#schoolofbitches

So the landscape has changed once again. It’s why I started doing this address. Keeps everything in check and serves as a mid-year review akin to that of modern business strategies. There’s been some hard truths to realise going into this year’s address, changes have had to be made, serious changes to structure. We continue to learn invaluably so in these early years, that we are truly in this alone. Though many see the flames burning brightly, few are equipped to hold on to the torch, despite their insistence they can. Managing this becomes tiresome and exhausting, sucking energy and life from a project that has limitless potential. No more. We’re going right-wing on this shit, “guilty until proven innocent” – step up or step off – no favours over here. I’ll do the whole fucking thing by myself if I have to - I could give a shit. With that said, on to business.

VIRTUES CHRONICLES: THE PAPERBACK

CONCEPT OF VIRTUE’S CHRONICLES COVER

Finally in reach, Virtue’s Chronicles; the feature of the first 3 issues released, is set to be released this year as a full paperback. It’s been a long time coming, and the original plan mentioned in last year’s State Of The Union address gave a tentative release by the True Believer’s Festival 2015, which has not been met. There is a multitude of reasons that this has not happened, with work on Issue 4 and From The Ashes not running as smoothly as planned, as well as preparation for the Malta Comic Con eating up large proportions of time. With that said, a whole new batch of considerations that have arisen as we’ve been looking at speculative production. After finishing the artwork for the concluding “part” of the story and the subsequent Epilogue, the intention is to return to some of the original artwork and pages from the earlier issues and just fix a few aesthetics that I wasn’t able to in the rush that came sending them to print. Continuity has always been close to my heart, and the way the project works these issue releases have ended up reflecting more of a progressive sketchbook than a finished piece. The artwork, style and presentation that we’ve developed across the first 3 issues will be consistent throughout, adapting all of the earlier work accordingly. Therefore, the paperback will essentially be the “final piece”. Amongst further considerations is the paper the book is to be made on, and we are in discussion with Stuart from UK COMICS to print on the newspaper print I always envisioned it on. The focus in the short term is finishing all of the artwork and figuring out the mechanics before we tackle the financial implications of the release.

TONIGHT, THE CITY SLEEPS… - ISSUE 4

TONIGHT, THE CITY SLEEPS… COVER IMAGE

The first part of Tonight, the City Sleeps… featured in Issue 4 and launched at Malta Comic Con to great success. Abandoning conventional comic book page count, and embracing a completely different style to its predecessors, the issue represents the freshest vision since the project went into full steam. It’s a triumph for us in many ways… and allows new readers to ‘jump in’ before we release the paperback mentioned above. Despite the start of a new chapter, the story also fits neatly into the narrative of the first 3 issues, with one of the last pages in the 3rd issue making direct reference to the events that take place in the chapter. (albeit ‘hidden’ in true SoB style.)   Once work is completed on Virtue’s Chronicles the plan is to return to Tonight the City Sleeps… and similarly  complete the ‘2nd part’ ready for the transition to paperback. In the short term, we intend to put together a sleeve for Issue 4 to help establish the break in narrative and attract new readers who may be put off by the big number 4 on the cover – and our subsequent refusal to print anymore Issue 1’s.

TONIGHT, THE CITY SLEEPS… - THE T-SHIRT

TONIGHT, THE CITY SLEEPS… PAGE 11

The trip to Malta proved more lucrative than any of the team could have imagined. Artist Jasper Schellekens (who worked on Premonitions: From The Ashes) bounced the idea of a t-shirt based on a line of script from Issue 4. (see above) The line referring to Martin Creed's “Lights go off, lights go on again” Turner Prize winning piece, is an apathetic stab at the state of contemporary art, but as a standalone quote also holds significance to our own rebellion against the status quo in comics. With oversight from Dhalia he has financed the production of the t-shirt (pictured below) and with School Of Bitches set to receive the lionshare of the profits, this makes it our first successful franchised merchandise!!! More details on price and availability will follow in the coming months. #staytuned

