And I was delighted by this detailed review that was brought to my attention yesterday. Some lovely observations and generous praise in both these pieces - thanks so much (edit: and to Warren Ellis too).

It's from Strang in the Underworld (by Dudly Watkins, I believe, more famous for Oor Wullie) and I think it's probably best left without too much explanation.

Accent UK are hoping to raise the profile of their new themed anthology, Western, in light of recent benchmark restrictions introduced by their distributor, Diamond. Year after year Dave and Colin have been producing some of the most interesting UK indie comics within these books (and they are books - Western runs to 192 pages) and if you have yet to try one, you really really should. Ask your local comic shop to get some in!

There's a new publisher on the block, though from someone who has been involved in comics for many years, bringing much experience and an enormous comics knowledge to the cause. Steve Holland (of the essential Bear Alley blog) has launched Bear Alley Books. The first two collections will be Cursitor Doom and The Phantom Patrol, available this August, and I can't wait.

Lastly, there's been some internet stuff about British comics artist Ron Smith recently (still alive in his eighties), and it reminded me how much his work meant to me as a child. I was a 2000AD reader on and off in the late seventies, but one of the first stories that really hooked me onto the comic was The Judge Child Quest, and though I was already a head-over-heels devotee of Brian Bolland's exquisite line, it was Ron Smith that really engaged me on this story. I would spend ages studying his pages, bursting as they were with crowds of unique characters. His work was alive, fleshy, and technically brilliant. He's sometimes a little forgotten, hidden amongst the giant shadows of Bolland, McMahon and Ezquerra, but along with Colin Wilson (another favourite thanks to his amazing futuristic vehicles and guns) he deserves his place among the greats.

What else? So much else! Neill Cameron has bravely started Neill's A-Z of Awesomeness, inspired (he generously says) by my own A-Z of Comic Strip Characters. Go and join the Facebook group and join in the fun!

My author friend, Julie Corbin, has launched her website. Go and visit, and if you like what you see, order her book, Tell Me No Secrets - it's a cracking read.

So much more I wanted to waffle on about, but I must rustle up some dinner. So I'll just end off by checking - have you visited the Super Comics Adventure Squad recently? Always some lovely stuff going on there.

The 40th June turned out to be a very successful day thanks to all the wonderful supporters and friends of The Rainbow Orchid. I don't know how many people sent out emails to tell their friends about the book (enormous thanks if you did), but I can mention some of the blog posts that I was alerted to - please give them all a visit and check out the rest of these wonderful sites...

I hope I haven't missed anyone out - please let me know if I have and I'll add it on. There were also some lovely comments and messages through Facebook and Twitter.

I must also share this brilliant piece of artwork by Simon Doyle with you. Thank you Simon - that's going straight up into the Readers' Art gallery (where you can also read the hilarious text that accompanies it).

And so I'm going to be very cheeky and ask you, my dear Rainbow Orchid readers, if you'd be so kind as to give me a little present! On my birthday, which is this Thursday, 4th June, I would be most grateful if you would do something to spread the word about The Rainbow Orchid and its approaching publication. If you have a blog, perhaps you could write a line and give a link, or maybe you could post something on a forum, or tweet on Twitter, or even just email a couple of friends who you think might be interested in giving the comic a look. You could point them to the online preview, or maybe the shop. No obligation, just a little awareness raising. It would be enormously kind of you!

In return, I am offering up a little competition to win one of the two cover proofs I received from Egmont a few weeks ago - signed by me and with some original little character drawings down one side. To enter, log in to the members' area (anyone can enter as long as you're a registered reader - it's free to sign up) and click the 'competitions' link, where you will find three simple questions to answer in order to have a chance at owning this unique Rainbow Orchid goody.

In addition to all this, to continue with the Fortieth of June celebrations, a new interview has gone up online, though this one is a little different in that it is my first audio interview (so please be gentle with me, I know I get a bit rambly sometimes!). I talked to researcher and author Linda Wada for her first Table Chat podcast, and the result is a one hour and fifteen minute wander through the creation of The Rainbow Orchid, from Imagination to Print, as Linda has titled it. If you give it a listen, I hope you enjoy it!

From NBM comes Miss Don't Touch Me (originally La Vierge du Bordel and Du Sang sur les Mains) by Hubert (story and colour) and Kerascoët (drawing). I totally loved this book, from its 1930s Paris setting, to the riveting story and loose yet stylistic draughtsmanship. It's a murder mystery, largely set in a high-class brothel, and featuring a very engaging main character (Blanche). While the story is top-notch, the cartooning adds so much to the whole package, it's just delightful. Very European and very good. (And I discovered the blog of Kerascoët right here - lovely).

One of my favourite political cartoonists is 'Derf' (John Backderf), whose The City I have been following online for a good few years now. I've also been a fan of his longer works - My Friend Dahmer and Trashed, and now, a much longer work, Punk Rock and Trailer Parks. This story follows the remarkable central character, a charismatic trailer-park nerd named Otto, a.k.a 'The Baron', amidst the backdrop of the economically arid city of Akron which became a focal point for the new wave punk scene that hit America at the end of the 70s and into the early 80s. The story features several real bands and artists that did indeed play at 'The Bank' (eg. The Ramones, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, The Plasmatics), the music venue where much of the story takes place. If nothing else, I was introduced to the simply wonderful Klaus Nomi (an album of his coming my way soon). The only (very minor) downside is a few of the earlier pages print extremely close to the edge of the page - on one it actually sliced off a few letters of balloon text - but all in all it's a really satisfying read that had me chuckling out loud in several places.

The best part of Blenheim was a very informative guided tour through a few of the rooms, which contrasted starkly with a section of animatronics, video and 'interactivity'. I just can't get excited about these attempts to try and make history 'more exciting', when I think marvelling at the actual objects and stories behind them is a far more rewarding experience (as I've said before).

We stayed in the village of Broadway, and on Tuesday morning had a lovely 5 mile walk up to Broadway Tower and back (by a different route). The tower has strong connections with William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites, so was very interesting for that, but also we were lucky to have a fairly clear day, and from the top of the tower you're supposed to be able to see thirteen counties - it was certainly quite a view.

We went to Cheltenham in the afternoon and saw Coraline in 3D in the evening. The animation was gorgeous and not at all showy-offy, it served the story very nicely. I did think a few parts of the plot were resolved due to some rather convenient events, but that's a minor criticism of a very enjoyable film. And the trailer for Up looked fabulous.

On Wednesday we drove back through Stow-on-the-Wold (mostly closed on a Wednesday it seems, though a second-hand bookshop made it worthwhile) and Bourton-on-the-Water for a lovely lunch.

So - batteries somewhat recharged, brain reset, it's now back to work on The Rainbow Orchid with plenty to do for volume two to get it into shape for publication. I'm working on the cover right now. And I also heard that a copy of the printed volume one has being doing the rounds at the Egmont office - so I'll hopefully get to see that soon.

You can start reading the comic here and you can pre-order volume one from Amazon.co.uk here (it'll be available to buy from this website in August).