An Alternative World Cup Anthem by The Free Kicks

I’d be lying if I said that football was exactly my sport, none of the participants have wheels and there’s nary a V6 in sight. However, once every 4 years I join thousands of others just like me by watching a couple of preview shows, pretending I now understand every aspect of the game and picking a team to support post quarter finals (a decision usually based largely on shirt colour).

One thing that I remain an unabashed fan of is a good world cup anthem and Cambridge band The Free Kicks have put together a cracker that I thought I’d share here. The Free Kicks are made up of members of several Cambridge artists including our old friends Fred’s House and Josh Broadstone, star of some of Jim and I’s short films. As you might imagine with that combo it’s very silly and stupidly catchy. Enjoy!

Thanks to everyone who has bought Moon in recent weeks. Stay tuned for updates on Moon 3.

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“The Return” A webcomic by Dan Thompson and Jake Rowlingson

While Steve’s busily working on Moon 3, I’ve been doing a couple of side projects with the Unseen Shadows guys. The first of these to come out is a one page webcomic called “The Return.”

Bob Kelsey is the tragedy prone freelance journalist of Barry Nugent’s fantasy series and Barry asked a few of us if we’d like to do some short strips about Bob’s tribulations. I drew upon my own battles with terrifying monsters and created this spine chilling tale that was then beautifully illustrated by Jake Rowlingson. Hope you enjoy it.

You can view more of these comics on the Unseen Shadows website.

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A Christmas message from Dan and…erm…Santa

We’re really excited about some of the things Beyond the Bunker are doing in 2014 so Dan decided to go enlist the help of the only man jolly enough to convey how awesome it’s going to be. This is the absolute truth and we most definitely did not sneak into a grotto after closing time and sit in the chair.

Thanks to everyone who bought the book over the last year, we hope you dig some of the stuff that we’ll be brining out in 2014.

Have a great Christmas and New Year everyone!

Dan & Steve
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Moon unites with other indy comics to support Hood!

If you read a lot of British comics then you’re probably familiar with the work of Ant Jones. He’s a lovely chap, a fine writer and a regular at the Bunker convention table. Well, Ant has a new graphic novel project on the go and he needs some funding (via Kickstarter) to get the project off the ground. To assist him in this, he has assembled some of the brightest and best creators of the indy comics scene and then added in two idiots who do a comic about the Moon.

The book in question is called Hood and is a dark, modern retelling of the classic Robin Hood story. It might sound like you’ve heard it before but if you take a look at the team’s wonderful pitch video then you’ll start to get an inkling that they’re doing something a bit different this time.

The deal is simple. You pledge some money towards the completion of the book and you get a variety of goodies in return, one of which is a humble indy bundle containing comics from the likes of Jon Lock, Richard Worth and yes Beyond The Bunker. It’s a collection of books that any self respecting comic fan would love to own anyway but now you can do it in a way that helps another awesome book to come to life.

If you feel like checking it out then head over to the Hood’s Kickstarter page and see which of the rewards take your fancy. At the very least you should take a look at the t-shirts. They pretty.

I’ll leave you with some of the preview pages. Enjoy!

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MOMBcast Talks Moon 2

With all the work that we’ve been doing on Moon 3 as of late (seriously these biscuits don’t eat themselves) it’s sometimes easy to forget that lots of people are still picking up Moons 1 & 2 for the first time. Reviews are difficult to come by once your first issue is out but in this case the lovely Michael Georgiou took some time on the latest MOMBcast to chat about Moon 2 a wee bit.

It’s great to know that new people are still picking up the book and digging what they find in there and in Michael’s case it’s especially pleasant as he’s a heck of a talented creator in his own right.

You can listen to the review by going here and you won’t even have to do any shuffling as Moon’s the first thing on the menu.

Thanks MOMB!

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(P.S. Iv’s surname is pronounced Matilla, not Matilda. Matilda was the telekinetic devil child of children’s fiction. Iv does have telekinetic powers but this is purely coincidental).

 

Do you live in Kent? Come hang out with us tomorrow!

It’s Demoncon 6 tomorrow! If you’ve not been to Kent’s loveliest comic con (I think it’s Kent’s only comic con but that’s besides the point) then you really should give it a go. This will be our fourth appearance at the event and it honestly gets more fun every time. A relaxed, family atmosphere; a wide range of enjoyable ways to spend a Sunday afternoon and, due to the shocking number of professional writers/artists that live in Kent, a surprisingly top end guest list.

This year will feature the likes of Dan Abnett (Guardians of the Galaxy), Cy Dethan (various books that give you nightmares) and a couple of idiots who do a book about the Moon. There are also several new indy book launches, demo games, a raffle where you can win comics and original artwork and an appearance by the mighty 501st legion. In case you need any more persuading, here are three things that we got up to last time out:

1) One of the other artists left early so we stole his table and created the largest Moon booth we’ve ever had which Steve had to staff by himself because I had to play Dr Who with some kids. 

2)  Somebody asked Steve to draw a sketch of one of the 7 deadly sins so we put our heads together and came up with this interpretation of “Pride” (the look on the lion’s face still cracks me up whenever I look at it).

3) Peter Mason learned the price of lending pens to the Bunker clan as Steve promptly made off with his sharpies, leading to this poster being circulated.

