Colin Wilson

Busy Week Ahead

2011-05-01T22:44:00.001-07:00

After years of inertia, this Saturday Tom Taylor and I will be signing books at our local All Star Comics shop here in Melbourne. The friendly guys down there have organised a full day of guests:

The lineup in the shop for the day is:

11am-12pm Matt Dunn and Andy Isaac

12pm-1pm Jeff Cruz and Hugh Freeman

1pm-2pm Tristan Jones and Katie Houghton

2pm-3pm Tom Taylor and Colin Wilson

3pm-4pm Mike Wszelaki

We will be signing books and generally hanging around for most of the afternoon, so if you are in the area, come on down and say hi.

Tom and I will also be running a Comics Masterclass at the Nexus Festival of Comics, Graphic Novels and Moving Image from May 10-12th organised by NMIT at their Fairfield campus. Our Masterclass will be on Tuesday from 3-6pm - open to the public - We will also be participating in a Sequential Art and Narrative Panel Discussion with Bruce (The Sacrifice) Mutard and noted film illustrator and storyboard artist David Russell.

Bullet to the Head

2011-04-18T20:14:00.001-07:00

Originally scheduled for February, Dynamite Entertainment have announced that the tpb of Bullet to the Head will be released on April 20. A multi-page preview of the book is now up on CBR here.

Originally published in France by Casterman as Du Plomb Dans la Tete, the film of the series - staring Sylvester Stallone - is currently in pre-production as Headshot. Principal photography in Louisiana (I hesitate to use the word "shooting") is schedule to start this July, under the direction of Walter Hill. Yay!

Rough Times in Christchurch.

2011-02-22T01:31:00.001-08:00

This afternoon my old hometown Christchurch (NZ)took a big hit, their second serious earthquake in five months. Unlike the first one, which 'only' caused widespread damage, todays tremor has collapsed many buildings resulting in significant loss of life.

If you want to help out, please donate to either the New Zealand Red Cross website or via the Salvation Army of New Zealand site. Specify your money is for the ‘Canterbury Earthquake Appeal’.

... oh yeah, and then there's this....

2011-02-06T23:27:00.001-08:00

This news just in: "Sylvester Stallone will star in an adaption of the popular 3 volume French comic book series "Du Plomb Dans la Tete", with Wayne Kramer directing", according to The Hollywood Reporter today.

Du Plomb Dans la Tete (aka Headshot) - story by Matz, art by me - has recently seen publication in the USA as Bullet To The Head, a six issue mini-series by Dynamite Entertainment. The trade paperback goes on sale this month.

French stuff...

2011-02-06T23:03:00.001-08:00

A project that I've been working on for the last 15 months saw publication last week in France. "Qui a Tué le Président?" (Who Killed the President?) - written by Fred Duval and Jean-Pierre Pécau, and superbly coloured by Jean-Paul Fernandez, is an alternative history story, book 5 in the Delcourt series Jour J.

When I came to back-up my reference material last month I was surprised to discover I'd saved over 800 images during the time I worked on this book, read four books on the subject, and watched three films (again) in the effort to get the details correct. But then I've always been fascinated by the whole Dallas assassination subject - yes, I can remember exactly what I was doing when I first heard the news! - and wanted to make 'our' story as convincing as possible.

The book looks terrific..... I'm very proud of this one.

Gears

2010-12-20T23:09:00.001-08:00

Although you wouldn't know it from their current website, last month I finished a one-off issue of Gears of War for Wildstorm. This book ended a very crazy year for me and was fun to do, especially when I learned that the issue was written by Karen Traviss. Already a very successful author (including a bunch of Star Wars novels), Karen is the writer of the next Gears game due, well, some time next year. Gears #15 is Karen's book writing the current comic series for Wildstorm/DC.

I had a lot of fun working on with Karen on this, and I've just seen the wonderful job Wes Hartman has done with the colour on the book. This is going to be one good-looking issue!

Philip Tan is doing the cover, and the book will be in stores on December 29.

Catching up...

2010-10-21T16:22:00.001-07:00

After a complicated and extremely busy year (more on that later...), I've finally found some time to start updating my website, which until recently, has been offline for a while. There are still a few links that don't work correctly, but at present the priority is to bring the site details up to date, and then to get some new stuff up there while I've got the chance..

Here's an Armageddon Con commission that I've just completed this week, that (hopefully) should keep another fan happy....

The Example

2010-10-19T20:23:00.001-07:00

"and yes, it’s as effing good as the accolades suggest."

"This is an eleven page masterpiece of a comic"

"The Example is fantastic storytelling in a compact form and should be in everyone's pull file."

"It’s a clever device and Taylor does a nice job distilling the debate into a fine focus."

All quotes from the terrific reviews that The Example has been gathering in the States since going on sale there a couple of months ago.
Broken Frontier, The Outhouse, Newsarama, and the Comic Book Resources have all really liked what they have seen, and our little 11-pager that Tom and I produced for Gestalt Comics has going down a treat over there.....

and another....

2010-08-10T17:36:00.001-07:00

SDCC Commission

2010-08-05T14:41:00.001-07:00

SDCC, again...

2010-07-16T15:21:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year again, and in a few hours Tom Taylor and I catch a flight to San Diego for SDCC 2010.

The big difference this year - at least for me - is that for the first time I will have a table at the Con. Thanks to the wonderful (SW cover artist) Dave Dorman, I (along with Gestalt Publishing) will be based in the Rolling Thunder area (booths 4401 and 4500 - check out the floor-plan) where I will be chatting to fans, signing books, and when possible, drawing the occasional commission.

If you are at SDCC this year, call by and say hello. It should be fun.....

Bullet To The Head

2010-06-22T17:30:00.001-07:00

While I've got no recent news about the Warners film deal we signed last year, Du Plomb Dans La Tete appears in English for the first time this week as Bullet To The Head, published by Dynamite Entertainment. A short preview is available here.

Originally published in France (and several other European countries) by Casterman as three 54-page albums, Bullet To The Head is a classic crime noir mini-series written by Matz (The Killer) about two NYPD cops, two villains, and several very crooked politicians.

Buy it now.... you won't be disappointed!

Paw, Paw, Paw....

2010-06-12T21:22:00.001-07:00

After threatening to do this for a couple of years, I've finally got around to producing this little item, my very first sketchbook. So far I've only seen a printers proof, but by this week all should be ready to go for the upcoming Comic Cons that I'll be signing at over the next two months (Supanova Sydney and Perth, and then some minor little thing next month in San Diego...).

Dedicaces features about 35 of my little-seen or previously unpublished illustrations in 28 action-filled pages - a strictly limited edition of 300 (or at least until I get around to printing more) - and goes on sale for the princely sum of $10. And as the Oz dollar is currently starts to tank, that'll have to be $10(US) or I'll never reach retirement age....

Track me down at one of the forthcoming Comic Cons, or contact Royd for your very own copy.

