The Gosh! Authority 14/10/09

While you were looking the other way yesterday we posted lots of exciting things on the Gosh! Blog. You might have missed ‘em but it’s nothing a quick scroll of the mouse can’t fix. Here’s a round-up:

The next signing date to mark in your diary is the 24th of October. He of Action Philosophers! and Comic Book Comics fame, Fred Van Lente, will be making a rare UK appearance in the Gosh! basement. He also writes Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel Zombies, and Incredible Hercules so be sure to bring all that stuff along to get scribbled on.

Upstairs we’ve got a wall of original Duncan Fegredo art for sale. Some pages come with an extra page of pencils and all of ‘em are from the recent Hellboy: The Wild Hunt. I’ve put scans and prices up over in this post here. Even if you can barely afford a packet of chocolate hobnobs you should get to the shop and marvel at the lack of Tipp-Ex.

Our growing list of Exclusive Bookplate Editions has expanded once more: In late November you’ll be able to get your hands on a copy of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Incognito trade-paperback, complete with a signed and numbered Gosh! bookplate. All details and lovely pictures up here.

Over the weekend Bryan Talbot sat downstairs and happily signed away the afternoon. If you weren’t able to make it you’ll be glad to know we’ve got loads of copies of his brand new hardcover graphic novel Grandville (which he promises is the first in a series of several) signed by the man himself. You’ll find them centre-stage when you next walk in the door.
Of course if you don’t know what I’m talking about you should watch this book trailer and pretend you did all along.

There’s something by almost everyone in this week’s delivery because of the overriding feeling of anthologyness.

Liberty Comics #2: A CBLDF Benefit Book has dozens of notable names on board and here are some of them: Neil Gaiman and Jim Lee (preview pages here), Jimmy Palmiotti and Jim Rugg, Mike Allred, Ray Fawkes and Cameron Stewart, Brian Wood (his first new Channel Zero story in several years! Preview at The Beat), Ben McCool and Ben Templesmith, Dave Gibbons doing a Martha Washington thing, Paul Pope, Jason Aaron and loads more. Editor Jamie S. Rich tells you all about it here.

Just like last time, all proceeds from this comic go to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Speaking of which, we’ve just received a bunch of flyers for a play based on the whole Mike Diana fiasco. Busted Jesus Comix plays at London’s Above the Stag theatre in November.

The House of Mystery Halloween Annual has a regular story by the in-House team of Matthew Sturges, Luca Rossi and Jose Marzan Jr along with several other short stories crammed into its 48 pages by this lot: Peter Milligan (Hellblazer, Greek Street), Giuseppe Camunculi (doing a Hellblazer story), Stefano Landini, Matt Wagner, Bill Willingham (doing a Merv Pumpkinhead thing), Mark Buckingham, Kevin Nowlan and more. If that’s not enough to tempt you there’s also a thing about Chris Roberson and Mike Allred’s upcoming series I, Zombie.

ACT-I-VATE Primer HC is another anthology featuring never-before-seen stuff by Dean Haspiel, Nick Bertozzi, Michael Cavallaro, Mike Dawson, Simon Fraser, Michel Fiffe, Tim Hamilton, Ulises Farinas, Leland Purvis, Joe Infurnari, Molly Crabapple, John Leavitt, Pedro Camargo, Jim Dougan, Hyeondo Park, Maurice Fontenot, Jennifer Hayden, and Roger Langridge.

The reliably brilliant Langridge (Fred the Clown) pops up again in The Muppet Show (TP and HC) which for silly legal reasons we couldn’t get as it was coming out issue by issue but we can have as many as we like now it’s a collection. It’s pretty much what it says on the tin only better. Here’s a review of #1.

Same story goes for Mark Waid’s The Incredibles series which is now sitting on our new release shelf. Waid talks about it here and here. Talking of Pixar, go see Up. But don’t wear mascara like what I did.

You are There HC is a graphic novel by Jaques Tardi, last mentioned here on the eve of the release of West Coast Blues.

You are There is one of the first graphic novels to be published in Europe and this is the first time it’s been available in English.

Punisher Frank Castle MAX #75 is worth a look this week not only because it’s illustrated by Gosh! Favourite Laurence Campbell but also because it’s twice as big as usual. You’ll find stuff by (this post seems a lot like an incredibly long credit sequence but I’m going to do it anyway) Charlie Huston, Ken Lashley, Peter Milligan, Tomm Coker, Gregg Hurwitz, Das Pastoras, Thomas Piccirilli and of course Campbell, plus an 8-page preview of Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon’s PunisherMAX #1. The internets provide you with a preview.

Deadpool #900 is a whopping 104-page special commemorating Deadpool’s 900th issue (which it isn’t). Deep breath, another role call: Jason Aaron, Mike Benson, Charlie Huston, Joe Kelly, Duane Swierczynski, Fred Van Lente (that man again), Kyle Baker, Shawn Crystal, Sanford Green, Rob Liefeld, Chris Staggs, and Dalibor Talijic. And what makes it extra news worthy is the lovely-looking Dave Johnson cover who sadly doesn’t get to do great things on the cover of 100 Bullets anymore. Here’s a preview and here’s all the creators sitting around talking about Deadpool. “The guy’s got mad weapons coming out of his ass. C'mon on!” says Benson.

That’s it for this week but there’s yet more wisdom to impart. Big Hairy Alan Moore is launching a new national magazine – the first underground magazine of the 21st century, so they say – called Dodgem Logic, published by the same chaps who brought you the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and Fat Freddy’s Cat Omnibuses. Published every other month, it’s a 40-page full colour wossname about all sorts of things. The first issue features Kevin O'Neill, Savage Pencil, Graham Linehan and Josie Long, as well as two new pages of Mustard comedy stuff. You can read all about it here.

And lastly, here’s three bits of news from DC that you should know:

- The final issue of Wednesday Comics came out a couple of weeks ago and they’ve already unveiled plans for an enormous collection.
- When the Josh Brolin/Megan Fox/John Malkovich Jonah Hex film comes out next year you’ll also have an original Justin Gray/Jimmy Palmiotti/Tony DeZuniga Hex graphic novel to pick up on the way home from the cinema.
- The writers of Blackest Night aren’t just sticking to dead characters – they’re now dredging up old, cancelled series. I wonder what Eddie Campbell would have to say about that.

-- Hayley