Thursday, August 31, 2006

At flamin' last....

Woohoo...finally got this thing working again. Would seem that Blogger's recent amalgamation into the great Google empire caused some kind of conflict with my registration details, so I couldn't log in...figured it out now though....

So...uh...did you miss me?

Right...um...what's been going on in my absence....

The Young Gods

Right, Randy finished all six pages of the short and they look sweeeeeeeeeeet. I'm currently in the process of inking the pages, and then I'll be colouring them. I'm hoping to have this done in time for the Baltimore Con'...which is...a week and a half away...gulp...

The Intergalactic Adventures of Slam Ridley

As you can see from the pic'...I got my hands on the very first official Slam Ridley T-shirt. Buy yours today at www.slamridley.com! Somebody out there has ordered the very second official Slam Ridley T-shirt...come on...own up... (I'm guessing it was Mr Rogers...). There's plenty of other cool stuff to order and, ladies, Slam ahs some very special items just for you in the European SlamStore! As if that wasn't enough...Slam even has his very own theme song now, which you can merrily sing along to on the website (and yes, you can even download it and listen to it on your very own i-thingy).

Whazzat? The comic? What comic? Oh...The Intergalactic Adventures of Slam Ridley... No, we haven't forgotten about that! Production of the full script for the one-shot is about to go into high gear, and we hope to make the script for the six page sample story available on the website soon (note to self: mention this to Pete...). Mr Ridgon is hard at work on a promo poster for the book, which should be available soon.

Everything else...

Okay, considering I am working on what feels like every other comic book in existence, I'm not going to go into detail on every project. However, I can tell you that the Headlocked 6-page strip is now 100% complete, and should be appearing in the pages of a Markosia comic near you soon. You'll know which one as soon as I do.

As I've mentioned, I'll be attending the Baltimore Comic Con in about a week and half's time. If you're going to be there, stop by the Visionary table and say "Hi." Pick up a FREE Slam Ridley badge (that's a button for my Atlantically challenged readers) and say "Hi, Ian, I read you blog!" Now, you won't get anything special from me for letting me know you read the blog, but you will help to boost my already over-inflated ego. This can only be a good thing. There will also be some lovely Headlocked t-shirts to buy at the con', featuring the rather excellent Headlocked logo, designed by yours truly.

(By the way, if you turn up to the con' wearing on official Slam Ridley thong, and you're a cute girl, I will, of course, be more than happy to sign it for you...).

Well, I'm currently STILL jet lagged, so I'm off to be slightly confused about what time it is...

Sunday, August 13, 2006

The Young Gods - Sneak Peek!








Here's a sneak peek at Randy Valiente's quite frankly jaw dropping pencils for the six page Young Gods preview story. Randy still has a bit of work to do on pages one to three, but I've seen what he's done so far and I'm completely amazed.

I'm currently hard at work on the script for the 40-page one-shot which will introduce the world to the full team. Hopefully Randy will be able to stay on board for that!

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Oh My Stars And Garters! Smoke & Mirror TPB Gets 5 Out Of 5 at SBC!

Well, I certainly can't claim credit for it as I was just one of the many creators that made the Smoke & Mirror trade paperback what it is...

...but...

...it's damn cool that my first ever published work got 5 out of 5 from Silver Bullet Comics...

...you can read the review here.

Celebrate 2000 Hits with Ethal Nuargi!

Well, the hit counter just clicked past the 2000 mark, which is a pretty damn good excuse to celebrate, if you ask me!

This site will be a year old at the end of next month and it's certainly been an eventful year. It's odd to think that when I posted my first post here I'd never even heard of Markosia. I'd never coloured so much as a page of a comic book. And... well.... I could probably go on all night like this.

Back then I had very little more than a heap of hopes and dreams and the, frankly, quite ropey first draft of The Young Gods #1 (still available to download in the "My Work" section of the right hand column if you want a giggle). Of course, those of you have actually read that first draft will have already met a certain blue skinned, badly dressed alien by the name of Ethal Nuargi. You might be wondering then, if Ethal is in The Young Gods, why I've posted this lovely sketch of him by Slam Ridley penciller and co-creator Paul Ridgon. Well...simply put...Mr Nuargi play a part in The Intergalactic Adventures of Slam Ridley too.

Exactly what part he plays is something you'll just have to wait and see.

That's all for now really, except to say that I might just have a treat here for Young Gods fans tomorrow!

(Are there any Young Gods fans out there? I'd ask for you to make yourself known but... frankly... I'd probably find the deathly silence slightly depressing. Ah well...).

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Slam Ridley hits the web, and The Slam Store! opens for business!

Well, the Slam Ridley creative team of Mssrs Sharman, Rogers and Ridgon have been rather busy over the last few days preparing a multi-media onslaught to pave the way for the forthcoming Intergalactic Adventures of Slam Ridley comic book.

First off - I have ordered three hundred Make Mine Slam! badges (buttons for our American friends) which I'll be handing out at the Baltimore con' next month. If you're attending the con', please come by the Visionary Comics Studio stand and pick one up (oh, and say "Hi"). The badges feature high quality original Slam Ridley artwork by Paul Ridgon and myself.

Secondly - Slam now has a fully functioning presence on the interweb. Visit www.slamridley.com for all your Slam Ridley needs. We've got character bios, creator profiles, a message board and a whole load of other stuff. We'll be updating the site regularly with more pics and info as it's generated.

Lastly, but by no means leastly - The Slam Store" is now open for business on both sides of the Atlantic selling exclusive Slam Ridley merchandise to amaze and slightly worry your friends and family. Slam fans in the UK and Europe should check out the Slam Store here, and Slam fans in the USA and North America should visit the US Slam Store here. Why are there two different stores? Well, the simple reason is that it saves you money! It means that no matter what side of the Atlantic you live on you can order funky clothes with Slam's smilin' face on them without having to pay high international shipping costs. How thoughtful of us, eh? Oh, and if you can't find what you're looking for in The Slam Store! then just let me know and I'll see if I can add it to our list of products.

In other news.... and... yes... there is other news... the long search for a penciller for The Young Gods seems to have finally come to an end.

The extremely talented Randy Valiente from Manilla in the Philippines is stepping up to the plate and taking on The Young Gods' six page preview story (coming to a Markosia comic near you, soon!). Randy is both professional and fast, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to share some finished Young Gods art with you all soon.

I am very excited to have Randy on board, but I also want to publicly thank Paul Ridgon, David Miller and the mighty Esdras for offering to take on the project if I wasn't able to find someone before they became available. They're all really busy guys, and exceptional artists, and it would have been a pelasure to work with any of them on this.

You can check out more of Randy's fantastic artwork at his blog here and at his website here.

So, it's all go here! Woohoo!

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Midnight Run and more....

You know, as I don't have nearly enough work to do....I'm now inking and colouring the Midnight Run short for the Visionary/Markosia thing. The nice thing about this is that unlike many projects, where I'ma sked to do them and then wait for weeks to get the pages, the pencils were ready and waiting when I jumped on board, so I've been able to get right onto them.

Handily I'd just ordered some new Windsor & Newton Series 7 No 2's (brushes...) in anticipation of inking Mamluk, and they arrived yesterday. It feels great to be inking again, and the Midnight Run pencils are really good.

In other news, Vinnie has had to quit The Young Gods due to health problems, which leaves me in despeate need of a penciller as the strip is already running a month late. I have a few irons in the fire, but I'm open to offers if anyone can pick this up right away!

Well, just a quick one today...hopefully I'll have some pictures next time!