Results tagged “Paul H Birch” from Birmingham Mail - Speech Balloon

SEEK & YOU Will Find is the title of the new Carter's Column series debuting exclusively next Sunday at Speech Balloons.

It is a short six part story but it has taken a long time for it to see the light of day, for alas, the original artist, Joe Ahern, passed away a few years ago.

Joe was an extremely talented individual, intelligent too, but he never boasted about either fact. Certainly in the art area he should have done, because he would have had a career that left us with more published work. The trouble was, he didn't push himself or put himself forward.

He also had a problem with time - He could never understand why you might be screaming blue murder when you'd got him some small freelance commission or set him an appointment with someone to get some work and he strolled up an hour or even a day late! It wasn't because he was slow; he could churn the work out and it still looked good. I blame it on him being left-handed; the brain apparently works differently and left-handed people have no concept of time.

I know an awful lot of left-handed people, and they're either all like that or over-compensate by being obsessively punctual. I fall into the latter category, because I'm left-handed too, and that's probably why I understood Joe's psyche pretty well. However, those of you who saw me interview Howard Chaykin at BICS 2009 last month, might recall me asking his opinion on it, because he's a left-hander too, and he thought it was a crock of *%!& or symbols to that affect, he did agree that statistically we did younger than you right-handers though.

I don't know why, as if there's a rhyme or reason to these things, but Joe left this mortal coil. It's not fair, but that's the ways the cards got dealt.

It happened just as things were looking good for him. Typically.

He had been assisting James Hodgkins on work for both Marvel and DC, and had been securing a number of prestigious freelance art commissions for himself; the results of which could be seen advertised over the West Midlands, and it really seemed he was gearing up to talk to some major comics publishers on his own.

But it didn't happen. His heart packed in.

We went to the funeral following the hearse with his coffin in. James and I laughed that he'd actually made it somewhere ahead of us. Then we probably shed a tear. We certainly shed some memories and continue to do so.

What's more, on his mother's request, I got to take care of all his art. At times it has proved more intimate than a diary as one looks at the many worlds he imagined in his head and had the talent to put down on paper. One day, I'll make sure more people see them.

Among the art I found the incomplete pencils for the first episode of Carter's Column: Seek & You Will Find. He'd gone suitably retro sci-fi in style for me but typically left it unfinished, as you can see above.

From time to time I would look at it, and a little voice in the back of my head would say: "Get someone else in to finish it off". I wasn't sure for a long time, but then I realised that Joe always loved the collaborative idea of various people pitching in to complete something. It's how he'd come to be involved in previous Carter's Column strips. He was never precious about his own work.

So I asked Mats Engesten if he would step up to the plate, draw the last pencilled panel of Episode 1 (as you can see here), ink it all, and then illustrate the remaining storyline.

Mats lives in Sweden. Viking blood runs in his veins: He's prepared to meet challenges head-on and he is also an honourable being; and so he understood implicitly what it meant for all concerned to have a little piece of Joe's work see the light of day worldwide over the internet.

Frankly, Mats has been invaluable on so many levels with the remastered series of Carter's Column appearing at Speech Balloons.

To continue our international flavour we invited Donald Jackson from the USA to letter the series, and closer to home Andrew Dodd has digitally coloured the forthcoming story.

My thanks go out to all those who've been involved in putting Seek & You Will Find together.

But enough of these maudlin feelings, I know Joe Ahern would have no truck with them, he never wanted to draw po-faced serious stuff - Something that had adventure and was a bit of a laugh was much more his cup of tea - and so that's what you'll be getting next week!

For more information on the creators visit:

For Paul H Birch: www.myspace.com/paulhbirch

For Mats Engesten: www.go.to/engesten

Make sure you don't miss out next Sunday as we feature some behind-the-scenes information on our new Carter's Column saga and other Speech Balloons exclusives during the week by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

CARTER'S COLUMN The Princess of Tsyzac storyline concluded last Sunday but not everything about the series had been revealed.

Before the series began John Royle did several character designs, that were featured here prior to the series commencing.

However, one particular page was left out and one had been slightly edited to avoid giving the plot away completely.

Here they are exclusvely revealed to the public for the first time after countless years gathering dust in an old envelope.

We trust you enjoy this little behind-the-scenes interval before the next saga begins.

For more information on the creators visit:

For Paul H Birch: www.myspace.com/paulhbirch

For John Royle: www.johnroyleart.com

Make sure you don't miss out next Sunday as we feature some behind-the-scenes information on our new Carter's Column saga and other Speech Balloons exclusives during the week by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

CLICK ON Episode 12 of The Princess of Tsyzac below and it will expand to fill your screen.

