Are you Manet enough for The Art of War?

Another glorious and edgy cover from Rick Veitch. This time he turns his attention to one of my favourite Impressionistic paintings. Le Dejeuner sur L'Herbe by Édouard Manet. Some of you may well remember the Bow Wow Wow revision done in the eighties featuring a very young Annabella Lwin. Rick has done a wonderful job of keeping the essence of the painting alive while adding his own Army@Love twist. Brian Miller again provides the colour.

Is Rick Veitch Whistler's Mother?

Another new Art of War cover from Rick Veitch. This time he desicrates Whistler's Mother. Love it! Choosing my favourite cover gets more difficult with every page of pencils he send me. Praise too for Brian Miller's colours which are subtle but near perfect in capturing the original and still popping out from the shelves. Surely DC Vertigo could consider a release for these wonderful covers? Or a t-shirt?

More details can be found on my Facebook Fan Page here or my Creators Page here.

Facebook Fan Page.

Due to interest (and a backlog of friend requests) I have decided to set up a Facebook Fan Page. Unlike this blog, there will be more of a comic book skew with pages, previews, covers and sneak peaks going up on a regular business. Requests for older pages are welcome but give me a few days to dust off the Fedex storage boxes and search. Hardly as quick as Google to find an old Pendragon page!

There will also be some new projects showcased. Comments and feedback welcome.

Search for my mugshot on Facebook and join. Direct link here.

Edinburgh Book Festival 2008 appearance.

Just another reminder that I will be appearing at an interview session as part of the Edinburgh Book Festival 2008 on Friday August 15th. Event starts at 4.30pm and lasts an hour and there will be a sketching and signing opportunity afterwards in the bookshop area. Seats are free but limited so you would be best to get in touch with the organisers quickly to guarantee a place. Details are to be found here.

The interviewed will be conducted by Hanna Sommerseth and focus mainly on Dare and Vertigo work. We will also cover most of the last twenty years of my career and there will be a Q&A for any attendees wishng to hear some industry gossip. Should be fun and I hope to see you there.

This was a last minute event and doesn't show in the main printed programme. You will have to search the Edinburgh Book Festival site to confirm details.

Dark Knight on IMAX.

Finally saw the IMAX version of Dark Knight at the Glasgow Science Centre last week. Defintely recommended! The film features five sequences shot in the IMAX format while the rest of the movie is upconverted by the DMR process, maintaining a high quality throughout. If you haven't experienced a proper and pure IMAX feature (previous movies have been DMR processed only) then the Dark Knight is a must. The majority of the film is shot in a traditional 2.25 ratio with the IMAX sequences (or framing shots) in the full almost square format. Not as distracting as you may think. If anything, it opens out the picture so much as to extend beyond your peripheral vision and really draws you into the movie. Wonderful!

The opening bank heist is all the more stunning for it's attention to detail and clarity. Near 3D effect with the close ups. The city flyover establishing shots (Hong Kong in particular) are near vertigo inducing. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine get their 'moments' presented in the highest quality. The Batmobile/ Joker chase is a tour-de-force! A must see! For comic fans and film fans alike this is an amazing experience and the bonus opening trailer for Watchmen just rounds off a wonderful viewing opportunity.

Worth the extra price of a ticket? A resounding 'yes'! Just don't sit too close! Four rows from the front is terrifying! Especially with Heath Ledger's Joker face taunting you in close up.

Edinburgh Book Festival 2008.

I will be appearing at an interview session as part of the Edinburgh Book Festival 2008 on Friday August 15th. Event starts at 4.30pm and lasts an hour and there will be a sketching and signing opportunity afterwards in the bookshop area. Seats are free but limited so you would be best to get in touch with the organisers quickly to guarantee a place. Details are to be found here.

The interviewed will be conducted by Hanna Sommerseth and focus mainly on Dare and Vertigo work. We will also cover most of the last twenty years of my career and there will be a Q&A for any attendees wishng to hear some industry gossip. Should be fun and I hope to see you there.

This was a last minute event and doesn't show in the main printed programme. You will have to search the Edinburgh Book Festival site to confirm details.

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008 photos.

A major success! The Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008 had a massive turnout by friendly and enthusiastic fans from all over Asia and from as far as Australia too. Mhairi and I had an amazing time and the whole experience was one we won't forget. We are already planning to return to Singapore next year and hope to spend a few more days around the event to enjoy the rest of the country.

