Four colour explosion

Isn’t it nice to come back from a great holiday and be greeted by lots of pleasant surprises? Comic book news is coming in thick and fast, so let’s jump straight into it…

* Mine and Ariyana Vidya’s short story, Butterflies and Moths: Fragile, is finished and now part of Insomnia Publications’ May 2009 comic book anthology, Layer Zero: Choices. There were a few hairy moments where the deadline seemed to be crushing our chances of being included, but some valiant late night jam sessions from Ariyana saw the project through – and the results should speak for themselves. Her artwork is truly stunning and really brings the story to life, thanks to some expertly captured emotions. In comic books, your artist is your actor, set designer, special effects artist, principle photographer and much, much more, and it’s easy to take that for granted. It’s all very well to write a script which describes your character looking distraught yet pleading a passionate argument with just her eyes, but ever tried drawing it? Ariyana’s sterling work makes it look easy when it’s anything but.

Fragile is effectively the prelude to my forthcoming graphic novel, Butterflies and Moths – you wont need to read it to understand the graphic novel’s storyline, but it’ll give you an insight to a few things, a intriguing taste of things to come as well as a nice introduction to the character who features in it.

The bitter story of morality and mortality that is Fragile will be surrounded by a vast amount of other talented tales in Layer Zero: Choices and so far the pre-orders have been wonderfully high. You can still get your order in and avoid missing the potential sell-out by either ordering with me (discounted rate for pre-orders only) and leaving a comment, ordering via Insomnia Publications directly by emailing them at their site, or by ordering directly from various online vendors such as Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Layer-Zero-Choices-Cy-Dethan/dp/190580816X?&camp=2486&linkCode=wey&tag=insomnipublic-21&creative=8874) or local comic shops in the near future.

* My very first published story, sci-fi tale Bad Luck Inc., has been reprinted in the pages of the ever-entertaining Tales from the Plex series this month. Drawn by the superb Yui Marr, it’s a curious tale that plays on the concepts of luck, determinism, fate and office working, while being a sideward’s nod to The Matrix. It was slightly misunderstood the first time it was published, which partly led me to writing a huge expose (Part one, two and three) on this site, but I’m happy to see it getting another shout at this time. Check out the previews of the most recently released issue of Tales from the Plex HERE and buy a copy HERE.

* Similarly, my first story with Ariyana, A Twilight’s Promise, should see release either next month or after in Tales from the Plex, which will be a nice build up to Fragile‘s release in May. It’s a short one page missive about… well, how unfair and short life can be, as well as offering a little meta-commentary on the life of a story that only runs one page long. You can see a little preview HERE.

* One of my secret projects rolls on at a pleasing pace – issue two of Magic of Myths has been pencilled by consummate professional and blinding talent, Sergio Calvet, which means the entire secret project is nicely on track. You’ll see more of this and hopefully some news on what exactly this project is later this year, but in the meantime take a glimpse at the raw pencils that is Magic of Myths #2.

And that’s it for now! There’ll be plenty on Fragile as we build up to Layer Zero: Choices‘ release in May, so expect the next few entries to be looking at that with previews, commentary and more, as well as general info about Insomnia Publication’s line-up and more about Tales from the Plex.

Thanks for reading, and catch you in a few…