Cousin of Death.

I know, I know, it's been a while, but I didn't want to post anything until I finally finished Sam's "Cousin of Death".
But now it's done and here are a couple of pages and some panels from the 17 page tale.
Yup, only 17 pages but it's taken ages to finish, and I don't know why.
The story was crackin'. Scary and creepy and about a subject that struck a chord with me.
(It's about sleepwalking and I used to do that when I was younger).
This is the third tale I've done for Sam, but this one was the hardest to do.
I didn't get to draw any slimy tentacle creatures in this, but I had to concentrate on people's expressions and I've redrawn each page about 3 times until I was happy with it.
I just didn't want to disappoint Sam.
But it's done and I'm happy with it.
Sam's yet to tell me when it'll be published on his site..Split Lip, but as soon as he lets me know I certainly post the dates on here.
So that's it fer this one, but there is no rest fer the wicked.
I've got two (yes TWO) projects to do next.
One's a graphic novel for Insomnia publishing and another tale with John Halfpenny.
There'll be updates on both of these in a week or so.

A Blast from the past

Still working on Sam Costello's strip for SPLIT LIP. Finally on the inking, so I'll be posting sketches and stuff next week probably.
But I thought I show another old strip done 20 odd years ago, again printed in Gore Shriek.
I'd sold a couple of stories to them (one was posted a while ago on this very blog) and was keen to sell more.
Around this time there was a group of us doing this for fun and profit. Friends, Mark Buckingham and Matt Brooker had just begun their professional careers, Andrew Yoxell was still doing amazing things with the small press.
We were travelling to London to go to the Society Of Strip Illustrators where we'd meet Neil Gaiman. David Lloyd, Garry Leach and loads of other talented artists and writers.
So it were great days indeed.
There were a couple of friends who weren't actively involved in doing comics, but still read them, and were very interested in the whys and wherefores of doing comics.
One such person was me old mate Dave Henney.
Lovely man, cracking mate, a bit prone to the odd volatile rant (but who isn't) but would do anything for you.
The times that man has been there for me, well... too many to count.
Anyway Dave being Dave saw that we were all writing and drawing these funny books and thought to himself that it looks a bit easy. So he bet Andrew Elliott (another corker of a mate and terrific writer) that he'd have a go at this writing lark.
And write he did, a fair few gems including this one.
I read it, thought I'd have ago drawing it and here we are.
Den Dilworth inked it and I sent it of to Tom Skulan and Steve Bissette (editors of Gore Shriek. It's all about the contacts and who you know in this biz.) I'd already sold a couple of tales and I thought they'd go for this one.
And I weren't wrong.
They bought this one and another tale of mine (a story for another time)
and Dave was over the moon. He won the bet (he usually does) and it was printed not in a regular issue of Gore Shriek but in the annual no less.
Result!
The only problem was that page 2 and 3 were printed the wrong way round.
So 20 years later shown for the first time how it was meant to be read...
I present Home Security by Dave, Ben and Me. I hope you enjoy it.





Not to shabby.
We were vastly proud of this (ahh the naivety of youth).
Dave doesn't write any more, but I was glad I was there when he dipped his toe.

pullin' me finger out

It's been so long I've posted that weeds are sprouting around here.
Anyway what's happening you ask?
Not too much I reply. Oh don't get me wrong there's plenty to do but it's a case of when art goes bad.
"The Master Cracksman" is done, as you can see from the inked panel. I'm pretty happy with and more importantly John's pleased with it, which is a big relief.
So I should be hard at Sam Costello's Split lip story, and I am, but it's all going slow.
There have been days when nothing is going right, the times I've screwed up a full page of art and started again.
Bloody frustrating.
But I'm optimistic , I'm getting close to finishing the pencils and next week I'm hoping to start inking.
I was going to ink it Manga Studio, a corkin' piece of software created especially to draw comics on a computer, but I'm not up to speed with it, so I'll stick with illustrator for this one.
Speaking of Sam, he's just been interviewed about Split Lip here;
groovyageofhorror.blogspot.com
And a good un it is to.
I start posting some sketches for Sam's script soon and there'll be a a bit of news soon.