“Some Prick…” SOB T-SHIRT

THE STATUS OF ONE LOVE

The next chapter from Volume I scheduled to be released, and what would have subsequently been the feature content of Issue 5 was intending to be “One Love”, a chapter introducing another key character to the story, another completely different style and headed up by an artist who was not me. Due to repeated deadlines not being met, Issue 5 has had to be cancelled – or at least its intended feature, and it is with a heavy heart that we have decided to pull this chapter completely from Volume I. A story I have spent nearly a decade putting together is precious, and I personally have sacrificed a great deal, dedicating a large portion of my life to tell the story as I intended. As one can imagine, each Chapter holds significance in terms of placement and scheduled release, and cannot easily be relocated without playing havoc with various arcs and events that are due to take place. It is only due to some ingenious quick thinking by resident powerhouse Judas that we have found a way of relocating this Chapter and reducing Volume I down to six Chapters, without any direct impact on the storytelling. Now in no way is this reflective of giving the artist a break, as the lack of work and general commitment has had me concerned for some time - but more importantly it allows time for a new artist, or myself to complete the work at a later date if push comes to shove. This year I have an extremely busy workload and could not take on the responsibilities of telling this story as well, so by taking this out of the equation it allows some breathing space. The hope is the original artist still completes the work, but a conversation about the particulars has yet to take place. With that said, a considerable shift has to take place to restore my faith, this is as well as adherence to deadlines and if these requirements cannot be met within the year, then we’ll pull the artist and reconsider our options. It’s a shame, but at the moment the only people at this point who will feel the loss of this very talented individuals work on the project, if they are not able to meet our expectations is limited to the staff here at SOB HQ. I will not be seen to sacrifice my creative vision or jeopardise it again, for anyone. 

FROM THE ASHES

FROM THE ASHES: PREMONITIONS PROMOTIONAL IMAGE

The ‘teaser’ of Dhalia’s own venture, Premonitions didn’t get off to the start we wanted either, with only one artist (the aforementioned Jasper Schellekens - who I consider a part of the team.) completing work on schedule, meaning yours truly had to pick up the slack and fill the gaps. The resulting product, although shy of the original concept, streamlined the vision for the full book, which the 12 page booklet showcased appropriately. From The Ashes originally planning to be an entire book of different works of art, comic strips and the like with multiple colloborations has become the tale of just two stories. This keeps it manageable and in the hands of people that we trust will get it completed, ie. SOB HQ and Jasper. The two stories; “Maria’s Song” and “A Man and his Dog” will be tasked to Dhalia and Jasper, and Judas and myself, respectively. The result should be interested as Jasper is more of a traditional comic artist and Dhalia a somewhat more unconventional writer – with the opposite being true of Judas and myself. This Yin Yan scenario should create a very interesting book with each respective story telling very different tales set at different points within the timeline set by the main Genesis storyline. The book is not scheduled for release at this point, but work on both stories is already well underway. Expect more news on this throughout the year.

THE NEXT STEP: DEATH OF A SALESMAN

With the decision to pull One Love from Volume I the next chapter coming up will be Death Of A Salesman, with rough scripting of this already underway. Not too much can really be said about this Chapter as it’s events directly relate to those at the end of Virtue’s Chronicles and with this not yet being public domain at the time of writing, it’s difficult to say what relevance this Chapter has. Rest assured this Chapter sets a series of events in place that not only demonstrate some of the insane storytelling arcs that will be prevalent throughout the course of Genesis, but lead us to ‘present’ in the story. All very cryptic at this point, alas work on this is expected to begin after Tonight The City Sleeps… 2nd part is complete – in the second half of the year, we’ll have a lot more information on this in the next State Of The Union.

AND BEYOND…

Requiem For A Submarine’s first “issue” is ready. The Chapter that will follow Death Of A Salesman, is ready for storyboarding, and although I’ve toyed with the idea of drawing this myself - we may have acquired a considerably talented storyboard artist to do the artwork for the Chapter. We’re still in talks, and will have news on this exciting development as we get it. #staytuned  

A COUPLE OF THINGS I DIDN’T MENTION…

• Kindle – we pulled the Kindle editions. Not that they weren’t doing well, but a decision was made until we can dedicate time to make a digital comic worthy of the medium, simply transferring what is meant to be read on the page to digital, wouldn’t work for us – and cheapens the concept. This is an art project and just like looking at paintings in a gallery, a picture of the highest resolution will never compare. Especially as how it will look when printed - what it is printed on plays a huge factor in deciding how pages are laid out and what materials are to be used. Reviewers are advised to contact us and we’ll post them physical copies. • Volume II – with the recent changes, focusing on Volume I and it’s completion within our 5 year plan has to take focus. The idea the project will expand with more artists was intended to free us up, but as we have learnt reliable and committed artists are more difficult to come across than we initially anticipated. Public appearances are minimized this year, so financially we can prep for our first proper book launch but we do have an appearance at I.C.E. in Birmingham later this year. We’ll announce more as we decide which are worth it, there is a lot shit in the long grass of the comic scene.

