42nd Post - Looking ahead to 2021

 It's a little more difficult to plan ahead with releases this year. 

The situation is less clear with regards to which Conventions will run, if any, and if they do then how late in the year will they start.

Crowdfunding Platforms at the moment are the only game in town, and we're lucky to have them, so they let us carry on producing and selling our books. The issue then becomes one of storing the comics until we have a chance to ship them out and equally importantly, start selling them at Conventions. An added complication, that I hadn't even considered, was our printer getting the special paper required for some of the extras we do as Kickstarter Stretch Goal Rewards. 

All of this considered, my intention for 2021 is to print:-

V2A - Wasteland Chronicles - Doomsday 

Kia Wordsmith - The Inbetween 

Stephenson's Robot - the collected edition

WesterNoir - Vol 2 (which collects coloured versions of issues 5 to 8, plus some extras)

If the Convention season supports it then also 

Tales of WesterNoir - the collected edition (which also sees some new tales)

The Accent Volume 1 - collecting Fastest Man, Invisible Man (out of print) and some new stories.

In the background I'll be working on more titles as always, so we'll have plenty ready for printing when the world reaches its new normal.

Was 2020 all bad?

Looking back at the last year, which has seen me pretty much confined to my flat since March, it's easy to think about the things that I miss, but instead I thought I'd look for the positives, the 'glass half full', and so here are some of the things that I have appreciated over the last 9 months.

Family video calls - I feel this year I have got closer to my sister and her daughter than ever. Families tend to drift apart and it's usually the distance between them that causes it. Having a weekly video call has been great. Yes, we still have the comedy of my mother versus technology. Yes, we still find ourselves all trying to speak at the same time. But that's all part of the fun.

Shorter working days - I have been one of the fortunate ones whose job has allowed them to work from home throughout. I actually work longer, and more effectively, than I did when going into the physical office, but if you take into account the 2 hour's travel time each day, I am in credit. I have more 'me' time every day. I feel less tired and less stressed and this is due to not having to get in a car every morning to  drive up the M40 for a few junctions before spending as long navigating little roads as they wind through little towns. And then do the same in reverse every night. I've also saved a lot of money on petrol.

Re-assessing comics output - When there were Conventions I was forever 'rushing' things in order to meet the convention dates. I have kept myself as productive as ever during the pandemic, maybe even more so, but now consider what works best for me from a story telling and also financial perspective, before starting work on a new comic/issue. Stephenson's Robot issues 6 and 7 have been ready for a while and I would have produced these as individual issues. But, as there have been no Cons (after the wonderful little True Believers event), I've decided to move straight from issue 5 to a collected edition. I've spent the time improving the colouring in places. Adding some new pages to help the flow of the narrative and also re-lettering the entire book. It's looking great. I'm also moving to collected editions of my Blessed / Cursed books, and each will have new stories along with the old and out of print ones. I always prefer to buy books as collected editions myself. That is not to say that I will not be producing anymore comics though, with both Kia and the new V2A comic being exactly that, just that when it's appropriate I will go straight to collected editions.

AccentUK - We've used this time to work on the website and also a little AccentUK Magazine where we can let people know what's coming, what's just out and what's planned for Kickstarter. It will be annually produced, include an original story and also the planned events for the year (when they start happening again). My daughter Jemma has been driving both of these, using new tools along the way. We're very close to launching the website (first version) and the magazine will hopefully be available (as a free digital download) from the website in Q1-2021.

Dungeons&Dragons - I've been playing this for about 40 years now and it stopped a little as I moved down south. With the lockdown came Roll20 and me reconnecting with my old group for new adventures. For me it actually works as well as being in the same room. We use Zoom for the audio as we find it better but Roll20 is great. 

AccentUK (part 2) - Covid hasn't changed the number of calls we have discussing projects and the direction we are looking to take. We are all very positive about what we are doing and our love for the comic book medium.

I try to keeps these things in mind when I have a low moment and think about those things we can no longer do. 

It helps me get through it all.

TV Series to recommend.

 Well, this year has afforded the opportunity to watch more TV than previous years.

I've subscribed to Netflix and NOW (TV and FILM) and get Amazon PRIME as part of PRIME membership... oh..and let's not forget the terrestrial channels.

Programmes that I remember, and therefore feel had some value to me as a consumer are:-

Umbrella Academy - Season 2 arrived this year and I think was actually better than Season 1, which I loved.

