"I have set myself the task of creating a new three panel comic strip every day for the next month," says Steve. The attempt started yesterday with Space Whale vs. Kraken.
"At the end of this herculean task (while I'm also working full time), I will return to posting a new strip twice weekly."
Pact has set up a petition on the Number 10 website to highlight the plight UK kids TV is under, highlighted by the Save Kids TV campaign who have a comic about the issue on ROK Comics, republished below. To add your voice to the petition click here.
Ofcom this week reported on the issue of kids TV, and its findings essentially support the SKTV position that something needs to be done to replace the loss of UK-commissioned output. "In the end it’s our kids who will suffer, from lack of choice, lack of their own stories on TV, lack of their own voices and lack of a perspective which helps them understand the society in which they live," argues SKTV. "For the past year we’ve been saying that a country which fails to tell its own stories is a country which could just quietly fade away. Our kids deserve the best TV – from everywhere – and that includes from the UK too."
Ofcom’s report backs up this concern with real figures. For the full detail you can download the short version of the report here: www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/kidstv/
30 humour strips published on ROK Comics eligible for entry into the ROK Comics $10,000 Humour Competition 2007 have now been shortlisted by the ROK Comics team for consideration by the competition's external judge.
"It was a long but enjoyable haul!" says ROK Comics Managing Editor John Freeman. "We had a huge number of huour strips that qualified for consideration, and creating the short list was very hard."
The 30 shortlisted strips are now being considered by the competition's external judge - none other than the editor of the top weekly British humour comic The Beano, Alan Digby.
ROK Comics hopes to announce the winner of the $10,000 prize and two runners up at the Birmingham International Comic Show on Saturday 13 October 2007 following the Comics and Technology panel in the afternoon.
The company is also running a separate competition especially for BICS-goers top win a top of the range Nokia phone, which will be open to any pre-registered attendee. More details on the BICS news page.
Broken Voice Comics has released Chapter 7 of its flagship title – the online graphic novel Shades – on its web site at www.broken voice.co.uk.
Written by David A J Berner and illustrated in full colour by artist Harsho Mohan Chattoraj, Shades, which also features on ROK Comics, tells the story of a group of heroes in the UK, struggling to come to terms with their role in late 20th Century Britain; a Britain still haunted by the loss of Empire.
With the main protagonists now firmly established, Chapter 7 (titled “Rite of Passage”) will see teenagers Becky, Craig and Ryan Allen keen to prove themselves to their childhood heroes – former World War fighter pilot Doug Chamberlain, the mystical figure known as the Shaman and the First Century warrior queen Boudicca.
“The conflict between generations is one of the principal themes in Shades,” explains Berner. “The younger heroes are keen to tackle the threat they’ve identified from a suspected terrorist group known as the Cult of Bedlam. However, Doug, Boudicca and the Shaman are – for a variety of reasons – not entirely ready to stand down and hand over the baton. Over the next few chapters, some hard lessons are going to have to be learned on both sides!”
Other Broken Voice titles featured on ROK Comics are Spires and the vampire story Hunted.
Following the first episode of Comics Britannia on BBC4 this week and with interest in classic British comics growing all the time, ROK Comics is pleased to be part of this resurgence of interest in great British comic creations – past, present and future.
ROK Comics offers a variety of classic British strips for mobile download and WAP delivery including
• Jeff Hawke from the Daily Express – classic SF adventure • Andy Capp and Mandy from the Daily Mirror – classic British comedy • British superhero Garth from the Daily Mirror • Beau Peep from the Daily Star – madcap antics in the foreign legion! • Robin Hoodfrom the pages of Swift, in partnership with Look and Learn Limited • Dredger from Action! Britian's deadliest secret agent, straight from the pages of the hugely popular 1970s comic owned by Egmont UK • Faceache by acclaimed cartoonist Ken Reid, famous for his many contributions to the Beano and WHAM, with more to come
Roy of the Rovers, Billy's Boots, Moodstone (from cult favourite girls comic Misty) the Steel Claw and many others are also in the pipeline.
Alongside classic comics, ROK is at the forefront of promoting the best of new British comics creators on mobile including award-winning artist-writer Chris Reynolds (who is publishing Moon Queen on ROK Comics), Lee Healey (Sporting Swine from Maxim), David Hailwood (Ups and Downs), Steve Tillotson (Banal Pig), and independent British publishers such as Markosia and Broken Voice, who are producing some ground breaking adventure material such as Dark Mists, a thrilling murder mystery set in pre-war Japan and Hunted, a terrifying tale of modern vampires in the style of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
In addition, just as British comics were exported worldwide, ROK has leveraged its unique position as a key developer of mobile content to bring many past and present comics to new audiences in partnership with key telecom partners around the globe.
"I'm delighted we have so many British creators on the service," says ROK Comics Managing Editor John Freeman, who was one of many comics creators who assisted the Comics Britannia production team in sourcing material for the BBC4 series. "Just as Leo Baxendale and Dudley Watkins broke new ground for comics in the pages of the Beano, so ROK Comics many creators are quickly establishing themselves at the forefront of a new means of delivering comics to millions of readers around the world.
"Comics have always evolved to reach new markets and ROK Comics is proud to be part of a bright future for the medium – and celebrate past British comics triumphs."
