The Shadowless Man walks again

A couple of years ago I wrote the story of another character who is central to the stories that surround Jigsaw Girl. 

The Shadowless Man could also move between planes, using the Nexus, and their tales are set to meet at a significant crossroad in the greater story.

Joe Campbell, who I had enjoyed working with on my Blessed/Cursed story Missing: Have You Seen The Invisible Man? agree to do the art and got to work.

The first issue was completed, and I'm very happy with it, but then one thing or another got in the way and it went into limbo.

Good news is that I've contacted Joe recently and he's agreed to pick it up again and get it finished.

We'll be producing it as a combined story as I think that works best for this tale.

I just need to get the scripts to Joe... and try not to read and play with them first.

Giant Monsters Attack...but not Accent UK comics...

I got a tweet yesterday from Giant Monsters Attack...

I remember the two guys buying some books at last weekend's Manchester MCM, and I remember them saying that they did a local Podcast ... it's always really interesting to hear what people think of our books and I used to love listening to the Tales From the Parent's Basement, Burnt Weiners and Small Press Big Mouth podcasts a few years ago, but one after another these all ended.
So... armed with my iPhone, which makes all of this a lot easier, I followed the link...

Turns out I had to download a new App onto myPhone, PodBean, but as usual this was pretty painless,and then a quick search and I was subscribed.

I decided to dive straight in and listen to Episode 39 - Love Interest as I was keen to hear what the guys thought of our efforts. 

Wow, they really enjoyed them and are very respectful in that they call out all the creators involved in the books, which is really nice. 

I listened to the whole episode in the end and it was good to hear their very positive comments about Mike Garley's very interesting The Killscreen and to find throughout the podcast that they had pretty balanced views and were quite willing to say they didn't like something if that was the case.

We've been invited into their Shed (which I think is their secret lair) for an interview, which we'll be sorting out in the very near future. 

Small Invisible Man update.

It's always difficult to know how well your comic books are doing once the boxes leave the house and are shipped around the globe through Diamond distribution. Every now and then I use an internet search to see if there are any reviews or comments.
It's encouraging to come across an article that indicates that it's selling out at Diamond after only a week... http://investcomics.com/features/sold-out-new-1-and-2-comics-for-january-8-2014-release-week, but then again we didn't get a huge order when you compare it with any of the big companies so it's no surprise I guess.
Haven't managed to find any recent reviews though, so I'm not sure what those people who have picked up a copy think of it.

Invisible Man seen in comic stores...

I've just been informed by my local comic shop (Millennium Comics in Northwich (thanks Dan)) that Missing - Have You Seen The Invisible Man? has been delivered by Diamond and so should be in stores across the country (and wider) as of tomorrow.

If you would like a copy then I suggest you pop in before they run out as stores don't tend to order many.
And please do let us know what you think of it.

Invisible Man and WesterNoir update.

Well, the machine that is Diamond Distribution has received orders from the stores for Missing - Have You Seen The Invisible Man ? and so comics should be hitting stores in the next week or so. It's a healthy number, for a small independent outfit like us, so thanks to everyone you went into their store to order a copy. Please let us know what you think of the book when you've read it.
I had a great two days at The Lakes event last weekend, you can read a report over on the Accent UK blog. The biggest high for me was getting our new banner out of the packaging...

It's a great visual draw, thanks to everyone involved in its creation.
Speaking of WesterNoir, Issue 3 has been reviewed over at curiosityofasocialmisfit.blogspot.co.uk
pop over and see what Pat thinks of the latest book.
Gary Crutchley is busy finishing off Issue 4, which'll see print first thing in 2014. It'll be nice to start the year off with a bang.

Paul Gravett highlights 'Missing : Have You Seen The Invisible Man ?'

Paul has highlighted our Invisible Man comic from September's PREVIEWS over on his website which is great as it'll help raise the book's profile.
Thanks Paul.

Invisible Man Spotted in Previews Issue 300.

Well I've finally managed to sort out getting Missing : Have You Seen The Invisible Man ? in the latest issue of Previews, which is the catalgue that goes out to all comic retailers so that they can decide what their respective stores will stock.

You're probably thinking that this should have been sorted out a while ago, as the comic has been on sale at a number of Cons already, and you'd be right. It's just that with all the Cons and life in general, sometimes important things just never get to the top of the To Do list.
Still, it's finally been sorted.

and page 240 has it in all its glory. Yes, I know I name dropped the Eagle Award that Marleen Lowe and I won for Whatever Happened To The World's Fastest Man ? but us Independent comic creators need all the nudges we can drag up if we're going to look interesting to the Comic Shop Guys out there.
I still get complaints from customers that our books never appear in their local stores, we used to send out a free copy to stores across the globe in the hope that they'd order some through Previews but it costs a lot of cash, and I'm not sure if it was very effective.
The problem is that the retailers have to spread their cash across a whole heap of Marvel and DC Event Books as well as the usual number of X and Bat books ... so it's no wonder that they buy one or two copies of our books at most. And when they've sold them, that's it. There's no re-order or re-stock.

