ANDYMATION: The blog of Andy Bloor

Bringing back an old friend...

2012-01-20T09:20:00.000-08:00

Into the Woods cover revealed!!

2012-01-04T08:24:00.000-08:00

Since Stacey has revealed the cover officially on her blog I can now show you my cover for her anthology, fanastically coloured by Steve Howard.

Originally a pinup to be printed in greyscale inside the book, I asked Steve to do a colour one first and I'm glad I did! Stacey kindly decided to use it for the cover and after a quick mock up we both agreed it suited the book so well. I added the logo and a few other bits and pieces and there you go!

I really chuffed to have my illustration as the cover for this book, even though I'm designing the book and putting it together I didn't push for this at all, and it came as much as a surprise to me as anyone. There are some very talented folk in this book and I'm proud to be part of it.

Into the Woods: A Fairytale Anthology

2011-12-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

Into the Woods: A Fairytale Anthology is the next book I'm going to be designing for Stacey Whittle. You can see my logo for the book above.

Stacey is part of the Small Press Big Mouth team and is a real advocate of small press and indy books in the UK. Putting a book like this together on your own with little experience of print can be very daunting so I offered my services to Stacey to handle all the design, pre-press and production of the book (the same work I do for Accent UK).

I've got a piece of art in the book that I did a little while ago (that the lovely Steve Howard coloured for me and he did a cracking job as always) and Stacey has since chosen that to be the cover for the book, which I'm really chuffed about!

There are some really talented folk contributing to this book, and the pages I've seen all look superb and I've no doubt it's going to come out great, the rundown of the book goes like this:

• Alexi Conman and Conor Boyle: 'Changeling'

• Nic Papaconstantinou, Bevis Musson and Filip Roncone: 'Amber And The Egg'

• Richard McAuliffe and Sara Dunkerton: 'Red Riding Hood'

• Scott Harrison, Lee Grice and Filip Roncone: 'The Madness Of The Sea'

• Daniel Clifford, David Wynne and Ian Sharman: 'The Black Shoes'

• Lee Robson, Simon Wyatt and Filip Roncone: 'The Lang Pack'

• Ollie Masters and Valia Kapadai: 'Time For A Change'

The back cover is by Vicky Stonebridge and there's a pinup inside by Graeme Howard too.

The book will launch at the Cardiff International Comics Expo in February 2012.

Christmas already!? Where has the year gone??

2011-12-06T06:12:00.000-08:00

Been a while since I've blogged mainly because I haven't done very much lately!

I haven't drawn anything since I completed my pinup for Dave and Steve's 'Robot Shorts' book (excerpt seen above, greytones again by the esteemed Mr Steve Howard) and it made me realise I've hardly drawn much in the way of comics this year.

I'm planning on getting back to it next year though and hope to start my new book with Mo Ali as early as January if all goes to plan. I will be very rusty so I do expect plenty of cursing, erasing and redrawn pages!

Where does this leave the last Wolfmen book? In limbo for a while sadly. If all goes to plan I'll get to that after I've done the book with Mo. if not to plan? I'll probably get another artist in the complete it. Will see what happens.

Early next year will mean that 'Robot Short's and '2ombies' will go to print and I'll also be designing Stacey Whittle's 'Into the Woods: A fairytale anthology' which looks a fab book.

So I'll be very busy as usual :-)

The Wolfmen movie!!

2011-11-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

Many people have said over the years that 'The Wolfmen' book by Dave West and myself would make a good film. Dave and I of course agree, and if any film people are out there reading this please get in touch and give us loads of money. Thank you :-)

I thought mocking up a poster would be a fun exercise and after taking suggestions from friends who the stars would be I set about it. Wanted it to keep the British feel so all the actors and director) are British too.

I thought it came out ok in the end, some of the photoshopping is a bit iffy in places due to what I could find to work with, but from the comments I've got online from it so far, a lot of you seem to like it.

The Wolfmen & Fall of the Wolfmen enter the digital age!

2011-11-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

The Wolfmen and Fall of the Wolfmen have entered the digital age and are now available on the iPad through the Lush Comics app.

I've just recently got an iPad myself and will take the plunge in trying some comics digitally very soon. But it's great to see our comics up here and hopefully selling well.

Lush Comics have already published Dave and Marleen's 'Whatever Happened to the World's Fastest Man?' and are really into indie comics, it is this that persuaded Dave to go with them as he felt our books would get lost in amongst all the top publishers on Comixology.

In other news '2OMBIES' is nearly done and I'm also done doing all the design and production work on Dave and Steve Holder's superb little 'ROBOT SHORTS' book. That's Steve's artwork there on the cover, but the rest is my doing... it was fun making it resemble a Haynes manual. The book should be out very soon and it's well worth your time and money.

I've done a little pinup in it, again ably assisted by the superb Steve Howard which I'll post up soon.

Very early days yet but I'm working on a new project with the multi-talented Mo Ali, this will be quite a departure for me and a challenge too. My comics work has been very thin on the ground this year so I'm hoping this might help kickstart me into wanted to carry on. Like I said, it's early days yet but I'm very hopeful and excited.

Doodles of fun!

2011-10-06T01:24:00.001-07:00

Found a couple of doodles I did at the recent BICS con, I really must do a decent Batman piece one of these days... actually I will, once I've done the pinups for people I'm gonna sit down and do a proper one, might even post it on here :-)

Messing about...

2011-10-04T05:59:00.001-07:00

Found an old piece of art done for Wolfmen that I never used today... and I saw something in it now that I obviously didn't then and have used it for a mock up cover for the last Wolfmen book 'Last of the Wolfmen'. Now I haven't even started the new book yet (blame loss of confidence/no time/motivational issues - any of the former) but I think it works pretty well as a nice bold, graphic cover.

Back to pinups again, and finishing off one for Stacey Whittle's 'Into The Woods' anthology (which I'm also designing) and about to start one for Dave West and Steve Holders superb 'Robot Shorts' book, again which I'm also designing and in between all of that putting the finishing touches to '2ombies' and also creating iPad versions of both Wolfmen books for Lush Comics. Phew!!

Z-Girl and the 4 Tigers Pinup!

2011-09-29T04:57:00.000-07:00

I was keeping this under wraps until the issue came out, but since Kirk has shown it on twitter I can now show the world...or the 26 people that follow my blog :-)

Z-Girl and the 4 Tigers is an independent US comic by regular Accent UK anthology contributors Kirk Manley and Jeff Marsick. Kirk's a great guy and was really happy to be asked to do a pinup, he showed me all the ones the other artists did and it was quite daunting to start it knowing the stuff you're up against, but once I had the idea down I thought it came together very well in the end.

Big thanks again to Steve Howard who really knocked it out of the park with his tremendous colour work. The issue with my pinup in is #2 and that is to debut at the New York Comic Con in October.

You can follow Z-Girl online here

'AD' now for something completely different...

2011-09-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

Been busy doing a few ads and bits and bobs lately, here's a recent ad done for the new UKOMICS (Stuart and his team who print all our books and do a bang up job on them too) magazine that will be out sometime next month. Here you can see the cover to '2OMBIES' drawn by the fabulous Garry Brown. I tweaked the colours a bit on this, added some textures to it and of course designed the logo. Can't wait to see that printed.

I've also agreed to design an anthology for Stacey Whittle (one of the hosts of the Small Press Big Mouth podcast). 'Into The Woods: A Fairytale Anthology' will contain stories by some very talented folk indeed. It sounds a great little project and I'm happy to be a part of it. I'm also contributing a pinup too. You can find more about that here on Stacey's blog.

