Work In Progress - the self published stuff

Since I'm involved in rather a lot of projects at the moment and we're at the mid-point of the year, I thought it was probably about time that I started mentioning a few of them on this blog.  I'll probably split this into several posts as there's so damn many of them, so let's get started with the self published comic stuff!

As well as putting out the bi-monthly sci-fi anthology 100% Biodegradable, which is gearing up for its fifth issue, I'm also working on a few one shots and mini-series with Tony Suleri.

We're just putting the finishing touches to the Highway Robbery anthology, which will be a 46 page full colour landscape orientated digital anthology, featuring simian bounty hunter Pubba Gintaro as he squares off against carnivorous bovine Elvis impersonator...King Burger!

The comic also features an eight page 'Faceless' backup strip illustrated by Dave Thomson, involving a headless psychotic robotic assassin with a liking for cartoons and chocolate bars (except Toblerone.  He's not too fond of that)

I'm also working with Tony Suleri on a one-shot Marren Kane comic, titled 'Matters Of The Heart'.  The artwork has been coloured and completed, and I just need to letter it all (whilst coming up with the script at the same time, since Marren Kane is always completely unscripted). 

It'll be nice to get this one finally out there, as the first nine pages were given out as a freebie at BICS in 2008.  The mighty Tim Perkins of Wizard's Keep even provided a few Marren Kane sketches for people who visited the Bulletproof comics stand (Marren was originally geared up to become Bulletproof comics flagship character, but unfortunately due to a change of editorial priorities the comic folded after issue 2.  Marren now appears regularly in a series of self contained adventures in the 100% Biodegradable anthology, which can be purchased here).  

(Photo of the marvellous Tim Perkins in action, by Lew Stringer)

Technofear is another large project with Tony Suleri that's been in the works for quite a while.  We self published issue 1 (of 3) probably ten or so years ago, and Tony has been patiently slogging away at parts 2 and 3 between his many other projects.  Part 2 is now completed, and once 3 is underway we shall look into relaunching the comic as a digital title.  The series features ape bounty hunter Pubba Gintaro as he undertakes a mission to bring a deadly Technomancer to justice, and comes up against zombies, cybernetic vampires, a bigoted police force and a whole host of lethal technology that's out to kill him.

Me and Tony are also working on a kung-fu zombie mini series; I'll mention a bit more about it when we're further into the project (the artwork for part one is almost finished, but I still have to write scripts for parts two and three).  For now, here's a teaser image.

Highway Robbery Complete!

Highway Robbery, the ‘almost weekly’ web comic from myself and Tony Suleri was finally completed last week.

The strip was started in June last year, and had been expected to end in December with page thirty, but Tony couldn’t resist throwing in a couple of extra pages for dramatic effect. Due to various other strips Tony found himself working on (including Reaper for the upcoming issue of Futurequake), fitting the final seven pages into his schedule has been a challenge, but it’s all done now!
It’s been a fun strip to work on, especially since there’s no actual script and neither of us had a clue what was going to happen from one page to the next. I was quite surprised that the end result actually seems to make sense (alright, there’s a few potential plot holes lurking beneath the surface, and the occasional page that has no real bearing on the story, but I won’t go into them in case no-one’s noticed and we’ve got away with it!).

Hopefully the last seven pages will appear on the Bulletproof website soon, so keep an eye out for them.
Myself and Tony are all set to embark on our next project (with the generous assistance of Stu Smith - the original creator of King Burger - as cover artist) which’ll be a lot more sizable, and although it won’t have any gun-totting monkeys or bovine Elvis impersonators in it, it’ll certainly have its fair share of kung-fu zombies.

Watch this space for more details!

New Marren Kane Strip

Just finished lettering a brand new Marren Kane strip, illustrated by Tony Suleri. Hopefully it'll be appearing in Bulletproof Issue 4.

This strips a bit darker than usual, since Tony was working from a script I'd written (rather than our usual Kane method, which is for Tony to draw all the art first, then send it to me to put some words on). Still, it has Death By Spoon in it, so there's plenty of light hearted moments in there too.

Hope you enjoy the preview, and I'll post some more art from other projects later in the week.

Bulletproof 2 Overview

My contributors copy of Bulletproof 2 came through today (along with a rather snazzy looking Marren Kane 0), and it looks like another well presented offering.

The addition of colour to almost half the comic is a welcome change, and ensures that John Freeman and Mike Nicoll's Ex Astris strip really stands out from the crowd. The 3d graphics style has never looked better, and I was very pleased to see some bloodshed, violence and nudity had been added into the mix. Hurrah! Definitely my favourite of the bunch.

Alan Burrows artwork on Funguys (concerning the adventures of two hard drinking party crashing alien mushrooms) is also a visual treat, with plenty of freaky-ass aliens to feast your eyes upon. The only thing I found slightly odd about the strip was that is seems to take place in Dec 31st 2009, and, er, Clinton pops up as President of America. My guess is that the date was changed from 1999 so that the strip wouldn't appear so old, though since the Funguys are time travelling mushrooms this was unnecessary, and might provoke pernickety little gits like me to make pointless comments such as the one I'm making right this very moment (it's also possible that it's just a typo, but that's far less dramatic).

Sideburns is another strip that's growing on me, with some mighty fine artwork from Jon Haward and an amusing story by Jim Alexander (well, the idea that a criminal would be brought to justice when the detective realises he had his fingers crossed behind his back amused me anyway) .

Plenty of other good strips in the issue, but I'm bored of talking to myself and must depart, in search of that mystical substance known as 'lunch'.

If you haven't brought yourself a copy yet, it's only three quid and available from http://www.bulletproofcomics.co.uk/. I've got some strips in there, but don't let that put you off - it's actually a bloody nice read.

Oh yes, and here's some previews from a few strips appearing in Bulletproof 3; Bunk Mates, by Paul Harrison-Davies, and Backtrack by Tony Suleri. Plus there'll also be a One Eyed Wench strip illustrated by Dave Thomson.