The Losers - Postscript

2010-06-08T18:01:00.001-07:00

Was the film as flat for everyone else as it was for me? (Rhetorical question really, given the box office figures...) So what the hell happened? All the elements were there to make this an hour and a half of escapist fun, but the film - unlike Andy's comic script - pounded itself into the ground within the first 15 minutes, and then just kinda stayed down for the count....

Shame really, as I was rather hoping that a comic series that I really enjoyed working on might have been better treated by Hollywood.

And as for Jason Patric.... well, words fail me.......

iPad Thoughts....

2010-04-27T16:17:00.001-07:00

I've been excited about the potential of Apple's iPad, which went on sale (at least in the US) a few weeks ago, ever since it was announced back in January.

OK, the iPad is not the first ever device like this to be released (and no doubt we will see plenty more being announced over the next few months!), but as Apple usually do things in a way that opens up so many new options the iPad is likely to be the one device that defines the format. But while I'm sure that these things are going to realign the whole comic author/publisher/reader paradigm, I'm still not entirely convinced.

Something strange is going on. Why do I have the feeling that the iPad seems to want to look and feel like a computer, yet acts like a big iPod Touch. And I've never really been interested in having an iPod Touch.

But why, with all the potential we all know is already into the device, is it so damned hard to get stuff in (or out) of the thing? WiFi? Great, as long as I'm close enough to a wireless network. Bluetooth? Fine, if it finally works the way it is was designed to. 3G? Maybe, but do I really need yet another SIM card. Or more accurately, a 'micro' SIM card? But why can't I just connect the bloody thing with a USB cable (now that Firewire seems to have gone the way of SCSI and that other bloody plug Apple used to require.....) and sync the thing to stuff on any of my Macs without having to go through iTunes? And I like iTunes..... it's just that it is already frustrating enough using it with my iPhone.

Would it be too hard to actually have folders on this thing? Yeah, I know, Apple don't want us to work like that any more. No Finder, no file structure, everything has now got to be 'intuitive'. But why? After 15 years of using computers, I kinda like the Finder, instinctively know my way around the thing, and would be quite happy working on an iPad and moving files and folders or whatever around with my fingertips.....

Maybe some of this stuff is likely to change, but by third-party developers and not necessarily by Apple. And if Apple don't want something to happen, then it won't happen unless you jailbreak your iPad.

Do I still want an iPad? Hell yeah, but I'm not rushing out to buy one when they eventually go on sale here in Australia. The one thing that an iPad looks like doing very, very well - reading books - won't even be available to us here in Australia for the foreseeable future anyway....

But more on all that in my next post....

The Losers

2010-04-14T19:57:00.001-07:00

The Forbidden Planet International blog sums this up pretty well:

Will the film be any good? Maybe, maybe not. But one thing’s for certain, there’s no way the film will be as good as the source, because the graphic novels are about as filmic as you’re going to get, just with perfect characterisation, great sets and an effects budget that’s as good as Diggle and Jock’s imagination.
(There’s a free pdf download of issue 1 at the DC Vertigo site here).

I was lucky enough to draw three issues of the comic series late in its 32-issue run (Vertigo are scheduled to republish all of the series this year), and I had a ball doing it. In fact it was the series that convinced me that maybe I could find work in US comics. And so I'm really looking forward to the film..... knowing Andy, this was exactly the way he wrote the comic series, and all the elements are in the comic series to make a great film.....

Fingers crossed!

Termination, Anyone?

2010-04-08T18:26:00.001-07:00

"If trends in computer science and robotics engineering continue, it is conceivable that autonomous systems could soon be developed that are capable of making life and death decisions without direct human intervention," said John Edward Jackson, professor of unmanned systems at the U.S. Naval War College.

This paragraph is from a recent article Drone Wars, Without Any Rules by Dan Froomkin, and now I can't get a familiar movie soundtrack out of my head. Well, maybe not the whole soundtrack, just a few portentous chord sequences......

Dynamite!

2010-04-06T16:02:00.001-07:00

Bullet to the Head (aka Du Plomb Dans La Tete, aka Headshot) will be published in English for the first time this June, by Dynamite. This is the series I worked on with writer Matz (The Killer) and originally published by Casterman in France. Coincidentally, Casterman will be re-publishing the story in France again this year, this time as an all-in-one large-format B&W edition similar to the limited-edition version published by Librairie Grangier in 2006.

No news yet on the possible film of the series, originally optioned by Warner Bros. in 2008.....

Con Time

2010-04-04T23:24:00.001-07:00

With Melbourne Supanova almost upon us, the 2010 Comic Con season is about to begin. In addition to the Melbourne event, I have also been invited to both the Sydney and Perth events this year, which should get me up to speed for the big one in July, the 2010 San Diego Comic Con.

Yep, it's on again, and this year Tom Taylor I will have our own stand, in conjunction with long-time Star Wars contributor Dave Dorman, and our Australian publisher Gestalt Publishing.

If you are planning on attending any of these Cons, stop by and say hi. I'll be signing anything and everything, taking a limited number of commission to work on during each event, and (if everything goes according to plan), by mid-year I may also have a limited number of my first-ever sketchbook available......

I'm Back

2010-02-17T14:52:00.001-08:00

I know, I know. After such a long break between posts I guess I'm supposed to mention all the exciting stuff that I've been involved with over the last 9 months, but my life is just not that exciting!

To kick things off again, what I'd like to mention here is the news announced this week that co-author (of our Dark Horse series Star Wars: Invasion) Tom Taylor is now also writing The Authority for Wildstorm. Tom has been working on this for quite some time, but was not unable to talk about anything until the news was officially announced this week.

Tom's run starts with The Authority #22, which goes on sale May 5. Which is going to be a busy month, as our first Star Wars: Invasion TP is due for publication (not to mention the first issue of our second Invasion story arc: Rescues... but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to talk about that yet.....).

Well done, young man!

SW: Invasion #02

2009-08-02T16:34:00.001-07:00

... goes on sale this week. The adventure continues.....

Meanwhile, there's another interview with Tom and I over at EUCantina.

SDCC - The Aftermath

2009-08-02T01:26:00.001-07:00

We survived SDCC, and it was great! The place is huge, packed, and alternatively hot or cold depending on where you stand. The feeding frenzy kicked on Wednesday evening - the oddly names "Professionals Night" (it is now open to anyone why ponies up for a four-day pass) when a frightening wave of rabid fans cascaded through the opening doors and literally ran to where they wanted to go, and hardly let up until the doors closed on Sunday evening.

We - all 24 of us - celebrated with a Aussies-only dinner, and everyone agreed that it was the best SDCC yet. That place was so huge that I'm convinced that someone moves stuff around each night after the doors have closed, as I kept discovering new things that I'm convinced weren't there the day before. Or maybe it was just the spectacular dress-ups... I lost count of the near naked slave-Lieas, the spectacular Wonderwomen, the Stormies, the Predators, the countless numbers of other characters who I didn't have a clue who they were. It looks like everyone has a ball, and I know I'll certainly be back next year.....

