The Oxford Children's Comic Festival roundup!

Saturday's 'Oxford Children's Comic Festival' was a huge success and a really exciting event to be a part of! Above is a news clip from Meridian tonight- I think perhaps I was mistaken for a child whilst being sat at the drawing table (I'm in the blue t-shirt!)

I was really impressed by all of the young attendees' enthusiasm for comics- there was a real buzz for the medium running through the whole event. This was especially noticeable near the entrance where two very talented 12-year-old creators were selling their wares- Jordan Vigay with his comic 'The Red Crow' and Zoom Rockwell with his comic 'The Zoom'! I really admired the passion for comics that they both possessed and the fact that they were confident enough in their work to sell it to the public was great to see. They have every right to be confident too as both comics were full of genuinely funny strips- I expect to see great things from these two in the future and I hope that more young creators follow their lead!

Neill Cameron was the ringleader in a day-long event at the festival- The Mega-Comic (as I have just decided to call it).

Here's me drawing the second panel (image courtesy of Neill's blog)

Here are a few shots of the completed comic, I think it came out looking pretty darn awesome! There's also a great step by step guide to it's creation over on Neill's blog !HERE!

 

And here's a proper look at the comic (stolen from Sarah McIntyre's blog!) Sarah's also done a great round-up of the event on her blog, which you can check out !HERE!

There was lots more, including workshops, Ice Creams, Pizza from a van and the brilliant comic Loaf, but I can only type for so long before I need to get back to the drawing desk!

I've got to give a massive thanks on behalf of everyone who enjoyed the day to the organisers over at at The Phoenix and The Story Museum for putting on a fantastic event- I can't wait for next year's festival!

And last but definitely not least, here's a fantastic drawing that aspiring comic artist Finn Browne gave me towards the end of the day- I was really impressed by his drawings- I think he's got a bright future in comics ahead of him!

The Monstrosity website is live!

Monstrosity issue 1 is launching at this Saturday's Bristol Comic Expo! I can't wait to get it out there and in front of the great, comic-loving public! In the meantime, the website has just gone live- click the image below to check it out and get a little info on what Monstrosity is all about!

The Phoenix events!

Some exciting things are coming up for fans of The Phoenix! First of all, their amazing new website has just gone live! I saw a sneaky peek at it a couple of days ago and it's fantastic- huge props to Paul Duffield for his great work on it! Go check it out right now!

Second, this Saturday is the Oxford Children's Comic Festival- it's going to be a fantastic celebration of comics culture and creativity and I'm really excited to be a part of it! Not long to go now! I posted the details in a previous post, but there will be more information on The Phoenix's website linked above!

MONSTROSITY IS HERE!

Very exciting news- my colour copies of Monstrosity issue #1 arrived today thanks to the great people over at UK Comics! Here are the first pics!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'll start selling them at the Bristol Comics Expo on May 11th and 12th.

Here's me unboxing them!

The Oxford Children's Comic Festival

The Oxford Children's Comic Festival (which is, I believe, the first Comic festival in the country aimed exclusively at Children) will be held on Saturday, the 4th of May from 10am to 5pm.
I will be there in the Drawing Corner, doing lots of... drawing!
Here are the details, if you have kids with an interest in comics, drawing or stories I'd recommend it- I think it's going to be a really fun day for all involved!

Here's the Proof!

Hello!
I collected the proof copy of Monstrosity Issue #1 yesterday and it came out looking awesome I think! Here's a peek at the cover!

Monstrosity Issue 1 teaser

Here's a new drawing done for the title page of Monstrosity issue 1- not long to go now!

Countdown to the Con's!

Myself and my longtime comics compadre's Chris Gould and Matthew Brambles are going to be exhibiting at several comic conventions again this year and will be selling our latest wares.
We're now up on the exhibitors pages for both the Bristol Expo and Thought Bubble, plus we are planning to attend N.I.C.E this year again too. If you are attending any of those shows, stop by and say hi!

Click this image to visit a mini site I made for the three of us:

I'll be selling issue #1 of Monstrosity at all of the cons and the plan is to have issue #2 ready as well in time for Thought Bubble in November.
Speaking of Monstrosity, the colour version of Issue #1 went off to the printers a few days ago, I'm really excited to see the finished comic! I'll pop up some photo's as soon as I have a copy in my hands!

MONSTROSITY #1 in FULL COLOUR!

Issue 1 of Monstrosity will be re-released this year in full colour! Hooray! It will be debuting at Bristol Comic Expo on the 11th-12th of May and will be available at N.I.C.E. and Thought Bubble too!
Here's the revised cover with the brand new logo that my hugely talented girlfriend Nikki Dyson designed for me!

  

 

Totally... Matt Hatter Chronicles out now!

Titan's 'Totally... Matt Hatter Chronicles' comic is available right now in the UK from most newsagents! It's packed full of puzzles and games and comes with some genuinely cool free gifts!
The strip inside was written by the extraordinarily talented Simon Furman (Simon was the lead writer on The Matt Hatter TV series- he is also a comics legend!) and drawn by me.
It was great fun to work on- here's a peek at the cover! Just click on it for more details from the Titan website!

The Phoenix goes Digital!

Happy New Year everyone!
News just in from The Phoenix HQ.......

