Nick Roche Is A Bad Man

MEET AND NO VEG

2012-01-13T19:29:00.008Z

Look, I'm here now, and that's all that matters.

This week sees the release of the new Transformers Ongoing, MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE #1. Wroted by James Roberts and colourded by Josh Burcham, it's a comic I'm immensely proud of, and something that i think would catch they eye of the casual TF-browser, as well as comic fans in general. That's always how I approach anything I work on: make it a good comic first and foremost, and it's something to strive for when tackling Transformers. if you have any resistance to robo-comics or you've been burned before, I beg of you, for your own good, check out this (and its sister title, ROBOTS IN DISGUISE, out in two weeks) little peach and then make up your mind. Previews are on the web, but below is the un-coloured line-art for the first few pages. Love to hear what you think.

(Incidentally, Josh Burcham put in one of my favourite ever jobs from him on this issue. He's my go-to guy when I wanna look slick, and man, he nails it in this issue. Give it a Whirl...)

Sadly, this is my last interior work on TFs for the foreseeable, but I'm sure our paths will cross again. I love telling stories in that universe as it's easily as rich as any other franchise-fiction doing the rounds, and IDW have played a massive part in making it so. MTMTE & RID is good comics, folks. Don't be robotist: buy 'em.

I'd say you'd love to meet me, wouldn't you? I'd say you'd like nothing more than to scrutinise me from every conceivable angle and blow on my ear-hairs. Well tomorrow, 14th January 2012, you can flippin' well do that. I'm doing an in-store signing session from 2pm onwards in Dublin City Comics. All the factlets are here: http://www.facebook.com/DublinCityComics and I'd love to see you and your faces. I'll be flogging Wreckers prints too, so bring moolah! What larks, Pip.

If you're the sort of person who likes to avoid me, then go there anyhow, only not when I'm there. Ridiculous range of collectible toys and amazing service with your American comics. I recommend 'em, and that should be enough for you.

I think this ol' blog will get more of an airing in the next few weeks, mainly as I drum up interest in upcoming appearances; I'm at the Heroes and Legends Con in Belfast in February, so please pop along and say hi to me there. Sketch sessions and prints ahoy.

Oh, and also, there's a recent Q&A with me on the IDW Message boards. Head here for a mirthsome read. Any other Qs you'd like me to A, send 'em to this blog! It might keep me regular!

I tolerate most of you.

Nick

BUY ME

2011-08-09T12:42:00.008+01:00

Hey you! Do you remember me? I used to sit next to you at school...

Yes, yes, jokes (and serious points) a-plenty to be made about my lack of online presence. Seriously, if I was here more often, you'd tire of me. As it is, I'm like a beloved drunken uncle, pinwheeling his way through your house for a couple of hours on Christmas Eve, bringing joy to all I encounter, without lingering long enough that you realise what a sad and hollow figure I truly cut...

It's obvious that I want something, isn't it? well, sometimes, what I want and what you - Timothy Smythe-Public - want are the same thing. So let's deal.

This Friday, I attend Auto-Assembly 2011, Europe's biggest Transformers convention. (Check it out here, hit's quite the larf: www.autoassembly.org.uk/) Apart from interviewing my childhood idols, Simon Furman and Geoff Senior, in a 25th anniversary retrospective on seminal robo-epic, Target:2006, and facing off against David Kaye (Beast Wars Megatron) and Gregg Berger (G1 Grimlock) in a voice-acting battle of halfwits, I'll also be signing and sketching all weekend. And flogging two brand-honking-new 'Last Stand of the Wreckers' themed art prints. Check 'em out below:

Tasty, huh? Coloured by the multi-hued and semi-skilled Josh Burcham. It's a true Wrecker Wreunion, and you can pick these bad boys up (A3, 160 gsm) for ten British pounds per print. I've been asked quite a bit if I'll make these available to buy online afterwards. The answer is: Highly Unlikely. I'm just not very good for staying on top of practical matters like that, so if anyone wants one, ask a friendly AA-Attendee to grab one for ya. My earlier prints (The Revelations Covers, and the Starscream And The City one) are also available at a reduced rate this year too.

What else? Well, I recently wrote and illustrated a How to Draw Transformers: Prime book for IDW/Scholastic. this book - weirdly - is NOT available in the shops! You can only get it through eductaional publisher Scholastic for your school. But I'll have limited copies available for sale this weekend too. Here's a sampler of the art:

Yep, all your favourite Prime characters drawn in my easily-imitable style. Hopefully the book helps in breaking down the pretty complex CG character models into something a little more drawable. Buy one and find out! Seriously, these books are rare.

Rarer still is original TF comic artwork by Nick Roche for sale. Not this weekend! For the serious collectors (and for the silly ones with too much coinage) pages from Transformers Ongoing #13, and Transformers: Infestation #1 & #2 will be up for sale. They're pricey, around the £100-£150 mark, with some pages a little under, and others a bit over. Covers are around the £200+region. They're big buys, and I don't like letting them go very often, but I know some people like a bit of warning that these things are available. So they can skip lunch and buy one I suppose.

That's about it! Come along and say hi! Can't wait to sketch, sign and sob my weekend away! Till All Are Brum!

You've Been Nicked

DnA FTW

2011-01-19T03:54:00.004Z

I've been a fan of the separate and combined talents of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning for about twenty-three years now. So it was another lifetime highpoint to get to work with them on the upcoming TRANSFORMERS: INFESTATION, due out next week (January 26/27) from all discerning stockists. The book's as fun as you'd hope, and more in-continuity than fans may have imagined.

As a little nod to the D and the A, I lashed together a shot of some of their individual and joint successes; Nova and Rocket Raccoon from their cosmic Marvel stint, and Death's Head II, the Abnett-helmed character I drew more as a teenager than any other. It was almost as fun as working on Infestation.

You've Been Nicked

LAST ISSUE OF THE LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS

2010-05-18T21:18:00.009+01:00

Ready to get Wrecked one last time?

TRANSFORMERS: LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS #5 punches your comic shop in the bollocks tomorrow, the 19th of May ( it donkey-punches the rest of the world on Thursday 20th) and it marks the end of a truly phenomenal chunk of my professional life. THANK YOU to all those who picked up each issue, supported it, blogged and posted about it, created fan banners and generally made the world Wreckers Aware. The feedback James, Josh (and the wrest of the Wrecking Crew) have received over the last few months has just been tackle-ticklingly terrific. We realise that not everyone that wanted to managed to get on the Wreckers bus, so for those of you who know that something special happened but just didn't manage to get Wrecked-up, the TPB collection of LSOTW hits in August, and all being well (and the planets at IDW Editorial aligning) we'll give you a jam-packed, exclusive-thronged package filled with the 5 issues, plus a ton of supplementary fun. Servos crossed...

So, to accompany the release of #5, let me link you to an interview I did with Sohaib Awan on his EXCELLENT "Fictional Frontiers" pop culture-based radio show/podcast. It was from a while back, so I think I'm still talking up the coming issues, but there might be some stuff you've not heard. Plus, check out some of the other Fictional Frontiers shows on tap there. There's something for every geek. For me talking Wreckers, click here

Also, by now, The first four issues of Wreckers are available on iTunes with the IDW app. And what's more, I'm told that you can get in on the action with yer PSP too.

Go here and press the magic buttons that put the comic I made onto your pocket game box, yeah?

So that's it. On behalf of Andy, Denton, Carlos, Chris, Joana, Waki, Andrew, Guido, Josh, James and myself, thanks for taking this series to your fuel pumps. I don't know if anything I work on will be this well-received again, so I'll enjoy the buzz while it lasts. If you want more, drop a line to the Eds at IDW, or send a note to letters@idwpublishing.com, and hopefully James and I will return very soon.

Wreck and Rule.

Last Stand of the Wankers. Photo by Whittle

You've Been Nicked

LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS #3 OUT THIS WEEK

2010-03-23T10:33:00.004Z

HUGE thanks to the super-talented, and uber-hunky Chris Mowry for putting this poster together for us.

Last Stand of The Wreckers #3 is released March 24th in North America and on the 25th everywhere else. And if you missed the first two issues...

LES WRECKERS DIGITALES

Graham Thomson of The Hub (http://www.the-hub.co.uk/) puts it better than I ever could:

"The first two issues of the critically-acclaimed IDW mini-series "Transformers: The Last Stand of the Wreckers" by James Roberts and Nick Roche are now available to download to your iPhone/iPod/iPad* for just £1.19 per issue!

