Into The Cardiff Comic Expo

Stacey Whittle's anthology Into The Woods is finally getting it's official launch at Cardiff Comic Expo this weekend. The book brings together some of the finest small press comic creators around today to give their own unique takes on fairy and folk tales, and includes an adaptation of the Northumbrian folk tale The Lang Pack (or The Long Pack, for all you Southerners) by me and Simon Wyatt (with Filip Roncone on lettering duties).

For anyone unfamiliar with the original story, it's a tale about a pedlar with a mysteriously long package who pays a visit to Lee Hall in Bellingham. Leaving the pack at the house with the servants, he heads off to find lodgings. However, during the night, the house staff swear the package begins to move... It's an interesting  tale, but one made all the more interesting by the mysterious gravestone at St Cuthbert's Church in Bellingham:

Image copyright © Major_Clanger and used entirely without permission

Click that image for a version of the story of The Lang Pack, if you're so inclined. Alternatively, Linda Stratmann has a more detailed version on her website here or England's North East has a slightly different version here. Alternatively, you can buy Joseph Crawhall's book about the story from Amazon here. I'm pretty sure the story has never been told in comic format before, so we could well be breaking new ground here.

Anyway, to whet your appetite for our version, here's a little taster panel, Simon's rendition of Lee Hall:

And here's our lead character, Alice:

And here's the rather tasty cover from Andy Bloor (with colours by Steven Howard):

Into The Woods also features work from Richard McAuliffe, Sarah Dunkerton, Matt Gibbs, Alice Duke, Scott Harrison, Daniel Clifford, Bevis Musson, Alexi Conman and Connor Boyle. Priced a paltry £5, it'll be available from Cardiff Comic Expo this coming weekend. So y'know, go and buy a copy, if you're there. After that, it'll also be for sale through Stacey's very own Big Cartel Shop.

I'm reliably informed that Stacey will be sharing a table with the FutureQuake team at the Cardiff con -  who will advance copies of the latest issues of Zarjaz and Dogbreath, both of which I'm in, too!

Zarjaz #14 features Devlin Waugh: A Night In Casablanca by me and Jaye Franklin, and comes with a Colin MacNeil cover:

Dogbreath #25 has Strontium Dog: Best Served Cold by me and Simon Bennett Hayes, and features a cover by Stewart Moore:

Both comics are priced £3.00, and will be available from the FutureQuake Shop soon. The FQ team will have more of their usual high quality output available to buy - some of which you can see on the right side of your screen. So, y'know, go buy them and discover some of the finest small press comics being produced today.