Space 1949

A number of people seem to have found that material that we put up on the blogsite earlier in the month rather interesting - especially the Space 1949 material. A few of you have been kind enough to e-mail about it and ask when it will be out and what it is about. There will be more posted about it shortly - certainly more comic art which is properly lettered and maybe a page or two of background and script. However, just to when your appetite here's a little bit about the background
Space 1949 is set in another reality - although one not so different that we couldn't recognise it. As the title says it's set in 1949 but it's in a world where Near Space has been conquered in the late 19th century and men have walked on the moon before 1900. Neither World War I or World War II have taken place and this world is largely dominated by Germany and Britain. America, seriously fractured politically, is only starting to emerge as a world power as is Russia which is still ruled by a Tsar as the two superpowers go into decline. The main threat to world peace is the PSRA, the People's Socialist Republic of Australia, which operates a space programme of its own based at Woomera in the Great Australian Desert and from bases in occupied New Zealand. Trade between the Moon and the German scientific colonies on Mars is controlled by the TTA, the Terran Trade Authority, a quasi-political organisation, in which Britain and Germany are the main stakeholders but in 1949 that too is going into decline. The first strip - The Petrified Man - is about this world's first encounter with an alien lifeform although it's not the type of life that you might expect and may have severe consequences for the entire human race. Well, that's the background and I hope it's whetted your appetite. My thanks to all those who have asked about it. Off to watch some football but we'll have a look at Doc Lazarus, Joachim Darke and maybe even the Wraith very soon. Do get in contact with me if you're interested in Space 1949 or any of the other projects. More later.....

Comix are on Their Way

Well, the first posting of the comics are now up. These are simply "tasters" - to let you know what's available at the moment from Bog Standard Comix and Fool Moon Press. We've printed the cover and some panels from David Dale's "Joachim Darke" which deals with a strange, 17th century English witch-hunter during the reign of Charles II. David is a big H.P. Lovecraft fan - I hope he won't mind me telling you that - so expect some HPL touches in the stories. We've planned and scripted a series - one set in England and an earlier one set in Ireland <"The Spaniard's Bell"> which brings the brooding Darke into contact with something from outside reality - oh and there might be zombies too! This is way beyond Solomon Kane! The other panels asre from "Space 1949 - The Petrified Man" which is done by Adrian Lutton - who worked on a Rogue Trooper story for 2000ad many years ago - and deals with an alternative reality not all that far removed from our own but different enough to make it interesting. One of the differences is that we're already in space. And what life is out there is very different from what we can imagine - and deadly though not in the way that you might imagine. The third strip is from Doc Lazarus - a time-traveller who's a bit different from your standard Dr. Who. Can he protect the past from the terrors of the future? That's all I'm going to say. So things are open for business and we will posting new stuff on the blog in the coming month. Anyone can have their say or ask a question and I'll do my best to answer. There are much more strips and lots more ideas which we think are new and exciting. As I was saying in my last post, a number of us feel that the Marvel, DC dominated market has gone sort of flat at the moment with little of any real interesty - it's all very samey. See what you think anyway and I'll keep you all posted. I'm off to grab a bite to eat now but keep watching as we keep posting. You might see something that you like! Let us know anyway. Bob

Concept cover for Joachim Darke

This is David Dale's cover illustration for my Joachim Darke character, cover design and colours by Adrian. More information and story pages to be posted soon...

Concept cover for Space 1949 project

Adrian Lutton's cover design and illustration for my science fiction story - Space 1949. The Petrified Man is the first in a series of proposed story arcs. More details and story pages to be posted soon...

Coming Soon

Is it just me or have comics got very "samey" of late? I've almost - though not quite - given up buying them because there's very little in modern comics publishing that interests me. A lot of it seems to be licencing - which, incidentally I've nothing against but whenever it dominates the marketplace to the exclusion of all else there's something wrong. The other day I was in a bookshop and the amount of Green Hornet graphics which were on the graphics shelves was unbelievable. There were rows and rows of graphic books, all dealing with the same character, all trying to cash in on the recent film. Again, nothing against the Green Hornet but there appears to be nothing that's fresh or even remotely original. That's why I, together with some friends, am making a bit of an attempt to get back into the comics field. As a child of the 1960s/70s I've always looked at comics as an important cultural and social medium but recently just like so much music, they've become very bland and unispiring/ Maybe this is the wrong time to begin such a venture bacause I know that the graphics industry is being squeezed just as much as the mainstream publishing world if not more so. But I/we really feel that the graphics world needs something different. The problem of course for us is that we're all very busy at doing other things - ne in writing and community work, Adrian is a senior graphics designee at an exhibition centre and David who is working across is medical records in Newcastle. But something is on its way and we're determined to put something up on the web very soon. So watch out for Space 1949, Doc Lazarus and Joachim Darke - look out for alternate universes, time travel, and 17th century demons. Hopefully we'll have something up in the next couple of weeks but if you're interested drop me a line - it's what Bog Standard Comics is all about