IN CLOSING...

Despite the disappointing setbacks I’ve detailed, our resolve has never been stronger. We've got some exciting projects we're all working on individually away from Genesis - alas the details of which do not belong here, but they keep us striving to better work, new ways of storytelling and innovation in the multitude of visual mediums Genesis will be depicted. Although this State Of The Union has less discussed than previous editions this is just reflective of our understanding of what we are realistically capable of now - with our available resources and creative team. And we’re still expanding, as intended – just more carefully and considerately than ever. (i.e. Jasper) We're always evolving just like the project, streamlining and adapting... and as a team the three of us have come on leaps and bounds.

As a result we're no longer accepting applications, if we want you - we’ll invite you to the party. If you’re lucky.

Chatham actually.

We're a week removed from True Believer's Festival held at Cheltenham Racecourse. The day was good. It did not require an AK.

Familiar faces surrounded us, and the event was well presented, with the focus being on comics and the scene, lots of independent there, and the price point was spot on. It was a good virgin voyage... 

We've been to similar affairs with a price point easily exceeding what could be considered reasonable, for venues located much farther from civilisation. We did well, the familar sites of Gloucester going down well with locals, and shifting all the Issue 1,2, and 3 packs we had. 

The hometown return was not as huge as I'd anticipated when signing up, due to the "personal issues" I had going in to the new year, the inadvertent disassemblement of the creative team with Dhalia's extended stay in Malta, and general exhaustion. I'd planned to have a local exhibition to promote the work which prominantly features nearby Gloucester landmarks and familiar scenery. Even the portfolio wasn't prepared in the fashion I would've preferred, up till 4am the night before arranging it, like I was back in University and my dissertation was due in next morning. Take drugs out of the equation (a renewed commitment to cutting weed out of my life. )and another marble falls - like a self perpuating game of Kerplunk - where the aim of the game is to remove all the straws, and have the marbles just fucking levitate there.

I've become hypocritical; allowing things to happen to me, like I'm sat watching my life go by on tv - only getting the introspective glimpse of myself in the brief second of black screen in between commercial breaks.

The difference between the masses and I - I make no excuses. Whilst that is minor, excuses allow you to walk away feeling justified in the mediocre, patting yourself on the back for things that are just part of life. Like getting up on time to not get fired from your job. As if there was another way. Athough working at nothing like full capacity, I have been making silent moves behind the scenes, planning out the year ahead, hence the lack of impending State Of The Union. Big tough decisions have had to be made, as well as some pretty exciting developments. With that said what we do next, and some of the aforementioned plans will be outlined in the State Of The Union which will be up in the next few hours.

It's been a ridicolous amount of time since I've had the, uh, time to write in this blog.

The mad rush for Malta, which culminated in the successful release of the 80 page epic that was Issue 4, as well as the preview for From The Ashes finished one of the most hectic work schedules in recent times. The response was incredible, as most of you have probably already seen and read about on our website. (right?) The 3 weeks in Malta were inspiring, and albeit unknown to me at the time, it may have marked a fork in the road I've been fearing for a long time. Upon my return a sombre mood descended...Dhalia stayed in Malta, I spent a week in London by myself, and then came that fork, overshadowing festivities, like it was the end of Empire Strikes Back.

I'm not sure if I'm meant to be Luke or Han, I think I've been Han for a little while now, wallowing in self pity rather than carbonite. Now it's time to be Luke, finish my Jedi training.

Around this time I was expecting to be putting the finishing touches to 2015's State Of The Union. Instead this is a placeholder, and a renewed commitment to updating this long, lost, forgotten tumblr.

We were going with a new "delivery method" for the next State of the Union, but not 100% what is happening with that at moment so may stick to the standard for time's sake, incorporating the new for the mid year.

