Kapow!

I'M going to be at the Kapow! comic convention in north London on Saturday and might even have the Petal pitch document with me to start showing publishers. It's pretty much finished and I'm really just waiting for artist Nicolas Armano and his team in Argentina to send over the final coloured cover and we're in business.

This is my first time at Kapow! (awful corny name, by the way) and I'm really looking forward to it. When I was self-publishing, I only very rarely got a chance to go to panels at cons so that's something I'm hoping to start remedying. I will definitely try to grab a seat for the Image Superstars panel, for Warren Ellis's Q&A and for Noel Clarke's Storage 24 movie preview.

I think Noel's a very underrated talent - he co-wrote Storage 24 and of course also acts (Doctor Who) and directs (4.3.2.1). He has the kind of can-do attitude most of us mere mortals can only dream of. I met him a couple of years ago when he was briefly connected to the Blood Psi film (whatever happened to that?!), so I shall be taking a particular interest in his latest project.

* I WAS disappointed to see the kicking that last weekend's Bristol Comics Expo received over at the Bleeding Cool website and delighted that a few creators and punters have subsequently stood up to paint a rather more positive picture (after all, the allegedly poor organisation and lack of publicity didn't stop over a thousand visitors attending). I wasn't at this year's Expo, but it's an event that will always have a special place in my heart. It's where I launched Moonface Press with Devilchild in 2001, and where Hero Killers won its Eagle Award a few years later.

The Expo is clearly done on a much lower budget than the likes of Kapow!, the London Super con and the MCM events and so can't compete for big-name US stars and neither should it try to. Bristol has always served another purpose - namely as an incredibly fertile breeding ground for small press and indie creators, and long may it continue to do so. The fact it returned to its old 'Cowshed' venue (also known as the Bristol Empire & Commonwealth Museum) this year after four years away is a big step in the right direction and I sincerely hope it comes back next year bigger and better than ever.

I remember standing behind the Moonface Press table at the Bristol Expo back in 2008. The Cowshed was absolutely packed with fans, creators and cosplayers and I felt genuinely privileged to be part of a scene that was so vibrant, creative and friendly. Give it a couple of years and I have every confidence the Expo will have all its old magic back.

* I'M delighted to report that Michael Moreci and Keith Burns' Reincar(Nate) graphic novel smashed its Kickstarter pledge target by over $1,000 and will be published in August. Well done to them both! Of course, life being as it is, I ended up having to temporarily withdraw my $25 pledge when I became the victim of identity fraud a couple of weeks ago. The bank stopped my debit card, meaning payments I'd made for books, comics and DVDs online were immediately suspended, including the Reincar(Nate) pledge. It was all rather embarrassing but, thankfully, has now been sorted out.

* YOU should all check out Tommie Kelly's new webcomic, The Holy Numbers. This blurb I've just nicked from Tommie's website probably describes the story better than I could so...

It centres around a spiritual movement in Ireland, founded by a man who calls himself Ravensdale and claims that he is an advanced spiritual being from a higher dimension. This religion becomes the most popular new thought movement in the country and has its eyes set on becoming a worldwide belief system.

It asks the question: What if all the alternative New Age thought about how our universe works, its secret history and its mechanics, was all true? What would the world be like? How would it affect us socially, politically and socially? Would the world be a better place, a more magic place? Would people be happier?

What if you had to believe in it to see it? What if the New Age is already here?

It's easily the best thing I've seen from Tommie (yes, even better than Mongo: Music Critic!), so give it a little of your time. Check it out for free at www.theholynumbers.com

Support Reincar(Nate)

KEITH BURNS (the co-creator of Blood Psi) is the artist on a project currently looking for funding on Kickstarter. It's called Reincar(Nate) and Michael Moreci (of Image's Hoax Hunters fame) is the writer.

There's a page of Keith's lovely art above and here's the lowdown on the project from the book's Kickstarter page...

Reincar(Nate) is a 102-page, full-color graphic novel that tells the story of Nate McCoy, a well-meaning, down on his luck P.I. who has a special ability--he can see and interact with past versions of himself. The people he reincarnated from. With the help of Jameson (a Wild West lawman) and Alan (a 1960s-era hitman), Nate works to solve his latest case, one that digs straight to the heart of the city's criminal underworld.

If you're a fan of stylized, character-driven noir in the vein of Chew or Terriers, you'll find a lot to like in Reincar(Nate).

Sounds great, right? The project needs another $2,880 (£1,178) to reach its total of $8,250 (£5,094) by next Friday (May 4). A mere 20 bucks will get you a signed and numbered first edition of the book, 30 will get you a signed and numbered book, plus your name on a special 'thank you' roll of honour inside.

You can make a pledge right here.

Blood Psi STILL getting great reviews!

THERE'S a lovely review of mine and Keith Burns' Blood Psi one-shot in episode seven of the Small Press Big Mouth podcast. Reviewer Stacey Whittle , who also blogs for www.sfx.co.uk, describes the cover and interior art as "gorgeous" and says the story is "very satisfying" and kept her guessing right until the end.

The review starts at 17 minutes 20 seconds into the podcast and you can check it out here: http://castroller.com/podcasts/GeeksyndicatesPodcast/1209360

You should also take a look at the SPBM blog here: http://smallpressbigmouth.blogspot.com/

Blood Psi has been out for at least a couple of years now but a great review's a great review as far as I'm concerned.

Tripwire etc.

THE Tripwire annual featuring my interview with Alan Moore hit comic stores in the US and UK this week. It's nowhere near the strongest piece I've ever written (I put off transcribing it for ages and then had to get it all done in a big hurry) but trust me when I say Alan waxing lyrical about The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, his new novel Jerusalem, his appearance on The Simpsons and his pull-no-punches views on The Watchmen movie make the 132-page book well worth splashing 10 quid (15 bucks) on. The annual also features great stuff on Hellboy, The Simpsons, Heroes, Hellblazer and 2000AD. That's Duncan Fegredo's cover above.

* I'M having enormous fun with the Tim Skinner script. The titular character has already done some thoroughly unspeakable things and I'm not even halfway through yet. It's quite theraputic to write such an utter, utter scumbag with no redeeming features. In fact, other than making it funny, the biggest challenge so far has been to stop myself reigning in Skinner's more excessive behaviour. He works best when he's bad to the bone.

I guess it would be easy to turn such a project into one big snark-fest, using it to stick the boot into those comics and creators for which I don't especially care but that isn't the way it's turned out at all. Oddly enough, everything being mercilessly lampooned in Skinner is something I have genuine affection for. Let's hope the book's numerous targets see it that way too.

There won't be much time to work on Skinner in the next couple of weeks as I'm off on holiday next weekend. It'll be wrapped up in September, though, and then it'll be time to revisit my currently stalled short story for the Robots anthology before making a start on either Kurss or Razor Snakes...

* IT looks like Blood Psi artist Keith Burns and I will be working together again in the new year. I've got an idea for a one-shot graphic novella that would suit Keith's "abstract noir" art style perfectly. I'll reveal more about the project later in the year.

* ARTIST Mick Trimble is zipping through the pages now on Septic Isle. He has around a quarter of it done and I think we'll be good to go for January when I plan to submit a fully lettered dummy of the book to Diamond.