Split Lip in print

What a coincidence.
Here I am beavering away with Sam Costello's latest yarn and he sends me an email about Split Lip finding an American publisher.

SPLIT LIP HORROR WEBCOMIC IN PRINT FOR THE FIRST TIME

April 28, 2009 – Providence, RI – Split Lip, the work called “the predominant original horror comic work on the Internet” by The Horror Blog, is now available in print in the United States for the first time.

Split Lip Volume 1, a 158-page trade paperback collecting 11 horror comics, is available now at http://www.splitlipcomic.com/slc-store.html

Split Lip debuted in Oct. 2006 and has published 24 stories – over 275 pages of free comics – at www.webcomicsnation.com/splitlip. Each story is written by Sam Costello and drawn by artists from all over the world, including Sami Makkonen (Blue, Deadworld: Slaughterhouse), John Bivens (Comic Book Tattoo), and Jason Ho (Agnes Quill).

Split Lip Volume 1 features the work of Makkonen, Bivens, and nine other cartoonists from the U.S., UK, Latin America, and Europe and has been described as "very well-done, very professional ... each story packs a punch" by Comics Should Be Good.

Below is the contents and as you can see I'm in it with Straw men.

Contains the following stories:

• Straw Men, by Sam Costello and Gary Crutchley
• Headin' South, by Sam Costello and Kyle Strahm
• Not Sleeping Well, by Sam Costello and Ayhan Hayrula
• The Consequences of a Little Alone Time, by Sam Costello and Diego Candia
• The Executioner is a Lonely Man, by Sam Costello and Brian A. Laframboise
• Fish Drink, by Sam Costello and Iain Laurie
• The Tree of Remembrance, by Sam Costello and Nelson Evergreen
• School Supplies, by Sam Costello and Brian McGleenon
• The Railroad Boy, by Sam Costello and Felipe Sobreiro
• Mujer, by Sam Costello and Sami Makkonen
• Fitcher's Bird, by Sam Costello and John Bivens

Below is the first page of Straw Men.

No Rest fer the Wicked

John Halfpenny's cracking story "The Master Cracksman" is finished, well the pencils are at least.
John's happy with it, I'm happy with it. Some of me best drawing I've done in a while.
Thoroughly enjoyed meself doing it.
And, as a treat above is another sketch from it.
That's all for now, may show something when I've inked it.

Yea, so now it's back to Sam Costello's script, for his Split Lip site.
I never really stopped drawing it, did a few sketches here and there and light boxed them on the page.
The deadline is for the end of May when I start a rather big project.
Don't want to mention it just yet, cause the sheer size of it is scaring the B'jeebers out of me.
But that's later.
That's not to say I won't be working with John again. Oh no, as I type this he's finishing off another cracking tale and this one has got a lot of luvverly things I like to draw.
Oh yes, I can't wait. and as a clue just have a shufty at the pic below.

Just Multi taskin'

I'm beavering away on Sam Costello's script "The Cousin of Death", working out the layouts and loads of sketches that I'll light box on the page, but I've been drawn (sorry about that) to John Halfpenny's 2 pager the Master Cracksman and I've also been doing some sketches for that.
Above is a sketch for the main character that John likes which is always a good thing.
Get the writer on your side- rule no 1.
Anyway I've been working out the panels andI pleased to say that I've nailed it now (fingers crossed).
So the next few days I'll lightbox the sketches on to the comic pages and bingo, jobs a good'un.
Don't expect me to show too much on this, as there's only 10 panels and I certainly don't want to spoil anything.
It's for AccentUk's Victoriana book, so a good way off yet, but it's John's first accepted comic work which is great.

Done at last

So I finished "Daddy's Girl" a story I'm quite proud of. And I 've sent it away hopefully to get a positive response, if not oh well that be the nature of comics.
Can't rest on me laurels though, my next project is for Sam Costello of Split Lip fame.
Oh yes he wants another of his scripts illustrated by moi and I couldn't be more chuffed.
It's a crackin' little tale (and I've not read a bad 'en from Sam yet).
I've already dome some sketches and I'll post them in the next few weeks.