Temple 4 out now!

The latest issue of the Temple APA Digital Showcase is available to download here:

http://templeapa.ning.com/forum/attachment/download?id=827304%3AUploadedFi58%3A13688

It's a beast of an issue, and contains over 130 pages of UK comic creators work, including work from Steve Tanner, Simon Mackie, Tony Suleri, Jim Stewart, Dave Thomson and many more.

As well as a small press listings, this issue also contains a 35 page feature on Independent Comic Publisher Accent UK.

So, head along to the http://www.templeapa.ning.com site and download your free copy now!

If you're a comic artist or writer, whether professional or amateur, you're welcome to join.

Love and War Preview

Here's a page from me and Dave Thomson's latest comic strip - Love and War.

The story concerns the last survivor of the human race, waging war on the alien menace that destroyed mankind, in a rather unique way.

Dave's done a rather marvellous job on the artwork, and it went down well at the Bristol Comic Convention. We'll let you know where/when it's published.

Accent UK Western Anthology

I received my contributors copy of Accent UK's latest anthology 'Western' a few weeks back and it's a terrific read. You can find my review of the comic on Down The Tubes here.

I was lucky enough to 'sneak in the back door' a get a strip in there myself this time, thanks to Paul Harrison-Davies who was in need of a script. His only specifications were that it should be six pages long, silent, three panels a page, a done in a widescreen movie style.

Having searched through my fifty or so notepads of ideas I stumbled upon one from five years back, involving a lone cowboy finding a jewel encrusted boot, only to have its owner show up clad in the other boot and seeking revenge against the thief. I adapted the idea a little (as it was intended as a TV sketch), and changed the evil one-booted cowboy to an evil one-booted cowboy zombie at the very last second (it's only a shame that I didn't manage to fit an Elvis cameo in there somewhere).

I've also got a strip scheduled to appear in Accent UK's next anthology - Predators. So look out for 'The Exterminator' by myself and Tony Suleri next year.

Also, look out for the upcoming Accent UK Feature in the next issue of the Temple Digital Showcase, which'll contain previews from many of their anthologies and some of Accent UK's upcoming projects. The issue should be out at the end of June.

If you're going along to the Bristol comics convention, seek out the Accent UK table and pick up one of their mighty fine comics, or order them online here.

Ian Alexander's new blog

Ian Alexander, artist of the Eat Me series for Rokcomics.com, has just started a new blog where he'll be posting various pictures from the projects he's working on.

I've known Ian since he was about eleven, and have been able to watch his art style progress in the Temple APA over the years. He's certainly one to keep an eye on.

Myself and Ian have a large pirate related kids comic project in the works, which Ian's doing a fantastic job at illustrating. The challenge is finding the right comic publisher to send it to, now that the DFC has folded (as it's a continuous two page strip, rather than self contained stories). Suggestions would be welcomed!

Ian's new blog can be found here: http://epochofeno.co.uk/blog/

Way Of The Dead

A brief taster of me and Tony Suleri's next project; a three issue Kung-fu Zombie mini-series titled 'Way Of The Dead'.

If all goes well (finding a publisher would be a start!), we plan to follow it up with five more mini-series.

Cover image supplied by the ever amazing Stu Smith.

Keep your eyes peeled for more designs and updates as the project progresses.

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!

Temple Digital Showcase 3

The third issue of the Temple APA, a showcase for UK comic artist and writers, is now available to download as a free PDF here

Compiled by John Kirkham, and containing the works of various small press creators (such as Adam Grose, Tony Suleri, Jim Stewart and Paul Eldridge) the third issue is one of the biggest yet, and has a lot of amusing offerings inside (Malcolm Kirk's mock 'sea zombies' ad being one of my favourites, along with Paul Eldridges marvellous front cover).

Not only is the PDF free to download, but all writers and artists (whether they're amateur or pro) are welcome to join up for free. Just sign up to the ning site here.

The Temple Showcase contains a Small Press Directory at the rear which is updated each issue. If you're a small press comic artist/writer/publisher who'd like to have their comic listed inside, then leave the details on the site and we'll try and include them next time (or, failing that, email details to me at purecrass@hotmail.com To see what details are needed, check out the most recent Temple PDF)