Hunting Season - A Short Fable

It has been a while, but I promised you some new stories were coming with some amazing artwork from Anna Windlass to go with it and I am here to deliver.

Monster Hunter Titus has been summoned to the court of King Elmor with orders to investigate a mysterious cult that is riling up the peasantry and may have it's origins in the occult. Along the way Titus crosses paths with a mysterious vagabond known as Praxis, who claims to come from another world and knows more about the true origins of the cult and it's monstrous abilities.  Unbeknownst to each other, however, Titus and Praxis have their own secrets and agendas, and the real hunting season is about to begin.

Hunting Season is a story that blends elements from both Doctor Who and The Witcher in an attempt to deconstruct and subvert them. While it does not explicitly reference or feature characters from either franchise, you can treat it as a crossover if you squint, but is essentially written as a story "inspired by" these worlds rather than taking place within them. Think of it of a kind of mashup/remix.

Hunting Season is a story that blends elements from both Doctor Who and The Witcher in an attempt to deconstruct, subvert and experiment with elements of those stories and characters. Think of it of a kind of mashup/remix, but it is ultimately an original work in its own right.

You can read the whole thing here.

Thanks again to Windlass for an amazing job on the cover, and thanks to all of you who keep me interested in writing.

Damned Another Day

Action! Adventure! Intrigue! Romance!? If you like the look of those explanation points flying towards you at 100 miles per hour, then you're going to be in just the right mood for Damned Another day, a brand new 4 page comic written by me and with incredible art by Brian McCray.

Secret agent James Nicea comes face to face at the card table with the dastardly Angelo De Faust, whose underworld activities are damning souls to Hell's eternal war. Key to overturning this villain's schemes are his sultry second in command Miss Carmilita Roland, but are James' charms enough to win her over?

This is a story that I've had in my head for a long time and went through various iterations, and while I knew Brian was going to be a good fit for the art, I was utterly astounded with how much he threw into bringing this world to life. The entire strip just bleeds 60s cool, and putting the extra details on the tarot cards was above and beyond the call of duty. Be sure to check out more of his work, which is as diverse as it is surprising. Be sure to check out more of his work, which is as diverse as it is surprising.

Jack's January Update!

Hello all. It's the start of the year once again which means we're currently stuck in the doldrums of the post festive deflation. So what better time to steel ourselves for the coming months with a look ahead at the good stuff in store. For me, it's going to be a busy year. Here's a few thing you might want to keep an eye out for.

- My final Sea of Spheres short story, Choose Your Weapons wisely, has now been posted in full, and can be read here. Updates for it are not yet complete, however, as Windlass is still cooking up some final artwork for the starting chapter, which should be coming soon.

- The magnetic Brian McCray is currently working on the artwork for a four page comic script of mine. I'm super excited to see the final piece and if you're a fan of my writing I think you'll get a particular kick out of this one. Watch this space.

- I'm currently working on a secret project with Turbomiracle. This may or may not happen, depending on how things pan out, but It's an idea with legs, and will no doubt see the light of day in the long run if it doesn't happen this year. You can see a sneaky peek at some blueprints for this up above.

- With all that in mind, writing will be taking a bit of a back seat this year as I move some pieces from here to there on some more physical projects. Information will be here as it comes through, but Obscure Comic of the Month will still continue as normal.

I'm always looking to pencil myself in to as many convention appearances as I can, and this year is no different. While I've had to deal with some moved dates and cancellations, so far I can confirm three as being set in stone.

- Whitehaven Mini Con is back on February 24th for it's third year and a second at the Civic Hall. Always really happy to see this convention do well, and I'll be there showing my full support. Also, I'll have an extra table selling second hand graphic novels and books for low low prices, if you fancy taking a peek.

- I'll be returning to the 6th April Sheffield Comic and Film Fair at the Showroom Cinema, which I had a fantastic time at last year. For such a small venue it managed to see a turnover of varied and interesting people, and I'm eager to jump back out there to reconnect with those audiences.

- For October 11th - 13th I'll be attending FantasyCon at the Chester Hotel. This one I'm particularly looking forwards to, as a lot of my prose writing tends not to do a lot of action at comic conventions, so an event more dedicated to fiction writing will hopefully be a good chance for my more wordy works to find an untapped audience.

I hopefully will have more conventions lined up as the year goes on, as well as some podcast appearances and whatnot as things tic over. As ever I'll be posting critical updates here, but you can find more off the cuff comments, rambles and doodles over on Twitter, Bluesky, Tumblr and Deviantart.

Happy New Year and Stay Cool

A Perfect World

 We may be winding down the last few months of 2024 but it's always a good time for unsettling stories of existential dread. I'm delighted to bring you this tale with phenomenally suspenseful art by Lexa.

