THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NAO (TROISIÉME ACTE)

JANUARY 31

I remember waking to total darkness. The kind of darkness where you can't even see your hands infront of your face.  I couldn't even find my phone or the light switch. The Farmhouse/Manor I'd woken up in had shutters outside the window - I had no idea before I went to sleep that they'd be that effective. 

Eventually I found the light switch.

I was the first down to breakfast. It was a massive room with a huge oval dining table and a fire place so big you could roast an elephant in it. It even had seats in the fireplace. I was being observed by two sword fighting squirrels. Taxidermy humor.

Croisants and bread and jams and cake… plenty to eat. So, I tucked in. Slowly but surely and one by one the rest of Akileos, Ted Neifeh included, joined me. More eating. More talking. Then off to the festival.

The day began proper. Now, they say at Angouleme that the busiest day is the Saturday. So its weird that this day was incredibly busy. Busier than Quais Des Bulles in St Malo (a festival I LOVE, btw and I'll be documenting the heck out of this October when I go). A lot of foot traffic coming our way. 

"Pre-nom silverplate" and people wrote down their names for me and then I drew them either a Cthulhu, a Holmes or a Watson or a Hound or anything they wanted. But never a dog holding a red balloon (even though I'm always tempted to do just that when invited to 'draw what you like').

The immediate impression you get of French readers is the broad demographic— what you'd expect from a country where sequential art is a part of the culture not a part of the subculture as it is at home. That's not to sound downhearted in the least bit about 'the scene' back home because things are great and getting better all the while… plus, its Britain. We have a knack of doing great things with subculture. We did it with Punk.

On to the afternoon and many more books are signed and drawn in and then the day draws to a close. I think that by the end of either the first or second day, Glyn had sold all his copies of Nao. A lot of people coming up and getting their copies signed by him, even bringing copies bought in English. 

In essence my diary entries become increasingly scant on detail as each day really becomes much like the last. We get up, we breakfast, we arrive at the festival, we sign books. We lunch, we sign, we drink, we dine. We sleep, we rise. Repeat.

A vicious yet delicious cycle…

(to be concluded)

THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NAO (PART DEUX)

JANUARY 30
Woke early to the tiger after a night in Nao's bed. Got dressed. Got ready.  Met the rest of the lovely Dillon clan. Said hello. Said goodbye. Cab on time. St "Pancreas" bound.

Paul Gravett greeted us in the International departure lounge. He really is The Man at the Crossroads!! He was Angouleme bound via a different route and we parted ways.

We rendezvoused with our publisher, Emma Hayley. Quick coffee. Quick chat. And off again. After being dragged out of England and through a tunnel backwards and tangoing with the Paris metro (considerably cheaper than the London Underground and just as efficient! Grrrr!!!) we we're on the Angouleme train rattling through the French countryside.

We arrived in Angouleme to rain we didn't bring with us. Something Brits from an island of inclemency are often blamed for, but seriously, it was like that when we got there! And then it was goodbye Emma as she headed off to her hotel and hello to Mara, an Akileos auteur from Switzerland (speaks excellent English and puts us both to shame for our lack of even basic 'Allo 'Allo French).

Our French publisher, Emmanuel Bouteille (aka Manu or Mr Good-Bottle), picked us all up in his car and we headed for our booth in town.

The town was abuzz with the set up. Vans parked up on curbs with people carrying boxes into the convention centre, and inside, people sorting tables, setting up stands. It's not unreasonable to say that the whole of Angouleme is commandeered by this festival. When I say convention centre here I'm actually just talking about our marquee which houses all the main publishers… there are marquees dotted all over Angouleme with various things going on in them. It's huge and when you're signing at Angouleme you don't really get a chance to see it all because you're signing. All the time.

We waded through bubble wrap and empty cardboard boxes. We had arrived. We met with Richard Saint Martin (the other half of Akileos). We saw the tables we would call home for the next few days (an excellent spot, right opposite Dargaud) and then off to accommodation. Glyn stayed in town in a beautiful apartment I'd stayed in before and I was staying with my extended family, Akileos, in the countryside. We drove out to a beautiful farm/manor house. The room I got was gorgeous. I dumped my bags and we headed back into Angouleme for food and drink!

Later that night, Ted Naifeh (Courtney Crumrin) joined us for dinner. We ate. We drank. We talked. We had the entire plot of The Life of Pi spoiled for us, Glyn discovered that he quite likes Camembert, we discovered that Manu does not, and then we parted ways with Glyn and headed back to the manor house and to bed.

I closed my eyes and bid the long day goodnight.

No Tigers.

THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NAO (PART I)

Okay, it has been awhile since I updated this blog. It has been a very busy year. Hot off the back of last year which was insanely busy too. Plus, I lost a month due to surgery back in March which went horribly wrong but that's another story for another time and really less important than the fact that I'm alright now! No amount of time in hospital is great when you're freelance. So, I've been playing catch up and working hard.

