Podcasts, radio shows, writing and more by Alex Fitch
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Today’s show: Wrath (of the Dead)
May 20, 2013
This evening at 7pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, The Thread: Wrath (of the Dead)
Still from Night of the Living Dead
In the second of a series of eight shows about the Seven Deadly Sins, the weekly discussion show run by PhD students from The London Consortium looks at the concept of Wrath and its connection to zombie culture. Guests include: Dr. Richard Barnett, a Fellow at the Wellcome Trust and host of ‘Sick City’, Alex Fitch, the presenter of Resonance FM’s Panel Borders and an assistant editor of Electric Sheep Magazine, and Dr. Jill Critchley, psychotherapist, member of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies and accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Psychotherapist. Host: Lauren Sapikowski
7pm, Monday 20th May 2013 / repeated 2.30am, Sunday 26th May, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / more info at http://thethreadradio.org (more…)
Tomorrow’s show: Exhibiting comics (2013)
May 19, 2013
Tomorrow morning at 8.30am on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: Exhibiting comics (2013)
page from The Book of Sarah by Sarah Lightman / exhibition launch / Press and Release flyer / photo of gallery
As part of Panel Borders’ month of shows about fine art and comics, we have our yearly look at how art from comic books is displayed in the gallery space. At OCCUPY MY TIME GALLERY, Deptford, Alex Fitch talks to gallery owner / curator Sue Cohen, and artist Sarah Lightman, about the latter’s exhibition “The Book of Sarah”, which previews her forthcoming graphic novel from Myriad Editions.
Also, at Phoenix Brighton, fine art lecturer Sue Gollifer, curator Karin Mori, exhibition designer Ben Thomson, and artist Iain Paxon (Hamilton Yarns) talk about the gallery’s exhibition of artists’ books “Press and Release”.
“The Book of Sarah” is on display at OCCUPY MY TIME GALLERY, Enclave 9, Resolution Way, Deptford, London SE8 4NT (Weds – Sat) to 1st June, 2013 / “Press and Release” is on display at Phoenix Brighton, 10-14 Waterloo Pl., Brighton, East Sussex BN2 9NB (Weds – Sun) to 9th June 2013
8.30am, Monday 20th May 2013 / repeated 3pm, Thursday 23rd May, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com (more…)
Tomorrow’s show: Barbara Nessim – a (comics) artful life
May 12, 2013
Tomorrow morning at 8.30am on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: Barbara Nessim – a (comics) artful life
Superman carrying girl with green shoes, Star Girl banded with blue wave, Fumetti from Help! magazine, Swedish Lives, A / B by Barbara Nessim
Continuing a month of shows about the connections between fine art and comic books, Alex Fitch talks to acclaimed artist and illustrator Barbara Nessim about her work and the many connections it has with sequential art, as its influence and subject. A selection of Nessim’s work is currently on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum, with her Wonder Woman analogue “Star Girl Banded with Blue Wave” (1966) being used as the focus for the marketing of the show; Alex talks to her about this work, the use of panel based sequential images in her Flag series and others, and her unlikely appearance in a anti-drugs fumetti, facilitated by Gloria Steinem and published in Warren Magazines’ Help! periodical in the 1960s.
Barbara Nessim – an artful life is on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum until 19th May 2013
8.30am, Monday 13th May 2013 / repeated 3pm, Thursday 16th May, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com (more…)
Tomorrow’s show: Fine art / Comics
May 5, 2013
Tomorrow morning at 8.30am on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: Fine art / Comics
Richard Reynolds and Rian Hughes discuss fine art and comics at Comica Comiket, Spring 2013
Starting a month of shows looking at the connections between ‘fine art’ and comic books, Panel Borders is proud to broadcast a pair of presentations by Richard Reynolds FRSA and graphic designer Rian Hughes given at 2013 Spring Comiket, Central Saint Martins School of Art. Reynolds looks at the influences that various works of fine art have had on comic books over the last hundred years while Hughes explores the many comic book panels that Roy Lichtenstein used in creating his works of art, currently on show at Tate Modern.
