The first of May is Free Comic Book Day!

So get down to your local comic books store now!

Never be stuck for a name again

Looking for a good name for the hero of your latest short story? Can't finish that superhero strip you're writing because you can't thing of a suitably superheroic moniker? Lost for words when it comes to the title of your next fantasy magnum opus?

Well have no fear, for Michael Carroll is here!

The Official Creebobby Comics Archetype Times Table

This made me smile.

And the Geek shall inherit the earth...

Dan Abnett on writing

I came upon this series of videos of Dan Abnett talking about his craft at the Black Library website via Angry Robot books (bizarrely). If you're interested in Warhammer, 40K, writing in general or even Ghostbusters, sit back and have a listen.

The Legend of the Lambton Worm

I am currently working on a novella, for Abaddon Books, entitled Conqueror Worm. The story, set in 1797, was inspired by the Legend of the Lambton Worm and I have researched various versions of the story to help create mine. On top of that, yesterday I found myself re-telling the original legend myself for the self-same story.

I first came across the legend in Carey Miller's A Dictionary of Monsters and Mysterious Beasts first published in 1974. This book provided me with my initial experience of many well-known monster legends, including that of Grendel and Beowulf, but the one story which has always stuck with me is that of the Lambton Worm. I can still clearly visualise the the rather naive illustration of the worm (shown as a giant earthworm as opposed to a dragon) wrapped around a tree, and this has certainly influenced the story I'm currently writing.

And it's not only influenced this story, it also made an appearance in my very first published work Spellbreaker, this time in the guise of the Devilworm. I often find myself returning to familiar themes or sources of inspiration in my writing. The upcoming Pax Britannia novel Evolution Expects and the new Fighting Fantasy adventure Stormslayer share more than a few passing similarities (while still being completely different stories), and The Horror of Howling Hill shares aspects of both Spellbreaker and Howl of the Werewolf (if you know where to look).

If you don't know the Romance of the Worm of Lambton yourself (or you'd like a quick refresher), click here. Alternatively, there's a fantastic comic strip version in Bryan Talbot's magnum opus Alice in Sunderland (18 pages worth!).

Free Comic Book Day!

Today is Free Comic Book Day - hurray! Yes, it's true - today participating comic stores around the world are giving away free comic books. I know, it sounds unbelievable, but it's true!

Click here to find out how Forbidden Planet are helping those who can't easily get into one of their stores to participate. And this is what my local comic store They Walk Among Us of Richmond is up to.

To find out more about the event in general, click here.

Saturday Morning Watchmen

Today, Watchmen the movie is released right across the country. But have you seen this Saturday morning kids TV version before?



(Kudos to David Bishop for this one.)

Superman for sale

A rare Superman comic is up for sale in New York and is expected to set a new record. A California man is auctioning off his 1st edition Action Comic book, the very first of the Superman comics, after holding onto it for 58 years.

Stephen Fishler, of Metropolis Collectibles, is handling the online auction and says he expects the comic to set a new record for an Action One book, which currently stands at $250,000 (£174,000). Experts say there are about ten high-grade copies of the comic known to exist - those which have not been artificially restored.

The comic - which originally sold for 10 cents at a used book store - lays out the origin of Superman: his birth on another planet and how bullets bounce off him. Some things are a little different: the "S" on his shirt has a slimmer style than today, and back then he could only, "leap over tall buildings in a single bound" rather than fly.

To watch the video about this news item, click here.

Eye Candy

I feel like I'm a bit behind the game on this one (especially as I vaguely know both P J Holden and Al Ewing, who are both involved), but if you've not seen Eye Candy, the new iPhone kids comic, then check this out.



P J illustrated my Warhammer 40,000 comic strip Slavebreak, while Al is the only other author (to date) to write for the Pax Britannia universe, and who also knows how to cut the rug when the time is right.

You can find out more about the Eye Candy initiative at Infurious Comics.

Libraries and Leatherjack

I have recently been rediscovering the joy of libraries and, as a consequence, the 2000AD series Leatherjack. Let me explain...

I used to go to the library a lot. First of all, as a child, I went to the local library on a Friday, after swimming club, with my Dad. He was a voracious reader, everything from the latest Terry Pratchett to the latest book on chaos string theory. In those days I enjoyed the Dr Dolittle books and Willard Price adventures.

Then I used the school library, on a very regular basis, as a secondary school student; everything from Evelyn Waugh to translations of the Latin poets. The library continued as a means of study throughout my University years (as well as being somewhere that kept me supplied with Tim Powers novels) and when I moved to Nottingham to have a bash at being a freelance writer, I was in and out of the reference section all the time, as well as picking up Alan Moore's Swamp Thing collections.

