Robotic Love.

This panels taken from my short Sci-fi strip I’ve been working on of late. Probably one of the panels that’s come out best so far. I wasn’t sure how it was going to come across or if maybe it was going to need to be re-thumb nailed but it seemed to come together pretty well and pretty quickly too in the end. Should have more to post from this short story soon.

Got my new Bolland coloured copy of The Killing Joke in the post today. I only heard about the whole re-coloured new edition coming out a week or two ago and now I’m reading my own copy. Looking forward to just laying back and rereading the whole book in one go. The pile of stuff to read before going to sleep next to my bed has been working itself up into a nice little pile of books and Graphic Novels lately. If it carries’s on like this I’m going to have to start going to bed several hours before I actually go to sleep.

One Year Today.

I don’t think you celebrate Blog anniversaries or if you do you really shouldn’t, but I thought I’d say (and by say I mean type) a few words to mark one year of this Blog. I always tried to keep this Blog light and not take it to seriously. Any moaning has been done tongue in cheek as nobody ever put the world to right by having a whine on they’re Blog. Its also been nice to update on news and post artwork with a lot more freedom. Finding time to update has been the hardest part but I think I do alright and I do make an effort not to neglect anybody who may regularly reads my Blog. I read a lot of Blog’s myself and yeah there’s a lot of really bad ones out there, but if you dig about you can find some really good ones. So thanks to anyone and everyone who been coming back and reading this Blog. I do my best to post my best artwork and keep this Blog fun and I seem to be getting hits from somewhere so cheers. I’m going to carry on and then hopefully one day I’ll get a comment from somebody who not a Brazilian company using my comment section to advertise without looking like they’re advertising.

Gladiator?… Really?

Was working late last night trying to sort a page out while watching some late night TV when I saw this great Vincent Price 60’s movie, The Masque Of The Red Death. Great film by Roger Corman based on an Edgar Allen Poe story. It’s a great film if you ever get a chance to see it. Full of Devil worshippers and Vincent Price being an utter evil bastard. Now a days if I see or hear of a good film the first thing I usually do is look it up on Wikipedia and IMDB which is what I did with this film. After reading the profile on IMDB what really stuck out to me was the recommendation of over films you might like if you enjoyed this one and how some of them are nothing like the film you just watched. With Masque Of The Red Death they also recommend Gladiator and Batman Begins. I notice this lately while looking up other films and how sometimes they’ll just throw in a random film. Here some I’ve spotted about:

# Liked Apocalypse Now? Why not try Golden Eye?
# Big fan of Taxi Driver? You might also then enjoy Die Hard 4.
# Night Of The Living Dead? Rambo (the new one not the first one.)
# Jaws 2? Why not try Spider Man 3 or I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.
# Robocop? Try Reservoir Dogs.
# Enjoyed Liar, Liar? Watch A Time To Kill.
# A Scanner Darkly? Basic Instinct.

I’m not sure who submits these recommendation and if they’ll taking the piss. I think they some times just run out of films that are the same. I’m sure there’s ones way worse then the ones I’ve spotted above. Next time your looking a film up on IMDB try it out.

3 Is The Magic Number.

You know a graphic novel is good when you own it three times. That how many copies of The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland I now own. Ok the third copy is only on pre-order but still. I read the killing joke years ago while in school and it had a big effect on me, so when I saw a copy (which may have been second hand) I bought it. It was a comic I read a lot until it was time to leave and go to college in Swindon. I took a pile of comics with me but left Killing Joke behind, as I didn’t want to loose my only copy. When I got to Swindon I found out they had there own comic shop and while looking around saw a new, recent copy and decided it would be good to have a new glossy copy for over there to read. Fast forward several years to a couple of nights ago when I was looking up prices of Graphic Novels on Play.com when to my utter surprise I saw they were re-issue a new version this month. I think what makes this copy different is that Bolland was never happy with the John Higgins colouring and this version will be coloured by Bolland… I think. It’s a bit hard to tell without a copy in front of me, as I can only go on what’s been written. Plus they say there a bonus Batman Black and white strip but knowing my luck it’ll be the one he did for Batman Black and white in 1996 that I already got. Still I’m looking forward to the end of the month when it’s out.