The Wolfmen join the Babble Project

2011-09-19T03:26:00.000-07:00

I didn't have chance to blog about this last as I was off from work and with no mac at home (it's very poorly and has to be sent away for, sadly, expensive treatment) I wasn't able to.

Babble is an upcoming graphic novel by regular Accent UK anthology contributors, Lee Robson and Bryan Coyle (whose story in Predators was my absolute favourite) and is to published by the fine folks at Com.X. I've always had a real love of Com.X's books, and the fact that they're design guys really influenced the way I tackle Accent's books and if my books are anywhere near as polished as theirs I'll be a happy bunny. Needless to say Babble will look one fine book, both in art and design work when printed and I couldn't be happier for both Lee and Bryan.

Lee asked me to take part in what's been called 'The Babble Project' and you can see my Wolfmen themed contribution above. It was a great thing to be asked to do and I really enjoyed the chance to draw a Wolfman character again (for the first time this year!).

Once Upon A Time In The West...

2011-09-08T07:44:00.001-07:00

Dave West and I developed a nice gritty little 'Western Noir' comic a while back, After chucking a few ideas around Dave wrote a great script and the plan was for me to draw it. Sadly I don 't have much free time these days, so it was with great reluctance that I had to pass the project onto someone else.

Although, this isn't all bad news... the best part is my good friend (and the incredibly talented and prolific) Gary Crutchley has agreed to grab this book by the horns and draw it - along with the other 86 comic projects he has on the go :-D

I couldn't be more happier that Gary has stepped in and I can't wait to see him bring it to life. The plan is to do more books with the characters if the first one goes down well, which I'm sure it will. We're planning on a very specific look for the book too, which if it works out will look fabulous.

The image above was my test image I did - the idea came to me and I just had to draw it up (even though I'm not doing the book anymore) and finish it. I even did the colours too, which I was actually pretty happy with. Hope y'all like it.

That was the BICS that was...

2011-09-06T01:59:00.000-07:00

A much smaller affair than last year but still good fun and a chance to catch up with friends.

That was basically my BICS 2011 this year, which finally saw the debut of Accent UK's much delayed anthology 'PREDATORS' seen here in all it's fuzzy glory (photo nicked from the Accent UK blog). Reaction to the book has been tremendous, and sold pretty well on the day (even though our position in the hall wasn't the best) but it was outsold by the Wolfmen books I believe which I was very happy about, as even now both books continue to sell and pick up new fans.

All in all it was a very good day and great to meet up and chat with Dave Hitchcock, Gary Crutchley, Owen Johnson, Tony Hitchman, Kev Mullins and Jason Cobley.

No Thought Bubble for me this year, so this was my last con for 2011, good one to finish on I think.

PREDATORS finally unleashed to stalk BICS 2011!!

2011-08-24T03:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming but finally, the delayed PREDATORS anthology is done*, printed and ready to be unleashed this coming weekend at the BICS one day comic show in Birmingham.

*Well actually it was all done some time ago now, which is very odd and the lure to go and re-draw my strip in it was very tempting (as I did complete it pretty quickly I seem to remember). But I decided to leave it as it, and bar a few tweaks here and there to the design etc there wasn't that much to do when the call finally came to send it to print.

It's a fine looking book, under a fantastic cover by the talented Kev Mullins (with the blue tint added by myself, Kev's cover was actually grayscale) there are a wide variety of stories in there by regular and new contributors alike and they've all done a superb job.

I've teamed up with Mo Ali, himself a talented artist to do a gruesome little ditty called 'SKIN DEEP'. Mo was a joy to work with and I hope to do something with him again very soon.

It's been a hectic few weeks, with the day job, freelance work, both this (Predators and also the reprint of Dave's Strange Times collection) to work on for print and a few other bits and bobs hasn't left much time for any drawing so I'm trying to get back into that now.

I'm about to start a pinup for another regular anthology contributor, Kirk Manley (cover artist on 'Western') for his book 'Z-Girl and the 4 Tigers', you can find the website here where copies of issue 0 and 1 are available.

Lastly, this week I answered a call from Mark Millar on his Millarworld site asking if anyone can do an ad at short notice, I offered my services and as a result my ad will appear in issue 4 of Kick-Ass 2 #4!!. And that's not all, as 'thank you' for doing it he gave me a rather special... I'm not saying anymore than that yet incase I jinx it :-D

More Zombies 2 art!!

2011-07-29T09:38:00.001-07:00

Here's another panel of my strip for '2ombies' again expertly greytoned by Steve Howard... nearly done with this now, aside from the stellar job Steve's done I'm not really too happy with my work on it, finding this drawing lark a bit tough at the moment.

I've some pinups I've promised to do next, then after that I start Wolfmen 3, and the long task of thumbnailing the whole book. I've also a couple of projects I've been taking about with writers that may or may not come off, depends if I can get a bit more productive!

Axel Pressbutton Sketch

2011-07-18T04:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a sketch I did of Axel Pressbutton for Lee Grice (he of Small Press Big Mouth fame) as a belated birthday present. I knew of the character (from the classic Warrior comic from way back when) but having never drawn him before I think it came out ok all in all.

Zombies 2 strip in progress

2011-07-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Haven't seemed to find the time to blog much... things have been pretty busy!!

Work progresses on my strip for the next Accent UK anthology '2OMBIES' a panel you can see above (again greytoned by the awesome Steve Howard). The story is called 'Survival' and is again written by my frequent partner in crime Dave West.

Like I said I've been very busy doing a few pinups here and there, developing new projects, and also I've just started compiling the print file for '2OMBIES' which I've got to say is looking a fantastic book, perhaps the best anthology yet. The standard of work in it is so high I'm worried my effort might come up wanting when in comparison to the other work in the book.

Next up is the second printing of Dave's wonderful 'STRANGE TIMES' book, not that much to do in that except replace a few pages and create a new print file.

Designing and producing these books is a hell of a lot of work, and in my next blog post I'll run through all the things that I do, incase anyone out there is interested :-D

Zombies 2 pinup - with added tones!!

2011-06-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

Feast your eyes on the incredible job Steve Howard has done on my pinup... he's really lifted it so much with his mastery of toning in photoshop that I can't thank him enough. Steve is an incredible artist, and had done a few stories in recent Accent UK anthologies, and is hard at work on a top secret book with Dave West for Accent UK's 'Blessed/Cursed' line. I, for one can't wait to see it.

Zombies 2 Pinup!

2011-06-09T09:59:00.001-07:00

Here's my pinup to Accent UK's upcoming anthology 'Zombies 2' or '2ombies' as it's shown on the cover. Still beavering away on the strip for this, which is taking an age. Must still be rusty from my break I guess.

Green Wizard with added background!

2011-06-07T02:41:00.001-07:00

Here's the image from yesterday with added swirly, starry background. Magical!

The Green Wizard Book 2!

2011-06-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

Due to popular demand 'The Green Wizard' children's book I illustrated at the start of the year is coming back for another installment. Above is a work in progress pic of the cover.

More to follow shortly!

Wolfmen spotted at Midtown Comics, NYC!

2011-06-01T03:08:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Colin's son Scott comes these very cool pix of our Wolfmen comics on the shelves at Midtwon Comics, Times Square NYC! taken from their recent trip to the Mocca festival in April. The store manager is a fan of our books apparently which you'd have to say is pretty surreal!

Great pictures though, thanks Scott!

Very first Wolfmen image!

2011-05-18T09:59:00.001-07:00

Going through some old files and found this, the very first image I did of 'The Wolfmen' many, many years ago. You can see the initial idea of the wolf heads and sharp black suits was there from the beginning... dunno where I got that font from though!