It’s a new year and a new day and we’re feeling good! Not only that but we have something BIG to tell you … so take a seat because our new is so SUPER EXCITING it may just knock your socks off!
You know that you an already get the great paper edition of The Phoenix every week … well now you can also get it on the iPad!
That’s right, The Phoenix has gone digital, so now you can choose how you want to read the weekly story comic!
Want it through the post? No problem! Like reading your Phoenix on the iPad? Great! Want both? Even better!
The Phoenix app is available RIGHT NOW!
It’s FREE to download and comes with a brilliant free sample issue so you can see how the app works! Once downloaded you can get individual issues or subscribe via in app purchases! For the first week of the app’s life there is a RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING offer available, so go ahead and check it out- just click any of these images!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

If anyone's been wondering how Tod from Sky Drifters is getting on with finding his way home, this is where he's spending the winter!

Hope you all have a great time and don't stop eating until you feel physically ill (I know that'll be the case for me!) Merry Christmas everyone!

Havin' a Blast?...

...Well, you will be if you take the time to check out the new site of my buddies from AGHAST!

It's a seriously awesome site and the designer, Miles Essex has done an amazing job of taking the cover art I drew for 'Live Dangerously' and giving it depth and life! Just follow the link here and scroll down, it's so rad!

WWW.AGHASTMETAL.COM

'Live Dangerously' is also available as a free download on the site, so yeah, what'cha waiting for?

More Fan Art!

With the pace of work on Simon Swift recently I've been a bit behind on posting things that I'd have really liked to. I'm really delighted to finally have a moment to post these two drawings up!
Here's Tod, as drawn by Beth Wernham:

And Here's Simon Swift amongst some other Phoenix favourites (I didn't have a name to go with this one, sorry):

Thanks so much to the artists who drew these, it's amazing to see fan art of my characters and it really keeps me energised when I'm drawing!

The Phoenix round-up!

Wow, it's been an unbelievably hectic couple of weeks for me, many apologies for the lack of weekly posting. I've just completed the final episode of Simon Swift and the printed issues have been hot on my heels!
Since I was last here 3 issues of The Phoenix have come out and Simon Swift is nearing it's conclusion, here, have a peek at those issues!

And here's my favourite Simon Swift Panel yet; really pleased with how this one came out!

I also would very much encourage anybody who still needs to find a present for a young (or, in fact, old) comic fan, to check out 'The Best Present Ever' from the fine folks at The Phoenix
Here's the details:

The Phoenix issue 47!

Here's your weekly preview of The Phoenix and Simon Swift!
This week- Have the group finally tracked down Simon's mother? There'll have to be some villain-battling before they find out!

The Phoenix issue 46!

Hooray! The latest issue of The Phoenix is out NOW and I'm lucky to have a brand new Simon Swift cover adorning it! This weeks issue also features Gary Northfield's hilarious 'Gary's Garden', the unmissable 'Zara's Crown' by John and Patrice Aggs and the inestimably talented Chris Riddell returns with another installment of 'Elsewhere' amongst many other comicky delights!

If you want some Phoenixy magic delivered direct to your door, head -HERE- for details!

Here's this weeks cover, (My second Simon Swift cover) with a sneak peek from inside below!

Next week there is all-out action! Stay tuned!

 

The Phoenix issue 45!

Wow, another week, another issue of The Phoenix- I can't believe part 9 of Simon Swift is out already! We're past the halfway point now for Simon's first adventure and I hope everybody who's been reading it is enjoying the action, adventure and mysteries as much as Tom and I have been enjoying creating them!

The Phoenix visits Tales on Moon Lane!

Hi guys!
I'm reposting most of this from The Phoenix's news feed- to summarize, on Monday the 29th October, Will and Liz from Phoenix HQ along with myself did a workshop at the fabulous Tales on Moon Lane children's bookstore at Herne Hill, London!

Basically, the kids were asked for their ideas for a character and what his story should be whilst I drew it as rapidly as possible on a flip chart! This comics jam session resulted in the zany adventure below.
Here are some photo's and some text which I cheekily thieved off The Phoenix's site about the event!

Our hero for the day … Benji the space-dog.

 

We meet Benji here after he has successfully rescued the special acid-filled space crystal from the evil aliens! The only problem is he hasn’t managed to shake them all off, an evil cyclops-skull is in hot pursuit….

… Never fear though because as are all aware, if there are two things that we know from school, its that 2+2 = 4 and that the only way to defeat an evil Cyclops skull is to fire poisonous ham sandwiches at it!

Threat defeated Benji shoots back to earth…

… To deliver the space crystal into the hands of the jubilant Museum Curator for safe keeping. A good job well done!

After this, the children were tasked with creating their own comics, they came up with some fantastic ideas and it was a real treat to see a new generation of comic creators' early works!

Thanks to Will and Liz, plus the others who helped orchestrate this event behind the scenes at Team Phoenix. Thanks also to Tamara and George at Tales on Moon Lane for being exceptionally welcoming and generous!
And last but certainly not least, thanks to all the children who attended for your enthusiasm and incredibly creative suggestions, we had a real blast making comics with you!

The Phoenix issue 44!

Wow, I'm overdue a Phoenix update!
Well, this week issue 44 is out, featuring the excellent 'Troy Trailblazer' by Rob Deas, Paul Duffield's wonderful and fascinating 'Secrets of the Universe with Danica Starborn', Lorenzo Etherington's sumptuously drawn and brain-taxingly challenging 'Von Doogan', and a whole host of equally brilliant tales by some of the UK's top comics talent!
This week's issue includes part 8 of Simon Swift by Tom Fickling and myself. As always, click the Phoenix cover to visit their site where you can get all the info you may need on where to pick up a copy (or how to order a subscription) and find out more about the comic! I've put a couple of sneak peeks from the latest part of Simon Swift below too, hope you like what you see!