Space: 2099

Posted on February 12, 2012 by

On Thursday 9th February, ITV Studios America and HDFilms announced an agreement for the development of a new version of Gerry Anderson’s classic TV series Space: 1999. Described as ‘a complete re-imagining’, the planned production has the revised title of Space: 2099.

The surprising news has generated a lot of interest (mainly positive) in relative forums. As a hopeful sign for Space: 2099 being thoughtfully made, a website for the series has already been launched as a forum, allowing opinions and suggestions to be contributed to the project during its development. For more news and information, please follow the link below.

Among the many blog postings about the series, John Freeman looks at the new venture from a comics perspective on Down The Tubes.

It really is a case of ‘watch this space’, in more ways than one!

 

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London (Comics) 2012

Posted on January 28, 2012 by

As if London hosting the Olympic Games isn’t enough, this year also sees the first London Super Comic Convention on February 25th & 26th. Well alright, I know it probably doesn’t have quite the same status, but all the same, it’s good to see a major new event reflecting the resurgence in comics interest generally.

2012 looks set to be a good year for new comics and graphic albums, with the new Strip Magazine leading the way. Launched last October by Print Media Productions, Strip Magazine is described by the Publishers as ‘an adventure anthology comic featuring some great art and stories from some brilliant creators, including PJ Holden, John McCrea, Michael Penick, John Ridgway and many more!’ 

For more information about the Convention and Strip Magazine, please follow the links below.

  

It doesn’t end there either, as comic artist Tim Perkins recently published the first of his graphic novel series, Worlds End, Volume 1, The Riders on the Storm. Described as a ‘Science Fusion’ concept, Worlds End combines science-fiction and fantasy in an ‘all-ages friendly’ adventure.

Tim has a blog called Wizards Keep which has all the background information generally. To accompany the first volume being published, a very inviting website for Worlds End has also been launched.

Good luck to everyone concerned with these and other forthcoming publishing projects, onwards and upwards!

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Ecards At Christmas

Posted on December 22, 2011 by

Nick's Ecard.

 

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from The Dorad & Sirius Partnership.

Marko's Ecard.

 

 

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The Partnership Evolves

Posted on November 28, 2011 by

I’m pleased to welcome Nick Spender to The Dorad & Sirius Partnership. If you’re a regular visitor to this blog (I know you’re out there), you’ll know from an earlier post, that Nick was one of the guests at Spaceship Away Day in November ’09. Working professionally as a freelance illustrator, Nick produces artwork in numerous styles, including comic-strip, for many publishers and agencies.

Chuck Yeager Page 1.

The two images shown here are pages from a story about the flight pioneer Chuck Yeager. The comic-strip look produced by Nick, can add to the eclectic ‘classic comic’ visual style of Dorad & Sirius generally, along with CGI models created by Mark Hirst and the large body of digital artwork that Marko Keränen has already provided.

Chuck Yeager Page 2.

You can see more of Nick’s work at his new website Nick Spender Illustrator.

At the same time, Marko Keränen’s website Lighthouse has been recently updated, with a gallery of illustrations generally, along with more recent work which he’s created as a comic artist.

While continuing with updating Lighthouse, Marko has been designing a new floating structure for Dorad & Sirius. Here’s a ‘sneak-peek’ of one version in a test render.

An ideal cetacean human home.

 

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McMurdo Returns…

Posted on November 1, 2011 by

…Well, in a sense.

By conducting an extensive search in the video archive (in other words, sorting through things in the loft), I found my last remaining copy of the TV pilot, McMurdo – A Telecomic. Unfortunately, as the video above is from a VHS tape, much of the visual quality provided by Quantel Paintbox is lost in the low-bandwidth recording, but at least it shows the ‘Telecomic’ idea as it was at the time.

McMurdo - A Storyboard.

As well as the McMurdo pilot, there will be other videos as extra features in a similar way as this blog, with Dorad & Sirius now having a channel on YouTube.

On the tube!

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Fanderson’s 30th Birthday

Posted on August 31, 2011 by

Welcome to the party!

On Saturday 20th August, Fanderson – The Official Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society, celebrated its thirtieth birthday with a party at the hotel, Crowne Plaza Marlow in Buckinghamshire. The event was an opportunity for members and invited guests to reminisce about various aspects of Fanderson’s thirty years.

While the evening was not intended to be like a convention with talks and autograph sessions etc, several guests and committee members kindly gathered together on the terrace for an impromptu photo-call. Below with guests Shane Rimmer, Matt Zimmerman and David Graham are Jack Messent and past Committee Member Lorraine Malby.

