The Inter-Dimensional Society of Rufus Trimbles.

Had another little play with collage, I really enjoyed creating the look of the different members of the Society and this has set my mind to telling their story, and so they may well end up in a future book ...

I just wish there were more hours in a day.
If you have trouble reading the text on the collage it reads -

Before their final battle with the self titled ‘The Great Mind’, the founding members of the Inter-Dimensional Society of Jethro Milners breakfasted in Kensington’s wondrous gardens and discussed the day ahead over scones and a pot or two of Earl Grey tea.

In other news, a friend at work is sorting out a way to get Strange Times back on the website as a webcomic again, which'll focus my attention away from cutting and sticking and back to drawing and frowning.

Robot Shorts gets another great review...

.. over on the Small Press Big Mouth podcast. It's Episode 39 and can be accessed from their blog.

Belmat at Kapow!!

Colin has emailed me the photos of Belmat manning ... err .. robotting the table at the Kapow Con.

He had a great first event.
He was almost sold twice, manhandled about 10 times by people who couldn't work out how he was made, asked a question once and met another cool robot (someone dressed up as part of the Cosplay).

All in all a great Con and one we will certainly do again next year.

MEGACON, Collages and Coldplay

A new event has been announced to take place in Carlisle on the 18th Aug. I'll be there with the Accent UK crew, and it looks to be shaping up into a great opportunity for comic readers in the North West to get a feel for what Cons are all about, and meet some of the creators and publishers face to face. I love these smaller events as they are much more informal than events like KAPOW and allow readers and creators more time to chat.You can find out more on their blog and facebook group.
Whilst I'm busy writing more than drawing (or what I pass off as such) I've taken the opportunity to do some more cutting and pasting on the side of my desk, and produced another little collage. This time it's what I think Captain America would have looked like had he been created to help the Union soldiers in hte American Civil War.

I quite enjoy playing around with collage ... might try something a little bigger next.
I took my daughter, Jemma, to see Coldplay at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester last nigh,t for her 14th Birthday present, and we had a great time. They certainly put a lot into these events these days. In my day you were lucky if the whole band turned up. These days there's giant globes bouncing around and confetti blasts. I did find standing for 6 hours a bit of a strain, it's my age, and am suffering a bit today but I must say that I really enjoyed the experience.

WesterNoir gets reviewed over on Burnt Weiners...

WesterNoir has had a great review over on Burntweiners, pop over and have a listen.
It's reviewed as part of their Indie Rack (and is No. 4), and is discussed alongside such worthy titles as 'Into The Woods' from the Small Press Big Mouth people, under a wonderful cover from Andy Bloor.
We are very grateful to podcasts like Burnt Weiners, Tales From The Parents Basement and Small Press Big Mouth for raising our profile by reviewing our books, and as Jim says on the Podcast, these podcasters are an unsung hero of the Independent Comic scene. The hardest part about publishing an independent book is making people aware of it and these guys really do help, so 'Thanks podcasters, wherever you are'... hmmm ... sounds like the last line to an old TV Series that I used to watch .. what was it now .. Night Caller springs to mind but I've no idea if that's correct or even what it was about ...

Playing around with collage...

I've been spending most of the last few months either preparing for Conventions, attending them, recovering from them, blogging, tweeting, facebooking or writing (and I'm pleased to say that I've roughed out Issue 2 of WesterNoir).It's difficult to do all of this and still attempt anything 'art'y (I was tempted to say artistic but that would imply a certain amount of prowess).
To keep my hand in with the cutting and sticking, I think they're called collages in the real world, I've decided to have a go at making a few cards that are roughly the size of those old Victorian photos and follow this theme so far as to setting characters into that time period.
First up in The Iron Man...

I think I got a bit too heavy with the background brown, and will try a good old cup of Earl Grey tea for the next one rather than acrylic paint.