A Perfect World tells the story of Leon, a cynical loner with a distaste for classic tales of good vs evil. Leon's humble life begins to crumble as he starts to discover that the fantastical might not be as fictional as he believes.

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I can't say enough good things about Lexa's art on this one, who absolutely knocked it out of the park. I love the dreamlike quality they brought to the story, which is exactly the kind of mood I wanted to bring across in the script.

I highly recommend you check out their other work, which you can find all of the links to here.

Bigger Guns

A brand new tale is here to grace your eyeballs, with art by the fantastic Turbomiracle and written by yours truly. Bigger Guns is a story of infernal action and cultural change, where shifting politics of the 1960s didn't just affect the earthly realms, but those beneath them too.

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It was an absolute pleasure to work with Turbormiracle who did an incredible job with rendering such detailed scenes like the club interior and the minute to minute action. I've admired their work for a long time, and it's been great to see them illustrate something I've written.

Here's to moving on! 

Jack's July Update

 

We're living in uncertain times folks, but you know what you can count on? Me continuing to write and draw. Here's an update on what's coming up.

- I'm happy to announce that Turbomiracle is working on the art for a comic script I wrote. We've got a short four-page supernatural action story in store for you, and you can see some of the concept art above. I'm really excited for this one and can't wait for you to see it when we're done.

- In case you missed it, another short four-page comic, Precious Resources, dropped last month with art by the ever fantastic Kristina Amuan. You can read it here.

- My sixth and, for now, final Sea of Spheres story is currently in the works. It's called Choose Your Weapons Wisely and I expect it'll be dropping some time before the end of the year.

- My Warhammer 40k short story, Who Killed Warboss Batgutz, is ready to go, and I'm just waiting on the amazing artwork by Alex Crippled Giraffe, which is shaping up to be something special. You can't rush these things.

- All of my comics currently in print are now available at the small press aisle at Travelling Man Newcastle. So if you've wanted a physical copy of The Whitehaven Siege, An Illustrated Guide to Drinking Beer, or One Hell of A Night, you can pick them up there while stocks last.

- The BatMinute Podcast is currently on it's run of Mask of the Phantasm, and as you can expect I'll be gusting on an episode later in the year.

- As mentioned previously I have two more convention appearances lined up for this year. Carlisle Megacon on 19th August and The Lakes International Comic Art Festival on 29th and 30th September. I'm toying with maybe squeezing one further appearance in somewhere before the year is up, so you'll hear here first if that happens.

- Most of my ramblings and periodic updates can be found on my Twitter, but given the current instability of that site who knows how much longer it's going to be sustainable. Either way, I'll still be uploading most of my art to Deviantart and posting regular updates on my Tumblr. As usual, it's here where all the definitive updates will happen.

That's all for now, hope you've had a good first half of 2023 and if not here's hoping you have a good second half.

Thanks for reading!

Precious Resources

Hello folks. It's a fine day to bring you some exciting new material, and this time it's a short, humorous comic about a bunch of gnomes digging far deeper than they ever should have.

Art is by the ever fantastic Kristina Amuan, who previously worked on my Warhammer 40k comic A Conspiracy of Riches. Kristina is absolutely phenomenal at drawing gnomes, so I knew she was the ideal choice for this project, and she didn't disappoint. 

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Once again, a massive thanks to Kristina for her work on this, which is always a delight to see. If you want to see more of her work and support her, you can find all the details on her website here.

Jack's February Update

 

Happy New Year in this most miserable of months. It's been a while since I last checked in with the status of my current projects, so I figured I'd fill you all in with where I am.

First of all I just wanted to say that while things seem to be holding steady with regards to my wrist problems, it's still a issue that's bubbling under the surface. I've had a few twinges here and there, while this week it does feel to have gotten a little worse. I'm still cracking on with artwork and writing, but I may need to slow things down at times when it feels like it's deteriorating.

Anyways

- In case you missed it, I posted the short comic One Hell of a Night in December. I'm still amazed at how great Sam did with the artwork that I still can't shut up about it.

- My print comic, An Illustrated Guide to Drinking Beer, is now available to buy in The Harbormaster Whitehaven, and Dead Head Comics in Edinburgh. Be sure to drop by while stocks last.

- Currently Kristina is working on another small comic of mine. You may remember her fantastic work on my Warhammer 40'000 comic, A Conspiracy of Riches. I want to stay tight lipped on this one, but you can see a sneak preview of the artwork above.

- The first draft for my fifth Sea of Spheres short story is complete, and I'll be getting right on to the edits this month.

- While the Batminute Podcast has finished it's original run on the Batman saga, there's still other things to talk about, and I'll be showing up on a guest spot sometime soon. More information when it arrives.