For further information on the creators visit:

For Paul H Birch: www.myspace.com/paulhbirch

For John Robbins: www.mylifeinshorts.blogspot.com

For John Royle: www.johnroyleart.com

For Mats Engesten: www.go.to/engesten

Make sure you don't miss out next Sunday as we feature some behind-the-scenes information on our new Carter's Column saga and other Speech Balloons exclusives during the week by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

CLICK ON Episode 11 of The Princess of Tsyzac below and it will expand to fill your screen.

For further information on the creators visit:

For Paul H Birch: www.myspace.com/paulhbirch

For John Robbins: www.mylifeinshorts.blogspot.com

For John Royle: www.johnroyleart.com

For Mats Engesten: www.go.to/engesten

Make sure you don't miss out on next Sunday's episode and other Speech Balloons exclusives during the week by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

BICS 2009 held in Birmingham, England on the weekend of 3rd -4th October has proved to be a critical success.

From the no-holds barred interview Speech Balloons' Paul H Birch conducted with star guest from the USA, Howard Chaykin (pictured above) to the various publishers and dealers wearing smiles on their faces all weekend, plus updates on the newly formed Comic Book Alliance.

For a full review of the show, courtesy of GM Jordan, visit: www.comicshopvoice.co.uk

CLICK ON Episode 10 of The Princess of Tsyzac below and it will expand to fill your screen.

For further information on the creators visit:

For Paul H Birch: www.myspace.com/paulhbirch

For John Robbins: www.mylifeinshorts.blogspot.com

For John Royle: www.johnroyleart.com

For Mats Engesten: www.go.to/engesten

Make sure you don't miss out on next Sunday's episode and other Speech Balloons exclusives during the week by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

CLICK ON Episode 9 of The Princess of Tsyzac below and it will expand to fill your screen.

Paul H Birch and James A Hodgkins are at BICS 2009 today.

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Joe Ahern.

For further information on the creators visit:

For Paul H Birch: www.myspace.com/paulhbirch

For John Robbins: www.mylifeinshorts.blogspot.com

For John Royle: www.johnroyleart.com

For Mats Engesten: www.go.to/engesten

Make sure you don't miss out on next Sunday's episode and other Speech Balloons exclusives during the week by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

CLICK ON Episode 8 of The Princess of Tsyzac below and it will expand to fill your screen.
For further information on the creators visit:

For Paul H Birch: www.myspace.com/paulhbirch

For John Robbins: www.mylifeinshorts.blogspot.com

For John Royle: www.johnroyleart.com

For Mats Engesten: www.go.to/engesten

Make sure you don't miss out on next Sunday's episode and other Speech Balloons exclusives during the week by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

CLICK ON Episode 7 of The Princess of Tsyzac below and it will expand to fill your screen.

For further information on the creators visit:

For Paul H Birch: www.myspace.com/paulhbirch

For John Robbins: www.mylifeinshorts.blogspot.com

For John Royle: www.johnroyleart.com

For Mats Engesten: www.go.to/engesten

Make sure you don't miss out on next Sunday's episode and other Speech Balloons exclusives during the week by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

CLICK ON Episode 6 of The Princess of Tsyzac below and it will expand to fill your screen.

For further information on the creators visit:

For Paul H Birch: www.myspace.com/paulhbirch

For John Robbins: www.mylifeinshorts.blogspot.com

For John Royle: www.johnroyleart.com

For Mats Engesten: www.go.to/engesten

Make sure you don't miss out on next Sunday's episode and other Speech Balloons exclusives during the week by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

CLICK ON Episode 5 of The Princess of Tsyzac below and it will expand to fill your screen.

For further information on the creators visit:

For Paul H Birch: www.myspace.com/paulhbirch

For John Robbins: www.mylifeinshorts.blogspot.com

For John Royle: www.johnroyleart.com

For Mats Engesten: www.go.to/engesten

Make sure you don't miss out on next Sunday's episode and other Speech Balloons exclusives during the week by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

CLICK ON Episode 3 of The Princess of Tsyzac below and it will expand to fill your screen.

For further information on the creators visit:

For Paul H Birch: www.myspace.com/paulhbirch

For John Robbins: www.mylifeinshorts.blogspot.com

For John Royle: www.johnroyleart.com

For Mats Engesten: www.go.to/engesten

Make sure you don't miss out on next Sunday's episode and other Speech Balloons exclusives during the week by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

CLICK ON Episode 2 of The Princess of Tsyzac below and it will expand to fill your screen.

For further information on the creators visit:

For Paul H Birch: www.myspace.com/paulhbirch

For John Robbins: www.mylifeinshorts.blogspot.com

For John Royle: www.johnroyleart.com

For Mats Engesten: www.go.to/engesten

Make sure you don't miss out on next Sunday's episode and other Speech Balloons exclusives during the week by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

GIANT-SIZED BAND-THING the band formed by comic book personalities Charlie Adlard, Paul H Birch, Liam Sharp and Phil Winslade contines to rock on.

