MEGABRAIN!

NEW PRICE! My original artwork of Megabrain for the back cover of Combat Colin No.5. Bids now start at £40 or you can Buy It Now for £60. Includes the printed comic as well.

Heres the link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205129879176?itmmeta=01JDQVSXBYP578396ZNBSYR7TX&hash=item2fc2b18e88:g:Lz8AAOSwzT5nRirQ

Testing, testing, 123....

 

There seem to be problems with Blogger at the moment and I can't log in from my desktop so I'm trying this from my phone to see how it turns out.

If it looks a bit odd you'll know why. Hopefully normal service will resume soon. 

Meanwhile here are some sketches I did for the Kickstarter backers of The77 and LoLz No.1.

Artwork from 1985, 1993, and 2024 for sale!

I've put more of my original artwork up for sale. A two page Captain Wally / Snail Man crossover from 1985 from Marvel UK's Spider-Man comic (some of my earliest work), a Tom Thug page from Buster (1993), and the back cover of Combat Colin No.5 drawn this year featring Megabrain! Here's the link:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&_ssn=graphite47

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Happy Birthday to Doctor Who!

As it's 61 years today since Doctor Who began on TV here's the comic strip I did for the official Doctor Who Magazine last year to celebrate the 60th! 

I'm currently selling the original black and white artwork here:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205123921952

 

45 Years of BRICKMAN!

The History of Brickman!

It was 45 years ago this month, in November 1979, when I published the third issue of my fanzine After Image. It carried a mixture of strips and articles and on the back page of the slim 14 page publication was a new character I'd created... Brick-Person!

Wait, Brick-Person, not Brickman? Yes, because I felt that as every superhero was something-man or something-woman it'd be funny just to call him Brick-Person. The character was of course a spoof of Batman, with comedy inspired by the Batman TV show, and in this scenario it's the protagonist's parents who turn out to be villains. Loose Brayne's father is revealed to be The Poker! 

I had a "soft launch" for After Image No.3 at a local social club. Truth to tell it was just me handing out copies to my mates so they could read it in the bar. Here's a photo of that November night in 1979, back when I had a bit more hair and poor taste in shirts. (Please note I didn't have an afro. That's just a shadow caused by the flash!)

As it turned out, I decided that would be the final issue of After Image. Sales hadn't been great so I needed a rethink. Two years later in 1981 I launched a new fanzine, Metamorph No.1, and that contained the continuation of Brick-Person's cliffhanger where Loose Brayne's mum turns out to be Gnatwoman! 

I still wasn't satisfied with the strip though, and I don't just mean my crude art style of the time (athough that made me cringe). With the third issue of the 'zine in 1982, now renamed Fantasy Express and a focus on British comics, Brick-Person became Brickman. He'd also gained a partner, Tina Trowel, AKA... er, Trowel! 

Ever restless in those days, I ended Fantasy Express with issue 5 in 1983 to focus on working in comics professionally. Brickman had proven popular though so I decided to put him in his own mini-comics: Blimey! It's Brickman, Brickman on Toast, and the part-reprint The Early Brickman.

This gave me the chance to revamp Brickman a bit more. His debut story and the awkward revelation of his parents being The Poker and Gnatwoman was completely written out of Brick-history and a new Poker and Gnatwoman made their debuts with no connection to the originals.

By 1985 I was busy as a professional comic artist so Brickman was on the back burner again until Martin Lock, publisher of Harrier Comics, invited me to come up with a replacement for my Rock Solid strip that had been running in the early issues of the anthogy comic Swiftsure. I thought this was a good opportunity to revive Brickman once more so a new one-off three pager appeared in Swiftsure No.6. This was followed in 1986 by Brickman getting his own Harrier comic, which included guest pages by my friends Dave Gibbons, Kevin O'Neill, Mike Collins and Mark Farmer, with an intro by Alan Moore and a back up Cloak story by Mike Higgs. Quite a package that I'm still proud of. 