WestWorld - I think this one is wandering a little but I still look forward to each season and binge watch it when it arrives.

Lovecraft Country - I really enjoyed the set up for this. Interesting, well acted and on the whole the stories were well told.

The Boys - This was another than I thought improved in the second season from a really good start.

The Watchmen - I loved this. I loved the way it played to the comics as much as the movie. I also really enjoyed how it ended. I hope that it isn't continued but is preserves as a single foray into that world.

Doom Patrol - as crazy as I'd hoped, and far better than I expected.

Queen's Gambit - I like to play chess, and watched this because of that. It was stunning, great acting, great representation of the period it was set in, loved the colour palette. Everything about this was wonderful.

Raised by Wolves - Wow. Great Sci-Fi. I didn't like the ending particularly but will watch another season if they make it.

Looking at this list I'm sure there are some that I've missed. 

Of the list above I think my personal favourites are Umbrella Academy (closely followed by The Watchmen) and Queen's Gambit (as the unexpected gem).

V2A has got to £6k before the New Year.

   As I took the opportunity to do a little lettering on the V2A comic, Kickstarter announced that we had gone over the £6K mark, which is fabulous.

   We are a little behind with Stretch Goals but I really happy to say the next will be from the pen of Andy Bloor, my collaborator on The Wolfmen and my 'go to' designer for the Accent UK books.

   Yep, things are moving along nicely.

A week in and the latest Kickstarter, V2A Wasteland Chronicles - Doomsday is doing really well.

 Yep, we're just a week into the campaign and we've exceeded £4k.

This is the first time we've used a professional artist, in PJ Holden, and so a lot of money had to be invested up front to see this project come to life. 

We've had lots of support, including a wonderful cover image from Ryan Brown, all of which helps us get the money needed to pay all the bills and get this printed and in people's hands.

It's a great start and we're looking good.

Thanks to all who have supported it.

If you haven't checked it out yet then please pop over to Kickstarter and have a look.

It's been described as Mad Max meets Suicide Squad and I think that works pretty well.

The V2A comic is coming along really nicely and will be on Kickstarter from the 5th of December.

 

And for those who know me well, then you'll know what an effort is was for me to get in front of the camera to record something for the Kickstarter Video.

Nearly at the end of our WesterNoir Kickstarter

 Well, it's nearly sundown on out latest Kickstarter.

It's looking pretty good, we've hit our 5th Stretch Goal and picked up a fabulous review from the guys over at Pipedream Comics on the way.

Yep, all is looking pretty good.

Halfway through our WesterNoir Kickstarter and all is going well.

We've managed to unlock 3 stretch goals so far and we're halfway through our WesterNoir campaign. 

It's great to see something that we're really proud of picking up interest across the globe, and particularly to see that readers in the USA are willing to give a couple of Brits a chance with writing a Western.

Time Bomb Comics are also into their latest campaign, with Brawler Issue 2, and interestingly Gary Crutchley has a tale in that book too. To celebrate this, and support each other's campaigns, Gary has produced a Team Up piece of art.

Featuring both lead characters and coloured by Matt Soffe, it's a great image and one that we'll be adding as Bonus Print for those Backers who support both campaigns with physical purchases. 

Pop over to Kickstarter to learn more about both projects.

WesterNoir

Brawler 2

100 Backers and First Stretch Goal reached.

Great news is that we've hit our first stretch goal with means all physical backers get an art card of Issue 1's cover.

As you can see, we loved this cover so much that we adapted it for the trade paperback collection.

We've also had a great review from G-Man over at ComicsAnonymous, a nice plug over at Fanbase Press, not a bad first week.

The WesterNoir Kickstarter is off to a great start.

 Yep, we hit our target in 2 days, which is wonderful and lets us relax a bit.

And other great news is that we have a really detailed plug from John Freeman over on DownTheTubes which is really appreciated.

WesterNoir TPB Vol 1 is now live on Kickstarter

 I launched WesterNoir this morning (12.01 am) and already it's more than half way to hitting its target, which is fabulous. 

It's always a bit of a tense time, as those who have run Kickstarter campaigns know only too well, hoping that you'll hit your target. It doesn't end there though as you need to get a bit beyond it before you can feel really safe, a small percentage of Backers do drop off now and then.

All good so far though. 