The immediate focus for me, is returning to Virtue's Chronicles to finish the remaining parts for the paperback. Judas continues the script for Requiem, whilst Myles makes his first steps, as his Chapter starts to form. He'll be working closely with Judas to build a narrative, which although will be challenging, is exciting to see something take shape in the way this Chapter will. Dhalia, still in Malta, has been working with Jasper (the artist who worked on From The Ashes: Premonitions) on the books full feature Maria's Song, whilst Judas and I are tasked with the other, A man and his Dog.

Page 2, From The Ashes: Premonitions

I expect to start work on this towards the summer. Our next public appearance, is True Believer's Festival in early February, which will be the first UK show unveiling of Issue 4. Though time is short, I'm looking into a few ways to showcase the familiar sites of Gloucester to the prospective audience.

There's more to talk about, I'll update again soon.

  So here we are at the half way point. Well that's when I started this freakin address, now we're in July... delay after delay, alas we are here.

It's been a busy few months. So much has happened since I outlined the plans for the year ahead - a lot of positive change that is going to keep the project moving forward at a steady rate. As I look over some of the goals we had at the beginning of the year, lots of them have changed. We are fortunate that we have no limitations in respect to the ability to continue to evolve our model to what best suits our needs. The journey of School of Bitches from the shadows and into the lime light was always going to be a precarious one, but its a journey that I was always destined to take... I just never thought I would walk with so many that, as my friend Ant puts it, "carry the faith." No longer reliant on validation from tired regressive formats, we are determined to carve out a new path, one that’s less travelled, and more celebrated. But before we get into that, first things first…

PROMOTIONAL IMAGE, VIRTUES CHRONICLES

Virtue’s Chronicles

Yes our first chapter (Virtues Chronicles) is finally coming to an end, and we have discussed many variations on release schedules here at HQ, over the past few months. Having toyed with the idea of releasing a bumper issue with the remainder of Virtues Chronicles in it, as well as looking at the original plan of individual issue release - which worked heavily around appearance at events that were cancelled throughout the year – we’ve made an executive decision. We’ve decided to release the forthcoming Issue 3 as originally projected including Part Three of Virtue’s Chronicles, but the fourth and final parts remaining will not be featured in the periodical going forward, (ie. Issue 4) - the rest of the story exclusive to the forthcoming standalone paperback.

The Issue format was always one that was subject to change and never intended to be a serialisation of the entire story of Genesis. That is what the books are for. Now that there are other Chapters being worked on we can expect the periodical to take on the more promotional role it was expected to originally have. This will keep the Issue’s current, as we move towards a time where books are launched independent of support through comic con appearances and the like.

Now although that means those exclusively following the comic will not find out how Virtue’s Chronicles ends, there can’t be many of those kind of die-hard fans that wouldn’t want the paperback anyway. So it’s an executive decision, and fuck it it’s done. It’s for the best.

...The paperback?

Although the exact details aren’t yet finalized, we expect to launch Virtue’s Chronicles as a standalone paperback at the True Believers Festival in February 2015. The book will contain various other artwork and content relating to the location and setting, as well as the entire Chapter with various desired revisions. (Special Edition if you will, but don't worry I'm not changing anyones lightsaber color, just a few minor niggles.)

We fully expect as suggested above, entire Chapters to transcend the periodical and we’ll keep on moving towards this. It’s a very complicated story and chopping it into smaller pieces isn’t going to help long term with continuity and so on.

The Kindle

We've finally taken our first steps into digital distribution, via the Amazon Kindle market. The elusive Issue 1 has sold out in physical form, and with the aforementioned launch of the full standalone papeback, we will not be reprinting any of the printed Issues past their initial runs. This keeps the periodical both relative to our journey and an extremely rare item as the years go on. It's also immensely practical, for business reasons obviously. The Kindle platform gives us the unique advantage of making the Issue's once again available, and to potentially reach a much larger audience, both locally and otherwise. Smartphones can run Kindle apps now so the appeal to this once device specific service has signficantly grown. With our limited ability to ship overseas in any substantial manner, it also helps us lay the foundation for a larger audience. The platform also allows us promotional distribution, i.e. giving it away for free to coincide with upcoming public appearances...in Cheltenham...hint hint. So #staytuned for more news on that. Issue 1 KIndle Link Issue 2 Kindle Link So... Issue 3?

With these new plans for the future of Virtue's Chronicles, we're pleased to announce that Issue 3, featuring the third part of James adventure will be launching at the end of the summer. (August) A definitive release date is impending, but the periodical itself is basically finished, we’re just fine-combing it.

