Previously unseen Bodkin and the Bear pages...

...and lots more, on my newly revamped web home

A Wrong Turning

Mirabilis was one of the DFC strips that was supposed to appear in the Guardian's comic section. We were told that the Guardian pages would have to be original content, not pre-prints of the strip that would eventually and briefly appear in the DFC. So I wrote half a dozen one-off stories, each set at a different time of the "year of wonders".

In the event, we realized that time and money wouldn't stretch to doing an extra 30-40 pages on top of the serialized story in the DFC, so the stories were abandoned. And in retrospect that was probably just as well, as the approach we were aiming for might have made sense to somebody familiar with the old Warren magazines but would probably have baffled the typical British reader sitting with their toast and marmalade.

But one of those stories, "A Wrong Turning", got as far as the tight pencils stage. A single page of it was even inked. And, as it has no overt connection with the Mirabilis universe, we're giving it away for Christmas. It's a spooky tale of bereavement and classic motor cars, and when Peter Richardson on the fablulous Cloud 109 blog pointed out that this is traditionally the season for ghost stories, I realized it was the perfect time to dig it up.

You can read the preamble here or go straight for the PDF here. Ho ho ho.

Finally!

Yesterday Nikos put the colours on the last (almost 200th) page of Mirabilis. So all I have to today is make the final tweaks to sound effects and word balloons and book 1 is all done.

Seems incredible that it was more than three years ago that we started work on the first episode for the DFC dummy issue - and that Mirabilis has been a full-time job for me and Leo for almost two years now. If we actually went ahead with the whole story we'd had planned, it would have kept us busy until 2013!

Having finished, of course we want to shout it from the rooftops - oh, and I just realized we have the perfect picture for that:

Though I don't know exactly when or in what form the book will see the light of day, we're at least going to print up a bunch of copies for ourselves. So that's what the Hartas, Koutsis, McKenna and Morris families can expect in their stockings this year.

Mobots-a-go-go

I just stuck a few of my early designs / development art for Mo-Bot High up on my blog, please do go and have a look if you are so inclined.

Er, another DFC cover!

(Cross-posted from my blog).

So I was going to do another cover for issue 44, but obviously that issue never existed! So I changed plans and made this one instead! I guess I could have done anything, like, stick figures or something. But I wondered if it was the last time I'd be drawing the characters (or in the case of the guy on the end, the first time!), so I tried to make it look nice! ^^; Though Bekka looks like she might have swallowed a bit too much sea-water......

The guy on the end is the last main character. He was meant to appear in the next season. He is my favourite character... ;3;

P.S. Ben says it looks like they're standing in a giant urinal!

New Mirabilis episodes

We've finally managed to get the next two Mirabilis episodes up online. Only a week after the final DFC came through the letterbox (though it feels much longer, doesn't it?) so that's us doing our little bit to help make the pain go away.

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

I do not think I have EVER doodled a dinosaur. And I have never drawn a zombie either. I may have to get my chromosome distribution checked to make sure they are definitely XY. Meanwhile, here is a HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOUR that missed out on publication, with another special guest...

The DFC 43

So here it is... the last issue (just for now). And it has a lovely collaborative cover that spreads over the front and back...



The contents... DFC by Nick Sharratt, Sausage and Carrots by Simone Lia, John Blake by Philip Pullman and John Aggs, Little Cutie by Gary Northfield, The Spider Moon by Kate Brown, Monkey Nuts (two episodes) by The Etherington Brothers, Donny Digits by Woodrow Pheonix (obviously), more Sausage and Carrots by Simone Lia, Spectrum Black by Robert Deas, Bodkin & the Bear by Wilbur Dawbarn, Crab Lane Crew by Jim Medway, That's a Horse of a Different Colour by Woodrow Pheonix, Mirabilis by Dave Morris, Leo Hartas and Nikos Koutsis... and ending off with a double-page goodbye spread from the DFC's creators and characters... sniff!

Typing all those titles and names out really brings it home just how packed each issue of The DFC was, and a wonderful variety too. Don't forget you can see further episodes of some of these strips at The DFC website.

The DFC 42

What a beautiful cover featuring Donny Digits by Woodrow Pheonix...



... and you need to see the back cover too! This issue features a fantastic mix: Sausage and Carrots by Simone Lia; The Adventures of John Blake by Philip Pullman and John Aggs; Little Cutie by Gary Northfield; The Spider Moon by Kate Brown; Monkey Nuts by the Etherington Brothers; Donny Digits by 'The Mighty Woodzor'; Chicken Caesar Jnr. by Julian Hanshaw; Spectrum Black by Robert Deas; Bodkin & The Bear by Wilbur Dawbarn; Crab Lane Crew by Jim Medaway; That's A Horse of a Different Colour by Woodrow Pheonix; and Mirabilis by Dave Morris, Leo Hartis and Nikos Koutsis.

Such a great line-up, it just makes it even more unbearable to think that these comics will not have a home in The DFC by this time next week. Personally, I think The DFC is too good to die - even if its return is five years hence - so it's disappointing to read at the back "Next week in the last ever DFC..." which doesn't leave much room for optimism. But forget that - this issue presents the best argument there is as to why The DFC should exist in British comics.

The DFC 41

The DFC issue 41 is published today, featuring a super Little Cutie cover by Gary Northfield.



The rest of the line up includes: Donny Digits by Woodrow Pheonix (obviously!); Super Animal Adventure Squad by James Turner - seeing the end of The Case of the Baboon Bandit; the concluding episode of Frontier by Jason Cobley and Andrew Wildman; Monkey Nuts by the Etherington Brothers; That's a Horse of a Different Colour by Woodrow Pheonix; The Spider Moon by Kate Brown; Bodkin & the Bear by Wilbur Dawbarn; Doodlit by Ted Dewan; Crab Lane Crew by Jim Medway; Chicken Caesar Jnr. by Julian Hanshaw; Riddelicious illustrated by Jamie Smart; Spectrum Black by Robert Deas; and Sausage and Carrots by Simone Lia.

Phew, what a list of contents... as it says on the cover - it's crammed with great strips! The only downside is the official in-comic announcement that just two issues remain of the DFC as it exists in its current incarnation. See the creator links to the right to find out more about the artists and writers involved.