Oh, and check out the little animated gif over at A Place To Hang Your Cape, I've not got the tools (probably the skills) to do this so David Molofsky kindly made it from two images that I sent to him. Thanks David.

New, remastered, WesterNoir Volume One soon to launch on Kickstarter.

 

In the next few days we'll be launching our latest Kickstarter campaign.

This time it's the remastered Volume One of WesterNoir.

New story pages, additional stories and all coloured by cover colourist Matt Soffe. 

196 pages of Western Horror action under a great new cover that reflects the cover of the first issue of the mini-series.

If you're interested in reviewing the comic then please leave a comment here or email me at accentuk@btinternet.com.

Accent UK website

After too long, apologies, we've moved our website hosting to a new provider (the last one got hacked and we could never manage to resolve it).

Our intention is also to have a 'store' on the website to save people emailing me directly, and also details of our back catalogue, which is a lot longer than I thought it was, with lots of comics that have sold out over the years. 

I've got someone on it who is more capable then me so hopefully we'll launch it in the next week or two.

Kia issue 2 - Kickstarter rewards are now being shipped.

I've spent a few hours in my local Post Office over the last few weekends and have managed to send out most of the packages. 

If you backed one of Ian Ashcroft's wonderful sketches then I received these last week nd have started sending them out too.

It'll be a shame once it's done.

The good news is that Ian is already working on the next two Kai books.

Yep, two.

One is of course Issue 3 and the other a little special mini comic.

Kia Wordsmith Issue 2 Kickstarter rewards

Four fabulous cards have been delivered and are ready and waiting for the comics so I can send them out across the globe.

Fabulous work as always by Ian Ashcroft (you can find Ian on Instagram as @ian.ashcroft.art).

WesterNoir Volume 1 - remastered.

Things are coming along very nicely with the remaster of the first WesterNoir trade paperback.
We've had Gary Crutchley's great artwork coloured throughout by the very talented Matt Soffe and it looks fabulous.
We've also added about 35 pages of new content. Additional stories and additional pages here and there.
Yep, it's been remastered.
Here's the flap cover, cover design by Andy Bloor, again artwork from Gary Crutchley and colours from Matt Soffe. We wanted something similar to the cover of the very first issue, but swapped Wilson's face for Josiah Black himself.
I love it.

We're going to try to get this one in Diamond's Previews so it can get into stores around the globe.
Hopefully.

Kia Wordsmith Issue 2 Kickstarter a great success.

Our latest Kickstarter exceeded our wildest dreams.
I was secretly hoping for 200 backers and we ended up with 289.
It's a difficult time for everyone and although the print pdf is with our printer it might take a little while to get them in the posts.
We're all missing the Comic Conventions, hopefully these will help fill the gap a little.

Here's one of the special print cards we're rewarding our Backers with, there are 4 in all. This one is of a character who will appear in issue 3.
Hope everyone is keeping taking care and keeping safe.

Last week was a very busy week.

...and it ended with a chat with the guys over on the ConstructingComicPodcast.
Ian Ashcroft and I chatted about Kia Wordsmith (of course) and also other projects.
We both really enjoyed meeting up with Matt and Noah and talking comics, give it a listen when you have 40 minutes or so spare.

Kia Wordsmith Issue 2 Review

We've had a pretty good Kia Wordsmith Issue 2 review over on ComicsAnonymous.

SciFiPulse Interview

I've just been interviewed by Ian Cullen over on ScifiPulse.net.
Sorry the last answer is a bit gloomy.

Kickstarter Target Hit!

Great news!

We've hit our Kickstarter Target in less than 2 days. We managed to get more than 80 backers and one of Ian's great pages of original art has also sold. If you've not had a look yet please do pop over to

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1693466793/kia-wordsmith-issue-2?ref=user_menu

Limited number of Reward Tiers with an original sketch by Ian Ashcroft are still available.

Kia Wordsmith Issue 2 has been launched over on Kickstarter.

You can find out more, see some of Ian Ashcroft's great art and Andy Bloor's promo video over on Kickstarter.

Kia Wordsmith - Kickstarter aiming for June launch.

All the work has been done.
Just a few things needed for the Kickstarter itself and we'll be good to go.
We're aiming for a June launch, and are hoping to get a lot of returning readers and attract also attract some new ones.
The story picks up a notch and Ian's artwork continues to stun me.

WesterNoir Review

There's a great review of WesterNoir over at MonkeysFightingRobots.

My first ever comic.

