I’m currently working away on the script for a new game App that’s scheduled to come out next halloween! I’m not allowed to give too much away, but I am allowed to say this… It’s going to be awesome!
I’ve just seen a few of the work-in-progress screenshot from the ridiculously talented Jason Clark which are so good that I had to share one.
This Saturday (17th March) at 10am I’ll be giving a talk on Writing for Comics at Bournemouth’s second annual Southern Script Festival. There’s lots on, so I thought it’ll be helpful to put a little breakdown of what exactly it is that I’ll be talking about:
Writing for Comics – An introduction to Comics, how writing for Comics is different to writing for other media, and what a Comic script actually looks like.
Creating the Creative team – How to find other creators to help bring your vision to life, and the Working Practices within these teams.
The Comic Industry – What to expect from Work for Hire or Creator owned work. An introduction to the industry.
Comics as Project Builders – How Comics can be used to help promote yourself as a writer, how Comics can be used to promote a project, and the Transmedia uses of Comics.
This is an informal session, based largely on my personal experiences writing and editing Comics (Dead Roots, Wallace and Gromit, and Collider). Accessible to all. No bats. Tickets still available.
The London MCM and the Eagle awards have joined forces to create The Huntsman’s challenge, which challenges people to create a complete five-page comic set within the world of Snow White and the Huntsmen. I love short comics and experimenting with different styles, so to create a story with a dark fantasy setting was an attractive preposition.
quickly
I quickly created a story, I would have loved to have spent more time on it, but I only found out about the challenge a few weeks before the deadline. I was delighted to work with the ridiculously Martin Simmonds who completely illustrated the comic in just a couple of weeks – I think Martin’s got a serious shot of winning an award for his amazingly evocative artwork. The Comic itself is here for you to see for yourself. Letters and Logo by the super diligent Mike Stock.
I’ve confirmed for this year’s Souther Script Festival where I’ll be talking about writing for comics! I had a great time last year, so I’m really excited to be invited back. More details coming soon.
I’m delighted to announce that Nadine Ashworth has joined the Eponymous team as colourist to round off the creative team. I had the pleasure of working with her on Just the Tip of the Iceberg where she did an amazing job. You can see more about Eponymous on it’s Facebook page here, and below is a coloured Eponymous preview.
Last night saw the second annual Adventures in Comics exhibition hosted by the Marine studios in Margate. I was very proud to see the comic produced by myself, Grant Perkins (Pencils), Mike Bunt (Inks), and Nadine Ashworth (Colours) on display in the gallery space and being enjoyed by guests to the exhibit. I was unfortunately unable to attend due to work commitments, but from all accounts the show was a roaring success. Kam Rehal – one of the guys running the show – was kind enough to send me a few pictures of the event in full flow.
Kam Rehal (left) and Paul Gravett (right) – as Paul discusses comics to the assembled masses.
People enjoying the displayed comics – including Just the tip of the Iceberg which is to the right of the woman.
This is the two page comic that myself, Grant Perkins (Pencils), Mike Bunt (Inks), and Nadine Ashworth (Colours) created for the Marine studio‘s Lifeboat Exhibition. I’m really happy with how well this came out, especially considering that it was created in such a short space of time. I had never worked with any of these guys before, and as a creative team it was probably the most successful that I’ve ever been a apart of, with everyone working seamlessly in the same direction. Hope you guys enjoy ‘reading’ it as much as we enjoyed creating it!
The Marine Studios in Margate is running its second Adventures in Comics Exhibition. The success of last year’s event has allowed them to create several lottery funded Comic workshops for just £10 each! Be sure to check out their website for more details of this amazing deal (here).
My new project Eponymous has its very own Facebook page here where we’ll post updates as we ramp up development. Feel free to like it. For now here’s the final (logic-influenced) costume design by Jack Tempest, and the official blurb:
‘Eponymous is an ongoing comic series about the first Superhero to be seen in over thirty years.
Eponymous is told from a variety of perspectives reflecting how the government and public would demand to know who she is, where she came from, and what drives her relentless vigilante campaign.
Eponymous is currently in production and is scheduled to be to be released mid- 2012 in a new monthly comic.’
Dead Roots – the comic anthology that I’m editing – is in full swing with more and more amazing artwork appearing in my inbox everyday. Here’s some sneak peaks of artwork from Gordon Rennie and Lee Carter‘s comic: Death Knocks, and Damian Mckeating and Michael Lee-Graham‘s comic: Relentless (Shown below respectively).
I’ve just started work on a a film project with Edward Hall and Julian Kerr called Dream Walkers. The central concept is a very cool, visual, idea that lends itself to a complicated narrative, which is where I come in. I like to complicate things… We’re currently working on a short ‘intro’ styled motion comic to allow us to show the capabilities of the story in a micro ‘James Bond’ styled intro. I don’t want to give too much detail away – the title does a good job of doing that on it’s own – but we’re trying to create a real unique world for our characters. Here’s a cool ‘test’ photo of one of the characters:
As the series artists continue to work away at the six part BeActive comic Collider - which I wrote – we’ve finally had the time to turn our attention to another vital part of the comics: The covers! I’m been very privileged to work with two amazing artists Michael Lee-Graham who has done the ‘main’ series cover, and Jack Tempest who is working his way through the individual character covers that will accompany the individual comics. Both artists have been amazing to work with and have produced covers that will really help the comic stand out. Below is a very small spoiler – I’d love to show more, but my boss would kill me. Really. Covers by Mike and Jack respectively:
I’m very excited to say that I’ve started doing a little work with the guys over at Masters of Pie.
