Related to the last entry, I thought I'd present three versions of the poster I illustrated for Return to the Forbidden Planet. This was commissioned by Josef Weinberger Ltd. in 2005, who license the musical, including use of the poster artwork so amateur or professional groups can utilise it in their promotions. So these are perfectly legal versions.

The poster on the left is my original design - it's available with or without lettering. The second version is a standard use of that poster (in this case for the Bottleneck Theatre Company), as seen up and down the country for various productions - note that not all productions use it, some use their own. And that leads to the version on the right - a curiosity, from the Coliseum in Oldham, in that it is quite clearly based on my (the Josef Weinberger) version, yet has been completely re-drawn! I'm intrigued by the reason certain things were changed - the heroine carried by the hero, who looks a bit more 'comic-book classic' (does it look as though he's offering the girl to the alien?), the rocket on the opposite side, taller mountains... I like it actually.. maybe a little luminous for my drab tastes (note how the middle one has whacked up the contrast too!)

I was disappointed to find, once again, that some of my artwork has been used without my permission. This time it's the Gateway Playhouse (or maybe it was Searles Graphics, their designers), and their 2006 production of Oliver!

You might remember that this has happened before, when my Oliver! logo was used by the Act Too Stage School, again without my permission or knowledge. Gateway did respond kindly to me making them aware of the transgression and have agreed to credit the piece. Worryingly, they seem to think the design may have come from an apparently public domain source book (or site), which, if true, bodes ill for future versions of my design turning up. I haven't been able to find anything.

top: my original Oliver! rough sketch and finished logo from 1998
below is the logo as used by Gatehouse and Act Too

Lest you think I'm as heartless as Bill Sikes for not being generous with my art, two other organisations did get in touch and kindly asked permission for use of the design; one, being for charity, I charged a minimal fee (also designing a new poster); the other being a high school production in New York state, for which I allowed free usage. Of course it is only right that I should have the chance to make money from my own creations - they are my sole form of income. That logo is the result of many hours sketching, going back and forth with the original client (the June Easther Theatre Company) to get it right.

There's a lot of it about. Last year there was the Todd Goldman 'Dear God' affair, where he stole Dave Kelley's Purple Pussy comic. More recently Jess Fink (language warning!) has had her 'soap' design ripped off by Hot Topic. And it's probably more prevalent (wildly rife, actually) in the world of text. Whole websites are daily copied and used without proper attribution (including my own), but it's not just the amateurs - The Scotsman newspaper printed an edited entry from the blog of Hydragenic without any permission or payment whatsoever. There seems to be an attitude, even among 'professionals' that, if it's on the internet, it's free for the taking.

Fink's soap design (top left) and the Hot Topic copy (top right)
and Kelley's original Purple Pussy (left) with Goldman's direct copy (right)

Looking at the deserved support for artists such as Dave Kelley and Jess Fink, I do wonder how many of those commentators and supporters who shake their fists in anger at the art thieves also regularly illegally download another artist's music, films and television episodes onto their computers - which in my view is pretty much the same thing - stealing.

If you wanted some news on that new weekly comic of which there have been so many whispers of late, I can point you to these press releases at PR Newswire, the Bookseller.com and at Publishers Weekly (thanks to Linda for pointing them out).

News on the Orchid books - the first batch went out last week. The second batch is going in the post tomorrow. I have about 20 left, and they will be going in the post sometime next week. Almost there!

And talking of updates... this rather amusing alert just popped up on my wife's iMac.

Today, the 50th anniversary of the death of Edna Purviance, author Linda Wada releases her long-awaited and much looked-forward-to book The Sea Gull. I have been privileged to see an early manuscript of this exciting work and cannot wait to hold the completed book in my hands.

To quote from the Edna's Place blog:

"This book is about her lost 1926 film, directed by Josef von Sternberg, who would later create "The Blue Angel" starring Marlene Dietrich. This would be the only film produced by Charlie Chaplin that did not feature Chaplin as director or actor. The film would never be seen by the public, and the story behind its creation and demise is fascinating. The book features over 50 recently discovered, and never-before-published production still photos from the film."

Linda has dedicated years to the study of the wonderful Edna Purviance and has discovered so much about Edna that was not previously known. Some of it appears in this book, but there is so much more that will one day appear in the Edna biography she is also working on. If you have any interest in film, film-making or silent film and the people that made them, go and check out this book.

First, the news... I will not be doing any work on The Rainbow Orchid until at least the second half of April, though at that point I will then be working the rest of the year to finish the book, depending on the publishing deal. The reason for the gap is that I am working on another comic strip, and its deadline has priority. I might drop a teaser for the new strip here every now and then (like the one below...)

