…london horror comic…

Horror Comics – when did you decide to write them?

I finished an interview yesterday with Richard Vasseur from Jazma online which should go up in the next week.

From my background as a reporter, I’ve found that asking the most simple questions can reveal the best answers.

Richard clearly comes from the same school of thought and one question in particular took me bloody ages to answer.

The first question was: when did you first discover you wanted to be a writer? I answered this one fine. No probs.

But it prompted another question in my own mind which I struggled with: when did I decide to become a writer?

There is a difference between the two questions.

A lot of people may discover they may like to become a writer, but when you decide that you’re committed to being a writer, well, that’s a whole different kettle of fish.

I’ve been writing comics for the past four years, I’ve always loved comics, but when it came time to remember when I decided to write them, my memory telescoped to a dot.

Researching interviews with a few other comic writers, they all tended to describe their first big break with a publisher. They didn’t describe the exact point at which they resolved to write comics.

Was this mass amnesia? A collective conspiracy to keep new and up and coming writers from the one bit of advice that might help them unlock their own potential?

Nah.

Because after thinking about it I remembered exactly when I resolved to write comics.

I decided to write comics because I couldn’t find a comic book out there for me.

There. Purely selfish.

Up until that point, I had read some great comics that had resonated very closely with me, most notably Joe Matt’s Peepshow and Adriane Tomei’s Optic Nerve.

But what these works opened my eyes to was the value of writing comics with my own take on things.

Once you start writing comics imbued with your own voice and your own view of the world, that’s when you write something of value, not only to yourself, but to the industry.

If you’re thinking of writing your own comic, take stock of what’s around you and what’s not.

Resolve yourself to fill the gap.

If necessity is the mother of invention, discontent is the father of change.

Comicmonsters.com interviews me about the London Horror Comic

“If you’ve hung an Army of Darkness poster in your apartment, or debated whether the Blair Witch Project was really scary, or feel compelled to see Halloween vs. Predator part 22 in the same way you feel compelled to visit that all too attractive ex of yours, then the London Horror Comic is the book for you.”

Eight page preview of London Horror Comic #1

Download

PDF, 3MB, approx. 1-2 minute download

How to buy London Horror Comic #1

See this coupon below?

Download it using the link below.

Print out. Fill in.

Hand to comic shop. Easy.

Download coupon

Or go to your local comic shop from the 25 June 2008 and say “I want to order a copy of London Horror Comic issue one. The Diamond order code is JUL084146. It is published by London Horror Comic Ltd.”

This will mean you get the book when it is available at the end of September.

Horror Film Short: The Usual Attraction — UK, 2006

This video is a short film I wrote for director Rick James back in 2006.

Rick has gone on to work on films such as Hostel part 2 and Wanted and I have gone on to start my own horror comic.

It seems that those who love horror are nothing short of ambition, even if their taste in films are sometimes questioned.

The film was made almost two years today and I thought I would post it here as a marker of just how much you can accomplish in two years.

For those who are interested: it was shot over a period of two sixteen hour days in Scotland for the price of a big mac.

We used corn syrup mixed with red food colouring for the blood.

Genius. Via B3TA’s limpfish.

I’m busy preparing the cover for issue two at the moment and looking for inspiration and found this.

Ain’t it gorgeous?

Pitch black driving-in-the-darkness-with-the-headlights-off humour, a semi-clad heroine and a hijacked Coca-Cola spokesman.

Creepy had an epic run from the mid sixties right through to the eighties.

With covers like this, it’s easy to see why.

Thoughts on horror comic cover design

This is why Gil Kane was brilliant.

Check the canted angle: the tight space puts the reader in the car with the passengers and we feel their reactions.

The hands of the werewolf are approaching - what will happen next?

Kane cleverly uses the mirror to reveal the face of the werewolf.

Plus, there is the added danger of the oncoming traffic.

Brilliant.

Horror comics - how to write a script

I once attended a writing class where the teacher handed out postcards to students. The task was to build a story around one image or a single scene and it is a technique I still use today.

Below are some of photos I’ve taken that I’ve used as the basis for my stories.

Interviewed on CNN

When I’m not writing comics I give global interviews on multibillion dollar tech mergers.

What?