PROMOTIONAL IMAGE, TONIGHT THE CITY SLEEPS...

Tonight The City Sleeps

So, the next chapter is coming along nicely with the script for the first part recently completed and finalized, thanks to help from series veteran and star of this chapter Anthony. Ant lent his pen/mind to help give his character that element of realism that I couldn't do alone, and has helped shape the script to the green light. Preliminary drawing has now started, and as mentioned in the past, the art style for this chapter adopts a completely different approach compared to Virtue's Chronicles. This decison has really allowed the story and tone dictate the visual appearance, and it’s shaping up to be one hell of a crash into the School Of Bitches universe. Fireworks will fly. Expect to see a ton of promotional work, (see above) in the next few months building up to its launch. The first part of Tonight The City Sleeps will be the primary feature of Issue 4, which will be released at this years Malta Comic Con - in November... and we've already got some interesting plans for our return. (see above again!) More news on this Chapter's progress will follow over the next few months.

Finally, for all things Tonight The City Sleep related we're changing the hashtag, to #ticktiktick, as I don't want to start trending with the next militant slaughter. Although our PR Guy would probably advise the other way on that?

Oh yeah... Where is your PR Guy? Well despite his best efforts, (see Issue 3 - well when it's out!) he is still 'part of the team' and still working with us on all things PR related. With our decision to have a quieter schedule for the first part of the year: - no releases, few public appearances - Lee's took a backseat, working largely behind the scenes on our behalf, and doing something he calls 'actual work'. Despite his cavalier attitude he is actually quite important, and has been tending to other responsibilities.

"Being in #PR is not just all press releases and reposting articles about #PR. You have to have nice shoes too. " - our PR Guy

Rest assured us he will be taking a more active role in the coming months. Well that's what the message said.

WORKING LOGO, FROM THE ASHES

...From The Ashes

The SOB universe was never intended to be explored by just the few that will write Genesis. The actual story arc of Genesis is entrusted to a close circle, but the 'universe', that is, the world in which the story of Genesis runs its course, is rife for exploration..

From The Ashes will be a series of books, that are each an anthology of stories from varying locations in the world of Genesis. Moving away from central characters and plotlines, in some cases visiting places where characters never even went. This allows freedom for contributors to explore the subject matter, whilst not detracting from the storytelling in the Genesis arc. Dhalia has taken Creative Lead and is set to reveal the project at the Malta Comic Con with Premonitions, a collaborative works set in the dystopian Malta we outlined last year. Dhalia’s working with a handful of Maltese based artists of various notoriety and hopes this to be the footnote to the first fully-fledged ‘From The Ashes’ book. In collaboration with Wicked Comics, we are delivering a presentation at the Comic Con to attract other potential artists, writers for contribution to the full book.

Premonitions?

Expected to be approximately 12 pages or so, the booklet will feature the work of Jasper Schellekens, Maria Isabella Grech, the ominous Shin Obi and of course Dhalia himself – and their respective interpretations of the subject matter. Building from the foundation made with the postcards we showcased last year, some of the stories/art will pay homage, whilst continuing to add to the universe. Deadlines are set for August on this one so we should have some pretty pictures to show you soon. I will keep you updated on this one.

So about those public appearances...

SCARDIFF - Sunday 19th October 2014 - CONFIRMED The horror expo is in our hometown so we couldn't not go really. Just a month prior to Malta, we'll be promoting Issue 3 as well as a series of exclusive postcards especially made for the event. These will depict Cardiff post-event, and introduce the audience to the city that will see many an epic battle before the story is over.

MALTA COMIC CON - Saturday November 29th / Sunday 30th 2014 - CONFIRMED GUESTS Unsurprisingly, what will be third visit to Malta will be accompanied by suitable fanfare. Described as fan favorites by the organizers Wicked Comics, our return this year to our spiritual home will be extended.This time our appearance at the Con will be preceeded by an exhibition, and as well as the aforementioned From The Ashes presentation, Premonitions and the release of Issue Four, this years Con is shaping up to be a landmark for School Of Bitches.

