Gifts

It's that time again when I get off my arse and make up an ebook of another old strip. This time, we have Gifts, with art by Dunk Nimmo. It seems like a good time to release this, given that Dunk and I have a Zarjaz project just around the corner, but more on that later. For now, here's Gifts...

Gifts was actually my first commissioned strip, but didn't appear until Something Wicked #2 came out about a year later. The cover of that issue, by Julia Bax, was based on the story - something which still fills me with pride to this day.

Gifts is now available to read on this post, or on the Free Stuff page (as well as my ComicSpace page). Enjoy!

Joe Pineapples: Tin Man

Chris Askham has completed the art for our ABC Warriors strip, featuring everyone's favourite robot assassin Joe Pineapples. And, because you're all lovely people, here's a sneaky peek from Mr Askham's blog:

The bad news is that you won't be seeing the finished product until next year, but the good news is that it'll be in Zarjaz #11, The ABC Warriors special! Having seen the finished artwork, I can assure you, it's most definitely worth the wait...

Also, remember to keep up to date with all the latest Zarjaz and Dogbreath news by checking out The Quaequam Blog!

Judge Minty Teaser

This teaser for the Judge Minty fan film has been around for a wee while now, but it's just too good not to share here:

Here's hoping the new Dredd film looks half as good as this...

If you want to know more about the project, be sure and check out the Judge Minty blog.

"And it's a good night from him..."

As it was reported on Bleeding Cool, Insomnia Publications MD Crawford Coutts e-mailed all most of the creators involved with the company and released us from our contracts. I've read some blog posts about this, and the mood amongst the ex-creators seems to be a mixture of buoyancy and anger at the way we were treat. Now we're all free, though, I'm sure a lot of publishers inboxes will melt down over the next couple of weeks as people try to place projects.

Personally, I've decided to err on the side of caution here and not post anything about my experiences with Insomnia, or the e-mail we received, until I'm completely sure everything's in order. All I will say is that I was put into contact with some great people, but also had a lot of things I always knew about the comic industry underlined for me.

As for the future of Babble... All I'll say right now is that Bryan Coyle and I are assessing our options, re-arranging our schedules, and making sure our prior commitments are met. I'm confident that we've come out of this with whatever small reputations we've built for ourselves reasonably intact. Personally, I seem to have emerged from the downtime with a bunch of strips lined up for Zarjaz, with a pretty stellar array of artists attached. More on those later, though (although, if you can't wait, go and check out my portfolio page to find out who they are).

In the meantime, be sure to go and pledge some money and grab yourself a copy of The Sleepless Phoenix anthology via their Kickstarter page, a huge book put together by former Insomnia creators. All of the proceeds from this will go to the Comic Book Alliance, who provided invaluable help, advice and support to us all during Insomnia's death throes.

The Sleepless Phoenix Anthology

As anyone who follows this kind of stuff will know, Insomnia Publications filed with Companies House to stop trading, and left about sixty or so people with graphic novels in legal limbo. As the wheels begin to slowly turn in a bid to get the situation resolved and get the creators out of their contracts, several Insomniacs have banded together to get a brand new anthology, Survival Stories, out there. This new book is made up of work that wasn't under contract with Insomnia, and due to appear in what would've been the next issue of Layer Zero, and all of the proceeds raised from the sale of Survival Stories will be donated to the Comic Book Alliance.


However, to make this book happen, they need your support.

Over on Kickstarter, a page has been set up where you can pre-order yourself a copy - digital or printed - or otherwise help out by pledging some money to help them hit their target amount. The book is around 192 pages long, and there's a bunch of special offers there, too, depending on how much you donate.

So, you know, go and order yourself a copy!