Work on The Brambletye Box, which had been enjoying a pretty good flow of progress over the past couple of months, has come to a bit of a halt at the moment. It's just one of those things - work, life, family and stuff has all combined to slow things down. But it's by no means permanent, and I'll be back to it as soon as possible.

When things get going again - at the beginning of July I expect - I will once again be posting strips here on the website for the next scene after the previous one being available only on Patreon.

There have been a few changes in plans for The Brambletye Box as well, with the eventual book now being planned as two volumes instead of a single, big album. While this has meant a bit of re-jigging of the plot and script, it also means a book is likely to be appearing sooner rather than later (next year?), even if it is just a part one, but, after thinking about it quite a bit, it makes the most sense.

The next scene to draw is one that has been in my head since I first came up with the story several years ago and I'm really looking forward to getting into it. As ever, I greatly appreciate your patience and support - thank you!

The English language edition of The Secret of the Samurai is now available to buy in the online shop.

This is the second batch of stock I've had from publisher BD Must. The first, back in March, was offered to Patreon supporters first and sold out within a week.

Note that this is a much shorter story than The Rainbow Orchid but does also include two back-up strips (The Sword of Fate and The Girdle of Polly Hipple). It was first serialised in The Phoenix Comic in 2013 and you can learn more about it from these old blog posts here.

The Secret of the Samurai in English has been very difficult to get hold of since publication in 2020, and I'm grateful to BD Must for making stock available for me to sell here in the UK.

The new Julius Chancer adventure is progressing with recent new pages previewing exclusively on Patreon. The adventure is ramping up!

After much struggling with the script (and some necessary plot tweaks) I'm back to drawing The Brambletye Box.

The webstrip version will be on hiatus for this next scene though - it's going to be available only to my Patreon supporters for now. But it's just a little skip and there will be more to come for everyone when I get onto scene 5 - so stay tuned!

I get a fair few enquiries about the various editions of The Rainbow Orchid, even so many years after its first publication. Some people are a bit confused about the number of volumes, some want to know which is the easiest to get hold of, and some are collectors who want certain or even all editions. So, I've made a video as a guide to the various editions and translations which I hope will be of help to those who are interested.

See it on YouTube here!

The Complete Rainbow Orchid is back in stock in the online shop. Each copy will come signed and sketched-in, and is available worldwide (make sure you choose the correct delivery option).

I knew I had a few somewhere, but had forgotten that it was actually 4 or 5 boxes, right at the back of the garage. They were double-boxed, so are in great condition, despite languishing there for nearly ten years!

Click here to visit the online shop.

An interview with me has just been published over at Down the Tubes. I was interviewed last year by Matthew Badham, and after a slight delay and a bit of an update, it now sees the light of day.

Many thanks indeed to Matt and to John Freeman. I will have more news on the '50'zine', mentioned at the end of the interview, very soon.

While consistency can be a problem, depending on my work schedule and other life stuff, I have been able return to drawing The Brambletye Box recently, so head over and read the latest strips if you haven't yet seen them.

The current auction scene is four pages long, so that's three done and one more to go, with the lastest strip seeing the reappearance of Lily Lawrence and her father, Lord Lawrence. Plus a somewhat unsubtle nod to one of my favourite Franco-Belgian creators.

Earlier in February I recorded an interview with Paulo Tirre from Eurocomics, which has just been released on their excellent channel today - you can see it here.

Eurocomics comes out to us from Brazil, and while much of their content is in Portuguese and French, my interview is in English. Hope you enjoy it!

Just in case you haven't checked for a while, there have been a few new Brambletye Box strips put up over Christmas and the new year.

Progress has not exactly been zooming along, but it is being made, even while I'm having a very busy January with other work (I'm doing a lovely project at the moment with the Museum of London - I'll show some when I can).

Don't forget you can help support and encourage such progress by joining my Julius Chancer Patreon page, if you're able to. Thank you!