 ??? - TBA September 2014 - CONFIRMED Despite our attendance at Comic Con’s and the assortment of similarly themed events we are, as I started out saying - looking to carve a new path. The comic-con model can only take us so far, with the focus typically on the more traditional comic format, soon someones going to notice we're trying to dismantle everything they've built and they're going to get mad. So we're being pre-emptive.  Unhappy with the name Comic Con generally, we have been discussing the idea of a different kind of event/exhibition for some time... and... well, it looks like we may have an opportunity to see exactly what a ‘School of Bitches’ exhibition would entail. Further details on this mysterious event will follow shortly.

A few things I haven't mentioned...

The SOB logo - I did mention it in a previous post but just to reiterate. Everybody knows the name, its not changing. We could give a fuck. The 'favicon' logo is just fit for purpose.

Dropping the Chapter number - We decided to drop the Chapter numbers from the titles on press releases/ promotions. Again not representational of any massive shift, the numbers are essentially still there and will remain printed and included as they always were intended to across the works itself. Whilst work continues to move towards individual chapter release, the addition of the chronology only serves to confuse the reader, as of yet they have no point of reference.

Uh...like the whole Volume II thing? - Nothing has changed here, it's just been pushed back. Dhalia working on From The Ashes: Premonitions, myself on Virtue's Chronicles and Tonight The City Sleeps, it's been all hands on deck. By the early part of next year, my duties as resident artist will have reduced, as will have Dhalia's somewhat, so we will pick up where we left off with our plans for Volume II. Once Tonight The City Sleeps... is finished, there will be a substantial amount of time to work on this, as Myles is doing the artwork for One Love freeing me up to work on the future... expect more about this side of things in the next State Of The Union address next year.

Social Studies? - We are planning to add a section to the website, detailing, reviewing and reflecting upon various forms of post apocalyptic fiction. From TV shows to books, comics... the intent is to deliver the definitive commentary on everything post apocalyptic - a how to guide as it were. Don't get it twisted though, this is not going to be your typical Empire magazine reviews... more details on this very soon.

 State Of The Union format - next years address may not be a lengthy tumblr update... it may actually come in the form of a broadcast direct from School Of Bitches own HQ.... Sounds like a job for toddcollierfilm ! #staytuned

And those other things I did... Not wanting to be a politician about shit and forget everything else I mentioned at the beginning of the year, here’s a quick breakdown of the rest;

One Love – progress on this Chapter is going slow, but the script for what would be described as a 3 issue arc is complete, and progress has been made on the technical layout. We hope to have a further update in as many weeks. In the words of The Rock (circa 2012) Boots To Asses.

1995- Forever – no progress has been made on this since last updating, mainly due to Dhalia's focus on From The Ashes. The intention is to resume again beginning of the year.

Something In The Way: Dhalia is actually working on this Chapter, despite his involvement with From The Ashes. With much of the story written, he is currently still scripting with the intention to finish by the end of the year.

Things To Do In Gloucester When You’re Dead: work on this has been suspended as focuses shifted to other tasks. We expect to begin again early next year. This Chapter is the last of Volume II so the urgency is minimal at the moment.

Judas is near a finished script with Requiem For A Submarine, a Chapter that has finally found it’s legs in the School Of Bitches universe. I’m looking forward to getting teeth into this one, this completely fresh perspective in the universe is going to be the first steps for an audience into a much larger world. Involving no direct plot alignment with anything in the main arc, it’ll be interesting to see how this is received.

Attend 2D Festival Derry 2014  CANCELLED: Unfortunately Derry did not happen this year, which was a tragedy considering its success in attracting such wide variety of people. We supported a local comic shop (MAD about Music) on Comic Book Day, and continue good relations with our friends over at Uproar Comics, who are becoming behemoths in this game. Fingers crossed the event resumes next year.

Attend Lakes Comic Festival DECLINED: Declined invite to the prestigious A Club of British Comic Events, I guess our name doesn’t ring out quite loud enough yet, or at least into the right ears. Ah well. I’d hold my glass up... But I don’t drink.

And finally, just one more thing...

1 OF 5 SHORTLISTED FOR: Best British Black & White Comic,True Believers Awards, London Film & Con, Earl Court, July 12th 2014.

"Needless to say, I had the last laugh." - Alan Partridge

Yeah so have I.

