Layer Zero: Choices

I had never put an anthology together before, although I had contributed to them, and I had seen other people do it. It always looked like quite hard work. Appearances were not deceptive. However what you don't realise from watching someone else do it, or even by contributing to them, is just how incredibly rewarding it is to see the whole thing come together.

The final contents list for Layer Zero: Choices is below and we are very excited about this one. I think this book is really going to show the vitality and creativity out there in comics today. We have an incredible mix of writers and artists from all around the world, resulting in a great mix of styles. Several of the stories are already complete and more finished pages are flowing in every day.

Some contributors are experienced professionals in comics (previous work including stints for DC, Marvel, Image, 2000AD and Metal Hurlant to name a few), some are new talents and some are known in other fields such as journalism, novels, screenwriting and graphic design.

Watching the teams work together, many of whom had not known each other before, and seeing the help, advice and support from the more experienced people, the energy, innovation and enthusiasm of the newer creators and the sharing of storytelling techniques from other fields as the stories have come together, is inspiring and just wanted to be able to help happen when Insomnia was set up.


Here is the list of what you have to look forward to.

Cover

• Pencils and Inks by Scott James, colours by Jason Millet

Stories

• Beautiful People: Script by Jim Alexander, Art by Dean Stahl
• Beggars Can’t Be Choosers: Script by Chris Barker, Art by Des Langford
• Borrowed Life: Script and Art by Valia Kapadai
  
• Butterflies and Moths: Script by Corey Brotherson, Art by Ariyana Vidya
• Death in Therapy: Script by GM Jordan, Art by Michael Tribble
• Devils Due: Script by Richard Casey, Art by Preston Asvedo
• The Devil Road: Script by James Johnson, Art by Leonardo M Giron
• Erratum: Script by Matt Gibbs, Art by Des Langford
• The God Trap: Script by Chris Lynch, Art by Gary O'Donnell
• Hobson’s Choice: Script by Thomas Romeo, Art by Tom Harry
• Hunger: Script by Peter Forbes Art by James Daniels
• Love Like a Bullet: Script by Aiden Langley, Art by Jane Summerfield
• Magpie: Script by Richard McAuliffe, Art by Mark Chilcott
• Nearest and Dearest: by Monty Borror
• The Proposal: Script and Art by Scott James
  
• Red Wire Blue Wire: Script by Alexi Conman, Art by Larry Watt
• The Right Choice: Script and Art by Stephen J Butler
  
• So Much To Do, So Little Time: Script and art by Dave West
• Soul: Script by Steven Stone, Art by Gary Crutchley
• Time Wave Zero: Script and Art by Adam R Grose
• The Turtle Guitar: Script and Art by Ben Powis
  
• Waste: Script by Cy Dethan, Art by Ben Mcleod
• Waiting for the End: Script by Martin Conaghan, Art by Nulsh

Pin ups

• Andy Bloor
• Marcus Truckle
• Angus Day

If you like what you see in Layer Zero then keep an eye out as several of the creators have books out through Insomnia later this year and next.

Layer Zero: Choices will first be available at Bristol Comics Expo 2009 where you will find our Stand in the SPExpo in the Mercure Hotel.

The next Layer Zero will have stories on the subject of Survival. I already have four stories submitted and accepted for that one, and I'll put details up of how to submit in the next few weeks.

Next week it will be over to Crawford for a round up of his adventures at the New York Comic Con.

Baggage, Books, Bones and Banshees

Well, Crawford has left for New York, with his bags packed full of books, where he will be manning the Insomnia stand at the New York Comic Con 2009.


This will be a great chance for him to catch up with some of creators for the first time in person, and hopefully get to talk to lots more talented people with stories to tell. Me, I'm snowbound in London, but he's promised to bring back lots of pictures for the blog.

If you've got something to pitch to us (here are the submission guidelines if you want to check them first) , want to find out more about Insomnia, or just want to stop by and say "hi" in person you can find us at stand number 2447.

