Lots happening recently!

Last month I moved into a new studio with fellow illustrators Sarah McIntyre and Viviane Schwarz. The studio is based in an old Police station in Deptford and we've even set up a website http://fleecestation.co.uk/ to chronicle our exploits!
























Also, very excitingly, I've been signed up by top-notch children's author/illustrator agent, Rosemary Canter at United Agents. Together with her assistant Jodie Marsh, we're hoping I'll turn into a brilliant children's book creator! I'm already having too much fun playing with the formats and styles, so fingers crossed something marvelous from my brain will erupt into book stores in the not-too-distant future!

This week sees the release of the book, Henry VIII Has to Choose, which I recently illustrated for Franklin Watts. It's a jolly romp featuring King Henry trying to figure out who his next wife will be, with the help of his court painter, Hans Holbein.






Also in the post popped up Jim Medway's anthology Garden Funnies! Sporting a groovy front cover  (unofficially sub-titled "A Captive Audience") by yours truly, with contributions from luminaries such as Jim himself, Lizz Lunney, Francesca Cassavetti and Alex Potts.
















































(Here's the original picture which I submitted with a different colour scheme!).

I've no idea how Jim prints his comics (he did tell me once, but I've foolishly forgotten...), but I love the pixelated half-tone look and rounded corners. Nice work Jim!

Had some great news the other day as I unexpectedly received a paperback version of Derek The Sheep; apparently the book has been chosen as the picture book option for the Booked Up scheme, from Booktrust! All year 7 children entering participating Secondary Schools will be able to choose a free title from a small selection of books to encourage them to read.

From what I've read elsewhere 98% of schools took part last year with over 2 million children getting a free book. So of course, if they are in the scheme, your children and all their friends are duly encouraged to plump for Derek!

Ever wondered what, "Oi! My Sandwiches!" is in Hungarian? Then wonder no more...































My comicstrip World's Greatest Heroes which turns up every month in National Geographic Kids, is now appearing in the Hungarian version of the mag. I particularly like the idea that Hungarian sheep shout out "Bee!" instead of "Baa!". (That's Sir Edmund Hillary, by the way, encountering the perils of mountain-climbing in New Zealand!)

I'll be selling copies of Derek the Sheep plus a bunch of mini-comics at this weekend's MCM Expo so do drop by and say hello. Sarah McIntyre will be popping by my table from about 2.00pm on Saturday to do some sketches and there's plenty of other ex-DFCers and other top-notch cartoonists in attendance at their own tables, so it's definitely worth a visit! I'll be there for both days.

Elsewhere, don't forget to pick up the latest issue of National Geographic Kids which has my two page Anne Frank comic strip inside!


    























Also, I believe my first day cover for Phil Stamps is available and you can even buy a signed version if you so wished!

Tootle pip!

Had some very exciting news recently regarding my regular comic strip in National Geographic Kids - it's been picked up by the Hungarian version of the mag! Now all we need to do is encourage the other 12 or so international versions of the mag to go for it too and world domination will finally be mine!

In other news, I recently took part in workshops and an exhibition at the brilliant Crystal Palace Children's Book Festival. Check out my ugly mug, plus satisfied Derek fan here. Thanks to Sarah for the cracking write-up and photos and mega thanks to Alex Milway, top author and down-right top geezer, for organising the whole shebang (get well soon old bean!).

Here's my pic from the exhibition:























































I've started messing about with actual watercolours (as opposed to photoshop colouring looking like watercolour) and I might start knocking out pics to sell on the website, so watch this space for details.

Click the pic!

Yep, unfortunately The DFC has come to an end. No more Little Cutie for the forseeable future, which is a shame. Although this does free me up to work on some ideas I've been meaning to wrestle with for flipping ages.

Meanwhile, check out Super Comics Adventure Squad! A group blog featuring the creators of The DFC, with sketches, new projects and all sorts of news from the cream of the UK's comic community. And me!
Here's an elephant I drew for it this very afternoon...

Not bought my everso lovely Derek the Sheep book yet? Then here's another good review to convince you!
Bizarrely, the book has turned up as a seperate solicitation on amazon.com with a release date of 31/3/2009. It's not been republished in the US as far as I know, but I've noticed that publication date elsewhere, so who knows what it all means!