 

The conclusion of that Brickman story ( a 20 pager called The Brickmania Caper) saw Brickman quit and head off into the sunset... perhaps forever? Not quite. For the next few years I had Brickman or his alter-ego Loose Brayne make anonymous cameos in the various other comic strips I worked on, such as Loose Brayne being a stallholder at the fair in this Combat Colin strip from Marvel's Action Force No.6 in 1987...

...and as a Brickman who'd forgotten who he was in this Combat Colin story from The Transformers No.245 in 1989...

The reason I didn't disclose his name in that story was so that I could retain copyright, but after Marvel UK returned all rights on Combat Colin to me I changed that panel when I reprinted it so he introduced himself as Brickman.  

The daft knight remained in limbo until 1996 when I created a brand new Brickman story for my new self-published comic Yampy Tales...

Here's the opening splash page of the story. As you may have gathered, Brickman was never aimed at children. Some people assumed it was for the Beano age group because of my art style but I always considered the demographic to be teenagers and older. Incidentally, when this 1996 story was reprinted in 2005 I had to change the plane into an alien, as it was too close for comfort in the post 9/11 world. 

Brickman ran in Yampy Tales 2 and 3 (the final issue), concluding with him riding off into the sunset again. I'd intended that to be the end of the character, but he has a habit of returning!

In 1997 Chrissie Harper asked me to ink a photocopy of Jack Kirby's pencils of a Captain America illustration, replacing the Red Skull with Brickman! The page appeared in No.11 of Chrissie's Jack Kirby Quarterly...

In 2005, my old Marvel UK editor Richard Starkings, now a successful writer and lettering artist in America, offered to publish the entire Brickman saga in a 152 page digest size softback. Under his Active Images imprint, Brickman Begins appeared, bringing the stories to a new audience in the USA. Bonus pages included legends such as Tim Sale, Charlie Adlard, Hunt Emerson and Alan Davis depicting their versions of Brickman!

 

The book included a brand new four page prologue I created that could segue into the reprints...

Richard Starkings also invited me to create brand new Brickman strips as a back up feature in his award winning Elephantmen comics that were published by Image Comics. With each episode being a full colour page, the series ran from 2006 to 2009...

In 2015 I decided to get back into self publishing as a sideline to my mainstream comics work. My first title was Brickman Returns, gathering all the stories I'd done for Image Comics into one publication...

 

At the end of that comic, Brickman retired again, and I thought that would be his swan song...

...but not just yet! Earlier this year I reprinted a couple of Brickman stories in Lew Stringer's Comic Sampler, an anthology of some of my "best bits" from comics over the years...

 

...and... I'm currently creating a brand new series of Brickman and Trowel mini-strips that will appear in a new British comic set to debut in 2025! It's all hush-hush for now but more news on that in a few months' time hopefully!

Brickman will return... again!

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Christmas is coming

Here's a sneak peek at a tiny corner of my next Daft Dimension strip that I'm currently working on for the Christmas issue of Doctor Who Magazine! 

Bear in mind this is an extreme close up of a section that will appear tiny when it's in print, hence the rough edges. (I draw with ink on paper, not vector graphics.) It'll look a lot smoother in print than it does here. 

I always enjoy doing the Christmas strips but this is the only one I'll have out there this year so I'm making sure to tick all the boxes; snow on the logo, Christmas pud, tree, etc.

Right, back to the drawing board (or rather back to the Mac to colour it). You'll see the finished version in Doctor Who Magazine No.611 on December 5th! 

 

Combat Colin No.6... in 2025

COMBAT COLIN No.6. When? Where? I'm afraid it won't be in production until next year now but it will happen. It'll conclude the 1990s stories from The Transformers and will feature some of the stories that followed, PLUS bonus features in a big final issue! I'll post more info as it progresses.

 

Comics! Comics! Comics!