So, what else happened last week?

For starters last Wednesday, the 28th of January, was the 180th anniversary of the hanging of William Burke, one half of the infamous Burke and Hare. As you will remember, Insomnia has a book by Martin Conaghan and Will Pickering out later this year on this very subject.

The research that is going into the book is just staggering. The "extras" we are going to have for the back of this one this will really deserve a book of their own. Martin and Will took a trip up to Edinburgh last week to do some on-site work, get some more visual references, meet with Crawford, and even get a personal showing of Mr Burke's skeleton.



Huge thanks to Lynsey Hutchinson, who works at the Surgeons' Hall Museum in Edinburgh, who took Martin and Will on a personal tour of the incredible exhibits related to the Burke and Hare case.


They also managed to take in a private tour of the Anatomy Museum where Dr Findlater removed Burke and Hare's life masks, and Burke's death mask, from the cabinet for them to photograph. This where, as mentioned earlier, they got a chance to see Burke's skeleton face-to-face, which was "quite incredible" according to Martin.


Making comics is not all sitting in the warm thinking about scantily dressed superheroines in distress, you know?

I am also pleased to be able to announce Insomnia's latest signing: Sidhe by Rachel Robbins.

The pitch outline was so good I am just going to reproduce it here in Rachel's own words.

"PEOPLE DIE. LEGENDS LIVE. AND HISTORY INEVITABLY REPEATS ITSELF.

Emer O’Connor is a Shaman Priestess, capable of performing simple white magic, “kenning”, and traveling between the worlds. Yet the line between the land of the living and the kingdom of the dead has been blurred as of late.

A fundamentalist Christian cult usurping democracy, pharmaceutical companies with political clout, and growing discord between the Irish clans crept into existence, and the world is giving way to early apocalypse.

Like the few other practicing witches, Eden tries to blend in with the brainwashed masses, lest her dedication to the Old Religion lead to her “disappearance”, as it has with so many others.

Then the screaming begins.

According to Gaelic mythology, five spectres of darkness descended from the ancient fairy race Tuatha De’Dannan: the Bean Sídhe, more commonly referred to as Banshees. Each of the five banshees were bound to one of five powerful families: the O’Gradys, O’Neills, O’Briens, Kavanaghs, and O’Connors. Once upon a time the Sídhe’s hair-raising screams merely alerted friends and family of a loved one’s impending death. But times have changed, and the Sídhe have returned with a more sinister mission: to put the universe back in balance via mass genocide, at last fulfilling an ancient prophesy.

Where in days past they foretold and warned of impending death, now their piercing screeches claim the lives of the ailing and infected—before the diseased hosts have become terminal. After the alleged double suicide of Emer’s parents, her saintly sister’s fatal overdose, and baby brother’s sudden illness, she feels called to action. And so begins her quest to silence the Sídhe.

Every prophesy has a loophole."

And some info about Rachel herself

Sídhe creator Rachel Robbins resides on the coast of New England with her thirteen-year-old son-- writing, sculpting, reading, drawing, exploring, and always seeking a new soundtrack to life. She earned her M.F.A. in creative writing, while her undergraduate degrees were in English and psychology. Rachel’s interest and focus has always been on the mythological and mystical aspects underlying a text, and from whence said fascination Sídhe was spawned. Citing a blurred line between genres of artistic expression, Rachel is as much inspired by self-portraits of Frida Kahlo, the faeriegrrls of J.H. Waterhouse, nightmarish creatures of Geiger, Goya, and Bosch, and the rough-hewn sculptures of Louise Bourgeois as she is by Latin American magical realism, dark Russian prose, Romantic era authors, and neurotic confessional poets. She finds the graphic novel a perfect medium within which to interconnect and respect these expressions of the creative process. Rachel has recently completed a novel titled The Land Of Nod, is developing a line of organic healing teas, painting a larger-than-life deck of tarot cards, and plotting the sequel to Sídhe.

