Cover art for Channel Evil #2

Part way into pencilling the third issue, and so far it's a gas, what with dinosaurs, Jez spiralling into madness, blasphemous visions and a panoramic spread of the tortured damned writhing in the pits of hell.

And i get paid for this.

#2 is on hold. Some major re-thinking going on in the war room. I'll keep you posted.
Meantime...




Click back in time for an ogle of the vicious variant by industry great, and good pal, Mark Buckingham.

Bucky does Ba'al

You've heard of Mark Buckingham, right?

Y'know, the fella who drew Marvelman and Batman and Spiderman, and just about every other major character in the Marvel and DC universe.

Rich, succesful, talented Mark buckingham who's kept Fables at the top of the Vertigo sales charts for centuries, the fella who editors name their children after, the fella with graphite and rotring ink spliced into his genes, the fella who can't seem to put a foot wrong with his adoring legion of fans, who helps old ladies across the road, sings Xmas carols, cries at christenings, buys everyone drinks at conventions(even Kev Sutherland); the fella who chuckles and smiles like Jimmy Stewart playing Jiminy Cricket, the fella who is always sweet and polite and gentle and charming, who, in the middle of deadline pressures, guesting at shows, playing host to visiting family, doing the washing and walking the dogs, manages to paint a gorgeous variant cover for Channel Evil# 2 just cus i asked him to, well, you wanna know summat?


He eats with his mouth open.

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.

A Crow pic(k)

Quality control is hardly a mantra in the comic book biz, there's always bin more shit ones than good ones, and often I've scratched my head, staring bewildered at a comic, wondering how some editor could've okayed such a lame duck in the first place. And what's worse, is knowing about all the REALLY GOOD stuff that never gets to see the light of day.

Take it from me; most editors wouldn't know a good idea if it was a ten-ton truck crashing thru their donut-strewn office, with; I'M A GOOD IDEA written on it's side in giant day-glo letters. Even if the truck was driven by Jehovah with a sworn affidavit to the fact.

But sometimes it's just bad luck; the cool editor who wants to do your cool comic, gets sacked, or drops dead, or moves to Marvel, or they put you 'on hold' or replace you with a 'bigger name', or the company goes bust.

That's what happened(and ALL of the above, for that matter)with KITCHEN SINK in the 90's, just as Jamie Delano and mesen were ready to sign on the dotted line, they went down the plughole.
So you never got to read one of the best comic book series that Jamie never wrote; which was also the best Crow comic you never read. Binning the punk rock vigilante vs. gangster thing, for a period set weird western, full of hellish visions, catholic guilt and gothic decay, all draped under a luxuriously thick shroud of blood and terror. Real shame, especially since Todd McFarlane ended up with the franchise, and we all know what a stand-up guy he is, right?

Anyway, other than Jamie's crackin synopsis, all that was done was one drawing, pencilled by me, and inked by me old mate, Mark Buckingham(who was gonna ink the whole 4-issues). Found the art tuther day, thought it was worth sharing...

And if you didn't already know, Jamie is still 'out there', raging against the machine, read his words at; http://www.jamiedelano.co.uk/ but have a coupla stiff drinks first.