Bails of Steel

The point of the Massacre For Boys anthologies is to widen our talent pool, and the fruits of our labours can be seen in The Boys From Bashley by MFB newcomers Tim West & Mark Herstal. The story concerns a proficient village cricket team transferred en masse to North Africa at the commencement of World War I - a sticky wicket if ever there was one!

Tim is the driving force behind Back From The Depths a tribute to Scream, the glorious but criminally short-lived '80s British horror comic. He is also the impresario behind Comicsy and a comics writer of growing repute.

Mark is a very talented young artist who is in the process of exploding onto the scene. We were lucky to get him at the start of his no-doubt meteoric rise and no doubt you will be hearing a lot more from him in the years ahead.

The Boys From Bashley will appear in Massacre For Boys Picture Library.

Introducing.... Thirty Kroner Kincaid

Next up on the Picture Library slate is Thirty Kroner Kincaid by Chris Denton & David Frankum. This is a World War 2 story, but totally unlike anything we've done before. I am very excited to see this in print. Here's a work-in-progress image to give you a taster:

David should need no introduction to UK comics fans, not least because he's also contributed the cover to Picture Library as well as the art to Walking Wounded: Eastern Front which appeared in last year's Action Special. Outside of MFB, I first had the pleasure of working with him on our Zenith Invasion strip for Zarjaz, one of several he's contributed to Futurequake Press. Other notable work includes a fantastic online comic published by TopShelf, you really should check it out in the unlikely event you haven't already.

The Emus Are Coming!

I can now confirm that Massacre For Boys Picture Library will feature the debut of Walking Wounded: Emu War by Chris Denton & Bhuna.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome Bhuna to the fold. He's been one of the top small press artists for a while now and both Steve and I were over the moon when he agreed to contribute his talents to our publication. You can tell he's the right artist for the job simply from this sketch of the flightless beaked menace:

Emu War is an historically accurate rendition of the deadly fight between the Australian army and a rampaging superherd of emus in 1932 that also details the not quite so historically accurate early years of William "Dog" Tired.

You can see more recent examples of Bhuna's work, including some great Slaine pin-ups and a first look at the young Dog here.

Massacre For Boys Picture Library will be out before Ragnarok, I promise!

Bad Company

Steve had a crack at the latest 2000AD forum art competition. The theme was the classic Milligan, Ewins & McCarthy strip, Bad Company.

Here is Steve's entry, depicting Mac vs The Ungrateful Dead:

Steve warmed-up with this equally impressive Bad Company Zombie:

Psychedelic Time Travel

Steve has contributed the artwork for a 4-page strip to Owen Watts' Psychedelic Journal of Time Travel. Here's page 1:

It's called "Were, Are, Shall Be" and the script was written by Adam Page.

The Psychedelic Journal of Time Travel 2013 is out now!

Elsewhere, Steve's Rogue Trooper collaboration with PJ Holden from some time back continues to bear fruit. The "landscape one" is now available as a postcard.

Before Skizz

Incensed by Before Watchmen, I considered penning a parody featuring Alan Moore's 2000AD creation, Skizz. I had two serious goes at writing this, the first an out-and-out comedy, followed by a second version, much more akin to a pastiche, after I started to get interested in what a Skizz prequel might really be like. In the end I set aside the idea, and now it's so profoundly untopical as to be unlikely ever to see the light of day.

However, I don't think I have blogged one of my page breakdowns for a while, so here for your amusement is a panel by panel plan of the earlier, "funnier" Before Skizz...

Page 1

1)

Caption: Skizz was co-created by Alan Moore of Watchmen fame! Yes! So you are actually reading a brand new, Moore-quality comic right now!*

Caption: *Legal note: Alan Moore does not endorse this statement.

Skizz's spaceship approaches a small planet.

2)

Skizz in his cockpit.

Skizz: That planet looks interesting, computer.

Computer: Unfortunately, if we stop here you will be late for the Formalhaut Ore Discussions.

3)

Skizz: Ten clicks won't make any difference. Let's take a quick look around.

Computer: If we must.

4)

Spaceship lands by a huge, ancient, dilapidated Romanesque temple.

Page 2

1)

Skizz exits his ship.

2)

Skizz finds a plaque with indistinguishable alien characters written on it.

3)

Skizz runs his hand across the tablet, translating it as he does so.

Skizz: Temple.... of.... Glycon.

Link: Interesting.

4)

Skizz enters the temple.

5)

It's dark.

Skizz: Hello... hello.... anyone there?

Page 3

1)

A huge serpent bears above Skizz.

Serpent: artisticintegretiyartisticintegrityartisitic integrity.

2)

The serpent's move his face right up to Skizz's mask.

Serpent: artisticintegrityartisticintegrityartisticintegerity

Skizz: I am sorry, but what do you mean by “artistic integrity”?

3)

Serpent: Exactly my point!

4)

The serpent slithers off.

5)

Skizz looks confused.

Skizz: What a strange being.

Page 4

1)

Skizz goes back into to his ship.

2)

Computer: We're late now, Interpreter Zhcchz.

Skizz: Increase speed ten percent over safe limits.

3)

Computer: That's unsafe. Obviously. Denied.

Skizz: Overrule, it will be fine just this once!

4)

Computer: Tsk. If you insist. Brace yourself.

5)

Skizz's ship speeds away from the planet.

Caption: Ha, bad decision, Skizz!

Caption: Now Go and Buy the Skizz trade to see what happens next! The script is by Alan “Watchmen” Moore, who also wrote Watchmen. Did we mention that?

Picture Library Covered

The incomparable David Frankum has contributed this beautiful cover to the forthcoming Massacre For Boys Picture Library:

This amazing artwork was inspired by Zen Fusilier by Greg Meldrum & John Caliber, which I have trailed before and which is going to be one of the best strips we've ever published.

Here is the image again, in ebony and ivory:

Our thanks go to David for doing such a phenomenal job :)

Unfortunately, due to production difficulties not dissimilar to those that recently afflicted Futurequake, the launch date of Picture Library has been delayed. We could be looking at up to 12 months in order to get to a point where we have a comic we feel we can present to the world. I can only apologise to fellow creators and readers negatively impacted by this editorial fail.

However, there is an upside which is that work continues to pack even more classic British comic action into the issue, and that when it does appear it will have been worth the wait!