At the time of writing I have just been told that Jazma magazine wants to interview Richard McAuliffe and Mark Chilcott about Damaged Goods (out later this year). More on that with links once the interview is published.

Until next week.

Stephen Downey Draws Out The Infection

This week we have a interview with Cancertown penciller Stephen Downey, the man who brings the nightmares to life.

Take it away Stephen.

Q: How did you first get involved with Insomnia Publications?

SD: I first got involved with Insomnia when I met Alasdair Duncan (writer of Daemon and The Kill Cell) while he was hosting Insomnia's stand at the Birmingham Comic convention 2007. Alasdair liked my work and gave me contact details of details of Insomnia’s publisher Crawford Coutts. Emails were exchanged, online portfolios were shared and I was offered the chance to draw a graphic novel.


Q: Ok, then, let's start at the beginning. Tell us about your process for working and how you approach a script.


SD: When I first read a new script I’m naturally visualising what goes on in the pages from a storytelling perspective. There are a few images that will stick in my brain (especially with the crazy images Cy Dethan’s scripts conjure up) and end up pretty much exactly how I first imagine them. Most of the other images though will change from my first impression to tell the story better or to make sure all the information that is needed is told visually.

I always re-read the script again before I start doing layouts in case there are any important occurrences later in the chapter that need to be referenced early. Then I read the script for each page individually and decide if one panel needs to be the focus of the page, or whether I need one panel to be particularly long or wide for dramatic purposes etc and fit the other panels around it.

I try to analyse each panel description and to find a more dramatic way of expressing the story by changing the angle or pulling back without sacrificing the storytelling, all the while leaving enough room for Nic Wilkinson to fit in the lettering. I usually sketch these out on some spare A4 paper, forming little thumbnails that are incoherent to anyone but me.

If I need any photo reference I’ll set up my tripod and take photos of myself (for pretty much all the male characters) or my tortured girlfriend Aimee (to catch any female curves) based on the thumbnails and from there start on the main page.

I lay out my panels on the page, usually sketch in the thumbnails and then work up from there, all the while keeping the script in front of me just in case I need to have a look again and don’t forget to put anything in.

Q: You mentioned Cancertown. Your work on that involves the creation of monsters and of complete new environments - things for which there are no models / references. How do you go about designing these things and making them come to life?

SD: That’s a difficult question because I’m not sure if I really know. I sometimes think that these things are alive in Cy’s brain and parts of them have filtered down through his scripts to live in mine.

While I’m working on the layouts I usually think in terms of ‘shapes’ and what would look best in the panel. I usually have multiple sketches of how monsters should fit within the panel frame before I decide which one works on the page. Once I have a basic shape and characteristics of the monster I usually go straight to the page and see what my hand draws lol. This works at least for a particular monsters first appearance and the more I draw them, the more of a feel I get for the character and the more confident I‘ll be of what will end up on the page before I start.

I sometimes think in terms of animals when I trying to picture how a monster will move. The “Corpsegrinder” in particular I’ve started to see as having spider-like attributes, with his spindly arms stretching out as an extension of his body.

Q: So, you've read the script, visualised it, done your thumbnails and you're ready to begin the pages. What media do you use to create your art?

SD: For the Cancertown project we’re dealing with multiple realities and I wanted the art to reflect that. Its all drawn on 11 x 15 inch comicbook bristol boards and for the ‘real world’ scenes I use the traditional ‘pencil-for-rough-work-with-inks-over-the-top’ comicbook approach. The cancertown reality and residents are left un-inked and I like to add a little shading and smudging for Mel (colourist) to work with. I use little HB disposable mechanical pencils for the rough and line work (BIC ones are my favourite as you twist to extend the lead and don’t accidentally extend it every time you use the eraser on the other end). For the shading and greyscale work I have a range of pencils from 6B to 8H, but I mostly stick to below 2B so I smudge it easily and give a nice ‘dirty’ look to the artwork.

