Crusader Sketches

We were extremely honoured that David Frankum brilliantly sketched MFB superhero The Crusader and contributed the original drawing to the Demoncon raffle:

David also came up with this superbly moody Crusader illustration which now resides in The Denton Archives:

Here's a snap of David sketching at Demoncon, in front of the rather lovely new MFB banner:

The Crusader is scheduled to return in Massacre For Boys Picture Library. David's latest strip, Flesh, written by Andrew Cheverton, will be appearing in the new issue of Zarjaz.

Demoncon 4

As the poster suggests, David Frankum and I will be appearing at Demoncon 4 in Maidstone this Sunday. We'll be punting our various wares, whilst generally chatting about comics and stuff. This follows hot on the heels of the excellent Demoncon 3, and is therefore guranteed to be awesome.

If you're in the area, why not drop by?

Action Special: The Reviews Are In!

Two of the UK's top comics writers have taken in-depth looks at our latest offering.

The esteemable Richard Bruton of the Forbidden Planet Blog gave the Action Special his special attentions here.

Then the laudable Andy Oliver of Broken Frontier was kind enough to check out the Action Special, in combination with our earlier effort, In Colour, and post his thoughts at the other end of this link.

Our thanks go to both Andy and Richard for their time, and also for their kind words!

Curiosity

Oh dear, Summer seems to be over.

Not to worry though, work is continuing on the Picture Library, as evidenced here:

This is actually a missing page from a strip we first put out in 2009. Steve has gone back to it to complete the artwork and the full version of "Mars" will be published next year, just in time to celebrate Nasa's Curiosity rover discovering signs of Victorian British colonisation of the red planet. Possibly.

Going Digital

Someone raised the subject of digital small press comics in this thread on the new and excellent Small Press Comics forum.

I was basically against the idea, as I pretty much hate reading comics from a screen and I have severe doubts about whether I would ever see any revenue from this medium. Still the enthusiasm of others, and the inevitable march of progress, has sort of convinced me this is a game we need to be in.

Therefore, please consider this a toe in the water:

It's a downloadable PDF file of Walking Wounded: The House That Dripped War. This isn't exactly new as they has been a web version of the comic available on the main Massacre site for a while now. Still, if the availability in this new format encourages anyone new to read the publication (which I count amongst our finest) then I may experience a Damascan conversion.

If you do have a strong desire to read other Massacre For Boys publications in this way please do get in touch.

Paper sales of the Action Special have been gratifyingly strong, I am happy to report, so the traditional format is not going away. Speaking of the Action Special, be sure to check out David Frankum's "Massacre Memoirs", detailing his experiences of working on that very comic. It's a worthwhile read!

Announcing... Massacre For Boys Picture Library

There's been a positive response to the launch of the Action Special (and a run of online orders, which is pleasing), but it's time now to turn our thoughts to the future and to our next release...

Massacre For Boys Picture Library will develop the anthology format a stage further, with even more participation by the top names in UK independent comics. Steve and I will stay on as contributing editors, but we'll be doing a bit less of the writing and arting, allowing the variety and the quality to flourish.

To whet your appetites, here's the first page of Zen Fusilier, a fantastic new strip by Massacre debutante Greg Meldrum and second-timer John Caliber:

We are now operating an open submissions policy, and not all slots for this comic are yet filled, so if you're a up and coming writer or artist and you have a love of British comics please feel free to get in touch. All offers in a classic British style considered, and you should make sure you are aware of the Massacre For Boys look and feel to give yourself the greatest chance of success. The best way of doing this - and supporting our efforts - is to buy a copy, but it's not obligatory and we have put plenty of material online for you to peruse at no expense.

If the comic is a hit further issues of Picture Library will follow. The first one is due out early next year. Stay tuned for more - many more - updates....

Bristol Comic Expo 2012

Last weekend I was in Bristol, exhibiting at the annual Comic Expo. Look, I even managed to take a photo:

This was only my second ever Bristol as an exhibitor and my first ever convention spread over more than one day. I was accompanied at the Massacre For Boys table by Steven Denton (as you might expect) and Nikki Foxrobot. We were launching our new title, Massacre for Boys Action Special and thankfully it had arrived from the printers in plenty of time. This was actually not the printer I originally chose, having foolishly decided to go for a company I knew to have a bad reputation the first time around. All I can really say on this matter is that the guys at Ka-Blam stepped in late in the day and did a first rate job, and that if you ever see any claims regarding an Xpress service, take them with a massive pinch of very salty salt.

Bristol was a great occasion to catch up with friends and meet new comics people. The incomparable David Frankum was there throughout and legends Bolt-01 & Richmond Clements as well as the fantastic Owen Watts had their own tables, so we were pretty well covered for MFB contributors! Our stand was located at the back of the old engine shed (a massive hall, no old engines in sight) and next to the wares of the phenomonally talented Aneurin Wright. Over the weekend I got to see several more luminaries, including Steve Tanner of Time Bomb comics (love his Dick Turpin books), Jamie Lambert of Bearded Skull comics (a fellow purveyor of war action, great stuff), Garen Ewing of Rainbow Orchid (breath-takingly awesome) fame and many more.

The great attraction of Bristol is the comfortable inter-mingling of seasoned pros with fans and upstarts. I arrived on Friday night and found myself alone in the hotel lobby with D'Israeli (who vanished as soon as he realized I'd recognised him - don't worry, Matt, I'm a fan, but not a crazed fan!) and I have happy memories of super talented script droid Al Ewing joining in our conversations at the hotel bar. The number of times I clocked Paul Cornell in a 48-hour period was frankly frightening! Highlight of the weekend for the inner fanboy though, was when Simon Bisley bestowed on us some kind words about our work.

There was a major downside to this convention however, and that was that visitor numbers were sorely lacking. It did feel at times more like a social gathering of indepedent British comicdom then it did an actual opportunity to punt our wares to the comic-buying public. The lack of a big name headliner and the scheduling proximity to Kapow were both major factors here, and in this regard the organizers were unlucky. Denny O'Neil's late withdrawal no doubt had an effect and the refusal of Mark-Millar-con to schedule itself politely was bound to force many people to have to choose one or the other. I think this must be a lesson learned for the new team who took over organsising the Expo this year. Spread the risk by engaging three or four headliners, avoid a clash with Kapow or MCM (if that means moving from the traditional mid-May slot then so be it) and do a bit more to ensure the UK comics scene is fully represented. I was very disappointed, for example, not to see Self-Made Hero this year and they've since said that their absence wasn't due to Kapow so much as to not being invited!

However, overall I had a great time and came home feeling suitably energised and inspired. Roll on next year's show!