posted by Pete
First up, I've posted up a batch of my reviews from the original TRS, specifically those from February 1997. I've got another five of these stored away and will put release them gradually over the next month. It's partly a curiosity item but also serves to put the current output into some historical perspective. Or something.. Secondly, a piece from my short lived review zine Strands reviewing Ed Pinsent and Mark Robinson's excellent Silver Age Superman, itself from 1993 and a bona fide classic of the British small press. While it's not a perfect review and does cop out by quoting a much better review, it's a more important thing that you're aware of the existence of this comic. So there. 3:43 PM | Posted by Andrew Luke
More TRS News!
Due to some unforseen circumstances, I'm moving house in the next four to five weeks. Anyone with snail mails to send please forward them to: 1:29 PM | Posted by Pete The May reviews of small press comics and zines are now up on the site. Read them. Order from them. You know it makes sense. 9:55 AM | Posted by Pete Not seen this before for some reason. Neill Cameron, creator of Dumbass Comics (TRS2 review) has a website with previews of the next issue and such. 9:24 AM | Friday, June 15, 2001Posted by Pete News release from Kev Sutherland of Comics2001 edited for relevance: A bonus comic event has just come my way at very short notice, which I'd like to offer you all the chance to be part of. 3:41 PM | Thursday, June 14, 2001Posted by Pete Nice coincidence. I was reading through my old TRS reviews yesterday having rescued them from floppy-backup purgatory (with the intention of uploading them as archive curiosities in soon) and dwelled on Concave Up by one Jesse Reklaw, a dream comic sent over from the States. Today I check Lukelog (one of the weblogs I frequent) and follow a link to Slow Wave, a site run by one Jesse Reklaw. His project has progressed on quite substantially and here you'll find a weekly strip being his comic strip interpretation of a dream sent in. He's also got a book out. 2:03 PM | Posted by Pete Request for information from Mr/Ms public@iocentre.co.uk... I am writing a dissertation for an MA on the use of comics for education purposes. (not graphic novels though.) Could you suggest any sites/articles/organisations who may have written anything about use of comics in this way? 1:49 PM | Posted by Pete Mike Weller's home on Zyarts has moved. Check it out 1:47 PM | Wednesday, June 13, 2001Posted by Pete Something the SP comics world has been aware of for a while but is still of interest, especially if you're new to this game. The No Media Kings show how publishing your own book is analagous to putting out an independent album with full financial breakdowns, etc. (from Captain Fez) 5:09 PM | Posted by Pete Kevin O'Neill interview (and you don't see them every day) on the new and promising Barbelith webzine. (from LMG) 4:51 PM | Posted by Pete The guys from Rough Cut comics were also at Bristol and also just emailed to remind me of the fact that we met. They do adaptations of independent films in US format comics but despite their big ambitions have their roots in the alternative / small press scene. They're looking for talent as well. 4:36 PM | Posted by Pete Richard Nairm and Robert Martin were two of the many enthusiastic, keen people doing interesting stuff that I met at Bristol last month. Their flyer-site is here and I'll hopefully get around to reviewing their books soon. Good stuff. 4:32 PM | Monday, June 11, 2001Posted by Pete I think I've finally got around to doing a What is BugPowder page that actually answers the question... BugPowder is not exclusively about photocopied small press. It embraces good, groundbreaking comics no matter where they come from, be they published by a multinational media company or published by a guy in his bedsit. But at the end of the day I know that the guy in his bedsit is much more likely to produce the goods than the big company, and that the chances are the people producing the books for the company started out doing comics in a bedsit.By the way, the BugPowder weblog was exactly a year old yesterday. So it's about time really. 4:44 PM | Posted by Pete As expected, the Gemma book has already gone, so stop sending in emails! 1:52 PM | Sunday, June 10, 2001Posted by Pete Gah! In the excitement after Bristol I, like the mook I am, said the Goodman brothers were from Pulp Fiction which I should have said Pulp Kitchen. These guys did a hell of a lot of work on the BugPowder table that weekend and, by all accounts, are doing great things in Liverpool, so please check their stuff out and support them. They deserve it. 4:05 PM | Posted by Pete
But first the spiel. Posy Simmonds is arguably one of the finest comics creators currently working in the UK at the moment, but you wouldn't know it. Sure, she sells bucketloads of her work but it's as "illustrated fiction" or some respectable non-comics term. Definitely not as a graphic novel. Even her newspaper home, the Guardian, calls her at best a cartoonist and at worst (last week) an illustrator. Take her sketchbook diary of the election campaign. Is this "illustration"? Is it even cartooning? No. Steve Bell is cartooning. This is COMICS. At the risk of preaching to the converted I'll move on. I have in my possession a faulty copy of her magnificent comic Gemma Bovery. All that's wrong with it is the pages are badly cut. Everything is there except the title page which was returned to the publisher for credit. Legally this copy should now be destroyed but I figure as long as I don't sell it we're in the clear, so if you've not read this book and want to check it out, email me your address (UK only) and I'll post it to you. Don't worry, I won't bombard you with junk mail or anything (like I have time). 2:53 PM | Tuesday, June 05, 2001Posted by Pete Following on from Lee's post below, Jeremy Dennis is also doing a weekly online strip, and this one is about the Bristol festival last weekend. 2:50 PM | Posted by Pete
