Merry Christmas!

...and remember, it's the little things in life that count :-)

Stickleback: England's Glory Part 1 References

Page One: "Mister Bond"
There's no way of getting this one from the strip itself, but in the script, Ian refers to the British agent who appears in the opening sequence of part one as "Bond."








Jiang Shi or Chinese Hopping Vampires
Introduced into Western popular culture largely by the 1985 Hong Kong action film Mister Vampire (Geungsi Sinsang), the Jiang Shi (literally "stiff corpse") is an animated cadaver driven by the animal urge to consume the chi, or life essence, of living humans. In many ways, Jiang Shi are more like Western zombies than vampires; they are brainless, incapable of speech, driven by hunger, and, in some versions, continue to decay after resurrection. Their characteristic stance, (with arms stiffly outstretched) and strange hopping gait, are due to stiffening of the limbs caused by rigor mortis.




Page Two: Death By Eyebrows
A nod to Tsui Hark's wonderful mad-as-a-fish-in-a-privet-hedge 1983 Hong Kong action classic Zu: Warriors Of The Magic Mountain (Suk san: San Suk saan geen hap). In particular, to the moment when the sorcerer Long Brows captures a demon by binding it in his eyebrows (!).







Page Three: Death By Butterflies
Another Tsui Hark reference, this time to his 1979 supernatural murder-mystery film The Butterfly Murders (Die Bian).








Page Five: Sleepy-time
As all good fans of Mister Vampire know, a Jiang Shi can be can be put to sleep by sticking on their foreheads a piece of yellow paper with a spell written on it. A sleeping vampire is still mobile, and can be persuaded to follow the sound of a bell.







Page Six: Mister Tickle
A new member of Stickleback's inner circle, Mister Tickle's appearance is loosely inspired by Richard Attenborough's performance as Albert Blossom in the 1967 film Doctor Doolittle. The name (for which I have no explanation) presumably alludes to the successful Mister Men children's book series by Roger Hargreaves.






Page Nine: Traction Men
A nod in the direction of the Japanese powered robot suit or Mecha, Ian and I thought it would be fun to have our own steam-powered Victorian version. The Traction Men are an anthropomorphic combination of tank and troop carrier; up to five men can fit inside the belly. The legs and upper torso are powered by two separate steam boilers. Armament includes cannon in the "arms" and two Gatling guns mounted in the "head."
To give them a bit of character, I gave them "faces" based on an old-fashioned steam engine (Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's Ivor The Engine, to be precise), with a giant World War One Tommy's helmet plonked on top. The buffers were replaced with Gatling guns.

Stickleback: England's Glory In 2000AD

Jiang Shi or Chinese Hopping Vampires from the first episode of Stickleback: England's Glory
Stickleback © 2007 Rebellion/2000AD
Stickleback created by Ian Edginton & Me.

2000AD Prog 2008 arrived through the letterbox this morning, bringing with it part one of the new series of Stickleback. England's Glory will be a bit more of an adventure romp than the first series, Mother London; this time we follow events from the gang's point of view, and get to see a little more of what they can do.
I'll be posting references for part one soon: meantime, here are some concept and character sketches:

Jiang Shi or Chinese Hopping Vampires, following the pattern set by the classic Hong-Kong martial arts horror film Mister Vampire
Stickleback © 2007 Rebellion/2000AD

Stickleback created by Ian Edginton & Me.

Victorian England's answer to Mecha: the Traction Men
Stickleback © 2007 Rebellion/2000AD

Stickleback created by Ian Edginton & Me.

A new character joins the gang; Gay John, master swordsman and confirmed batchelor
Stickleback © 2007 Rebellion/2000AD

Stickleback created by Ian Edginton & Me.

Expocomic Madrid Photos

Panoramic view of the Expocomic venue, showing the main stage.

Back from Madrid, happy, tired and about two pounds heavier. Expocomic was very different from the low-key Avilés festival; in Madrid, it's a ticketted show in a large venue, similar to the Bristol con but on a larger scale and for four days. There were many people in costume (largely Manga and Anime-based) and signings were strictly time-limited - I did three 90-minute sessions, but after the first couple of guys on the first day I gave up one the usual "hall of fame" shots because I didn't want to hold up the queue.

The hospitality was excellent - we had a fantastic hotel right in the city centre and we were fed to boot! Thanks to all the organisers for looking after us so well, particularly Miguel for inviting us.

I've loaded my photos from the trip onto Flickr - they do at least give some sense of the scale of the thing.

Who'da thought it? Natan asked for a sketch of a Dalek!