The band formed at short notice to play a one-off gig for the launch party at last year's Birmingham International Comics Show.

Following the positive reception they received from the crowd, alongside being surprised at how much they enjoyed playing together, the band decided to continue and this year has found them playing live again, plus writing their own material.

They have just recently launched a page on Facebook and gathered about 150 fans on it, while over at Myspace they have over 300 friends.

To find out more, check Giant-Sized Band-Thing out on Facebook and visit: www.myspace.com.giantsizedbandthing

STARTING TODAY Carter's Column in The Princess of Tsyzac!

You can make sure you don't miss out on it and other Speech Balloons exclusives by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

CARTER'S COLUMN will be appearing at Speech Balloons every Sunday starting next week.

Before that happens, here are some exclusive character sketches, previously unpublished, along with some background material on the comic strip...

So welcome to the comic strip world of Carter's Column that takes place somewhere in the absurdity of an uncertain near-future. It's a strange world, made even stranger by the fact that Carter himself hosts his own hit show for the popular investigative news channel known as The Daily Discovery Vid-Station.

This irrepressible reporter comes on like Harrison Ford with unexpected undercurrents of Cary Grant.

He gives off a gruff exterior, with a hint of sexual charisma. Carter is possibly in his thirties, well built and taken to a smart appearance.

His interview technique is that of the "Bull in a China shop" variety and while his actual reporting is hardly profound it comes from the heart... Even if, on occasion, it takes a few upper cuts to someone's jaw to make it so!

Most reporters in this future world use flying cam-droids to film their work but Carter can't get to grips with inanimate objects and is partnered by Lauren.

She is not only attractive on the eye but physically adept too. She's a more than admirable Emma Peel to his gruff Steed and when not arguing they flirt constantly.

His editor, Joe Stone, hates him but puts up with him due to his success... But then Stone has enough enemies to launch an army so he also as an alien called Chunky as his own personal bodyguard!

Carter does the best he can on a world where Loony Tunes plays as background muzack, aliens visit Earth on vacation, the environment resembles the nicer parts of Bladerunner in a bargain basement sale and absurd scientific experiments are believed to be undertaken at a university called The Wilde Academy.

Carter's Column was created by Paul H Birch and originally serialised in the British newsstand sold magazine Gamesman. The series was subsequently featured in colour on the award-winning Cybernet 2000 website in the 90s, and has since been syndicated elsewhere since both in print and over the internet.

The comic strip series has now been digitally remastered to appear exclusively online at Speech Balloons, the Birmingham Mail newspaper's website dedicated to comics and there has also been interest expressed in it being optioned to other media.

"A lot of creators live with the dream that Hollywood will come calling and turn their ideas into films or television shows, but I live in the real world," said Birch. "If something like that happened then great, but I get a personal kick writing Carter in the format it is and seeing how the artists interpret that visually."

The stories are unashamedly classic sci-fi adventure romps. Each strip uses the 4-5 panel (generally 2 tier) newspaper style system that was popularised in America by Gil Kane on Star Hawks and Al Williamson on Star Wars, and ends with a cliff hanger. The series has been described in reviews as: "Classic sci-fi delivered with great style, spot-on dialogue and quality storytelling."

The first 12 part series is titled The Princess of Tsyzac and was pencilled by John Royle. John is best known for having drawn comic books such as Wolverine, Excalibur, Ultraforce and others for Marvel, DC, Acclaim and Malibu over in the USA. More recently he has been drawing for publishers on these shores, including everyone's favourite wall-crawler in the Panini UK edition of Spectacular Spider-Man plus a forthcoming G.I. Joe comic.

British newspaper cartoonist Steve Harrison (The Sport, Fast Car Magazine), is responsible for inking and lettering duties on the first six of those strips, with the late Joe Ahern and James Hodgkins (Batman, Superboy) collaborating on inks for the remainder of the first series.

John Robbins and Mats Engesten rounded out that series courtesy of some international flavour with exquisite Irish hand lettering and some Swedish computer colours respectively!

Playing various roles from editor to writer, Birch himself has been involved in the Eisner Award-winning Gumby Comics for younger readers, and Dead Ahead and Dr. Phibes for older readers in the USA; helped bring about the return of cult British comic strip character Werewilf for the best-selling UK boy's magazine Toxic; and has scripting graphic novels for Asia.

"We've got more great thrills and bad puns aplenty with some cool end-of-episode cliff-hangers in the storylines that follow that," Birch revealed of strips that will feature art by Gary Crutchley (2000AD) and Garen Ewing (The Rainbow Orchid). "And we've some other surprise guest star artists lined up whose names I can't wait to reveal, but for the moment I'm just going to have to!" he revealed.

