A really great title from Jonathan Cape this month: Mary and Bryan Talbot’s THE RED VIRGIN AND THE VISION OF UTOPIA, a graphic biography of “utopian dreamer, notorious anarchist, teacher, orator and poet” Louise Michel. You can read more about it on our Jan-Jun 2016 Jonathan Cape titles page or on our May New Book Recommends page – we’ve also got a piece by Mary herself on the origins of it… Or just scroll on for our six page preview!

Mary, Bryan, Jonathan Cape and Louise – we salute you!

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	Many of us grew / are growing up with 2000 AD – The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic that we at Carabas grew up with was under the legendary tenure of Steve MacManus, Tharg from 1978 to 1989. This September 2000 AD bring us the memoirs of that era’s Mighty One under that very name!
	From the Nerve Centre:
	2000 AD is to publish the memories of arguably its most definitive editor, Steve MacManus.
	In 1973, a twenty-year-old Steve MacManus joined Fleetway Publications in London as a sub-editor on one of the UK’s top adventure titles, Valiant.

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Within six years, he would rise to become editor of the company’s most celebrated weekly, 2000 AD, shepherding it through its first‘Golden Age’ as he commissioned numerous hit series such as The Ballad of Halo Jones, Sláine, Bad Company, Rogue Trooper, and Nemesis the Warlock, ensuring its place as the most influential comic Britain has ever produced.

While 2000 AD’s creator, Pat Mills, set the tone and direction for the legendary title, for many MacManus remains the multi-award-winning SF anthology’s definitive editor. Read the rest of this entry »

	Here’s an edited look at the Graphic Novels Titan Comics have coming for you over the period January to June 2016! FYI we tend to leave tie-ins (TV / Film) titles to other sites and focus on original material on Carabas. We’ll be bringing you our particular recommends of all publishers together by month of publication.
	*** Check out our publisher profile of Titan Comics here, and you can also see the fabulous output of Titan Books on their own Jan-Jun 16 page here (links on also to their profile and more)

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Note: Publication dates correct at time of writing but can change.

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	Here’s an (edited) look at what Orbit have coming for you over the period January to June 2016! We’ll be bringing you our particular recommends of all publishers together by month of publication. Note: Publication dates are liable to change and some jackets are still to come…
	*** Publisher Page – link / profile ***
	*** See Other Publishers Jan-Jun 16 ***

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It may have been a late announcement to Mark K but the mere mention of Ray Davies was enough to get him along to the Victorious Festival two-dayer without delay – here are the delights he experienced on day one…

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	Creators: Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher, Babs Tarr and Maris Wicks
	Review by Scott Ellis
	DC’s latest shakeup into the New 52 format has yielded varying results for the brand’s dedicated readership. With characters experiencing manifold changes, from minor costume alterations to massive ability reductions, they have been given that which many real world individuals desire; youthful rejuvenation and a fresh injection of cultural relevance. Out of the hands of veteran Batgirl writer Gail Simone, the character has undergone a soft-reboot. In Batgirl of Burnside we see the titular character beginning to redefine herself as a cultural icon, physically rehabilitated trauma victim, and more importantly, as an independent woman living in the 21st century.

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	Where comic publishers across the water are pumping out events and fan-favourite villains, the UK’s own 2000 AD continues what seems a policy to be different. All of which is a way of saying flagship character JUDGE DREDD has had a 10 year break from his greatest foe / foes, Judge Death and the Dark Judges – so it’s a genuinely big deal to have those bad boys back!
	Written by creator and luminary John Wagner and with stunning art by Greg Staples, Dark Justice is a collected treat for old-school fans and those who loved the movie. Here’s our preview of a proper event, 2000 AD style!