So far I am pencilled in for three comic conventions this year, with hopefully more forthcoming later on. At present I will be at:

- The West Coast Minicon on the 25th March.

- Sheffield Comic and Film Fair on the 22nd April.

- Newcastle Comic-Con on the 18th June.

I'm trying to wrangle a couple more dates, so hopefully there will be more news in the next update.

In the meantime, I'm going to crack on with my projects and try and get them the best that they can be.

Thanks for reading!

One Hell of a Night

 Hello all. It's a great day for bringing you some brand new material that's been in the pipeline. While the story is maybe more suited to spooky season, treat this as an early Christmas present. 

With phenomenal art by Sam W, here is a tale of crime, sex and the evil that lurks within the heart of us all... and maybe beyond.

One Hell of a Night 

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And there you have it. I think Sam did an incredible job on this one, bringing so many extra elements to the story that my script didn't even hint at, but it's all the better for it. 

Jack's October Update

As we continue through autumn into winter It's time for me to start rounding up my current state of affairs when it comes to the remainder of the year's projects.

As mentioned previously, I'm still having problems with the tendonitis in my left wrist, so I'm having to choose my projects carefully as not to exacerbate the problem. I was hoping that the pain would start to dissipate after a few weeks away, but it's sticking around. I'm currently investigating further treatment that will hopefully provide a permanent solution, but for now I'm going to try and not let it interfere with my creativity too much.

- As you may have already noticed, a new Sea of Spheres story, The Right to Know, has just commenced. Part one is up, with the remaining three following each Monday. Artwork, as ever by the fantastic Windlass.

- Work continues apace on my collaboration with SLAM! The artwork on this comic is looking fantastic, which you can see a little bit of below, and I can't wait to show more of it to you.

- I'm continuing to get The Illustrated Guide to Drinking Beer out there. Physical copies of the comic are now available at the Ennerdale Brewery and The Harbour Master Whitehaven.

- It's been confirmed that a follow up to the West Coast Minicon will be happening on the 25th March 2023 and I once again will be in attendance selling prints and books. I'll post more details closer to the time.

- I'll once again be heading to Harrogate Thought Bubble in November. Not exhibiting, just visiting, happy to say hello and chat.

- Other than that I'm currently working on a few more projects that I'm not ready to give more details on, but expect more comics and short stories to be in the pipeline. Next month marks the one year anniversary of my revived Obscure Comic of the Month column so expect an extra long special in celebration of that.

As ever you can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Deviantart and find all my recent writings on AO3.

Thanks for reading.

Warhammer 40'000 - A Conspiracy of Riches

 Hello all. Today I'm pleased to bring you a story from the grim dark future of the 41st Millennium. A Conspiracy of Riches is a comic scripted by me and brought to life by the amazing Kristina Amuan.

This story has been a long time coming, as I've long been wanting to work together with an artist on a comic I've scripted to teach myself the intricacies of the collaborative process and show off the artwork of somebody I greatly admire at the same time.

Sent to defend one of the Imperium's largest gold reserves in the segmentum, Captain Thelonious of the Novamarines Chapter finds his faith in the Emperor tested as he is tasked with putting the Imperium's wealth and privilege ahead of it's loyalist subjects. What lines are the Captain and his Lieutenants willing to cross, and what fealty is is he willing to transgress, in his quest to stay true to his oath as incorruptible defenders of mankind?

Once again a massive thanks to Kristina who not only helped me make the story the best it could be, but also showed incredible patience with such a large project. I know she would have really liked the story to have run for more pages to give the climax more time and detail, but I wanted the story to keep to a lean 4 - 5 page size like the Warhammer Monthly strips of old.

Thanks for reading!

Jack's July Update

Updates are few and far between this year, for obvious reasons, but that doesn't mean I've got nothing to talk about. Work continues on multiple projects and I'm eager to get back to the convention circuit. However, even with the vaccine roll-out continuing (I've had my first) signs of a third wave suggest we might be under for even longer. Still, here's a rundown of what's been going on.

- My second short story in the Sea of Spheres series, A Question of Conscience, has been fully released and you can read it in full on AO3 now. Not only that, but it's also been updated by some fantastic new artwork courtesy of Windlass. Take a look at that below.

- I'm currently working on a brand new Warhammer 40'000 story, or, to be more specific, a Necromunda short story. It follows the Water Guild and their dealings with House Escher as an unknown threat manifests in the waterways of Hive Primus. No idea yet when it'll drop, but work is ongoing.

- I'll be attending the Harrogate Thought Bubble Convention in November. I won't be exhibiting or anything like that, but I will be there to mix and mingle with folks in the comic industry, and I believe some of my twitter mutuals will be there, so it'll be good to meet up, if things stay on the course that they are.

