Q284: Gorillaz + Win signed artwork

This is how it went down...

Q was minding its business walking home one night before Christmas when a black car with tinted windows pulled up alongside us at the kerb. Four men in dark overcoats and dark glasses stepped out of the vehicle and bundled Q inside, whereupon we were blindfolded, driven to an undisclosed airfield and flown by private jet to Plastic Beach - a rancid heap of rotting rubbish located somewhere in the Pacific Ocean and which we soon discovered was now the base of Gorillaz' operations. We were met there by Murdoc who told us we would be held under armed guard until we agreed to turn over Q Magazine to him to first announce the worldwide return of his band.

Whilst Q would never normally submit to such bullying, Murdoc's revelation that he was backed by a team of crack assassins and knew where Q, our families and all our friends lived rather forced the issue. We were allowed to return to London on the understanding that we met regularly with another of Murdoc's henchmen, the secretive artist Jamie Hewlett, who would draw both the Q cover and the pictures for the now agreed Gorillaz feature - the first time in the magazine's 24-year history we have not been able to use one of our photographers for a job.

Difficult circumstances notwithstanding, we remain proud of the cover and the feature, and accept that Hewlett has delivered something that is genuinely collectable. This in no way justifies the brutality of Murdoc's Gorillaz regime, though.

This new gatefold cover unveils the cast of characters who appear on Gorillaz' Plastic Beach album and the Plastic Beach concept itself for the first time.

The cover arrives as the first single to be taken from the album, Stylo, is released to radio, with the album following on 22 March (check that!). Hostage situation aside for a moment, the interview and cover are world exclusives.

Q 284 is set free on newstands, January 26, 2010.

Q 284 also features, 20 US Bands You Must Hear, Mika, Disco Inferno, Clint Eastwood, Wayne Rooney interviewing Stereophonics and much more, all interviewed and written about under less stressful conditions.

Take a sneak peek at the Gorillaz illustrated Q cover and the contents of Q284.

View the Gorillaz gatefold Q cover image in its entirety here.

*Stand by in the next few days for behind the scenes videos with some of the collaborators on Plastic Beach*

8:42 AM | 01/02/2010

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