It's set in the same "Blessed/Cursed" thematic universe as the earlier Eagle award winning "Whatever Happened To The World's Fastest Man?" as it shows that there isn't always a silver lining to having a special power or ability.
A panel of Joe Campbell's artwork - can you see the Invisible Man, well can you ?
The tale again comes from the pen of our own Dave West and expertly illustrated by artist Joe Campbell and the advance copies have already received excellent reviews here and here and has spotlighted by Paul Gravett so here's your chance to look into matters for yourself to see if you can indeed truly see the Invisible Man?
Order through your Comic shop retailer using order code STK623409 before the Invisible Man disappears for ever......
Well that was a blast! I don't get to Glasgow very often let alone get a chance to combine two of my most favourite things, football and comics but the other weekend it somehow all came together. I was unusually accompanied by my younger son Adam, (after whizzing up to Aberdeen where he's shortly starting uni), who would not normally embrace either football or comics culture, (unlike older son Scott of course!) but I think even he enjoyed what turned out to be a very special weekend together.
The football came about thanks to comics writer, Jim Alexander's top tip at the recent Carlisle show, realising that the match was the night before the planned MCM Scotland comic and that was that, booked our tickets and on a stormy overcast Friday night in Glasgow, Adam and I made our way to Hampden Park to watch the World Cup qualifying game between Scotland and Belgium!
A group of Belgian fans - photo taken from our 18th floor hotel window - really!
We decided to go early to get a bit of atmosphere but in reality the atmosphere started as soon as we arrived at our hotel as reception was chaotically crammed with colourful, singing Belgian fans and so it continued all round Glasgow, through central station, bouncing on the train and then of course making the walk down the fabled Hampden concourse where it got busier and busier with the equally colourful Tartan Army hordes competing with their Flemish counterparts, all good humoured banter which sadly I missed capturing, not bringing my camera with me - Duh!
The build up inside the ground was equally breathtaking as some 36,000 fans filled the stadium and Adam and I couldn't help but be swept along with the infectious fervour and I have to say that standing side by side with my son, singing Flower of Scotland along with the Tartan Army is a memory I will long treasure. The atmosphere brought back many happy memories of being a wee boy growing up and following the ups and downs of Scotland's previous World Cup dreams watching the likes of Dalglish, Miller, McLeish, Strachan (now manager of course), Gemmill, Mason, Jordan, McQueen and more!
There used to be so many talented Scottish players, sadly not now as reflected in the matches result, a not unexpected 2-0 loss . In fairness Scotland performed better than I'd hoped and Belgium were not as strong as they may have been, probably not helped by the weather with the rain teeming down before kick-off and not stopping during the weary walk and long, long, queue for a train afterwards.
Despite this I wouldn't trade the match for anything and Adam and I took great delight in recounting our experiences when we later met Dave in the hotel bar (who had himself had a torturous drive up through the elements). We may have been tired, drenched and shoeless but we had been a small part of Scotland's Tartan Army and that was enough.
Up early the next day, collecting Dave and Jemma, Adam drove us to the SECC where already things were starting to fill up with many cos players in attendance. Dave as always has beaten me to it with our Accent UK report of the show which is here and it was indeed a crazily busy show, especially considering it was the first one, with reports suggesting some 20,000 came and stories of 3 hour queues to get in - absolutely amazing!
We were able to catch up with a few familiar faces not least of which was Jim Alexander who we were able to talk footy with and hear about the great reception his new comic Savant is receiving, also caught up with Sha Nazir of Black Hearted Press,and old friends Jenika Ioffreda,Genki Gear, Sumyra of Lucky Target Comics and a few others but only briefly, as everyone was just so busy with customers, what a wonderful feeling!
Dave and Colin make sure that Adam can't escape the Accent UK table!
We had record sales for a one day show (MCM have announced it will be a full weekend next year!) selling to mainly new customers, many who had not come across our work before so it was a great event for finding a new audience and well worth the long haul North.