Work is going well, I'm perhaps a little behind schedule but nothing beyond the outer reaches. I've maybe about half way through the final drawings for all of Part Three of Virtue's Chronicles. I'm hoping to put in some hard work this week and finish that all by Sunday, perhaps more realistically by next weekend... we shall see. Part Three is essentially scripted, although there are a couple of parts that might need revisiting... but other than for aesthetic the pages don't need to be fully lettered and "print ready" as it were, until the other parts are complete. The plan was originally to start Part Four by April/May, so I'm just slightly out anyhow, and with our most "recent news" - we have room to breath. We are making a sincere shift to have Virtue's Chronicles not only fully released, (via Issue Three) but as paperback, available in its entirety. More news on this soon.

Dhalia continues work on From The Ashes, almost completely independently, working closely with Jasper who is illustrating  one of the featured strips throughout. More on this soon too. In the meantime it's back to the grindstone, and as you can see it's looking pretty.

PAGE 22 AND 23, (PART THREE, VIRTUES CHRONICLES)

Well I'm literally days away from the first big scanning, a process that is both tedious but exciting, as it's the first time I really get to see the bunch of drawings and sketches I've amassed over the last couple of months come to life. Have a couple of things to do some interior shots of the old Police Station and I'm good. They'll be some minor changes I still have left to do, and redraw, but essentially a working model of Part Three I should have in my hands in the next couple of weeks. I always print off an "alpha build" of each comic myself, and then scribble all over it, with arrows, and proposed locations for speech, notes down the side. They'd make quite the ebay prize if School Of Bitches went HBO! But more than that it's like a ritual, each time the comic evolving, streamlining like a computer game through its multiple iterations. More finesse is adopted incorporating the style to the work, for me Part One was different: a style adopting the original framed comic to this new frame-less limbo was the task itself. With Part Two the style was adopted from inception, leaving me free to really experiment - perhaps too much in places, the murky contrast often blending pages together, albeit intentionally so. Part Three is again more considerate of its subject matter, the shots and angles carefully considered against the chaotic view, as to not lose the flow whilst still keeping the pages loose.

CITY CENTRE, GLOUCESTER (PENCIL) The intention now is to script and finish this part in the next few weeks, and then move immediately on to Part Four. We've decided to finish Virtue's Chronicles in it's entirety in Issue Three, meaning Issue Three could potentially be 90 pages, with every part so far running around the 30 pages or so mark. This model we've decided to run with was referenced in the State Of The Union just a few short months ago, and thus why I declared it would be a bi-annual update as things can change a lot quickly on this side of the fence. With that said, much of what was stated in the address has been incorporated just not for the reasons we thought it would. From The Ashes, a project that Dhalia will be heading up, incorporates the world that is outlined in the Genesis story, (#TheEvent and such.) but focuses on a particular area or country. (ie. Malta.) The book will be presented as a collection of short stories, comic strips, and as yet other undetermined contributions and will feature alongside relevant articles/artwork. The work will seek to embody much of the mythology outlined in the Genesis story, but will serve more as a framework for the reader, who isn't aware of what has already been written - the first contact with the world created will be through this book, then the story - as we continue to release that episodically. The project's intention is to include local artists and writers of the particular area, and as such almost serves as a miniature version of the whole Genesis Project; to have writers/artist draw/write/contribute on entire Chapters. We have big plans for this project and Dhalia is currently working on the framework for a pilot,  tentatively entitled Premonitions... more news on this will come shortly. We continue work on the other elements of the project:

We met with the guys from Wicked Comics last week after the London Super Con to discuss various things regarding the Malta Comic Con and beyond. More on this soon...

Despite our best efforts weren't granted access to the glorious kingdom that apparently is the Lakes Comic Festival. In the words of Lemmy "Tatta giro, maybe next time, eh" Indeed maybe next time.

We have successfully become a part of the True Believer's Festival, a Con set for it's first time in 2015, set in Cheltenham seemed only fitting to get in on the ground floor of a Con so close to Gloucester, a captive local audience for a very intimate familiar works. We'll be supporting the Con in various ways, again more on this soon.

In the next few days, Thought Bubble's submission opens up so it'll be interesting to see if this works in a similar way to the Lakes. We'll be sure to be applying.

We were in talks to attend at SCARdiff which is likely to go ahead now, this is another Con set to take place in the October time, but by this point we expect to have the rest of Virtue's Chronicles complete and available.