Many thanks to everyone who helped out from Play Imaginative. Denise, Darren, Liyanna and Daphne who kept the convention running smoothly. To Winston and Bernard for keeping us going and getting us to the right place at the right time (almost! ;) To Mr Chang and his wife, and Richard the curator at the Mint Toy Museum for being the most gracious of hosts. The toy collection was very inspiring and the Dare section was impressive! Thanks also to Neil, Spencer, Jimmy, King Lee and Ben, and to everyone we met in Singapore, it was a great event! Here's to next year!

Public links to Facebook photos are below. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31410&l=c8467&id=668172360

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31414&l=8f091&id=668172360

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31420&l=a9c6b&id=668172360

Dan Dare original art auction!

I have an original piece of Dan Dare artwork up for auction as part of the Singapore Toy and Comic Convention. Featured works of art by myself, Pete Fowler, Tokidoki and DEVILROBOTS and Touma, both from Japan! The selected charity is the Club Rainbow (Singapore), a charity committed to helping children suffering from a range of chronic and life-threatening illnesses.

Details here at http://www.sgtoyandcomiccon.com/art_auction.html

Dan Dare Forbidden Planet signings in June.

I will be signing copies of the new Dan Dare hardcover at Forbidden planet in London on Saturday 14th and Newcastle on Thursday 19th of June. Details here. Come along and you may well get a sketch too.

This is the first of the Dan Dare appearances. The next is in Singapore at the Singapore Toy and Comic Convention at the end of the June. Anyone who makes the trip over for that one will get a free page of artwork! ;)

Dan Dare covers up on Facebook.

I have uploaded most of the Dan Dare covers on Facebook. The public link is here and you can enjoy work by Garry Leach, Dave Gibbons, Bryan Talbot and a host of other talented British artists. The album features the little seen variant edition covers too. Will replace the images with higher resolution ones when available.

Hope you enjoy the pics and remember to vote for Dan Dare and myself at this year's Eagle Awards. Last week of voting! Cast your votes here.

Panini covers!

Here are some Marvel covers for Panini Comics I inked recently. Pencils are by my friend Jon Haward (who I collaborated with in part on Macbeth for Classical Comics) The covers feature Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and The Amazing Spiderman in all their retro glory. The books are available in all good bookshops (and maybe some bad ones? ;) The Hulk cover is my favourite but Spiderman is a close second. That web-slinging action always excites!



But to be honest I think everyone is geared up for the new Iron Man movie so I have included the classic Iron Man of my childhood.



See more of Jon's work here. His site features a variety of his work past and present and also contains reviews for the excellent Macbeth.

Second (and final) round of voting for Eagle Awards!

Thanks to everyone who voted for Garth, myself and Dan Dare in the first round of the Eagle Awards. We got shortlisted in the following categories!

Favourite New Comicbook – Dan Dare

Favourite Comics Hero – Dan Dare

Favourite Comics Artist: Inks – Gary Erskine

Now it is the second (and final) round and there is about a week left to vote. Only one vote per email address is allowed but feel free to ‘borrow’ your friends, partners and pets’ email accounts! You can vote here. The email address is only for validation so no worries there!

Results are announced in three weeks at the Bristol Comic Expo on Saturday 10th May. The nominations are great news for both Garth and me for the long hours and passion we put into this book and it would be especially good if Dan Dare (the Eagle Comic’s original son) were to win an Eagle Award (or two?) to celebrate his return. Here's hoping.

Singapore Toy and Comic Convention 2008 in June.

I have been confirmed as a guest at the Singapore Toy and Comic Convention at the end of June. Details here . Should be great fun and a terrific opportunity to travel to the Asias. My cousin teaches English in Bangkok so a short flight to Thailand is also on the cards. More news as it happens.

Dan Dare is Eagle Award nominated!

Dan Dare has been officially nominated at the Eagle Awards for Favourite New Comic Book and Favourite Hero. I have also picked up a nomination for Favourite inker which covers my work on Army@Love for DC Comics/ Vertigo and Dreamworks titles for Titan Books last year.

Voting is live here so you can now nominate Dan Dare and myself in the appropriate categories. Garth Ennis and I are very pleased with the series and it would be a particularly poignant win for Dan Dare as the Eagle Comic's favourite son. We are very passionate about the book and who knows what will come of it? Maybe a second series? Dare deserves to return as the Favourite British Hero!

