Stories with real KA-POWer

Spiderman and Thor will battle it out for the box office takings . . . the X-Men will take on Iron Man and rumour has it Ghost Rider will thunder through the aisles ablaze, quite possibly pursued by, of all things, Ant-Man.

It's never been more high- profile or profitable to be a comic book hero than it is today.

Dreamed up by artists and writers, sketched on to storyboards, mass produced by the likes of Marvel and DC and devoured by comic fans across the globe, the cartoon characters of yesterday are clearly tomorrow's box office hits.

But while comics might be regarded by some as throwaway entertainment that's strictly for the kids, many more are hooked on a form of storytelling and communication that combines art and narrative, can swing from quirky and fun to dark and disturbing, that rages against society's ills, pushes intellectual debate, provokes and sometimes even makes us laugh.

As if to prove how diverse comic books have become, last week saw the launch of Kate and William: A Very Public Love Story, a retro-style comic tale of the royal romance complete with doe-eyes and love hearts.

It's a million Kapows away from the edgy style of comic book art created by Edinburgh-based cartoonist Malcy Duff, whose sketchy avant-garde style of random figures doing apparently random and obscure things has made him one of Scotland's leading cartoon figures.

And while his work requires more thought processes than a flick through the latest edition of the Dandy, he's about to bridge the gap between styles to deliver a workshop aimed at encouraging a new generation of groundbreaking comic book artists.

Leith Academy next Saturday is the venue for the first in a two- part workshop, during which Malcy, 33, will guide would-be cartoon artists through the basics of creating their very own comic.

Designed for adults and children, the workshops, says Malcy, are geared towards giving participants free rein to explore their own comic book ideas - however mainstream or non-comformist they want to be. "Comic books have gone through hundreds of years of change," he says. "People think of them as being about super heroes but there are people making comics that are very wide ranging in style. Super-heroes are just one part of it."People can come along and they can explore their own interests."

The two Saturday workshops run from 10am to 3pm and will take participants through how to build individual cartoon characters, story construction and drawing techniques.

According to Gafin Austin of Deadhead Comics in Candlemaker Row, there's a thriving city community of comic fans with diverse tastes that stretch from the fantasy of Marvel heroes through to Japanese Manga, gritty and provocative underground to the downright bizarre - such as The Pro, the world's first prostitute super heroine.

"Why do people like comics? It's pure escapism," he explains. "It's fantasy, it's getting away from the drudgery of every day life. There are all kinds of people who are comic book fans - one of my regular customers is a brain surgeon."

But as comics morph into movies and even theatre - Spiderman is being created for the stage and this summer sees a 7 million Batman arena tour hit the UK - and titles like Commando launch new websites to keep up with the internet generation, what possible future might their be for the cartoonists of tomorrow?

"There's nothing to match having the real material in your hands," says Gafin. "No matter how far the technology goes, there will never be anything to replace holding a real comic."

• For further details of Malcy Duff's Comic Book Drawing class at Leith Academy, go to www.leith.edin.sch.uk. Deadhead Comics, www.deadheadcomics.com, 27 Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh. Order The Oil Bird Flew at http://missing twinnews.blogspot.com