Shakara- Loose Ends

SHAKARA- LOOSE ENDS is a tale from the history of the Shakara by David Withers and Matt Herbert. The Eagle eyed among you may recall that Matt is an artist from such titles as OMNIVISTSCOPE and the legendary SOLAR WIND and this is his first strip for Zarjaz. It will not be his last.

Sam Slade- Robo-Hunter- The Best Man

Zarjaz 17 sees the latest escapade for Sam Slade take the cover slot! THE BEST MAN is a whopping 9 page romp by writer Paul Thompson and artist ‘Cuttlefish’. This strip is classic Robo-Hunter action with a unique Zarjaz style.

Flesh- Extinction III

One of the strips we have been proudest of in Zarjaz is the mini series FLESH- EXTINCTION by M.J. Howard and Chris Geary.

The strip first appeared in Zarjaz 10, and was moderately successful, considering that all it really shares with the classic FLESH is the name. The setting, characters and situations are all specific to this strip.

The second chapter followed in Zarjaz 14, where the larger picture was revealed and our heroes faced some hard decisions.

 Finally, in Zarjaz 17 we are proud to present the finale to Flesh Extinction and in true Zarjaz style we have let Chris have a colour centrespread to adequately display the true scope of the events unfolding.

Zarjaz 10, 14 and 17 are all available and the FLESH- EXTINCTION saga weighs in at a whopping 72 pages. Not bad.

Harlem Heroes- Artie Gruber’s Electric Dreams

From the mind of Don Franco comes a short tale featuring the nemesis of the Harlem Heroes. Just what makes Artie Gruber tick? Find out in Zarjaz 17.

Zarjaz 17- Contents

Available very soon indeed- Zarjaz 17!

Behind the latest cover by the astounding Nigel Dobbyn featuring Sam Slade- Robo-Hunter, we bring you:

From the pages of the HARLEM HEROES: Artie Gruber- Electric Dreams by Don Franco.

The finale of FLESH: Ectinction by writer M.J. Howard, art & lettering by Chris Geary. Beleieve me when I say that this strip has to be seen to be believed.

Sam Slade- Robo-Hunter: The Best Man by writer Paul Thompson and artist Cuttlefish.

Shakara: Loose Ends by writer David Withers and Matt Herbert shows us a slice of history that just might be true…

Judge Dredd: All the wrong Moves by writer John A Short and artist Alex Paterson treats us to a tale of one rookie’s final assessment when he is having one of ‘those’ days.

Zarjaz 17 is £3.00 plus P&P and will be on sale initially over the weekend of the upcoming Cardiff Comics Expo and then from the FQP webshop, Orbital of London and selected Forbidden Planet shops.

David Frankum- Flesh!

Over on his blog, the rather awesome David Frankum talks about his involvement with the Flesh strip in Zarjaz 16.

Thanks to Dave for all the kind words, and indeed for all the astounding art, too.

New Strip- JUDGE DREDD- Just Another Joe

Remeber the competition we launched a while ago?

The script had a decent number of entries, and it was a close call on the final winner, but congratulations to Matthew Craig for sending in the winning script, presented below.

As usual, click on the images for larger versions and Here! for a downloadable hi res pdf (almost 40 meg)

Something Wicked 08: Broken Frontiers Review

  Andy Oliver over at Broken Frontier has posted a review for the current issue of Something Wicked.

 Thanks to FQP Regular Lee Robson for the link

Exciting News Readers! No FutureQuake in March.

Unfortunately there is not going to be an issue of FutureQuake this March. Issue 23 would be due in the next couple of weeks but due to circumstances I’ll go into below I do not have enough pages to make print.

Normally I would over commission each issue to the tune of three or four strips, with the proviso that some folks may drop out or not make deadline. There are a maximum of 48 pages in each issue and if they get filled then some strips need to be moved along in the schedule. Some of you may well have been told by me in the past that your strip was being passed over for the following issue, and the vast majority of creators are cool with this. 

Some however, can be a little snippy. Which I can see the point of. If you have worked hard to hit a deadline, only to be told that your strip is not going to be printed for an extra four months then it is understandable to be a little miffed.

So for this issue I took a good look at what I had outstanding, and what was commissioned and decided to try and be a little more ‘just in time’ with the strips. I even began to send out monthly countdowns to the artists to hopefully encourage them to keep me informed of progress and any issues. 

However, as of the end of January deadline I only have enough material to fill two thirds of an issue- not good.

So, a massive thanks to all of those who made the deadline for getting all your work in to me, and a massive I’m sorry as your strip is not going to see print till the summer in FutureQuake 23.

I’ve got quite a few strips commissioned for that issue already and with those that are rolling over as well the issue should fill up right smart and give me a good buffer for further issues. 

I guess the lesson for me is that over commissioning is good.

Utopia- Channel 4- Including FQP!

Utopia (Link to Channel 4) is a TV show currently on air in the UK. During the summer of 2012 I was contacted by the production company and asked if I would send along some promo material they could have on screen. I supplied the covers to FQ15 (Gibson Quarter) FQ18 (Richard Smith) and SW08 (Conor Boyle) and that was that.

Cut to the night of the first episode, and here at FQP towers I had a phone call from my eldest- had I seen it!? The show had started and he had seen the cover of an FQP comic. I set my TV to record the show and got a little excited. I’ve yet to watch the show, but I’m looking forward to it.

Thanks to Goaty on the 2000ADOnline message board for the screen grab.