8.30am, Monday 6th May 2013 / repeated 3pm, Thursday 9th May, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com (more…)
Today’s show: Apocalypse Miao
May 3, 2013
Today at 5pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, I’m ready for my close-up: Apocalypse Miao
Posters for Birdemic II and Best Friends Forever
In a pair of Q and As recorded at the London Science-Fiction Film Festival (SCI-FI-LONDON), Alex Fitch talks to the creators of two new low budget portrayals of the apocalypse on screen. Stars Alan Bagh and Thomas Favaloro, writer / director James Nguyen and producer Jeff Gross discuss the B movie spoof Birdemic II: The Resurrection and co-writer / star Vera Miao talks about her excellent mid-apocalyptic road movie Best Friends Forever.
5pm, Friday 3rd May, repeated 8am Tuesday 7th May, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / extended podcast at panelborders.wordpress.com/category/reality-check after broadcast (more…)
Today’s show: Celebrating Ephemera
May 1, 2013
Today at 8pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, Clear Spot: Celebrating Ephemera
Covers of The Card by Graham Rawle, Brenda and Effie Forever / Vince Cosmos by Paul Magrs and Comic Book Babylon by Tim Pilcher
Starting a new series of the bimonthly show on books, Alex Fitch talks to three authors whose work celebrates ephemera and pop culture detritus. ‘Graphic Novelist’ Graham Rawle discusses his latest novel The Card, which follows the journey of a man who believes he is being employed by the secret service to protect Princess Diana, via playing cards, bubble-gum cards and cigarette cards that are left in his path. Rawle is an author and University of Brighton lecturer who uses graphic design and typography in his work, including collage of text from magazines (Woman’s World) and photographic montages (Lost Consonants et al.). Also, Tim Pilcher talks about his crowd-funded memoir Comic Book Babylon which documents his time working at DC Comics’ London office in the 90s, meeting pop culture celebrities such as Grant Morrison, Jonathan Ross, The Spice Girls and Adam Ant; while Paul Magrs chats about his novels and audio plays set around the fringes of Doctor Who, including his latest release Vince Cosmos, Glam Rock Detective where a Ziggy Stardust style pop star turns out to be engaged in an on-going war with aliens on Earth. Magrs also discusses his popular ‘Brenda and Effie’ series of books about the Bride of Frankenstein and a white witch running a B+B in Whitby.
8pm, Wednesday 1st May 2013, repeated 9am, Thursday 2nd May, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) (more…)
Tomorrow’s show: Shallowater, Your days are numbered
April 28, 2013
Tomorrow morning at 8.30am on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: Shallowater, Your days are numbered
Your days are numbered cover by David Ziggy Green / excerpt from Shallowater by Jenny Linn-Cole
Concluding a month of shows looking at small press and independent comics, we have a pair of interviews recorded in venues where such titles are stocked. Alex Fitch talks to Jenny-Linn Cole (in the gallery of Orbital Comics), about her graphic novel Shallowater, an tale of music, masculinity, and existentialism serialised in a series of small press comics. Also, in an interview recorded at the DIY Cultures festival, Dickon Harris talks to Jon Turner about the independent comics magazine Your days are numbered which mixes reviews and articles about sequential art with cutting edge graphic design.
8.30am, Monday 29th April 2013 / repeated 3pm, Thursday 2nd May, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) (more…)
Today’s show: the True Love of Arthur Sleep
April 26, 2013
Today at 5pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, I’m ready for my close-up: the True Love of Arthur Sleep
Stills from Arthur Sleep and True Love
Alex Fitch talks to graphic designer turned film-maker Sam Harris about his short silent film Arthur Sleep, a half hour Stygian odyssey that mixes elements of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari and Eraserhead, as a trip on the London Underground takes a traveller into more mysterious destinations than he envisioned. Also, in a Q and A recorded at last year’s SCI-FI-LONDON, Alex talks to the writers and producer of True Love, an SF thriller that tests a couple’s devotion to each other as a set of innocuous questions in a surrealist prison turn to torture.