Masters of Pie are an ‘interactive studio’ who are doing a bunch of cool and innovative interactive game type style stuff – check out their website for a more coherent description of what they actually do.
We’ve just started work on an exciting new game – More details to follow soon!
Here’s a one pager I wrote for the Thought Bubble comic anthology with Rachael Stott (An artist so good I’ve already got her lined up to work on two other projects) with Letters by the always reliable Mike Stock. Click to enlarge
Some more Dead Roots news – We now have over 100 pages in production! And we have a FaceBook Fan page, feel free to ‘like it’ for updates and news! I update the Dead Roots website every month with news and announcements, so check that out for a more comprehensive guide as to how the project’s progressing.
Here’s a bit more work in progress from Kimberley Neway and R.H.Stewart‘s comic: The Problem with Longing, and Ned Hartley and Gavin Mitchell‘s comic: Head of State (Respectively).
The Anniversary is a four page story which is completely different to anything I’ve ever written. It started life as a twenty minute screenplay which I wrote while I was doing my Masters. The story is inspired by a true event. I lost a friend.
Now, I think it’s best I give a bit of context as I actually see The Anniversary as a positive story.
So, I lost a friend, and I took it pretty badly, we were close, but we weren’t that close, meaning that there were obviously people who were closer to her than I was. These people would have been completely in their right to take it as bad as I did, or worse, much worse. But they didn’t, or at least they didn’t let people know that they did. These amazing and brave people put on a brave face and made sure that everyone was dealing with it as well as they could, they were completely selfless, and by acting how they did, they themselves were a tribute to her memory.
And that’s the story I wanted to tell. The story of how resilient and amazing people are. So, context aside, I went on to write it.
I got good feedback and was even privileged enough to have actors preform a read through, two of the four actors cried. This made me happy. The script was then preformed in front of an audience (Directors, Producers and Writers from the MA framework). Yet again it got good feedback. I was still happy.
A year or two later I was thinking about my friend and subsequently the story and decided that I wanted people to see it. The Observer Graphic Short Story Prize came along so I set about adapting the twenty minute screenplay into a four page story, how hard can it be…
I was extremely lucky that my first choice artist the amazing Sally Jane Thompson liked the script, and she got it, she really got it. Sally helped mould and define the script as she brought it to life, and it’s better than I could’ve ever hoped due to her involvement. We discussed the story through countless emails as we struggled to convey as much of the emotional tone from the twenty page screenplay into the four pages as possible.
I’m really happy with how it turned out and I hope you guys like it too.
We’ve been making steady progress on BeActive Media’s Collider. The first of the six issues is now complete, with artists RH.Stewart and Gareth Gowran taking on art duties for the comic and Mike Stock on letters. The comic is split into two zones: Past and Present, and the guys have done a great job of bringing their separate sections to life. I’m really happy with how this comic has turned out and I’m always happy to have another twenty-two pages under my belt! I can’t wait to see what people think of the entire series when it’s finished. But until then, here’s a ‘sneak’ preview of Roy and Gary’s awesome artwork (respectively):
I’m delighted to announce that I’ve started to write some of the Wallace and Gromit comics that appear in the Sun newspaper.
Wallace and Gromit are a couple of much-loved quintessential British characters, that began life as a stop-motion short film at the hands of Nick Park for Aardman Animations.
I’ve always been a fan of Wallace and Gromit, and it’s really great for my kids to finally – and mistakenly – think that I’m cool by association.
The comics themselves take on the conventional syndicated three-panel format, which is a format that I had never written before – luckily I received a lot of editorial direction and help from the comic’s editor, and am really enjoying the process!
The comics are produced by Titan, which is a company that I’ve always wanted to work for, so this is a great, and very fun step forward for me.
Dead Roots – the Comic Anthology that I’m working on – has got artwork coming in thick and fast. The project itself has its own website and there’s going to be loads of new and exciting updates coming up soon!
Until then, here’s a bit of artwork from Jack Tempest and Jody Houser‘s comic: Noteworthy, and Jack Davies and Bhairavik Patel‘s comic: Hide and Seek (Respectively)
I’m currently developing ‘The Hunted’ (wt) with the incredible Gavin Mitchell. The Hunted is a sci-fi tale in the vein of Blade Runner and the Running Man, and features a really strong political undercurrent. Here’s the brief outline that’s part of the submission package.
‘A mysterious amnesia-suffering fugitive is relentlessly hunted back through time. Haunted by horrific forgotten memories, the fugitive has to piece together the history locked away in his mind, as he tries to prevent the oncoming onslaught of an impending apocalyptic future.
An eighties-inspired, action-packed, atmospheric, sci-fi story of a dystopian future, which features superhero-sized conflict and enough twists and turns to keep the readers guessing.’
Here’s one of Gavin’s designs -