For inking I use a Windsor & Newton (sceptre and Gold 11) size 2 and size 0000 brushes for medium and fine lines respectively and a bigger brush that’s so old I can’t read the name on the side for filling in blacks. These are dipped into little jars of Windsor and Newton black (and white for corrections) Indian Ink.

And of course, like most struggling artists, my most used tool is the eraser (I actually have an almost empty pack of them sitting next to me).

Q: When you are working do you listen to / watch anything while you work to create a mood?

SD: It depends on the situation. When I’m working on layouts or page construction I like to work in silence so I don’t have any distractions. As I get into the actual meat of the drawing I like to listen to a variety of things to keep me entertained. Sometimes its music; Radiohead are my favourite band so they’re often being played. Every now and again I’ll have some DVD extras playing in the background though these tend to get distracting as its mostly ‘comic book to DVD documentaries’ and I keep turning round to see how all the magic works. I also look forward to new wordballoon podcasts, to keep me entertained on those late night drawing marathons.

Q: I have heard you are a musician yourself - is there any cross over with the creation of your music and the creation your artwork?

SD: They’re obviously both artistic media and I think they both appeal to my creative urges. I mostly play and teach Irish traditional music, which allows for a certain amount of inventiveness, adding in your own triplets, tricks and variations while working around the starting point of a traditional tune.

This applies almost metaphorically to the way I approach my artwork. I start from a defined starting point i.e. if I’m drawing a person it has to look like a person, with two eyes, a nose etc and stay consistent with how they have been portrayed before. Then I can add whatever flair I want on top of this to enhance the character and make it my own, adding just the right amount and thickness of lines and flourishes, without changing the character, to make it look how I want.

They’re also both really time consuming lol.

Q: There aren't many industries in the world harder to break into than music and comics. What made you want to draw comics and how did you learn your craft?

SD: I’ve always loved art since I was a kid, drawing the things I read in comic books. I don‘t know if there was a particular point where I decided I wanted to be a comic artist, but I can’t remember a time I didn’t want to be one.

I studied art to A level in school but although the teachers in school did encourage and guide you, there was no real formal teaching of perspective or style etc and that’s the sort of thing I had to pick up myself.

I honestly don’t know where I leant these things, I vaguely remember picking up various tips in the ‘how to draw’ pages in Wizard magazine and in different interviews with artists. These days the internet is a great place for learning new things, be it snippets of colour theory (which I’ve been looking at recently) or just tips from other artists and being able to share and get critiques of your work.

Q: Let's unpack all of that a little bit, then. Starting with: What comics did you read as a kid and now?

SD: The first comic strips I remember reading and collecting were in the ‘Funday Times’, the supplement that was part of the ‘Sunday Times’. As far as I remember there were strips like ’Banana man’, ’Rex and Tex’ and the ‘Numskulls’.

From there I started picking up magazine sized reprint comics from the newsagents. First was ‘Heroes’ which was an anthology type comic reprinting Batman, Blue Devil, and Legion of Super Heroes. That comic was eventually cancelled but around that time the X-men cartoon had started showing over here and a new comic book came out on the news-stand reprinting the Jim Lee/Chris Claremont X-men series.

I found my first comic store, Talisman comics, by driving by and seeing a large sticker of Wolverine in the window and low and behold I discovered American comics. I became a bit of a Marvel zombie from there and with a few exceptions pretty much my entire pull list is Marvel comics, with a particular fondness for Thor, Daredevil and Black Panther. However the good news is that my brother is a DC fanatic so I get the chance to catch up on any of the good stuff they put out and vice versa.

I’ll also pick up any books by friends or people I know (Tank Girl by Rufus Dayglo & Alan Martin and Starship Troopers by Cy Dethan are on the buy pile when a new one comes out.)

If I hear good reviews I’ll pick up a few books in trade format. I think the Walking Dead, DMZ and Ex Machina are the only regular ones on there at the minute.

Q: Who are your main artistic influences and inspirations?