Next project and Predators art

2011-05-03T06:25:00.000-07:00

Predators, the delayed anthology from last year has been accepted by Diamond and will be in July's Previews... a lot later than we all wanted but at least it will be out soon. Feels a long time ago I completed my strip for this. 'Skin Deep' a grisly little tale written by the very talented Mo Ali is the title, and above is a little teaser for it.

The next anthology is Zombies 2 (or 2ombies) and I've done my layouts and some photo reference for my strip (written by the mighty Dave West) and will be starting that soon after I complete some pinups that I've promised people. More on those later :-)

I finally decided on my next project (and it may well be my last full length book, but I will see how things go before deciding completely) and it's probably no secret that it's the third (and last) Wolfmen book called appropriately 'Last of the Wolfmen'. Dave has written a tremendous script (after we again threw some ideas around like we did for the first 2 books) and after reading it I can't wait to draw it. He's doing some minor amends to it but I hope to start this as soon as I complete my 2ombies strip.

If any of you liked the first 2 Wolfmen books, you're gonna love the last one. It's THAT good!

Oh, shameless plug time, I've listed a piece of art on ebay - it was done originally for Insomnia's 'Choices' anthology, kind of testing the water really and see if anyone out there actually likes my stuff enough to buy it!

Anyhow the link is here: Cyborg by Andy Bloor on ebay

Hulk Sketch

2011-04-21T02:06:00.000-07:00

Did this quick sketch and inspired by Matt's coloring of my Wolfmen cover decided to have a crack at this... it was a fun exercise but think I'll stick to black and white :-)

Fall of the Wolfmen Print

2011-04-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

With the limited collectors cover pretty much gone for 'Fall of the Wolfmen' I thought it would be good to use the artwork for a print for future cons. I'm hoping to be at the Bristol Comic Con in a few weeks time, so the next step was to colour it. Now I pretty much suck at colours (hence the reason I did the original cover in pretty much mono with a splash of red here and there.

I asked the very talented Matt Soffe (who's doing a tremendous job colouring 'My Maker and I' a new full-colour book from Accent UK that will be out maybe towards the end of the year) if he wouldn't mind having a go at it, and look at the results! I couldn't be more happier, it looks superb!

I've just got to place the logos and find a place to get them printed now.

In other news, the fine folk of the 'Small Press Big Mouth' podcast have given a rather good review to both 'The Wolfmen' and 'Fall of the Wolfmen', you can listen to that here.

Getting back into the swing of drawing slowly and am just about to start my story for Accent UK's 'Zombies 2 (or 2ombies as I've done it on the cover) anthology. Look for that to be out later in the year. Predators, last years delayed anthology, should be out shortly, my story with Mo Ali, called 'Skin Deep' features in that book. It's a great looking book and I'm as keen as everyone to see it finally out for sale.

Bane sketch

2011-04-14T03:32:00.001-07:00

Been a bit quiet of late, this is due to a bit of uncertainty of what to do next and a long overdue holiday. Now I'm back I'm finally catching up on things and hope to plough through them fairly quickly. First off is this sketch of 'Bane' from Batman, this was promised for my 100th follower on twitter (twitter.com/andybloor) hope he likes it!

The Midnight Man

2011-03-21T07:17:00.000-07:00

Rough doodle for a possible new project.

Logo Design Commission

2011-03-16T03:41:00.000-07:00

As I do design work for a living, I've become a bit of a specialist with custom logo designs, and have done numerous designs over the years for some customers who keep coming back to me, so they must like what they get. I also do the 'full design service' for some, which includes letterheads, business cards etc.

This recent job was from a kind soul who contacted me on twitter. His company is called 'Jurassic' and he has a fondness for our dino friends. After a few designs, he settled on this one, which later became a business card too, which I've added here.

Last of the Wolfmen cover idea...

2011-03-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

Now I haven't actually decided if I'm going to do this book, mainly as I don't have much spare time these days... I might do one of two shorter books with Dave West first that we're developing at the moment, but again this depends if I have the creative urge to draw a full book again. I may decide to concentrate just on the design side for Accent UK and do the odd pinup, I haven't decided yet.

This visual above was taken from a drawing I never used for a promo piece for 'Fall of the Wolfmen', so I had a go at a (very) early cover treatment for the third - and final - book 'Last of the Wolfmen.'

Speaking of Wolfmen, after a fantastic Diamond order, copies are now trickling into shops in the UK, Paradox Comics in Dorset have had some copies as has Forbidden Planet in Manchester. I would imagine the US gets theirs in the next week or so. I'm off there myself in a few weeks time, so might pop into a comic store there and see if they ordered it :-)

Bow ties are cool!

2011-03-02T10:39:00.000-08:00

Been a long time since I drew something like this, not that happy with the final thing but there are bits in there I like. Good old biros!!

Good warm up exercise to get the drawing hand (and brain) working ready to start something new though.

Wasn't Matt Smith just brilliant as The Doctor though, by far and away the best of the new 'Whos'.

The Green Wizard!

2011-02-22T03:37:00.000-08:00

Move over Harry Potter!!

This is the cover for the children's story book I've illustrated at work. It's done for a local company that's moving into the renewable energy market and the book itself is going to be an educational tool for schools to use. Response has been very good so far and it was a fun project to do, even if there wasn't a great deal of time to work on the pictures as much as I would have liked.

We got the printed copies today and it has turned out very nice indeed.

The new Accent UK Website

2011-02-21T03:06:00.000-08:00

Dave's created a new blog to follow all things Accent UK here and this will then be incorporated into the new website we're all currently working on.

It's very much in the early stages, but here are some preliminary designs I've done. My job is to design the basic look of the site, and this will then be given to a programmer who will 'cut up' my designs and build and code the site.

We really want the website to be more up to date, with more content on the comics themselves and also to be more closely linked to the overall design style I use for all the books we do.

The Eagle Awards

2011-02-09T02:19:00.000-08:00

It's that time again - the annual Eagle Awards are upon us and the basic nominating has begun.

This is purely to get the most popular choices down to a shortlist of 5 per catagory, and Accent UK is well featured in a few selections already (and thanks to whoever added me for 'Best Newcomer Artist'). The main one here is that "Fall of the Wolfmen' is up for 'Best British Black and White Comicbook' and if you enjoyed our little book, please take the time to vote for us.

It would be great to get to the shortlist, I just hope enough people out there genuinely liked the book enough to vote for us. If you do, here is the link.

The Eagle Awards

Many thanks.

Not much to report...

2011-02-04T02:24:00.000-08:00

Been a while since I blogged anything... truth is I haven't done much to blog about.

Been doing some illustrations for work for a children's book for a local renewable energy company... been good fun and a bit of a change to work in a more cartoony style (and colour) this time. When it's done and printed I'll post some of it here.

Nervously waiting for the order to come from Diamond for Fall of the Wolfmen. Had some great feedback and comments about the book which shows people are liking it and want to see more.

I've done a new logo for Ed Kaye's Hypergeek site which you can check out here

Lastly I'm pretty sure what book I'm doing next too, it's with my usual partner in crime Mr Dave West so look for an announcement very soon!

Going to be doing some warm up doodles and sketches to try and get back into drawing (as I haven't done any comic stuff since November) so might pop them up here too if they're any good.

Certified Cool!

2011-01-10T02:51:00.000-08:00

Dave's blog has a much better write up on this than I could do, so pop over there if you have a spare minute to read it... here I'm just presenting the scans from both Previews US and the UK section (who have given us a great listing and added exposure by advertising the double pack).

To be classed as 'certified cool' by the US guys is great, and it must mean they've seen something in the book to warrant the tag, online I've spotted the section just for this too.

Previews: Certified Cool

Al in all a very positive listing both in the US and especially the UK, who are always behind our books and have done us proud this time. Next stage is to wait for the orders to come in... and hope we've done enough really.

