Ending of an era.

Sad news for me to report, Colin and I have been finding that we're looking for different things from Accent UK over the last few years and have decided it best if we close AccentUK down. 

It's a very amicable split, we'll still be seen chatting at Cons and at social gatherings, but from here on I'll be printing my comics under TimeBomb Comics Ltd as I join Steve Tanner and David Morris on their board.

Here's the official press release:-

Accent UK Comics No More

Accent UK Comics, comprising creator's Dave West and Colin Mathieson, one of the UK's longest established independent comic collectives announce that they are to disband.

Founded in 2001 in the North West, Accent UK united the small press publishing activities of Barry Renshaw’s Engine Comics, Dave’s Deva Comics and Colin’s M56 Comics into a single collective.

A string of themed anthology titles were produced such as Remembrance Days, Phobias and Pirates  drawing on submissions from the UK’s then small press community including the likes of Dave Baillie, Jason Cobley, Ben Dickson, Garen Ewing and Dave Hitchcock. Red Eye Magazine, a much loved spotlight on the UK independent comics scene with contributions from Matt Badham, Leon Hewitt and others, was edited by Barry and published by Accent UK until his departure in 2006. 

From 2007, Accent UK’s titles were distributed globally by Diamond Comic Distributors leading to contributions to their themed anthologies ZOMBIES, ROBOTS, WESTERN etc. from the likes of Keiron Gillen, Steve Bissette, Frazer Irving, John Reppion, Leah Moore and many others. A series of self-contained one-shot or comic series written by Dave and illustrated by other artists were published, including WOLFMEN with Andy Bloor, the Eagle award-winning WHATEVER HAPPENNED TO THE WORLD'S FASTEST MAN? with Marlene Lowe, STEPHENSON’S ROBOT with Indio, the acclaimed WESTERNOIR series co-written with artist Gary Crutchley and KIA WORDSMITH with Ian Ashcroft. The MOMENTS OF ADVENTURE series collected Colin’s historical fiction strips and a trilogy of works were published from Danish artist Martin Flink; THE MAN OF GLASS, THE TROLL and THE LIZARD. 

In recent years, Accent UK returned to their anthology roots with a series of annual comics, THE ASYLUM based on the world’s largest steampunk festival of the same name in which Colin, Dave and  Gary Crutchley regularly participated in talks, workshops and events.   

Accent UK published around 60 comics and graphic novels, the majority of which were designed by Andy Bloor and featured regular colour collaborations from Matt Soffe.  

Regulars on the convention scene with nearly 200 appearances, many overseas including the US, Canada, Finland and Denmark, where since 2004, Accent UK were regulars and enjoyed a loyal following. 

Colin says “It is with great sadness that this announcement is made but both Dave and I can take great pride from the respect that the Accent UK name is held in and the achievements of the many writers and artists that we have worked with. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to, reviewed or bought our books over the years and to our families for supporting us”.

Dave says “It’s been a great journey, both Colin and I evolving our styles and perfecting our craft over the years and with Accent UK we both have much to be proud of. We have lots of great memories of collaborations and things that happened at the many Comic Conventions and we will both continue to be involved in the independent UK Comic scene, in our own ways, for many years to come. Thanks to all who were with us over the last 20 years, in whatever capacity, your support has always been appreciated”.

Accent UK's website and social media channels will remain open until further notice to allow outstanding orders and distribution obligations be fulfilled. Both Colin and Dave remain active in the comics community and news of forthcoming projects and activities will be released in due course.

Neither of us are stopping our comic creative output, I have the latest Volume of WesterNoir up on Kickstarter at the moment and Colin is applying finishing touches to his Zulu Graphic novel, so keep your eyes open for us at Cons and the like.

A trip to the National Army Museum in London.

Well, I confess that I knew what I'd find on display in the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London.

Accent UK co-founder Colin Mathieson had been keeping me up to date with progress on a project that he had taken on, producing a comic that reflected how 'War' had been represented in comic books through the years.

The museum has had an amazing face lift. All the exhibits are informative and well spaced out. I wandered through a number of areas looking for Colin's comic, it wasn't in the War Paint exhibit but as my eye spied the 'Society and the Army' exhibit I knew that's where it would be.

As I entered the area I could see the comic in pride of place.

The pages of artwork had been printed into laminated pages that themselves were fixed securely to the table ... drat ... no way I was going to sneak off with it then.

The colouring from Matt Soffe and the change in format page by page by Colin really gave the reader the sense of the passage of time, and true to any comic, there was a theme flowing across the pages that brought them all together in a poignant way.

It was great to see Colin's work on display in a museum, as part of a large exhibition that will be there for many years to come. I really can't think of a writer/artist in comics today who would have produced a more thoughtful and accurate comic.
As to the museum itself, wow, very impressive. I thoroughly recommend a day trip. I was also pleased by the friendliness of the staff, and they had Earl Grey Tea in the Cafe 😁.

Birmingham Comics Festival next weekend, and other stuff.

It's been a busy few weeks and now we're all focused on next Saturday's comic festival in Birmingham. It's the organiser's first event but they've certainly been putting in a lot of time and effort promoting the event through the web and SFX magazine. It should be great.
From an Accent UK perspective, we've had to reprint issue 1 of WesterNoir as the first printing has all but sold out, which is great news. We've taken the opportunity to also change the cover slightly to bring it more in line with later editions, so the second printing cover looks like...

Also, great news that co-creator and artist of WesterNoir, Gary Crutchley, has been invited as a Guest of the event, let's hope it doesn't go to his head...
We'll be giving away a free print to the first Magnificent Seven customers who buy a complete set of the first WesterNoir mini-series (4 issues), and as usual there'll be plenty of other great books to pick up, including the first issue of our new 7 issue Stephenson's Robot series, with limited edition Tarot Card.
The focus of last month was the 50th birthday of Accent UK co-founder Colin Mathieson. I clubbed together with Gary and Colin's family to buy him a gift that we knew he would really appreciate ...

...I think we hit the mark there. Certainly the biggest present Colin has ever received... now he just needs to find somewhere to hang it...

WesterNoir Issue 4.

Well, it's a great way to start the year, Issue 4 of our on going Western Horror title is complete. OK, there may be a little tidying up left to do but the story pages are done and the cover...

well, the cover looks awesome.
Gary has produced another striking cover, beautifully coloured by the very talented Matt Soffe (and do pop over and check out Matt's work on his blog, you'll thank me), on top of which Andy Bloor has worked his magical design fingers to add the logo he designed for the book, the title(s) and that aged effect that works so well.
Peeling back the layers we can see the coloured artwork without the design elements...

and taking away the colour we're left with Gary's great penmanship...

If you study the picture you'll spot a certain Colin Mathieson and also Andy Bloor on their own WANTED posters. You'll only get $100 for turning in Colin it seems, but Mr Bloor is worth a not inconsiderable $1500, I'll go get my sidearm.
We intend to launch this issue at the upcoming DemonCon7 event in Maidstone, which will be our first Con of the year and also our first time at DemonCon.
For those who don't know, DemonCon is a ''family friendly comic convention in the centre of Maidstone, Kent. With the new venue, Royal Star Arcade, proving to be a massive hit, this Demoncon promises to be the best yet, with more artists & writers and a number of big names. Amazingly talented guests, vendors, bar, cafe, traditional sweet shop, gaming and cosplay, what more could you ask for. An after show party I hear you ask....done''.
See you all there on Sunday 16th February.