Joachim Darke

Hope everybody had a very Happy Easter. I've been trying to get a few days to myself with the family but I'm still working on the new book for New Page which is due with the publishers next month - it looks like I'll make the deadline. We've also been trying to get together something on Joachim Darke - the 17th century witch finder/devil hunter that David, Adrian and myself have been working on. The pages are ready and lettered but we've had a slight technical hitch in putting them up which will resolve itself and we'll try again at the weekend and hopefully have something up for you to look at soon. I've seen the pages and it's worth waiting on. Once again many thanks to everybody who contacted me on the Space 1949 strip - a few of you have made positive references to Jeff Hawke, which used to be one of my favourite newspaper strips. I used to get the Daily Express every day just for the strip. So I would be surprised if that didn't have some influence on me as I was growing up. Adrian is rather flattered that somebody described him as the new Sidney Jordan! Some of my American contacts described as "being very European" in tone and I suppose that's true - I don't know whether that's a compliment or not - but others have said that's it's different from a lot of the stuff that's circulating in Europe at the moment so I'm hoping that's good. It has even enthused me enough to draw up a preliminary Hal McLean strip - I've always though I might give him his own strip - set in 1953 and on one of the Jupiter moons. I've sent it to Adrian, who's in London at the moment to see what he thinks but it won't be done very soon. But we're thinking about it. But keep your eyes peeled for Joachim Darke - 1660 has never been the same since he appeared!