Garen Ewing writes to plug his site, King Rat Comics, which is as expected a bit of a feast for the eyes with some decent content to boot. Garen has been aroud since the 80s and caught my attention with his anthology Cosmorama (featuring early work by Warren Ellis and Steve Pugh amongst others) before producing his epic adaptation of The Tempest to critical aclaim. This site also features his recent 24 hour comic in full. 2:43 PM | Posted by Pete
2:26 PM | Posted by Pete We have just started a small press publishing venture, entitled CALEDON COMICS. We are Chas Wood and Frang McHardy, creator/writers based in Dundee. Our first publication has just hit the local shops there; entitled ARF & MO, it is a funny-animal genre piece devoted to the misadventures of a loutish German Shepherd and his mate Mo, a psychotic white rat.(You doing a comic? Get your two-paragraphs-worth coming this way then!) 1:13 PM | Posted by Lee
6:26 AM | Posted by mooncat heh kung fu stick figures. Be warned - i have only looked at this on my machine at work - where there's a darn big 'internet pipe' - so normal download times... i dunno... 5:36 AM | Monday, June 04, 2001Posted by Pete
There is a lack of exposure for do-it-yourself comix artists who produce bodies of work that are either too small scale or too individual for acceptance by mainstream comic stores and distribution channels. I want Assblaster to review only self-produced independent comix. I have a warm spot for my fellow xerox-based publishers but even glossy stuff is welcome.If, like me, you've never heard of titles such as Brain Food, Buttnuggets, Dr. Bob & Irving, Everyone Hates the Fatguys, Loved & Lost, Noiz, Zion Virtue and Planet Named Desire, and think maybe you should have done, then Mike T.'s you're man. 12:35 PM | Sunday, June 03, 2001Posted by Pete An excellent resource for artists wishing to expand their range a bit is Matt Madden's Exercises in Style Exercises in Style was inspired by a work of the same name by the French writer Raymond Queneau. In that book, Queneau spun as many variations as he could--over 100--out of a mundane, two-part text about two chance encounters with a mildly irritating character during the course of a day. He started by telling it in every conceivable tense, then by doing it in free verse and as a sonnet, as a telegram, in pig latin, as a series of exclamations, in an indifferent voice... you name it. 4:47 PM | Posted by Pete BugPowder news Post-Bristol it's time for a clean out, although some of this was a while coming. Firstly, the Shop has gone. I haven't been able to spend any time on it over the last 6 months and it's been something of a victim of success in that you can pick up the stuff it stocked in all manner of places. Some reviews have been salvaged for the Articles and Reviews section (which replaces the Zine). The shop will be replaced with a rolling news service of press releases from publishers of note which will be up and running properly once they all send in their press releases! Secondly, The UK Small Press Directory has been abandoned because it was a much to BIG a job and I think it's better to look forward than back. I'd love to see this in action but it's a time thing. You've still got TRS2 for the current scene, and that's what matters. Thirdly, New and Noted is on hold, although it's still there. Please send stuff to TRS2. I'd love to keep this going but I get backlogs and they're no good. Feel free to send notices of stuff being out and I'll put it on this weblog. This is a positive thing, trust me! It frees up a lot of time for new projects, all of which will be revealed in time... Pete 2:15 PM | Posted by Pete It looks like the spirit of positivity is over the pond as well judging by this missive from Jeff Mason of Alternative Comics... Wow, now is a great time for "our kind" of comic books... While the BookExpo America is currently showing that we may be getting over some kind of hump with attention to our stuff, you can't turn around without seeing great independent cartoonist getting coverage somewhere over the past week! 12:16 PM | Saturday, June 02, 2001Posted by Pete Some bad news did come out of Bristol last weekend. A real blow in-amongst all the positivity. While I haven't spoken to Pete Pavement for a while I'm 100% certain it's true. Slab-O-Concrete is no more. Pete has been forced to throw in the towel and close it down after 10+ years work. From what I can gather he got screwed by LPC, the book trade distributor D&Q and Top Shelf use. Too many returns plus these mysterious additional costs (like entries in catalogues, etc) which add up. One publisher (I think D&Q but don't quote me) is reported to have said he makes no profit from LPC sales after these costs deducted. The other reason is more conjecture on my part but I know his UK sales had dried up thanks to the recent streamlining of the bookshop trade, along with a lot of other smaller publishers. This is especially annoying for me because I work in this business and saw this happen over the last year. I'm ever so slightly implicated (although I have always had my misgivings). This is a really sad thing. I would never have discovered some really good comics from around the world without Pete's original mail order service and tables at UKCAC and Caption. And without Slab being there as an example I wouldn't have set up BugPowder mail order and then developed this site. Yes, there were reservations about Slab's sometimes narrow view of what came under it's umbrella, but it was always governed by Pete's personal tastes and that's a strength in my view. What really hurts it that he was brought down by something as pitifully insignificant as distributor costs. End of an era. RIP Slab. 2:51 PM | |
For those of you who've been waiting for the doors of respectability to open an embrace our art form, some good news. Jonathan Cape released the UK edition of 
Two new things on the site, both of which betray my small press roots as they're both from 1997.
Free copy of 
Oh, we're on a roll tonight...
Excellent review of Eddie Campbell's wonderful Alec: How To Be An Artist at, of all places, 
Anyone who like me, hasn't been to 
A couple of years back I was sent from the US some issues of Empty Life by one Mike Tolento which were pretty impressive and I was pleased to stumble upon
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