Carter's Column is back with a bang!

Loud, proud, and online at Speech Balloons...

Make sure you don't miss out by subscribing free online via the RSS feed!

ROVING INVESTIGATIVE & subversive gossip column reporters alike beware... Sequential art's original sci-fi motormouth is coming back online!

Carter's Column will be making a weekly deadline at Speech Balloons, the comics-related websection of the popular UK Birmingham Mail newspaper.

Created by writer/editor Paul H Birch, the Carter's Column comic strip has been described as "Classic sci-fi delivered with great style, spot-on dialogue and quality storytelling." It also features lip-smacking action-art, overflowing with buckets full of charisma, courtesy of a variety of artists.

Next Sunday, Speech Balloons will feature some behind-the-scenes background on the series along with exclusive character sketches revealed for the first time.

From then on Carter's Column kicks off for real; debuting with the 12 part The Princess of Tsyzac saga, pencilled by John Royle (Spider-Man, Wolverine).

"We've got great thrills and bad puns aplenty with some cool end-of-episode cliff-hangers in our upcoming storylines.

"And we've some surprise guest star artists whose names I can't wait to reveal, but for the moment I'm just going to have to!" Birch revealed.

Carter's Column is back with a bang! Loud, proud, and on the web at Speech Balloons.

Make sure you don't miss out by subscribing free via the RSS feed!

THE SEVEN LIVES of Dr Phibes, as previously noted, is a two issue mini-series from Blue Water Productions, and features the ongoing escapades of the classic character, as portrayed in films by Vincent Price.

This is the second Dr Phibes title the company has produced, with more intended. The Seven Lives of Dr Phibes is due for distributors' solicitation this November .

Above: Cover art for #1, from sketch to finished colour art, by Mel Smith, Ken Hooper and colorist

Below: Internal pages for #1 by Nadja Smith. As co-writer I recently redialogued the script to match the art for the letterer to insert later.

Concluding this short visual presentation is a sketch, again by Smith. For further information on The Seven Lives of Dr Phibes and other books from Blue Water visit: www.bluewaterprod.com/

THE SEVEN Lives of Dr Phibes continues the macabre story first established by Vincent Price in two classic horror movies.

This two-issue mini-series finds the infamous Dr. Phibes returning to wreck havoc and bid goodbye to the twentieth century in his own fiendishly special ways.

To be published by Blue Water in America, the featured cover presented here is by Mel Smith (Child's Play 2) and Ken Hooper (Indiana Jones).

The series is plotted by Smith with Clark Castillo (Dead Ahead), and co-scripted with yours truly, Paul H Birch.

For more about Blue Water Comics visit: www.bluewaterprod.com

TOXIC #137 is now on sale with a free copy of Crazy Comics! bagged inside. It features brand new strips by several talented cartoonists and the unexpected return of an old British character.

Shane Oakley and myself were responsible for rebooting former IPC comedy monster Werewilf and we invited John Erasmus to draw the strip.

John drew the Goosebumps strips for the comics supplement in The Sunday Times and worked on a number of British comics, more recently drawing Desperate Dan in The Dandy and creating Home Front for Brain Damage back in the 90s and earning himself two Humour Comic Awards for it.

He's also worked for Marvel and Dark Horse in America, and has always done book illustration work. In recent years the cinematic world has employed his storytelling skills so we were more than happy that he agreed to draw Werewilf.

Despite such a short deadline, John produced a charismatically hand-coloured two-page strip, his visual narrative skills gently moving the story with amusing results, his backgrounds filled with unobtrusive and subtle detail.

We loved the results of John's hard work and we hope you and your kids do too.

Whether or not our intended arch-nemeses for Werewilf, Ernie Helsing and Go-go Einstein, his best mate Ahmid, Wilf's his mam and his dad, Izabella Snotzbigski the school's new heartthrob with a dark secret of her own, or last night's dinner... sorry, Fido, the new pet dog (!) will see print is down to readers.

Toxic readers are invited to vote online for their favourite strip in Crazy Comics! The intention being that the winner will appear regularly in Toxic itself. To vote for your favourite character go to: www.toxicmag.co.uk/vote.

Featured exclusively here at Speech Balloons are John Erasmus' rough character sketches, to see the brilliant finished strip go and buy Toxic #137 with Crazy Comics! And if you like what you see feel free to go and vote for Werewilf.

For more on Toxic and its Crazy Comics! supplement, the return of Werewilf visit these websites:

www.collectingcomix.com/blog/toxic-comic-supplement-cover-sneek-peek/

www.downthetubescomics.blogspot.com/2009/02/exclusive-toxic-comic-supplement.html

www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/

www.johnerasmus.com/

www.lewstringer.blogspot.com/

www.shaneoakley.blogspot.com/