- Things remain unchanged regarding the release of The Illustrated Guide to Drinking Beer. While pubs and bars are opening up, it's still unclear if this road the UK is on is going to stay smooth, so for now, I'm holding it back until things are clearer and going to the pub becomes a more casual experience.

And that's about it for now. There's a bunch of other stuff I'm working on that's still in it's early stages, but the first you'll hear about it is here. In the meantime, feel free to follow me on Twitter, Tumblr or Deviantart.

Thanks for reading.

Jack's May Update

 

May has come round again, and with still no clear sign of when conventions and events can really start again, I've just been continuing to work on my projects and get out what I can. Here's a few details.

- As you can see by the artwork from the ever great Windlass, my second Sea of Spheres story, A Question of Conscience, is on it's way. The text just needs one more read through and it should be good to go. Expect it this month.

- Like I mentioned previously, my comic book beer guide is ready to go, I'm just holding it back for a more opportune time, but with the pubs beginning to re-open that time could be soon, but as ever, it's uncertain, so we'll have to wait and see.

- Last November I decided I would spend the month doing quick, black and white artwork of characters from small independent comics. I've decided to revisit that idea this may, so all month I'll be putting up illustrations that celebrate smaller and lesser known comics. You can follow along in this twitter thread here.

- The Beacon Museum in Whitehaven is going to be re-opening this month with a brand new exhibit on John Paul Jones, which is a fine opportunity for me to plug my John Paul Jones comic, The Whitehaven Siege, which you'll be able to buy print copies of there if you decide to visit.

Other than that I'm cracking on with several other projects that I'll reveal in due time, and as every doing my best to try and become a published writer. To keep up with what I'm putting out, be sure to follow me on Deviantart, Tumblr or Twitter.

Thanks for reading.

Night Shift - A Sea of Spheres Comic

 I told you we would be seeing more from the world of Sea of Spheres.

While a short story taking a look at another part of the setting is in the works, I thought I would commission Windlass to do a little comic book homage to Brooklyn Nine-Nine. 

While No Route To Guide You was a serious story about corruption and the untenability of police reform, that doesn't mean we can't have a bit of fun with the characters. Here, Eva oversteps a little in speaking her thoughts on Leo's current bout of frustrations.

More adventures in the Sea of Spheres will be coming this year.

Jack's August Update

 

 

Wow, is it August already. It only feels like yesterday I had only posted the last update. Rest assured that I'm still working on multiple projects that I'm hoping to elaborate on soon, but I mostly wanted to post an update today to show off the recent commission work from Windlass.

You may remember me talking about working on Sea of Spheres as a webcomic a few years ago, and that I'd put it on the backburner. Well I still plan on dipping back into that world as you can see. I'm planning on following these with a short story that will elaborate on the setting and characters.

Some other stuff to keep you updated:

- Obviously no more conventions this year, what with the pandemic and all. Here's hoping some degree of normalcy will have returned next year, and I can get out there to get out my stuff once again.

- Work continues on my Comic Guide To Drinking beer. As with all my projects it's got a 'when it's done' deadline, but I'm hoping for something before the end of the year. Given the situation, It's likely a digital version on gumroad will be the first release.

- I'm still looking for another publisher to pick up Memoirs of the Fated and get it back into publication. If anyone can suggest a good home, a pointer would be greatly appreciated.

- I've got a few ideas for some more Warhammer 40'000 fanfics, but their just germs of ideas for now, but you may see more fanfic stuff from me sooner rather than later.

And that's all for now. In the meantime you can support financially by checking out Tales of the Modern Realms, Foul Cheeses and Space Diseases and The Whitehaven Siege. 

You can follow me on twitter, tumblr or deviantart.

Thanks for now, and you all stay safe.

Jack's April Lockdown Update

As you can probably expect, the lockdown has limited what able to do and work on, so no news on conventions or events until we have a better idea when this whole thing is over. But I haven't been doing nothing. Here's a rundown.

- As you can see from the picture above, I'll be returning to the world of Warhammer 40k fanfic, with a short story following one of the secondary characters from The Trials of Sister Roslyn, Sister Touro. I commissioned the cover from the frankly brilliant Kristina Amuan, who's work you can find here. I... uh, haven't exactly started work on the writing yet though, so I should probably get on with that.

-In case you missed it, I posted another quick fanfic a couple weeks ago. This time around the video game Unavowed, which I all recommend you play. You can read my story, A Muse Like You, here.

- I'm still working on a bunch of comic and writing projects. I'm hoping my Comic Book Guide to Beer will be finished by the end of the year, though given how long my John Paul Jones Comic took, it's on a 'when it's done' schedule.

That's all for now, remember you can follow me on twitter, tumblr and deviantart.