Hot for SDCC...

2009-07-22T06:46:00.001-07:00

This is it... the biggie. Picked up a Mustang in LA, drove down with Tom Taylor and Wayne Nichols on Monday afternoon, and this afternoon we pick up our credentials for the big one.

And to no-ones surprise, it hot here in San Diego. Not Melbourne hot.... humid, sticky Brisbane hot. It's going to make the Con interesting, and so obviously we've had to top up all our precious bodily fluids....

SDCC 2009

2009-07-16T16:25:00.001-07:00

It's that time of the year again. With SW: Invasion #1 in all good comic shops, Tom Taylor are off to San Diego next week to brave the behemoth previously known as the San Diego Comic Con.

This will be my first visit in 15 years, and Tom and I, along with Wolfgang (Gestalt) and Wayne Nichols, have rented a house for the full Con experience. Tom and I will be appearing at Dark Horse Comics (Booth #2615) from 3 - 4pm on Friday afternoon, and again on Sunday morning from 11 - 12am, so everyone is welcome to call past and have a chat. I will be also handling a limited commissions list while I'm at the Con, so grab us while you can as this will be our first, and only, US appearance for the year.

GFC and all that...

2009-07-14T16:41:00.001-07:00

Hunter S. Thompson may be gone, but a lot of his acerbic, junk-yard dog attitude lives on in the work of my favorite US Journalist Matt Taibbi. I first discovered his semi-regular columns in US Rolling Stone, and I now follow the regular posting on his always-interesting blog.

Recently, he's been doing battle with Goldman-Sachs, and these bruising encounters have done a lot to shed some light on the bizarre global financial meltdown that we've all been infected with over the last 12 months. And will continue to be for the foreseeable future. His latest RS article- The Great American Bubble Machine - is now online, and if 7 pages of financial forensic surgery doesn't sound like your thing, here's just one little gem I bet you didn't know:

"By 2008, a barrel of oil was traded 27 times, on average, before it was actually delivered and consumed."

I never knew that, and if this sort of financial chicanery leaves you stunned, not to say paying a hell of a lot more for the petrol you shovel into your car every week - remember how petrol prices suddenly spiked last year? - get over and read Matt Taibbi. It might reinforce the sensation that big business has both hands in your pocket and won't stop until it fillets your wallet, but at least you'll have a better understanding of just how they are doing it.....

Website

2009-07-04T19:35:00.001-07:00

After 14 years of maintaining a website, I've finally got myself a domain name. With my old ISP cutting me off a lot quicker than expected, thanks to Wolfgang at Gestalt my comic work, in all its glory, can now be found here. Who knows, I might even have the time to update the site one day....

But with SW: Invasion #1 now in the shops, thoughts turn to San Diego. It's been 15 years since I last braved an SDCC and everyone warns me to expect the worst.... bigger, busier, louder... But I'm really looking forward to being there this year, initial reaction to Invasion has been terrific, and this will be my first ever US Comic Con as an author.

So if you are attending, pass by the Dark Horse stand and say hi.......

SW: Invasion #1

2009-06-24T15:56:00.001-07:00

Coming to a comic shop near you, within the week....

Chris Knox

2009-06-13T18:56:00.001-07:00

Just heard the awful news that old friend Chris Knox suffered a stroke earlier this week in Auckland, and may not walk again. Back in the day Chris was the lead singer for New Zealand's best local band - Toy Love - and after they broke up in the early 80's went on to have an illustrious career in music, journalism and cartooning. Without a doubt, he is one of NZ's finest songwriters, and if you ever saw him perform his music live it was always an unforgettable experience.

For Chris, and his family Barbara, John and Leisha... our thoughts are with you.....

Rough Stuff

2009-05-08T04:14:00.001-07:00

OK, I haven't posted much over the last month, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been doing anything! Here's some of what's been happenin'......

• More Dredd on the way. Yep, a thirty-pager(!) for The Megazine, due for publication any minute. Should come complete with probably my best ever Dredd cover, and a feature interview....

• Issue 12 of Rough Stuff contains a big 15 page interview, complete with images from all over (many never before published).

• The Example has been making waves here in Oz, with a big article on Tom and I in the May 5 issue of The Australian. The article is available online here.

• Last night was the combined launch party for The Example and Flinch at Dymocks Bookshop in Melbourne. A big crowd listened to speeches by Tom Taylor, Shaun Tan, and Wolfgang Bylsma followed by a lengthy book signing session by contributing authors and artists Tom, Bobby.N, Tom Bonin and Shaun Tan.

• Friday May 8 is the day that Star Wars: Invasion Preview #1 goes online. Yay! Online Preview #2 next month, followed by the first actual monthly comic in July. Tom Taylor and I will be at the San Diego Comic Con signing copies at both the Dark Horse and Gestalt stands.

Is that enough for ya?....

Mega-City One

2009-04-08T19:25:00.001-07:00

Terrific post by long-time 2000AD contributor D'Isreaeli on how a selection of Dredd artists have portayed the architecture of Mega-City One over the years.

Mick McMahon is rightly credited as the most influential artist who really did most of the early, definitive groundwork, but I'm wondering why particular favorite of mine Kev Walker doesn't get a mention...

Go Jo!

2009-04-08T19:20:00.001-07:00

Our wonderful Star Wars: Invasion cover artist Jo Chen is up for Best Cover Artist in the recently announced Eisner Award Nominations. Yay!

Mission Accomplished

2009-04-06T20:24:00.001-07:00

Well, that all turned out rather well. With Melbourne and Brisbane Supanova events on successive weekends, it has been 10 days of near-constant solid Con styling, and rather seductive for all that. But clearly I'm going to have to lift my game... writer and fellow traveller Tom Taylor has taken to this Con stuff like a seasoned pro, and I'm going to have to be careful or get left coughing and spluttering in his dust! We both especially enjoyed the Brisbane leg.... the whole event was much bigger than the Melbourne Con, I got to talk to a lot of new fans, some of the Cosplay was just stunning, and despite protesting loud and long, Tom and I were swept into all the inner circle socialising. We both loved it.

Highlights

• Our two Masterclass events at each event. They all started slowly but gradually we dragged in the fans, and by Brisbane we were working like a well- oiled machine.

• The public reception to The Example. The sales were terrific... and many buyers returned to tell us how much they enjoyed reading the book.

• Friday night's Opening session in Brisbane. The crowd was well warmed up, and went ballistic when Tom, Jhonen and Todd started to mess with our master of ceremonies' bald, but very humid pate.

• Talking tech stuff with Todd McFarlane on Saturday night.

• Eating Sushi with Tom Taylor, Jhonan Vasquez, Amber Benson and Adam Busch on Saturday evening. OK, I don't eat fish, but the chicken teriyaki was to die for, and the moving conveyer belt of sushi dishes passing by was hipnotic. And as with the rest of the weekend, Mr Vasquez had us all in stitches.