A quick reminder that my comics are still available to buy directly from me at my eBay listings. A selection of issues collecting some of the work I'm most proud of. Here's the link:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&_ssn=graphite47

It's Daft Cybermen this month!

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine is in the shops today and amongst its 84 packed pages is another Daft Dimension comic strip from me. This time it's the Cybermen getting the daft treatment. 

Next month it'll be the Christmas issue and I want to do something suitably festive for that, but for now head along to your supermarket, WH Smiths, or comic shop for Doctor Who Magazine No.610! £7.99.

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Latest auction ends tonight! (Sunday 3rd Nov)

A last minute reminder that the auction on these pages of my original comic art ends shortly! Some of my favourite pages here but it's time to let them go to a good home. Good luck with your bids!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&_ssn=graphite47

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Viz! Buster! Daleks! - All in this week's auction of ORIGINAL COMIC ART!

 

I'm selling more of my original artwork this week and it's a selection of festive strips plus a Dalek episode...

First up, a Suicidal Syd page from the Christmas issue of Viz comic No.191, published 20 years ago in 2004. Strictly adults only because of its theme and sweary bits. I have very, very few Viz pages left so grab yourself a festive treat!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205067300409?itmmeta=01JBA23JS5WECJ5GN27FFYFH31&hash=item2fbef6ae39:g:smgAAOSwQWVnHqVC

 

Next, another Christmas page, and this one is from Buster in 1989. Christmas with Tom Thug, which co-stars Chalky and Buster himself!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205067271022?itmmeta=01JBA23JS5DSHKYGC464MPXNRJ&hash=item2fbef63b6e:g:yesAAOSwmZhnHqE0

 

Then it's the original art for Tom Thug Rings In The New Year, a page I did for the 1992 New Year issue of Buster...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205067286768?itmmeta=01JBA23JS5V30FWGW4B3N0RYEH&hash=item2fbef678f0:g:gjYAAOSwmghnHqMt

 

...and finally, one of my Daft Dimension comic strips from Doctor Who Magazine. This one from 2016...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205067295069?itmmeta=01JBA23JS59CDYN7X7GCBJWETA&hash=item2fbef6995d:g:CWgAAOSwnB5nHqQ9

 

Visit the links to see more detailed photos of each item. All the above auctions end on Sunday 3rd November. All bids appreciated! Wishing you luck!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&_ssn=graphite47

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The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee

About a year ago I was commissioned to do some illustrations for a documentary film called The Life and Deaths of Christoper Lee. I'd heard little about it since and couldn't mentiuon it until it aired but it was on Sky Arts on Freeview last night. I presume it'll be available to stream on Sky or something. 

Although my cartoons were in full colour, they were screened in greyscale, presumably to give a period feel as my segment was set on the 1940s when Lee returned to London. They wanted a 'Beano' feel to the cartoons so of course a slap-up feed of sausage and mash was required!

Got a screen credit!

The nature of TV is that my illustrations were only on screen for a few seconds but it was nice to be involved. It's an excellent film. Catch it if you can!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29077911/

Here's the trailer, which includes artwork by 2000AD artist Simon Coleby:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=YE_mEHwxHPE

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Original comic art at a Buy It Now sale price! (UPDATE: Now sold)

 

I'm selling one of my Daft Dimension strips from Doctor Who Magazine at a reduced price for a quick sale. Features the Time Lords complaining about the first Doctor. 

Here's the link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205055650190?itmmeta=01JB0075RH4EMFMX58X7Q731H2&hash=item2fbe44e98e:g:f4YAAOSwThNnFoje

 

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Are you up to date with your Combats?

Combat Colin issues 3, 4 and 5 are still available to buy exclusively from my eBay page. Loads of laffs from the late 1980s/early 1990s in these collections of comedy action capers.
Here's the link:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=203554298786&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&_ssn=graphite47

 

Preview of the latest DAFT DIMENSION

Here's a sneak peek at one panel from my latest Daft Dimension comic strip. You'll find the full version in Doctor Who Magazine No.609 which goes on sale tomorrow, Thursday 10th October.