You can download the IDW Transformers Comics app for free via iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/transformers-comics/id335638555?mt=8 and from there buy/download individual issues directly to your device.

Each comic can be viewed either as one-panel-per screen (by holding your device sideways) or one-page-per-screen (by holding your device upright).

And you can even take screen captures of any page/panel for use as wallpaper on your device. Just imagine looking at a screen of beautiful Nick Roche artwork every time someone sends you a message, Facebook update or Tweet!

£1.19 really is exceptional value for a RochertsTM product. Other Transformers comics are available via the App for the same price, but clearly aren't as good value.

So, if you have an iPhone/iPod/iPad* or are a pirate with an iPatch, then do your bit today to support James and Nick and cement a long and utopian future of RochertsTM Transformers comics for our children, their children, and their licensed bio-engineered offspring!

*iPad coming 3 April 2010."

Wreckers: A-where? A-here.

2010-03-03T02:44:00.006Z

Stand fast, Wrecktums. And thanks for maintaining optimum vigilance in my absence. I never stopped being Wreckers aware; it's just the Wreckers I was aware of were the ones that still needed to be drawn in #5. (A part of me dies with every death I must draw...)

So here's a round-up:

WIKI-WAW

More robot dreams (electric sheep optional) coming true as the Transformers Wiwi site Wrecked itself, like, right up. Click here to see how those wonderful folk Wreckerised the logo and slapped in their entry on those Wrecker guys as there featured article for the duration of WAW. Guys, I dunno which of you wonderful motherfolkers are responsible, but mahoosive thanks. Seriously.

TFI TFORMERS

ANOTHER site has roofied this half-assed idea, toaken it home, done unspeakable things to it, and taken polaroids. High fives and over-egged ass-grabs at TFormers.com. They've thrown up a nice hoo-rah call to arms to whip all the uneducated into a lather. They're also responsible for THE innovation of the 21st century, the movement to Wreck A Friend (WAF. Wonderful, wonderful stuff outta those guys. Get on it!

ME TUBES ARE WRECKED

WAW has even infiltrated Youtube! Infamy at last! They don't let just anyone on there, y'know?

A wonderful chap I only know as Peaugh (but who writes for Fangoria Comics) up-chucked a great video of him saying nice (like, RIDICULOUSLY nice) things about Last Stand of The Wreckers. Thanks so, so much man, that's really cool to hear. What's even coler, is that he came across LSotW inkbot, John 'Waki' Wycough (Where, we're unsure. His house? The changing room in the local swimming baths?) and grabbed some incredible pieces of original inked Last Stand artwork for himself. He has my two favourite pages in the whole series in his collection now. Swine. He also managed to grab the page from #1 with the first appearance of the now universally beloved Wrookies. So click til ya can't!

DOWN UNDERLORD

Our Antipodean friends (Yes, we're friends now) are doing their bit here, generally being smug with their masses of Wrecker toy photos. All iterations of Wrecker are accounted for, and it's enjealousing to see all those toys from yesteryear that you'll never own. Well, not for me. I have them all.

LAST STAND OF THE RUSTING CARCASS

And lastly in our round up, here's a...mental website which I'm glad is on our side! Carcass is the man in charge, and his sit features a very Impactful piece of art from the glorious Marcelo Matere. Gotta be worth the trip for that, kids?

And that's it for now! Remember the point of it all: Last Stand of The Wreckers #2 is out pretty much everywhere, except where it isn't - and it'll be out there tomorrow. Or the next day. Just don't give up! You can track it down if you Dare!

I hate myself.

But I love YOU.

Don't be Wary: Be Aware.

You've Been Nicked

Wrecker Awareness Week Continues

2010-02-26T18:44:00.010Z

Thank you, you valiant fools, for getting behind WAW. This stirring campaign was even frontpaged on The Allspark, which is surely a more auspicious honour than getting pixelspace from USA Today. I'm looking into organising a telethon, with phones manned by the guy who played Emirate Xaaron in the comics and the bloke who turned the piano in Target: 2006. Even toying with a 'Make #2 a Sell-out, and I'll spare Character X in the finale!'offer (I'm not really.)

But the important thing is the AWARENESS, people. I'm assured that in the places that have yet to receive it, Wreckers #2 will be available next New Comic Day. So that's next Wednesday in the States and Thursday over these parts. Tell people why they need to get on board this bus (reprints of #1 are available, sisters) and that the mass-dissection of #2, which people - and not just my Mam - say is better than #1, can begin once EVERYONE has their copy next week.

We, the cool kids, know how good this is. So let's make the party even bigger. Educate the Ignorant. Or something equally cozy.

Something else to be aware of: there's no profile in this issue. Sad, isn't it? But there are TWO in #3. And they won't be republished anywhere else, not even in the Trade collection of LSotW. So the monthly format is the way to get your Wrecker fix.

Feel free to circulate the Ironfist Awareness Appeal image in my previous post. Use it as your signature or banner on the boards you visit. Hell, print it out and stick it in your local comic shop. And let's make this a yearly event, eh? Even if the sequel isn't out by then. (What?)

David Willis' really quite excellent Shortpacked! is highlighting the cause with a Wrecker A Day for Wreckers Awarness Week (WAD4WAW) so Roche Bless Him.

The lovely Liz (Jeysie) has shown Rotorstorm the love he pours on himself by featuring him in her own forum sig:

And Andrew, who posts as Jhiaxus on the Ozformers board has captured documentary footage of The Last Stand of The Wreckers:

So be aware - be WRECKER aware. If the comic's not out now, then it will be next week. And there's lots of lovely people (specifically oneshallstand.com) online that will happily assist you.

You've Been Nicked

Wreckers Awareness Week

2010-02-25T16:14:00.026Z

So when we last spoke, we were discussing the good fortunes of Last Stand of The Wreckers #1. Little did I know that said comic was destined to sell out. Like, everywhere. Guys, thank you SO much for making this series more of a personal milestone than it already was. And screw buying it - thanks for enjoying it as much as you all seemed to. A reprint of #1 (featuring a spoiler-heavy cover...) is now out and about. I think I can say that if you're a fan of a good story well-told, whether you like TFs or not, you'll get something out of this series. It ties in and compliments the ongoing IDW Transformers saga, but you don't need to know anything other than what appears in our 22-page installments to pick up on what's happening in this series. So if you're a lapsed robot-comic fan who wants one last hurrah with Springer, Kup, and yeah...even Impactor, then track #1 down if you haven't already.

Now, #2 of Wreckers is unleashed, and at this stage that should apply worldwide. Due to a horrific road accident last week, not all of IDW's stock reached their destinations. Two truck drivers were injured severely in the incident, so thoughts and prayers aimed directly at them, people. But one of the minor upshots of this was that there's been some confusion about when and where the second installment of Last Stand can be located. It's out there now, Wrecktums, so seek it out. I have declared the next seven days Wreckers Awareness Week, and would like to give over a few moments of this blog for a very important message.

So spread the word (as you've been doing all along, you wonderful creatures)to the Transformers and comic message boards you populate and let them know that the Last Stand continues apace. Some are saying #2 is better than #1, so that's a lovely upswing we'd like to continue. There seems to be a real buzz of grassroots support for this book, and YOU guys can't all be wrong. So hopefully we can get some new readers (Or G-9 Deniers as they should be labelled) hooked.

A snuggly bonus of all this Wreckage is that the fantasmic Shortpacked webcomic, the go-to barometer for all that's gud with geeks, gave a little shout-out, so much did they enjoy our Last Stand. David Willis: (author of said strip) just because I haven't gotten around to drawing a comic telling you how solidly I believe you to rock, doesn't mean I don't think it. Thank you, sir.

(The next edition of Shortpacked features clothing that I would insist on wearing to my next BotCon.)

I'd like to leave you with a load of spine-buffingly Wrecktastic banners and sigs that the Cool Kids have put together in support of the book. Most of these are culled from the IDW boards, with a nice one nicked from the Allspark. All are credited to their creators, with huge love and thanks from me and the Wrecking Crew. Keep 'em up, and keep smearing them about, like casserole on an actress.

By Martin Fisher

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442215506486337778" />

By HdE

This one's from Wingus of The Allspark:

By Wingus, from The Allspark

By Wingus, fron The Allspark

By Daniel W

By Bludgeon

By Rycochet

By Thunderwing

By Zhgingaah

You've Been Nicked.

What an Impact...

