Happy Holidays!!

Death by Design...Batcave

Here's a little panel I like, thought I'd share it. I wish someone would write me a Batman story that solely takes place in the Batcave!!

It's out there!!

Seeing as this image is appearing all over the net I thought it only fair I should pop it on here!

Batman: Death by Design

People of the Earth, Moon and the other inhabited local worlds...it's the time you've all been waiting for, the time when I finally get to announce my Batman book, officially!!
We've all had fun playing guessing games as to who this "mysterious writer" really is, at one point it crossed my mind to run a competition to see who could get closest, but now it's time to end all this silliness and just get on with disclosure.


Batman: Death by Design, art by me and written by Chip Kidd. To be published spring 2012 in "deluxe" format.


So there we have it folks! Now you know. And for those of you unfamiliar with Mr Kidd (shame on you!) allow me to introduce New York's very own graphic "rock star", the man responsible for changing the face of book cover design in the late 20th century and early 21st. He's considered the leading light in graphic design, you've all seen his work and wondered at it's appeal. And he can write! Man, can he write! With all honesty and conviction I can say that this Batman: Death by Design is the best Batman story I've read in thirty years. Fact. Personally, it has many connections with my own life experience. It features the theme of architecture which is part of my family history, so you could say I'm biased...I'm not. How dare you!
I can't wait for this book to be published because I genuinely think it's my best work. Thanks to Chip, I had to become a better artist. I had to grow, to find a new way of telling a story and ultimately to be the artist of my design. Thanks Chip!

Here's a link to Chip's CBR interview about the book.

I'll continue adding sneaky peeks from time to time so don't be a stranger!

Batman news and Thought Bubble

Things are moving! My "DELUXE" Batman book has moved into the cover design stage, which for me is extremely exiting, meaning that it can't be too long before this here thing becomes official, with an announcement imminent! (does this sound familiar?!) I even roughly know when the book will be on sale...but for now my lips are again sealed!

In other news...I'll be attending this years Thought Bubble comic con in Leeds this November. I'll be part of the mass signing of the Nelson graphic novel, to be launched during the show.

The image above is a tiny part of a much bigger page, here seen in blue line pencil. Again, just a peek...for now!

Nelson graphic novel

Although it could be said that my life has been governed solely by a Mr. Batman of recent, the fact is that I've allowed other things to invade my otherwise Bat dominated world, however slight the invasion might be. One good example is the forthcoming Nelson graphic novel. Here's the hype...

"Over fifty of the UK’s most interesting comic creators have taken part in a unique collaboration to produce Nelson, a 260-page novel to be published by Blank Slate in November 2011. One continuous tale takes us from 1968 to the present with one chapter for every year, each of those chapters recording the events of one day in the life of one woman. A life told in snapshots. Nel Baker’s life.
Nelson embraces all aspects of comics storytelling across a wide spectrum of UK-based creators, uniting established talents from 2000AD, DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, The Beano and The Dandy with small press, Web comic and newspaper strip artists in one intriguing story. Nelson is an unprecedented anthology, a crazy experiment that is part exquisite corpse and part relay race, and best of all, an all–consuming novel like nothing you have seen before."

So...when the stunningly talented and jolly nice fellow Rob Davis asked me to be involved, and after he'd shown me some of the lush art already produced for the book I couldn't say "no". I could clearly see Rob and his fellow creator/editor Woodrow Phoenix (an equally stunningly talented and jolly nice fellow) were putting together something out of the ordinary, something exiting and fresh. Being asked to participate was a joy and an honour.

The images above show my proses for one of the panels of the four pages I've drawn for the book. The first is a blow-up of my first sketch, always done as wee as possible for clarity's sake. The second is the blue pencil drawing, done as "fast and loose" as I can! The third is the finished (pre lettering) image, coloured in Photoshop.

Despite my involvement, I strongly suggest you seek this out in November!

