Beware of the Grabber!

There's a new issue of Toxic out today and it contains the second part of Team Toxic's three-part adventure in space. Still stranded on an alien world, the Team encounter... The Grabber! Find out what happens next in Beware of the Monsters in Toxic No.287, in newsagents and supermarkets now!

Next stop on the road trip: Enniskillen!

The next event I'll be at will be the Enniskillen Comic Fest in Northern Ireland on May 5th and 6th! I was there last year too, and had a splendid time meeting the attendees, so I'm very pleased to be invited back. 

It's now an official celebration as part of 2000AD's 40th anniversary and you'll find guests there such as John Wagner, Alan Grant, Carlos Ezquerra, Steve MacManus, Cam Kennedy, and more!

Other guests will include Nigel Parkinson and Nika Nartova from the Beano and there'll be lots of local creators there too. As organiser Paul Trimble says, Enniskilen Comic Fest is "all about the comics" so if you live in Ireland, head to the Comic Fest next month!

More info:
https://www.facebook.com/Enniskillen-Comic-Fest-1030761763641321/

Yesterday at STOKE-CON-TRENT

Top comics talent Simon Donald, Marc Jackson, Laura Howell.

I didn't take many photos at Stoke-Con-Trent this time but here's a few from yesterday. Thanks to all who stopped by my table. Great to catch up with comics pals Mike Collins, Jessica Martin, Laura Howell, Marc Jackson,Simon Donald, Kev Hopgood, John Charles, Gary Crutchley, Kev Gunstone and more. Also good to hang out with Trev and Simon again and to meet Sophie Aldred again. Many thanks to Adrian Tooth and his team for their hospitality over a very enjoyable weekend and for their organisation of the event. 

Cosplay in the sunshine!

Multi-talented actor. singer, comic artist Jessica Martin.

Dalek meets Wookie!

The comics community wouldn't exist, and most of us wouldn't know each other, without the hard work that convention organisers put into setting up such events so I'm always grateful to those who put on the shows. We're living through a golden age for conventions/festivals/expos at the moment!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The next event I'll be a guest at will be the Enniskillen Comic Fest in just under four weeks on the 5th and 6th May. More info here:
https://en-gb.facebook.com/Enniskillen-Comic-Fest-1030761763641321/

See you at STOKE-CON-TRENT this Sunday!

Come along and meet us at Stoke-Con-Trent this Sunday, April 9th, Staffordshire University. More info here:
https://en-gb.facebook.com/StokeCONTrent/

...and here:
http://stokecontrent.co.uk

Yes, they confused me with Lew Temple but we'll BOTH be there!

In print this week...

There's a new issue of Beano out today, and it contains a couple of strips from me again. In Pup Parade, Sniffy isn't too keen on what he finds when he tries to bury his bone, while in Ivy the Terrible, her dad shows Ivy how to cartwheel. It won't end well. (Actually I hope you'll think it ends hilariously but I mean it won't end well for Ivy's dad.)

There's also a new issue of Doctor Who Magazine out, and, as I mentioned the other day, there's another Daft Dimension strip in there from me. 

Beano and Doctor Who Magazine; in all good newsagents and supermarkets now!

Combat comics

I've been loosely working out the pagination for the Combat Colin comics I'm working on and it looks like it'll probably take six issues to reprint everything. If I stick to my plan of publishing two or three issues a year (more likely two this year) it'll be covered in about three years. 

I know some of you wanted it to be a done-in-one book, but it's going to work out much better all round if I do it as six comics. A 200 page graphic novel would take me ages to get all the pages ready to print and it'd be a big expense. I think it'll be better for the readers (and for me) to spread the cost out over six issues. Before anyone suggests crowdfunding; no. Call me old fashioned but I'd rather pay my own way up front, but thanks to anyone who would have been willing to pledge. 

With a six-issue series you'll not only have the advantage of spreading the cost over a few years you'll also get a brand new cover every issue, as opposed to one cover on a book. Plus one or two new pages of strip every issue as introductory pages. (And hopefully a letters page every issue too, if enough people write in.)

Anyway, there's still a way to go yet, and at the moment I need to get back to mainstream work as deadlines on Beano and Toxic are beckoning! More news on Combat Colin at a later date. 

Coming in the next DWM...

Here's a sneak preview of my next Daft Dimension strip that will appear in Doctor Who Magazine No.511, in the shops this Thursday (6th April). This is the first time I've drawn the Doctor's new companions Bill and Nardole so I hope I've done them justice. They only appear in this one panel but I think it means this is the first time those characters have appeared in a Doctor Who strip. Hey, collector's item! Don't miss your copy this Thursday!