I'm anxious to start on some work for Ant's Chapter, I hope to catch up with him next week on a social visit to Gloucester, and see what his input is looking like... should give me some direction for the work. All in all work is going well, and as expected...it was always going to be a quiet part of the year, but the working without break certainly helps with the intention to have enough material available, that we can attend a larger number of the bigger Cons for perhaps 2015 and beyond. Well I've wrote a lot. I'll leave it there... Or here rather...

Last month, I returned to Gloucester, having missed family Christmas thanks to my reckless disregard for the holiday season - spending instead the festivities in the surreal city of Amsterdam. It was good to return. To feel human again, if for a moment. I wandered the backstreets of Gloucester - clocking over 9 miles... Just to see some sites, broken buildings, abandoned – buildings that no longer stood, or had been turned into a NEXT or a coffee shop. Some places I haven’t laid eyes on for years,  or streets I haven’t walked down since I was 17... it’s crazy like time echoes there, a footprint I left... the moody weather accompanying, it was inspirational... and I've been hard at work since my return.

Whilst in Gloucester I secured a new contributor to the School Of Bitches ensemble. The man’s got lifetime VIP membership anyway, but it’s awesome news to have long time friend and inspiration for the character of Ant, Anthony Rutherford, officially onboard. He’ll be scripting - essentially “voicing” the character of Ant, providing an invaluable and authentic insight into the character, that I alone could never do justice. I look forward to reading the material.

WUE Insignia, working concept (Myles)

Speaking of new contributors, Myles and Dhalia have finished the working script of One Love, and he has now started work on the imagery - working to establish a ‘baseline’ style he’s happy to move forward with. Really looking forward to this Chapter and having a different role in things, although there are a lot of moving parts in this story, as it introduces 3 different periods in time before settling into a singular timeline for the main story. This is already proving temperamental, with regards to continuity so this is something that will be carefully monitored throughout, to ensure no cross wires or wasted time. This is a good test, to see how the limited understanding of the entire story by any contributing artist/writer, effects the end product, and what kind of problems we might encounter. We are fortunate to have the ability to work very closely with Myles on this Chapter where as future contributors this might not be as feasible, so ironing out any creases we can at this point is crucial. It’s exciting to see this Chapter grow, we'll have some more pictures to feast your eyes on soon I promise.

After the State Of The Union, the next meeting led to the confirmation that the rest of Virtue’s Chronicles will be contained within Issue Three, meaning the remaining three parts (Part Three Four and Five) will feature in that Issue. We are at an advantage, as at this stage, where as we have no standard requirement that we are forsaken to uphold. This coupled with our more selective approach to Comic Cons going forward - means we are not stuck in a pattern of producing Issues for the sake of having something new to take to a Con.

If anything attending Con’s can be supported with new work, unrelated to the story, better showcasing the project... (Ie. the reception of the postcards of local landmarks..) Completing Chapters will now be the primary focus, so although the Issue format will still be released, the eventual plan may lead to the Issue being something that works in conjunction with individual Chapter releases, rather than just being used to showcase Chapters. The idea that one day the Issue works to profile the story, join the dots, add some more. Certain issues could even potentially adopt a 2000AD style, with several different shorts, relating to the Chapter currently being released. All working concepts, but I like the idea the Issue format will grow, and evolve according to the product.

In actual news, I’m about 3-4 pages shy of having all of the “preliminary” character drawing for Part Three, which I imagine I will finish in the next couple of days. Though there is still much to do, this is a significant chunk of Part Three done. Although still working to the model of finishing Virtue's Chronicles in the next Issue, I will still work on them as separate parts, ie. lettering, and finishing all pages for print, before moving on to the next part.

I think this will keep it fresh, and still give us opportunity to have some work to showcase over the next few months, rather than a bunch of unfinished sketches. I'm also keen to start work on some landmark images, this time the focus on Cardiff...but more on that soon. We continue as instructed to raise our "media profile"  - Issue Two was recently reviewed by Patron magazine,(see the article here.) and just before Christmas, writer Joshua Pantalleresco interviewed the whole team on Genesis and it's future. (see the article here and here.)The interview was a lot of fun, and we have more coming up. So stay tuned. As for the weeks ahead, I'll move on to the scenes in Part Three next, and Part Two left us in the city centre, so can't wait to start work on some more traditional post apocalyptic scenery, ie. abandoned cityscapes. So for now, no new pictures to show I'm afraid.

Have this old one instead.