"You're Lucky We Found A Log!"

A page from 'Pointy Heads', the epilogue story in my ZULU: WATER CART RESCUE graphic novel, about a couple of Zulu children making the dangerous journey to Rorke's Drift, looking for their missing warrior fathers, who haven't returned from the battle there.... 

The graphic novel is currently only available direct from me - see convention appearances on the right, or from contacting or visiting Scott's Pops & Comics comic shop in Warrington, UK.

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!

Burns Nicht the Nicht!

Today's 'Burns Nicht' when folks celebrate the life of Scotland's National poet, Robert 'Rabbie' Burns and as tradition demands we will be tucking into some home cooked haggis tonight, as freshly caught during my last trip home :)

We generally are away at Burns night (and have a trip planned this weekend) and am reminded of a couple of years ago in 2013 when we managed to be in Edinburgh for Burn's night when thankfully the weather was fairly mild. The City though had several Burn's celebratory events on including a couple of costumed readings of his work which I though would be good to share here, including a willing volunteer to a reading of 'A Red Red Rose'!

At the Museum of Scotland the same day, they also had several events including a lively re-enactment of Tam o'Shanter, readings and a wee concert from Amy MacDonald! Enjoy your own Burns nicht, however you celebrate it!

 

Oh and keeping with comics, this recent graphic novel lifts the lid on the bard's previously unknown life as Scotland's Witch Hunter! It's delightful riotous fun, find out more from the BBC and order it here!

Accent UK Recognised!

 
One thing that Dave and I worry about at Accent UK Towers is whether we do enough to shout about our books and raise our talented creators profile, it ain't easy and not a terribly British thing to do, we usually take the view then that quality will (eventually/hopefully!) be recognised and someone else will raise our profile for us, which is why we're always grateful when someone takes the time to review our titles or give us a mention somewhere.

Imagine my surprise and delight therefore when catching up after the Christmas festivities, I see that word is getting out there and respected indie comics blogger and reviewer Patrick Scattergood, gives an honourable mention to Tales of WesterNoir #1 in his 2015 Best Comic Book Awards list, making Stephenson's Robot #1 his runner-up! Not only this but WesterNoir Book 5 (and Andy Bloor's Midnight Man) get honourable mentions in the Best Graphic Novel Awards category too!

Check out Patrick's comments and the fine company our book's keep in his always interesting blog, Curiosity Of a Social Misfit here and here!

Shortly after reading this Paul Miranda kindly drew our attention to Accent UK's inclusion in the Canada based Comix Asylum website's Directory of Current Comic Book Publishers! This is an unexpected recognition of our status as we find ourselves listed alongside Dave Sim's Aardvark, AdHouse, Abrams books and many more! Check out the full list on Comix Asylum's site here.

These in themselves may be 'small' things but when you're working in pretty much of a vacuum it is validation of sorts that your books are being seen and you are regarded as an established presence, so thanks to both Patrick and Paul and their websites and if you've enjoyed what you've seen this year just wait till you see what Accent UK has to offer in 2016!!

Glasgow Comic-Con!

Hannah Berry's Glasgow Comic-Con artwork

Glasgow Comic-Con was a great excuse for us to make a family weekend of it with several relatives travelling from other parts of Scotland for a get together for Mrs M's birthday and a great time we had too. Dave's prompt show report is here, we were again bowled over by our reception, with the Dundee shows and last year's MCM Glasgow, this was now our 4th Scottish show, but easily the biggest in terms of comics hungry fans. Sales were steady throughout the first day and very healthy the second resulting in only a handful behind the near-record Belfast figure, so pretty chuffed. 

A view of the CCA and prominent Accent UK table!

And from above, note no Col or Dave!

The Glasgow comic-con in its wonderful quirky arts centre setting had a great vibe and atmosphere to it and again folk were so friendly with most new to our books. My limited Zulu packs again sold out on the first day as they had also done in Belfast (and London and Birmingham before!), leaving me with a dilemma whether to carry on selling the last 1/2 dozen copies I hold or to keep these for posterity. I'm chuffed they've still found an audience but desperate to complete something new.....In fact all books sold well in Glasgow as they have in fairness at all recent shows. Its gratifying that the quality of even the older books still stands up and attracts people.