New Batman design

No, it's not part of DC's new reboot, it's something even more exiting. I proudly present to you, the world, my three year old daughter's interpretation of The Batman, created as my father's day card! (with her consent I should add!)
Batman has been a part of her life for most of her life, with pages and sketches laying around our home for the past few years as I work on my book. I may have introduced them to each other, I take full responsibility, but she's grown fond of him in her own way and to show me how much she loves the caped crusader she insisted on drawing me this card. Obviously I was thrilled. It's a heck of a thing to get from your own child, especially being such a Batfreak myself!

Judge Anderson and Robot Archie commission

Here's a little something I've had on my desk for a few months, finally got the thing finished in between Batman pages. And yes, I couldn't resist popping a Batman in there for good measure!

The Batman book is coming along nicely by all accounts. I've only got eight pages left to draw on the second of the two books so it's nice to think that all the hard work is done, all I have to do is the "inking" (graphite pencil) and the colouring and I'm home and dry. Hopefully there'll be some news soon regarding the secret writer and when this darn thing will be published!

Bristol Comic Con

Once in a while, a comic book creator gets to leave his/her house/bunker and travel to things called Comic conventions. The true meaning of these events is unknown, some argue that they don't actually happen, that it's a form of mass hallucination. It is true that often one can't remember any details from such a weekend but this can't be sighted as hard evidence for or against the argument. I, myself suggest that if you're interested in phenomenon such as this, if you harbour a nagging suspicion that a "comic con" might be thrilling, then make your way to Bristol this coming weekend (13th-15th May) and see what transpires. It could change you life!

Batman. More peeking!

Yes folks, it's that time again when I show a little bit more of my Batman project. Again, hopefully not giving too much away! I'm working now on the second of the two books and can say for certain that I'm positive, when it hits the shelves, that I'll have a best seller on my hands. No misplaced ego here, just facing the fact that this is something unique and much needed...all thanks to my mysterious writer, who has managed to write the kind of Batman story that's been sadly lacking from the industry for many years. You have no idea how frustrating it is that I still can't name him/her...you'll understand why when the time of revelation comes!!

Build a 'bot! (or how I stepped back in time)

Hard at work on Batman as I am, delightful as that is, it was a great pleasure recently to be asked to produce the above for an up-coming event by the name of DAR 2011, an "SF modeling show" to be held at the Gateway Hotel, Nottingham, UK from Fri 30th of April to Sun 1st of May.

The image will be a full page ad inviting folk to take part in a "Build a 'bot" competition.

Now, Batman takes all my time. Seriously, it's the most demanding job I've ever had, but once in a while it's good for me to put my Bat-pencil down for a moment and look up to see what else is going on in the world. As a child I used to love building plastic model kits. This turned into what is now regarded as quite an artform, namely custom models. I used to get all the bits left over from the kits, often including spare wings, cock-pits, guns and such and make my own little space craft. (the bases of some of the British Airfix kits were ideal to use as fuselage for these imagined sky vehicles in most cases)

When Eric invited me to produce this ad for him I couldn't say no. I managed to fit it in to my Bat-schedule by mostly working on it at night, so my Bat-conscience is fairly unblemished!

So...what you're looking at above is my working process, from initial "pop" idea to the finished piece. Some of you keen eyed folk out there may spot, amongst the first batch of sketches, the pose/robot I should have gone for! Typically I'm an artist who is never satisfied with anything I do!

Back to the Batcave...!

Transmetropolitan art book (adult content warning!)

What can I say about the comic book legend that is Transmetropolitan other than I too thought it was a stunning piece of work and was not alone in thinking sad thoughts when the series (by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson) was drawn to a close almost a decade ago.
I was recently invited to take part in a new Transmet project, something that I couldn't pass up, despite my tight Batman schedule. I've posted here an edited (by me) selection of "clips" from the full page image I came up with. If you're a fan of the series then I strongly advise you to keep an eye on this book, no true fan should be without it!

Oh, and Happy New Year!!