You ever notice how Graphic Novels are becoming more like DVD’s now with all there special extras you get. Some people don’t like all those extra features you get on DVD’s now but I love them. If I buy a DVD and it doesn’t have a documentary that’s longer then the film its self and audio commentary from everyone from the director to the director’s mum I feel a little cheated. Same with Graphic Novels now. How hard is it to throw in a few extras like Foreword, Afterword, Interview, Cover Gallery and maybe some sketches? I guess they release them (DVD’s\Graphic Novels) with no extras so they can release them a few years later packed with new extra features so you have to buy the bloody thing again. Just look at Blade Runner. How many different cuts and special edition of that film is they’re going around? Christ that not as bad as when they started re-issuing those new digital Star Wars movie’s with the shitty CGI Jabba and so on. How long until they start putting out digitally re-mastered graphic novels? Yikes they’re a thought and not a pretty one.

Nothing sums up this statement better then a drawing of a Robot giving a man a bath. Taken from my short Sci-Fi story I’m working on.

Comedy 101.

Every time you have a guy carrying a box. The box must say “this way up” and yet be carried upside down. Partly because its funny and partly because it a good character device to say this delivery guy really couldn’t give a shit about his job or the safety of what ever in the box. Says a lot in one cheap gag.

Feeling more or less over the flu now. The only thing that seems to be sticking around is the sore throat. Nothing worse then trying to fall asleep at night and having that tickly itch sensation at the back of your throat that you have to try and scratch by coughing and clearing your throat. Add to that my mobile phone that always seems to let out that loud evil low battery beep at four o’clock in the morning.

Music To Drown Witches Too.

Who would have thought Hendrix’s would have sounded so good played on Medieval instruments? Not me, but it’s pretty rocking.

Outer Space.

When I updated my blog Monday night I was feeling a little off after a weekend of doing my part time job and drawing, but was looking forward to just sitting down for a few days and really having a go at the new page I’m on. So I wasn’t very pleased when I woke up Tuesday to find that the feeling a bit shitty had turned into full-blown flu. Spent Tuesday and Wednesday mostly in bed and shuffling around the house in a confused zombie like manner. Did mange to start to do a bit of artwork towards the end of the week and today but not half as much as I wanted too this week. It made me think back to when you were a kid and getting the flu was a blessing as it meant time off school and yet no matter how hard you tried you were invincible as a child. You could walk around all day with your coat off in the rain or go round licking handrails and you never went down with anything. Now a days were time off equals loss of money I seem to get most bugs going around. I think I’m over the worse now but I still feel a bit off and it’s left me with a sore throat and cough (I’m really getting the full package with this bug.) How come its spring and everything’s covered in snow outside and I’ve got a mean cold?

Back on the artwork side of life I think I’ll post the first panel from a short sci-fi strip I’m working on. Feels a bit weird to be drawing space ships and robots as for the last few years everything I’ve drawn has been set in modern times. I never planned it that way or anything. Dirge was just such a big project and anything else in between I didn’t have the time or really thought to do any work in any other genre. So before I became the Mike Leigh of UK comics I decided to do this short Sci-fi story I’ve written. Like I said it feels weird to be drawing Space ships and robots but I’m enjoying it. I was really keen to do something new as I finished Dirge 2 on a Wednesday and started this short story on the Friday of that same week.

More soon.

Best Idea I Never Had.

Two more movie posters tonight.


Starting with this poster. Like I said in a previous post, old video covers in the 80’s were a big thrill for me as a kid. Walking around at the weekend in newsagents looking at all these weird VHS covers was a buzz. But by far the one that stuck in my mind was this one. By all accounts this film is meant to be average at best but I’d still like to see it one day if only because it has Jack Nance in it and Jack Nance is cool. Anybody who doesn’t think Jack Nance is cool should take them selves off to a deep, dark corner and have a real hard talk to them selves. But we’re not talking about the film here; we’re talking about the poster. As a kid anything to do with potty humour is going to win you over. This was by far the most outrageous cover I could remember. It doesn’t seem so bad looking back at it today apart from the fact that the little creature is uncivilized enough to be hanging out in a toilet but civilized enough to be wearing tiny little t-shirt and braces. That what I find creepy about it now a days.


Not actually the poster but taken from the DVD cover this time. I had heard a lot about this film for years but only got a copy when they released it last year under that Grindhouse craze. I think my copy even has Grindhouse written on the cover. Great painting. Not sure if they haven’t played around with it a bit colour wise. Looks a little too funky for the 80’s but I could be wrong. Basket Case has one of those storylines you just wished you’d come up with. Guy carry’s his deformed, evil, mutant brother around in a basket and the films called Basket Case. You’ve got to feel pretty pleased with yourself if you’d come up with that idea. There are two ideas I wished I’d of thought of in life. This concept and those Where Wally? books. I’m not sure if drawing Where Wally? Books would be the greatest job in the world or slowly drive you mad but there you go.

I’m going to throw in the Basket Case trailer too because I’m nice like that. Enjoy.