Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Pendragon: The Quest For King Arthur

Now then, where were we?

Oh yes, I'm still alive and writing comics.

To that end, here's the cover of my latest graphic novel for Markosia...


It's called Pendragon: The Quest For King Arthur and here's everything you need to know about it in the form of the press release we'll be sending out to comic news sites...

MARKOSIA PROMISES KING ARTHUR AS YOU’VE NEVER
SEEN HIM BEFORE IN A BRAND NEW GRAPHIC NOVEL


UK indie publisher unleashes Pendragon: The Quest For King Arthur
 
[24 May, 2017] UK independent graphic novel publisher MARKOSIA today announces details of PENDRAGON: THE QUEST FOR KING ARTHUR, a brand new graphic novel that offers a comic, outrageous and utterly iconoclastic take on the Arthurian legends.

The book is released by Markosia on Monday, 19 June and receives its official launch on Saturday, 24 June, at the Birmingham Comic Art Show. It is written by Andy Winter, drawn by Jim Lavery (who also did the cover), coloured by Aljosa Tomic and lettered by Robin Jones. The full-colour graphic novel contains 104 pages and retails for £11.99/$16.99. It will be available on Amazon globally, and most other online retailers such as BOL and Chapters. The book will also be available digitally on ComiXology and most other digital platforms such as iBooks, Kindle, and DriveThru.

Here’s the solicitation copy…

Failed singer Art Bright is an unremarkable young man, except for one thing – he might just be the reincarnation of King Arthur. His stalker Derek Border certainly seems to think so. But then Derek has taken to calling himself 'Merlin' and has even assembled a new Knights of the Round Table and tracked down a former porn star, who he reckons is Lady Guinevere.

But if Derek is mad, why have he and Art attracted the attention of the real Morgana Le Fay and her new best friend, a dragon named Crueltooth? And, while all this is going on, what is Mordred up to, and why does the Lady In The Lake seem to harbour a grudge against Art? All will be revealed in Pendragon: The Quest For King Arthur, a mad, bad and breathless updating of the Arthurian legends that is sure to delight and infuriate in equal measure.

Writer Andy Winter commented: “Pendragon is a kick up the bum for all those po-faced and supposedly radical re-imaginings of classic stories. When it came to taking on the story of King Arthur, I wanted to do something that had action and adventure, but was also a lot of fun and irredeemably silly. It certainly has more in common with Monty Python and The Holy Grail than it does King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. 

“I take all sorts of liberties and not everyone will like it; some may even call it sacrilege. If so, that’s something which makes me very happy indeed.”

* I shall be attending the aforementioned Birmingham Comic Art Show on 24 June so please come along to the Markosia table to say hi and buy a copy of the Pendragon book. I haven't attended a comic event as a creator since last year's London Super Comic Con so am very much looking forward to it.

* The Tim Skinner: Retconned webcomic probably isn't going to happen now. Having gone through artists on the project at a similar rate to Aston Villa going through managers, I've decided to put it on the back burner. It's a shame because the script was complete and I reckon it was pretty funny (not to mention offensive and transgressive, too). If I ever return to the character, it will probably be from scratch. Perhaps at some point I can convince Markosia to publish a Giant-Size Tim Skinner Compendium featuring all the stories so far as well as some new material. Well, it's certainly a thought...

* I'm working on two other graphic novels for Markosia which are at various stages of production. The previously-announced Robin Hood book was started again from scratch after an artist change but is now back on track. The other one I'll talk about in due course.

* I'm also currently writing a short story for something related to Defiant: The Legend Of Brithnoth, the Viking book I did with Steve Tanner's Time Bomb Comics a couple of years ago. There will be lots more on this soon too...