Kings of Inertia

Folks, I'd like you to meet my drums. Dear friends of mine. I play them when I can, usually at the end of my work day and always with joy. Not wanting to get too philosophical about it, these guys are part of me. Whatever I do in life I'll always be a drummer. I set out to be a guitarist, still in school and dreaming of performing twenty minute solos...the finger dislocation incident brought that dream to a close and with it an introduction to drumming. My most memorable performance, including all the touring I did of British working mens clubs and American Air Force bases (!!!), is easily the one at Glastonbury music festival. Not an organised, official gig I might add, but a mass drum jam in and around the stone circle. It started around mid-day and ended a day and a half later! I drummed all this time, held prisoner by the rhythms and the fact that I'd been passed the lead drum, the one that marks the tempo and underlays everything. I remember trying to pass the drum on a few times but was always persuaded to continue, presumably no one else wanted that responsibility. I wallowed in it!

So...what does this have to do with the here and now? Well, my old mate Gary Smith, who is in the process of starting to get his first album together, has invited me to be a part of his project.
Our method of recording his songs is going to be intriguing, neither of us having a lot of spare time, so we've come up with a dastardly plan, the first stage of which has been completed, namely a rough/guide drum track. This will help Gary to get the feel of the song as he records his guitar and vocal tracks, which will then be added to with a fresh drum track, guitar layers, bass and whatever else he chooses to complete the song. You can find samps of the drums for the first track to be worked on over on his site...allow me to introduce The Kings of Inertia!

Now...back to the Batcave!

Who's this Joker?!

I've just finished this panel from my Batbook and thought "hey, that looks like the kind of thing I'd post on my blog!" So here it is. No beans being spilled. No revelation. Just, again, a wee peek.

More Batman sneaky peeky

Hello again Batfans! I know it's been a while since I posted any of my Batman project, what can I say but sorry folks, I mean you no harm!

I'm so close now to finishing the first book (of two), can't believe it's taken me a year to get this far. But then, I hadn't expected to be co-employed with looking after a little daughter who is so full of energy she puts our very Sun to shame! So I've got two jobs, both of which I've been waiting for most of my life. It's been an incredible learning experience. On one hand, becoming a Dad after twenty years of wanting the job has opened my eyes to say the least and has made me the person I was cut out to be. On the other hand, the Batjob is seriously the best project I've ever worked on. That's not taking anything away from the work I've done in the past, it's simply that this is something quite different and something again that I've been waiting a long time to achieve.

So here's some edited images from my Batbook. And I promise to be a little more blog productive in future!

A 2000AD tattoo!

A friend of mine, who's mind has clearly been badly affected by reading 2000AD as a child, commissioned me recently to design a new tattoo for him. Here it is.

As you'll see, if you have any understanding of tattoo creation and the golden rules applied, I've used "too many lines", something that one must never do when seeking the perfect, long lasting tat. Lucky for me, the guy physically engraving my friend knows how to fix this (basically ignoring all my wiring!) and assures us both that it will look ace on completion. Fingers crossed! It's not like I can fix it in photoshop!!

While I was working on this, I couldn't help remembering with a smile the second issue of 2000AD which came with a free gift, something not a million miles away from my design.

Here's the cover...I actually still have the free gift somewhere, but it would take too long to find it so this will have to do...AIEEEEEE!

Judge Dredd's new girlfriend?!

Here's something for all you 2000AD and Judge Dredd fans out there, a sketch (for one of the guys at Rebellion) of Exorcist Judge Lamia. She came into being last year, written by Ian Edginton and designed by myself, in a story that I think is just the beginning of this young lady's career. (We do in fact have plans for a new series, but it'll have to wait for Mr Batman!)
Can you tell I had fun with the background?!!

Iron Man by design

Here's my Iron Man variant cover for Punisher #16...out now!
As a variant it's not easy to find, especially in small British comic shops, so I thought it only fair that I should show the image here.
Having had only a few days in which to get this done I'm not overly pleased with the outcome, it's a little frustrating that I couldn't spend more time on it to tighten a few things, but it's been well received so I guess I should just shut up and be happy with it!

BATMAN!!

It's almost, not quite, but almost time to reveal all there is to reveal about this Batman book I've been working on. So, for now, here's a few wee peeks at what I've been so cagey about all this time.