Back when I was about 8 I used to walk across the local park and visit the local newsagent.
I used to buy sweets of course with my 5 pence but one day I looked down and noticed the comics in front of the sweets stand. I was familiar with Batman, I loved the show with Adam West (no relation) and my eyes were drawn to a comic all about Batman himself.
I'd grown up with Dandy but that had always been delivered so I hadn't really been aware of superhero comics.
I left the sweets behind and ran home with this..

I read it and was hooked and this is how I've seen Batman ever since.
They say your favourite Dr Who is usually the one you see first, for me this is the Batman costume.
The cover and story have stuck in my mind ever since.
My Mum gave my box of comics away to a cousin (without checking with me first) and so I lost this many many years ago.
I always promised myself that if I ever came across it then I would buy it, and also those of the other comics that I remember (not Batman as I tended to just buy what was on offer and it was never sequential).
Last week I spotted this cover on a Facebook posting from LuckyTargetcComics.com and followed up on it.
It's now mine again.
As I turn the pages I remember, very accurately, the story and images. Frank Robbins told a tale that stuck with me for more years that I care to count and artists Irv Novick and Dick Giordano captured a look that defines, for me, Batman.
I'm gong to sit down now and devour this cover to cover.
I think I'll probably enjoy it as much now as the 8 year old me did all those years ago.

If Dave West had drawn WesterNoir - issue 2

OK, for a bit of fun I've been playing around with doing WesterNoir in my cartoony style. I always laugh with people at how different the book would look had I illustrated it instead of the very talented Gary Crutchley.
We'll, now you know...

Hazmat Benn

For those of you who know me reasonably well, you'll know that I'm a big fan of Mr. Benn.

It seems only appropriate, with some of those spare time I find on my hands, to do a Mr Benn for the current situation.

Lettering.

I'm having a break from colouring to catch up with some lettering.
First up is my short story, for the next Asylum anthology, featuring Constable Brass and illustrated by the very talented Claudio Due Avella, and it's coming together nicely.

Next up will be issue 2 of Kia Wordsmith, can't wait to have the excuse to look through the pages of artwork from Ian Ashcroft again. Should keep me busy over Easter.

Interview over on You Tube.

Oh yes, I was interviewed by Blue Fox over on YouTube. It was good fun and hopefully I don't ramble and waffle too much. A also have a large spot on my face, forever captured now, which I think is the result of not getting any sun on my face for about three weeks.

Staying at home...

Well, after two weeks of lockdown I succumbed to making my own Wilson to keep me company.
I didn't have a basketball and so ended up using a pomegranate that is well passed its eat-by-date I'm sure.

It's now 3 weeks in and I've started talking to him.
He hasn't said anything himself yet.
I think that'll happen in a couple more weeks...

Safe to eat?

So, as I reach the back of the kitchen cupboards, searching for food to prevent me from having to go out another day, I came across this.

I can't remember buying it.
It must have been in the cupboard for a while.

OK, it must have been on there for quite a while.
Best Before End Dec 2018.
I must have had it with my during three moves.
Or maybe it was left by the person who rented this flat before me.
The question is...
...Is it safe to eat?
I think I'll just put it back and leave it tfor when I'm more desperate.

Remastered WesterNoir on SmackJeeves.

WesterNoir is on a journey.
What started as an idea for a one shot idea quickly moved on to become a greyscale limited series.
In this format it has reached issue 8, with issue 9 in development.
It has seen the first 4 issues collected as a Trade Paperback.
And it has a spin off companion title, Tales Of WesterNoir.
During this time co-creator and artist Gary Crutchley and I have often played with the idea of seeing the book in colour. Wouldn't that be cool.
And then we got to know Matt Soffe and work with him on the covers.
And we just knew that we had to do it.
If we were going to do this then could we use the opportunity to redo a few things that we wanted to improve?
Well, why not?
Produce a remastered coloured version of the trade paperback.
The only reason we could see against doing this is that it might annoy people who have already got the greyscale versions of the comics or trade paperback.
What if we put the thing online then? So they could see it and read it without having to pay for it?
And what if, when we do print it, we give them a discount to offset the fact that they have the greyscale versions?
OK, we thought that could work.
So, you can follow the pages, we release one a week, over on Smackjeeves, we're currently up to page 50. We were going to announce this later but I think in the current climate it might be nice to have something to read.
Hope you enjoy it.

