Cardiff, Cyborg And The Rue Morgue

Sorry for the delay in posting - a touch of lurgey put me behind, so I've been catching up this week.

(Above) Jon Rennie at the Welsh Animation Group, Monday 19th March

Left: me in the light from the video projector (photo: Mike Collins)
Right: Jon's keeps bowls of porridge in his car. Yeah.

Our talk at the Welsh Animation Group seemed to go well, though I'm sorry we didn't attract a bigger crowd. Thanks to Jon, Ben & Merida for your hospitality, and it was great to catch up with Cardiff's resident comics dynamo Mike Collins again. Thanks also to everyone who stayed behind and chatted, and a special place in my heart is reserved to those of you who bought books :-)

Henshin Cyborg in blue - thanks to Ian Edginton.

Thanks also to Ian Edginton for a corking gift - this Japanese 12" Henshin Cyborg figure. Ian got it for me as thanks for my work on our ten-page adaptation of Murders on the Rue Morgue for Metromedia UK's Nevermore collection. If there doesn't seem to be an obvious connection between Edgar Allen Poe and a 1970's robot toy, it's because the stories in Nevermore transpose Poe's work into SF/Fantasy settings, and our version of Rue Morgue contains a transparent robot character (see below).
In contrast to the technical pyrotechnics of Stickleback, I drew Rue Morgue in a simplified black & white style. Although I drew the strip in Adobe Illustrator, I tried to make it look as if it was drawn conventionally in pen and ink; after several years of working with different computer-based effects, I wanted to make sure I could still do the business without all the bells and whistles.

Left: close-up of Henshin Cyborg's transparent head and metal skull.
Right: Our P.O.E. character for Murders On The Rue Morgue
(© 2007 Metromedia UK Ltd.)

If Henshin here seems hauntingly familiar, you may be remembering the Denis Fisher Cyborg and Muton toys from the mid-1970's, which were based on his little brother, the 8" Shonen Cyborg. Check out the link above for a nostalgic tour of all things Cyborg (including the original packaging complete with comic strips), plus further links explaining the history of the Japanese originals, and even an unexpected "evolutionary" connection with the interchangeable world of the Micronauts.