2010-01-29T02:05:00.013Z

Well, Wrecktums, it's been a dream-like 24 hours. As well as having my first Transformers #1 released since the one I vommed into an exercise book in 1986 (It was a Christmas issue, and featured a giant fan-made Decepticon city garage called Cargantua - I WISH I still had that level of creativity) I was able to share the honour with the fantastic creative of team of Tommy Colourlips (Josh Burcham) and Billy Inkhole (Waki 'John' Wycough) and Guernseyan ubermench, Damien Sparkes' best mate, James Roberts. James has wanted to have a crack at TFs pretty much as long as I have, and rightly so: He am a best. Add to this the viral internet psychosis which has given us all the thumbs up our apertures could handle, then things couldn't get much better. But I like to push my luck.

So I headed down to Forbidden Planet Dublin, where the wonderful Kevin who operates the Palace of Pulp (and assorted TV/film merchandise) has kindly agreed to run a massive Wreckers promo. Firstly, he led me behind his gaping wizard's curtain to sign all the copies of Last Stand of the Wreckers in the shop.

Jesus, I look rough...

And man, are there a lot of copies! Kevin kindly expanded his order to accommodate the big demand there seems to be for this series. So this was a huge deal for me personally. When I was 15 (and as we all know, that's the age when we're all borderline special needs, and 100% deluded) I self-published a comic called Captain Ireland (BIG step down from Cargantua, right ladies?)and persuaded the lovely FP people to stock my little photocopied nonsense. And since then, I've always associated getting the thumbs up from the city's biggest comic shop with 'making it' somehow. So it really was a special moment to sit silently with the comic I've given WAAAY too much of my life to, with my best girl Whittle beside me, and enjoy defacing every copy of Wreckers in the shop. Basically, if you buy your copy from Forbidden Planet, it's got traces of my DNA on it whether you want it or not. One copy in particular will actually make you pregnant. So the hunt is on!

A slightly more desirable offer is the one I mentioned in my previous post(below): Buy a copy of Last Stand from FP, and you'll enter into a draw to win an original Springer sketch. To push this aspect of the event, the crew in The Planet have controversially eschewed their sacred alphabetical order scheme and place Wreckers at eye-level! Van der Valk!

They've placed the framed drawing on display and everything, having to remove a Tommy Lee Edwards and Cameron Stewart sketch to accommodate the robotic awesomeness! Swivel, TLE! Spin on it, Stewart-o!

And there's evidence of my whorish nature in the front window of that most Forbidden of Planets. Look at 'im! Springer wants so badly to shove Hal Jordon's ring right on his finger!

Essentially what I'm saying is, no matter where you are in the country (Ireland that is), Forbidden Planet will look after you on The Wreckers front. And I've had good word that sales are brisk, m'fwends. So contact 'em, and be in witha chance to get a free drawing outta me. They do mail orders too, so no excuses. Correct?

On the subject of sales, reports all over say that this book has legs, with a couple of establishments in the UK down to their last couple of copies. Which is bonkers. So, y'know, I'm grateful for the attention, just like a dope-fiend cheerleader with daddy-issues. And I'll be soo nice to you...

BANNERMEN

Just wanted to steal some artwork off some addled-gentlemen who live on the internet. First of all, the pornographically talented Trever Hitchinson, who does variant covers on Wreckers, and is probably responsible for 78% of the sales so far, has made a Photoshop document of the Wreckers logo available for folk to create their own LSotW banners, artwork, promo-tugs or t-shirts. It looks like this:

And is available here: trevhutch.deviantart.com/journal

The Best of the Rest I've come across on an internette are -

This one from Rycochet:

This is the best thing Shaun Knowler has ever done:

And this heartfelt treat from the brazenly-gifted Matthew C Adams:

I confess that without knowing this next one is something I've wanted to see for a LONG time. It comes from Kup Kollaborator Kris Karter. The man's barely human, but all-genius:

And is this the first LSotW-based fanfiction? I tell the now that it is canon, and nothing will ever be done to contradict that. From the home of...just horrible jokes like this one, Andy Turnbull must surely apologise for this:

Go to weirdwithoutend.com for more of Andu's predominantly TF-themed funnies. Re-nick-ulous.

That's it; Feel free to send comments and crits and cwestions here. Buy Last Stand of the Wreckers at Forbidden Planet Dublin if you can, DEFINITELY go to eclecticmicks.com where they're all fucking showing me up at my own game and listen to me browbeat you more at thecomiccast.com.

I will never top that page 22 again in my career...

You've Been Nicked

Do Ya Wanna Get Wrecked...?

2010-01-25T18:20:00.006Z

IT'S A DIRTY JOB BUT SOMEONE'S GOTTA DO IT

So here it is, the run-up to the brain-flayingly anticipated launch of LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS, my reason for living for the last six months, as well as my reason for almost expiring, and DEFINITELY my reason for not spending time here. But where to start? Hmmm? You wanna win an original sketch of Springer by me?

Course ya do. Then buy a copy of Last Stand of The Wreckers #1 at Forbidden Planet Dublin. Every copy bought enters you into a raffle to win this grey-tone pic of ol' Springybits himself. Poster below:

I'm gonna sneak into the good 'ol FP on delivery day and scrawl a signature on each and every copy, so for signed comics, you know where to go kids! And a big thanks to Kevin and Jay at Forbidden Planet for wrangling this.

'COS WE'RE OUT TO SAVE THE WORLD - YEAH!

The Eclectic Micks are a bunch of Irish comic book artists who run a daily sketchblog. But all this week, the site has been transformed (I wonder if anyone will get that...?) to ECLECTIC WRECKS! Yep, each day, instead of crafting career-enchancing chances to make it big in the comics industry, the boys on the blog are sullying themselves by drawing a Wrecker A DAY! First up is Stephen 'Angel/The A-Team' Mooney with his sweet as a well-meaned love-thrust colour sketch of that Springer guy. Go to eclecticmicks.blogspot.com for a daily dose of damn fine drawings, and please leave a comment. The guys are going above and beyond drawing these guys for me, so send 'em your love. And tomorrow on the blog, 28 Days Later artist Declan Shalvey draws Kup. I wonder what possible overlap there could be there...

ABOUT THE WARS YOU'RE FIGHTING - GEE, THAT LOOKS LIKE FUN!

Done with reading about me talking about Wreckers? Well as of tomorrow evening, The Comic Cast (thecomiccast.com) will have a podcast available for you, your ears, and whatver other bits of the anatomy you feel I'd fit snugly into. Liam from the CC had a chat with me last week, so come and listen to what I have to say. Followed by buying my comic. Did I say that that's important?

A text interview is also available at the wonderful Transformers Ireland Online site, specifically at http://tfio.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=staffaves&thread=716&page=1. Sign up, log in and say hi. It's a very informal and fun place to talk ro-bollocks with like-minded fools.

YEAH, YOU BET WE CARE A LOT

And I need to take a second to thank the Wrecking Crew: James Roberts, my co-writer and Duocon partner; Josh 'Josh' Burcham, colour ninja and heart of the Wreckers; and John 'Waki' Wycough, ink fiend who's helping out on a very tough gig. And Denton, Andy and Carlos, our editors deserve a mighty mention for pulling this thing together.

So folks, go make Last Stand of The Wreckers a success. We've seen the hype online, and we've listened to what everyone has to say. This is a book for Transformers fans BY Transformers fans. I know that not everyone has stuck around at the IDW party over recent times, but good golly: big, honking robots in a story about a space prison-break? You can surely give this a twirl! This is the rigid filling for your empty holes, Transpeople! It's dark, it's scary, it's funny, it's tragic, and #1 features at least one decapitation!

That not all? God, you're like my mother. Alright then: every issue (bar #2 - oops!) contains EXCLUSIVE supplementary material that will NOT be reprinted in the trade paperback collection - there'll be all-new extra material for that. So for background goodies put together by James, Josh and myself, the monthly Wreckers series is the only place to be.

IT'S A DIRTY SONG BUT SOMEONE'S GOTTA SING IT NOW

Theme to 'Last Stand of The Wreckers'. Says everything the characters and creators want to say.

WRECK 'n' RULE.

BACK TO BLOG

2010-01-25T17:53:00.002Z

I've come back. Let's start straightening this mess out. New Year, New Me, New Posts.