SD: As a kid I loved the Jim Lee/Kubert brothers slick, action packed, square jawed art style. These days I lean more towards a heavier inked sort of style with a bit more realism; Steve Epting, Butch Guice and Bryan Hitch among many.

That said, as much as I admire a more ‘realistic‘ approach, its great so see the comicbook industry with such a wide sprectrum of comic styles. Even if its not a style I would particularly want to draw in, I love seeing artists with lots of style and confidence in their art, whether it be realistic or more cartoony.

You can probably see some influences of the artists I mentioned above in my work but I’ve always promised myself I wouldn’t be a ‘clone’ artist, and have instead tried to draw and learn more from real life than copy any artist in particular.

Q:Do you collaborate with other artists to share/ learn new techniques etc? If so who has helped you out?

SD: I’m always looking at other artists work, and collaborating with Mel Cook on Cancertown has been a revelation of what a colourist can do to enhance your work. Its shown me that I didn’t need so many lines to get my ideas across when Mel was able to portray the rendering in a smoother way using the colouring.

In Belfast we have a monthly comic creators meeting and a variety of comic artists and writers, both pro and amateur, come along to share their work. I always get good critique from Paul Holden (2000AD artist) and the other guys who show up.

Comic conventions are always a great place to get tips and meet other artists. I met Rufus Dayglo first at the Derry comic festival and in subsequent cons. He’s been really helpful at giving me tips to improve my drawing and hinting at little changes I could make to improve storytelling and make even the mundane moments look exciting.

Q:What has been your best moment in comics so far?

SD:Hmm, that’s a toughie. Maybe getting my first artwork work published (a four page story in Small Axe comics #2), or getting offered Cancertown, being short listed to meet a Marvel editor at the Dublin Comic con. I think once I have a hardcopy of the Cancertown graphic novel in my hand, that will surpass them all.

Q: Tell us the name of a creator we might not have heard of, but who we should look out for.

SD: Patrick Brown, a fellow Belfast comic creator has just released his first mini graphic novel collection of his web comic ‘Ness’ based on an old Irish legend. He draws straight with a red biro on A4 paper and its makes for a lovely unique looking style.

Aidan Largey, another Belfast comic creator is getting his first published story in Insomnia’s Layer Zero: Choices anthology. I’ve read a number of Aidan’s scripts and he has a knack for finding the human element in some violent stories, so I’m sure you’ll see a lot more published work from him soon.

Q: What one piece of advice would you give artists trying to get into comics now?

SD: Go to comic conventions. Even though these days you can show a portfolio online, if you go to a conventions you’ll hear of new publishers and contacts you would not have heard of previously that might lead to something. Oh and the old cliché of ‘draw every day’ too

Q: What else are you currently working on?

SD:I’m working on the final chapter of Cancertown: An Inconvenient Tooth, I’ve just finished a two page strip for the Irish language comic strip Rí-Rá, and getting ready to start work on Slaughtermans’s Creed for Markosia, re-teaming with Cy and Nic of Cancertown fame.

And there you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen. A big hand for the extremely talented Stephen Downey.

The Early Bird Catches The Worm

Just got this by email from the lovely Mike Allwood, organiser of the Bristol Comics Show:

"Britain’s favourite Comic Event just got BIGGER! Yes the Bristol International Comic Expo is being complimented by a 2nd venue for May. FALLEN ANGEL MEDIA are pleased to announce they are hosting a special SMALL PRESS EXPO for the Saturday only at the Mercure hotel.


Mal Smith of Fallen Angel is hosting a sister event as part of the Expo weekend where the Spotlight is firmly on Small Press. With the main Expo in this credit crunching year downsizing the chances for the small press were limited but a guardian ( Fallen ) Angel has swooped to ensure that the UK’s small press will once again be the heartbeat of the show!"


And Insomnia have bought the first 2 tables!!

For those who don't know the Bristol Comic show was scheduled to be much smaller than usual this year due to the main Empire and Commonwealth Hall that normally hosts all the dealer and publisher stalls being unavailable that weekend.

