Starting 2018 With A Bang!

2017 - Our Anniversary Year!

FLINTLOCK BOOK TWO - NOW ON KICKSTARTER!

The Flintlock Book Two preorder campaign is live!  Just click on the opening link to take you straight through to the Kickstarter campaign page!

SHOW REPORT - ASYLUM STEAMPUNK FESTIVAL - 27 - 29 AUGUST

To Lincoln, one of the oldest towns in England, for the annual steampunk gathering. Kindly invited by the Asylum organising team when we were at the MCM London event back in May, this was a very different event to the comics-centric shows we can usually be found at.  We weren't even sure there was a place for comics here, but received a "Don't worry! Our lot will like what you lot are doing!" assurance - although it was great to have our friends at Accent UK there with us as well.  We were a feature of the Steampunk Embassy which was right next to the eye-popping Lincoln Cathedral, but the Festival itself takes over the entire historical quarter for the weekend.
Steampunks are an erudite and finely attired lot, which made for a thoroughly engaging weekend - and the quality and imagination of the outfits worn by the attendees was constantly jaw-dropping. Thankfully, Flintlock creator Steve Tanner rose to the occasion and pitched up with a fine hat and coat ensemble (although the golden shoes seemed to be attracting more of the attention!).
Comics are new to Asylum, and at times it seemed not many of the 28,000 in attendance were aware of us - however those that d
id find their way into the Embassy seemed very intrigued by Flintlock, with the Clockwork Cavalier even bagging a spot in the official festival programme.
This was a well-organised, friendly and unique event; wide-ranging too, with a staggering amount of Steampunk themed events and features running in multiple venues all day and well into the late hours.  The downside of this meant we came away feeling we saw very little of what Asylum was about - the upside being that we'll ensure we do better to remedy that next year!

SHOW REPORT - MCM London 27 - 29 May

Wow, what a weekend! This was the first big show Flintlock was available at and the response was phenomenal. Friday started fairly slowly (of course slow by MCM standards is still really busy!) but Saturday was a constant stream of new Crew members buying copies of Book One and registering for our mailing list. So busy in fact that by the end of the 2nd day we'd sold all our 3 days worth of books! Luckily we were able to arrange a small top up supply for Sunday afternoon but they all nearly went within 2 hours of them arriving as well. 

So I think it's fair to say that Flintlock made a mighty splash! It was also terrific to meet some of our Book One backers and thank them for their support face to face, and of course catch up with so many friends in the UK comics community. A great and tiring weekend and here's some pictures of just some of those who picked up Book One over the weekend!

Flintlock Update!

Coming soon...

Time Bomb Comics - Our 2016 Plans!

With the final hours of 2015 counting down, what better time to share some of our plans for 2016.  We'll begin in 2015 though, as the release of the new Bomb Scares collection in October started the ball rolling on a three year publishing plan for the title with the second of the planned 3 volumes coming your way in October 2016!

Conceived as such from the outset, editor Paul H Birch began working on each volume concurrently back in 2014 so the 2016 collection is well in hand.  There's also a facebook group about the Bomb Scares series here that has been going for a couple of months and includes lots of details about the creators involved and submission guidelines for the anthology.

The 2015 Bomb Scares collection was very well received - and was also our first book offered through Kickstarter, although as a pre-order rather than a full-funding vehicle - and so we're expecting good things for the 2016 book!

The eagle eyed amongst you will also have spotted a word in the last but one paragraph that hints at a big change to what Time Bomb Comics will be doing going forward - and that word is "series".  After 8 years of publishing one-shots and graphic novels we'll be launching our first ongoing title!  This is a huge step for us, and one which we only really wanted to take if the right idea came along.

It's called Flintlock and the inaugural edition has an expected launch date of April 2016. What makes it a little bit different is that each release in the Flintlock series will feature stories entirely set in the eighteenth century involving a regular cast of characters.  Artist Anthony Summey has just completed the artwork for the main story in the launch edition - and you can see some of his character sketches involving that story above - whilst Italian artist Lorenzo Nicoletta is hard at work on one of the back up strips.  We think it's a little bit different from anything else that's out there, and we hope you feel the same when the book's released in the spring!

April and October then - the 2016 dates for the new Time Bomb Comics!

Bomb Scares

Bomb Scares is a new horror comic anthology showcasing a truly frightening array of artists and writers. Intended as an annual release over the next three years, this first anthology collection due to be published later this month. That's right - later this month - as every page is already fully completed and ready for printing!

