Synchronicity (Part 2)

Earlier this year Casterman published the third book in my current French series Du Plomb Dans La Tete. Now I always have trouble painting my covers, but for Du Bordel Dans L'Aquarium I was fairly pleased with the results. Nothing fancy, but for a cover I thought it worked OK.

Over the past few weeks I've gradually become obsessed by the new Phillip K Dick pic, A Scanner Darkly. I have no idea if the film is any good, but the rotoscope technique used in the film is wonderful. Check out the trailer here. Last week it dawned on me that the poster used for the film reminds me somewhat of my cover illo for Du Plomb. A hell of an improvement for sure, but similar.....

But God, I wish I could paint......

Spent all Monday talking about comics to five classes at Camberwell Primary School. I was a little nervous as I haven't done anything like this for quite some time, but it all went well and it was delightful to see how many comic fans there are out there. With good questions to ask too.

Now I feel completely exhausted.....

Before I make a start on this new Star Wars book, I need to draw up three pages (and a cover!) for an imaginary comic to be used in a short film being shot in New Zealand.

A couple of years ago, Sticky Pictures flew over to interview me for a series on New Zealand artists they were making for NZ television. Each 30 minute episode featured four NZ artists, and they usually tried to include at least one artist working overseas.

Since then the guys have received funding to shoot their first 15-minute short feature, and their script includes several scenes that require a realistic comic for the main character to read. While I'm no big fan of superhero comics - I don't speak the language - I've tried to come up with something that looks convincing.

This last weekend I inked up the B&W, and next weekend I'll attack the colour.

Synchronicity (Part 1)

I love this sort of thing.

Last week I was finishing off the last few pages of Battler #5, and checking out some of the latest Movie Trailers on the Quicktime site in my spare time. Flyboys caught my interest, unfortunately the film looks like a load of old tosh. But a minute or so into the trailer I spotted this shot, which looked remarkably similar to the very panel I was inking at the time.

Similar? Well, maybe not. But close....

Tom Frame

I finished the last pages of Battler 5 last night, so now I've got some free time to tidy up a few loose ends around here. First cab off the rank is a Judge Hershey illustration for a Tom Frame commemorative spread being put together by Rufus Dayglo at 2000AD. Tom Frame was an institution around the 2000AD offices, and at some time or another he lettered just about every strip in the weekly. Last month Tom died from cancer.

Although I never drew Judge Hershey often, I count it a real honor to have some input on this. On the couple of occasions that I met Tom back in the early '80's, he was nothing but helpful, and I would have loved to hear a few more of his hilarious stories over an ale or three. I will be eternally thankful to him for his suggestion of wrapping a wad of masking tape around the handle of my brushes, as at the time the tips of my fingers were turning concave from all the hours of inking I was putting in on my first few Judge Dredd stories for the mag.

Thanks Tom, you were a great guy.......

Shine on...

The latest issue of Uncut arrived this morning, and it contains a surprisingly moving tribute to Syd Barrett, who died last month as the issue was going to print. Long forgotten, at least by most music fans, Syd Barrett was the madcap leader of Pink Floyd when they recorded a couple of the great early 'psychedelic' singles of the mid-to-late '60's - Arnold Layne and See Emily Play. I'd forgotten just how important music was to me back then..... and those years from 1966 until, say, 1975 produced some of the most inventive and spectacularly creative music I've ever heard.

OK, a lot of it had to do with drugs, but to paraphrase Bill Hicks, I've had some really good times on drugs. And a lot of time was spent listening to all those early, now long forgotten Pink Floyd albums. LSD never did me any harm, and it seems a stunning irony that LSD enabled so many doors to open for Syd Barrett, only to slam them shut as he plummetted so tragically into mental illness. And now, as with Warren Zevon, all we've got is the music and the memories.

Where's that copy of Piper at the Gates of Dawn.......

Interesting Times....

“The Israelis told us it would be a cheap war with many benefits,” a U.S. government consultant with close ties to Israel said. “Why oppose it? We’ll be able to hunt down and bomb missiles, tunnels, and bunkers from the air. It would be a demo for Iran.”

In one truly frightening paragraph Seymour Hersh, writing his latest article for The New Yorker magazine, shows us the reality of the current situation in the Lebanon, and gives us a glimpse into the future.

OK, I know, nothing for A WHOLE YEAR!

But this is about to change. I've rediscovered the world of Blogging. Again. I'll start posting here, Again. I promise!

First cab off the rank:

Over the weekend I got the news from Jock. The final Losers TP is due in about a month, and includes the three books I drew for the series. Now, if I can figure out how to include images here, I'll post the cover.....