Thanks to everyone who helped us win nominations. Vote now for Dan Dare at the Eagle Awards. Winners announced this May at the Bristol Comic Expo!

National Library of Scotland event in April and May.

I will be attending a selection of events at the National Library of Scotland's Local Heroes event in April and May. Details are included in the current What's On guide here. Cam Kennedy, Frank Quitely and Metaphrog are also appearing during the event and providing talks and workshops.

Watchmen the Movie - One year and counting...

I can't tell you how excited I am about this. A brilliant graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and inspiration to me and a lot of my fellow colleagues. The movie (from a visual point of view so far) looks impressive. Every released photo instills a little more confidence in the finished product. Zack Snyder has already shown himself to be a very visual director with Dawn of the Dead and especially 300 and his touch on this movie (along with the production team and Gibbons himself) is just right so far.

Keep up to date with the new Watchmen movie here. The costumes look great and the Comedian in particular stands out (although secretly we all want Silk Spectre as our desktop!)

Eagle Awards 2008!

It would appear that I have been included as a potential nomination for an Eagle Award (the comic Oscars) as Best Inker. It would have been nice to have been noticed for my pencilling work on Dan Dare too but you know how these awards go. It's all politics! ;)

Dan Dare and Garth Ennis are also up for awards so here is a gentle reminder to 'go vote!' for me, Garth and Dan Dare in all possible categories. The Mekon is also up for Best Villian! How could he not win that one? You might also wish to reward Rick Veitch's hard work on Army@Love where appropriate?

No pay-offs, no bribes, no cash in hand incentives or holidays. Just vote here.

Okay, maybe a free sketch at Bristol 2008.

Army@Love cover!

Love this cover!

Rick Veitch excels with this image for Army@Love #11. Simple but very effective. The colouring by Brian Miller also adds a richness without over-powering. Check out the issue and other brilliant covers here.

Dare #4 is out!

Dan Dare part four hits the US comic shelves today and hopefully this side of the pond tomorrow. Really enjoyed this one. Garth's writing hits a high note with this issue but I can't say any more than that. The blogs are going to be firing up in hours from now!

It's the last stand on Port Napier as Dan Dare and the colonists find themselves nearly overrun by the onslaught of Torr, vicious killing beasts. Trying to hold them off until they can be rescued, what they don't know is that the entire royal navy has been thrown into disarray by the disappearance of the Prime Minister back on Earth. As Peabody attempts to piece together the puzzle-and the government-Dan and Digby brace themselves for total annihilation, hoping for a miracle. There are some lovely shots of the new Starfire craft (more of that in later issues) and the Mekon is planning.

Enjoy the variant cover by Glenn Fabry and I will post the Garry Leach version when I have a better scan.

Tank-bustin' Transformers!

Robots in disguise. More than meets the eye! You know the words to the song. This month's issue of Transformers has a cover by me with colours by Chris Sotomayer. The toys and gifts on the front obscure most of the image but Titan always have a lovely pull-out poster version inside. Get a copy for your nephew or younger brother and put up on your wall. Here's a sneak peak.

Dare!

Not as tenuous a link as you may think to my current release. This album has been the soundtrack for Dan Dare through many an early morning shift last year. My continued love for all things eighties brought back this gem from the Human League. Dare! If you missed it first time round or were put off by the omni-present 'Don't You Want Me Baby' then give it another listen. The opening track 'Things That Dreams Are Made Of' is pure classic electropop and paves the way for a superb album. 'Seconds' is another favourite. Hearing it again reminds me of the fun I had on the Dare book and I appreciate the fans at Inverness asking about the music I enjoy while working! More recommends soon.

Hi-Ex success!

I am pleased to say that the Hi-Ex comic convention in Inverness was a complete success. The bad weather did prevent a few of the guests from travelling up but overall the fans and writers and artists were in high spirits and there was plenty to see and do. Joe Gordon writes a nice piece here on the weekend and has a couple of shots of me drawing Dare and 'entertaining' the fans with my MJ gloved hand. More Inverness photos here.

Thanks to all the fans, colleagues and new friends who made me feel very welcome and congratulations to Rich and Vicky for making their first convention a success! See you next year!

The Highland International Comic Expo!

I will be attending the Highland International Comic Expo on the 2nd and 3rd of February. This is the first convention for me this year so get in early! More details of guests and location here. The usual sketching, signing and selling at a table for the whole weekend. Any aspiring comic book artists should bring along their portfolios for a quick review too. See you there.