Updated my Pinky's Crackpot Circus page to include all ten strips that appeared in The Dandy. I haven't got scans of all the comics, so there's no speech-bubbles on some. But, that doesn't matter as it's only the artwork I was responsible for anyway!

Well, this week sees the last ever DFC delivered to people's doors. 'Tis all very sad indeed.
Meantime, I've been uploading a few pages from my strip Little Cutie into the comic strip section, including my recent front cover and two-page Frog Prince extravaganza!

SAVE THE DFC!

Last year I was approached by Whirlwind Media to write and draw two comicstrips. They had proposed to produce a comic which would complement their children's T.V. pilot show Bottom Knocker Street. Unfortunately the series didn't get commissioned, but I had great fun working on the strips, which I've put up for the world to see here!

As many of you will already know, Random House have decided to pull the plug on the weekly comic The DFC. Considering the current financial climate, perhaps it isn't too much of a surprise; luxuries such as comics won't exactly be high on people's shopping lists as purse strings are tightened. With page-rate cuts elsewhere, this isn't a great time to be a cartoonist (the hourly rate as a Sainsbury's shelf stacker seems very enticing at the moment. No kidding.) It's a crying shame, considering the outrageous wealth of cartooning talent in this country, as spotlighted in the DFC, and I really hope an 11th hour, very rich, Knight in shining armour strides in to save the mag.

Here's the official statement from Random House: 


---------------------------------------------

Children’s Comic, the DFC, Up For Sale


The DFC, a weekly comic (launched May 2008) for boys and girls is up for sale, following a decision by The Random House Group to cease publication.

Philippa Dickinson, MD RHCB, said: “We are very proud of the DFC and the reaction it received from families, schools and especially the children who have enjoyed reading it.  It is an innovative concept which we have been very happy to back. There can be no successes without taking risks, after all.  Unfortunately, in the current economic climate, we have decided that the DFC is not commercially viable within our organisation.

“David Fickling, the staff at the DFC, and all the comic’s contributors have worked tirelessly to produce what is an amazing weekly publication and we would be delighted if a buyer could be found who would like to take the DFC on as a going concern”

If no buyer is found, the title will close on March 27th.

-ENDS-

Enquiries:
Maureen Corish
Group Communications Director
The Random House Group
0207 840 8878


   -----------------------------------------------------

For me it's been a great pleasure working with the editors Ben and Will at the DFC and many new friendships have been forged amongst the creators too. Perhaps collectively the determination will be there to find new avenues for our strips, but time will tell.

I've recently indulged in a few workshops/author appearances at schools and children's libraries and the enthusiasm for the DFC and comics in general is astonishingly high, especially with 4 to 12 year olds. The relish with which kids shout out all their favourite Beano characters, or tell me their favourite Asterix adventure or favourite disgusting scene from a Horrible Science strip, flies in the face of recent market research that bizarrely decided that children don't have time to read comics anymore. Kids LOVE comics, but the way things are going the availability of comics for kids to read will rapidly decline, and that's just too depressing to think about.

My head preserved for posterity in the National Museum of British Cartoonists.

Plenty going on this month!

First up is the news that I've dipped my toe into education publishing, illustrating Henry VIII Has To Choose for Franklin Watts. It's out in June and is 29 pages of mad, loose, bold drawings, which I had great fun working on (despite having the worst flu bug ever in history!).



































Next up is more Tudor nonsense, with my guest turn as an artist for Phil Stamp Covers. I drew Francis Drake for the upcoming Tudor stamps collection.

































This month has also seen the return of Little Cutie to the DFC. Sophie has oodles of trouble catching Charlie's eye in this second batch of stories.





































The DFC is available in various subscription packages and even from Amazon!


And last but not least, my continuing forays into historical biography with National Geographic Kids.

This month Isaac Newton!





































And that's it! (I think.)

And if you're fed up with my badly drawn comics and fancy something a bit more sophisticated and, well, darker, then check out my old mate (and top criminal psychologist) Laurence Alison's book Killer In The Shadows. Not recommended if you're a big softy and are prone to nightmares, like me.



