VS Comics Taster Issue

by mikegarley on 05/07/2013 at 11:38

Hello you! As you may or may not know I (along with TV and film’s James Moran, and my Mike Stock) edit a monthly digital comic called VS Comics.

We currently have a 1p preview issue on sale (vscomics.bigcartel.com) which features a bunch of cool comics including Eponymous, which I wrote (art by Martin Simmonds and letters by Mike Stock).

So, if you’re interested in seeing what I do, or just want to help support me and all the other amazing people who have worked really hard on VS Comics, please share the link, refer people to it, and if you like the comic please consider giving a full issue a try.

Paying is simple as we use Paypal (and don’t use or give out your details) – the only reason we’re taking a payment for the preview issue is that bigcartel requires a minimum payment of 1p. They love money.

Thanks guys, you’re awesome, unless you ignore this, then I hate you…

Loft and Print

by mikegarley on 05/03/2013 at 09:33

I’ve joined the Loft and Print studio based at Boscombe in Bournemouth. I’ve been looking to work in a more creative and collaborative environment ever since I started writing full-time (two-years ago now!) so I’m delighted to have discovered the L&P. I initially visited the studio just to look at the Screen Printing facilities but I was so impressed with them and what they were setting up that I pretty much signed up on the spot.

As well as having a great, creatively stimulating atmosphere to work in, I’ve also got a place, which I can use to launch new and exciting ventures.

I’ve toyed with the idea of creating a comic workshop for a while now and I think working at the Loft and Print might be the final push I need.

16-Bit Revenge Needs a Concept Artist

by mikegarley on 04/19/2013 at 09:07

16-Bit Revenge, a script that I wrote is looking for a concept artist to join the team to help us realise some of the visuals for the project. The film itself is a short horror film inspired by old 8 and 16-bit games. We’re hoping to get the film into a few festivals, but more than that we just want to create something fun! We have a fairly small team, which is headed up by Doiminic Evans (Prometheus, John Carter, Skyfall) and Alex Anstey (Les Miserables, John Carter, Nine Tenths) who are both producing, yet with this being a small production, I’m sure quite a few others will be getting their hands dirty. No one will be paid for this as it’s a labour of love, and there’s no prospect of it creating any revenue, so we’re looking for someone who (albeit incredibly talented) is looking to break into this line of work and wants to bulk up their portfolio. Just to recap that’s: no pay, no exposure, lots of fun, and the possibility of us thanking you with tea.

I’m pretty lucky to have worked with a bunch of you incredibly talented creative types, so hopefully there will be a fair amount of interest! If you are interested drop me an email at mikegarley@rocketmail.com – I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I can!

Planned Con Appearances 2013

by mikegarley on 03/21/2013 at 19:37

This post is basically to detail what Cons I’ll be attending in what we have left of 2013. The entire Eponymous team* will be attending all three of these events and we’ll be selling issue one of Eponymous at the Bristol Comic Expo (11th and 12th of May), and issue one and two at Lakes (19th and 20th of October) and Thought Bubble (23rd and 24th of November). I’m also delighted to say that we’ll have Day and Night’s James Moran and Patrick Walsh at our side at Thought Bubble so you can grab yourself one of their blood filled issues!

I’m hoping that we’ll be invited back to the next Demoncon (or two if they go for three a year) as we had an awesome time there and it would be great to join the ranks of regular attendees.

If you can’t make it to any of these events then you can buy your copy of Eponymous on our BigCartel site.

*Mike Stock’s attendance is subject to forgetting and/or him double/triple booking himself.

Demoncon 5

by mikegarley on 03/18/2013 at 20:09

Me and the Eponymous team (Mike Stock and Martin Simmonds) attended Demoncon 5 hosted by the lovely people from the Grinning Demon in Maidstone. This was my first ever Demoncon and it will by no means be my last. The Con had a whole bunch of incredibly talented creators, a nice family friendly atmosphere (kapow! Comics aren’t just for adults anymore!) and a steady stream of people walking around happily chatting to all the creators. The day was well organized with Graham and co doing a great job. But if you don’t want to take my word for it then you can check out the video of the event created by video ninjas @Pepe_Sensei and @swilderb33s (their birth names), which shows a few of the exhibitors and their comics. Mike Stock talks about our comic at about the thirteen-minute mark but there’s lots of interesting stuff before and after.