First of all, an update on the commissions and prints situation: Yikes. I believe I mailed most of you last year updating you on my personal circumstances, but if not, mucho sorries. The bottom line is, I'm still up for (and actually looking forward to doing these commissions if you can wait past March. Yes, I realise that's a ridiculous length of time to hang on for a measly robo-drawing or print. So with that, anyone looking for a money-back refundio, holler, and I will also make that so. And everyone who's waiting, wants to wait, or is ready for the refund, gets a free, humble, total and utter apology for the delay. I won't be offering commissions again after this misstep, I fear.

Okay, stick with the blog, kids. It's about to get Wrecked...

You've Been Nicked

Get Nicked In Old Lahndahn Taaahhn!

2009-06-25T00:24:00.010+01:00

Wotcha, pickle-knickers! Like a digi-ninja or thrush flare-up, I arrive when least expected, scattering your tawdry lives tho the wind like matchwood.

Where've I been, I sense you asking? Ask your collective mums. However, I will tell thee THIS: I have been dividing my time between knocking out a short story for the upcoming Transformers: All Hail Megatron #15, - due out in this li'l Christian's spawnmonth, September - visiting Amerika and being embroiled in a mass love-in at BotCon with the cream of IDW's output, and languishing around the walls of Derry at an ace grassroots Comics festival, full of passion, pride and creativity, until I arrived reeking of opportunism and mercenary values.

Should I have told you all about these little jaunts earlier? Maybe even before they happened, ensuring maximum attendance? Of course I should. But if you lot didn't love the shuddering vinegar strokes of crashing disappoint that is my trademark, you wouldn't be here.

So the AHM piece is done and dusted, and its turdlike qualities are being polished by the colourist on Spotlight: Hardhead, Kris Carter. (Not really a spoiler but more bragging rights: there's a page in this story that features Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Prowl, Jazz, Hound, Hot Rod, Springer, Grimlock, Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Scorponok, Thunderwing, and Bludgeon. Oh, and Kup. If my friends could see me now!) I'm muy muy nervous about the little tale, as it will delineate clearly whether or not my self-scripted Spotlight: Kup was a massive fluke. Though IDW seem to err toward me having a dew-drop of potential, as it's been leaked that I'm to write and draw an entire mini-series featuring an as-yet undisclosed slesction of transforming robots. People seem keen so far on the idea, but the pressure to not suck shit through the oesophagus of a recently-deceased hamster is upon me.

BotCon was immense. Too many high points to mention, but being Touched by Stan, smiled at in a minor chord by Vince D, charmed by Gregg Berger (Who said "Me Grimlock Pissed Off!" in THAT voice!) impressed at the normal-sized chin of Gerrick Jenius Wyatt, and given a Cribs-style trip to the home of David Kaye (Voice of Optimus Prime and Megatron, depending on his mood) were pretty priceless. But it was hanging with IDW brass - like my editors Denton Tipton, Andy Schmidt and superstar clunge-summoner Chris Ryall, fellow wrobot writers Mike Costa and Chris Mowry (and his diligent carer, Erin) - and the phalanx of freakishly talented feckers like Josh Burcham, Casey Coller, Andrew Griffith, Shawn Knowler, Joana Lafuente, Marcelo Matere (who hung out with GUILLERMO DEL EFFING TORO at the 'Con, but thought it was Robert Rodriguez!)Robby Musso Evil Jenius Su and Josh Van Reyk (not to mention new BFFs Matt, Alejandro and Martin) which made the trip so totally Drift.

I also took the time while all the way over on the West Coast to pop down and see where all my seven-figure cheques are written down at IDW HQ. And did a dirty protest on Ryall's Mac. Good times!

Thirty Six hours after flying back from the States, I had to head on to Derry for the 2D festival. I went as a vital component of the Travelling Wilburys of the Irish comic scene, The Eclectic Micks. (Seriously peeps, check out eclecticmicks.blogspot.com, but only on Sundays. It's proof that I'm still alive.)Mick Mooney, Mick Shalvey and Mick Sliner came with, and we had a splendid time, sketching for nippers and nerds alike for five hours straight. David Campbell, the show's organiser, should be all proud of himself and stuff, innit. There was actual talent on display there too, including comics legends Bryan Talbot (wotta gent!), David Lloyd, D'Israeli and Glenn Fabry, as well as some of my childhood icons Mike Collins, Will Simpson and Liam Sharp. (Liam signed a very tender dedication to me in the front page of his debut novel, God Killers. Which leads me to believe that he wasn't absolutely smashed last November when I gave him a little kiss on the neck.) There was also some fresh talent on the turn in Derry; I was sat next to a little guy called Simeon Freeman, I think.

The scamp likes writing about robots too and was shilling a very professional-looking book called Rad Robots, which I think he made without his mum helping him. Either way, I signed a coupla things for him, and obliged when he asked me to draw some stuff for him. (Cheeky bugger asked me to draw 5 issues of a story he's cobbled together about robot dinosaurs. I said I'll do 4, and he accepted it manfully.)

Which leads me to the now; the present, that what-is rather than the whatnots. People, I bid thee to get to London town and behold an exhibit of my drawings. I'm sharing wallspace with The Boo and Jon Davis Hunt - two very different but very talented TF artists - in Orbital Comics and Collectibles on Great Newport Street as of last Friday and until the 19th of July. (Check the flyer posted hereabouts and orbitalcomics.com) I've got about fifteen pieces up, so head along and check it out. However, this Saturday, June 27th, I'll be joining Boo, Jon, my colouring chum Liam Shalloo and the Man Without Fur, Simon Furman at a signing from 2pm until 5pm. Hopefully the sun won't keep too many of you away, but please come down and say hi. I'll be flogging some Revelation prints too, so wrap your minds round that.

I thank that's it, really. The Commission situation has reached a bit of a freeze, but hasn't been forgotten, and I should be back on track with tackling them in july sometime. Thank you all SO much for your patience. It's genuinely appreciated.

Get outta here, youse bums!

You've Been Nicked.

25 Years Since Everything Changed

2009-05-08T23:18:00.003+01:00

I'm not quite as old as Kup (in my warm-up sketch, above) but today I feel it a little.

Today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the debut of Transformers. A quarter of a century ago, #1 of Marvel's limited series featuring the robots in disguise was released. I read of this with great interest - the news item popped up on various Transformers-related internet forums I visit, so it was hard to avoid - but I was about to let it slide without marking it. I'm just too busy to pop in a DVD (or preferably, ex-rental VHS) of the 86 Movie. Nor do I have the time to tinker around with any of my toys, or prise open any of the rapidly-multiplying pile of new, unopened figures I'm accumulating by the day.

And then I realised what I'm so caught up in doing that's preventing me from spending time with my robot chums. All I had to do was take a second and clock what was happening under my nose.

I'm drawing the splash page for an upcoming Transformers comic that I wrote.

Me: Drawing. Writing. Transformers.

The kid who didn't manage to get his own shape-changing toy robot until 1986, but who made and remade Lego effigies of Jazz and Optimus prime, and started spinning his own tales of giant alien robots in blank copybooks, filling them with lovingly-crafted scrawls of Bumblebee and Starscream...that little fella got to do it for real when he grew up.

Except by loving Transformers so much and dedicating himself to telling his own stories about them, and drawing them reflexively; OBSESSIVELY, over and over again, he never had to grow up.

I've said before that Transformers has ruined my life for the better, and it's true. They've been with me through so much, and though not in a conscious way, I've depended on them and been comforted by them many, many times, and not always in the distant past. And knowing the potential for a lifelong connection to a world where nothing is as it seems, it really spins my wheels to think that some kid might pick up something I've been lucky enough to have drawn for Transformers, and want to copy it and draw it for himself. Because that kid was me - is me - and yet now I've been given the keys to the chocolate factory, and have been gifted the chance to tell stories that can "Light Our Darkest Hour."

So it's Happy Anniversary, Transformers. Except now, I'M Transformers too. Until That Day, Til All Are One?

For me, it all ready is.

You've Been Nicked.

More Maximummer Than Before!

2009-04-24T02:22:00.008+01:00

Felt like throwing the inks to the elusive #2 of Maximum Dinobots up here for all to see. Sorry about the use of photobucket on here; I'm gonna figure out a more professional way to display things soon, I promise.

Please feel free to comment and link to this blog and spread some Dino love round the internet like the creamy cheese it is.

EDIT: Having some problem wiv links tonight. To see the comic, copy this...

http://photobucket.com/maxdinosinks2

...into thy browser. Let me know if nuffink works, innit?

You've Been Nicked.

Commission UPDATE!

