Seven Shades and Napoleon Stone launches at Thought Bubble

Sadly I won’t be at Thought Bubble this year, which has now relocated to Harrogate from Leeds, but you can still pick up some of my work there. The Comic-Con takes place next weekend, the 9th and 10th of November.

Seven Shades - Hell’s Belles will be debuting at the show from Deadstar Publishing, this 48-page one-shot story (with an intro by Alex Ronald) follows on from Issue 1-4 that came out last year. You’ll be able to pick up a copy there and the earlier issues if you don’t have them yet. My co-creator Dave Clifford will be at the Deadstar table selling original artwork from the book too. This video gives you an insight into the book and what to expect in the Issue, filmed in Cardiff’s very own Comic Guru store.

Unseen Shadows, the genre-bending pulp universe created by Barry Nugent, has three new titles coming out at the show too. One of these is Napoleon Stone and the Army of Set  which is a Find your Fate Game Book, where the reader chooses multiple paths through the story. The story, created by Barry and Richmond Clements with art by Alex Moore and game mechanics by Ant McGarry-Thickitt, leads directly into Fragments of Fate, the Napoleon Stone one-shot comic I wrote, with art by Roy Huteson Stewart. And that comic appears reprinted in the book and you’ll have a lot of fun finding your way to it.

Bags of Action podcast now on YouTube

I’ve been podcasting with Steve Aryan for a number of years, having previously been a guest host and interviewee on his long running show Grouchy Old Geeks (previously Comic Book Outsiders) that he does with Scott Grandisson.

Our podcast Bags of Action , where we spend about an hour mulling over an action movie from the past or present, has been running for a number of years. Our 64th episode (Creed II with special guest Barry Nugent) recently came out on the Geek Syndicate network and we try to get a new full length episode out about once a month.

BOA logo, designed by Azim Akberali

We’ve covered some of my old favourites that Steve had never seen, like Blind Fury and Stone Cold, Netflix Originals like Triple Frontier and The Foreigner, classic films like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon and some embarrassing gaps in my viewing history like Big Trouble in Little China and Aliens. We don’t always agree on what makes a good film, or on how to pronounce Christophe Lambert’s name but we do always give each film a score out of five bags of action (with no half bags allowed). We also have occasional guest hosts like Barry from Geek Syndicate, Gavin from the Sidekickcast and former Marvel and IDW comics editor, writer and educator Andy Schmidt. You’ll find us on all good podcasting apps.

As well as the main show, we have started to do quickfire 5-minute reviews of films we’ve seen between episodes.. You will find these and the main show on our new YouTube Channel, where we upload full episodes every Monday and 5 minute reviews on Tuesdays. If you like action movies please have a listen and make sure you stay bang up to date by subscribing to the channel.

Lady Mary hits Comixology

The Lament of Lady Mary, the second one-shot story I wrote for Barry Nugent's Unseen Shadows universe made its way to Comixology yesterday. You can find out more about the writing process here. 

Lady Mary Cademus lost both the men she loved in the First Crusade.  But now 8 years later one of them, her son Oliver, has returned alive.   And he isn’t alone. 

Script: Pete Rogers  Pencils: Conor Boyle Colours: Jo McLelland  Letters: Conor Boyle

Nugecon 2016

Last weekend eight podcasters headed to the Cotswolds for the inaugural Nugecon event, proving that the post comic convention pub chat can stand on its own two feet. We took the essence of a comic convention, threw out the hall and the panels, the tables and the exhibitors and shut ourselves away in a barn conversion with plenty of food and booze.  While there was no artists alley, there was a six hour game of the Battlestar Galactica board game to take its place.  I came away from the three days with the urge to re-watch Unbreakable and with the realisation that I'm not as good at table football as I thought I was and that I fall asleep too easily. Already looking forward to Nugecon 2017.

Please take time to visit our sponsors Bags of Action, Comic Book Outsiders, Geek Syndicate and Sidekickcast. 

The Lament of Lady Mary one shot

My second one-shot for the Unseen Shadows universe, created by author, podcaster, tv presenter and renaissance man Barry Nugent will be available very soon. The Lament of Lady Mary, a story set at the end of The Crusades which focusses on Sir Oliver Cademus and his relationship with his Mother, features art by Conor Boyle,colours by Jo McLelland and letters by Paul McLaren. It's one of two new stories that will be on sale at Thought Bubble in Leeds next month.  You can see a sneak preview below.