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.

Moon goes to Cardiff!

Two years ago(isn) I attended my first ever convention in Cardiff. We had a stand all day but we sold out in less than 1 hour. I still don’t know how that happened as the books were selling at a rate of more than one a minute. That was Fallen Heroes, my first complete issue, and boy, did it give me the wrong impression of world in indy comics. But it remains a very cool memory of my first drop into indy comics. Folks were friendly, both in front and behind the tabletops.

This time it’s Moon heading to Cardiff, on a table that became spare at the last minute. Dan’s lovely wife, Fi, is having her birthday this weekend and it was decided that Dan should fulfill his husbandly duties and spend it with her.

So it is me, Lonely warrior of the South East who will make the trek to the highlands of the countries great principality. I look forward to close harmony singing and I don’t look forward the inevitability of rain – as I understand it, if it’s a nice weekend it will be the first in 3000 years and will be believed to be an omen of the apocalypse by the local gentry. I may have misunderstood much of what I claim to understand of Cardiff. But it was raining last time….

In all seriousness, we look forward to bringing our Defender of the British Isles to meet our brothers in Wales. Despite spending many years in England, Moon is a great fan of consistent, passionate rugby and so has never known who to back in the 6 Nations. Just not the French.

“The Best of British” – Geek Planet Online on Moon #2

Just in time for next week’s London Super Comic Con, the good folks at Geek Planet Online just posted a review of Moon #2. The good news is that they liked the book, the bad news is…well there isn’t any bad news really, they really did like the book.  Here’s a little snippet:

“The wry, postmodern sense of humour is still intact and if anything seems to have more confidence this issue…It’s the best of British and I hope the audience continues to grow.”

You can read the full review here and if it peaks your interest then you can order the book from our online store or pick it up from us next week at the Super Comic Con (we’ll even sign it for you).
Thanks to Dave at Geek Planet for continuing to support the book. The site has been one of the great champions of our work and we really appreciate it.

D
x

Moon #1 & #2 Available for Mail Order NOW!

Looking to catch up on the adventures of Moon but couldn’t come to the Moon Launch? Don’t want to wait until the next con to get your hands on the new issue? Have a friend who likes amazing comics about sharp dressed astral bodies? Well you’re in luck because you can now mail order copies of both Moon #1 and #2 and have them delivered direct to your door anywhere in the world!

Just head to our new comicsy shop and place your order. We’ll handle the rest!

Order before the 18th of December to ensure delivery by Christmas.

Click here or use the shop link in the top menu!

Moon Launch 2 is ON!!

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS!

LAURA BACON: MISTRESS OF PUPPETS!! COLDCALLERS!! JD SMITH!! LUNATRIX!! ALL CONFIRMED TO PLAY!!

It’s here!! Moon Launch 2 is on November 24th at The amazing Miller in London Bridge, SE1 3SS. There will be live music, free signed, numbered, limited edition copies of Moon 2 for everyone who attends – unless we run out! We are currently talking to some of the incredible acts that attended Moon Launch 1 to see if they’ll return. As soon as we know, you will know but we have musical and entertainment experts calling in every favour they know to make sure it’ll be a storming night!! Great venue, great company, great live acts, good prices and an exclusive comic book to boot. We will be taking bookings at MCM this weekend and we recommend that anyone coming from outside London book ahead as space is limited!! Look forward to seeing you there!!

Moon: Build Up to a Comic Book Cover: Part 4

To the cover!! Is this what we’re going with? Hm. Hard to say. Iv will kill me if I come up with another idea. We are now on what should hopefully be the final week (isn) of preparation for issue 2. There’s a lot of lettering going on, a lot of colouring, a lot of collecting material together to combine it all together in a fine visual delight that will be the second issue of Moon.

Good god it’s been a long time on this one but we are finally moving all the tiny meticulous little pieces ever closer together. There are plans to make up for the considerable wait that everyone has suffered. Never again, please god, never again!!