That's one order then!

2011-01-06T07:27:00.001-08:00

Spotted this online, a guy has picked our little book from the mountains of others available in the latest Previews, here's the link Always find it odd seeing my stuff in amongst the 'big boys' and the seasoned professionals.

Also, the very nice people of the Small Press Big Mouth website and podcast, have given us a little plug as well.

Small Press Big Mouth

Thanks guys, it's very much appreciated.

Fall of the Wolfmen in January Previews!

2011-01-04T03:56:00.000-08:00

Happy new year to everyone! 2011 already... my kids will be 3 this year!!

In other news, FALL OF THE WOLFMEN is in this Months Previews catalogue, p233 (order code JAN110891)

Can't stress how important it is that if you don't have a copy (and want one) that you place an order with your local comic retailer. We need to get a good order to meet Diamond's order threshold and also to show them that there is an audience for our books not just in the UK but the USA too.

The future of further Wolfmen books is up in the air currently, but a good order with Diamond might help change that.

There have been a couple of superb reviews posted online for the book, our friends at the Tales from the Parents Basement website posted this one:

Fall of the Wolfmen @ Tales from the Parents Basement

And Ed Kaye who runs the Hypergeek site, posted this just over the festive period (it made me very festive indeed!).

Fall of the Wolfmen @ Hypergeek

Next for me is a couple of anthology short stories, then hopefully a short book with Dave, as soon as we can decide what it is :-)

GANGSTAURS!

2010-12-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

Seeing as I've out it on facebook, thought I'd bung it up here as well. The above is my pinup for 'Predators' next years Accent UK anthology. Gangster dinosaurs... whatever next, werewolves?

End of the year - a mini review

2010-12-13T02:35:00.000-08:00

"I really should have used this cover!"

Well, here we are nearly the end of 2010. Where to start (or end) well not a bad year all in all, finally completed 'Fall of the Wolfmen' had a brilliant launch at Whatever Comics in Canterbury, a rather lacklustre BICS and lastly a pretty good Thought Bubble. So not too bad all things considered. Although I do wish I had used my original cover art for the book and not the one I ended up using. Typical me really.

Highlight of the year is undoubtedly being in the final issue of Image Comics' Phonogram (The Singles Club 7) In true geek fashion I took a copy along to Thought Bubble and got as many of the books creators to sign it. Luckily Becky Cloonan was a last minute addition to the show and I managed to get her to sign it as well. Jamie even got me to sign it as well! Thanks must go to Kieron and Jamie for including me in the book. I really appreciated it.

I'll post a scan of the cover later this week.

Finally completed my work for Accent UK's next anthology 'Predators', which has been delayed to next year for no other reason than storage issues. These books take up a hell of a lot of space when boxed up and there's only so many we can store. This will come out early 2011 and followed later in the year by 'Zombies 2'. With the zombie craze showing no signs of 'dying' out (see what I did there?) it made financial sense to do another. All being well I'll have a story in there somewhere.

Where that leaves me with comics after that remains to be seen at the moment. There are times I still want to create them and times where I feel I've done all I can do, and with so limited time to work on them these days it might be prudent to call it a day and find something else to occupy my (limited) free time.

My first project is the long-delayed children's book I'm doing with a friend at work Nigel Pye, a very talented writer that also writes the text for my annual Christmas cards. We have quite high hopes for this book, it's up to me to do it justice. It will be a nice departure to work on as again as well as the illustrations to do, the books need designing too.

After this, I'll take another look at comics and see if there's any fire left. I've some options open to me, including a cracking script by Dave West (based off an another idea of mine) that I might do if I can, again, do it justice.

Lastly I'd like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas, and all the very best for 2011.

The Dark Knight!

2010-11-11T03:05:00.001-08:00

Started this a little while ago and finally finished it off - started off as a quick doodle but decided to spend a little more time on it. I could draw Batman all day, definitely my favourite character.

He is the law!!

2010-11-11T01:26:00.000-08:00

Quickie Dredd sketch done at lunch the other day... not drawn Dredd for years so not too displeased with this effort. Might have another go if I find the time.

Eagle Awards 2010

2010-11-04T03:24:00.001-07:00

Massive congratulations are due to Dave and Marleen as 'Whatever Happened to the World's Fastest Man?' won the 2010 Eagle Award for best British black and white comic book published in 2009 award. This was so unexpected, and came as a huge surprise, although one that is fully deserved! I did all the book design and an uncredited pinup in the book so I'm glad to be even a small part of the winning team.

I still meant to write a bit about BICS, like I said it was a bit up and down for me, I think after the tremendous launch at Whatever Comics anything would pale in comparison and I guess BICS did a little for me. It was a good show though, I only managed to be there Saturday sadly due to ill members of the family so perhaps I might have had a better day Sunday, who knows?

Still, the books sold very well. 'Fall of the Wolfmen' was the clear best seller, with 'The Wolfmen' not far behind. Not bad for a book that's been out there for 3 years!

Here are a couple of great reviews for the book that have popped up in internet land:

Tales from the Parents Basement

Jason Cobley's blog

For me next? Not sure at the moment, got some short stories to do for the anthologies which will be quite relaxing, plotting something new with Eagle Award winner Dave West... and perhaps attempting to work on something for myself, just for fun too.

And the third (and final) Wolfmen book? Well, taking a break from that for a bit... I think I need to really for my own sanity. Working on one book/project for so long is very draining. It'll be good to do something new for a change, then return to complete the story when I'm all refreshed and ready to tackle it 100%.

That's the plan anyway. Onwards and upwards...

Doctor Strange

2010-10-22T04:33:00.000-07:00

And here's the Doctor Strange one I did as well, really enjoyed doing these and would love the chance to do some more commissions.

The Shadow

2010-10-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

Finally completed these commissions for BICS last weekend for Alan and Bob, they've been great waiting this long for me to complete them and seemed very happy with the results.

BICS was a bit up and down for me personally but a great show for Accent UK, selling the most books out of any UK show so far, and most pleasingly 'Fall of the Wolfmen' was the best seller, followed by 'The Wolfmen' still going strong after three years!!! I'll write a bit more about it soon.

'Fall of the Wolfmen' launch at Whatever Comics - a howling success!!

2010-10-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

Blimey - where to begin?

Dave has written a much better piece on this that I ever could, so hop over to the Accent UK website and click on the 'events' link and that will take you there.

My thoughts are that I'm still in shock by it all really. Having not felt very well (ill children can mean ill parents very quickly!) towards the end of last week it did look very doubtful that I would be able to attend the event. Infact, it was only until 6.30 on the Saturday morning that I called Dave up and said I was ok to go - I still didn't feel 100%, but felt I had to go... it's not often these things happen and I wasn't going to let this bug ruin it for me.

So off we went, and about 4hrs later we arrived in a very nice and sunny Canterbury and in no time at all we were met by Manny, the owner of 'Whatever Comics' a shop that has supported (and sold) so many Accent UK comics. Manny (and his wife Debe) couldn't have made Dave and myself any more welcome... looking after us at all times... paying for a room for us to stay in... taking us out for a meal... they really made us feel like professionals and treated us so well that a really big 'thank you' goes to both of them.

After a quick nibble to eat we were starting to get the table ready for the signing when all of a sudden customers appeared and before we knew it we were in full swing and we were signing and selling comics left, right and centre. It was such a fantastic experience for both of us that we are both still buzzing about it now.

We sold pretty much all we brought with us, and what we didn't sell, Manny took from us for his regular customers who couldn't make the event. After signing all of those it was off out for a meal, again looked after by Manny and Debe... we were also joined by Karol Steele (who did such fantastic work dressed a wolf(wo)man handing out leaflets on the day) and her partner Andy.

