BE SURE TO PICK UP A COPY OF A STUDY IN SCARLET! OUT NOW!! (EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE BEFORE CHRISTMAS AT GOSH! & PAGE 45 AND 221B BAKER STREET)

A STUDY IN SCARLET! OUT NOW!! (EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE BEFORE CHRISTMAS AT GOSH! & PAGE 45 AND 221B BAKER STREET)

Also, Pimpernel of Pimpernel's blog asked that I put together a top five Christmas gift recommendations list (I went for 5 catagories so you'll 11 recommendations in all). Goes without saying that Baskervilles and Study in Scarlet should be on every gift list... ah-hem...

Do be sure to bookmark Pimpernel's blog, especially if you're a fan of Pulp Adventure, comics Science Fiction, horror and stuffs, as there will be further lists over the next few days from Francesco Francavilla, Guy Davis, and Mike Mignola.

A STUDY IN SCARLET (EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE BEFORE CHRISTMAS AT GOSH! & PAGE 45 AND 221B BAKER STREET)

THE SIGN OF THE FOUR

(The Sign of the Four © 2009 SelfMadeHero)

30 August 1889. The Langham Hotel, London. Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle met for the first time with Joseph M. Stoddart, to discuss contributions to the Lippincott's Monthly Magazine (a Philidelphian publication). The two works these gentlemen would produce as a result of this meeting would be The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Sign of The Four. An account of this 'golden evening' is discussed in Doyle's autobiography Memories and Adventures.

An explanation, albeit brief, with regard to the title as you'll sometimes see it referred to as The Sign of the Four (five-word title) or more commonly The Sign of Four(four-word title). The former is the book's original publication title, the latter being the re-serialisation. As we are given to defaulting to Doyle's original text our adaptation carries its former title (not least of all because that is also how 'the four' is referred to in the text regardless of which edition of the book you read).

Work, as mentioned in my previous post, is well under way on The Sign of the Four. Enough that I should be able to update more regularly with images of the book in production. The book will be out sometime in the spring next year (exact date to be confirmed) and will be followed by The Valley of Fear.

HELLO STRANGER... BABY, STUDY, SIGN & MADNESS

Well, its been a while since I've properly posted. My wife gave birth to a baby boy back in September and since then its been a mix of lack of sleep to begin with and busy schedule as work got under way on the third Sherlock Holmes graphic novel for SelfMadeHero, The Sign of the Four.

A Study in Scarlet is OUT NOW!!! (I heard it would be the 15th of December, but it appears Gosh! have copies already) - However, it is currently only exclusively available in London (Gosh!, The Sherlock Holmes Museum) and in Nottingham (Page 45) before Christmas. The book will have a general release in February.

Also, just to keep me on my toes, work has begun on another project for SelfMadeHero. At the moment all I can show you is this:

My first big solo book! But I promise there will be plenty more of that over the coming new year. I shall hence forth intermitently pop back to update this blog with images from The Sign of the Four as the book works its way to completion in February.

Ian Edginton and I will be doing a book signing at the grand opening of Mondo Comico in Nottingham on Saturday 28th of November.

The store is located at 24 Heathcoat St, NG1 3AA.

DOCTOR WHO?

My initial take on Doctor number 11.

(A Study in Scarlet © 2009 SelfMadeHero)

(A Study in Scarlet © 2009 SelfMadeHero)

(A Study in Scarlet © 2009 SelfMadeHero)

A STUDY IN SCARLET DRAWN

A Study in Scarlet is fully inked and ready for color!

The last panel I drew for Baskervilles had Holmes saying

"and now, my dear Watson, we have had some weeks of severe work and for one evening I think we may turn our thoughts to more pleasant channels?"

which seemed incredibly apt given all the work I'd just put into that book over more than just several weeks (Holmes and Watson had it easy in contrast). And now, completely by chance the last panel I drew for A Study in Scarlet read,

"Finally we put the last outlying post of the ________* behind us and freedom lay ahead".