Arthur Sleep is premiering at Deptford Old Town Hall, New Cross, London SE14 6AF on 28 April at 4pm with a live score performed by members of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and London art-rock bands – more info at
www.freefilmfestivals.org
True Love is released in Japanese cinemas on 27th April and this year’s SCI-FI-LONDON festival takes place at various venues around London from 30th April – more info at www.sci-fi-london.com
5pm, Friday 26th April, repeated 8am Tuesday 30th April, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / extended podcast at panelborders.wordpress.com/category/reality-check after broadcast (more…)
Today’s show: From small press to mainstream
April 22, 2013
This morning at 8.30am on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: From small press to mainstream
Excerpts from Ellipsis by Tom Humberstone, Danger Academy by Tony Lee and Dan Boultwood, The Alchemist’s Easel by Al Davison, Strange Embrace by David Hine
In a panel discussion recorded at SCI-FI-LONDON, the London International festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film, guest presenter Matt Badham talks to comic creators David Hine, Al Davison, Tom Humberstone and Tony Lee about starting their careers in independent comics, how that influenced their style and choices when breaking into the ‘mainstream’ industry and the advice they have to give creators starting out now. (Recorded and edited by Alex Fitch)
8.30am, Monday 22nd April 2013 / repeated 3pm, Thursday 25th April, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com
Links: Websites – Tony Lee, Tom Humberstone, David Hine, Al Davison (more…)
Tomorrow’s show: Young Graphic Novelists, Spring 2013
April 14, 2013
Tomorrow morning at 8.30am on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: Young Graphic Novelists, Spring 2013
Extracts from Frogman by Matt Fitch and Mark Lewis / The Adventures of Leeroy and Popo by Louis Roskosch
Continuing a month of shows looking at small press and independent publishers, Panel Borders looks at two titles that rework familiar pop-culture tropes in new comics by young creators. In an interview recorded at Comica Comiket, Alex Fitch talks to Louis Roskosch about his video game inspired graphic novel The Adventures of Leeroy and Popo, published by Nobrow. Also, Dickon Harris speaks to Matt Fitch and Mark Lewis of ‘Dead Canary Comics’, about their collaborations in the worlds of advertising agencies and comic book creation as they discuss the production of their first superhero title, the Spider-Man spoof Frogman.
Nobrow and Dead Canary Comics will be among dozens of exhibitors at this year’s Comica Comiket, taking place at Central St. Martins School of Art and Design, Handyside Street, King’s Cross, London N1C 4AA on Saturday April 20th, 2013 – more info at www.comicafestival.com
8.30am, Monday 15th April 2013 / repeated 3pm, Thursday 18th April, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) (more…)
Today’s show: Exploring the Strange Frame
April 12, 2013
Today at 5pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, I’m ready for my close-up: Exploring the Strange Frame
Alex Fitch interviews Silviu Purcarete at East End FIlm Festival / still from Strange Frame
In a pair of Q and As recorded after festival screenings, Alex Fitch talks to the makers of new recent genre defying, surrealist movies. In an interview recorded at the East End Film Festival director Silviu Purcarete discusses his movie Somewhere in Palilula, which depicts a doctor’s arrival at a small town to start a new job, only to find that there are no children in the children’s hospital and the location is cut off from the rest of the world for most of the year by impenetrable weather… Also, director G.B. Hajim and co-writer Shelley Doty discuss their Sci-Fi animated musical Strange Frame, set on a moon of Jupiter in the 28th Century, featuring the voices of Tim Curry, Michael Dorn (Star Trek‘s Worf) and a variety of names from telefantasy shows.
The next SCI-FI-LONDON film festival starts April 30th at BFI Southbank, Stratford Picturehouse and other venues, while the East End Film Festival returns in June. (more…)
Tomorrow’s show: Small press publishers
April 7, 2013
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Tomorrow morning at 8.30am on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: Small press publishers
Titles published by Sloth Comics, Accent UK and Disconnected Press
Starting a month of shows in a new time slot, Panel Borders is looking at small press and self published comics, including the titles produced by two British independent publishing companies in interviews recorded at the London Super Comics Convention.
Alex Fitch talks to Nicolas Rossert, Loran and Charles Cutting about Sloth Comics, a new publisher devoted to both British and European graphic novels, including reissues of classic titles. Loran discusses his book Booyah!, about a playful green monster with anger management issues; Cutting talks about his steampunk adventure Steam Hammer, and Rossert describes his approach to choosing graphic novel formats and the process of getting the rights to republish Moebius and Alejandro Jodorowski’s classic Madwoman of the Sacred Heart.
Also, publisher Colin Mathieson discusses his company Accent UK which has built up a commendable body of work over the last dozen years concentrating on anthology books which have showcased the work of some of the country’s finest small press creators. Artist Conor Boyle joins the conversation to talk about Accent’s latest graphic novel Who on Earth was Thaddeus Mist? and the importance of design to the company’s range of books.