I've pinched some photos from the Accent UK site so you can take a look for yourself.

We had such a brilliant time, and the book seemed to go down very well with everyone that it did make the last few years working on it worthwhile. Yes, it's been a slog at times especially after the boys were born when finding the time to sleep, let alone draw, was tough enough and the days when I'm ready to call it a day and give it all up pop up from time and time. But having a day like that certainly helps!

Until next time :-)

Copies have arrived!!!

2010-09-17T04:05:00.000-07:00

Arrived Wednesday at Colin's work - a day early too - and Stuart the printer has sent me a few copies to look at. Gotta say they look good, both covers look striking in their own way and it's quite a beefy book too.

Next stop Canterbury for the official launch on October 2, then onto BICS on October 15th and 16th... hope to see you there!

Artwork sale!!

2010-09-13T05:59:00.000-07:00

While waiting for 'Fall of the Wolfmen' to come back from the printers this week, I'm going to be selling artwork from all my Accent UK books if anyone wants any (and a few bits done for others like the pinup for Insomnia's Choices book done a while back).

Please contact me at andy bloor (at) gmail dot com if you're after anything I've done and I'll get back to you with prices.

The finishing touches...

2010-08-26T02:26:00.000-07:00

I have just finished doing all the lettering on the Wolfmen book this week, forgotten how long and dull it is (letterers have my greatest admiration, surely the most overlooked part of comic creating) and I'm probably not very good at it, but the control freak part of me demands that I do it... so do it I have to.

Dave has sent some revisions... and I'm now doing the special limited edition cover for the book that will only feature on just 100 copies of the book. These are purely for cons and signings and an attempt to make those events a little more special by having this available. I know it's only a cover but it's the thought that counts.

The launch signing at Whatever Comics in Canterbury has been agreed for Saturday October 2... if any of you live near there please pop in and say hello so me and Dave don't look like billy no mates. Then it's off to BICS for both days and I'm really looking forward to that. Going to get a new display banner done for the show too, about time after 3 years with the last one :-)

Back soon!!

'Fall of the Wolfmen' final cover art

2010-08-10T03:36:00.001-07:00

After much deliberation, and advice from family and friends, the above is the final cover art for the regular edition of 'Fall of the Wolfmen'. Both Dave and I liked this one the best and we hope you do too.

Lettering woes...

2010-08-09T03:35:00.000-07:00

Well, last week I sent Dave the final pages that I've spent god-knows-how-long-of-my-life-working-on these last few years and sadly he didn't like them. 'Rubbish!' he said, 're-draw them all or I'll replace you with another artist!!'

So it's back to the drawing board to do it all over again... see you in another 3 years :-(

I'm kidding of course, well at least I hope I am. Truth be told he quite liked them so we're on to the next stage of completing the book which entails Dave re-working his script to fit in with my pages. I love this bit as it finally makes the book come together as a whole and it does seem like I'm reading it for the first time. The only downside is the lettering... which I hate doing. And I've got quite a few pages to do of it this time as well.

We've picked the final cover, the interior design is sorted, all the pinups are done (bar one but I don't think I'll get that one for this book) so just the scripting, lettering and final proofing to do... and the special limited edition cover :-)

Lots to do... best get started!!

The finish line!

2010-07-21T04:14:00.000-07:00

At last I have completed the inks to 'Fall of the Wolfmen!'

No euphoria here just relief to finally finish it, there is some way to go however... Dave has to work his magic scripting the pages, it then has to be lettered and proofed several times before going to print. There is also the small matter of a wraparound cover to do as well for it that will be a special edition strictly for signings and conventions.

The book will be launched at Whatever Comics in Canterbury... probably late August, early September. And will of course be available at BICS in October.

I thought I'd feel better about it than I do to be honest, maybe it's because I've had to go straight into my long delayed 'Predators' strip and I'm under a very tight deadline to get this done in time. Having not actually drawn anything for a while I feel a bit rusty... I'm hoping it will come back soon!

All quiet on the wolfmen front...

2010-07-01T08:46:00.001-07:00

Sorry things have been a bit quiet here lately, trying to knuckle down and get this book finished... not far off now and then it's up to Dave to work his magic with adding the words to my scribblings... more proofing and then off to the printers. This will be happening very soon. Yes I can hardly believe it myself.

I never want to see another wolfman again... until I start book 3 :-)

Wolfmen 3: Last of The Wolfmen!!

2010-06-03T02:28:00.000-07:00

Like a muppet I missed the train to the Bristol Con but seeing as that weekend was as hot as the sun I'm kind of glad I didn't go afterall. Could have done without losing the money but that's life isn't it?

Really hoping to get Wolfmen done for early July and out in August all being well, then it's a mad rush to finish my Predators strip and pinup and then nothing!! Will be taking some well earned time off to recharge my batteries and catch up on a backlog of comics and films that I haven't watched. Bliss!

Then the hard work starts again on Wolfmen 3, where I can officially reveal the title to be "Last of The Wolfmen' as dreamt up by Dave and myself on the way to Thought Bubble last year. Sounds perfect for the book and the plot we worked out is great and a fitting finale to the story.

It will be done quicker then book 2 as well - promise :-)

Lurking in the shadows...

2010-05-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

New cover and another page done this week... nearly finished with another page too so not a bad week considering I've hardly slept all week! (insomnia not babies).

Getting quite excited nearing the finish line, think I'll breathe a huge sigh of relief when this book is done... then I can finish a few other bits before starting the third (and final) book.

Wolfmen: end in sight?

2010-05-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

Well I am getting there, just need to get a bit more productive (which starts this weekend) and am hoping to get 2 full pages inked a week. Doesn't sound like much I know, but with everything else going on it literally is the best I can do.

Finished an alternate cover for the book as well, reworking my first cover idea as I do really like it and it's different from the 'official' cover. I'll let Dave decide :-) There will also be a special 'convention' edition of 'Fall of the Wolfmen' that will sport a limited edition wraparound cover. If it's good enough for Marvel, it's good enough for us!

Above is a panel from a recently completed page... hope you all like it.

Venon and Daredevil sketches!

2010-04-29T01:33:00.001-07:00

Some more quick warm-up sketches done the other day... quite enjoying these!

The Eagles awards are almost upon us again, and 'Whatever Happened to the World's Fastest Man?' has been nominated in the 'Favourite British Black and White Comic Book' category. There are no other Accent UK books in there but if you enjoyed the book and wantt to see it in the main list of nominations (the top five with the most votes only make it to this list) then please feel free to nominate it.

Head over to here to cast your votes!!

Quick Batman sketch

2010-04-23T01:27:00.001-07:00

Done yesterday as a quick warm up doodle - might colour it in later :-)

Zombies 2 next year!

2010-04-22T06:22:00.000-07:00

Probably my idea this one, I know there's way too many Zombie comics out there but the first Zombies book (and the first I designed for Accent UK) was such a success for us that it made perfect sense to do another one.

Above is the marvellous cover art by Garry Brown, with some colour tweaking, logo and overall design work by yours truly. Demand to be in it is very high as you would expect, it's going to be another great book I'm sure.

I'm teaming up with Dave for this book on a story called 'The End'... based on a rough idea I had but really pleased that Dave is keen on working on with me.

On the Wolfmen side of things, a few more pages inked... the end is in sight... somewhere... but it's at that stage where I don't really want to show anything for fear of spoiling it.

The book will be launched later in the year at Whatever Comics in Canterbury and we'll all be there at BICS in October. Hope to see you there.

Been a while...