2009-04-16T21:45:00.002+01:00

Hi all. Owing to some heavy-duty family commitments at the right-wrong time, commission commencement has had to be put on the back-burner until now. Rather than mail folk individually, I hope people will catch this announcement. Starting this weekend, I'll be addressing the original art issue and knocking some pieces out, and I'll tackle the mailing of prints and whatnot toward the end of next week.

Thanks to everyone for their patience, and their understanding that circumstances are very much out of my control. Cheers all.

You've Been Nicked.

Taking Commissions!

2009-03-23T12:25:00.002Z

So, as promised, I have returned with information as to how you can buy some artwork from me. (Sorry for those of you who had picked out especially-gnarled pinecones to assault me with; I’m here and on time!)

I’ve decided to dip my toes into the world of commissions! I’m working on writing-based projects at the minute, so I feel I need to keep my toes dipped in the drawing world. And as I don’t sell original artwork yet, here’s a great way to pick up something completely original for your wall or dog basket. How? Here’s how.

The initial set-up is this: I’m taking on ten commissions, as that’s all I can be certain of getting around to. So first come, first served. After that, I’m not sure when I’ll get around to doing this thing again, so take the chance while it’s there. The pictures can be of anything you like, so while I’m sure I’ll be handling some Transformers pieces, feel free to ask for some Doctor Who, TMNT, or challenge me with a left-field request!

The prices are as follows:

*1 x A4 (21cm x 29.6cm) inked image featuring one character on Bristol Board @ €80 plus postage

* 1 x A4 (21cm x 29.6cm) inked image featuring two or more characters on Bristol Board @ €100 plus postage

* 1 x A3 (29.6cm x 42cm) inked image featuring one character on Bristol Board @ €125 plus postage

* 1 x A3 (29.6cm x 42cm) inked image featuring two or more characters on Bristol Board @ €160 plus postage

* Complicated Background requests will be extra but negotiable. Sparse locations will be included for no extra cost, and feel free to specify whether you want the figure(s) isolated or not.

* Payment by Paypal before the commission is started.

So contact me at skeetaATgmailDOTcom. (‘@’ and ‘.’ Omitted in order to prevent phishing and spammage. You know what to do to get in touch…) with your requests, and I will furnish you with Paypal details, as well as postage rates to your location.

Also available to buy online are my full colour, heavy stock, A3 Transformers Art Prints.

These are the covers to all four Revelations Spotlights (Cyclonus, Hardhead, Doubledealer and Sideswipe) as well the variant cover to Transformers Infiltration #1, featuring Starscream, with Thundercracker and Skywarp in jet mode laying waste to a city. All are pencilled, inked and coloured by me. They can be yours for €8 a print (plus postage) or you can grab all five for €35, plus postage. Again, contact me at skeetaATgmailDOTcom and we’ll hammer out the details.

I’ll announce when the commission quota has been filled, as well as when stocks of the prints run out. Thanks for your time, guys!

You’ve Been Nicked.

Ambassador, With This Roche You Are Spoiling Us

2009-03-22T22:27:00.005Z

Twice in one day? Not without a bamboo rod and a bucket of Lucozade. But yet, here we are once more, mon amors. For why? Allow me.

I've had a few requests from folk who get a kick out of seeing the original lineart for comics I've worked on. And as I'm also keen to stoke the Dinobot fire as best I can, I present to you, "Maximum Dinobots #1: Naked!" No lettering or colours, just the inked artwork. Think I've got my photo-album to work so you can peruse the pages individually or as a slideshow. (I'm so digi-dense.) Inform me if it doesn't work. But if it goes smoothly, I'll put up #2 as well, and all the other issues too, once they've stopped appearing on the shelf.

Comments and criticisms welcome, and feel free to ask questions. For now, enjoy: http://photobucket.com/maxdinosinks1

You've Been Nicked.

I Want To Fly And Run Until It Hurts...

2009-03-22T22:16:00.004Z

Reports of my demise have been not so much exaggerated, as fabricated by me, in lieu of possessing an actual life.

Chaps and chapettes, a thousand pardons for leaving you all poised at the cusp of climax, awaiting my next missive. Not since Captain Ireland #2 came out in August ’95 have so many waited for so little. I genuinely thought you and I would see more of each other, but I foolishly started this blog venture in the midst of my first foray into monthly comics, thinking I’d have gallons of free time to tit around, spewing our sketches, and puking up prose. How wrong I was. Maximum Dinobots is now in the can, with issues #4 and #5 still to come. Track the previous three issues down if you can, and feel free to ask any questions here on this very blog.

So, I have recently arrived back from a two-week sojourn in the Australs. Whittle and I had visited there together previously five years ago, and she’s addicted to the place the same way as I am to Japanese plastic and muffins. So as a treat for the pair of us following my Dinobot enforced incarceration for over half a year, we jetted off for two weeks. I’ll spare you the slide show, but I had many a hairy experience with the wildlife over there. However, in one piece, though a smidge scorched, I’m back again to save the universe. Working on the script to an issue of the upcoming Transformers: Coda in which I get to revisit Kup, the character I wrote for previously. Enjoying the process immensely so far, it’s a lovely change of tack from cramming in a million E.J. Su designed Headmaster TFs onto a single page.

As well as that, I’m cheating on you at another blog. http://eclecticmicks.blogspot.com/ is a collective effort between myself and six other Irish comic artists, namely Bob Byrne, PJ Holden, Stephen Mooney, Declan Shalvey, Will Sliney and Stephen Thompson (alphabetical order’s the way to go with these things). In it, we are allocated a specific day and we psyche one another out into posting a sketch on our given day. Mine is the nattily titled ‘Nick’s Sunday Roche’ and I urge you to check it out, mainly for the inhuman effort those other fools have put into their offerings. I wonder how long I can blame jetlag for the quality of my sketches…

Want more? Okay. Over the next week, I’m gonna be offering folk the chance to buy some original artwork from me. Details to come, as I iron them out, but if I suss it out, I should be able to offer overseas folk a chance to purchase my colour print sets too. I promise you’ll hear about this in the next seven days, or you may all, in turns or at the same time, violate me with a pinecone.

I’ve got another thing to post at you, but I’ll save it for later. For now, let me speak of my trip to Australia…

I was apprehensive about this visit, due to my chronic fear of spiders. Here in Ireland, I have a functional form of the condition, meaning I can get on with things, but feel very uneasy knowing there’s one of those eight-legged pricks loitering nearby. My last stint in the Antipodes featured an ordinarily scenic walk through a forest, but was shat upon by the presence of huntsmen spiders, squatting malevolently in webs every few metres or so, each specimen an incarnate symbol of evil. Whittle acted as my superhero, marching ahead of me so as to take on the wrath of these satanic spinners. (I watch out for ghosts and monsters for her, so it evens out.)

So, knowing that this trip, she and I would be venturing North to Cairns, and the Tablelands in particular, I was fretful in the extreme as to what would lie in wait amongst the moistened glades of the rainforests. Whittle promise me that there would be no spiders. While this was a DIRTY FUCKING LIE, and I almost passed out from repeated exposure to the cruel site of orb spider-after-shitting-orb spider, this , my girlfriend reassured me, is the only creature I would encounter on my travels:

Species: Patrick (Patricus Ridiculus)

· Reaches speeds of up 62 kph.
· Third set of legs purely for cosmetic reasons.
· Hairs on afore-mentioned legs grow to great lengths, and are plaited for ease of manoeuvrability. They grow rapidly during a full moon, and must be shorn accordingly.
· Rear legs grow throughout Patrick’s life.
· This is actually how a Patrick dies; the legs continue to grow unobstructed, until they are so long, Patrick’s rear is raised to a 45 degree angle. At which point, his bodily waste can no longer be processed along his body and expelled, and he perishes, drowning in his own faecal matter.
· Patrick is making his sex face.

You've Been Nicked.

A Grim Look At Christmas Still To Come...

2008-12-06T00:50:00.002Z

Thanks to the heroically generous Chris Mowry of IDW for putting this together as a favour:

December 10th in the USA, December 11th everywhere else.

You've Been Nicked

His Name Is Prints, And He Is Funky

2008-11-20T22:27:00.007Z

Jeepers. Look at the state of the place; I know I’ve been away, guys, but would one of you not think to tidy the gaff? What the hell is under that festering mound of Oxo cubes over there…? I don’t even eat Oxo cubes, so one of you must have left them there. Squalor. Fucking squalor you’d have me dwell in. Well, while I tidy this place up this mess, I shall leave you with a few updates…

ITEM: The wedding was shit. Yet I still did not resort to eating muffins. Thank Frederick for Whittle’s buddies (except the ones getting spliced) for they kept me sane. It was revealed through the ‘speeches’ (I think it was speech…the Corkonian honk brings to mind a reanimated goose begging for the release of death) during the reception, that the groom first espied his future victim in the photo section of the local newspaper, and, rubbing his hands, set out to nab her. Jesus in a haystack. It’s a newspaper, not a fucking catalogue.