GCC crew and organisers Ish & Sha model the very creepy 'Laptop Guy' dummy eek!

We were delighted to catch up with guests and old friends Leah Moore and John Reppion at the show along with the likes of Jim Alexander, Ellie Winter, Ed Murphy, Sumyra and Darren of Lucky Target Comics, Daryl Cunningham, the delightful Hannah Berry, Owen Johnson, Guillermo Ortego, the Dundee Uni crowd and many more!

Adam and Scott man the stand

The show was spread around three local sites and across three floors of the main CCA and from past experience of 'split-venue' shows we were a bit concerned but amazingly (to us!) this actually enhanced rather than hindered the show. There were few crowd bottlenecks, the talks (and queues) were well attended and managed and there was plenty going on for punters to wander about or to sit, chill and grab a coffee or beer, the perfect comic show really!

The CCA's bar, cafe and guest signing area - can you spot Gail Simone & Howard Chaykin?

An ariel view of the guest signing area, now also featuring Peter Milligan & Erik Larsen!

From an economical point of view, the tables weren't cheap but the crowd, while only a fraction of the MCM ones, were serious comic fans, keen for new discoveries and happy to buy books. One particularly fine fellow we'd spoken to on the Saturday duly kept his promise to return on the Sunday and bought virtually our whole range of books! It was just that type of show and also one where when going for a wee wander you'd bump into someone and have a chat as you went along, something you can't really do at the big bustling shows. I'd almost go so far to say that it had the same relaxed, vibrant atmosphere as we enjoy on our Danish trips, high praise indeed!

The West's about to team tag the Mathieson's!

Oh and the reason Dave and I managed to wander about was that for a little while on the Saturday we were able to leave Scott, Adam and Jemma in charge and very capable they were too. The next generation of Accent UK is shaping up nicely I'd say, giving us older fella's a deserved rest!

A rare sight - all Mathieson Men manning the Accent UK table!

Despite the wandering I sadly didn't really buy much, (I usually do my buying on the Sunday and the kids had gone by then - no stamina!), but my one must buy was Sally Heathcote:Suffragette!  I'd been holding off buying this until I got the chance to catch one of the talented creators and luckily for me, artist Kate Charlesworth was there and what a lovely lady she was too, very funny and down to earth. She was signing with top Scottish crime writer (and Girl with Dragon Tattoo graphic novel adaptation) Denise Mina. The pair were obviously good friends, enjoying each others company and a riot to chat too. I'm halfway through Sally Heatchcote and really enjoying it, historical action well done, just my cup of tea! (check out this great new interview with Kate by Padraig O'Mealoid).

Denise Mina and Kate Charlesworth share a joke

So congratulations to Sha, Mark, Jack, Ish and all the Glasgow Comic-Con crew for a great show and one, along with MCM Belfast we hope to return to next time.

GCC crew member Jeremy who Dave & I stared at all w/e, given his uncanny resemblance to old friend, Phoenix artist Neil Cameron - we made poor Jeremy draw a dinosaur to prove that he finally wasn't Neil!

Bannockburn: On Dangerous Ground!

Wonderful panoramic panel of Conor Boyle's Battle of Bannockburn artwork!

Just a quick mention of an unexpected comic bonus from my Dundee Comic Expo trip when avoiding our usual motorway service station stops, we instead stopped for lunch at the newly refurbished Bannockburn visitor centre near Stirling.

Mighty impressive the centre looked, befitting for the forthcoming 700th anniversary and is one we will defiantly plan to visit properly when we have time, maybe as part of this year's Homecoming festival?. However my wee foray into the gift shop provided unexpected dividends when I discovered that the much anticipated Battle of Bannockburn graphic novel had been released and was on sale!

My excitement stemmed not just from my natural Scottish historical and comic connections but from the fact that the book's art is provided for by the talented and very good friend of Accent UK, Conor Boyle! I first heard about the book over a year ago from Conor and his wife, Lizzie, (of Disconnected Press fame!) and had short updates as we bumped into each other at last year's comic shows. I've not seen them so far this year so this was indeed an unexpected find and one i look forward to reading.

The graphic novel written by historian Fiona Watson comes partly in colour and 3D no less and can be purchased direct from the National Trust for Scotland's website here. Good luck to all involved with its production.