2010-04-08T06:55:00.001-07:00

Quick update - rested the thumb for a week and started inking again as I'm getting fed up with how long this book is taking, I'll be an old man by the time I finish book 3 if I continue at this pace :-)

Thumb still hurts, not as swollen as before but at least I can get something done even if it's not for very long. I've got such a backlog of stuff to do, this book, anthology stories, pinups and commissions that I really need to sit down and get it done.

I'll do a few more Wolfmen pages, then will (finally) start my Predators strop written by Mo Ali, a terrific writer and artist, his blog is on the list of links so check him out.

Back soon...

Rule of thumb (pain)

2010-03-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

No artwork to show this week - I have done a page or so but can't really show anything - they're probably not my best work so I'll keep them secret until the book comes out.

This is currently a little up in the air due to a recurrent problem I have with the thumb on my drawing hand, I've had this on and off for a few years now but just recently I have felt it troubling me and in this last week it's really become painful so I've stopped for a while.

The doctor said it was a form of arthritis... but I may go back to see if that's still the case. The joint is quite swollen and hurts when I press down, and as I press down quite hard while inking this is where the issue lies.

An option is to go all digital and ink on the computer, I'm not sure how I feel about this as I spend all my working day glued to a Mac and I don't much fancy the idea of doing it at home as well. Add to the fact that I like working on paper this is probably a no-no.

I'm hoping it will go better on it's own, or with a visit to the doctor and maybe some physio... time will tell, I just hope this won't mean the end.

Quick update...

2010-03-05T04:07:00.000-08:00

Wow, had some great comments on the full page posted last week - thanks so much for that... makes me think I must be doing something right!

Nearly 2 pages inked this week - just 2 smallish panels to finish off today - and I can consider that a 'good' weeks work. While working on one of those pages I realised I hadn't scanned and corrected a page done a week or so back, so got that done today and the above is a panel from that page. Couldn't resist adding a bit more detail to the panel... and I wonder why these things take me so long :-)

A change will do you good...

2010-02-24T08:22:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd post the full page today to the one I showed a sneek peek at the other day... feeling generous! Hope you all like it.

Phonogram & Wolfmen

2010-02-11T04:18:00.001-08:00

Here's a panel from a recently completed page to prove that I'm still working on it and the plan is for it to be out for the middle of the year roughly. Accent UK will not be at this years Bristol Con as both Colin and Dave are off to Copenhagen for the Komiks.DK festival so that means I don't have to rush to get the book done for Bristol... not that I would have made that deadline anyway :-D... I would have tried my best though kidding aside.

More importantly the final (sniff - yes THE final ever) Phonogram issue came out today, with the 2 pages I drew way back late 2008. Looking at them again they don't look half bad and it's a total thrill for me to be in this comic with creators far more talented than myself.

I can't stop smiling whenever I look at the book... one of the best comic moments of my life for sure. Big thanks to Kieron and Jaime for letting me be part of the party. Cheers guys.

Some more Wolfmen pics!

2010-02-04T07:49:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of panels from a recently completed page... still a long way off getting this finished but I'm getting there, slowly!

Loads on at the moment... never been so busy - phew!!

Wolverine sketch

2010-02-04T03:43:00.000-08:00

Just a quick sketch done yesterday, liked it enough to pop it up here :-)

The Goldfish

2010-02-01T02:40:00.001-08:00

This was a little tale Kieron and I did for Scar Comics' 'Dead by Dawn' anthology a few years back. Kieron thought it would be fun to put it online, there's some pretty bad drawing in places but overall it's a moody and quite sad piece that I'm happy I did and hope that you all enjoy it being re-presented here.

Why they all look like naked Alan Moore's is a mystery to me too and I drew it :-)

Oh and Phonogram: The Singles Club 2.7 is out very soon... not long to go now.

Below Pinup

2010-01-26T06:24:00.000-08:00

Finally recovering from the dreaded sickness bug so thought it time for a quick update.

Last week I was lucky to be asked to do a pinup for an American anthology called '8am' put together by the guys from the tales from the parents basement website with a little help from Mr. Dave West as well. They've been big supporters of Accent UK on their podcasts and both Dave and Marleen Lowe have contributed a new "Whatever Happened To The World's Fastest Man' prequel story inside (which I can't wait to see!!). Each of the stories inside has a pinup by a different artist so I was asked to do one but it had to be done pretty quicky!

Here is my original little doodle - to quick pencils to quick (for me) inks and tones. All in all I'm fairly happy with the end product. Righto back to Wolfmen!

Phonogram: The Singles Club 7 Cover!!

2010-01-14T01:44:00.000-08:00

Kieron has just put up the cover to issue 7, the final part of the superb 'The Singles Club'.

Obviously I'm biased, but PG is a superb book, probably one of the best titles to come out in recent years and I was lucky to be asked to take part in it. My little 2-pager is in this very issue - the final one - alongside people much more talented than myself.

I've had a sneak peek at the whole issue and it's excellent... comes out early February I think.

My pages were done way back in November 2008... so I hope they still look half decent.

The trade collection comes out very soon after which I expect to be a very good seller (and an opportunity for Kieron and Jamie to actually make some money on the series!) but none of the extra 'b-sides' will be in the book. They are for the people who bought the single issues. 'The Singles Club'... definately!

More Wolfmen!

2010-01-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

Just finished another page, here is a little panel from that page, can't explain much of what's going on, once you read the book it will all become clear.

Hoping for a productive week, but can't do any inking tonight as I've no printed out pencils to ink until tomorrow so I'm going to pencil my pinup for Predators tonight. First bit of real drawing I've done for a while so hope it goes ok.

More soon.

Another one bites the dust...

2010-01-06T08:54:00.001-08:00

Another page that is... getting back into it and although there's still some way to go I can see the finishing line. It's in the distance... if I squint I can see it... somewhere :-)

This panel is not from that page as I don't want to give too much away, but from a much earlier one... and it has a werewolf on it which is much more exciting!

2010: The year of the wolf... men!

2010-01-04T04:42:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure it is really but this is the year that I finally get this book out!

It's been a struggle at times when the boys were born, and if I'm honest I haven't enjoyed doing it very much but I will be very happy when it's all done and 'out there'.

I'm not going straight into the third book for a while as I need a break - been drawing the same thing for probably 5 years now and I desperately need a change. Got a few bits and pieces to do after I finish it and then it's off to pastures new.

Oh and immensely looking forward to Phonogram: The Singles Club 7 which has my little 2 pages in it. Busy year ahead, best get cracking!!

Happy new year everyone!

One more done...

2009-12-18T08:12:00.000-08:00

Can't show much more so here's a quiet panel from a page finished this week... made a start to another page so hoping to get that done over the weekend.

Close to making a decision as to what I'll be doing after Wolfmen 2... will probably be after Christmas before I'll announce it though.

Hope all you who read my blog have a great Christmas!

If a job's worth doing...

2009-12-11T03:14:00.000-08:00

Then do it twice! Finally got to the stage where I could re-do a page I originally inked quite a while back when I was working on my story for 'Western'.

The reasoning behind it was to see if I was happy inking at a smaller size than I was normally used to in an attempt to get pages done quicker... I was happy with the result but as time has gone by and with different pens I felt it best to re-ink this page so it fits better with the other pages.

Madness? probably... but it would have always bugged me had I never done it. I'm not about to cut any corners with this book so why start now?

Two pages done this week too which was good, oh and Phonogram 6 is out this week which means the next (and last) issue will feature my two page strip. I haven't looked at it for ages so I hope it still looks respectable. Gonna be a proud moment for me to see my work in an Image Comic and Phonogram in particular. I can never thank Kieron enough for the opportunity.

New Wolfmen page!!