As luck would have it there seemed to be no other venue free in the city that weekend, despite every possibility being explored.

Mike is a great supporter of the UK comic industry, particularly the independent publishers and he was doing the job of a tetris champion trying to get as many people into the space available as fairly as possible, while providing the best range of stuff to all the attendees.

As I have said here before the UK independents community is a fantastic place, and people pulled together to offer space on their tables to those who were still on the waiting list, or couldn't make it, as that's the kind of people the industry seems to attract. Harry Markos of Markosia very kindly offered to carry Cancertown, which will be our latest release by the con, on the Markosia table, and we may still take him up on the offer for the Sunday.

At the same time everyone was keeping their ears to ground for possible venues, or ideas to get round the fact that no venue was available like last year's "Virtual Bristol" (yes, the link is old, I just thought people might like to see it) kindly run by Chris Lynch.

Then, at the last possible minute, a Hollywood style miracle occurred. A room became free Mal Smith has kindly put her life on hold to organise the small press sister event.

So. come along and see us. We will have new books out, lots of previews of upcoming titles, creators signing and artists doing sketches. As usual we will also be looking to speak to anyone who has ideas to pitch or art portfolios to show us.

Big thanks to everyone who gives up their time to organise these events - the industry salutes you.

For details of the events see

• Bristol International Comic Show
• Small Press Expo 2009
  

Insomnia breaks out Cages

This week Insomnia Publications is proud to announce that the first batch of Cages has been shipped to all good UK comic shops through Diamond Distribution!

What if you’d spent your whole life in a cage, never glimpsing the world outside?

What if everything you new was darkness, fear and cold, clinical steel?

What if one day, an angel came to you with a message of hope - a message that you were about to be set free?

If you’ve not heard of Cages before, it is a science fiction boom with a foreword from 30 Days of Night award-winning artist, Ben Templesmith, a cover by acclaimed artist, Jonathon Hickman, written by amazing Australian writer, Xander Bennett and illustrated by Cancertown colourist, Melanie Cook.

In a post-apocalyptic world of monsters, robots and mad science, three young fugitives strive to uncover the secrets behind their own mysterious abilities.

I’m obviously going to say how good Cages is so I’ll let you decide for yourselves, with a little help from the quotes below...

• “Lovely... and disturbing. Let’s not forget disturbing.” - Ben Templesmith

• “Mother of a compelling read.” - Comic News
  
  
• “As a package, this is the best damn comic I have read in awhile. Please follow my lead on this. Thinking outside the box is well and good and ideal, and sometimes- as in this story- we are pained to realize that the box itself just might be bigger than presumptions lead us to believe. If not every exit needed is marked, then you find center and trust your instincts. In the world presented in Cages- chance may not be the final say in the inadequacies of mankind.For good or ill, take one yourself. This is artisanship.” – Richard Caldwell (Read full review)
  
  
• “If dark and futuristic stories are your thing, then this is one book not to be missed. The artwork alone is worth reading, and the story is incredibly compelling and will keep you glued to every page until it's over.”- Moya Dawson (Read full review)
  
  
• “...well writ, well drawn, and the type of thing you can read multiple times and still find enjoyment in.” – Rootfireember (Read full review)
  
  
• “There is a constant reframing of the notion of what constitutes a cage and it is a blessing that the reveals never seem like cheap tricks or shock tactics — it grows very organically. I liked the fact that though this is set in the future that the strangeness of the setting and some of the figures therein seems almost of secondary concern to the main thrust of the narrative — namely, what it is to be human. You can see within the exploration of the world of Cages and at the conclusion of this tale that there is scope for revisiting this place, that there is more to see. If there is a sequel I will definitely be on board for it.” - Insomnihack (Read full review)
  
  
• Listen to the interview on Ripple from June 2008
  

If you're a podcaster, journalist, magazine review writer or reporter, Xander Bennett and Melanie Cook are available for interview and digital copies of Cages are currently available for review. Email us at info[at]insomniapublications.com to request a copy and to arrange an interview.

