The Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award
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2013 sees the return of The Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award – and it gives me great pleasure to announce that our very own Bryan Coyle has been nominated for his work on Babble!
The Russ Manning Award – named for the artist Russ Manning, best known for his work on the Tarzan and Star Wars newspaper strips and Magnus, Robot Fighter – has been given out annually at the San Diego Comic-Con since 1982. It’s presented to a comics artist who, early in his or her career, shows a superior knowledge and ability in the art of creating comics – which, if anyone’s read Bryan’s work on Babble and beyond, will know that’s something he certainly has in abundance!
The award recipient will be announced during the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 19 2013, and I hope you’ll join myself, and the guys at Com.X, in wishing Bryan the very best of luck!
You can find Bryan’s blog here and follow him on Twitter @BrigonChomhgail.
EDIT:
A little shameless, but the news also made it to The Comics Reporter, with a pretty cool little surprise:
Free Comic Book Day
0So, it’s Free Comic Book Day, which means you should ALL get down to your local comic book shop and grab some freebies, and maybe even buy some other stuff while you’re there (here’s a handy site that will help you find your nearest store in the UK, US and Canada: findacomicbookstore.com).
However, if you can’t get to a shop today and still want a free comic, well, here’s something just for you:
If you don’t want the ebook version, though, you can:
Yes, The Right To Arm Bears was posted at the tail end of last year, but it’s being offered up again for fun, and because, y’know, it’s a free comic for free comic book day.
Again, big, big thanks to Bolt-01 and Rich Clements for agreeing to let us do this under the Zarjaz banner, and, of course, the editorial guidance. Remember, several issues of Zarjaz - and its sister publication Dogbreath – are still available, priced £3.00 (+ P&P) Earth Money. You can get all the available issues from the FutureQuake Shop, and the latest issues are currently available from the FQ Comicsy Shop.
In Review: Popmatters
1Dominic Umile took a look at Babble for Popmatters and was particularly taken with the visuals, saying “a less traditional panel order and color scheme work to help set a crazed pace for Babble‘s unlikely brew of horror, science fiction, and linguistics.”
You can read the whole review here or, as ever, click the image below.
In Review: Comics Should Be Good
2The mighty Greg Burgas took a look at Babble for CBR’s Comics Should Be Good and enjoyed what he read, saying “It’s a cool comic, and one you should check out if you have the chance.”
You can read the whole review here or click the image below.
Campus Circle
2Babble picks up a brief – but flattering – recommendation in Campus Circle’s Spring Reading Guide, saying “at the heart of the thriller concept is a tender character portrait of a young woman left directionless after a failed romance.”
Read the recommendation here.
In Review: Stacey’s Pop Culture Parlour
2Stacey Taylor takes a look at Babble for her podcast, Stacey’s Pop Culture Parlour, and declares it to be “proper cracking!”
You can listen to the whole podcast here, or click the image below to head over to her blog and listen.
In Review: Small Press Big Mouth
2After a long wait, the new episode of Small Press Big Mouth has finally been released – and Lee casts a critical eye over Babble… It’s a long and quite perceptive review, with Lee picking up on a lot of things, including the Nigel Kneale influence, the lack of gore and violence – at one point, he wonders if this is the “anti-Crossed” – and the characterisation of Carrie.
You can listen to the whole episode here (or download the MP3 file here) or click the image below. Be warned, though, there’s a lot of swears in the episode…
In Review: Fanboy Comics
0TWO good reviews today? Well, OK, then…
Ben Rhodes cast an eye over Babble for Fanboy Comics and gave us his seal of approval, saying “The interpersonal drama is compelling enough to work without the looming doom, but man, oh man, is that doom exciting. This is a fun comic that is worth your time.”
You can read the full review here, or click the image below.
In Review: Ain’t It Cool News
0Mighty Mouth took a look at Babble for Ain’t It Cool News and liked what he read, saying “Babble is a welcome deviation from routine comics, a unique thriller from cover to cover.”
You can read the full review here, or click the image below.
Too Busy Thinking About Babble
0Q Magazine’s very own Colin Smith turned his mighty intellect to Babble and invited us to come and talk to him all about it and our time in the trenches of the UK small press scene.
A very big thanks to Colin for taking the time out to do the interview, and say some kind – and pretty humbling – things in the intro.
You can read the interview here.
