Signing At Gosh!

Poster image for our signing at Gosh! Comics, 1st November 2007, 5-7pm

A quicke reminder that Ian and I will be doing a signing from 5-7pm at the excellent Gosh! comic shop 39 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3NZ (opposite the British Museum) on Thursday 1st November. Nearest Tube: Tottenham Court Road.

The night before (on Hallowe'en) we'll be attending the launch of the Poe adaptation anthology Nevermore from Self-Made Hero, and also taking part in a talk at the ICA the same night.

(Check the Upcoming Signings link in the sidebar for the full list of events I'll be taking part in over the Autumn.)

Goodbye Old Rifle, You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me Babe

My Pervy Muji Rubber-Covered Page Layout Book and page layout grids

It's funny what you can find yourself getting sentimental about; today I finally filled the Pervy Muji Rubber-Covered Page Layout Book that I started back in January 2003. That was a momentous time for me; Scarlet Traces had been serialised in The Megazine and was about to be reprinted by Dark Horse, I was working on XTNCT and just about to start Leviathan, I'd just bought my Titanium Powerbook and was wrestling with OSX, and preparations were well in hand for a six-month stay in Vienna, which would be the first time I'd lived with a girlfriend.

Everything felt like it was about to change forever, probably because it was, and mostly for the better, though this notebook records only the professional side. All of Leviathan is in here, along with the new and rearranged pages for the hardback of Scarlet Traces, plus War Of The Worlds and The Great Game. Every Stickleback page, every page of Judge Dredd; Fables and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, all of it sketched out in shorthand hieroglyphics that anyone else would be pushed to understand (or sometimes, myself; on taking up the layouts for the project Pale Witness after a gap of three years, I had to re-read the script before I could understand them.) 462 pages in all - add nine covers and you have practically my whole output for four years, not that much by the standards of an artist working on a monthly US book, but then I'm producing finished pages from scratch, many in colour, many also lettered.

Above: page layout book open on the thumbnail for the double page spread from the first episode of Leviathan
Leviathan © 2007 Rebellion/2000AD
Created by Ian Edginton & Me

Above: the finished double page spread from the first episode of Leviathan
Leviathan © 2007 Rebellion/2000AD
Created by Ian Edginton & Me

I don't keep a diary, so books like this are as close as I get, and it's funny how many memories are embedded in old pages; often I can dredge up my feelings from a particular time, all sorts of odd fragments, sometimes even what radio programme I was listening to when I was working on a certain drawing.
It seems a good time to finish this book and start another; the now-battered old PowerBook was retired this summer, and although my life has settled into new patterns, Stickleback: England's Glory (part 7 of which is the last entry in the book) is a new landmark - my first continuing series for 2000AD. And though one book closes, another opens; Muji still make refills in that size, so the Pervy Rubber Cover has plenty of life in it yet...

Above: rough pencils for a panel from Stickleback: England's Glory
Stickleback © 2007 Rebellion/2000AD

Created by Ian Edginton & Me

A Bad Week For Shelf Space

Dalek Number 31: Special Weapons Dalek
from the 1988 Dr.Who episode Remembrance Of The Daleks

As a result of the kindness of others, I find myself awash with delightful new toys this week. First in the list has to be the wonderful Special Weapons Dalek given to me by Eric Moore. A sort of Dalek heavy artillery, it appeared in only one episode of the Sylvester McCoy Dr. Who story Remembrance Of The Daleks. It's a magnificent beast, 8" (20cm) high, assembled and lovingly painted by Eric himself. Eric will be familiar to regular readers of this blog as a builder of Martians and the chap who commissioned the sketch of a burning Dalek from me for the Film and Television Model Club charity auction in aid of DebRA.

Product Enterprises jewel-like versions of Stingray and Fireball XL5

Thanks to my lovely friend and colleague Ian Edginton, I'm also the owner of two of Product Enterprise's jewel-like Gerry Anderson vehicle models; a Stingray and a Fireball XL5.

Bottom Left: The "Fireball Junior" nose-cone of the Fireball XL5 is held on by a powerful magnet.

Ever since I was a wide-eyed five-year old poring through old TV21 annuals, I've wanted a Dinky toy of both these babies; I seriously considered buying them when they first came out, but at £40 a pop they were just too expensive. Luckily for me, Mister Edginton is a human bloodhound when it comes to remaindered stock of cool stuff, and he presented them to me last week at the Birmingham show.
Both are made of die-cast metal and are satisfyingly large and heavy - in fact, I'm certain that they're built to have the same feel in my adult hand that, say, a Dinky Toys Thunderbird 2 or SPV had in my tiny five-year-old's hand. They each have some small but pleasing extra feature - on Stingray, the landing skids extend (though they can't support the weight of all that metal), and the nose-cone of the Fireball XL5 (aka "Fireball Junior", above left) is held on by a ferociously powerful magnet, which makes the tiny spaceship jump back into place with a pleasing metallic snap.
Both models are beautifully finished and exquisitely detailed - for example the cabin interior of the Stingray contains not only a miniature Troy and Phones, but also the various control panels around them on both sides. I've waited 35 years to own something like these, and the wait was worth it.

Bliss.

5" High Original Iron Man Figures were going cheap at Birmingham - sadly this one doesn't get on with my Cybermen...