Lowlights

• Our Brisbane flight being delayed by a huge thunderstorm that hit Melbourne lunchtime Friday. And then having to fly though it all again when we finally did get to liftoff. I try to enjoy flying, I really do, but this one was a bit scary.

Supanova 2009

2009-03-23T04:24:00.001-07:00

Over the next two weekends the Supanova Pop Culture Expos (Melbourne March 28 - 29, and Brisbane April 4 - 5) mark the start of our Con Season here in Australia (such that it is!)

Tom Taylor and I will be attending both events, and presenting a Comics Masterclass on the Friday evening preceding each event. To mark the occasion Gestalt are publishing a special limited edition of the first comic story Tom and I worked on together, The Example, and we will have a limited number of signed copies available at both events. If you can't make it in person, the book will also be available via Amazon.

So look us up at Supanova, have a chat, pick up a copy of The Example.

Still More Invasion...

2009-02-28T14:23:00.001-08:00

To coincide with WonderCon (currently underway this weekend) here's a link to a short interview with our Dark Horse Editor Randy Stradley where he supplies a few more details about our new Star Wars series Invasion. The big news is that we have secured the wonderful Jo Chen to produce the covers for the series, the first of which can be seen here.

Both Tom and I are big fans of Jo's work, and her beautifully painted covers will really broaden the appeal of the whole series. One of our hopes with Invasion is to introduce Star Wars comics to a whole new audience, and having Jo on board is a huge step towards achieving that goal.

More Invasion...

2009-02-25T20:19:00.001-08:00

Reaction to the NYCC announcement of our new Star Wars series Invasion has been all over the internet these last couple of weeks, and both Tom and I have been kept busy doing interviews and answering fan questions in all sorts of strange places. It looks like we might be onto something here....

Our Comic Con season also kicks off next month, and we will be attending the Supanova Pop Culture Expo in both Melbourne and Brisbane. We will be presenting the Comics Masterclass on the Friday evening that opens both events... look out for some lame explaination of how we initially teamed up on The Example, how we currently work together, our addiction to good coffee, and maybe we'll even talk up Invasion a little. Ask Tom politely and he might even show you his juggling skills. Should be fun.

Look out for a two-page interview with the both of us in the current Supanova Magazine, soon to be appearing at an venue near you...

Star Wars: Invasion

2009-02-08T00:10:00.001-08:00

This weekend at the New York Comic Con, Dark Horse announced details of the project Tom Taylor and I have been working on since the middle of last year. Invasion is a new Star Wars series, and the first book of our first 5-issue story arc is scheduled for publication by Dark Horse Comics this July. Two 8-page "prequels" to launch the new series will go online at www.starwars.com in May and June.

Although Tom and I have been working together on a variety of projects over the last couple of years, this is the biggie, and we are both giving this new series our best shot. Invasion, set 25 years after the Battle of Yarvin (just in case you wanted to know!) introduces the readers to the Galfridian family, and the peace-loving planet of Artoria. Unfortunately the Yuuzhan Vong are about to arrive...

For more details check out the Comic Book Resources NYCC coverage here, and online interviews with both Tom and myself here and here.

I'll write more about all this in the next few days, but at the moment it's hard to get excited about any of this in light of the huge bush-fires that have raged through parts of Victoria this weekend following the 46 degree day we all suffered yesterday....

Games = Fun? Well, not always...

2009-02-02T18:54:00.001-08:00

Over the last couple of months, I've spent way too much time playing GTAIV and, despite some very frustrating gameplay in places, I've enjoyed myself, immensely.

Now normally I'm a Mac person, always have been, and so I come at this Windows stuff with a great deal of scepticism, but for PC gaming, you just don't have many other option. Macs just don't get games... never have, probably never will. Last December I thought the whole Rockstar/GTAIV online registration process was pretty damned unnecessary (I prefer keeping my Windows box offline, for obvious reasons...) but this morning I picked up a copy of Saints Row 2. A friend thought that after playing GTAIV for the last two months, I'd rather enjoy it.

Well, not yet. Like GTAIV, Saints Row 2 requires online registration, this time with something called Steam. Just why I should have to register online a game I've just ponied up $80 for instead of simply entering my perfectly legit 25-digit(!) serial number beats me, but there it is. Do I have a Steam Account? Well, yes I do. But first it wants me first update my old Steam account (or application, or whatever) and I'll need to change my password details. OK... it updates itself download any amount of stuff on my connection, and then I have to wait for an email confirmation before I can actually use my new, updated account. All this takes, ohhh, another 10 minutes or so. And of course when my new password (not to mention an answer to a "secret" question) does arrive (via my Mac), its one of these codes that contains at least one '1', or is that a capital "I"? Morons. Several minutes go by while I try all the various combinations, but finally I'm allowed into "my" Steam account.

Now we are cooking, and I can begin to install "my" copy of Saints Row 2? Well, no, I can't. Steam requires that I allow it to do this for me. Well, just why I can't do this offline beats me, but OK, be my guest. Soon I get to the part where I need to enter my 25-digit serial number, which I do, and we are almost there. It will probably take another 30 minutes or so to actually install the game, but hey, GTAIV took nearly an hour, and so being the old hand that I am, I can live with that.

Ahhh, but what's this? Now Steam is telling me that "Sorry, but the following items are not available for purchase in this country". Well sorry, but I just bought the fucking game this morning! But I can always drop Steam Support a polite note? Well no, I'll have to set up another "account", because apparently Steam "Support" is different to Steam "Membership", and.... well, forget it. I'll call the THQ Customer Support number kindly supplied me with on the inside back cover of the game booklet that comes in the box. At $2.45 (inc GST)?!... like hell I will!

And they wonder why people pirate these games.....

Flinch

2009-01-21T13:28:00.000-08:00

Over the last 18 months I've been working closely with local Melbourne playwright Tom Taylor on a variety of comic projects, and the first of these to surface looks like being in Flinch, a new anthology title of Australian comic talent published by Gestalt Comics.

This lovely little book, with contributions from, amongst other, Chris Bones, Christian Read, Bobby.N, Justin Randall - not to mention a wonderful cover illustration by Shaun Tan - has recently surfaced on Amazon Books, with a planned publication date of May.

Early last year Tom and I produced a 7-page short story White Dove III, which will appear in Flinch, and a second story, an 11-pager called The Examplee, will be published in another anthology, this time centered around short stories all written by Tom, to be published by Gestalt later this year.

2009

2009-01-14T22:52:00.001-08:00

The start of a new year, and I can finally mention a few of the various projects I've been recently working on. Star Wars I cannot talk about until next month, but this morning the latest issue of the Judge Dredd Megazine arrived featuring my first Dredd work in nearly 10 years.

