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Tripping Over Myself #1 by Joel Meadows

Rich Johnston and I go back probably over twenty years since his Twistandshout days but this is the first time I've written anything for him. My plan is to give you a picture of our magazine TRIPWIRE while staying relevant to Rich's cause.

Tripwire has existed as a magazine since 1992, starting life as a fanzine with my former neighbour and then moving up to a more professional enterprise when Gary Marshall came on board back in 1999. We took a break in 2003 after a bad spell on the UK newsstand but came back in 2007 with the first Annual. We have been publishing annuals and specials ever since.

TRIPWIRE is about comics but also everything that intersects that world and that industry.

The thing is that Rich has proven that you can cover comics and their related fields from the UK with as much access and knowledge as if you were based in New York or LA. This is very similar to TRIPWIRE's ethos. Even though the Associate Editor-US, Andy Grossberg, is based in Portland, Oregon, I have always made London my home. So it is gratifying that, thanks to 18 years of publication, it seems that TRIPWIRE can do the same.

I don't want to brag but we have a contact list in the world of TV, Film and genre fiction unparalleled by almost anyone else in the field. Our writers have many years notched in their belts with such publications as Time Magazine, Empire, Variety, The Times and Sci Fi Now, as well as having worked with comic companies such as Image and Marvel. So we have been able to call on these contacts to make the current incarnation of TRIPWIRE full of unique and interesting content, although Rich could probably give us a run for our money with his own contacts book.

The luxury of a chunky print edition means that we can cover a broad spectrum of subjects. In our time, we have interviewed everyone from Joss Whedon to Alan Moore, Guillermo Del Toro to Jeph Loeb and back again. Our new issue, out at the end of July 2010, will be another diverse affair including interviews with Dave (Sandman) McKean, legendary movie poster artist Drew Struzan on how the film industry has changed, a look at how special effects house Double Negative approached Iron Man 2 and much more. There is also a very special cover feature that I shall talk about closer to release.

So each week here, I'll showcase a particular feature from the forthcoming issue and discuss why we have chosen these particular subjects or creators.

What Rich has done here is build on what he achieved in his columns for CBR and Silverbulletcomicbooks, so it seemed like a natural fit to write a column for him.

I'm hoping you'll be with me for the duration here.

Joel Meadows is editor-in-chief of TRIPWIRE, a British magazine focused on graphic novels, TV, film and genre. He is an experienced journalist who has written about Film, TV, animation and genre for publications including Empire, Variety, Death Ray, SFX, Sci Fi Now, The Times, Time Magazine, the Independent on Sunday and The Guardian. He has written Studio Space, a book on 20 of the world's best comic artists published by Image Comics. He has also worked as a sub editor and copy editor on publications like The Times, Evening Standard, NME, Total Film, The Observer and Time Magazine. He is a lifelong resident of London.

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