CCG Annual Cover

Cover design for the Comics Creator's Guild Annual
© 2007 Me.

Back when it was still the SSI*, the Comics Creator's Guild was instrumental in helping me start my career in the comics industry. I rejoined them at CAPTION this year, and was delighted to be asked to contribute the cover to this year's annual.

*The Society For Strip Illustration

Birmingham 2007; "The Usual Suspects"

Above: Dan, Adam & Geoff

Above: Alan, Nathan & Duncan
Nathan ferried us to the show and looked after us on the Satrurday.

Above: Duncan again, Jon & David

Above: Jemma, Karl & Jonathan

Above: Anthony, Lou, and a gentleman whose name I fear I didn't catch.

Click any image to see the original on Flickr.
Note: I asked permission to post these photos, but people didn't always get a chance to see them first. If you're unhappy with your photo and would like it removed, leave a comment and I'll sort it out.

First of all, thanks to everyone for one of the best comics weekends I've had in a long time; there was something about the atmosphere in Birmingham that really reminded me of the old conventions from the 80's and early 90's. It was good to see so many of you again, hope you liked the sketches, and apologies to those of you on Sunday afternoon who got slightly ropey ones when I was getting tired.
It was a good weekend for business; we sold almost all the books we'd brought with us, and since Ian lives in Birmingham, we didn't have to pay for a hotel, which meant we made a clear profit for the first time.

I also had a Big Fanboy Moment, as our table was next to Mike Mignola's, and I actually got to talk to him briefly - he's a really nice chap, very approachable, no "side" to him, as me gran would have said. My only regret was, I never got to see Mick McMahon.

I'll end by giving particular thanks to the mighty Nathan, who ferried me, Ian and our boxes of books into the show on Saturday, and who did supply runs for us while we were at the table. And all he got was a wobbly drawing of a rocket.

Birmingham International Comics Show 2007

For full details of my public appearances over the autumn/winter of 2007, click here.

Just a reminder that Ian and I will be at the Birmingham International Comics Show this weekend; we'll have a table with all our books for sale, and we'll be signing and I'll be sketching* both days. We'll also be taking part in events at Waterstones in the city centre on Friday.

*to be fair, Ian will probably do you a sketch too if you ask nicely.

Timetable for the weekend:

Friday 12th October, 5pm onwards:
Waterstones
24-26 High Street, Birmingham, B4 7SL, (opposite The Rotunda)

Ian and I taking part in Waterstones comics and manga day. I've been promised a projector, so hopefully I'll be able to do an illustrated talk and maybe a demo for drawing on computer.

Saturday 13th, Sunday 14th October
Birmingham International Comics Show
Thinktank, Millennium Point, Curzon Street, Birmingham B4 7XG

Signing and sketching both days, plus books, originals and art prints for sale.
(Signing & quick sketches free, finished drawings £10)

I'd also like to do another "rogue's gallery" of photos of those who get sketches, so on the day, if you'd like to be included, speak up; I tend to forget to ask when I'm in the thick of it.

See you there!

Avilés Photos At Last

I didn't take as many photos of sketchees as I meant to.
Top row (from left to right): Alfonso with a sketch of Galactus & me; Kapy with Death from Sandman; Oscar with Morpheus & Death
Bottom row: Miguel with a sketch of Delirium & Dr.F

Stickleback: England's Glory has been eating me alive since I got home, but I finally found a bit of time over the weekend to sort my photos of the trip to Avilés and post them on Flickr.

Left: Juan & me in the Plaza de España, Avilés. It turned out I already knew Juan via this blog; he'd supplied helpful corrections to my articles on Alberto Breccia.

This was the twelfth annual comics festival in Avilés, and the biggest to date; aside from a stellar cast of US guests (including George Perez, Michael Golden and Gene Ha), the largest-ever number of past invitees had asked to return on a voluntary basis, packing out the main hotel. Dr.F and I ended up in the overflow hotel, which in many ways was nicer; the decor was reminiscent of a set from a Bond film, and there was free wi-fi. The only drawback was that our room was up under the eaves, so the ceiling sloped down dramatically at the foot of the bed.

One of the great advantages of Avilés is that it gives you a chance to meet the other guests on a more-or-less equal footing; if Michael Golden, George Perez or Mike Ploog had attended the Bristol Expo, I'd probably never have got anywhere near them, but in the laid-back free-for-all of the meals, everyone was mixed together, and a more gentlemanly bunch I'd be hard put to describe. All the American guests worked like Trojans too, with George Perez alone clocking up more than sixty detailed, finished sketches in three days.
From a personal point of view, the greatest pleasure was getting to meet Gene Ha, whose quiet enthusiasm and sense of fun made him a delight to be around. Perhaps the most memorable moment of the trip was watching him produce a fully painted sketch using only red wine, coffee dregs, cigarette ash and his fingers!

Gene Ha painting with coffee & wine dregs - amazing

It was my third time at Avilés, and I was pleased to see some familiar faces coming back for sketches. Thanks also to those patient compañeros who were willing to let me practice my Spanish on them; in particular Juan, Leticia, Alfonso and Silvia.

The Hulk from the main marquee; I think he's remodelled from this really well-hung chap.