Written by Al Ewing, Magic Bullets is the first part of a twenty page Dredd story I did for the Megazine late last year. Another story, a thirty-pager, will follow later in the year. I must say I've had a ball drawing Old Stoney Face after all this time, and with hints of a possible new Dredd film project in development (check out some of Jock's pre-production art starting to appear on various sites), it looks like being a good year for everyones favorite Future Cop...

A nice little surprise arrived at the same time: Judge Dredd: The Colin Wilson Collection. This features 50+ pages of Dredd stories I drew for both 2000AD and The Megazine in the late '90's. A funny though just occurred to me... if I get the chance to draw something for 2000AD next year, I will have had work published there for each of the last four decades. Scary...

It's Miller Time...

2008-12-26T17:06:00.001-08:00

Roger Ebert on The Spirit.... "(the film) is mannered to the point of madness. There is not a trace of human emotion in it. To call the characters cardboard is to insult a useful packing material."

I don't think he enjoyed it. Does anyone actually want to pay money to see this film?....

Quantum of Next to Nothing...

2008-12-17T13:22:00.001-08:00

Someone convinced me to go see the latest Bond film yesterday, and I can't remember being more bored in a cinema for many a year. No characterisation (OK, I wasn't expecting any....), very disappointing theme song (OK, I wasn't expecting anything memorable, but really!) and the plot is so event driven as to be totally incoherent. I defy anyone to explain to me the plot of this film, and all the characters seem to talk to each other (when they are shooting at each other) in some form of code, with no narrative flow whatsoever.

Even the spectacular stunt sequences - and a lot of shit gets blown up here - are filmed so in-yer-face, and edited to within an inch of their lives, I was bored within minutes. Visual incoherence is unforgivable in a film like this.

Is this what happens when Hollywood hacks write film scripts instead of novels?...

That Bat Guy...

2008-12-16T01:25:00.001-08:00

I've finally had time to finish off the last of the commissions I took at last months Armageddon Convention here in Melbourne. Previously I've tried to avoid any superhero requests, but at Armageddon I gave in and accepted a couple of Batman commissions. Of all the current superhero bunch - and there's just so many of 'em - I guess Batman is about the only character I feel anything for. Although I've avoided the current cinema release - my 10 year old is working his way through the earlier Tim Burton flics, and I'm amazed at how awful they look (and sound) - I had fun doing this, and if I ever get the opportunity to work on spandex, Batman would be the guy I'd go with.

2009

2008-12-12T14:52:00.001-08:00

With 2009 already shaping up as a bumper year (more, I cannot reveal, at least until early next year), I've spent a lot of time over the last few weeks sorting and cataloging my artwork from the 80's and 90's. There's a lot of it, and I've been discovering things that I can't even remember producing.... things like this.

The reason for all this activity? A limited selection of my earlier art for 2000AD, Blueberry, Point Blank, The Losers etc (but, as yet, no Star Wars art) is now available to buy online. Royd Burgoyne has kindly agreed to look after this for me, and the first selection of my work to be made available can now be seen at his online Comic Art Shop.

If you are interested in original artwork, keep an eye on this site as there are going be some interesting stuff available here over the next few months. And although my current workload prohibits it at the moment, early in '09 Royd will also be opening a Commission List for me.

Extreme Sports...

2008-12-09T13:22:00.001-08:00

It's hard to underestimate the impact Underground Comics had on me when I first discovered these little devils in the early '70's. While Robert Crumb quickly became the big name to throw around, it was the graphic design of Victor Moscoso and Rick Griffen that really blew me away, and I even tried surfing (once, it nearly killed me) thanks to those two guys. Heaven knows why...

But the artist who left the greatest impression on my small, immature mind was S. Clay Wilson, handsdown. If ever there was a comic artist who's work represented everything extreme, over-the-top, and with absolutely no redeeming social qualities whatsoever it had to be this guy, and I still remember my absolute shock and delight on discovering The Checkered Demon for the first time.

That's why I've been following the news of his recent accident with interest. About a month ago S. Clay Wilson was found unconscious in the street with serious brain damage, probably following a drunken fall. It's been touch and go since then, but this Underground Comics genius is now out of intensive care and making a slow but gradual recovery. While it sounds like he has a long way still to go, this is good news indeed. Read about his recovery here.

Breakfast with the Stars...

2008-12-07T12:58:00.001-08:00

Had breakfast the other morning with award-winning book author Shuan Tan. I've been a huge fan of his beautiful books for years, and so it was a real treat to finally meet the man, and discover for myself what a nice guy he is. And I'm sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that he takes his work very seriously indeed... you can't produce books like that without paying attention to every minor detail.

Picked up some fascinating hints of his current project, but with my time being cut short by the attention span of my ten year old son - I'm baby-sitting for the week - I'm looking forward to meeting up with Shaun again and learning more from the master.....

Headshot

2008-10-15T22:49:00.001-07:00

Well, it now looks official.

This morning Variety announced that Warner Bros has acquired the screen rights to Du Plomb Dans La Tete (aka Headshot in English), the three book BD series I produced with Matz for Casterman (France).

Variety reports that the film will be produced by Alexandra Milchan and 'Smallville' creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Alessandro Camon ('The Messenger') is set to write the screenplay.

This is great news, especially as this is the third series written by Matz to be optioned by Hollywood within the last twelve months.

Outstanding!

So You Think This Is Funny?!...

2008-10-09T15:45:00.001-07:00

If you haven't already been laid off, this is a great time to be an editorial cartoonist. We see some good stuff here in Australia, but with the weird shit going down in the States at the moment, it is the (few surviving ) US cartoonists that are hitting the home runs these days.

I'm a huge fan of Pat Oliphant and crank up my computer every morning eager to see his latest work. The stuff he is currently producing on the US election campaign has been some of his best work (he absolutely nails the whole Republican/Sarah Palin farago) and should see publication in every newspaper, worldwide. So why are so many of his contemporaries being laid-off or retired just when we need them the most?

Thank heavens for GoComics.

These are tough times for any supporter the current US regime, and Michael Ramirez often struggles not to look too desperate. But today's effort was near perfect...

The OTHER One That Got Away...

2008-10-07T23:17:00.001-07:00

Gears of War 2 wasn't the only job I took a shot at earlier this year. Here's the other one... Resistance 2: Fall of Man.

I was pretty happy with the art, but someone further up the food-chain wanted someone else. I think they're still looking...

Bionic Commando

2008-09-12T01:21:00.001-07:00

With 29 of the 32 pages currently online at the Bionic Commando website, the comic written by Andy Diggle and illustrated by yours truly has now almost finished its run. I am also running all pages so far published by Capcom on my website here.

For some unknown reason the colour saturation on the recent web pages appear way down from the originals, and hopefully the printed version of the comic will retain more of the original colour. Bionic Commando: Chain of Command is my first work in ages that I was able to colour myself, and it will be a shame if this bleached, anemic look of the web pages carries through into the final comic.

