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.

If you've heard about WesterNoir and not picked up a copy yet then you can check out the remastered pages over at http://westernoir.smackjeeves.com. 

We'll be adding a page a week. 

If you are reading WesterNoir then you can still check out the pages there and see if you can spot the differences, apart from the obvious one that they are now coloured by the very talented Matt Soffe.

Stephenson's Robot #2 is at the printers.

Yep, Issue 2 of our Steampunk, alternate history comic, Stephenson's Robot has been sent to Stuart Gould of UK COMICS CREATIVE for printing.

This issues back story has been illustrated by co-creator and artist of WesterNoir, Gary Crutchley and coloured by WesterNoir cover colourist Matt Soffe.

Just waiting to review the print proof copy and then it'll hit the presses ... or whatever they call them these days.

Next weekend Accent UK hit Warrington Market.

A bit of a surprise for us, we've been invited to attend the first Warrington Comic Con Style event which takes place next Saturday. It's not going to be your typical Comic Con, there are no famous artists attending (that I'm aware of anyway), but it should be fun.
From a comic-in-development perspective Matt Soffe (our regular colourist for the WesterNoir covers) is in the process of adding his magic touch to the Carnival Master back story for Stephenson's Robot issue 2. Illustrated by WesterNoir co-creator Gary Crutchley and written by Jon Ayre, the issue will be printed a little later in the year. Here's a sample...

And if that isn't enough, the cover of Tales Of WesterNoir issue 2 is now complete, colours again by Matt, and is with Andy Bloor for his design touches. This will also be printed a little later in the year, but it's nice to have these things ready and waiting.

this issue will focus on Jim Wilson...

The First Birmingham Comics Festival

Accent UK have been to a good number of 'first time' Comic Conventions over the years, and we always expect them to have their organisational and logistic problems. We always expect attendance to be a little lower than we'd like and therefore do no expect great sales. You have to allow these Conventions the room to breathe and grow, so there really is no value in giving the organisers a hard time.
So, expectations low, Accent UK (Me, Colin, Gary and Jemma) were pleasantly surprised that this convention was, without a doubt, the best 'first time' Comic Convention we'd ever been to.
The advertising beforehand was impressive.
The organisation on the day seemed to be flawless.
The way the organisers treated the guests and exhibitors could not have been better.
The number of customers...., well, OK, the number of customers were actually typical for a new Con. The numbers weren't fabulous, but that said, there was always a steady trickle of people wandering around, stopping at the stall, chatting about our comics and buying stuff.

Jemma gives Colin a talk about sales targets and
 expectations before the doors open.

The quieter Cons allow us to meet our creative friends, sometimes for the first time in the flesh, which is always great. I won't try to list everyone but it was great to chat with Dave Hitchcock, usually we are both too busy to spend much time talking but at this Con our tables were back to back, Matt Soffee (who is doing such wonderful work colouring our WesterNoir covers, Andy Winter (who has been away from the comic scene for quite a while now) and Patrick Scattergood (who makes his own comics as well as reviews those of the likes of Accent UK).
A quieter Con also lets us have more time to chat with the people the other side of the tables, as the whole thing moves at a slower pace.
All in all we had a really enjoyable day, and for the record we sold 4 times as many comics as at any of our other 'first time' Conventions. I think this Con is going to grow into one of the great Cons and we've already signed up to come back next year.

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.

WesterNoir background image for your laptops.

This great WesterNoir image by Gary Crutchley (and you can see the inked only version over on his blog), coloured by Matt Soffe and surrounded by a border and text by Andy Bloor, will soon be available as a limited print.

In the meantime, you can download it as a backdrop for you laptop from the AccentUK website. I've got it on mine and it looks awesome.

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.

WesterNoir 3, cover image is all sorted.

Well, as promised WesterNoir #3 is the Mermaid issue.
Once again Gary Crutchley has worked his magic on the cover (and pulled the script in all sorts of interesting directions), Andy Bloor has continued with his great design and Matt Soffe has worked wonders on the colouring.

How good does that look...
Gary is well into the book now with all the inking done, he's applying the grey tones and lettering. All coming together really well.
And then it'll be onto book 4, last in the mini-series, I'll say nothing more on that... for now.