Eponymous – Gridlock

by mikegarley on 03/15/2013 at 00:12

Eponymous #3 Gridlock is out now in VS Comics #3, which you can buy here for an ultra affordable £2! In Gridlock a terrorist cell takes a hostage in a busy London Underground and refusea to talk to anyone except Casey forcing the police to leave this potentially volatile situation to her! This action packed issue is a great jumping on point (not that one’s needed just yet) as we start to get down to business and focus on the characters that make up the world of Eponymous. Eponymous is written by me, with art by Martin Simmonds and letters by Mike Stock.

VS Comics #3 also includes Day and Night, Swan Song and Ghost Club, which are all worth checking out. For more information on the issue go to VSComics.co.uk

Upcoming Event: Demoncon 5

by mikegarley on 03/14/2013 at 09:42

I’ll be attending Demoncon 5 tomorrow with the rest of the Eponymous team (Artist extraordinaire Martin Simmonds and lettering ninja Mike Stock). Demoncon is a one-day con in Maidstone run by the lovely people at the Grinning Demon. If you’re in the area (England) then you should drop by and say hello (bring coffee). There’s an impressive line up of guests and at only £6 a ticket it’ll hopefully attract a good crowd.

This will only be our second con selling Eponymous (the collected edition of the first three stories) and we’re excited to see how it’s received. For more information on the con you can visit their Facebook page here.

Eponymous Available for Mail Order

by mikegarley on 03/10/2013 at 10:40

I’ve finally had the time to create a BigCartel shop for Eponymous (click here if you don’t believe me). Eponymous issue #1 is on sale now for £5 plus P&P. Issue one includes our first three stories, Prelude, Leap of Faith, and Secrets and Exposition, which together serve as an introduction to our world and characters, we also have a couple of pages of concept sketches and the digital cover thrown in there too.

Eponymous has been well received, which given the amazing job Martin Simmonds has done on the art and Mike Stock has done on the lettering comes as no surprise. Thanks to everyone who has picked up a copy, if you do buy one please let us know what you think as we’re always delighted to hear feedback.

London Super Comic Convention

by mikegarley on 02/25/2013 at 17:27

I attended the London Super Comic Convention this weekend with a bunch of the other creators from VS Comics. Martin Simmonds and I were there with Eponymous, James Moran and Patrick Walsh were there with their comic Day and Night, and Luke Butland… well, Luke was basically just making a guest appearance. The Con was fairly quiet so we had a great time chatting to people and Martin had time to sketch away for everyone who brought a copy of Eponymous. It was great to finally start selling Eponymous and apart from being struck down by a bed-confining flu after the event, it was still a pretty good first con. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and especially to everyone who picked up a copy.

Above: Martin Simmonds looks up for the third time in the entire con as I perform a look I like to call Sexy-flu-for-you.

Eponymous in Print!

by mikegarley on 02/20/2013 at 15:39

The lovely people at Ripe Digital have done a fantastic job on printing the first ever (physical) issue of Eponymous. The comic contains the first three stories, some concept work and an alternative cover. We really wanted to produce something special and Ripe have helped us deliver a fantastically tactile comic (Martin’s colours are captured perfectly by the thicker pages), which we hope everyone enjoys.

Me and Martin will both be at the London Super Con on the 23rd and 24th of February with a bunch of other VS comic creators (VS will be blogging about that soon and I’ll add the link in here when they do), you can find us D127-128. If you’re going to be at the LSCC then please pop over to say hello (bring coffee).

The Anniversary – OFF LIFE

by mikegarley on 02/16/2013 at 16:49

The Anniversary – a four-page comic, by me and  the extremely talented Sally Jane Thompson – has been selected to be included in the latest issue of the OFF LIFE comic! OFF LIFE is the UK’s only street press comic magazine with free, bi-monthly issues crammed full of today’s best indie talent (their words). You can and really should, see more about the comic here – there’s also a free PDF version !

The Anniversary is a really personal story as it’s based on one of my friends who sadly passed away. I had to convert this into a comic, as originally it was a screenplay I wrote as part of my MA. Funny story: We had a read through of the screenplay and all the actors cried. Anyway, I’m really honoured to be in a comic alongside such an amazing bunch of creators, please check it out and let me now what you think.