Although originally scheduled to make an appearance at the San Diego Comic Con in late July, the comic now looks like it will be part of the special Collectors Edition of the game that Capcom will soon release. The more I see of this game the mnore I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a copy!

Oh yeah, the cover was done by some guy called Dave Gibbons....

It's Been a While...

2008-09-08T20:44:00.001-07:00

Yeah, I know. No excuses, but it has been a pretty busy few months. The odd triumph, some fun work, a few disappointments. Check back over the next few days, and I'll mention a few of them...

A couple of months ago I did some work on Gears of War for WildStorm. I didn't get the gig, but here's one of the several GoW spec images I did at the time.

Here's another...

Point Blank

2008-09-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

Just dragged this off the Sean Phillips blog. It looks like our Point Blank TP is up for reprinting, and Sean is currently producing a new cover. I'm delighted.

It must be because I've become so famous over the last five year, as that Ed Brubaker guy has done nothin'!

Legacy: Shards

2008-03-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

Several months after the French edition, the US TPB of Legacy: Shards goes on sale this week. This reprints the three Legacy stories I illustrated for Dark Horse last year, and I will have a (very) limited number of signed copies with me this weekend at Supanova.

This will be only my second English language Comic Con - or "Pop Culture Expo" as this one prefer to be known - that I have been invited to attended, at least as an invited guest. I'll be nervous.... comic conventions are a rare beast in this part of the world.

Reasons to Believe...

2008-03-17T05:16:00.000-07:00

With Star Wars: Revelation now in full swing with Dark Horse, I can also now talk about the "other" project that I have been busy working on since late last year.

Andy Diggle (2000AD, The Losers etc.)and I are producing Bionic Commando: Chain of Command, a 32-page full colour comic, for gaming giant Capcom. The final book is due for publication at this years San Diego Comic Con, but as part of the build-up for the release of their huge new Bionic Commando game later this year Capcom are now publishing Chain of Command on their website at a page a week.

Go check out the first three pages now...

Rebellion

2008-01-25T18:22:00.000-08:00

A busy Christmas and New Year, which is why I've posted very little here. Three Star Wars: Rebellion covers, one issue of interior Rebellion art, English translations of all three Du Plomb Dans la Tete books, and several other bits and pieces.

More details to come....

Legacy

2007-12-16T16:55:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting one. The three Star Wars: Legacy stories I did earlier this year (#9. #10 & #13) are already available as a trade paperback in France. Well, in fact it's a hardcover published by Editions Delcourt, but the similar US TP isn't due from Dark Horse until Feb 08.

The Killer

2007-12-15T14:45:00.001-08:00

Here's one that slipped under the radar over the last couple of months.

Before we produced Du Plomb Dans La Tete, my favorite French scribe Matz wrote a wonderful, quirky comic series Le Tueur (Casterman). It's worth checking out purely for artist Luc Jacamon's beautiful colour work. During the last year small US comic publisher Archaia Studios Press have started publication of an English translation, and early in November news came through that the series has now been optioned by Paramount for a major film, possibly staring Brad Pitt.

Now while Pitt wouldn't be my pick for the starring role, here's the clincher: the director is penciled in as David Fincher. Having already directed three of my all-time favorite films - Se7en, Fight Club, and this year's most underrated film, Zodiac - if Fincher actually gets to direct The Killer we are in for one very wild ride. It doesn't get much better that that!

Yeah, yeah...

2007-12-14T15:18:00.001-08:00

I know... it's been a while. I'm still here... it's just been kinda busy. Star Wars: Rebellion has been keeping me off the streets. Details to follow.

Bourne, again...

2007-09-17T15:16:00.001-07:00

Finally got to see this one yesterday, and while the camerawork did not annoy me as much as I had expected, I was rather surprised by the lack of originality of the whole film. Basically, it's just a remake of The Bourne Supremacy.

Maybe director Paul Greengrass just wanted to film the entire thing with a handheld?...

Star Wars: Rebellion

2007-09-16T17:02:00.001-07:00

So there I was surfing the web last week - does anyone even call it that these days? - and I discover that I am currently producing a four issue mini-series for Dark Horse. And so it's now official, although I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the early December publication date. I'd go more for early next year, but what do I know? Star Wars: Rebellion #11 - 14 is underway, in fact the first cover can be seen here.

My cover for Knights of the Old Republic #24 hit the net the same day, and can be seen here.

2000AD Slog

2007-09-07T17:07:00.001-07:00

The very brave Paul Rainey has been spending the last few months reading the entire run 2000AD issues from the first issue, and posting mini-reviews on his 2000AD Prog Slog. This week he has reached the 200s - the first issues where my own work started to appear - and he has some very nice things to say about my very first Dredd work, the ten-pager I drew for the 1981 Sci-Fi Special.

Commissions

2007-09-04T15:50:00.001-07:00

Over the last couple of weeks I've had some free time to look into drawing a couple of commissioned works. I'm constantly been amazed at the continuing popularity of Rogue Trooper, a 2000AD character that I last worked on back in 1982(!), and here's an image I drew up over the last week.

With no forewarning whatsoever, my ISP has decided to completely re-jig their 'service' and it seems that I can no longer upload addition material to my website. This is the second time that they have done this, but this time I don't think that I can be bothered to figure out how to sort out the problem, and I am looking into moving my site elsewhere. Somewhere like mac.com would suit me fine, but here in Australia the annual cost is outrageous. Nice service though...

Film Editing

2007-08-23T23:23:00.000-07:00

Has anyone noticed how many cuts are used in modern films? Especially in the kind of 'action' films that are my guilty pleasure. I've just watched Die Hard 4 and while the editing speed didn't seem (thankfully) too excessive, I immediately noticed another trend that now seems to be essential in these films.... the tracking shot. These days is seems that a director just can't keep the camera still, and even in the film's quieter moments - actually especially in the quiet stuff - the viewer's POV is forever sliding across some surface, or some large unlit or depth-of-field object is moving across the screen between the viewer and whatever we are supposed to be concentrating on.

Much more of this, combined with that other modern action film cliche - the hyperactive editing - and films like this are going to be completely unwatchable. I've been really looking forward to The Bourne Ultimatum, which opens in Australia at the end of the month, but after reading this post on David Bordwell's blog Observations on Film Art blog now I'm not so sure.

3200 shots in 105 minutes?

Here's more on the topic.

Out with the db's...

2007-08-20T20:06:00.000-07:00

More thumbs now on my website. When I first began writing this script back in February, I never imagined that I’d manage to draw 20 pages, but with more pressing work now at hand, these will be the last I will be posting for the time being.

I’ve enjoyed writing this, I’ve learned a lot about comic script writing. This first book runs to 26 pages, and the script for the next episode is already well advanced. But this was never planned as more than an exercise, and unfortunately I just won’t have the spare time to either write or draw more RDDs (note the final title)....

Enjoy.... and if enough readers find this interesting, who knows, maybe in a few months I’ll have the opportunity to post more pages.