ITEM: Made Christmas puddings with Whittle, and her charming sibling, Little Whittle. They taste a-fucking-mazing. The puddings ain’t bad either. (Boom-TISH! Itenkyew!)

ITEM: Going to Australia in March for a fortnight. I shall elucidate further upon this in a later entry.

ITEM: I made a minor concession to my need to draw a girl, any girl. A quick doodle between Dino panels brought forth this:

It seems to be a kind of Kim Possible inspired effort, which to my mind, is no bad thing. I shall have something slightly more finished, and yet female, to upload next time, even if it ends up being a lesson in folly.

ITEM: Got two new housemates. Welcome, my brother Egg and his girlfriend/emotional punchbag Clare. Now we have two Roches, two Wiis, and two Optimus Prime voice-changing helmets in the one house. Don’t be jealous, reader; sometimes good things happen to bad people. Our old housemate, a lesbian freedom fighter, upped sticks and went on manoeuvres elsewhere. It has nothing to do with my insistent efforts to indoctrinate her into the world of rampant, musky, rippling heterosexuality, (they don’t call me Ted ‘Turner’ for nowt, folks) or at least, so I am told.

ITEM: Dear America,

Re: Barry O’ Bama

Well Done.

Love, Nick

ITEM: Dear Britain

Re: Brand and Ross

You knee-jerk fools. You’re better than this.

Love, Nick

ITEM: Having the time of my life working on Maximum Dinobots, even if it seems to be taking up all the time in my life. And Scorponok gets no easier to draw. Nor does his army of Sunstreaker clones. I know I’ve been promising previews for yonks, but it’ll have to be later, rather than now.

ITEM: Are you a Rain Man-esque, Transformers completist type? Who isn’t, in this day and age?You would do well to check out boltax.blogspot.com. Set up by Jim Sorenson, one of the authors of the Ark range of books from IDW, it gives a home to the odd model sheet and character design that didn’t quite make it to the published stage of his (and Bill Fortser’s) superlative Transformers reference compendium.

ITEM: And finally…I’m appearing at the Dublin City Comic-Con, (http://www.myspace.com/dublincitycomiccon) this weekend, at the Park Inn Hotel, Smithfield, Dublin City. It’s the third year of this great event, and my third year at it. Check the afore-linked Myspace page for them details as to who else is showing up. All credit to the Brothers Hendrick, John and Dave, who haul this thing together every year, as they manage to pull in some proper high profile names. Ireland seems to be the place to be for all this stuff right now.

Anyway, to celebrate, I am selling stuff, kids. No, still not original artwork (I’m waiting for the Comic God to take away my backstage pass to the industry at any stage, so I wanna have the original pages as keepsakes. Or insulation, as I bunk up on a park bench.) but instead, lovely, lovely, plush, primo format A3 prints of my colour cover work for IDW’s Transformers, all laid out on really swanky heavy stock paper. Think of it, chisellers- you can now own some Nickishness to hang in your own home. There are 5 prints in the set, my four Revelation Covers, (including the unused Hardheadcount image) in all their angular, abstract (for Transformers, anyway…) ‘style’, and my variant cover to Transformers: Infiltration #1, with Starscream looking smug, while his mates do the dirty work. Price to be determined (and if I determine it before Saturday, I’ll let thee know) but I assure you they’re affordable, and collectable, and there’ll be a discount if you buy all five. If they sell, I may look into doing a mail order job for my foreign cuzzants. Until then, check out a snapshot of the set below.

So, hope to see some of you there. I’m doing a panel at 10.15 am on the Saturday, with free sketches for all of robots, Timelords, Turtles, or your own choice, over the course of the weekend. Come and say hi. Unless I’m weeping. Then, back it up, Spangles.

Thanks guys. Hope to get another entry in before Christmas…2009.

You’ve been Nicked.

One for York, and York for One

2008-10-01T03:42:00.004+01:00

Caught the last twenty minutes of Richard Lester’s The Four Musketeers on Sauturday. I love that blimmin’ film, and it’s predecessor. In fact, I’m a sucker for most Musketeer-related nonsense, except ‘The Musketeer’, that tres naff shampoo ad released back in 2000, I think. But anyway, I’m a big fan of the books, the strangely faithful Dogtanian iteration, and the Young Guns version from 1994 is rollicking fun too. And I got to play D’Artagnan back in 2002 in panto. So all’s that's left is to realise my dream of adapting Dumas’ entire decade-spanning Musketeer saga in comic form. Until then, here’s a reference-free attempt at the dashingly squashed-faced, leonine 70s crumpet, Michael York, as D’Artagnan. I’m itching to do all four Musketeers, so maybe I can use that as my current non-robot art theme. It’s a bit of a sausage-fest round here though, so any suggestions for a female I can doodle senseless, fire ahead.

You’ve Been Nicked.

Grim Tidings

2008-09-28T17:08:00.004+01:00

Came up with a new game to play.

Text this message to a random phone number:

"They Found The Body."

Let me know what happens next.

Got the flu. Fuck. Here's a tiny doodle of Grimlock from Maximum Dinobots.

You've been Nicked

N.R. Muffinstuff

2008-09-26T17:47:00.004+01:00

Father, it has been nine days since my last muffin.

They’re probably my biggest weakness, y’see. Oh, sure, I’ve enjoyed two scones and a bar or two of Wispa in the interim, but the muffin represents my Achilles heel. Or, as it will become known, Artist’s Arse.

I’m fast developing one. I’m not chunky, but long periods at the drawing board, and very little else in my life, is leading to a bit of a spread. Aside from my laptop, my drawing gear and reference material, the one object that remains in my peripheral vision for most of the day is my cheekily expanding gut. So I’m doing my bit to shame myself into getting off the Muffin horse. I may only visit here sporadically, but I see it as a public, if necrotically quiet, place. As such, if I have a ‘Days Sans Muffins’ counter to greet me, I know that I must keep strong. For you, loyal readers. So I expect you to offer the same support to me as you would your favourite recovering junkie rock star. For are we not the one and the same, when it comes down to it?

Of course, I’m already planning my first relapse. Scheduled for roughly a month from now, there’s yet another dreaded wedding to attend. How come all my friends are clear-minded, right-thinking men-children, who show little-to-laughable sign of getting hitched, when all Whittle’s hangers-on (And I don’t mean you, Colette and Keith, I bloody love you two.) are spitefully conceding defeat, and arranging weddings (in fucking CORK, of all God’s wretched places) primarily to spite and inconvenience me? Yeesh. So, it’ll be muffins, or crystal meth. Meff or Muff. And as moreish as the meth is, I do like the sodden hug of a succulent muffin.

I’m trying to fit in spurts in the park as well, and not in a George Michael way. I’m getting better at making time for a power…well, walk is pushing it. Meander? Lumber? Mosey? A power-meander, we’ll settle on, through the beautiful Bushy Park in Terenure. And, I’ve got meself a tote-bag to accommodate my shoes as I go rollerblading, a feat I’m aiming to achieve next week. Leafy parks in autumn probably aren’t the best circumstances to introduce yourself to, what I’m sure you will agree, is an extreme sport. But I can cut a swathe through the clumps of vegetation as they strew the paths. I can be the leaf-cleaver; the foliage-slicer; shredding my way through acorn and squirrel alike. It’s going to be fucking rad.

Better remember to draw a comic…

Today’s sketch: A gift commissioned by Titan editor Steve White, for assistant editor Ned Hartley’s birthday. He’s a Hulk fanatic, and Steve asked all the artists he know to contribute a Hulk sketch for Ned, who I had the pleasure of drinking with in O’Neill’s of London last August. I gamely assisted, and submitted the Hulk you see below you, feeling chuffed that I’d contributed to someone’s very happy birthday. And then Steve White told me who else contributed Hulks: Paul Grist, D’Israeli, Liam Sharp, Gary Frank, Tim Sale…

Fuck’s sake. Why’d I bother?

Anyway, there it is, done between panels of Max Dinos #2. Shoulder’s a bit off, but I’m sure all the above have anatomy issues too. Namely, Artist’s Arse.