As for Adam? I think he enjoyed himself, he may not be a total convert quite yet but even he was beaming when he met a familiar face, whispering in a very Scottish drawl, "It's a Trap!"
Still buzy, buzy, Carlisle was good fun, quieter than last year but still good to catch up with a few familiar faces, we did okay but we'll see if they run the show next year? As ever, Mr West is far more timely than me so has a little write-up at Accent UK's blog here.
I've been very lucky to have had a great little holiday trip (maybe some pics to follow!) and am now zipping up to Scotland, firstly Aberdeen then this weekend we're exhibiting at the first MCM show in Scotland at the Glasgow SECC which if its anything like the recent Manchester show will be a blast!
This of course follows on from my earlier 'solo' outing at Dundee earlier this year but with Dave in attendance will be the very first time that the full Accent UK team and range of books will be available North of the Border!
And if that wasn't reason enough to be excited I'll also be making my very first trip to Hampden Park to watch the mighty Scotland take on Belgium in a World Cup Football qualifying match ! Okay so Scotland can't qualify but I'm still excited!
Coming up this Saturday is the return of Megacon in sunny Carlisle - well it was sunny last time and we'd like more of the same thank you very much! It promises to be a nice mix of comics, books, role-playing games, computer gaming, toys, collectibles and more with the likes of Waterstones, Game and Toymaster in attendance so something for everyone.
We had a fun time last year and sold a decent amount of books to make the trip North worthwhile so quite happy to return with by my reckoning four new releases since last time. It's held in the spacious and very modern atrium hall and stage of the Richard Rose Central Academy, which is a short walk from Carlisle city centre, so pop round if you're in the area, the fun starts at one!
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?
Col in the sun at Fredrik Stromberg's garden terrace in Malmo!
Well it's been a while, but rest assured all is well at the moment, just had an incredibly busy but enjoyable time with family visits, comics, shows, work, decorating and more!
Hopefully I'll get a chance to update soon but please check out the much more organised Dave West's write-up's on our recent visits to Copenhagen Comics and MCM in Manchester. Next up is an unexpected return to the Mega-Con in Carlisle next Saturday, Crikey where does the time go?
Well I really feel like the original 'Travelling Man' at the moment as I'm busy packing for our much anticipated trip to Copenhagen and this weekend's Copenhagen Comics festival!
The show is the revamped and re-named komiks.dk show that we've been proud to be part of since its inception in 2004 - gosh is it really that long ago - and we've attended every one since. The shows normally a bi-annual one but slipped its slot from last year so its now 3 years since our last trip there and we're getting quite excited.
Yes it really was 2004 - The original Accent DK Team, Colin, Dave & Chris say Skal!
We've had many, many special moments at these shows and have met a great bunch of folk there over the years, some of whom we see elsewhere on our travels in the UK or at MoCCA in the US, but the majority we only see in Denmark so its always good fun catching up and seeing more of the sights - providing Soren our tour guide is available!
The Rio Bravo - one of Soren's cultural recommendations in 2010!
The core of this year's committee have been involved with the show since its start and it promises to be a good one with a great mix of global guests, featuring the UK's own Charlie Adlard, Melinda Gebbie and Frazer Irving plus from the US, Brian Azzarello, Jaime Hernandez and Jill Thompson and lots more European guests- see the lists here and here!
Right, still a bit of packing to do so I'll leave you with a few fun vintage snaps - Skal!
A toast with Bryan Talbot at the inaugrual 2004 show
A youthful Leah Moore & John Reppion guest star at the AUK table 2006
Colin and Sussi Bech at the sunny 2008 show!
The Accent UK / DK 2008 Team up!
Heads down at the AUK 2010 table as Col n Dave let Pedro Lopez,
Fanny Bystedt and Matrtin Flink do all the hard work!
Dave and Scott at the 2010 show
Copenhagen's famous little mermaid in 2010
(Really, the original was on tour in Tokyo!)
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