Philip K. Dick

2007-08-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

For much of last year I was fascinated by the film A Scanner Darkly. Not so much for the plot, which I understand was closely based on the original Philip K. Dick 1977 novel, more for the wonderful rotoscope technique used by director Richard Linklater. I loved the look of the film, much more than the content, which I guess labels me as a true member of the Marshall McLuhan generation.

Anyway, back to Philip K. Dick. He wrote some fascinating and influential stuff back in the '60's and '70's (do the films “Total Recall,” “Minority Report,” “A Scanner Darkly,” “Blade Runner” ring any bells?) and last week The New Yorker site ran a terrific overview of the author and his work. I read a lot of these books in the '70's (Dick died in 1982), and I'm surprised just how much of his whole approach to science fiction genre has stuck with me over the years.

Check out The New Yorker article by Adam Gopnik article here.

KotOR #23 cover...

2007-08-15T15:10:00.001-07:00

My Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #23 cover has appeared for the first time on the Dark Horse website. Of the six covers that I have so far drawn for KotOR, #23 is probably my favorite. And from what I've so far seen of the interior art (Dustin Weaver pencils the #22/23/24 story arc), this issue is going to be a cracker.

KotOR #23 goes on sale November 28.

And so...

2007-08-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

No SW, and so more db's, here.

Pixar

2007-08-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

The Pixar exhibition is in town, and last week I got in to check it out.

To paraphrase the wonderful Ian Dury... " There ain't half some clever bastards..."

Now I'm really looking forward to Ratatouille next month....

More db's...

2007-08-01T00:07:00.000-07:00

Rather than sit and await the arrival of my next Star Wars project, I've been keeping myself busy drawing thumbnails for my script the db's.

More pages can be found here.

Run

2007-07-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening I was invited to attend the Australian premiere of the NZ short film Run. Last year I was lucky enough to be asked to produce the images for the comic featured in several key sequences of the film, and it was terrific to see my work up on the big screen. Mark and the guys at Sticky Pictures have produced a wonderful little film - it won a Palme d'Or Special Mention at this year's Cannes Film Festival - and I was delighted to hear that they are now planning their first feature.

My comic pages used in the film can be seen here.

Website Update

2007-07-24T23:13:00.000-07:00

I've just spent the last couple of days redesigning my website, and it is now considerable cleaner, and now orientated more towards my recent work. No doubt there are still several broken links and other glitches that I'll need to sort over the next few days, but at least the hard bit is done....

Who am I, do I make a difference...

2007-07-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

Each morning I wake up, stagger over to my iMac (which, clever thing that it is, is already up and running) and over a hot cuppa joe read about ten or fifteen of the mornings blog entries. Obviously not everyone is a slack as I am with this stuff, but some of these people write blog entries every fucking day! How do they do it? OK, some of them are writers - ex-2000AD bloggerDavid Bishop wants to write for television, and is very determined he's going to get there - but how do artists like Sean Phillips or Ashley Wood do all that work, and STILL find the time to blog about it every day?

Buggered if I know. When I'm busy I don't have the time, or the energy, to keep this thing up to date, and when I'm not busy, I'm too bloody depressed to sit down and blog. Not "damn, when is the next job going to arrive" depressed, real " what the fuck am I doing here, should I just go and slash my wrists" depressed. I never used to be like this, so why should I be now? Does anyone else in the comics business get like this, and if so, how do they cope with these feeling?

Not that I've been navel-gazing for the last few months. I've finished another run of Knights of the Old Republic covers. (Yeah, yeah, I'll post some pics when I get the OK from Dark Horse). Then, about a months ago I got together with a local playwright, and we've been adapting one of his short two-handers into a ten page comic piece. It's all very well drawing colourful characters running around blowing shit up, but two character just talking - and for ten pages - is something else altogether. It's been a challenge, and I think that it has turned out really rather well. I have no idea what we'll do with the story - Tom wants to try and publish it for use in his school drama classes - but it has been fun to do, and i think we've learned something useful.

Some blogs that have cheered me up lately? Rhodri Marsden writes an IT column for the UK daily The Independant and in his spare time plays occasional keyboards for Scritti Politti, and he's such a clever and funny writer he could make opening a can of baked beans sound like something I should be doing in the next five minutes. Only recently have I stumbled across the Pete Townshend blog, and I'm still catching up on this one. Now Townsend is THAT Pete Townshend, guitarist with the Who, and he's currently writing his autobio, and serialising sections of it online. Back in the day the Who were a Real Band, and in about 1972 they released one of the all-time best live records ever - The Who: Live at Leads. Fried lots of brain-cells listening to that one, phasers set on stun. His blog entries about that wonderful period between 1965 and 1969 when rock'n'roll really grew up make for fascinating reading, and I can't wait for his next postings.

And the title of this posting? Comes from a great song Before Hollywood by Chris Bailey, vocalist of that wonderful old Oz rock outfit The Saints. They once released a song called Know Your Product. And their first album was called (I'm) Stranded. Kinda how I feel at the moment....

TPO

2007-06-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

As a very minor bit-player in a couple of the early 2000AD years, this is something I'll be checking out with much interest. Author David Bishop has been writing this book for several years, not to mention publishing several excerpts on his excellent Thrill Power Overload blog, and it now looks about to appear in a comic shop near you.

Definitely worth a look....

In Shops This Week...

2007-05-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

Now this comes as a real surprise.

Battler Britton - written by Garth Ennis, art by Colin Wilson, cover by Garry Leach, collects the 5-issue mini series published by Wildstorm last year.

DPW 04

2007-05-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

Lines and Colors

2007-04-30T05:08:00.000-07:00

Picked up a nice little mention on the linesandcolors.com site late last week. Check it out here.

DPW 03

2007-04-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

Time for a change of scenery...

TLE Blog

2007-04-25T15:25:00.000-07:00

Hey, one of my favorite comic artists - Tommy Lee Edwards - has just fired up his own blog. Get on over to here for some really beautiful Star Wars art and Con sketches, all produced by one of the finest artists currently working in comics.

DPW 02

2007-04-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

Although I don't usually work up thumbs to this level of detail, it's a worthwhile exercise to get obvious visual problems sorted before going to finished page art. Between the first and second draft of the script the first speech balloon on page 2 here suddenly became an orphan. Not good, and it obviously needs to be moved up into the final panel of page 1.

This is also where I try to work on character design. If you are going to have to live with these guys for months, or in some cases years, you've really got to be comfortable with them. What do they look like? What clothes would they wear. Haircuts? Body language? No amount of character sketching can solve all the problems - this is the stage where each character has to actually fit into the story. Its worth trying out different stuff, and so here the visual aspect of each character is still very fluid, and they may change quite a lot from panel to panel until I arrive at a stage where I am completely comfortable with their visual appearance.

