Sneak Peeks and Signings

Today, as a special treat, some unlettered Burke and Hare pages.

I think they speak for themselves:



Burke and Hare by Martin Conaghan and Will Pickering will be the first book in Insomnia's Vigil imprint, for "bio-graphic novels".

Burke and Hare is due out this summer and Will is into the final stretch, with about one-third of the artwork to complete.

Martin commented:

" I feel it's really taking shape and capturing the feel of the era with an almost 'engraved' look to the artwork. "

There is a very good reason for the authentic period feel. Will is going to extraordinary lengths to dig out accurate representations of the real-life people (and places) featured in the story. For the pages 54+55, he found a painting in the national portrait gallery featuring all of the members of parliament in 1833, which unearthed a head shot of Sir George Sinclair - who appears in just four panels in the entire book.

That is dedication to your art.

A few months back we covered Will and Martin's visit to Edinburgh where they were granted access to the private museum that houses Burke's skeleton. When we say this book is based on research we mean it.

Martin was the guest on SciFi Pulse Radio last night where you can hear him talking in more depth about Burke and Hare, Vigil, the Fallen Heroes adaptation, Focal Point and the innovative Historika series he is currently penning for Markosia publications.

Watch this space for more Burke and Hare news as the launch date draws near.

Cancertown On Tour

Latest dates on the Cancertown signing tour:

• 30th of May will see Stephen Downey signing copies at the Belfast Forbidden Planet between 2-4pm
  
  
  It's not only an artist/graphic novel signing, but it also marks the Irish/N.Irish launch of Cancertown.
  
  See Stephen's Blog for more details and how you can your hands on a unique sketch.
  
  
• 6th of June is the date for Cy Dethan signing copies for our sponsors, Whatever Comics in Canterbury from 11am - 4pm
  
  
  Keep track of these and more through the events section of our website.
  
  Cancertown has had a great review this week by the Sidekick podcast and blog which calls it "an acid-laced trip down the rabbit hole".
  

Latest Signings

With Bristol only a week behind us we have signed up the first book since the show.

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to present Frank Sartre by James Peaty

"A mysterious killer is on the loose in the surreal city of
COSMOPOLIS and only one man can stop him!

But as panic spreads, that man -- part-time nightclub singer, sometime private eye and full time philosopher, FRANK SARTRE -- has other things on his mind.

Who is the mysterious stranger known only as 'Mr Memory'?

What is the secret of the library containing only one book?

And why do all paths lead back to a fateful car crash one rain swept
evening in a very ordinary part of New England?

This heady, meta-textual investigation of guilt, passion and obsession will be a treat for fans of David Lynch, Dennis Potter, Grant Morrison and Paul Pope.

But remember...beware the girl in your dreams!"

In the past James has written for DC (Supergirl, Green Arrow, JSA: Classified, The Batman Strikes!) and worked on 'Marvel Heroes', too.

Competition Time

Matthew Sheppard was the lucky winner of the SPEXPO jam and his prize is now on its way to him. Many thanks to all who entered the draw. Over the course of the weekend over £700 was raised for the charity by various events around the convention.

In further Draw The World Together news there's a second chance to grab a limited edition City of Heroes sketchbooks.

This one #4 of 10

All are signed by a whole host of artists including;
Dave Gibbons (cover), Doug Braithwaite, Misako Rocks Mark Buckingham, Andie Tong, Phil Winslade, Jon Haward, Mike Collins, Bryan Talbot, Simon Williams, Andrew Wildman, Neil Edwards, Al (Astral Gypsy) Davidson and Boo Cook.

Kev Crossley, the very talented Sidhe artist won the recent Insomnia competition to design a patch for a local bike club.


Stephen 'Stref' White, creator of the upcoming graphic novel Milk is offering his fans the chance to own an original piece of signed artwork from the book. Join the Milk fan group on Facebook then follow the links there to answer the ten questions (all the answers can be found within the samples posted on the Milk group page on Facebook).

The competition is open until 1st July 2009, when all the correct entries will be put into a draw, with one lucky winner will be chosen.

Milk is Stephen's first published graphic novel and will be out later this year. Highly praised by comics writer Alan Grant, it's a collection of short stories, but unlike most anthology strip titles they're all the work of one man - 'Stref', each piece is masterfully executed in a completely different style.

The book consists of 14 short stories, a gallery of artwork, and plenty of "back matter" covering Stref's extraordinary style, the history of the project, and his creative techniques and inspirations.

"Milk contains as many styles of storytelling as it does styles of artwork," Stephen revealed in an interview for online popular culture 'zine RKYV last year (Issue 18 - PDF version). "Some stories are simple and straight forward, while others are more cryptic and metaphorical.

"Sometimes when I work I let the pen do its own thing, almost like free association writing. Often I am left with a picture that I myself do not understand and only after a bit of time can I look back at these pictures and figure them out. I have had something on my mind that needed out, it’s kind of like a process of cleaning out my brain!"

And that's all for this week, back in seven!