I didn't seek out the panel (as its not the end of the book) it just happened to be, by chance, the last panel I drew. Now if I should end A Sign of Four on a similar note (work upon which begins immedietly-already done the layouts for the first four pages), then I shall be suitably freaked out.

Above is the 'this book belongs to' section of my Moleskine within which I scribble rough layouts for each of the books. I've comfortably managed to just squeeze in roughs for the first three Holmes novels (I've marked spaces for Sign of Four but Baskervilles and Study in Scarlet are all in there)- so for three 127 page graphic novels a Moleskine does just nicely.

(*I left this section blank so as not to spoil the story for those who may not have read it)

GOSH!!

My dear chum, Col, was visiting Mother London this weekend and took a snapshot of this for me. If you haven't been already pop into Gosh and be sure to pick up a copy. Many years ago I produced my own comic called Side-show which you can read about here in one of my earliest posts and Gosh were kind enough to sell it for me.

IRREGULAR

(A Study in Scarlet © 2009 SelfMadeHero)

NEW HUZZAH!! NOIR PLATE

Just posted a quick plate I did for HUZZAH!! NOIR. Didn't have a great deal of time to do anything more than just a single plate.

OUR ADVERTISEMENT BRINGS A VISITOR

(A Study in Scarlet © 2009 SelfMadeHero)

THE SCIENCE OF DEDUCTION

(A Study in Scarlet © 2009 SelfMadeHero)

WHAT JOHN RANCE HAD TO TELL

(A Study in Scarlet © 2009 SelfMadeHero)

WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED

I've been incredibly busy over the last few weeks. So busy I've not really had time to even so much as prepare a post for this momentarily neglected blog. And lots and lots has happened in the meantime. Covered so much ground with A Study in Scarlet, penciled and colored an eight page Doctor Who story with the excellent Rob Davis on Layouts and inks for the 2010 Doctor Who storybook - you can see our Tenth Doctor here as well as another image from the story. I'm putting up the exact same pictures Rob's put up over on his Blog but in full color:

EASTER EGGS AND THE DOCTOR

(A Study in Scarlet © 2009 SelfMadeHero)

I was rather pleased to be informed today that 'The District Messenger', which is the newsletter for the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, had the following to say:

"Just arrived in the post is The Hound of the Baskervilles, a Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novel, adapted by Ian Edginton and illustrated by INJ Culbard (SelfMadeHero, 5 Upper Wimpole Street, London , W1G 6BP; £14.99). The address so close to Conan Doyle's consulting room, inspires confidence, as does the foreword by Daniel Stashower. It's very stylish, and obviously done with affection and intelligence, as the careful floorplan of 221B indicates. Besides, how could anyone resist the advertisements on an omnibus: 'R Stephens & Co', 'Lee Bros', 'Hoffmanstal', 'The Blakely Ballet'...?"

As well as the ever elusive six-fingered man there are throughout the Holmes books a handful of Holmesian Easter eggs like the one sited above. The above reference is to Billy Wilder's rather splendid film 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' which starred Robert Stephens as Sherlock Holmes and Colin Blakely as Watson. I won't explain the Blakely Ballet or Lee Bros. part for fear of spoilers for those who haven't seen the film - if you haven't, you must.

In other news I have recently been penciling and coloring a Doctor Who strip for the 2010 Doctor Who Storybook. I can't really say much else about it or show you anything till it comes out, but I can direct you to art from the strip appearing on Rob Davis' blog (Rob Davis, a fellow HUZZAH!! squaddy, drew layouts for the strip and inked it beautifully).

GOSH! BASKERVILLES BOOKPLATE EDITION NOW ON SALE!!

Gosh! in London are selling a limited edition (200 copies) signed Bookplate edition of Hound of the Baskervilles right now (it hit the shelves on Saturday I believe). So, if you want one go and get one.

Have had a week away from Baker Street due to numerous unexpected happenstances - but I'm back now so updates will resume.