THUNDERBOLTS #172 OUT TODAY! ALSO OUT DIGITALLY!



T-Bolts 172, part one of the 'T-Bolts v T-Bolts' arc is out today. I worked my arse off on this issue and I'm really happy with my work on it. As a special treat, there's also an interview in the issue with T-Bolts creator Kurt Busiek. Even better, I finally got to work with Jordie on a proper body of work at Marvel; she coloured the bulk of this issue and I think it looks fantastic (see above). Hopefully we'll get to do more work together at Marvel. I'd like to see this more....



Lastly, Marvel seem to have gone day-and-date with the Thunderbolts digital releases, so as of this issue I'll have work out on digital platforms regularly on Comixology, so it's never been easier to get a regular shot of Shalvey.

Maybe I should have rephrased that.

Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS#172 PREVIEW






Preview pages for TBOLTS 172 went up online tday. You can see them here. Above are the pages in all their black and white glory. A lot of this issue was coloured by Jordie and I'm absolutely delighted I finally got to work with her on THUNDERBOLTS. Hope we can do more Marvel work together in the future as I think this is some of the best my work has ever looked, and that's no slight against the other colourists I've worked with.

Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS: THE GREAT ESCAPE TPB OUT NOW


Had a pleasant surprise today when I saw my own work on the shelves gawking back at me. 'The Great Escape', the most recent collection of my run with Jeff Parker and Kev Walker, is out now. It collects my 'Point One' issue, where the Tbolts go to Ireland! Also, my 'Ripper Tour' is collected too. I ugre you all to check it out.

While I'm at it, you might notice that I have a 'Bibliography' sidebar to the right, where I have links to Amazon for all my collected works to date if you're interested in picking them up. Recently added my Sweeney Todd graphic novel too.

Dec.

DARK AVENGERS


So the news is out; once the upcoming 'Thunderbolts v Thunderbolts' arc wraps up, THUNDERBOLTS is to become DARK AVENGERS and has a new host of characters being introduced (see above). Jeff Parker has done a fleet of interviews about it all, listed below. We both also talked to CBR, you can read that here.

Really looking forward to getting stuck into this new direction.

Newsarama
MTV Geek
IGN

Dec.

PS. As always, thanks to Jordie for helping me with colouring the above image. That should be how I end all posts.

WONDER-PEEK


There'll be some interesting things announced at Wondercon tomorrow. One Marvel-related, the other non-Marvel related. Here's a peek at the non-Marvel related thing. Colours by Jordie.

Dec.

[EDIT; Marvel news broke. but non-Marvel news actually announced NEXT month. My bad.)

MARCH MADNESS


Above is the cover to #1 of Exile of the Planet Of the Apes, another great Apes epic by Gabe Hardman and Corinna Bechko, tis time with Marc Laming on art. Jordie and I did another set of covers and I'm still really happy with it. It's out this week. GET IT.

Also, keep an eye on Comic Book Resources this weeksnd as there should be some VERY interesting news coming from Wondercon in San Francisco.

Also, I've been nominated for an Eagle Award! Could THIS be the year I win for 'Favourite Newcomer'? With the other names nominated... probably not. But if you want to try, vote here.

In other news, Jordie got to colour the bulk of my next Tbolts issue. I'm really looking forward to seeing it on the stands next month.

Anyway, that's all I got for now. More soon!

Dec.

AVENGERS SOLO #5



AVENGERS SOLO by Jen Van Meter and Roger Robinson came out today. Jordie and I collaborated the two epilogue pages. Check 'em out.

Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS SKETCHES

All last week, Marvel ran a feature showcasing the illustrations I did of all the original Thunderbolts team, who will appear in the T-Bolts v T-Bolts arc in April. Thanks to the guys at Marvel.com for featutring them all. Here that all are in one post you your enjoyment. Huge thanks to Jordie for doing a fantastic jonb of colouring them all for me.

TECHNO
SONGBIRD
METEORITE
MACH 1
CITIZEN V
ATLAS

Make sure you check out THUNDERBOLTS #172 this April!

Dec.

Solicitaions for April, 2012; THUNDERBOLTS 172 and 173


Marvel Comics released their solicitations for April last week, showing Part 1 and Part 2 of my 'T-Bolts v T-Bolts' arc with Jeff Parker will be released in April. Fancy cover by original T-Bolts artist/creator Mark Bagely! (I grew up on Bagley's art on Spider-man... so weird to see him draw character I designed...) Can't wait until these issues are out; they're a blast to draw. Big things to come in the book. Quite exciting.

Order your copies NOW!

Dec.

BETRAYAL OF THE PLANET OF THE APES #4 COVER


Here's my cover variant to the final issue of Betrayal Of The Planet of the Apes, coloured by series colourist Jordie Bellaire. I took this alternate cover gig as well, Gabe Hardman was kind enough to ask me to contribute to the wonderful series he was creating with his wife, Corinna Bechko. Also, Jordie was colouring the series, so it was a chance to collaborate with her on something professionally. After 3 covers for the series, I was sad that our collaborations would end, but then got the great news that Gabe and Corrina had a sequel series Exile On The Planet Of The Apes, this time with artist Marc Laming, and wanted us to continue providing alternate covers. I'll be sure to post them as the issue are coming out.

Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS: 'NEXT BIG THING'


Last Friday I took part in a 'Next Big Thing' press call about the upcoming Tbolts v Tbolts arc; the Tbolts 15th Anniversary event, starting with #172. The call had editor Tom Brennan, writer Jeff Parker and myself, answering questions to the various comics news sites. Below are links to some of the report by the various sites, so anything you want to know about the arc should be contained below.

Newsarama
Comic Book Resources
iFanboy
i09

Really looking forward to this arc coming out. It's definitely the biggest thing I've ever worked on.

Oh, and during the week an interview I did with Chris Sims for Comic Alliance went up too; this one looking at a lot of old, terrible drawings of mine. Looking at my work from Age 10, to Age 30. It was pretty fun. Check it out here.

Dec.

NORTHLANDERS #47 PREVIEW




My first published story of 2012 is my final issue of NORTHLANDERS, issue 47, that wraps up the second arc of 'The Icelandic Trilogy'.

Getting to work on this series was an absolute dream. Almost exactly this time last year, Jordie and I were in the National Museum in Dublin, looking at various Viking remains and artifacts when she said I should do an arc on Northlanders. I laughed at her, as the idea of actually being offered such a wonderful project was completely unrealistic to me. Here I am, a year later... with my last issue hitting the stands. Crazy.

Thanks again to Brian Wood and editor Mark Doyle for offering me the story, and to Dave McCaig, who did an absolutely stunning job colouring my work. I've never looked so good and it had nothing to do with me.

Dec.

SWEET TOOTH and 2011 Wrap-up


Here's a SWEET TOOTH commission. For Jeff Lemire, no less. I was very flattered that Jeff asked for a piece of one of his characters by little old me.

This will be my final post of the year. And what a year it's been. Career highlights included my Crossbones one-shot came out and looked beau-ti-ful thanks to Matt Wilson. I got to draw T-bolts during the big Fear Itself event. I got to actually draw the X-Men in a Marvel comic; that was amazing. Drew the T-Bolts in Ireland, and Spidey in the same issue too! Drew an arc on Northlanders (one of my favourite books) for Vertigo.... it really was the year where I got to fulfil all my childhood aspirations.

So, thanks 2011. Hopefully in 2012 I'll get to do bigger, better and bolder things. My goal for 2012 is to do a comic project with Jordie. She's got great projects at Marvel right now, and I'm getting more and more frustrated that none of them are with me. Let's see if we can make it happen next year.

Thanks to everyone for their support in the last year. It's very much appreciated. Extra special thanks to Jeff Parker, Brian Wood, Matt Wilson, Frank Martin, Dave McCaig, Tom Brennan at Marvel, Mark Doyle at Vertigo ...and all the Irish crowd.

Best,

Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS #167 OUT TODAY


Man, this one took me by surprise. T-BOLTS 167, the second part of 'The Ripper Tour' story, is out today in all good comic shops. Above is a b+w page. See a coloured preview by the wonderful Frank Martin here.

Dec.

BETRAYAL OF THE PLANET OF THE APES #3 COVER



Here's the variant cover the Jordie and I did for Betrayal #3. Reeeaaallly happy with this one. I love design-heavy posters with limited colour palettes, but it can be tough to actually get those types of covers approved. Make sure you pick up the issue in a few weeks!

Dec.

SWEENEY TODD COVER



Got word from Classical Comics last week; Sweeney Todd is now fully coloured! All the book needed was a cover, so here it is.

Glad I waited 'til the end to do this cover; parts of the book are 3(!?!) years old so I'm glad that I could present the finished book with the most recent work possible.

Dec.

THUNDERBOLTS 166 OUT THIS WEEK




Yep, my latest issue of THUNDERBOLTS is out this Wednesday; do pick it up! It's the next arc of the current time-traveling epic that is happening in the book right now, where the T-Bolts end up in Victorian London on the trail of Jack the Ripper! As ever, Jeff Parker wrote a great and crazy adventure for the team. Also, I think the colour-work Frank Martin did in this arc has resulted in our best collaboration to date.

See the colour preview here.

Dec.

THOUGHT BUBBLE THIS WEEKEND!


Hey all, I'll be at THOUGHT BUBBLE; The Leeds Comic Art festival this weekend. I've heard wonderful things about the show for years but this is the first year I've been able to attend. There is a fantastic guest list this year including Adam Hughes, Jeff Lemire, David Aja and even fellow THUNDERBOLTS artist Kev Walker! I'll be at table 14 in the Royal Armouries Hall (see below) with Jordie where I'll be taking sketch commissions, selling sketchbooks and prints.

See more about the show here.


Dec.

NORTHLANDERS #46



Northlanders #46 is out tomorrow. Again, absolutely delighted with how this issue came out. Dave McCaig did a stunning job on colours. I hope ye all pick up a copy.

The above images are scans from the actual comic, so colours aren't 100% accurate.

Dec.

LILLE COMICS FESTIVAL

This weekend I'll be a guest at the Lille Comics Festival along with guys like Dustin Ngyen, Mike Allred, Rufus Dayglo and R.M Guera. Very much looking forward to it. Haven't been to France since I was quite young. I'll be drawing free sketches for anyone who wants them. I'll have some prints and sketchbooks for sale too. If you see me there, feel free to say hello.



Dec.