8.30am, Monday 8th April 2013 / repeated 3pm, Thursday 11th April, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) (more…)
Today’s show: Digitising comics
March 31, 2013
This evening at 6pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: Digitising comics
Covers of Panel Nine digital comic collections The Certified Hunt Emerson and Dapper John, interior of Verity Fare / David Lloyd promotes Comics Thing app
Concluding a month of shows looking at web comics, Alex Fitch talks to two experts in web based technologies about their dissemination methods aimed at bringing comics to tablets and other devices. Russell Willis discusses his Panel Nine range of graphic novels for the iPad which include titles by Eddie Campbell and David Lloyd and are about to be joined by a new digital store front for International book publishers.
Also, in a presentation recorded at Cartoon County in Brighton, Charles Kriel talks about his Indiegogo campaign to fund a new app designed to be the equivalent of iTunes for comics allowing collectors to combine their existing digital comics collections with newly bought titles to fill in the gaps, with questions asked by Alex Fitch, David Lloyd and members of the audience.
6pm, Sunday 31st March 2013 / repeated 4.30pm, Tuesday 2nd April 3pm, Thursday 4th April, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com
Links: Panel Nine / Sequential / iEnglish websites
Comics Thing indiegogo campaign / 12 Stories Tall website (more…)
Today’s show: The chances of anything coming from Mars…
March 29, 2013
Today at 5pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, I’m ready for my close-up: The chances of anything coming from Mars…
Still from Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds – The New Generation, featuring Liam Neeson / photo from the set of The Search for Simon, featuring Sophie Aldred (centre) and director Martin Gooch (right)
Alex Fitch talks to a composer, a director and an actor, whose uniquely British approaches to Science Fiction will be seen on the big screen over the next few weeks. Alex discusses the concert film of Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds – The New Generation with the composer and discusses the development and rerecording of the classics SF concept album over the last 35 years. Also, in an interview recorded on the set of new alien abductee comedy drama The Search for Simon, director Martin Gooch and one of the stars – Doctor Who alumnus Sophie Aldred – talk about this crowd funded feature that mixes elements of travelogue with the X-Files.
The War of the Worlds – The New Generation is screening at UK cinemas on 11th and 14th April – more info at www.thewaroftheworldscinema.com / The Search for Simon premières at SCI-FI-LONDON on May 3rd and you can contribute to the funding of the film via www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-search-for-simon (more…)
Today’s show: Collage and reappropriation
March 24, 2013
This evening at 6pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: Collage and reappropriation
Clockwise from top left: webcomics by Scott C x2, Becky, Paul O’Connell x 3, Frank
Continuing a month of shows looking at webcomics, Panel Borders examines the work of a quartet of creators whose online strips and cartoons reinvent retro images and iconic characters from film and TV to beguiling effect. In a pair of short interviews recorded at Thought Bubble, Leeds 2012, Alex Fitch talks to American creators Scott C – about his webcomics Double Fine Action Comics and The Great Showdowns – and Becky and Frank about Tiny Kitten Teeth, cartoons which utilise imagery from toys, cereal packaging and children’s literature.
Also, Alex looks into the varying merits of print and web-based comics with British writer / artist Paul O’Connell, in an interview recorded at the University of Brighton. Paul’s postmodern fumetti mash-ups mix comedy and horror via strips such as A Muppet Wicker Man and The Seinfeld Matrix, and the artist discusses his collaborations with other Brighton based creators, including Lawrence Elwick on Charlie Parker, Handyman, plus his aspirations for using the medium of online comics to its full interactive potential.
6pm, Sunday 24th March 2013 / repeated 4.30pm, Tuesday 26th March, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com (more…)
Today’s show: James Moran Vs Comics
March 17, 2013
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This evening at 6pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: James Moran Vs Comics
Adverts for six Vs Comics: Night + Day, Eponymous, Happy Birthday, The Sentinal, Tabby and Trout, Ghost Club by various creators
Continuing a month of shows about webcomics, Alex Fitch talks to screenwriter James Moran (Cockneys vs Zombies, Torchwood) about his new webcomic Day + Night, an urban vampire tale that casts the creatures of the night as ‘sharks on legs’ rather than the sparkly urbane figures found elsewhere. Also, in a panel recorded at Thought Bubble 2012, Vs Comics editor Mike Garley talks about the strip he’s writing – Eponymous - and introduces creators Nich Angell (Tabby and Trout), Ned Hartley (Ghost Club), Adam Christopher (The Sentinel) and Sally Jane Thompson (Happy Birthday) who present the strips they’re contributing to the online anthology comic, with the help of designer Mike Stock.