****EDIT****


I knew there was something else! I'll be helping out/appearing at the upcoming Crystal Palace Children's Book Festival supporting The DFC crew, plus hopefully pushing the Derek book. More info when I get it. Here's their website!

Lobster Johnson

Check out the groovy widget!



Working on new Little Cuties as I type, so I'll be in there very soon!

Well, another year over; one which for me was a heady mix of being pretty rotten and pretty excellent all at the same time. Let's hope 2009 veers more towards the latter for the sake of my sanity!

I'd like to thank friends and family for their support for me during what threatened to be a real Annus Horribilis, especially Ash, Helen, Matt and Susannah for putting up with my nonsense.

I also didn't get to see much of the run-up to Christmas, mainly due to having the worst cold/flu/virus/God-knows-what laying me out for a couple of weeks, thus pushing all my deadlines to the brink of disaster. So thanks too to all my editors for being understanding and patient with me during December, especially Alan at DCT, Lauren at National Geographic Kids and Melanie at Franklin Watts.

Right! I've got all that off my chest! Here's a rather cracking Christmas card I received which lifted me from my gloom, from aspiring cartoonist Jay Simpson, who sent me many splendid comic drawings! Good work sir!

Many thanks to Richard Bruton for taking the time, just before Christmas, to review Derek the Sheep. You can read it here at Forbidden Planet. To say I was chuffed with his kind words is an understatement.


I also recently had an interview with Anna Mondo, who has been a fan of my comics since my early small press days. You can read my ramblings here!

Blimey! Someone's actually reviewed Derek the Sheep and they liked it! Hooray! It's here at Down The Tubes. Many thanks to John Freeman for taking the time to write the review.

At a special offer price of £1.99, The DFC is available in selected Tesco stores around the country for one week only until December the 2nd. So if you haven't picked it up, then maybe now's your chance! No Little Cutie I'm afraid, but he will be in there for the Christmas issue then returns for Season 2 from issue 43 (I think).
(thanks to Sarah Mcintyre for the fab promo pic).


























Whilst you're in Tesco buying comics, don't forget to pick up the Christmas issue of Beanomax for a surprise appearance of Derek the Sheep, as he enters a snowman competition up against Big Baz and the crew.























And get the latest edition of National Geographic Kids for my nice snowy story about how Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed Everest!

Don't forget to book your tickets for the Comica Talk at the ICA on the 23rd November. Here's the link. I recently met up with fellow panellist/DFCer, Sarah Mckintyre at the MCM Expo a couple of weeks ago and we drew a nice pic of Derek and Vern enjoying a romantic plate of spaghetti together ...































Then, last week I was horribly ill with a rotten cold, so Sarah sent me a nice picture of Nurse Vern tending to poor old Derek!



































Derek's expression is uncannily close to my own coughing and spluttering fizog from last week! I reckon Derek and Vern make a great double act and I suggested we should do a joint sheepy-minicomic together and become millionaires. Personally I think Derek would love to take over Vern's flat for a weekend and Vern can sit in Derek's drafty old barn, probably knitting jumpers for everyone, I shouldn't wonder.

Bit of a catch up with updates due to real-life taking over. Normal service now resumes!   >>>>

• I'll be taking part in a talk at the ICA on the 23rd November, called Great British Comics: Past Present and Future, as part of their Comica Festival. I'll be there with my DFC hat on, alongside fellow contributors, Adam Brockbank, John and Patrice Aggs, and fellow sheep fetishist, Sarah McIntyre. Hopefully I won't be making too much of a plum of myself! I'll also be signing copies of Derek the Sheep after.

• My first batch of Little Cuties has come to an end, with a fishy two-pager coming up in the Christmas issue. Did you see my loverly front cover the other week? I've popped it in my Little Cutie gallery just in case you did miss it (I know I did!). There'll be a new bunch of stories in the new year sometime. Christmas will also see a new Derek story in the Beanomax, plus a nice snowy Edmund Hillary/Sherpa Tenzing story in the National Geographic Kids (Florence Nightingale story now on the shelves!!).

• Hopefully soon I'll be able to tell you about another exciting project I'm starting - just waiting to cross the "t"s and dot the "i"s!

