Get Nicked In Old Lahndahn Taaahhn!

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

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!

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!

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!

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

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...

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.