6pm, Sunday 17th March 2013 / repeated 4.30pm, Tuesday 19th March, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com
Links: Vs Comics website
Read a review of James Moran’s previous web-based serial Girl no.9 (more…)
Today’s show: Steampunk Geniuses
March 10, 2013
This evening at 6pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: Steampunk Geniuses
Interior art and cover of Girl Genius omnibus / cover of Agatha H volume 1
Continuing a month of shows looking at webcomics, Alex Fitch talks to the creators of a popular online steampunk strip that combines Victoriana, mad scientists, fantasy and strong female characters. Phil and Kaja Foglio discuss the history of Girl Genius, their careers before the start of their most famous comic and why they prefer the term ‘gaslamp fantasy’ for their niche in the science-fiction subgenre. (Recorded at Congenial, Role-Playing Unicon, Cambridge 2012)
6pm, Sunday 10th March 2013 / repeated 4.30pm, Tuesday 12th March, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com
Links: Read Girl Genius online
Phil and Kaja Foglio’s website (more…)
Today’s show: Young British Webcomic creators
March 3, 2013
This evening at 6pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: Young British Webcomic creators
Webcomics by Richy K. Chandler, Zarina Liew, Nich Angell,.Namiiebim and John Allison
In the first of a series of shows looking at comics serialised on the internet, Alex Fitch talks to a quintet of young British webcomic creators about their work. In a Q and A recorded at Comica Comiket (2011), John Allison discusses his webcomic Bad Machinery, his reasons for choosing the internet as a form of delivery and the lessons he’s learned as a comic book creator over the last decade.
Also, as we draw to the end of the first Webcomic Artist Swap Project week (February 25th – March 3rd, 2013), Nich Angell (Cat and Meringue), Zarina Liew (Le Mime), Naniiebim (Mephistos) and project originator Richy K. Chandler (Lucy the Octopus), talk about their musical chairs experiment which saw thirteen creators write and draw each others’ strips in order to bring new readers to stories they may not have previously encountered, and raise awareness of the British webcomic scene in general.
6pm, Sunday 3rd March 2013 / repeated 4.30pm, Tuesday 5th March, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com (more…)
Today’s show: Animating the city
March 1, 2013
Today at 5pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, I’m ready for my close-up: Animating the city
Still from Babledom and poster for Cycle
Alex Fitch talks to the directors of two new cutting-edge animated films which mix animation and live action footage to beguiling effect. In a Q and A recorded at SCI-FI-LONDON, the London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film, Zoltan Sostai discusses his film Cycle, a spiritual successor to Tron and The Matrix, which sees a nameless astronaut trying to escape a bleak urban landscape which twists and loops back on itself, creating an endless maze he can’t find the exit from.
Also, British animator Paul Bush talks about his first feature film Babledom which looks into the layers of history and potential future that are unearthed by explorers of the modern city. Mixing a dialogue between two residents of a dystopian city in the style of Chris Marker’s La Jetée, with visuals that recall the architecture of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, Babledom is an evocative look at mankind’s varied relationships with the crowded spaces we inhabit.
Cycle was released in Hungarian cinemas on 21st February 2013 following its London première at SCI-FI-LONDON in 2012 / Babledom is released in UK cinemas on 8th March 2013.
5pm, Friday 1st March 2013 / repeated 8am, Tuesday 5th March, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com (more…)
Today’s show: Updating the classics
February 24, 2013
Tonight at 6pm on Resonance 104.4 FM, Panel Borders: Adapting the classics
Interior art and cover of Gulliver’s Travels by Martin Rowson, cover of Vicious Circle and interior art from The Unwritten, written by Mike Carey
Concluding our month of shows looking at the connections between comics and literature, Alex Fitch talks to a pair of authors who have used graphic novels and comics to update classic literature. Mike Carey discusses his comic The Unwritten which sees characters from classic literature – such as Frankenstein‘s monster – and authors – like Mark Twain – being caught up in a fantastical conspiracy through the ages; Alex and Mike also discuss how the latter’s parallel career as a novelist effects his comic book writing.
Also, newspaper cartoonist Martin Rowson discusses his graphic novel adaptation and updating of Gulliver’s Travels, with its art and content reflecting current political leaders and situations.
6pm, Sunday 24th February 2013, repeated 4.30pm, Tuesday 26th February, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com (more…)