2009-12-07T03:56:00.000-08:00

Progress is steady but very slow... won't meet my deadline for the end of the year (no surprise there!) and I am getting frustrated with how slow I'm getting and next to no time to work on stuff these days. Looks like my comic days might be numbered again... sadly.

"I'm looking for someone..."

2009-11-23T08:20:00.000-08:00

Just put the finishing touches a page today... need to get cracking to meet my end of the year deadline. Gonna be a busy one next year, got loads on!

Thought Bubble afterthoughts...

2009-11-23T07:16:00.000-08:00

I volunteered my services to Dave to help him go to Leeds for the 'Thought Bubble' con on Saturday. It did mean an early start and a nearly 2 hr drive to get there, but we didn't encounter any problems bar a bit of rain and fog and a TomTom sending us the wrong way!

We were quick to set up and then played the waiting game. It was quite slow but soon picked up and we sold nearly all of what we brought with us. Met up with old friends Kev Mullins and Dave Hitchcock who shared a table with us and we could all marvel at the progress of his "Madam Samurai' book.

I ventured off to get some books signed, from most notably Frank Quitely and Ben Templesmith... both really nice guys... especially Ben whose "Wormwood: Gentlemen Corpse' book is well worth your time and money.

Also met up again with Kieron and Jamie (Phonogram)... I must have driven Kieron mad over the time he's known me with my insecurities of my work and he did write something very cool (and funny) on my Phonogram: The Singles Club 1... maybe I'll scan it and put it up here. Both really nice guys and thoroughly deserve the success they're both getting.

Picked up the latest issue of 'Criminal' from the brilliant Sean Phillips... he even remembered me from a page of artwork I bought from him. He does just keep getting better and better if that's at all possible.

Had some nice comments about Wolfmen... and people asking for the second book, which shows interest is still there. Overall the day flew by and before we knew it we had packed up and were on the road home for just after 5pm... as both Dave and myself were pretty tired and I had two little boys to see and put to bed when I got home :-)

Next stop Bristol next year, where I'm hoping I can have finished copies of 'Fall of the Wolfmen' for sale... better get inking!

The Horrible Snod

2009-11-18T04:45:00.000-08:00

Created by a few years back now by my friend Nigel Pye (a very talented writer and professional journalist) and myself for a planned children's book but after starting it I abandoned it quite a few times as I wasn't happy with the artwork I'd done.

Every year I do a Snod Christmas card for family and friends, which Nigel always writes something really good and witty for then. Everyone loves them and always ask where the book is?

This last week Nigel and I decided to put the Snod on Facebook, both as a fan page and a page for himself... the response has been outstanding to say the least and everyday we get messages/emails asking about him and the book. Many people seem to think we could be on to something with him so I've decided to get stuck in on the illustrations and design for the book.

Not sure how many pictures they'll be yet... and this won't interfere with Wolfmen 2 progress but this has strangely become a priority for me out of nowhere and I can't wait to get stuck into it at last!

I will post some of the artwork and progress on the book on my blog.

I wonder what the Snod would think?

Look behind you!

2009-11-13T07:27:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted much art lately, so here's another panel from a recently completed page of 'Fall of the Wolfmen' To find out the identity of the shadowy character behind Jack Grey you'll have to wait until the book comes out next year :-)

Inking a couple of easy pages at the moment then it's back to more time-consuming stuff... got a Predators story and pinup to do after Christmas, so will take a short break from Wolfmen for that.

Will also be starting a new project soon, just for myself... harks back to my love of those Saturday morning cartoons I loved as a kid... will probably never see print but that's ok.

It's just one of those things I have to do for myself really.

Back soon!!

Back for (no) good!

2009-11-11T01:51:00.000-08:00

Back from my hols - a week away in Tenerife with the lads... which was good but at the same time pretty stressful. It's kind of one of those things you have to do and learn from really.

Dave's posted some fantastic reviews of 'Whatever Happened to the World's Fastest Man?' and as they're so good I'll provide links here:

Newsarama

Forbidden Planet

Not much else to say, gonna start cracking back on with Wolfmen inks to meet my deadline of being halfway through the book by the end of the year... yes... nearly Christmas... where has the year gone?

Then I have to decide what project to do afterwards. Wolfmen 3 will take a back seat as I need a break from it for a while. Watch this space for developments.

Wolfmen in progress...

2009-10-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

Had a day off work yesterday - all to myself! - and managed to ink virtually two full pages... my hand started hurting after a while, guess I'm not used to all that drawing! From one of those pages is this image, shown here as pencils/inks/tones. Only a few tweaks in this one, some I mess around with more in the inking phase. Then it goes into photoshop for more tweaks :-)

MCM Expo Guide

2009-10-19T06:46:00.001-07:00

Accent UK will be at the MCM Expo this coming weekend, and Diamond UK gave us a whopping 4 pages in their Expo guide which you can view online here:

MCM Expo Guide

Basically it's a 3 page preview of 'Whatever Happened To The World's Fastest Man?' and an ad (but not an ad) page, highlighting the fact that both Wolfmen and Robots are offered again in the UK section of Novembers Previews catalogue (alongside Fastest Man which is in the USA section).

I had to come up with something that was basically an advert, but wasn't too obvious... very happy with how it turned out. There's an intentional Apple/iTunes vibe to it but works well I think.

Everybody in...

2009-10-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Well, another week, another page inked. This is the last panel from the most recently completed page, but I wasn't happy with the original version of this, which was to be a quick 'reused background' and just some simple figures placed over the top to try and speed things up. I tried to get it to work but didn't look right so I drew this new panel from scratch this week and am pretty happy with the results.

Sadly, I doubt this will be the last time I have to do this either!

More BICS Pix

2009-10-15T04:43:00.000-07:00

This time something I did for Jon Rennie... he had a very novel idea of everyone doing sketches the same size so he can run an animated banner on his website. You can check them out here:

Clickity Click!

Could have drawn the wolfman a little better but doesn't look too bad compared to the others.

BICS Pix

2009-10-12T02:52:00.000-07:00

Colin sneakily took this pic at BICS as I'd just finished that punk sketch and no sooner as I'd put my pens down then this queue formed!!

Was great fun - if a little terrifying - hopefully they all liked what they ended up with :-)

Got my Predators script today, a fantastically dark take by the talented Mo Ali that should be a fun challenge, hope to start that soon but need to crack on with the Wolfmen inks. No rest for the wicked!

In the dark...

2009-10-09T07:31:00.000-07:00

Can't really show much more on the sequence I'm working on so this moody panel will have to do. Finished this page off fairly quickly despite being quite detailed in places. Still on a high from BICS so hoping to use some of that energy to get pages done quicker. Pretty happy with the results so far... time will tell if everyone else agrees.

In other news the mighty talented Gary Crutchley will be lending his talents to a Wolfmen gallery image for book 2. Some great images in so far, at this rate they're gonna be better than the main feature!

Batman BICS 2009

2009-10-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a sketch of Batman done this weekend at BICS... after someone saw this they asked for another Batman too (as long as they bought a copy of Wolfmen :-) ... love the character, could draw him all day.

BICS 2009... a review

2009-10-05T03:14:00.000-07:00

Well, back at work today from spending two great days at BICS over the weekend.

Aside from feeling pretty tired driving there and back both days I throughly enjoyed myself. There seemed to be less 'professional' creators this year but tbh, the show didn't really miss as it meant punters had more spare cash to buy small press/independent comics.

I was on the Accent UK stand most of the time, sharing a table with Garen Ewing - creator of the wonderful 'Rainbow Orchid'. This was the first time I met Garen and it was a pleasure to finally meet him and get him to sign and sketch in my copy of his book.