DPW 01

2007-04-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

After another weeks work, and some crucial help from a couple of people who know a whole lot more about this than I do, I've finally got a second draft of the dBs Ep 1 that I'm happy with. Time to work on some thumbs. I doubt I'll have the time to do the whole story to this level of detail - my thumbnails are usually VERY sketchy! - but whenever I start a new project I find that at this stage its a good idea to throw in as much detail as possible.

Working title...

2007-04-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

About ten years ago, when we moved from France back to Australia, I almost gave up drawing comics for a living. What made me stay in the business was a promise I made to myself that one day I'd work on a project with a little more personal involvement than anything I've drawn since Dans L'Ombre du Soleil. My recent series in France - Du Plomb Dans La Tete - was my first step in that direction, but I was not responsible for the concept or the writing, so this wasn't exactly what I was thinking of either.

Yesterday, using what little spare time that my various Star Wars commitments allow, I finished the first draft of a comic script. I haven't written anything for myself, or anyone else for that matter, for years, and I'd forgotten just how bloody hard it all is.

Diesel Park West currently clocks in at 23 pages, which could boil down to the standard 22 for the US market, or it could stretch out to 24 or 25 by the time I finish the next draft. Whatever happens, it's the first book in what could become an open-ended series: working title - the dBs. And no, it's nothing to do with a story about an failed indy rock band...

I'll probably never get the time to draw this script, but it's a work in progress, and I'm pleased I've finally done something about that ten year old promise to myself. The next step? Rework the script, get a final draft that I'm reasonably happy with, and then post some thumbnails here.

Stay tuned?

Six months ?!

2007-04-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

Yeah yeah, I know....

It's been a while, but I've got an excuse. It's been a busy few months, and just to summarize, here's what I've been doing: Star Wars: Legacy #8 (cover), Star Wars: Legacy #9 and #10 (interior art), Star Wars: Legacy #13 (interior art). The first three are now available, the Legacy #13 story is a one-off episode that I started last September (see below) and which has now been slotted into the Legacy continuity.

Upcoming are three more covers for Dark Horse: Knights of The Old Republic #16, #17 and #18, which look a little different (at least for KoTOR) and have yet to appear anywhere on the .net.

Working with the guys at Dark Horse has been fun, and it looks like there's more to come....

Hot...Damned hot!

2006-10-12T01:31:00.000-07:00

Today, in Melbourne, we got our first taste of the long hot summer to come. 36º makes it rather hard to work, and there promises to be a few more from where that one came from too. Two Star Wars books to complete before the end of the year. Hmmm.....

Posts here are going to get a little less frequent for the next couple of months.

Star Wars

2006-10-08T23:54:00.000-07:00

With my recent Star Wars cover appearing on the Dark Horse website, for Legacy ep 8, I can also say that I am now working on some interior art for the same series.

My first, as yet unscheduled book is now almost complete, and over the weekend I received two more episodes to draw, probably books 9 and 10 in the same series. The painting experiments have been shelved for the moment, and I'm now getting back into sf.

While I'll admit I'm no big fan of the recent films, I enjoyed the original Star Wars film when it was released back in 1977, although I had no idea just how much it would re-define the whole field of popular science fiction for the film and comic buying public. For me Star Wars was, and still is a Western that just happens top be set in the future, and luckily the saga has been a visual treat thanks to some of the best designers in the business. personally I'm a huge fan of another old ex-2000AD artist Dermot Power, and if I can bring a quarter of the creative imagination to my comic art as he displayed in his work on Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones all be a very happy little camper.

The Wire

2006-09-28T15:49:00.000-07:00

Does anyone watch free-to-air television anymore?

Back in the day, growing up in New Zealand, I was a complete addict, and I'd watch anything and everything. Ten years living in France cured me of that. Here in Australia, with free-to-air effectively controlled by commercial multi-nationals, television is an extremely unpleasant experience, and these days I watch my motorsport and little else. Well, until recently that is.

Earlier this year while spending a weekend with ex-2000AD editor and DC Comics up-and-comer Andy Diggle, we got to talking about some of our favorite movies, and inevitably the topic of television came up. I think I'd just searched out a boxed set of The Sweeney (don't worry about it, ask your grandfather...) only to blanch a little at the 120 quid asking price. Maybe I was lamenting the state of current TV cop shows - OK, we've got The Sopranos, but even here I struggle to maintain an interest) but Andy suggested I check out the HBO series The Wire.

And its terrific. A month or so I picked up a cheap copy of season 2 and enjoyed it immensely. Now its season 1, and a recently bit-torrented season 3 awaits. OK, the workflow is slowing somewhat, but there should be more stuff like this around. Maybe there is.....

Digital Painting (Part 1)

2006-09-13T16:34:00.000-07:00

I've decided I'm finally going to learn how to paint. Not the messy stuff in tubes and bottles, its time to go digital with this stuff.

I've got a cover to do - for something I probably shouldn't talk too much about at this stage. To hit the thing running, last week I picked up a decent sized Wacom tablet. I've used those little 4x5 Graphire things for years, but this baby is big - 6x11 - I can't even fit the thing on my bloody desk!

But the painting is coming along nicely, and if this thing works out I might be tempted to do more of this stuff. A better image will follow, when I get some idea if I'm allowed to post the whole thing here.

Bad Week in Oz

2006-09-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

The death earlier this week of serial croc-chaser Steve Irwin had a certain inevitability about it, but the news that Oz motorsport icon Peter Brock was killed yesterday during a rally event in Western Australia has come as a real shock.

OK, its a risk of the job, but Peter Perfect was never one of those drivers who took unnecessary risks, and in a driving career spanning probably 40 years I can remember him ever having a serious accident. And so his death, while driving a replica of my all-time favorite car - a Shelby Daytona Coupe - comes as a real shock to this lifetime motorsport tragic.

The Daytona Coupe, raced with great success in '64 and '65 against the might of Ferrari back when motorsport really meant something, will forever symbolize the victory of big, loud American muscle over Euro finesse and guile. I've still got a model of it sitting next to my computer. Often copied, only six of the original cars were ever made. Ironically they were designed by someone called... Peter Brock (no relation).

Tough Times...

2006-09-05T18:20:00.001-07:00

In a week that just seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, this really brightened up my day.

Check out a whole bunch more images here. Funny stuff.

Synchronicity (Part 2)

2006-08-30T04:59:00.000-07:00

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......

2006-08-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

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.....

2006-08-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

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)

2006-08-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

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...

2006-08-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

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....

2006-08-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

“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.

2006-08-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

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.....

Losing the Losers?

2005-08-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

This morning Pulse features an interview with Jock, where he talks up some of his many future projects. Unfortunately, there's also the news that the Losers series, despite all the recent movie crossover talk, is to end with issue 32. While I'm not exactly surprised given the low sales, this is disappointing news, as I've always hoped that this series could find its audience somewhere in the US comics marketplace.

Obviously the series needed more men in tights...

2005-08-01T03:56:00.000-07:00

Everyone else is doing it, so it's time to start my own blog.