If you've pre-ordered a Rainbow Orchid book, then I apologise once again for the delay. Still sorting out some business on it, but they are coming! Any worries at all, just contact me, and I'll be sending out a newsletter soon.

And now some links... Firstly, have a look at Matthew Badham's blog, it's got some great independent comic-related tidbits, including recent interviews with David Baillie and Stuart Kolakovic.

I'd also like to point you in the direction of my brother's new music project, City Music, available for download at the Internet Archive. If you liked Spacewreck, you'll like this, another 'narrative in sound'. Lovely stuff.

Does anyone else hate those 'Snap' website previews that keep popping up every time your mouse hovers over a link?

Something strange is going on over here...

And here's another linky for you... be good, and have a lovely Christmas!

I do apologise for the delay with the Rainbow Orchid hardback books. I am having a slight issue with the printer, and while it will be resolved, their customer service is absolutely terrible. I'm just sorry that it is you - my readers who pre-ordered the book - that are having to wait. I'm really grateful for your patience, and don't worry, it will be resolved soon. To make up for it, I shall be including a little extra goody with your orders when they go out.

I also apologise for the lack of or late updates to the daily LiveJournal strip - it's just not updating for some reason.

This is my fourth 'Remembrance Sunday' entry. Previous years' entries can be read here: Walter Cameron of the Scots Guards, Charles Hodgkins of the North Staffordshire Regiment, and Mark William Cameron of the Royal Navy. This year I will write a little about my two great-great uncles, David and John Bruce Ewing.

David and John were brothers, both born in Dundee to David Ewing, who worked as a lemonade maker in Magdelene Yard Road, and Jane Gray, who came from Errol in Perthshire. David was the eldest, born in 1886, and John was born 1892. They had two elder brothers as well - James (a school teacher) and George (who followed his father in to the lemonade business). There had also been a middle brother, Alexander born in 1888, but he died of meningitis aged just six years old.

When the First World War broke out, David (a book keeper at Keillers) and John enlisted together at Dundee on 5th November 1914, David being given the number 1692, and John 1695, and both going in to the Royal Army Medical Corps. While I know David was placed with the 3rd Highland Field Ambulance, I am less certain about John as less paperwork has survived, and while it is possible they went in to the same unit, they have different embarkation dates: David on 4 May 1915, and John 1 May 1915.

The 3rd Highland Field Ambulance, as part of the 51st Division, saw action at Festubert in June 1915, the Somme in July 1916, and Beaumont Hamel in November 1916. It was also at Ypres late in 1917, but in February of that year David had been discharged as medically unfit due to dysentery. John, who had also served in France, was discharged in March 1919, suffering a 'broken denture'.

At the moment, I know little about the brothers' lives after the war. Neither of them ever married, and in fact I believe they lived together sharing a flat in Dundee for the rest of their lives - John dying around 1957 (no date for David as yet). Almost exactly a year ago I happened to get in touch with a medal collector who had one each of David and John's WWI medals. He generously offered to give me first refusal should he ever wish to sell them, which he very recently decided to do, and they arrived just a few days ago... a timely acquisition for Remembrance Day.

I did have another great-great uncle who served in the 3rd Highland Field Ambulance, not related to the Ewings, but also from Dundee - Robert Leishman Cameron. He was captured by the Germans and was kept as a prisoner of war at Stammlager Parchim and Stammlager Friedrichsfeld... but that is a story for another day.

Above: John and David Ewing with their mother, Jane, sometime in the 1930s, and David's 1914-15 Star with John's Victory Medal (their other WWI medals are missing).

Episode 9 of The Rainbow Orchid ends with strip 228, and also sees me taking a break from the strip for a good few weeks. This is because I need to turn my attention to some new material I'm developing, and want to concentrate on it wholeheartedly. Orchid will return as soon as possible, and when it does, I'll be concentrating on that to finish it by the end of next year.

But don't go away! Keep an eye on this blog (RSS/LJ), visit the forum, join the Facebook Group - and keep visiting this site as I'll try not to leave it for too long if it can be helped.

The Rainbow Orchid Special Limited Edition of part 1 is sold out. What, you say, you didn't even know there was one? Well, I had mentioned it was limited to 50 copies, and that newsletter subscribers would get first dibs. With a week's headstart for registered readers, the print run was sold out, and apart from a couple of days on the Facebook Group, I didn't get to publicise it elsewhere (eg. this blog or the forum). Limited edition, see?

So the order will be going to print in a couple of days time, and the books should be available in about a month or so. Out of interest, of those who requested a character sketch - Lily was the most requested character (9), Julius next (8) and then Evelyn Crow (5) and Tayaut (3). The rest had one or two each. Copies will be going to the UK, USA, Norway, Australia, Canada, France and Holland. In the meantime, below are some more photos - click on them to see bigger versions.