After two years, I moved to London to teach full-time but continued to use the library, mainly for research. I remember I researched the history of knucklebones in Ealing library when I was writing Go Gos Are Go Go! (now reprinted as Go, Go Crazy For Those Bones).

As I began to make a proper living for myself at last, so I started to become more extravagant; I started buying more and more books, rather than borrowing them. As a consequence I have not been the regular visitor to the local library that I once was, and have bookcases groaning under the weight of all the hardbacks I've bought (can't beat the sound, smell and weight of 'em!). This has recently been compounded by the fact that the local library has been closed for months for a re-fit.

Anyway, the long and the short of it is that I visited the newly re-furbished the other day with my family and discovered that they have a fantastic - and up-to-date! - graphic novels section. So it was that I came home with the collected Leatherjack by John Smith and Paul Marshall, and The Courtship of Jena Markarov (by Robbie Morrison, Simon Fraser and others).

I read Leatherjack when it was published in weekly installments in 2000AD a few years ago, but it's great to be able to re-read it now, all in one go. The artwork is still breath-taking as is Smith's familiar purple-prose. Here's the blurb from the back of the collected edition.

The Klash is the war to end all wars. A conflict of intergalactic proportions, the whole quadrant is locked in stalemate between two hugely powerful rival factions – the Khmer Noir, ruled by the terminally ill Lord Qwish, and the Empire of Spinsters, half-senile fanatics headed by the Dowager Khan, who are leading a holy crusade against smut and indecency. Caught in the crossfire is the library world of Shibboleth, a planet which contains every book in every language ever written. The Spinsters want this hive of filth destroyed, but for Qwish it may hold the answers to his prayers…

On one level Leatherjack is a straightforward sci-fi action fest. On the other it is a dark treaty on the abuse of children for the purposes of war, about the clash of cultures and the power of language. If you've not read it yourself (or if you have but haven't done so for a while) why not pick up a copy from Rebellion (2000AD's publishers) or your local library!

Ghost Rider, Spurrier style

Exciting news! Over on his blog, novelist and comics writer Simon Spurrier - the man behind Gutsville, various 2000AD properties and Silver Surfer: In Thy Name - has announced that out at the end of August is the second Ghost Rider annual, Ghost Rider: Mercy! written by the good man himself.

You can read more about this imminent release at the Marvel site. But, for the meantime, congrats to Si and here's a sneaky peek at some of the gorgeous artwork to come.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

Well, soon we'll all be able to. The trailer for the Watchmen movie is now available for viewing through Empire online. Need I say more?

Personally, I'm looking forward to the inevitable(?) Lego merchandise. ;-)

Here you can see the god-like Dr Manhattan doing his thing.

Good evening, Mr Green

I have just been to see The Incredible Hulk and, having done so, felt strangely compelled to post something of a review of it here (but don't worry, I'm not going to give away any major spoilers here).

As most people already know, the movie is something of a reboot of the franchise rather than a complete starting over, so in the title credit sequence we get a flashback to how the Hulk was created in the first film (a la Spider-Man 3).

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Without further delay we get into the film and are introduced to all the main protagonists, and before long the not-so-jolly green giant makes an appearance.

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The film certainly delivers in a way that Ang Lee's misguided, angst-ridden, more cerebral and ultimately confusing Hulk didn't, but is a much simpler and less satisfying movie as a result. Tim Roth's Abomination turns up rather late in the game and the final denouement of the film left me feeling a little like... is that it?

However, there's plenty to please the fan boy. There are references to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury, a not-so-secret cameo appearance by a character from Marvel Studios' other comic book movie outing this summer, Samuel Sterns makes an appearance (who becomes the super-villainous Leader in the comic books), as does the future Doc Samson, the Lonely Man theme from the TV show gets a play and Banner's eyes glow green when he's about to change, and (best of all) our hero/anti-hero gets to utter the immortal words, 'HULK SMASH!'

As an aside, weirdly a number of scenes from both trailers for the film (the first released ages ago and the current one) don't actually appear in the film (although there is a scene lifted straight out of The Ultimates comic book by Millar and Hitch), but at least there isn't a gamma-irradiated poodle in this one! And both Stan Lee and Lou Ferringo (the transformed Hulk from the 1970s TV show) both make an appearance, just as they did in the first Hulk movie.

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So, not as satisfying or exciting as Iron Man and not as funny, or relentless in the action stakes, as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but a diverting hour and fifty minutes if you're up for a bit of mindless escapism.

Now I just have to wait until July for The Dark Knight and I will have seen all of the big four action movies of Summer 2008.