So come on. It’s a Sunday, it’s raining and you’re probably hung over. What else are you going to do today? Housework? Forget that! Your house hates you. Show it who’s boss and come hang out with us in Maidstone.

Demoncon runs from 11am – 5pm at the Royal Star Arcade in Maidstone. Full details here!

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(Oh and did I mention that Steve and Timaree did the poster)

Moon 3 Page 1 Pencils…. Evil Wears a Furry Face

So, it’s that time again. The third instalment of Moon is beginning to hove into view. With it is the introduction of a very special kind of evil. Revealed briefly in Moon 2, BunBun Warmheart is a villain that had everything going for him. Now his crimes against humanity mean not even his cute little face can get him off. Our hero, Moon and Shades will be facing this little bleeder directly. What will they find out? What will they glean from this little furry bastard?

This is very much the start of the first story arc for Moon. The introduction is over – now it’s all about the investigation! Moon and his new partner, Shades Rodriguez are about to start dog paddling in dangerous waters, and there be sharks there. Heavily armed, laser guided, furry faced sharks that want to bite their legs off. With guns. And things. Threats will come from directions you’d never expect. You have been warned.

Evil is back. And it’s sitting on a raised chair in an interrogation room at the heart of the Agency.

DAH-DAH-DAAAAAAAAAH!

Thought Bubble 2013 Announcement

We love Thought Bubble. For about a million reasons it is one of the finest convention experiences you can have in the UK both as a fan and a creator. You can imagine how disappointed we were then when tables for this year’s TB sold out in an astonishing two hours leaving many indy creators suddenly out in the cold.

In retrospect, this is entirely surprising. The UK indy scene has exploded in the last couple of years as print costs come down, self publishers get more serious and a lot of incredible people go out of their way to support UK creators. With even the likes of the might MCM struggling to find space for the growing comic village it stands to reason that competition for tables is going to start heating up. Even so, TB 2012 sold out in a matter of weeks rather than hours so to open twitter on the first day of sales and see that we’d already missed out was something of a shock.

Fortunately for us (and fans of all of the nearly absent creators), Thought Bubble have once again stepped up to prove why they are every creator’s favourite place to hang a table cloth. Through some careful negotiating they have managed to secure the use of a third exhibition hall! It’s right next to the existing halls so you won’t have to walk far and it’s going to be packed to the rafters with talented yet tardy artists like us!

We shall be there with a whole table of big Moony goodness. So if you were worried that you would get through the whole event without Steve accosting you in the street like a sexy caveman or laughing at my Sunday face as I once again fail to cope with how cheap beer is outside of London, you may now set your fears aside.

Huge thanks must go to the entire Thought Bubble team for pulling this off. If any of you pay for a drink all weekend, it will be a crime.

Moon is coming back to Leeds and we couldn’t be more excited!

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Demoncon VI Poster designed by Beyond the Bunker

On September 15th, we will be in attendance at Royal Star Arcade, in Maidstone with Moon. A new venue for the Grinning Demon’s charity event that attracts both the indy and the professional. Confirmed guests so far are Lloyd and the Bear’s Gibson Grey, Moon print designer Grant Perkins, Tinpot Hobo and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle artist Jack Lawrence, Grainne McEntee and Matt Rooke with Apes n’ Capes and Bertie Bear’s Andy Clift. We also know that Cy Dethan and Nic Wilkinson (Cancertown, Reverend: Wrath of God) and Dan Abnett (Guardians of the Galaxy, Legion of Superheroes, the Hypernaturals) are confirmed and friend to the Bunker and DJ to the stars Keiron Gillen (Uncanny X-men, Iron Man) may be in attendance.

After 5 Demoncons and 5 very distinct posters, Graham Beadle, Demoncon organiser and owner of Grinning Demon comic shop came to the Beyond the Bunker table and was nice enough to ask me to design the new poster for Demoncon VI. Because of the nature of the convention as a charity event, the posters themselves are more lively and varied than anywhere else. Right from the beginning, Demoncon posters have mashed up mainstream and indy in a visual bash up. Dredd stands beside Frostica, Wonderwoman by the Moose. That lack of limitation is irresistable for an upstart comic book artist like me so I was honoured to be asked frankly. The end mix as you see above.

But i couldn’t do it on my own so I was aided by the incredible talent of Timaree Zadel (who also coloured the new prints that were available at MCM). With Ivanna Matilla currently waylaid by teaching English in 20 different schools, Timaree was her chosen colourist. As you can see, no reason not to be over the Moon with this work.

The Great MCM Retrospective 1

Okay, we’re late with this but it’s been a busy few weeks since MCM. In particular taking into account the fact that it took a week to recover from. It was an enormous success for the pair of us. Better than we anticipated. MCM is always a boomer for us but we love it even more when we see the regulars and those we’ve met at MCM before.

One of the highlights for us at this stage is seeing new fans mixing with older fans coming back for a little more Moon action. Massive, genuine thanks to everyone who came back from Moon 1 or came to see us having read the first two and recommended us to others who had just arrived at the table. The fun we had this time out, a combination of the event and the reception means we now have big plans for the next MCM and we hope to see you there!

In a momentary lull I got a chance to head on out into the crowds and grab some shots of some suspicious looking Moon characters. The Princess Leia one was a little awkward as she was slightly offended that I wanted her head covered but it’d’ve been reverse sexist not to frankly and I’m standing (slightly uneasily) by that.