Thought Bubble Comic Festival 2025!

 

Yay Thought Bubble Comic Festival in this weekend in lovely Harrogate - let's hope the weather matches the surroundings! This year I'm in the same hall as last year, re-named 2000AD Hall, at Table B46. Please stop by if you can and say hi - I've a few new surprises!

Battled Through History!

What a fun time the other weekend returning South to The Battles Through History military show where I was delighted to again be invited as a guest author and with others tucked up nice and cozy in the Norfolk Pavilion, as Storm Amy did its best to disturb proceedings outside.

When we did briefly venture out, there was plenty going on which sadly we only caught a fraction of, although at least we had excellent panoramic views of the showground arena displays from our pavilion grandstand. Thanks to the organisers and all who braved the weather to help out or put on a display and special thanks to those who popped by our table or attended our talks.

Please visit the show's facebook page for many more images.

Me, James Dix (Die Hards, wargamer and soon to be author)
with author pals,David 'djp' Palmer and Kevin Brazier 

Yes 'Lawrence' was there too!

Busy But Fab!

 Urgh! They got me! Actually it's all been fab recently with almost back to back events, the most recent been a busy day in Sale, Cheshire for its very first comic-con which certainly delivered. Thanks to all who popped along, chatted and bought some comics, very much appreciated. Lovely too to see a few familiar faces :)

Special thanks of course to John Webster and his team for their invite and our Stanley Square venue hosts for their hospitality. It was a fun and busy day and a delight to catch up with fellow comic creators and those pesky daleks!.

The Wow Events team have another local event coming soon when they return to Bury Comic-Con on Sunday 30th June which promises more fun and Dr Who connections with Sylvester McCoy appearing, following Colin Baker's triumph last year! Sadly I can't make it this time but hope it goes as well if not even better than last year!

ZULUS in Warrington!

 

With everything going on I forgot to let you know that my ZULU:Water Cart Rescue graphic novel is  available at Scott's comic shop in Warrington, Cheshire; Scott's Pop's & Comics in both standard (£12) and signed 'n' sketched print packs (£15) (plus applicable postage).

The above photos were taken on their first day in store and their prominent display attracted a lot of attention as they've now almost gone - Santa and quite a few folk were giving these as Christmas presents this year to the Zulu fans in their families!

Don't worry though, we're arranging a restock so if you're local, why not pop in for a browse or if further afield, message Scott through his Facebook page or leave a message below and we'll take it from there :)

Thanks for everyone's support and interest and don't forget, Channel 4 are showing the movie that started it all this Sunday afternoon, New Year's Eve!

Redcoat History - Colin Chats Comics!

Busy, busy but anyone missing my dulcet tones should listen to Chris Parkinson's interview with me discussing the inspiration and development of my Zulu War Comics! This was our full chat as featured on Chris's You Tube channel as part of the Clash of Empires exhibition.

Download the episode here and check out Chris's library of other interesting military history interviews and discussions and if you've not seen Chris and I's fun video chat here.

New Events Incoming!

Aha, as promised, I've updated the 2023 'tour' schedule with a few of the confirmed events for this year, some new and some very, very exciting, including this Saturday's Salute Wargaming show, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary!

This follows my debut there at Salute's previous show, way back in 2021! I really enjoyed the experience, even if they were clearly a little subdued given the covid situation we were all in at the time and indoor events were only really slowly emerging. Sensibly, they opted out of 2022 to allow the new committee time to fully plan their anniversary event so here we are. This year I return to table TE05 and hopefully we'll experience the full Salute in all its glory, if only I'd something new out.........

Welcome 2022!

                                                            HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Well we may all be a bit battered and bruised by 2021 (and 2020!) but we made it this far so best pick ourselves up and get on with it!

I generally don't announce a lot of the plans I make as, a bit like 2021 (and 2020!), they don't always come off but I am fairly well placed to make the year ahead a special one for all those who have been patient with me in recent times with regards to new comic releases!

Yes this year should finally be the one - or did I say that last year - well a bit like Beetlejuice or was it Candyman?, I don't want to say the name three times but this;

 will;

 finally;

 happen!!

Watch this space!

Drawing the Charge of the Light Brigade!

Going through my art files I was reminded of this wee sketch I did of the Charge of the Light Brigade as part of my commission a couple of years ago for London's National Army Museum's new 'Society' gallery - art by me, colours by Matt Soffe. 

My long held interest in this subject was borne by a childhood viewing of Tony Richardson's landmark 1968 movie. I was probably 9 or 10 when I spotted a late night television scheduling of the movie and successfully negotiated with my parents to stay up late on a school night to watch it - clearly the sign of a young mind brainwashed by a love of history!

An old sketch of mine of a couple of the brave 600!

Although I retained an interest and have a few books on the Crimea, I'd only ever done a couple of sketches and had never seriously thought about doing something 'comicy' about the period in the same way as I had, and continue to do with the Anglo-Zulu War, so this was the perfect opportunity.

The project brief was to provide a pictorial progression of how 'Society' had depicted the army/military  in popular culture over a 100+ year timeframe, so starting with 1850's story papers, I chose to show a dramatic image from the famous charge, inspired by some of the period paintings of the time, particularly Richard Caton Woodville's dramatic painting, which I had a postcard copy of. 

