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.

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

Looking back on 2015

As I start to make writing plans for 2016, it felt like a good time to look back on what has happened in the past twelve months. 

In Print

Two books came out in 2015 with my my name on them and both involved me writing in universes created by others. 

The Law Above was a short story for the second Torsobear anthology 'All Stitched Up', the brainchild of writer/artist Brett Uren. I thoroughly enjoying reading the first fluffy noir collection about detective Ruxby Bear and his adventures in Toyburg. So I was very pleased to get the chance to join forces with children's book illustrator Mike Motz to tell a tale of the prison guards who were once involved in the Saturday Morning war. As a big fan of 80s action adventure cartoons, the subject matter was right up my street.

The collection features a veritable who's who of indie creators like Cy Dethan, Glenn Moane, Juan Romera, Jon Scrivens and many more.   You can pick up the collection on Amazon or on Comixology.

'Imagine Frank Miller's Sin City... Now, color it with all the crayons from a third grader's school box . . . That's the barest inkling of the cruel delights that await you in this
incredible volume.' - Tony Caballero, Fanboy Comics

The Lament of Lady Mary was my second one-shot for the Unseen Shadows universe, created by Barry Nugent and spinning out of his pulp novel series. This time I got to stretch my writing muscles in a historical setting as my story, which centred on the relationship between Lord Oliver Cademus and his Mother the titular Lady Mary, was set after the end of the crusades. It also meant I finally got to work with artist Conor Boyle (Pirates of the Lost World), something I've wanted to do for years. He was the perfect artist for this story and colourist Jo McClelland helped give the story even more depth. It's one of the scripts I'm most proud of and you as it is set at the very start of the Unseen Shadows timeline, you don't need to have read the first novel Fallen Heroes or any of the other comic stories to follow along. You can pick the book up now from Comicsy. 

In Progress  

Things have been moving forward with Flux, the sci-fi thriller mini series I'm co-writing with Steve Aryan (Battlemage) with art by Maysam Barza (Fubar) . We've got ourselves a publisher,  Issue 1 has been lettered by Sean Rinehart. Issue 2 is partway through, Issue 3 is written and is undergoing rewrites and Issue 4 will be written next month. Expect news of a release date for the series to be announced early in 2016.

Work is also underway on another series written with Steve, The Promise, which features art by Simone Guglielmini (Near Death) and one written solo, Fifteen-Minute Heroes with art by Cheuk Po (Blood Dolls). 

I've gone back to my roots in 2015 by taking up various offers to write short stories for anthologies. Two stories are currently with artists, Back to Work is with Federico De Luca (Murder One) and Good Night, God Bless is being worked on by Wamberto Nicomdemes (Rage). 

Back to Work

My role as Comics Experience's Digital Content Editor has been gathering pace and keeping me busy, more to follow on that front when we hit the New Year. There will also be an announcement relating to the no (comic) code anthology I'm putting together to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Pearl Jam album no code.  

All in all an eventful 2015, with lots of projects on the go, which meant my convention appearances were somewhat curtailed. Next year my convention calendar will be somewhat fuller in 2016, with London Super Comic Con, Bristol Comic Expo and Thought Bubble among the shows that I'll be attending. 

Here's to a very productive 2016. 

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.