Black Max by Lawrence Cambell

Also at Demoncon was Lawrence Cambell - charming, brilliant artist doing head sketches for free. So out comes my Max reference pic. I left it with Lawrence and came back later. I'd mentioned that Max is based on Boris Karloff and Lawrence had Googled his image on his iPhone and was using that classic, iconic shot from "The Mummy", which i think you can really see here.

Giant Bat by Conor Boyle

Was at Maidtone's Demoncon comic convention yesterday and i met the VERY talented and hopefully to be a star soon, Conor Boyle. Great guy, great artist and didn't mind me at all thrusting a reference pic of Black Max's beastie to have a go at. He's nailed that long cat/bear face hasn't he?

Gnasher vs Johnny Alpha

Very pleased to see Boo here as he has a unique style, highly reminiscent of Artists gone by, who's quirky style made them so distinctive and instantly reconisible.
Like Carl, this one is a little bit different from the initial idea.
Boo is very well known these days for his work on "Judge Anderson", so i thought she'd be the logical choice for the Modern character.
But Boo said that he gets to draw Anderson all day and fancied doing something he'd never likely get the chance to do otherwise - a Strontium Dog and Dennis the Menace's dog.
As he says, he's gone off brief a little as Gnasher, as the Old character, is still in print, but he's gone down the route of Gnasher being an old character who he used to read 35 years ago.
Well, that's fine by me Boo - and ta very much!
BTW - i won't name the Old character that was going to be used as i still wnat to see him here and i don't want to ruin the surprise as i've thought of another Artist who's style would suit him as much as Boo's.
Stay posted (hopefully).

The Three Bears vs Thrud The Barbarian

Very, very pleased to see Carl Critchlow here, as i'm a huge fan of his work, be it his fully painted style that he's used for countless CCG pieces, his early work on 2000AD or his later work on that title and his brilliant "Thrud", where he'd changed his style to go for very fine linework that was then coloured in.
I've got quite a few pieces of his original art and its them that made me think Carl would be a natch for this project, not only 'cause he's terrific but, as you see here:




his B/W originals are brilliant by themselves and really evoke the spirit of 70's British comics.
So, got in touch with Carl and he said sure but i'd have to wait a while.
That was fine by me and i didn't mind the wait, especially as i didn't know who i'd be getting.
Straight up, i asked Carl if he would do for the modern character his Thrud, which seemed logical, and asked for a certain 70's person for the old one - who i won't name as hopefully he'll still be appearing on this here Site.
Carl said sure to Thrud, but would i mind if he chose the other side of the coin as he had something in mind?
Didn't mind that at all - half the fun of this project is the surprise of seeing what folk would come up with.
So, last week Carl sent me an email with an attached JPEG, asking if it was okay.
And that's a real thrill to sit there for a few seconds, waiting for the image to pop up.
And what a thrill to see these three appear!
I absolutley LOVED the Three Bears when i were a nipper and i can't tell you how chuffed i am to have an original of them done by one of my favourite artists, along with a brillaintly awful pun.
Carl, you're a gent sir.
BTW, if you're a stranger to Thrud, you really shouldn't be and i urge you to track down copies of his title.
Or pop along to Carl's site:

http://www.carlcritchlow.com/Thrud1.html

Great news chums!

In the next few days, a brand new commission will be here for you.
Stay tuned!

How could i forget?

Was having a sort out, filing my Thrill Power away into boxes, when i stumbled over this excellent cover from the Megazine of 2002.
Stunned that i'd forgotten such an image that parallels what i'm up to now, especially as it includes two of my all-time favourites in Artie Gruber and a Biog, and amazed that its Dredd vs characters from the 70's, the very theme for the opening image in this project of mine - and both drawn by the mighty Cliff Robinson.
Spooky.

Artie Gruber by Rufus Dayglo

While i tread water waiting for a new piece, lets look back, back, back to those early days when the basic idea was to just get folks' takes on my favourite characters from the past.
And there sure wasn't many more favourite back in '78 than Artie Gruber - hell, i even melted my Action Man over the gas ring to get my own one.
So, who better at a Dreddcon to do me an Artie (so to speak) than reknowned 70's comics fan and all round Top Bloke, Rufus.
He did this in minutes, totally without reference material or any warning whatsoever.
Lovely stuff.