Now I'm sort of back on top of things I'm determined to update this blog more regularly. I have a new book out, The Shadow Out of Time, and I'm currently drawing the second twelve part series of Brass Sun (due out in 2000AD this Autumn) and I've just written my first original graphic novel, Celeste. Celeste is not an adaptation and not remotely Lovecraftian. It is going to be nearly 200 pages long and full colour and there will be more about this over the coming months as I'm working on it right now and it will be out next spring in the UK and the US simultaneously from SelfMadeHero.  And to top it all, Dan Abnett and I are also set to start working again quite soon on a new collaboration.

In short, exciting times! Much to do and much to write about the doing there of.

For now, let me begin with a story that goes right back to the beginning of the year, back to January 29th.   Glyn Dillon (writer and artist of The Nao of Brown) and I travelled to France together for the Angouleme 40th year festival (where the French edition of Nao was in the running for the Jury prize) at the invitation of our French publishers, Akileos.  I kept a sort of incomplete journal of our adventures, so, here it is, this is just the first part of four which I will post over the next few days…

Cue swirly flashback graphics and harp.

JANUARY 29th.
Set off late. Wanted to say goodnight to my bairns before I hit the road. My youngest said 'see you in the morning' almost breaking my heart before I'd even set a foot out the door. 

Arrived in Mother London, tired, nauseous for eating carbs on the train, and outraged at the price of an underground ticket! I caught a train to Glyn's house, but at that price I was expecting a piggy back at the very least.

He opened the door barefoot and dressing gowned and I realised I was considerably later than I'd anticipated. The rest of the house was abed so I trod as quietly as any six foot four galah could. He made me tea and asked if I recognise the room I was standing in. Took a moment for me to realise… it was Nao's kitchen and living room.  I was in Nao's house. A surreal moment as fact and fiction collided. When I read the book, Nao became a sort of tulpa, she became real, and here I a was, one half sitting in Glyn's house, one half sitting in Nao's.

I was to sleep in Nao's room, the actual room at the actual house in the actual bed. The bed was Nao sized. My feet stuck out at the end.

I wrote my Angouleme diary long hand in the absence of a smart phone and in the light of a lamp I christened 'the moon' even though it wasn't even moon shaped. The off switch was guarded by a tiger.

So many books. So many wonderful things. But I had to sleep. Cab booked for seven am.

Tiger be damned…

THE SHADOW OUT OF TIME

Oh my dear long neglected blog… I've been busy. Deadbeats hit shelves Nov last year - debuting at Thought Bubble where we sold out of every copy we brought with us and hot on the heels of that comes The Shadow Out of Time which is out this May from SelfMadeHero.  Here's the cover. Sneak peeks to follow over the coming weeks.  I shall endeavor to update this dear old blog more often. 

DEADBEATS!

Deadbeats has arrived at SMH HQ - The first 60 copies anywhere in the world will be available at Thought Bubble this weekend. If you want one signed and drawn in by Lackey and me then BE THERE! I'll be there Saturday and Sunday and Lackey is there Saturday only. 

There's an interview with Chris, Chad and me over at the SMH blog - I talk a little about what's different about this book for me… silhouettes is one thing I mention in the interview and you can seen an example of that on the back cover (that's from a scene inside the book), but also layout. Layout on this book was different to anything I'd done before. This time layout was all overlapping panels and panels going off into the bleed (as seen in the last snapshot here)…

SEA FOOD

Here's another Quai Des Bulles doodle (colored in when I got home). 

THE JOB KNOWS

The job knows.

I haven't been able to sit down to update this blog in a hell of a long time. Let's have a look - May 28th. Yeesh! That's a long time (I actually thought it was April so already I'm telling myself 'oh, its not that bad').

Okay, so where was I? Right. I've been busy. REALLY busy. I started work on Charles Dexter Ward earlier this year then midway through took a break to draw A Princess of Mars (that's right, I took a break from working on a graphic novel to work on a graphic novel - in my world it makes sense there's just less holidays) and now I'm back again on Charles Dexter Ward finishing that book off before Christmas and starting something new. It's been busy. And I've only had one book out this year (technically three books if you count The Lovecraft Anthology Vol.1 and Blankslate's Nelson). Last year I had two! But before you think for even one second I've been slacking off- STOP! I have THREE GRAPHIC NOVELS out next year, AND a mini-series (can't say anything about that just yet) and a 10-12 part weekly at some point in among all that.

I've been busy.

Oh, AND At the Mountains of Madness won best graphic novel at the British Fantasy Awards 2011 back in October - you can read about that here!!