• ..And finally, a nice write-up of the recent talks at the University of Dundee Museum celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Beano and Dandy. I lent the University museum pages from Derek's recent mad beanstalk story, which they've subsequently bought off me, which is a real honour. Fancy having my work in a museum, coo! (Although, I could mention that the V&A have a copy of my Little Box of Comics in their artist book collection, but that would just be showing off. Unless of course they came to their senses and chucked it away).
  

Derek The Sheep finally makes his debut with Bloomsbury this month! It's a 64 page hardback which reprints the first 13 stories from The Beano. They've done a cracking job with the book, I reckon, and I'm mega-chuffed with the little beauty (Apart from the fact that they've slapped my ugly-mug in the back, causing much amusement amongst friends and family ... oh the shame...).

I've stuck up some pages on my Derek web-page to give you an idea of the lovely stories on offer.


It seems to be available from every conceivable on-line bookstore so there's no excuse for not picking it up!

A strange but lovely week where lots of my comic strips hit the shelves.

 First up is my debut in National Geographic Kids - each month I write and draw the comic history of some famous Hero or Heroine from history. This month is Cleopatra!



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           


It's a tough gig summing up people's lives in two pages, but I'm never one to shirk a challenge!  Next up is Einstein! (Remind me not to tackle someone with such complicated theories again ...)

Derek the Sheep pops up again in The Beano for a turnip fancy dress extravaganza! Can't actually find a copy of this, so here's the black and white original..

The current issue of The Dandy Extreme contains another one of my jolly Pinky's Crackpot Circus (as written by Robert Mc Naughton), so hopefully you'll all be rushing out and buying a copy (it also contains the ever-unmissable Desperate Dan, by Jamie Smart, my favourite strip anywhere at the moment!).

Here's a clip of Pinky and chums  in their P.Js....



            



























 And lest you forget,   Little Cutie is on it's 3rd installment in the DFC and should hopefully be running till Christmas!

As we hurtle into the 21st century, us creative-types have to keep up with all the latest shiny thingamybobs and seeing as my book is out soon, I've set up a Facebook group for Derek The Sheep!

 Not everyone I know looks here and not everyone I know is on facebook; now there's no escape from DEREK NEWS!!!!

It's not that exciting an announcement, granted, but I thought I'd let you know anyway. All current and future Derek promo-appearances will be listed here and there. And here. And probably here, if I remember.

Not only am I debuting in this week's DFC with Little Cutie, but I'm also turning up in this week's Beano! It's a strange little Derek the Sheep tale about not enjoying being at a disco and him and his mate Kevin Rabbit sellotaping lettuce to their friend's head. Here's a lovely picture from the strip...

Hopefully, I'll have news of another strip written and drawn by me coming soon. Something completely different!

Great article reviewing the recent evening of Beano talks in Dundee

http://downthetubescomics.blogspot.com/2008/08/in-review-happy-birthday-beano-event-at.html

I had an absolute blast in Dundee! The talk was a nerve-wracking nightmare, but somehow I blustered through.

Many thanks to everyone involved, including Christopher Murray and Matthew Jarron. It was great to have a chat with people afterwards, including the many veteran Beano artists, Derek the Sheep fans and comic fans who came along. Also big thanks to Alan Digby, editor of the Beano and Morris Heggie, DC Thomson archivist and ex-Dandy editor, for giving so much of their time on the Thursday. I went along to the DC Thomson building along with my friend Ashley Fitzgerald and fellow Beano artist Laura Howell and we were allowed to sift through a big stack of original art with Morris' in-depth knowledge on hand to talk us through it all. Then, after lunch, Alan gave us a fantastic Grand Tour of the DC Thomson building.

I hope I get to go back to Dundee again soon, if only to listen to Alan Digby sitting in the pub, singing on the guitar, whilst I sit there supping my fifth pint of lager and enjoying every second of it! Happy days!

Issue 11 of The DFC is out next Friday and sees the debut of my new creation Little Cutie.
Little Cutie is Charlie, a poor, harassed coot who has attracted the unwanted attentions of a young, persistent cygnet by the name of Sophie. No matter what he does, or how rude he is to her, she still fancies him rotten! There are other adventures abound as Charlie deals with jealous geese, greedy fat squirrels and a goldfish with an insatiable taste for burgers.