Macbeth graphic novel by Classical Comics.

My good friend Jon Haward's new graphic novel of Macbeth is due to be released next month. It is a stunning piece of work with a script by John McDonald and beautiful colours by Nigel Dobbyn. Jon has been working on this for over a year and it is his best work to date. Have a look over at the Classical Comics site and see what publisher Clive Bryant has to offer. A great selection of books including more Shakespeare plays and other literary classics.

Jon's next book is The Tempest and I have already seen pages from it. It promises to be as good as Macbeth with more imaginative and creative visuals and sumptious vistas. Clive's approach is to produce good looking graphic novels with great stories by established artists and the classic literature of Shakespeare is beyond reproach. Cleverly, he has produced three text versions of each play; one for schools with the original text, a standard edition in plain English and a 'quick text' version for the nervous, first time reader. Having tackled Shakespeare at school myself I think this is a good decision as it allows people of varying interests to enjoy the series and hopefully the 'quick text' readers will venture further into the world of the Bard with this helpful introduction?

You will find plenty of sample pages up online and a free download of the 2008 Key Stage 3 English Text for schools. It clearly shows what Classical Comics is trying to do with the series and highlights the other classic authors to be published later this year. John M Burns and Mike Collins are also part of the team and new talent Declan Shalvey is shining on Frankenstein. Will Volley is another name to look out for on his wonderful Romeo and Juliet. Enjoy the site!

Dan Dare interview by Wakefield Carter online.

Wakefield Carter interviewed me late last year about Dan Dare and his article is online here. This is the full un-edited version of Q&A's read in the recent interviews for Deathray magazine, SFX and The Independent. A good selection of colour and lineart only images are included too. Thanks must go to Wakefield for allowing me to put across a lot of Garth's ideas and letting me discuss the approach to the Dare book. So much to cover when dealing with the Dare Legacy. Enjoy!

Army@Love in Print Magazine.

The February Print Magazine has published an article on graphic novels covering war in a comic book medium and includes a mention of Army@Love written and drawn by Rick Veitch. Some nice pics shown but clearer images on my MySpace site in the Photo Album section. Go see!

Dan Dare in Deathray magazine!

This month's Deathray magazine has a feature and interview on Garth Ennis' Dan Dare. I haven't read it yet but I gather it appears to cover most of the Dare Legacy and quite rightly so. There will always be respect for Hampson's original and those who followed.

Army@Love trade out in the shops!

The first Army@Love trade paperback is out in the shops this month. Written and drawn by comics veteran Rick Veitch it collects the first six issues of the acclaimed Vertigo series. Criticial reviews from The Washington Post, Variety and the Military Times bode well for the book and are deserved for Rick. He is a rare talent and a pleasure to work with.

Garry Leach's cover for Dan Dare part two.

Garry Leach provides the stunning cover for Dan Dare part two. The variant cover is by John Higgins and the issue is currently out in your local comic book shop.

I am very pleased to have them on board this series. Future cover artists include Ian Gibson, Glenn Fabry and Brendan McCarthy (who worked on the aborted Dan Dare television series) and the brilliant Dave Gibbons (another Dare player with the 2000AD version in the late eighties) It is a privilige to have these great British artists working with Garth and I on the Dare book.

Dan Dare goes to second print!

The news from Virgin Comics this week is that Dan Dare will see a second print of the first issue due to public demand. The comic has sold out in many stores and copies have already appeared on internet auction sites such as eBay for many times the cover price. Hopefully the second print will allow fans to purchase the premiere issue at the standard cover price. You can buy Dan Dare at specialist comic book stores and online at Virgin Comics.

Alternatively you can download serialised episodes of the new Dan Dare here.

More galleries uploaded to MySpace!

I have uploaded more galleries to MySpace. Dan Dare covers, promos and pencils available to look at. There is also a small selection of Star Wars covers and most of the popular Army@Love covers by Rick Veitch, Brian Miller and myself. Go see!

The Highland International Comic Expo.

I will be attending the Highland International Comic Expo on the 2nd and 3rd of February. This is the first convention for me this year so get in early! More details of guests and location here. The usual sketching, signing and selling at a table for the whole weekend. Any aspiring comic book artists should bring along their portfolios for a quick review too. See you there.