L-R: Jack Messent, Shane Rimmer, Matt Zimmerman, David Graham, Lorraine Malby.

 

Below with the same guests are former Fanderson Chairman, Chris Bentley and FAB magazine Co-Editor, Ian Fryer.

L-R: Chris Bentley, Shane Rimmer, Matt Zimmerman, David Graham (with Parker's hat), Ian Fryer.

 

Fanderson has always been a good way of getting to know like-minded people during its first thirty years. Below are Anthony Freeman and Anthony Barnes, two fans and model makers who loved the series of Gerry Anderson.

Tony, Yours Truly and Tony.

 

Tony (Barnes) currently has albums on Facebook, showing mainly his modelwork at the moment, with more shared creations being uploaded over time. Here are the links: Sci-Fi Models 1, Sci-Fi Models 2, Miniatures.

During the evening, Tony and Tony also told me about a new forum principally for Gerry Anderson’s Space: 1999, called All Sections Alpha.

There’s currently a detailed article about the event on Fanderson’s Website. Events Co-Ordinator, Katie Bleathman has posted photos from the event on Flickr. Many thanks to everyone concerned for an enjoyable way to celebrate the first thirty years!

Happy Birthday Fanderson!

 

More ‘Flickr’ Fanderson Birthday pictures here.

 

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Dolphins & Dragons

Posted on July 22, 2011 by

Not content with having jumped out of a plane at 10,000 ft to raise money for the ‘Protect Our Dolphins’ campaign last year, WDCS Patron and TV Presenter Miranda Krestovnikoff will be leading the WDCS ‘Team with a Porpoise’ at the Bristol Dragon Boat Race on 25 September.

If you would like to make a donation, please follow the link below to Miranda’s ‘Just Giving’ Page, helping her campaign reach the £5000 target.

If you are interested in volunteering to be in Miranda’s team, please visit the WDCS Dragon Boat Race page, with all the details you’ll need, along with an online registration form.

Thank-you.

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EU: Dolphinarium-Free Zone!

Posted on June 22, 2011 by

Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS), are currently campaigning to make the European Union a dolphinarium-free zone. A video has been produced to publicise the campaign.

For more information, please follow the link to the WDCS campaign. If you wish, there is an e-protest letter you can sign to help bring an end to dolphins being held in captivity across Europe.

Thank-you for your time.

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A New Direction

Posted on May 8, 2011 by

I’m pleased to welcome Mark Hirst to The Dorad & Sirius Partnership. Mark currently produces work for his website Cambrian Moons, which since 2004 has been presenting a continuing science-fiction adventure.

Along with CGI products including Vue and Cinema 4D, Mark makes extensive use of the character modelling software, Poser, bringing a new visual aspect to Dorad & Sirius generally. Below is the first image of the new-look Dorad, modelled in Poser and rendered in Cinema 4D.

New Dorad 1

A striking pose!

Mark has his own page on the CGI / illustration website Renderosity, where you can see the above image, along with an example of Dorad in her nano-fibre suit.

To see more of Mark’s work, follow the link below to Cambrian Moons. In addition to the photo-realism style, there are several pieces including characters created with Poser, which have a distinctive ‘comic artwork’ look, produced by combining a Sketch & Toon plug-in with Cinema 4D.

Keep in touch for further developments. In the meantime, many thanks to Marko Keränen for all of the work he produced for Dorad & Sirius.

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A Special Art Fare

Posted on March 7, 2011 by

As mentioned in the ‘Foundations’ page on this blog, Dorad & Sirius stems from an idea which led to a short pilot being made for a possible children’s TV series. The pilot called McMurdo – A Telecomic, featured character line illustrations by David Pugh, the main artist working on a revival of Dan Dare at the time.

As recently announced on the Down The Tubes site, David has set up a charity called Bus Fare, helping refugees and migrant workers visit their families, having been separated by either political or economic necessity. To raise money for the charity, David is selling some of his past artwork, including several Dan Dare boards from New Eagle.

Below is the promotional poster for the Bus Fare website, the photograph itself was taken on the Silk Route through the Nubra Valley, Ladakh.

David Pugh & Friend

Plenty of room on top!

If you are interested in buying David’s artwork and finding out more about the charity, please follow the link to Bus Fare below.

Additional artwork for sale, not currently on the site, can be seen at David’s Facebook Fan Page. So why not take a look and if possible, support a good cause.

Thank-you.

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