 

So, if you want to get your local store to have a copy for you then you really need to go and ask them to get you one.. and do it before they put their Diamond Previews order in. Which means over the next week or two. All the details you need can be seen in the above scan.. the Order Number is STK623409...
I hope you do, and I hope you enjoy the read.

WesterNoir Update.

Well WesterNoir is getting more and more interest, and it's clear that having an on going title is quite different to one shots. At the Carlisle MegaCon yesterday one customer came over the to stall, picked up the three issue sketch pack and said that his gaming friends had recommended the book to him. That kind of 'word of mouth' recommendation is great, and reviews like these www.intheblackhall.wordpress.com for Issue 1 and http://intheblackhall.wordpress.com/2013/08/17/review-westernoir-book-2/ for Issue 2 really help.
Meanwhile Gary Crutchley has completed in the artwork on Issue 4, with Andy Bloor (also featured on the cover of Issue 4) providing the lettring... you'll know what I mean when you pop over to have a look on his blog) has provided the lettering. It's looking great and is going to be a great issue to end the first mini-series on.
Whilst you're on Gary's blog you also find a link to an interview where he also mentions WesterNoir a few times...
Not stopping there though, Gary (mostly) and I have already plotted the second mini-series and Gary has started emailing me about Issue 9...
And finally, with regards WesterNoir, Gary has produced a great piece or artwork that is being coloured by equally talented Matt Soffe (who I met again at yesterday's Carlisle MegaCon and is a really nice bloke) and once that's done we'll ask Andy Bloor to design some kind of frame/setting and I'll get some printed off on some nice paper. Not sure when all this will have been completed by but I'll announce it here when it is.
...and almost finally, the Invisible Man review from http://intheblackhall.wordpress.com/2013/08/ is now also up on www.inter-comics.com, which is great.
...and finally... one of my little doodlings has turned up over on http://instagram.com/p/dF5g6GEqxp/#, which is nice.

The Invisible Man reviewed and artwork revealed.

There's a great review of Missing: Have You Seen The Invisible Man? over at intheblackhall.wordpress.com which quite rightly highlights again the fabulous work that Joe Campbell did bringing invisibility to the comic book page.
Over of Joe Campbell's blog he shares his process with those who would like to know more. Here's a sampled page, in case you need any further temptation.

All Quiet On The Western Front ?

I've been pretty quiet on the blog for the last few weeks. But rather than that mean that I'm not very busy it's actually the opposite. I've a number of projects in various stages of development at the moment and it's hard at times picking which one to focus on. A nice place to be.
In order of publish date I guess, I'm finishing off the final touches of Missing - Have You Seen The Invisible Man ? with art from Joe Campbell. Just playing around with the back cover, assisted as always by Andy Bloor, and then it's pretty much off to the printers.

Sample of a page from Joe Campbell

I'm also starting to pull together the script for Issue 3 of Josiah Black (WesterNoir), following a gerat couple of development meetings with Gary Crutchley, meanwhile Gary is busy completing art on Issue 2.

Gary Crutchley unlettered page

 And then there's Has Kane Mesmer Lost His Magic Touch ? illustrated by Marleen Lowe. Our follow up to Whatever Happened To The World's Fastest Man ? but obviously not featuring Bobby Doyle himself.


Marleen's artwork shows Kane Mesmer taking some down time.

A new project From SuperZero to SuperHero, is now also underway. Sebastian Velez is providing art on this one. It's my first all out Superhero book, and of course it's my take on things so you know what to expect. Seba draws a great superhero.

Seba's design for 256 (pronounced Two Fifty Six)

I've also been pretty busy at work (the day job), and even had time for a Community Day, where we are let loose on the community to do some good... or try to anyway. This year we moved weeds from a pond to a lake in a park in Bolton. A good fun, if tyring, day. Alan Rigg was the team photographer (and you can follow his blog on the right), and so I had him take a couple of extra photos for me.

Photo by Alan Rigg

I'm not sure what it is about me and rust...

Photo by Alan Rigg

maybe it's that there's something slightly 'old-robot' about it all.
No wonder I'm finding it difficult to get back into Strange Times Book 2...