Caton Woodville's The Relief of the Light Brigade (1854)

Suitably inspired, I started pencilling the action.....

Adding a little detail to better show the chaos of when the Light Brigade finally clashed with the Russian lines, cannons and all! 

Then beginning the inking....

.....and inking some more.....

... until completed, ready for Matt's colours, as shown in the final version at the top of this page.

And here's a little glimpse of the artist by the entrance to the NAM's Society gallery where the final piece was installed as a 'flip book/comic' for all visitors to see!

 

Interestingly enough, the NAM's Society gallery also featured a copy of the same Caton Woodville painting that had sparked my inspiration!

Not sure if I'll return to the subject but it was fun, with a soft spot for this previously unseen colour image of a Crimean-era Highland Soldier, (again coloured by Matt) when the final version remained in black n white, in keeping with the era the periodical presented.

SHAKA Comic!

While checking on the new rewards and excellent progress of Kia Wordsmith, Accent UK's current Kickstarter campaign, I stumbled upon the interesting sounding SHAKA comic, also currently funding on Kickstarter!

The video and campaign details speak for themselves but this promises to be a fun and dramatic re-telling of King Shaka's legend and the origins of the mighty Zulu nation, both subjects close to my heart! I'm not familiar with the creators, who seem to be based in Australia with South African roots but it all looks amazing.

Comics. History and Zulu's what's not to love, please check it out and remember PDF's are a good economic option if international shipping proves costly.

Return To The Asylum!

Aha, I'm delighted to confirm that Accent UK's brand new comic; Return To The Asylum will launching this weekend in Lincoln, appropriately at the Asylum Steampunk Festival!

This is a sequel of sorts to last year's Enter The Asylum comic which proved very popular and again features comic strip adventures inspired by and starring the alter-ego steampunk persona's of festival goers, who have co-operated with our creators to produce 6 original comic strip stories plus a bonus short in this new all colour perfect bound issue.

I have two stories, one again illustrated by the talented Anna Francesca Schiraldi, featuring a Licensed Elemental Conservationist (aka 'Faery Catcher') and a seemingly cheese-obsessed Professor!

  
Secondly, I've both written and drawn a story featuring the legendary Count Rostov and Lady M, Asylum festival stalwarts and contributors who enjoyed  their own real-life moment in the spotlight at last year's event, which I was fortunate to witness. I therefore just had to come up with a wee story to explain the resulting 'happy ending'!

If all this sounds of interest and sadly you're not able to attend this weekend's festival, then the comic is currently the subject of a pre-order campaign on kickstarter - check out the link here where you can find out further information on the other stories and creators involved!

3 in 3, there's going to be a Time Quake!

Well we do like to test ourselves don't we so since things are too quiet round here, the Accent UK 'tourbus' is outdoing itself these next few weeks with Time Travel, Atlantic Crossings and a 'Homecoming' coming up!

Who opened the Jar? A glimpse of our Curious Comic Corner!

First up this weekend sees Dave and I re-united for a brand new event from those fine folks behind the Asylum steampunk festival that we've being enjoying in recent years. Time Quake though promises to be something very different with various 'zones' such as Post-Apocalyptic, Time Lords, Wizardry, Steam Wars and much, much more with ourselves building a small set for our brand new Curious Comic Corner in the very special 'Author & Artists Alley', not a standard 6' x 2' table in sight! Challenged we've been on this one with serious planning since before Christmas, there's been a few hiccups here and there but join us if you can in Manchester, it all promises to be a very different spectacle over the Easter weekend!

Next up is a different type of time travel as Dave and I will literally be travelling back in time (by a fair few hours at least!) to take up our positions in Artist's Alley of C2E2 in Chicago, the windy city! We're soooo excited about this, our first 'big' US show and our first time exhibiting across the Atlantic for I think 5 years! As I reported after Scott and I's Seattle trip, so much has changed over there with the growth of comic movies and related interest, so this is quite a thrill. That said we're under no illusion that it will be a tough gig for us alongside the better known creators of the comic world and of course the entertainment guests and more but we're going mainly for networking, a bit of promotion and of course the experience, exciting stuff!

Next up - and I do mean, literally next! - is a welcome return to Auld Reekie for Edinburgh Comic-Con. This will be our third time there and its been a privilege to be part of this enthusiastic, friendly event as it has grown. This time, WesterNoir's very own Gary Crutchley will also be attending for what I think will be his very first trip to Scotland! I will of course be failing if I let him go without trying a wee bit of haggis, neeps & tatties, washed down with a Tennents or maybe a wee whisky? We'll see!

Actually I think there's a fair few other 'southern-based' comic creators making the trip so with the amazing native comics folk, Edinburgh again promises to be an enjoyable trip.

So there we are, 3 shows in 3 weeks in 3 countries !  There's a few more after that with a couple of new shows to be added to our tour dates but luckily I'll have a decent break after this wee run to - hopefully - get back to the business of writing and drawing! It may be a wee bit quiet here until then but if you are anywhere near these 3 shows, feel free to join us and tell us about your own favourite comic trips!

Hungry for Comics?

As we gear up for the forthcoming 2018 comic convention season, I thought I'd share a few images and characters that you may meet if you'd like to track me down this coming year, near or far, at a show near you? Watch this space for more comic surprises to come!