Adventures in Comics

by mikegarley on 02/09/2013 at 14:21

I was asked to give a talk at the very awesome Adventures in Comics exhibition in Margate. AIC is a great little exhibition that runs every year (this being the third) and displays two-page comics inspired by a phrase chosen each year by the organisers of the event, this year’s phrase was The Great Tree. VS Comics will be displaying several of our favourite entrants (there’s a lot) in an upcoming issue as part of our commitment to promoting new and upcoming talent. Paul Gravett (who normally talks at the event) will be judging an overall winner, with another comic chosen by the attendees of the event and the rest chosen by the VS editorial staff.

My talk was on comics and how changing in media consumption habits were beneficial for comics (digital comics in particular). The talk was well received and I had a great time at an exhibition that is going from strength to strength. You can see more about the exhibition here.

CULLtivate update

by mikegarley on 01/03/2013 at 19:50

I’m working on the currently-in-development horror survival game CULLtivate for Wickedy Splits. As a team we’re beginning to get a clearer idea of how the player will experience the game as we develop our first ‘floor’. Jason Clark‘s designs have really gone up a gear as he develops the look of the game. I’d love to say more  as I’m really proud of how the game’s developing, but Chris ‘Let’s Play’ Pegg would kill me.

Dead Roots is all Critically Acclaimed and that!

by mikegarley on 01/02/2013 at 20:30

Dead Roots continues to pick up great reviews with magazines and reviewers alike lavishing the first issue in praise. You can see some of the reviews on sites such as: Starburst, SFX, Reluctant Geek, Geek Native, Bleeding Cool, Gore Press, and Fanboy Comics.

A big congratulations to the team – you guys rock!

Eponymous – Leap of Faith

by mikegarley on 01/02/2013 at 17:36

Leap of Faith, which is the second part of Eponymous is out now in the bumper-sized issue one of VS Comics. There’s loads of ways to pick up a copy of VS Comics, which are listed on a conveniently placed sidebar on the VS Comics website. Martin Simmonds has done an amazing job on art (as always) with Mike Stock doing a stellar job on lettering. I hope you guys like it!

Eponymous – Prelude

by mikegarley on 01/01/2013 at 00:00

I’m delighted to announce that the first ten-page Eponymous story; Prelude will be published on the VS Comics website twice-per-week leading up to the comics launch (VS Comics) on the 1st of January. Eponymous is illustrated by Martin Simmonds who is an incredibly gifted artist capable of bring every panel to life, with logo and lettering by Mike Stock who skillfully fuses the images and words together – you can see what a great job they’ve both done in the above panel, and trust me, it only gets better. And in case my name and the words ‘Written by’ don’t give it away, I wrote it. I hope you all enjoy it.

Happy Christmas and a Wallace and Gromit New Year!

by mikegarley on 12/31/2012 at 00:23

I wrote New Year’s Wallace and Gromit comic for Titan publishing. New Year’s Dance Resolutions will feature in the Sun newspaper in time for the New Year. Writing a Wallace and Gromit story for Christmas is pretty awesome. I don’t know about people outside of the UK, but over here W&G is a staple over the festive TV season. This takes my tally of Wallace and Gromit comics to eleven!

Eponymous Cover

by mikegarley on 12/17/2012 at 18:24

How amazing is this?! It’s the (cropped – sorry) Eponymous cover by Martin Simmonds for the bumper-sized first issue of VS Comics, which will include both Prelude and Leap of Faith. I’ve always been really critical of comic covers, which are often over-complicated, badly designed, and poorly executed, so I was delighted when Martin thought of this – it’s simple, striking, and conveys important story elements. You can pick up a copy from here.

VS Comics Launch Panel at Thought Bubble

by mikegarley on 11/18/2012 at 19:46

I hosted the VS Comics Launch Panel at Thought Bubble. The panel was a lot of fun and was really well received. Luckily I wasn’t alone and had a lot of our incredibly talented creators with me (Adam Christopher, Ned Hartley, Nich Angell, Michael Stock, Patrick Walsh, and Sally Jane Thompson) to help us preview some of the great upcoming stories that are coming up in the digital pages of VS Comics. I’m a massive fan of TB so it was an honour for us to be able to have a launch panel there. A big thank you to all the VS and TB team, you’re all awesome. Maybe we should team up?

Adventures in Comics 2 Exhibition

by mikegarley on 02/03/2012 at 14:04

Adventures in Comics 2 was a big success. I’m a big fan of this event, and although I wasn’t able to attend this year, it’s an honour to have another comic displayed there among a host of great and varied comics. You can see my comic Just the Tip of the Iceberg to the right of this (presumably highly impressed) lady.