Now, a couple of weeks ago I went to the Quai des Bulles festival (I'm going to write more on that in another post quite soon, I promise) which is in St Malo (the picture at the top here is one I drew at the festival and brought home and colored up - now I got my scanner working again! YAY!). Right up to that point I was working crazy hours getting A Princess of Mars done. And about a week before the trip to France (my only break since April really) I was thinking 'this is great, this is going great. I'm gonna get the book done and have time to relax a little and unwind before I go away. I've got DAYS left! Everything is gonna be just fine.' What could possibly go wrong, right?

Well, nothing did go wrong really except that I worked right up until the very last second of the very last minute of the very last hour before my flight to St Malo. Literally no time to spare. I used up ever second I had. It was like THE JOB KNEW. There I was thinking "I've got a week, I'm on the home straight, this is easy." But no. It's like the job knew exactly how long I had left and that was exactly how long it was going to take. Not a second more. Not a second less. THE JOB KNEW!!!

And since I got back from St Malo I've been catching up on my sleep and getting in the right headspace again for Charles Dexter Ward and I'm back in Lovecraft country where I can post sneak peeks (this picture here isn't one of them - don't worry, a Gug doesn't show up in a suit in the middle of the story).

A PRINCESS OF MARS COVER ART

Here's the final cover art for A Princess of Mars. The one seen in the SelfMadeHero catalogs was a texture/color rough and not quite finished. And, like the cover for At the Mountains of Madness, it is a full wrap around cover but I won't be revealing that for a bit yet. But you will be seeing sneak peeks over the coming months of the interior art.

Now, what goings on have been going on since last I posted? Well, I attended the Bristol Comics Expo a couple of weeks back where I was part of a panel discussion with David Hine, Ian Edginton, Rob Davis and Dan Lockwood - talking about the Lovecraft Anthology. I also met up with many many lovely people including Alison Sampson who's blog Space In Text is an absolute must visit (I drew Juno for her), and Stacey Whittle of Small Press Big Mouth (I drew Johnny Alpha for her). Also met, very and all too briefly, Ernesto Priego from the Comics Grid, with whom I really wish I'd had longer to chat, and Mark Clapham from Shiny Shelf who I also wish I'd spoken to for longer. I managed to miss a lot of people but hopefully will see them all soon.

LIFE ON MARS AND OTHER PLACES

(A Princess of Mars ©SelfMadeHero)

It has been a while since I last posted. I've been busy.

Above is a detail from the cover to A Princess of Mars which I'm currently adapting with Ian Edginton for SelfMadeHero. The cover to Princess of Mars as it appears in SelfMadeHero catalog is just a color/texture rough. The real deal will be revealed soon. If you haven't seen the catalog I strongly suggest you check it out now.

I thought initially that making stuff up for A Princess of Mars would be easier than sifting through mountains of research but actually the work load is no less and a lot more prone to procrastination. Really got to keep on my toes with this one. KEEP IT SIMPLE. But design time carries with it just as much ballast. It is a lot of fun though, starting my working week designing aliens.

You'll also see a snippet from The Case of Charles Dexter Ward in the SelfMadeHero catalog. Here's a little bit more.

(The Case of Charles Dexter Ward ©SelfMadeHero)

Lots happening right now. Lots in the pipeline. Exciting times.

HOW TIME FLIES

Found this kicking around on my hard drive - a concept for a proposed project back in 2008 which is when my first Graphic Novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was published. That is six graphic novels ago!!! I've started measuring time in graphic novels the same way my son measures time in sleeps when he's looking forward to something. Time flies when you're having fun!

DEADBEATS

Deadbeats is a comic/Graphic Novel I'm working on with the guys from HP Podcraft - Chris Lackey & Chad Fifer. To find out more about it go to this website designated to it and have a gander at the synopsis and some of the character bios and for further updates. I'm very excited about being brought on board for this project as the script is a lot of fun and Chris and Chad a hell of a lot of fun to work with too. If you haven't heard their podcast and you love Lovecraft you really should head over there and have a listen. It is an excellent show.

THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD

-Arriving Spring 2012 from SelfMadeHero-

UPDATE: SelfMadeHero have announced they're sponsoring H. P. Lovecraft: Reanimated (15th April, The Horse Hospital, London) which will host the launch of The Lovecraft Anthology: Volume 1 for which Rob Davis and I adapted The Dunwich Horror. For more information click this update.

ANGOULÊME

I'm back from Angoulême (via Bordeaux) and I had a brilliant time. I did ensure I packed everything I needed for the journey... everything except my camera of course. Why the hell would I need a camera?!? So, anyway, after kicking myself quite hard, I had to rely on my rather poor camera phone for the odd snap here and there but to be fair, this is such a heavily reported event my pictures would differ little from the many thousands out there... except in quality as you'll soon see.