It's the Beano's 70th Anniversary this year and I'll be taking part in a couple of events coming up soon.

Firstly, On the 30th July, I'll be talking about creating Derek the Sheep at the official anniversary exhibition Happy Birthday Beano! in Dundee (home of DC Thomson, publishers of the Beano and Dandy). The programme also includes the prodigiously talented Beano artist Laura Howell, DC Thomson archivist and former Dandy editor Morris Heggie, current Beano editor Alan Digby and long-time artist for the Bash Street Kids (and Dennis the Menace back in the day), David Sutherland.

Secondly, on the 23rd of August, I'll be taking kids classes at the Cartoon Museum in London, where again I'll be chatting about Derek The Sheep and getting kids to draw mad characters and stories in a Derek-stylee. This will be part of many activities (click the cartoon classes and events link) running alongside the museum's own large Beano exhibition running from 30th July to 2nd of November.

For the last few weeks I've been working on a new strip for the groovy new children's weekly comic The DFC. It's a jolly strip called "Little Cutie" and revolves around a coot called Charlie and his pals on a pond and starts in issue 11 (which comes out in August).





























Not that you should wait so long before you subscribe to the mag, cos it's packed to the rafters with geniuses like Philip Pullman, Simone Lia, Jamie Smart, Dave Shelton etc., etc..., so you may as well subscribe already.


In other news, artist Rob Kirbyson has painted a lovely portrait of Derek the Sheep! And what a wonderfully handsome portrait it is too.

I've been asked by DC Thomson to take part in their discussion panel at this year's Bristol Comic Expo. It's on Sunday 11th May at 1pm in the Park Room at the Ramada Hotel. 
My name isn't listed on the guest list or anything, so you'll just have to take my word for it!

Derek makes an all-too-rare appearance in this week's Beano (my fault, sorry!).
It's the first of a mad two-parter involving magic beanstalks and mega-widescreen T.V.'s (there's even a guest appearance from Noel Edmonds next week. Sort of.) And while you're in the newsagent you should also pick up the Dandy Extreme for more adventures of Pinky's Crackpot Circus!

Found a  couple of Norbert Le Mouton reviews dotted about the net and have updated the Reviews section accordingly. I've relied on google-translate to make sense of it all for any non-French speaking readers out there, so descriptions of "blunders and meatballs" and "Be gay as a finch with the stealing sheep" may be a little way off the mark, but I'd like to think that they're pretty accurate!

The second Pinky's Crackpot Circus is featured in the latest issue of Dandy Extreme
on sale now!

Recently drew some illustrations for Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) concerning their small arms control project in Southern Sudan. I've put a small selection up in the illustration section.

My French comic strip book Norbert Le Mouton, published by Editions De L'an 2/Actes Sud, is now available to buy!

 You can pick it up from amazon.fr and various other online French stores.

But, if you can't speak French, then the British version will be available in September from Bloomsbury!

Merci beaucoup!

I'll be putting in an appearance at the forthcoming Angouleme Comic Festival, promoting my new book Norbert Le Mouton. The festival runs from the 24th to the 27th January and I'll most likely show my face from Friday 25th onwards.

Derek makes an appearance in this month's Beanomax Xmas special. Very festive it is too. And stupid.

A short, but sweet, little interview with me, conducted by groovy cartoonist/writer Douglas Noble. Thank you for your kind words sir!

Started work on a new strip for the Dandy, "Pinky's Crackpot Circus" written by Robert McNaughton, which is pencilled in for the beginning of Feb next year. Hooray!

Norbert Le Mouton will finally make his debut next February! Check out the preview pics over at the L'Edition De L'An 2

Recently started drawing "Weird World" illos for Spider-Man Tower of Power and have added a small selection to the illustration section.

The 2008 Beano Annual is most likely hitting the shelves as we speak and there's a particularly strange 4 page Derek story in there. Derek decides to try out a bit of yodelling and Lenny gives his alpenhorn a good blast. You even get to see Cecil the Bee in a pair of lederhosen! Very fetching they are too.