The magazine comes bagged with an exclusive Target paperback, The Evil of the Daleks, written by series star Frazer Hines himself.  

Here's the cover of the magazine inside the package, which features Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. 

Doctor Who Magazine No.609 will be available from WH Smiths, supermarkets, comic shops, and (if you're lucky) various newsagents, or you can buy it directly from the publishers at this link:

https://www.panini.co.uk/shp_gbr_en/doctor-who-magazine-609-gbdrw609-uk02.html

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"High quality and hilarious"

My thanks to Phil Boyce for reviewing Combat Colin No.5 on his fantastic OiNK BLOG, and for saying such kind words about the latest issue. 

You can read his review at the following link, and while you're these check out his coverage of other comics including his reviews of every issue of Oink! 

https://oink.blog/2024/10/08/combat-colin-5-marvel-ous-mirth/ 

Thanks also to John Freeman for cross-posting the review on his excellent Down the Tubes blog...

https://downthetubes.net/in-review-combat-colin-5-marvel-ous-mirth/ 

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Combat Colin dispatched all over the UK

A big thank you to those of you who ordered Combat Colin No.5. Every order I recieved up to yesterday morning has now been dispatched and you should all have your copies by today or tomorrow. (First Class post often takes more than a day to arrive these days.) 

I received a few orders today after I posted the last batch so those will be sent off on Monday morning.

If you haven't bought a copy yet, there are still some left and you'll find them listed here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205017246776?itmmeta=01J9BWN626875H8VPHYDQ0NEW8&hash=item2fbbfaec38:g:8wUAAOSwiLRm6btI

Combat Colin No.5 - Back in stock again!

A fresh batch of Combat Colin No.5 arrived from the printers yesterday and I've listed it on eBay today. I've only put 40 up for this weekend as I know some of you are away, so don't worry; if they sell out I'll list more on Monday. 

Here's the link...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205017246776?itmmeta=01J8WAB3VHWQQSN8MHSZ187FDP&hash=item2fbbfaec38:g:Kw4AAOSwxm5m6Vcy 

Remember, they're only available to buy directly from me. Not in shops, and I have no more conventions lined up unfortunately so if you want this issue, please buy one from my eBay shop. 

 

 

The Daft Dimension at the Lakes

I'm not a guest at the Lakes International Comic Arts Festival this year but one of my comic strips is! John Freeman asked me if I'd agree to have one of my Daft Dimension strips as part of their Doctor Who comic art exhibition, so I chose my favourite. I'm happy for a print of it to be alongside such notable images by other artists from the past 60 years. The exhibition is on all weekend and you can read all about it at the link below. Thanks to John Freeman and Marc Jackson for the photos.
https://www.comicartfestival.com/doctor-who-comic-universe

 

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All Orders Processed

All orders for Combat Colin No.5 have now been posted. If you haven't received yours yet it should arrive tomorrow or Saturday.

Another batch is on the way to me from the printers so I'll be listing more this weekend for those of you who missed out.

 

Combat Colin dispatched

More orders for Combat Colin No.5 have been dispatched today, and the rest will be processed this week. Please bear with me as CLL makes me sleep more than usual, plus I have work deadlines to catch up on, so I only have time to send one stack of orders per day. I hope you understand.

Each issue is bagged and boarded for protection, and packaged in a card-backed envelope, posted first class. 

Another print run is currently under way so hopefully I'll have more of this issue listed at the end of this week.

 

Combat Alert!

I've just sent off the files for another printing of Combat Colin No.5 as this week's batch sold out in one day! They should be available in about a week's time so don't miss out!

Meanwhile, all orders received so far are continuing to be send out on a daily basis. I've just posted another bunch, but I'll wait until Monday to send more or they'll be stuck in the system all weekend. 

Thanks for all your support! I hope those of you who have received copies so far are enjoying them. Let me know what you think!