Met up and had a natter with some fellow creators there - Marleen Lowe (at her first con), Gary Crutchley (yes we must meet up soon!), Dave Hitchcock (who's Madam Samurai pages were jaw-droppingly stunning!), Chris Doherty, Kev Mullins (very nice Predators pages there Kev!!), Jason Cobley and of course, Garen.

Sales were good, and as expected 'Whatever Happened to the World's Fastest Man?' sold very well, as did 'Zombies' and 'Wolfmen' (considering the book's been out 2 years that was superb). I bought a few bits and bobs - A signed 'Grandville' from the one and only Bryan Talbot, 'Burke and Hare' from Martin Conaghan at the Insomnia stand, 'Harker' 8 from the brilliant team of Roger Gibson and Vince Danks... having 'spoken' to them on email it was a pleasure to finally meet them face to face and tell them how much I enjoy their book. And judging from their sales I wasn't the only one! Lastly I got a copy of Razorjack (and a very cool 'Wolfmen' sketch) from legendary artist John Higgins (Watchmen, Judge Dredd etc) more on that later!!

On Sunday which is normally a quieter day... I was asked to do a sketch. Now I've never done a 'live' sketch before and was a bit worried that it might turn out a bit crap... but the lad seemed to like it and before I knew it there was a queue of people all asking for sketches. I think it did 'The Shadow', 'Doctor Strange', 'Thanos' and a wolfman or two. It was great fun if a little terrifying! Dave tells me they seemed happy with the results so I'll take his word for it :-)

Certainly helped sales though, shifted a few more 'Wolfmen' which is great and bodes well for the second book out next year. I had people come up and say how much they liked my stuff and the book in particular which always helps and gives you that extra push to crack on knowing that there is an audience for what you're doing and more importantly - they like it.

Had a very nice comment from a guy from Gosh! Comics who commented on how good he thought my design was for Dave's 'Strange Times' book too, which was very nice indeed.

Overall great fun - thanks to Dave and Colin for letting me be a part of it, and also to everyone who stopped by and bought something.... see you next year!

Birmingham International Comics Show (BICS)

2009-09-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

Is this coming weekend - and Accent UK (and me!) will be there to meet fellow creators and obviously spend hard earned money on comics!

I will be at the AUK stand most of the time, and when not there probably wandering around aimlessly trying to find people I made a note of meeting.

Really looking forward to this, Marleen Lowe will be there to sign copies of 'Whatever Happened to the World's Fastest Man?' and I will happily do a sketch if anyone wants one. I'm also bringing some original art to sell too, incase anyone wants any.

Just got a week of work (and another page of Wolfmen 2 to ink) to go!

More wolfmen!

2009-09-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

Mainly as this is what I'm working on primarily - when I've done some work on stuff for Predators and the other top-secret project I'm working on with the mighty Dave West I'll post that too, just incase anyone is bored with werewolves (and who can ever really be bored with werewolves?).

This image is from an action sequence early in book 2... seems someone has shot part of this critters ear off... but who?

Wolfmen first full page!!

2009-09-23T04:07:00.000-07:00

Not the first completed page, but one that I've shown Dave and so quite happy to put it up on here so that folk can see there is some progress!

Felt sick as a dog yesterday, so no work and no drawing... getting really behind on the schedule I wanted for WM2, and am not at the place I wanted to be for BICS. Gonna have to pull my finger out if I want his done in time for Bristol next year. Looks like it's not going to happen but I'll give it a go.

When I read Dave Hitchcock's blog and he's up to page 60 of his superb samurai story already, I feel a right slacker!

Whatever Happened To The World's Fastest Man

2009-09-21T02:07:00.001-07:00

Is here at last. Colin very kindly mailed me some copies so I finally had chance to see it all printed in lovely colour and black and white.

It does look superb and congrats must go Dave for writing such a good story and of course Marleen, for her superb artwork. My contribution was minimal, just designing the overall look of the book to hopefully make it stand out a little, and I also drew a little pinup in it that I completely forgot to add a credit for inside the book!

As long as that was the only error in it then I'm a happy man... looking forward to launching it as BICS on the 3rd and 4th October, if you're coming, pop over and say hello - and of course buy some comics :-D

Who's afraid of the big bad...

2009-09-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

...Wolfman?

More to be revealed soon... not a great deal done this last week... hope for better this week. BICS soon so looking forward to that. Oh and Fastest Man is done and will be in our grubby hands this week. Good times :-)

Watch out for that wheel!!

2009-09-04T04:09:00.001-07:00

Work is done on another page of Wolfmen 2 (aka Fall of the Wolfmen)... as always there are things I wish I had time to re-draw but sometimes you just have to get it done and move to the next page... otherwise it would never get done. Quite happy with this page and this panel in particular. To find out what's going on you'll just have to buy the book when it comes out :-D

In other news Dave and Marleen's 'Whatever Happened To The World's Fastest Man?' is officially at the printers and should be back in a couple of weeks time. It's a great book, getting well deserved positive reviews and let's hope it sells as well as we think it will.

John Reppion & Leah Moore interview

2009-08-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

Just happened across this interview with the lovely John Reppion and Leah Moore on downthetubes. Sadly John and Leah won't be writing me a story for 'Predators' due to the impending arrival of a little Moore-Reppion (or is that Reppion-Moore?). Totally understandable and I hope everything goes well for all of them. I just hope that I'll get the chance to work with them again some day.

They do however say some very nice things about me in the interview which is very nice (and I didn't pay them, honest!).

"Andy Bloor is another artist we've had the pleasure of working with through Accent UK. He has this wonderfully bold scratchboard/woodcut type style that just jumps off the page. I highly recommend Wolfmen written by Dave West and drawn by Andy."

Linky!

That's gotta hurt!

2009-08-21T09:44:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure it does as Grey exacts his revenge against a member of The Wolfmen in another sneaky look at some of my scribblings for Fall Of The Wolfmen... more soon!

Strange Times

2009-08-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

The collected edition of Dave's 'Strange Times' strip is back from the printers and available for sale soon from the Accent UK website. I did the design work on the book and also contributed a pinup image as did some other more talented folk like Shane Oakley, Garen Ewing and Indio himself.

I'm looking forward to getting my copy... I've not seen it yet but have read the book several times when working on the pages. It's a smashing little book that's a deserved part of any collection.

Whatever Happened to the World's Fastest Man

2009-08-07T04:05:00.000-07:00

Finally finished my pinup for the book this week and just a little bit of work to do on the interior design of the book and we're there I think. Needless to say the reviews this has been getting are well deserved for both Dave and Marleen... and although my contribution is only a small one in the book, I'm still really, really happy to be in it.

The look of the book is like no other comic I think, and both Dave and I have worked very hard to get this right... I think this will surprise many people when they see it (fingers crossed of course!).

There's a very nice film 'story' in it too that I couldn't help but smile when Dave sent it over :-)

As a little insight into my work (for those interested) above shows the various stages of the pinup.

Pencils first, scanned in and then I inked some bits in illustrator then imported them into photoshop and then printed the whole page out (at 30% cyan, slightly larger scale) and did the majority of the inking the old fashioned way. Finally, the art was scanned back in and greytoned in my very basic style that works for my stuff I think.

Overall I'm pretty happy with it... doesn't hold a candle to Marleens' superb work, but what can?

Western review - a corker!!

2009-07-29T02:32:00.000-07:00

Came across this on Facebook - what a cracking review:

Hypergeek Western review

There's also a really good (like 11/10!) review of Dave and Marleen's 'Whatever Happened to the World's Fastest Man' book on there too!

There's someone at the door...

2009-07-21T04:41:00.001-07:00

All will be revealed soon...