The release of Cages in UK book shops will follow later in the month.

How to Order Cages:

• Direct from Amazon.co.uk
  
  
• From your local comic shop using DIAMOND PREVIEWS UK ORDER CODE: NOV085310
  
  
• From a bookshop or online seller using ISBN# 978-1-905808-10-6
  

If you live in France you can purchase a copy of Cages exclusively from our independent stockist - Librairie Delvaux, 17 rue du Val, 77160, Provins.

Or visit your local Album and order a copy!

If you want to try before you buy then head over to Myebook where you can read Chapter One for free online.

Happy New Year

So here we are in 2009. Only 5 days in and it is already looking like this is going to be a storming year for Insomnia.

So, to kick things off here is a list of what we are going to be working on in 2009, and so what we will be talking about here.

First, here are the books with 2009 publication dates already set:

• Cages by Xander Bennett and Melanie Cook (available to order from amazon)
• Cancertown by Cy Dethan, Stephen Downey, Melanie Cook and Nic Wilkinson (available to pre-order from amazon)
• MILK by Stref
• Unbelievable by Simon Wyatt
• Burke and Hare by Martin Conaghan and Will Pickering
• Shaman by Xander Bennett and David Montoro
  
• Layer Zero: Choices (anthology)
  

Secondly, here are the books "in progress" which are signed and underway. Some of these will be out this year, some next:

• Damaged Goods by Richard McAuliffe and Mark Chilcott
• Daemon by Alasdair Duncan, Daniel Lopez, Yel Zamor and Nic Wilkinson
• Average Joe by Thomas Romeo and Kelvin Chan
  
• Death Hunter: Dead Man's Gold by James Johnson, Georgios Dimitriou, Thanos Tsilis and Leonardo M. Giron
• Six Months by Jim O'Hara
• The Ragged Man by Cy Dethan
• Shiver by Christopher Barker
• Oz: The Fall of The Scarecrow King by Peter Forbes
• Cancertown 2 by Cy Dethan, Stephen Downey, Melanie Cook and Nic Wilkinson
• Layer Zero: Survival (anthology)
• Fallen Heroes by Barry Nugent
  

And these are the events we will be at if you want to drop by and say hello:

• New York Comic Con (February)
  
• Bristol Comics Expo (May)
• San Diego Comic Con (July, Hopefully)
  
• Cymru Con (August)
• BICS - Birmingham International Comics Show (October)
  
• Leeds Thought Bubble (this is more of a fingers crossed, hope they do another one but if they do we will be there!)

Sounds like we are going to be very busy.

Good busy, though...

Spoilt for Choices

So, we come to the end of 2008, which has been a fantastic year for Insomnia.

Below you can see the finished, fully coloured cover for Layer Zero: Choices, which was delivered well before its deadline as an extra special Christmas present to kick off the holiday season.

Pencils and inks by Scott James

Colours by Jason Millet

Scott and Jason will be joining Cancertown writer Cy Dethan on a project for Markosia next year, The Case Files of Harlan Falk.

Speaking of Layer Zero we are also delighted to have welcomed three new artists into the fold this last week, and paired them up with writers. Say hello to:

• Ben Macleod
  
• Michael Tribble
• Tom Harry

We have also found a very special new colourist for Daemon, by Alasdair Duncan and Daniel Lopez:

• Yelena Zamorskaya Yel has been working on Relentless by Tim Perkins for Markosia most recently, and has also worked with Simon Wyatt, who, or course , is the writer and artist of Unbelievable, which will be out in the late summer 2009.

So, that about wraps up a very busy year.

Thanks to everyone we've worked with in 2008 and we're looking forward to working with a lot more of you in 2009.

We'll See you all again on the 5th of January, and some of you on our first visit to the New York Comic Con - drop by and say "Hi" if you're passing.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to every one, and remember, if you're going to be naughty, play nice!