29/09/2017
A book containing sketches from 32 different artists will be on sale next week at the New York Comic Con,in honour of Steve Dillon's memory.

17/09/2017
Conscious of the fact that it has been a while since the previous blog
Not dead but slumping.
This past few weeks I have mostly been working on re-paginating the Look-in strip 'Elvis- the story' . .

28/09/2017
An art tribute to 40 years of 2000AD. An exhibition of original art and prints by comic artists and designers.

07/08/2017
Girls in Print - Female Figures in British Comics
Tower Foyer Gallery, University of Dundee
22 July - 21 October 2017
Mon-Fri 09.30-19.00 Sat 13.00-17.00

The exhibition contains original artwork from DC Thomson and a selection of pieces by current comics creators, - a “ broad range of interpretations of what female figures can be in the British comic culture.”

01/08/2017
To give me the illusion of being connected I chose to have a Google alert thing that sends me notifications of any "comics" or "comic conventions" that the internet throws up.
There are lots.

16/07/2017
'The Beatles Story', originally published in 1981 as weekly episodes in 'Look-in' is being republished in a hardcover edition by Rebellion.
I have seen the claim that this was the first comic strip version of the Fab Four phenomena. If that is true it is thanks to 'Look-in' editor Colin Shelbourn who commissioned writer Angus Alan and I.

14/06/2017
Be Magnificent: Walthamstow School of Art 1957-1967
William Morris Gallery, Lloyd Park, Forest Road, London E17 4PP
9th June - 10th Sep 2017

An exhibition celebrating a particular place and time.
Walthamstow School of Art cultivated some of the most influential creative talent of the 1950s and 60s. Leading names in art, fashion, music and film studied and taught here – including Pop Artists Peter Blake and Derek Boshier, musician Ian Dury, filmmakers Ken Russell and Peter Greenaway and fashion designers Celia Birtwell, Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin.

23/05/2017
Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) is one of Japan’s most famous and influential artists, producing prints up until his death at the age of 90. This exhibition is from the last 30 years of Hokusai’s life and includes some of his most memorable pieces.

If there is a particular piece you wish to see check the website as the works are to be rotated halfway through the exhibition for reasons of conservation.

08/05/2017
Came across this on the Paste Magazine website.
Quote - In the late ‘60s, a discontented Jack Kirby thought long and hard about the industry he helped build. For the co-creator of Captain America, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men and countless other super properties, the arena of mutants, mayhem and escapism had lost its lustre, , , "
“You fellas think of comics in terms of comic books, but you’re wrong,” Kirby told a crowd at a California convention.

27/04/2017
Leo Baxendale. 27th October 1930 - 23rd April 2017
Creator of 'Bash Street Kids', 'Minnie the Minx', Willy the Kid, and many other comic characters for comics and for books of his own.
Inducted into the British Comic Awards Hall of Fame in 2013.
In 1978 had his memoir of his life in comics, ' A Very Funny Business: 40 Years Of Comics' published by. Gerald Duckworth/
Leo said this of being at the Beano - “At one point, the editor showed me a letter from an adult reader saying that the artist doing the Bash Street Kids was a near-genius. I think he expected me to be pleased.

26/04/2017
Giacometti exhibition at the Tate Modern, London SE1, from 10 May until 10 September.

Alberto Giacometti Born: 10 October 1901, Borgonovo, Italy
Died: 11 January 1966, Chur, Switzerland
Awarded the grand prize for sculpture at the 1962 Venice Biennale. His most characteristic work owes something to Existentialism and to Etruscan art.

18/04/2017
One of the specialty acts of a Superheroes has been dashing off to save some poor planet from destruction -sometimes even this one - but none as far as I know have become members of Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Rainforest Trust or any one of the many environmental organizations,

20/03/2017
Bernard Albert "Berni" Wrightson 27 October 1948 - March 19, 2017.
Inventive, original, imaginative and great pen and ink artist.

http://berniewrightson.com/?s=

http://collider.com/bernie-wrightson-rip/#obituary

16/03/2017
Dans le prolongement du livre français 'L'Exécuteur', l'édition française de ' L'Exécuteur - La - The Confession' sera dans les librairies françaises le 21 mars.
Sur la couverture arrière, il dit "partie de la tradition de grands films et romans évoquant Jim Thompson et Sam Peckinpah. Ce qui est gentil.

In a follow-up to French 'Button Man' book, the French edition of 'Button Man - The Confession of Harry Exton' will be in French bookshops on March 21st.

10/03/2017
Sir Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin CH CBE.
Painter and printmaker
6 August 1932 -9 March 2017

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/mar/09/howard-hodgkin-pai…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/artists/howard-hodgkins-art-makes-us-gla…

21/02/2017
This is a febrile time for politics in both the UK and the USA. There are opinions to be had and like most other folk I have some. I take climate change to be real and really scary.
This being ostensibly a site that stems from comics there is rarely any excuse to bring up political subjects here and some say politics and comics don't mix and shouldn't, even when the definition of politics is wide enough to include social attitudes with subjects like racism and sexual discrimination.

29/01/2017
I had a good day and it very much looked as though so did everybody else. Folk from all generations with a shared history and interest made for a remarkable atmosphere. Ben Smith, Head of Books and Publishing at Rebellion, seemed a little awe-struck at the realisation of what an effect 2000AD had had on so many.

21/01/2017
Artist R. Sikoryak has produced 'The Unquotable Trump' covers, which feature the new president as a number of comic book-inspired villains using “his very best own words. ”
Sikoryak has done many covers for The New Yorker and for Drawn and Quarterly.

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/01/check-out-the-unquotable…

17/01/2017
It is understandable that images on the Internet are borrowed for fun and pleasure, review or sharing. My screensaver is a drawing by a French artist.* This website to a large extent relies on other peoples images but they are attributed where possible and there is no financial advantage. My own drawings have turned up on various social sites and that’s fine, flattering even. There is a difference however when using the images created by others for commercial purposes . .

08/01/2017
Another in the Judge Dredd Mega Collection.
Mid-period Anderson stories. All but one in black and white.
Writer; Alan Grant.
Artists; Mick Austin, Carlos Ezquerra, Ian Gibson, Arthur Ranson and David Roach.
Cover art; David Roach

Contains my first Anderson story, Triad, which I still find a curiosity for its use of a technique of taking many copies of a drawing, slicing them into slightly dissimilar strips and pasting them to make an extended version of the original image.

02/12/2016
Russian comics
My research into Russian comics has been nothing if not superficial . .

28/11/2016
Elvis is Alive. The Complete Conspiracy by Xavient Haze
Publishers; Adventure Unlimited Press
On its back cover it says this - The book includes the complete comic strip "Elvis Presley:His Story in Pictures" written by Angus Allan and illustrated by Arthur Ranson. First published in Look-in magazine, this marks the first time the strip has been republished in its entirety since 1982 and the first time it has ever been available outside the United Kingdom"

16/11/2016
There has been some falling out amongst comic artists and writers over the result of the American Presidential election.
Comic book creator Humberto Ramos (Champions/Marvel) has chosen, current commitments aside, not to attend comicons in US states that voted to elect Trump. The suggestion is that this is not pique but concern for his safety - which would make sense during a period of increased hate crime.

01/11/2016
Jewish Comic Con November 13th.
Congregation Kol Israel
603 St Johns Place
Brooklyn NY, 11213
This is a Comic Con I would like to visit.

23/10/2016
Steve Dillon. Comic book artist.
(March 22nd 1962 – October 22nd 2016)
Best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on Hellblazer, Preacher and The Punisher.