Here's some exciting news - Egmont (my publisher) have been completely fabulous and will have 50 copies of The Rainbow Orchid volume 2 available to buy at the Bristol International Comic Expo on the weekend of 22-23 May 2010. This is over a month before the book is officially released across the nation on July 5th.

On top of that, I'm totally chuffed to be doing a talk alongside one of the UK's long-time comic-creating heroes, Glenn Dakin, who has a new novel out called Candle Man. The talk will take place at the Mercure Hotel, 2pm, on Saturday 22nd May. Tickets for the weekend are going fast - so book now if you can - there's a superb line-up of guests throughout the whole weekend.

You might remember a blog post many months ago showing some examples of clear line style comics (it needs updating as I've discovered quite a lot more since then, mostly from the European mainland). There are also a few more independent English-language comics that are in that format, some of which I've mentioned before, but I thought I'd link to a few of them for a nice Saturday post.

One of the longest-running has been Les McClaine's Jonny Crossbones. At one point it was to be published by Dark Horse, but it became a victim of recessiony cost-cutting and lost its place. But it's beautifully drawn and a super mystery story to boot, so I'm sure it will see print at some point. Les has been pretty busy recently so it's been a while since it updated, but there's plenty to see online in the meantime.

I've enthused about David O'Connell's Tozo plenty of times here, and there's good reason for that - it's a superb strip! It's a romantically-hued science-fiction tale, a bit art deco, a bit steam-punky, and a lovely world to get immersed in. Book three has just come out in print form.

Ellie Connelly is an adventuress of the late-Victorian era, and she's currently involved in the hunt for the legendary Energy Vortex, thanks to her creator, the fantastic Indigo Kelleigh. This is great historical adventure with a hefty twist of the supernatural thrown into the mix. Stirring and absorbing stuff!

A couple of new British-based webcomics have surfaced in the past few months, and both are worth mentioning here too. Michael Ewing (no relation) has been providing us with the antics of Hugo & Co. since last August. Each new instalment turns up the mystery and keeps you riveted, a very enjoyable read. And I also heard from Mike Dutton who impressed me greatly with his work on The Zander Adventure. I love the pastoral setting which lends one to think something of the atmosphere found in Asterix or the Smurfs, and on top of that the characters and dialogue provide some excellent chucklesome moments - I look forward to reading more!

One thing about making comics in the fairly rigid format of a classic Franco-Belgian album is that it forces you to keep a strong narrative going. It's not easy, and there is less opportunity to rely on a number of the shortcuts comic authors sometimes use. The progression of the story has to be kept clear and logical. It's a real discipline, but often results in a comic that keeps good sequential storytelling to the fore.

If you know of any more comics in the clear line style, or in the family of classic Franco-Belgian adventure tales, do leave a comment and a link!

If you're in or around the Brighton area, and you like comics, why not get down to this month's Cartoon County meeting (next Monday, April 26th) where I'll be chatting about The Rainbow Orchid. The venue is The Cricketers on Black Lion Street, Brighton, and the gathering starts at 6pm (though my bit will begin at about 7.30).

Karen Rubins went along in February to talk about her residency at the V&A, and it resulted in a great podcast which you can listen to here.

I was just about to go to bed at about one o'clock last night when I had a sudden urge to draw Judge Dredd. I've only drawn him once before - for a fanzine in about 1986. Anyway, it's just a quickie, and I coloured it this morning...

Edit: Of course I have drawn Judge Death before!

I've struggled a little with what to blog about recently. I've got some longer pieces in mind, but no time to sit down and write them properly. And I've got some interesting stuff coming up, but it would be a bit premature to post any of it now. So, in the meantime, here's a quick rambly update post, with a few piccies for you as well.

Sarah McIntyre alerted me to a nice little piece by Jake Hope in the April edition of The Bookseller, looking forward to the publication of The Rainbow Orchid volume 2 in July - thanks for that Jake!

Yesterday the full programme for the Hay Festival went online - you can see my event here, 1pm on Saturday 5th June in the Oxfam Studio. If you've never been to Hay before, and you love books, I would highly recommend it.

Thanks to Down The Tubes and the Forbidden Planet blog for helping to preview the cover for volume 2. It's had a positive reaction, which is a relief, I must say. I'm deep into working on volume 3 now, and really enjoying it. I know it's a long wait between volumes, but when they're all together I think the build up in the story is just right and, if I do say so myself, the final volume is a cracker. Here are a select few panels from my very rough roughs for volume 3.

Here are a few working drawings of the Kalasha, who make a brief appearance in The Rainbow Orchid volume 3.

The women have particularly distinctive dress consisting of a black gown, tied at the waist, and brightly patterned designs on the hem, sleeves, and shoulders and upper torso. But was it that way in the 1920s? According to Akiko Wada, a Japanese woman who married into the Kalasha, with roads came synthetic fabrics, and therefore more colourful yarns. She shows a plainer dark brown wool variation of the gown which is more traditional.

To the right of the two women is a door ornament design, and the wooden carving below-left is an effigy of the horse of Balimain, one of the Kalasha gods (the Kalasha are what used to be known as kafirs - unbelievers, or non-muslims). The black and white line drawing is a study of the braids and a headdress.

There are only about 3,000 Kalasha today, living in three valleys in the Chitral region of northern Pakistan. Woven into their past is the idea that they are descended (fully or partially) from soldiers of Alexander the Great, a theory that had been applied to many of the tribes of old Kafiristan to the west (now called Nuristan, since Abdurrahman forced them to see the light and convert). If you've seen the fantastic John Huston adaptation of The Man Who Would Be King, then you'll know something about that. It is probably true to say the Kalasha do not refute the Alexander connection too strongly, given that it brings in much needed funding from Greeks keen to strengthen their connection to this fascinating people.

Alex Milway seems to have books popping out of his ears at the moment (which is a very nice thing for the rest of us, even if not for Mr Milway's ears). The Curse of Mousebeard is about to be released in hardback in the US (it's out in the UK on 3 July), and I've been eagerly following his tweets on the development of Operation Robot Storm - the first of the Mythical 9th Division books (out 7 June).

You can win a copy of The Curse of Mousebeard with a lovely original drawing in - just go and look at this post here on the Mousehunter blog. I don't wish to be horrible, but I hope you don't win, because I'd quite like to! But fair's fair... you should certainly have a go :-)

I can also heartily recommend Alex's recent Panel Borders interview, which helped me to while away the hours whilst ruling out several pages of Rainbow Orchid layouts. And keep listening, because it's followed by a really good interview with John Harris Dunning, author of the marvellous Salem Brownstone.

Here is the cover to volume two of The Rainbow Orchid, out on July 5th 2010.

There is a competition over at The Book Zone (For Boys) to win a copy of volume one - pop over and see what you have to do to win. The deadline for entries is Monday 29 March 2010.

I'll also take this opportunity to mention a few of this year's events, which are starting to fill up the calendar. I'll be at the Bristol International Comic Expo, the Hay Festival, Caption, and the Edinburgh International Book Festival. There will be more to come - keep an eye on the events page.

Nathaniel - he can't help it most of the time, being the fall guy, but actually he comes up with some pretty smart ideas too. I am sorry for what I do to you in volume two, Nat! Here is a watercolour sketch I did of him a couple of years ago.

Edit: I almost forgot to mention that there's a little interview with me over at the Book Zone (For Boys), as part of their graphic novel month.

A lot of people really seem to like Evelyn Crow. Just be careful, she really is no good - it'll all end in tears, I promise you. Here's a quick wash sketch I did of her.