As we said before, Underfire Comics will have a stand at this year’s BICS so if you are going keep an eye out and let us know what you think about the comics and the website.

You’ll be able to pick up a selection of old comics, including the graphic novels Rock Night and Cold Sweat Day Dreams, as well as new releases Tokyo Gonzo and the brand new issue of the Rapid Fire anthology reboot (check out the previews all this week). There’ll even be offers on multiple purchases and no p&p to make the purchasing decision that much easier. Look out for the awesome comics stands made by Rapid Fire editor Bob Molesworth.

We need artists and writers to submit for Rapid Fire, to keep it fresh and vibrant and to push it into the future. The pitch? ‘Featuring an anarchic mixture of underground and professional artists with a strict ‘no-capes’ policy, Rapid Fire brings you the weirdest, off-beat, slipstream graphic storytelling. Our ethic is that comics should be good, not just a lazy rehashing of old ideas and tired storylines.’ To find out more about our submissions guidelines go to the contact section.

We are also looking for a few artists to take part in a much larger, super secret project that is aiming for release late next year. We would like people willing to either pencil, ink, colour or any combination of the above a 22 page story to get in touch. As usual with Underfire projects this is unpaid, but it is a good opportunity to be published in a high quality book and our standards are therefore quite high as we aim to push the limits of what is possible in small press. If you are interested or want any further details please get in touch with Amsel (amelofbrockley@yahoo.com).

Kar-Lin

Once again we have a table booked for this years Small Press Expo in Bristol, where we will be launching the new issue of Rapid Fire. Look out for information and previews closer to the time, and check out a preview of the current issue over on our myebook page. Meanwhile, enjoy Dan Cox and Dan Bell’s story Kar-Lin’s Last Summer, which starts here and will be updating every Tuesday and Friday.

New shop stock

You may well be aware that Borders went into administration last year. We had a whole lot of stock in there and we lost a good £60-70 when they went under. Damn! (Although it was gratifying to see what had sold, even if it was in the massive scrum over discount Graphic Novels – which netted me good set of books at least). However, despite our un-preferred supplier status, the manager in charge of that section did manage to bend the rules and get us our unsold stock back – even if it would have been worthless to the administrators, they would have wanted to have it anyway – which means a small number of back issues are available again in the shop.

It’s just over a week to go now until the Bristol comic expo, and its new small press cousin SPEXPO, rolls around again. Underfire will of course be there again, getting drunk, talking about comics and generally having a good time.

Come and find us, say hello and bring along anything you want to show us, as we’ll be looking for writers and artists to submit for Rapid Fire, as well as artists looking to do a bit more on a larger, super-secret project to be printed early next year.

Speaking of Rapid Fire, the new issue will be debuting at this year’s expo. Check out the preview ebook and tell us what you think. Mention that you’ve read it online when you buy your copy and we’ll give you a copy of issue 1 of Rapid Fire or the stand-alone Tokyo Gonzo for free as a special bonus.