They Call Him Stagger Lee

Catching up with my reading and a few days ago finished the Stagger Lee graphic novel from writer Derek McCulloch and artist Shepherd Hendrix. First published by Image Comics in 2006, (see its original official website here), its a strange enjoyable but ultimately flawed read.

Telling an American tale of Christmas Eve, 1895 in St. Louis, Missouri, Lee "Stack Lee" Shelton shot and killed Billy Lyons during an argument at a bar. Said argument may or may not have been triggered by a stetson hat. But the story told here is not so much about the shooting but the legend it gave rise to. If like me, you think you recognise the 'Stagger Lee' name but not the story its probably because of the song versions it inspired. Most noticeable for me the Nick Cave version which has a great beat but probably the most explicit lyrics around! (For a comprehensive insight into the 'Stagger Lee' story and the 'Murder Ballads' it inspired, checkout Paul Slade's articles and website here).

A great example of artist Shepherd Hendrix's work

The graphic novel expertly traces the orgins of the various versions of the songs which include not just Nick Cave but Bob Dylan, The Clash, The Grateful Dead, Wilson Pickett and dozens more, handily listed in the book's appendix.

It cleverly highlights the different version of events relayed in the songs which artist Hendrix has a lot of fun with - at one point drawing the main characters in each others distinctive suits to illustrate doubts who the real protagonist was! 

The story of the songs and the basic known facts of the case, (based on a true story) would probably make for a satisfying read in itself. However the book has a further layer to it with regular vignettes from a supporting cast, some real, mostly fictional. These are actually well told on the whole, albeit sometimes confusing to recall who's who and how they fit into the scheme of things.

In my view though these episodic vignettes detract from the Stagger Lee story too much and jar with the courtroom scenes and song interludes. The fictional element would perhaps have made for a valid separate book in itself rather than 'shoehorn' it in here. Ultimately making for Stagger Lee to be a laboured read in parts but still worth picking up if you come across it. 

I contrast this with the Johnny Cash, I See A Darkness, graphic novel by Reinhard Kleist (Self-Made Here 2009), which I also recently read for the first time. It also juggles song lyrics with factual biography but cleverly keeps things moving without the need to add extra fictional elements and makes for a more entertaining read in my humble opinion.

Still, Stagger Lee was, (as the songs convey), a bad, bad man and his story endures to this day. A fact brought home when I noted the date I finished reading this graphic novel, the 11th March, which just happens to be the anniversary of  Lee 'Stack Lee' Shelton's death in the Missouri State Penitentiary Hospital in 1912!

Mermaids Ahoy!

Funny how sometimes a few good things all come together at the same time, all sharing something, a common link, all by a happy accident, well that's how it seems to me recently with Mermaids and I'm pretty sure that's a good thing, although it has to be said that Mermaids can seriously harm your health if you let them!

From left to right above is firstly Gary Crutchley's unadorned cover art for Westernoir book 3 (see the printed version below), the latest in his and Dave West's excellent new series following the exploits of a certain Josiah Black. The book of course is from Accent UK and I may be biased but don't take my word for its excellence, check out the latest reviews here and here. You can catch up with the series from us direct at any of our forthcoming shows or buy direct from our website here, you won't be sorry, the story's gathering pace and Gary's artwork oozes style and confidence.

Next up is the sign of The Mermaid pub from of course the new Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost movie The World's End which we saw at the weekend. It's a wonderfully silly, sweary, boozy movie, very British (in a good way!) with lots of funny moments and cameos. Perhaps not quite hitting the heights of the earlier classics Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz but still great fun and well worth a look. The World's End Mermaids are very modern in a late 80's school disco way but true to form are dangerously alluring...

Which leads me nicely to Mark Siegel's elegantly old school Sailor Twain graphic novel and the tragic tale of the Mermaid in New York's Hudson river. I was vaguely aware of Mark's book and was delighted to pick up a copy and meet him at this year's MoCCA festival where he drew me a wonderful Mermaid sketch - which I think is worth repeating;

I've now read Mark's book and its a wonderfully dark, comic, dangerous tale featuring the eponymous Captain Twain, the alluring Mermaid with unpronounceable name, steamboats, saucy liaisons and mystery, all told in absorbing pencil and charcoal. Well worth setting a course for!

These Mermaids all offer something different and may be dangerous to approach but can you resist their siren's song?