So, last Wednesday was a very very early morning start. For a guy who's 5 yr old son wakes him at 5am to ask him deeply profound questions like "what do cows eat?" (seriously) 4am is cruelly early but I had a flight to catch. I got up and got ready as quietly as possible, contemplating getting my own back on my 5 yr old by waking him up and asking him some deeply profound question or other when the cab arrived and I was off.

I'll skip the part about arriving at the airport way too early and smooth over it... pretend it didn't happen. So, as I was saying, I landed in Bordeaux at midday and was met by Emmanuel Bouteille, who, along with Richard Saint-Martin, is Akileos. The boss. We then headed off to a signing at Mollat via Emmanuel's house (he has a bookshelf to die for). Mollat is a HUGE store. I believe its one of the biggest in France. I mean its REALLY big. And the store windows had a big promotion on for the festival.

See? Not a very good photo. Don't worry, the photo's get worse.

I signed a few books there and then it was off to Angoulême with a van full of books.

It was dark when we arrived and no I hadn't been blind folded and thrown in the back of the van. We quickly located our table and unpacked meeting up with Richard and the rest of the gang, including Julien Flamand and Mara. After setting up for the following day and after I dropped my suitcase (containing an as yet undiscovered exploded tube of toothpaste) at a gorgeous guestroom in the old town (conveniently just around the corner from a bar called Le Chat Noir) we headed off for one of the best meals I've, frankly, EVER eaten.

Cognac as a nightcap I hit the hay.

Following morning and the first day of the festival proper. We were joined by other Akileos artists and writers, including Ronan Toulhoat, Guillaume Griffon, Christian Straboni (had a great chat with him about Caniff and Robbins), Yigaël, Loïc Godart.

Now, I'll say straight off, I didn't see everything that was on show at Angoulême. I was there to sign books and that's exactly what I did besides eat incredible food and drink lots of wine. I sat and drew for I've no idea how many people from the day I got there to the day I left. My experience of the festival is not one of sight seeing and gallery hopping - although I did go to a gallery event one evening at the Maison Des Auteurs, I think on the Thursday, courtesy of artist and adventurer, Dan Berry who was on Erasmus exchange with the Ecole Supérieure de l’Image (where we marveled at the beautiful work of resident, Lorenzo Chiavini). The town itself is quite clearly marked by the event, with paintings on walls of famous European characters leaning out of windows etc. And right in the middle of it all is a bust of Hergé.

I eventually managed to catch up with Emma, Doug and Lizzie of SelfMadeHero at La Chat Noir on Friday night where we stayed up till way past our bedtimes (2am - its not the years, its the mileage) talking about scary faces in mirrors and the like. I also met Gary Northfield that evening and later on the Sunday, Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury.

I was fortunate that the tent with publishers like Dargaud, Delcourt and Glénat was right next to ours (of course this made it all the more easy for me to stay in one part of town) so I did wander over on occasion to have a gander and bought a couple of books including Les Extras De Mézieres so I was incredibly happy! Can't put the thing down, it's wonderful!

I managed to sell a LOT of books during the festival, signing and drawing in each and every one. Les Montagnes Hallucinées sold out completely. I drew a vast number of mythos beasties for a vast number of people, including one image of Cthulhu dressed in a snazzy suit, sat cross legged on a chair and drinking a cup of tea. I did also manage to doodle a little while I was there and I have, since I got home, managed to scan in my effort and color it in photoshop.

(very soon after this picture I drew Cthulhu in a suit drinking tea)

In all, Angoulême was a wonderful experience and I'm enormously grateful to my French publishers, Akileos, for inviting me out there and for looking after me. I hope to do it again next year with any luck! It was so good to see everyone again after St Malo last year and I'm pleased to say I'll be attending Quai des Bulles and meeting up with them again in October!

LES MONTAGNES HALLUCINÉES ET LE SIGNE DES QUATRE

I will be signing copies of At the Mountains of Madness and The Sign of the Four (and A Study in Scarlet and Hound of the Baskervilles) published by Akileos in France at La Librairie Mollat on Wednesday 26th at 4pm in Bordeaux!

I'll be then traveling up to Angoulême for the festival there on the 27th till the 30th!

(Pssst - the book Dyer is reading is A War Come Near by R. Carter)

PIECES OF THE PUZZLE 2

PIECES OF THE PUZZLE

AND NOW, THE END IS HERE...

(The Valley of Fear ©SelfMadeHero)

Have just finished The Valley of Fear!! The last of the Sherlock Holmes novels!

I started out on this awfully big adventure back in August 2008!! And in a little over 2 years and 505 pages later (excluding the 119 page sub-expedition to Antarctica for At the Mountains of Madness earlier this year) here we are!! DONE! Thanks to everyone for their kind words and support along the way! It's been quite a journey. And as old blue eyes would croon... "I did it my way".

(The Valley of Fear ©SelfMadeHero)

(The Valley of Fear ©SelfMadeHero)

(The Valley of Fear ©SelfMadeHero)