Thursday, February 21, 2008


Launch of Brand New Comic to Include Weekly Strip by Philip Pullman

Author : David Fickling Books

The May 2008 launch of an entirely new weekly comic for boys and girls is announced today by David Fickling, publisher of the eponymous and highly successful imprint (1) at Random House.
Entitled the 'DFC', its content will be created by world-class contributors, including Philip Pullman. He is currently working on a weekly strip entitled The Adventures of John Blake (illustrated by John Aggs). The details of Philip's work are a closely guarded secret - only to be revealed when the first comic is delivered into homes by the Royal Mail on Friday 30th May.
"I still remember the heart pounding excitement of receiving my very own comic on the doormat every week and now the DFC can bring that to every child in the land. But this isn't a revival. For today's children it is almost a brand new form of entertainment. Only completely original material will be published in the DFC. No advertising, just 100% storytelling delight. Joy in an envelope," David Fickling comments.

"I have always loved comics, and when I first heard about the DFC, I leapt at the chance of being involved," said Philip Pullman. "The chance to work in this wonderfully fluid and exciting form was too good to miss. I have had a lot of fun with the story of John Blake, and I hope readers will enjoy it as well as all the other great things in the DFC."
The full colour DFC will be supported by the innovative DFC website http://www.thedfc.co.uk./

Currently a holding page, the website will open to reveal an exciting world of interactivity (including a creative comic maker), fascinating background material and new editorial content.
David Fickling goes on to say, "I'm a book editor but I reckon a lot of my story sensibility came from reading comics. They are great story carriers. And you want to read, you don't even think of it as reading, it's far too much fun. I have always wanted to publish comics, or at least books like Tintin or Asterix. This is a truly international product, anyone wherever they are in the world can receive the DFC, with just a simple click on the website."

David Fickling is a children's book editor and publisher. David formed his own imprint in Oxford, David Fickling Books, in 1999. The imprint is now based with Random House and publishes about a dozen titles per year in the US, Australia and New Zealand as well as the UK.

Recent titles include Philip Pullman's Lyra's Oxford, Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Linda Newbery's 2007 Costa Award-winning Set in Stone. In 2004, David received the British Book Award for Editor of the Year. He lives with his wife and three older children in Oxford.

Philip Pullman is best known for the trilogy His Dark Materials: Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in the U.S.)1995; The Subtle Knife, 1997, and The Amber Spyglass, 2000. These books have been honoured by the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Book Award, and (for The Amber Spyglass) the Whitbread Book of the Year Award. Philip was also the first English writer to receive the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2005). The Golden Compass was released as a movie in December 2007.

- Launch season strips in the DFC include:
The Adventures of John Blake by Philip Pullman & John Aggs
Charlie Jefferson and the Tomb of Nazaleod by Garen Ewing
Mobot High by Neill Cameron
The Boss by Patrice Aggs
Good Dog, Bad Dog and Monkey Nuts by The Etherington Brothers - both featured in the Saturday Guardian

The DFC is available to buy on subscription from http://www.thedfc.co.uk./

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