You’ve been Nicked

Nick Roche's Day Off (Or, The Long Blog Of The Soul)

2008-09-23T20:27:00.004+01:00

Gosh. Observe the tumbleweeds and vagrants that have accumulated her in my absence. Anyone have any suggestions on how to rid the blog of the dust and scurf that builds up in my absences? The tramps I can deal with; I have ample amounts of kerosene and matches. Thanks.

Well, so much for guilting myself into completing an entry every day or so. The last week has been one of extremes, with the earlier portion devoted to bringing #1 of Maximum Dinobots to a satisfying conclusion, and the other catching up on rest and, gasp! Having a day off! Yes, last Thusday was the day in question. I wasn’t allowed a lie-in; Whittle was wittering in my ear like a Ritalin-deprived ADD parakeet, so I faced my workless day with a grumpy head. We visited Herbert Park though, a Victorian swathe of green located somewhere within Dublin; I can’t divulge the exact location, as Whittle insisted on taking a haphazard route there, and an equally bewildering one back. But it was the day for it; the sun was brazen in his sky, as my Vitamin-D resistant skin cracked and crumbled under its gaze. In to town then, to pick up over a hundred quid’s worth of comics; I really hadn’t been in the city for over two months during business hours. Luckily, the chaps in Forbidden Planet hung onto my haul for me, and only spat on my shoes once. Picked up stuff I’d never normally touch, such as Final Crisis, but I wanted to feel part of the greater comics universe for once; I’m sick of only knowing about what’s-a-going on in Transformers comics. There was a Simon Bisley sketchbook in there too, as well as my first ever purchase of a Captain Marvel book, which doubled up as my first foray into the world of Mike Kunkel. He’s an ex-Disney animator, I believe, and it was his art and not the character that tipped my hand in the end.

Grub in a mediocre dive in Temple Bar, called Bruno’s. The price was right, the staff chipper, but the food tasted of fetid arse. It sustained us for the next portion of the evening though, a trip to see The Mighty Boosh perform live. We’d been waiting for this for nigh on 10 months, the seven that ventured out to witness it. I was wary of the whole enterprise by the time the shows came around, as I’d slightly gone off the Boosh. Their third series seemed like a smirky-shout-out to the Camden Set, of which, logistically and geographically speaking, not that many of us can belong to. Their first series was a joy, and gave me that comedic frisson not felt since I stumbled across Month Python as a tot, and Reeves & Mortimer as a teen. I really felt that these boys were the next in that powerful, surreal lineage. So, I’ll always want to love them, even when they’re sub-par. Which I felt they were during their third series. They’re such wildly inventive and imaginative chaps, that to see them rely on smut, extra dollops of swearing, and a lazy, lazy use of drug-based humour, usually involving the equally worthless Naboo, really just reeked of a cop-out and too much time falling out of nightclubs instead of writing. (Naboo is played by Noel Fielding’s brother, Michael, and I’m convinced their mum strongarmed the more talented sibling into taking the useless Mike out with him to play. Anyone who’s seen Michael Fielding perform or in real life, and there’s a dustmite’s cock of a difference, will attest that he is very much the remedial child.) So, anyway, I don’t mind coarse humour, and am in fact, a seasoned purveyor of it, but there’s plenty of places to go for that kinda stuff, and you expect more from the Boosh.

(Jesus…I need to make smaller, regular entries…)

But Boosh live was mostly good. They seemed to realise that Naboo is dead weight, but for me, the show sang when Julian Barratt, aka Howard Moon, was given things to do. He’s easily the strongest performer they have, and though Noel as Vince Noir is very likeable in his goonish optimism, his materialistic schtick wears thin a little, as does the fact that he seems to wink a little too much to the audience, when he’s not fluffing his lines. The Boosh are at their best when Howard and Vince needle one another, and the consensus was that folk would have happily watch this mismatched pair harangue one another in front of the red curtain for the duration of the show. One of the highlights of the gig, however was in fact, its gig-like nature, once The Boosh Band were allowed to unleash hell. Just as Monty Python did, and latterly Vic and Bob, The Boosh have an ear for a catchy and nonsensical song, except these boys have the chops to rock out and hoik the audience along with ‘em. Julian Barratt’s a guitar virtuoso, and Noel Fielding’s wannabe rock frontman posings lend themselves well when they and their full backing band tear through their back catalogue, including Eels, Bouncy Bouncy, Charlie, and I Did A Shit On Your Mum.

Still, they clearly enjoyed themselves up there, and that’s infectious. And reminded me that while it’s great to be in the audience of an ultimately uplifting and energetic slice of theatre, it’s much more satisfying to be the one swaddled in the lamḗ cape, tarting around the stage, jollying the proles into a goggle-eyed frenzy.

Sweet vengeful Mavis, I need to get back on stage again.

The following day, I claimed my lie-in and was rewarded with a migraine. But cracked on and sketched out the first few pages of Maximum Dinobots#2: Dino Harder. I also did a sketch of a character that will feature prominently in upcoming issues. Included below, it’s based on E.J. Su’s updated look for the character, and I wanna try and get it as faithful to his design, while Nicking it up, as I possibly can. E.J. is by far the best re-interpreter of classic TFs there’s been, and has done a lot of work on the engineering side of figuring out what bit goes where in a Transformer. I enjoy this process myself, but feel my strengths lie in designing the character itself, and bringing something of its, and my, personality to it. This usually just involves making the eyes, chin and hands bigger, and the pointy bits pointier. I feel that sums my aesthetic up pretty well. But yeah, as well as keeping consistency with what’s gone before in the TF books, I feel I owe it to E.J. to keep as much of his ideas as possible. I can’t even explain why, but it seems a tad disrespectful when artists ignore a predecessor’s hard work, just for the sake of putting their own stamp on something and making it uber-kewl. And not just with TFs, I hasten to add. I’m not picking a fight with any of the boys what draw for IDW. They’re all lovely chaps, by and large. But you see it in superhero comics too. And while everybody wants to be the one to redesign the Batmobile, surely it’s better to serve the story first, and scratch your own itches second?

Anyway, I digress. And that’s allowed. Because it’s my fucking blog, son.

The other reason I like to retain E.J.’s design elements, apart from the fact that they just plain and simple work, is that he goes the extra mile to incorporate the ideas of other artists, when a guy of his stature could probably come up with twenty-three better ways of drawing it in his sporadic bursts of sleep. That’s what sets him and Simon Furman, TF writer, out as true pros; they’re both team players, with no discernable ego, and a goal to tell the story as best they can. So, yeah. Anyway. Hot Rod. Check him. He’s the man.

Oh, Friday continued on, and was found to be excellent. I got to scratch a performing itch by attending a party at my good friend, Enniscorthy Dave’s going away do. Dave’s a musician and fiendish ham, just like myself, and the party was populated by equally vainglorious, and capable performers. So it had to be Sing Star. All night. From 9 till 3, when I left. Everyone there, bar me, are in bands, and I mauled every single one of them at it. If they’re the best Dublin has to offer, talent-wise, then readers, I am truly wasted churning out doodles and scads of unrelated words for the likes of you.

You’ve Been Nicked

Listing

2008-09-16T07:16:00.003+01:00

It’s 6.50 am, and the wasps at the window are still here.

They arrive at my drawing room (so called as it’s the room I commit art in) window at 5 am on the button, half a dozen of the bestriped buggers. If there are any vespulaphiles reading this, perhaps they could enlighten me as to why I am visited by this microswarm every night/morning. Gasp! Maybe they're angels! That has to be it! They’re my comic book angels, dispatched by Jesus Himself via waspapult to my domicile to watch over me and my sequential storytelling ways. I shall rue the day the stripey seraphin cease visiting me, and my artwork plummets ever-further from acceptable.

Left the house today. Wasn’t going to, but my doting progenitors drifted up towards Dublin, where I’m currently stationed, on their way to swinger’s haven, Malta. (Dad had a new keychain made specially.) As a result, I went to meet them for a meal, and we retired back to my sister’s squat. She lives in an area o Dublin called Smithfield, and my sidekick, Whittle, had an experience there on Friday night, where she was mistaken by a kerb-crawler for a frisky biscuit. She was shocked and appalled, as those days are long behind her.

But this story sparked off another tale from my younger brother, the Egg-Child. Egg was returning home to his apartment complex from…I’m not sure where. I’m wont to say badger-baiting, or breezeblock-dropping. Either way, he was heading home with the spoils of war clutched in his clammy claws; two cans of Dutch Gold.