The concept of Bomb Scares is a simple one: Inspired by the notorious EC horror comics of the fifties, I wanted to produce a modern horror anthology that would scare, bemuse and repulse - and throw in a dash of unexpected humour too!

To do this, we aimed high and recruited respected editor Paul H Birch to help put together a truly breathtaking array of comics talent for this first volume - including creators such as Mike (Deathlok, Captain America) Perkins, Luca (Spider-Man, Black Knight) Pizzari, and Gary (Westernoir) Crutchley. We also have 2000AD artists Richard Elson and Dave Kendall who collaborated for the first time to produce the incredible Bomb Scares painted cover.

Bomb Scares features graphic stories of cutting edge horror. The artwork throughout is breathtaking - each of the artists involved producing some incredible pages of comic art to realise the dark and macabre tales of the writers they collaborated with.Unlike previous launches, Bomb Scares will be available as a pre-order option through Kickstarter - which will be offering the complete Bomb Scares book in both print and digital editions much cheaper than cover price. 

You can pre-order your copy of Bomb Scares here: Bomb Scares Pre-Order

Defiantly Joining the Digital Revolution!

For those of you who've been following Time Bomb Comics for a few years, you'll recall that we've dipped our toe into digital publishing already.  Although we'll be the first to admit that it's been a bit half-hearted, and our focus has very much been on the physical, printed side of things.  We'll also admit that a lot of that has been due to the fact than when we first dabbled digitally back in 2010/2011 we found it a bit random. Lots of platforms, vying with one another, and all a bit confusing.

Over the last couple of years, though, we've noticed that things have become a little more settled, and a lot more professional, with a handful of digital distributors making huge inroads to provide a service that seem to generate a lot of positive feedback from the readers who download and the publishers who upload.  One such is DriveThruComics, who we've decided to distribute Defiant through as a digital download.

It's still very much an experiment for us, we still don't really know what to expect, but we do know that if it seems a popular means of reading our comics we'll be looking at providing our full range of titles through DriveThruComics - including those that are now out of print!

Buy Defiant digitally here!

Defiant: The Legend of Brithnoth

Writer: Andy Winter

Artists: Daniel Bell & Aljosa Tomic

92 pages, Graphic Album, Perfect Bound, Full Colour.

Retail price £14.99/$19.99

Sacrifice… Madness… Death… Betrayal

August 10, 991AD, and a fleet of Viking longships containing 3000 men sail up the River Pant in Essex to the fortified town of Maldon.  Led by the king of Denmark the Norsemen aim to ransack the town and kill as many inhabitants as they can.

Brithnoth, an old soldier and one of the most powerful men in England, assembles a small army and prepares to stand defiant against the coming onslaught.

Defiant: The Legend Of Brithnoth is a hard-hitting historical adventure based on true events that continue to cause furious debate more than a thousand years later!

Longship Finally Sets Sail!

Finally!

Three years ago, in August 2011, we received Lawrence Rider's pitch for Longship. This weekend Time Bomb Comics will be launching the completed book at the ICE convention here in Birmingham.  Given that we found Lawrence's eventual co-creator Rebecca Teall at a Birmingham convention shortly after we received his first draft seems to make everything come full circle - and adds to the sense of closure.

Three years. That's a long time for a 50 page comic to be created, but sometimes it's worth waiting that little bit longer for something. During that time we published 4 other titles - and as each one of those reached their launch dates Longship continued to slowly bubble away in the background, steadily coming together to become something that we, and everyone else that has seen it so far, seems to get quite excited about.

It's a book with a lot of firsts. It's the first comics work that Lawrence and Rebecca have produced (which considering the quality of the finished article is really quite something), it's the first title that we have released in a hardcover edition as well as our standard softcover format, and it's the first book that we've received emails requesting copies for before we've solicited it anywhere. Add in to the mix that the advance reviews that Longship's received have been, well, amazing - we even got coverage on the Bleeding Cool website - and you've got something which we think is pretty special.

But then, we knew that three years ago.

(And you can still try and snag one of the limited hardcovers for yourself by forwarding £15 via Paypal to sales@timebombcomics.com)

Pre-Order An Exclusive Longship Hardcover!

Based on the overwhelmingly positive advance reviews of Longship (that you can see over on the official Facebook Longship page here) we're delighted to announce that we'll be releasing a very limited hardcover edition of Longship alongside the standard softcover edition!

This is really exciting for us - it's the first time we've released a hardcover and it's going to be something special because it's going to be strictly limited to just 50 copies!