Thought Bubble 2020

We've managed to get ourselves accepted into this year's Thought Bubble Comic Con in November.
Check out their website for more details.
We missed last year due to booking on a Con that clashed, before the Thought Bible dates were announced. It'll be great to be back.

Kia Wordsmith - ISSUE 2

I thought I'd share some good news.
Amongst the troubling times around it lifts me to get wonderful pages of artwork from the very talented Ian Ashcroft for issue 2 of Kia Wordsmith.
Here's a little taster of what to expect...

In a word .. 'Fabulous'.
I can't wait to get this comic out there.
We're hoping to launch it on Kickstarter in April.

COVID -19

It is only to be expected in the current climate that Comic Events are starting to be postponed. It's a shame but absolutely the right thing to do.

So, next weekend's Birmingham MCM event will now take place over the weekend of  27th - 28th of June, at the same venue.

I'm not sure what state the country will be in by then, both health wise and economically, but hope you all get through this very troubling time unscathed by either.

Invisible Man special screening.

I was a little embarrassed to be the only visible person at the special Invisible Man screening for Invisible People. Trust me to turn up at the wrong event, I thought the seats were a little too good for your average man on the street.
Enjoyed the film, it had a good number of jump in your seat moments.
I had a little trouble believing in the transition of the lead 'victim' in it, moving from victim to hero a little too well for my taste, but over all an enjoyable movie.

Third Comic Con of the Year

We've been accepted for a table at the London MCM in May.
Let's hope things have settled down with regards COVID-19 by then, although sadly I doubt it.

Second Comic Con of the year.

Accent UK have just booked a table at the Birmingham MCM event the weekend of 21st and 22nd March.

Hope to see plenty of you there.

First Comic Con of the Year

Yesterday I was at the True Believers event in Cheltenham. I missed last year and the year before that had been at a different venue (the Racecourse) so I wasn't sure what to expect at the new Jury's Inn location, or where it was exactly.
It all went to plan however and the only mistake I made getting there was actually taking the wrong road off of the roundabout that the Jury's Inn hotel nestled against.
Easy to set up with great help from the Agents (helpers), I even had time for a coffee before doors opened.
It was a very slow start for me.
The people who stopped at the stall were happy to chat and find out more about our books, but very few actually bought any. They all said they'd just arrived and wanted to check out the other stalls first. This, as frustrating as it is, makes complete sense.
I had some time to catch up with Gustavo Vargas, Russel Mark Olson and the guys at Mad Robot. I also met up with Gareth Sleightholme and had a good chat about...well.. comics.
The good news was that the people who had spent time chatting with me earlier pretty much all came back and bought stuff.
The great news was that I sold a few copies of my new book, I before E except after W, that's Weird.
All in all it was pretty good Con at the end of the day.
It was fun and great opportunity to catch up with friends but also worked financially.
I of course bought some stuff myself...

and just couldn't resist the opportunity for a Dylan Teague Convention Commission of Jigsaw Girl.

Wow.

First Comic Con of the year ... next Saturday.

Saturday 1st Feb sees Accent UK, in the shape of a lonely Dave West, at the True Believers Comic Festival in Cheltenham.
OK True Believers.
If you're in the area then pop in and say 'Hi'.
It'll be the first outing for my collage book, I before E except after W, that's Weird.

See you at :-

The True Believers Comic Festival
Jury's Inn Cheltenham
Gloucester Road
Cheltenham

Megazine mention

Our go to colourist, Matt Soffe, has hit the big time.
He's now colouring for 2000AD's Judge Dredd Megazine and has been doing so for a little while now.
In the latest issue however he is interviewed by Karl Stock

and kindly manages to mention WesterNoir and Accent UK a few times.

At the moment Matt is busy working his colouring magic on the first 4 issues of WesterNoir along with a number of new short story additions. We are looking to publish this as a remastered trade paperback collection and launch at Thought Bubble.
Matt's colouring has really given it the 'wow' factor.
Thanks for the mention Matt, it's really appreciated.

TRIPWIRE AWARD nomination

AccentUK have been nominated for the Best Small Press / Independent - UK publisher on TRIPWIRE.

We're up against really strong competition, which is good in itself, but it would be even better if we could beat such strong competition.

If you have been enjoying our books it would be great if you could take a few minutes out and vote for us over at TRIPWIRE AWARDS.

You can find it at TRIPWIRE MAGAZINE