The Last Post

Some sketches done over December, with brush pen, Zig, Promarker, grey wash, Photoshop, and a little Chet Baker.

Here's All the Best for Chistmas!

This year, for Xmas, Tiscali left us without an Internet connection for 6 days, buggering up most of my plans for sending work off and blog-posting. Frustrating, annoying, maddening and just a general pain-in-the-arse. But, I'm letting the rage go, it's Xmas Eve, and i aim to enjoy it, since, it comes and goes so quick, it's easy to let work/problems swallow all the joy.

Tradition is the beating heart of Xmas, whether it's those you still practise, or those you remember dearly. For me, that pathway of memory to Xmas past is what adds the real kick and potency to the 'right now', makes it richer, more valid. My memories are set alight whenever i dust off a bunch of old English comics, most especially the Xmas editions. When they turned up on the hallway mat, they made the whole Festive thing 'official'.

So, ere's a selection of old Xmas comic covers for your enjoyment, and a complete Spellbinder strip - with the obligatory slap-up feast - from Lion(still one of the best strips of the time, and a character who was sadly misused and underused in Albion).

To Suzanne, friends, family, fellow bloggers and regular 'visitors', i wish you all a most splendid Christmas. Stay safe, be nice, and make it count.

Save, don't throw!

Like many of you, i collect stuff, i collect a LOT of stuff, always collected a lot of stuff, and always have trouble throwing things out. Some would say it's not good 'feng shui', some would say it's a fire hazard, some might even say i shouldn't live in a cocoon of memories, and that gazing back at the past isn't a healthy or progressive pastime..

I won't tell you what I'd say, cus it's the season of good will.

But here's a small selection of Xmas cards I've saved, a couple going back to the end of the 80's.
I do have quite a bunch, most i can't locate, which is a shame, since the earliest ones are ALL hand drawn. Maybe they'll turn up once i get around to that feng shui...

From Matt Brooker(D'israeli).

Gary Crutchley.

Mark Buckingham.

Ryan Hughes.

Alan Moore.

Be Golden and Light

We lost Oliver Postgate last week, writer, artist, animator, pioneer and dream-maker.

Along with Peter Firmin he gave us some of the best-loved children's programmes of the 60's and 70's; Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine and The Clangers. All from a disused cow shed.

They broke new ground with their animation techniques, partly born from a need to work cheap and fast, and the results, however 'low-fi' compared to CGI wizardry, were - and still are - magical.

Growing up, my earliest memories are of watching Pogles Wood and Noggin, both different worlds, both instantly captivating. Simply told and beautifully constructed, they swept you up, soothed a troubled brow and flexed a hungry imagination. And to this day, when i hear his narration, that very distinctive voice, i get a shiver of joy.

See, and learn a lot more at; http://www.smallfilms.co.uk/

Thankyou, Oliver Postgate, my childhood would've been a duller one without you.

From the Grave

Cover art to Zombie Tales #11. Out in February.

Some more pre-production sketches

Dead Short

Always a serotonin-boosting pleasure when there's a parcel man at me door, arms holding a box of free stuff, but it's especially so when it contains the unexpected(though not so much when it's a ransom note and body parts of a close family friend).

Lurking behind the cover of Zombie Tales #7, is my first written story for BOOM! I scribbled it down in response to my increasing disenchantment with the ever-uninspiring glut of zombie movies/comics. The genre ran outta ideas a long time back, and really, the majority haven't moved past Romero's Dawn of the Dead. Same story, same idea, same stock characters. Stories that seem to take an age just to lead you nowhere, and stories that deliver nothing but a dreary sense of deja vu.

So, i wanted to have some fun with the undead, play around, try to add a little invention to the genre, and do it quick(only six pages), with no military experiment gone wrong, no social commentary, no pretension, no soap opera filling, no heroes, no apologetic scientist, no gung-ho soldier/cop/homeboy, no creepy, twitchy sleaze/coward with a gun who gets his just desserts, and no dialogue. In fact it's probably taken me longer to talk about the strip that it does to 'read' it.

It's drawn by the talented hand of Paul Harrison Davies, and it's a little firecracker; full of dinosaurs, buckets of blood, war, gore , and of course - ZOMBIES!

And, go - right now! - and take a good long drooling look at Pauls lovely(and ghastly)pictures, like this Captain Kronos pic, over at http://paulhd.blogspot.com/

Coming up, sooner or later

One of the most frustrating things about my occupation/job/career is the amount of projects that stall just before they've got going, or those that get put on the backburner until i have the free time(or learn how not to sleep). Some get lost forever, momentum and timing is a key factor in selling a book, and, when you sit on an idea too long, it's very easy to miss your opportunity, or the 'boat'(unless sci-fi werewolf pirate comics make a comeback). And the worse is when someone else beats you to it, and does a really cack-handed job.

These days, I'm very choosy, and act on new ideas quicker, and never tie myself down for too long, allowing me the luxury of leaping from one project to the next, and there's some corkers coming up. Some sooner than others.

As a taster, here's some sketches from a couple on the far horizon(but burning bright). One is with James Kuhoric, which may turn into something entirely different, but either way will be fucked-up weird and creepy-as-hell. And the other, The Girls of Fogg Academy will see me working with the enormously sweet and talented fella, Eric Orchard, please do your eyes and brain a big favour and go take a look at what he does. http://ericorchard.blogspot.com/

Dead Chest

BOOM! Studios had a very limited run of T-shirts exclusively done for this years San Diego Comic Con, featuring my cover art to Zombie Tales #3. I've got two for sale, both LARGE(42-44), at £16 each, which includes p&p and a free gift. First come, first served.

Cthulhu No More!

Cover art for Cthulhu Tales#10, and my last for the title since it's getting cancelled/'going on hiatus' - maybe you should've bought a copy?

Ha-HA-Ha-Happy Haunted Halloween!

Holy Hannah! Sweet Christmas! More art up for grabs!

Doesn't happen much, true believer - Shane does superheroes!

I must admit getting a big buzz digging thru some old Marvel comics and looking back on two of my boyhood reads, Luke Cage, Power Man and The Fantastic Four.

You may get the impression from my blog that i hate superheroes, but i don't, i just hate what most writers/publishers have done with them, which is take them far too seriously(and ironically making them seem even more ridiculous). A dark and glum world with no place for bright yellow shirts and wing-tipped collars!

Superheroes in the real world? Who cares! The world is scary and depressing enuff, i don't want to read about Captain America fighting in Iraq(i don't even want to read about REAL soldiers fighting in Iraq). I like a generous serving of escapism with my comics, i like the writer to impress me with his imagination, take me someplace that's new, and give me a fun trip for my money.

Ditch the leathers! Embrace the primaries!

Meanwhile, over on eBay... the black and white originals are up for auction. Click on the link to your upper right. And I'm also selling another buncha Albion pages, £45 each, price includes postage - and both the covers i did for the Accent UK anthologies; Monsters and Zombies, for £55.