Fun is close!!

Moon: Build Up to a Comic Book Cover: Part 3

The cover moves closer (however may be a poster instead). The argument continues to thrive – at least in my head that the cover for Moon 2 has to be awesome, indicative of what’s going on inside – without actually giving too much of the plot away. It’s never going to live up to Issue 1 and we can’t cheat and do what I did with Fallen Heroes 1 and 2 and just completely recreate the image from the first onto the second.

Seems to me that the second issue is a tough one – possibly the toughest. The initial introduction for any character is exciting and action packed and carries with it a large am amount of momentum. This takes a bit of load off – which had previously been weighing me down a bit about issue 2. Namely that it doesn’t matter that it’s more bombastic, exciting, well drawn, more tragic and funny than the first – issue 2 never compares to Issue 1.

That first sweet nectar of meeting the exciting central character – the anticipation as to where it goes next – frankly both bubbles are burst in Issue 2. This is inevitable – and frankly, don’t take this as a put down of the meaty goodness of Issue 2 of Moon – far from it. All I’m doing is mentally preparing you dear fan for what is a beautifully written and effortlessly coloured second issue. I’ll let you make your own minds up about the art. Like that reviewer from Major Spoilers did (grrrr). I promise you though that if you see Moon 2 on a table at MCM (perhaps) or Thought Bubble (definitely) – grab it, remember it’s issue 2, adjust your anticipation accordingly and get ready to be blown away yet again by the world of Moon. Much, much, much more on it’s way!!

Moon: Build Up to a Comic Book Cover: Part 2

This is the fun part of the process, where the pages are complete and ready to go. Finishing touches, spit and shine. If Moon was a car right now, the Chassis is on and the Engine in place, ignition is working but it needs a little more paint work and a couple of the connections fixed, leather applied to the seats to make sure it’s comfortable for the ride.

Not much of a change from last week but sometimes colour is not so much of a problem. A few years ago, at a convention in Birmingham, I met a digital artist working on his digital art pad (before the IPad existed, which makes me feel like I’ve been doing this a long time). His advice, above all else, in order to give artwork a more realistic look was layering. Literally taking textures from existing photographic material or carefully produced digital version. These resources are easily and readily available via deviantart and stock resource sites – or hi-res Google images if you’re feeling cheeky. You apply the layer and make it transparent or mask it using layers above it, so that it offers a realistic base for your colours.

This is what I did here. Two Hi res images of the Moon (from different sides), the original visible from Part 1, the second at a lower transparency to highlight the existing layer below. It just makes old Moon head more realistic for the cover image – though, before anyone picks us up on it at a con – pretty inaccurate.

Moon: Build Up to a Comic Book Cover: Part 1

Welcome to the first stages of a very effective comic book cover (we hope). Some years ago I saw something very, very similar between two major characters of some very famous toy brand that had been put out as a fairly successful British comic book. The image seared into my head as one of the strongest images I’d ever seen. As such I have shamelessly sought to use it’s basic premise on the pages of Moon 2.

Covers are probably the most difficult part of the whole process. Something that effectively says what’s going on inside without giving the game away, grabs attention from a distance and holds up well under scrutiny. All this and it always has to carry numbers and titles (and maybe a review and occasionally -though not ideally – a barcode). It takes a tonne of thought and trial and error and has been the focus of my attention for some time.

With the artwork for Moon 2 complete we are beginning to move into the final stages of production (finally). This is a relief and I have to say I’m proud of the content – more so as I see the lettering and colouring come into existence. It’s at this point it becomes easier to figure out what artwork sums up all the takes place inside.

This is stage 1: Pencils, inks, lifted from the page by Photoshop and the basic layer of Moon image (applied on external and high detail images of Moon) to finish off what is effectively nothing but a neck in a suit up until this point.

These lines are with Iv and she will no doubt lovingly finish them off ready for the final page – something I personally can’t wait for. Stage 2 Next week.