(Dutch Gold is the drink of those who have given up, or have been given up on. Egg lives on the shit.)

As he winded his way toward home, he was hailed by a chap in the courtyard of the complex, who urged Egg to part with one of his cans. Egg scoffed loudly in the gent’s face, and urged him to make him an offer. The stranger fisked himself for some cash, but only had a twenty on him. Egg decided that was a fair price for one can. The thirsty man explained that the twenty was all he had on him, as he’d just spent a bundle on a prostitute.

Egg’s eyes widened. “A hoor? Where?!”

“In one of the apartments back there.” The chap gestured in the direction he’d come from. Egg’s apartment complex. There were hookers plying their trade right under The Ovoid’s brittle shell nose. Egg was astounded.

The man pressed on: “Yeah, I’m about to get into a serious relationship, with all the commitment and stuff. And I freaked out. Me head was all messed up. So I went out, got hammered, bought a big bottle of whisky and came down here to visit a prostitute.”

Egg raised his eyebrows, equal parts surprised and impressed.

“After all that though,” the man looked at the ground, “I couldn’t even get it up.”

Egg handed him one can of Dutch Gold.
And walked on.

You’ve Been Nicked.

The Head of DEATH!

2008-09-09T05:22:00.003+01:00

Didn’t leave the house today. These Dinobots, in their Maximum capacity, have me under the kosh. For you, and for the good of myself, and the variety I crave, I squoze out a speedy sketch of comicdom’s finest freelance peacekeeping agent, Death’s Head. I’m not quite sure what he’s wearing, other than he resembles a mix of all his pre-kewl 90s, badasstastic transmogrified appearances. I love him anyway. The character that is; the doodle’s kind’ve an abortion. I guess that’s what this blog’s about though: doing something new and dangling it out there like a beacon of graphite mediocrity.

Busy with real work over the coming days. Hopefully I can eke out a scribbled sketch that isn’t a Transformer for every entry, though deadlines may require me to recycle some TF-specific discharge. We shall see, yes?

You’ve been Nicked.

Let Me Eat Cake

2008-09-08T05:05:00.008+01:00

Well, my second entry (ooer) and I’m already lagging behind. I’d like to say that as a world-weary artist, your earth days are amorphous to me; one of my prolonged periods of alertness could last up to twenty-four hours sans sleep, while others are to be praised if they amount to more that twenty minutes without the whinny of a satisfied snore piercing the air. As such, the concept of a daily blog is pretty loose round these parts. If you don’t like it, I invite you to don tracksuit and jog on.

Part of the reason for the sustained gap between collections of interminable sentences, meandering toward an unsatisfying and baffling conclusion, is the fact that I had the privilege of travelling to my girlfriend and carer’s (my girlfriend is my carer, or at least she should be recognised as such by the government, and a grant be made available immediately) hometown of Waterford, where Whittle’s (my missus) sister-in-law, Leona, made the glorious announcement that she is with sprog. I was furious. Already, this proto-Whittle is taking the sheen from my birthday weekend. O yet-to-be newborn, thou shalt pay a bittersweet price for this ignominy. Congrats to Leona and Moss, Whittle’s brother, and, we assume with no little uncertainty, the father. All this made up for the fact that their local stickball team were molested violently and without recourse in some game that is important to the likes of them. Baby > Parochial Grass-Hockey.

The Birthday haul went well; I obtained from me oul’ ma the lovely Omega Supreme re-release. I now have the complete 1985 Transformers range. I’m such an Autisbot. Got some TF Animated goodies from me Gran, and a phenomenal architecture/reference book from Whittle, along with some CDs; Neon Neon’s Stainless Style and a to-be-returned Dragonforce album. (An obsession with ‘Through The Fire And The Flames’ does not an interest in the band make.) She also provides endless patience, unpredictable shrieks, and much-needed morning fry-ups. Considering it wasn’t a milestone birthday, apart from it being the one-year anniversary of becoming greater than Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones and Jim Morrison, I was a very lucky boy, receiving three mini-parties across three counties. Mater outdid herself by hand-decorating a cream sponge with cocoa powder in the shape of the Autobot symbol, pictured. She’s clearly got a rattling case of the mentals, but we love her for it.

Sketch Blog time: A Spidey and a Batman. Both on the ‘meh’ side of utter shit. Still, it’s a change to the dayjob. Which is caressing the backs of pensioners’ knees with peacock feathers. The night job is drawing the robots. You’d be surprised which one I garner more internet acclaim for.

You've Been Nicked.

The Twenty-Nine Club

2008-09-05T01:09:00.005+01:00

I am better than Kurt Cobain.

I am better than Kurt Cobain by two whole years. Better than Kurt, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison. (Though I feel most of us are fundamentally ‘better’ than Jim Morrison.)

Today I turn twenty-nine, and have felt the urge to mark this milestone by starting to blog myself senseless. The idea occurred to me this time last year, as I was about to turn twenty-eight, thus outwitting The Rock and Roll Reaper, who claims the most creative, charismatic and cravenly beautiful among us in their twenty-seventh years. Well not me, Azrael! I escaped your Fender Scythe! Truly it means that I have outfoxed The Pale Rider himself! (In no way does it mean that I do not rank amongst the terminally hip, too cool to live, right?)

This would have been a well made and timely point a year ago, but it takes me roughly 365 days to act upon an idea, something my girlfriend and editors at IDW Publishing will attest to. But better late than never, as they say in comics and pregnancy scares. So let this be the point where I make known to you who I am, what I’m about, and how I go about it.

I am called Nick Roche, and I’m a comic-book artist and sometimes writer. The artist bit of me gets lots of exercise, busied as I am toiling away at my dream job on IDW’s Transformers (Various titles, but I’m currently cutting a swathe through Maximum Dinobots, an Eisner-botherer the kids will by hopped-up on over the coming months.) the writer side of me, less so, and the human being side of me gets the shortest of shrifts. Shrift so short that your father would not allow you out of the house with such skimpy shriftage. So this blog will hopefully be me narcissistically flexing my textual muscles whenever time allows. But apart from the words you’ve just read, and the ones after that, and the few that bring us to these ones, I’m writted Spotlight: Kup for IDW’s TF line, and scripted and co-scripted eight local pantomimes in my native Wexford town. By dangling my blog so scandalously in public, I will hopefully shame myself into a few minutes of writing everyday, so that when I’m approached out of the blue by the BBC for my sitcom idea, by Pixar for my Wall*E-thrashing high concept money-spinner, or by IDW for the Kup maxi-series (I intend to draw the maxi-series on a pad. I hear you can get ones that will absorb the dickens out of your art) I won’t be too rusty for the task.

I also intend for my bloggagery to serve as a lifeline to my friends, family, admirers, and potential victims. I’ve let myself down quite a lot recently, mainly in the personal hygiene stakes, and frequently in public, by voiding myself at children’s puppet shows. But also by not being as attentive to those who purport to love me and be my friends. To be honest, I suspect most of ‘em only stuck around because they thought they’d inherit something amazing following my sexy death aged twenty-seven, or be able to sell a sordid story to The Wexford People following my demise. To them I say, hi ya! Sorry I haven’t been out to play; been a bit busy. But I want all of you to pretend that these blogs are personal emails to you, carefully crafted with appeasing you in mind.

Apart from words, there will be art posts here and about this blog. I endeavour to do a few minutes worth of a doodle each day, separate from my paying, meaningful work, and post those. So sometimes there will be words from me, sometimes there will be drawings. Sometimes both. With that in mind, here’s a well-hasty pic I did on this very day one year ago, with this very blog in mind. Back then, I was ready to embark on a Doctor Who miniseries…but then the wheels fell off me ‘ol health, like. The fact that my health was sporting wheels should have been a giveaway that my physiology was entering a phase of abnormality. Alas, I was unable to complete a single whole issue of that career stepping-stone, and what art was turned was, what the French refer to as, a load of old arse-scrapings. So, I post this sketch of The Doctor as a reminder of my abject failure to complete an issue of that series, or to crack open a blog until now.

That’s me for now. I’m off to enjoy some Black Forest Gateaux, and possibly the number 31 from The Dragon Heen , aka: The Legend. I’ll discard the vegetables with you all in mind.

Better than Kurt. Let’s meet up in five years time when I shall have surpassed, in most ways that matter, Jesus Himself. (Let’s face it, it’s probably the next time I’ll post anything…)

Nick