Opening pages…

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	Until the panel I’d just attended, of which Karrie Fransman was part, I was rather unaware of her broader work beyond her first and second graphic novels. What had intrigued me most, which I’d heard about in a meeting with one of her editors at Jonathan Cape, was her work for the Red Cross which, I later discovered, won Broken Frontier’s Best One-Shot 2014 award.
	Karrie was good enough to agree to a post-panel coffee and interview and, amongst many other things, this was something I was particularly keen to hear about and the first subject we talked about.

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	Chapter One
	A helicopter is no place for a hangover. Hooper closed his eyes and breathed carefully as the engine spooled up. His gorge rose at the toxic mix of jet fuel, stale sweat, and bile at the back of his throat. The thudding of the rotors punched deep into his chest: sickening deep-body blows that travelled up his spinal column, directly into his neck and head. He bit down hard on a gag reflex, refusing to heave up what little remained of his stomach contents, most of which he’d left in a steaming pile on the grass at the edge of the helipad.
	‘Oh, fuck me,’ he grunted as the red and white Era Helicopter took off, driving him down into his seat. Years of ass compression had squashed the foam cushioning into a thin hard sandwich between his butt and the steel struts of the seat fitting. The chopper, a venerable old AW139, was streaked with rust and oil, the plexiglas scratched and the nonslip floor sticky with chaw tobacco and chewing gum. Like Dave, its glory days were behind it, and the air conditioning did nothing to mask the baked-in stench of sweat, cigarette smoke, and budget cologne. Dave

was just glad he had the cabin to himself on this trip. The only stewed farts and bad breath he had to contend with were his own.

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	Two weeks ago Olympia opened its doors to the London Book Fair. A trade fair at heart, the London Book Fair (or LBF,) is a hub of British publishing in the second week of April and is where you’ll find some of the biggest deals in the UK publishing industry.
	As an author (or aspiring author,) most of the fair is cut off from you. Whilst you can wander and browse all the different publishers and companies with a stake in the publishing industry, you will find little information or help from these busy professionals.

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There are tales of authors wanting to speak to agents and publishers, hounding them through the book fair. Well, I can tell you now, that is pointless and won’t get you anything except, perhaps, a restraining order if you are particularly persistent.

What will get you somewhere, on the other hand, is the Author HQ, the hub of most author directed information at LBF. Sponsored by Amazon KDP and Midas PR, Author HQ is designed to give authors a rounded look at the publishing industry and information on how to move forwards. Read the rest of this entry »

	We were very much there to see Penny for the Workhouse who Mark K had lauded having seen them as support; though, while I’d thoroughly enjoyed the tunes I’d heard online, they were a new one live for me.
	But first there were others to hear; it was a night that, to me, seemed very much about ‘credit where credit’s due’…
	Article by Tim Bayley
	Photos by Mark K & Jen Hay

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	Ah Steampunk – and the singular allure of Victoriana with added steam, cogs and fantastical contrivances. What’s that sir / madam? You’d like a 6 month overview of the literary diversions of the very same and associated anachronistic, retro-futuristic fiction? Well you’ve come to the right place!
	We have many fine articles for your perusal here after, but it seems you’ve landed on the very one you’re looking for: read on!

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	Here’s the latest dose of paranoia and, um, ‘speculative journalism'(?!) from Home Defence’s Al Likilla (Alan Devey)…
	<Subsequent links are to the site and article in question>

“I don’t think the end of the world is the end of the world.” –  Lee Ryan

Welcome all, to a sunny springtime of corruption, war and unwell dogs. And what better way to celebrate 2015 getting into gear than with a read of the interweb’s deluxe Paranoia and Lifestyle Webzine, Home Defence?

Three Cornish Schoolboys Leave UK “To Fight For House Targaryen”. This time we start in Cornwall, where three families are horrified to discover their sons intending to fight in a dangerous foreign war. That’s International News.
		Back home in National News, Ed Milliband and Andy Burnham have been forced to reveal Labour’s intention to fully weaponise the NHS.

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	A support act you need to catch while there’s still standing room and a headliner that fills the floor entirely…

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