Naturally, it will be numbered and signed by the full creative team - that's writer Lawrence Rider, artist Rebecca Teall and editor Steve Tanner of course - and the cost of the hardcover will be just £15!

But, and isn't there always a but, due to the cost these limited editions are to produce we really need to be sure we can get at least 30 copies sold, so we're also pleased to let you now that we are taking pre-orders for the hardcovers now that can either be collected direct from us at the launch of Longship at the Birmingham ICE convention on 2nd August or posted to any worldwide address!

Also, as a special thank-you to anyone who pre-orders a Longship hardcover we'll also include another limited edition at no further cost - a copy of "The Orb" print, which is a wonderful, quirky story produced by Lawrence and Rebecca that is ideal for framing!

Here's the pre-order prices and ordering instructions:

Limited Hardcover collected at the launch convention - £15

Limited Hardcover posted to any UK address - £18

Limited Hardcover posted to any other address worldwide - £15 for the book, but please contact us so we can let you know how much the postage would be for you.

Payment must be via Paypal to sales@timebombcomics.com and please ensure you include the full delivery address.

Any pre-ordered hardcovers will be posted out early August. 

Needless to say this is a perfect opportunity to get hold of a very special edition of Longship - and would make a pretty cool gift for someone, too!

Now Available To Pre-order From Previews!

The latest issue of Diamond's Previews catalogue (May 2014) features both Squadron of the Screaming Damned and Longship available to pre-order  - and you can see our listing in the photo above!

Needless to say, if you haven't already done so ask your local comics shop to order some copies in before the pre-order cut-off date in a couple of weeks.  Let us know too - it's always good to know which retailers out there are particularly Time Bomb friendly!

New Charlotte Corday Website Launched!

We're delighted to share the news that Charlotte Corday - that multidimensional super-spy who features in our London Calling and Squadron of the Screaming Damned books - now has her own official web presence at http://www.charlotte-corday.com/ where information about all her upcoming exploits can be found!

Created by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page, as well as her Time Bomb Comics dalliances Charlotte has a variety of other guises including her steampunk astronaut persona (seen above) that featured in the Iron Moon graphic album published by Strip Media a few years ago.

Our most recent adventure featuring Charlotte - the aformentioned Squadron of the Screaming Damned - will also be finally available for all UK comic shops to order through Diamond in their May Previews catalogue that will be published shortly.

Needless to say,  future adventures featuring not just Charlotte but also some of her eclectic supporting cast are in the pipeline - so watch this space!

More About Longship!

Click through to our Longship page on Facebook for lots of information and artwork about our forthcoming Longship book!

From artwork previews to test pages, our Longship facebook page is being regularly updated with details about the book and when it will be released.  The biggest news about the book though is that it will be available for pre-order in the May edition of Previews for delivery into shops during August, and that the official launch for the book will be at the Birmingham International Comics Expo on 2nd August!

2014 - The Year Of Longship

Happy New Year!

Nearly three years ago on 18th January 2011 Time Bomb Comics received a submission from writer Lawrence Rider. It was a short story and, following the feedback Lawrence received regarding that, later sent through to Time Bomb a pitch for a longer tale that could be developed as a one-shot.  That pitch was called "Longship" and I opened it up assuming it was something about Vikings. I was right, it was about Vikings, but other than that it was not in any way anything I had expected. I also knew that I really wanted it to be published by Time Bomb Comics.

Fortuitously, at roughly about the same time Lawrence had produced his final draft later that year we came across Rebecca Teall, a fine artist who had never worked in comics before but was looking for a suitable opportunity to do so.  Becs' style seemed ideal for Longship, she was as enthused about the story as Lawrence and I were and she began preparatory artwork at the beginning of 2012, pretty much a year to the day since Lawrence has first gotten in touch.

 Over the next two years Becs steadily put together the pages for the book.  Coming fresh to comics, she had no pre-conceived notions of what comics should be, and as she began to get further into the project her passion for it really began to show.  Ideas about format, layout and style were thrown in, pages were worked and reworked. Towards the end of production when a third-party letterer was being considered Becs locked herself away with a copy of the "Comicraft Guide to Lettering" to make sure she was able to letter the book herself. As I said, passion.

Three years on from that first email from Lawrence Longship is now completed and ready to go. If there's any more tweaks they'll be minimal - the size of the logo, the placement of the barcode box - the little things. At the moment Time Bomb Comics are planning to launch the book in August later this year (probably at the inaugural International Comics Expo that's being held in Birmingham on August 2nd). And with the book completed we're now about to start the most difficult part of publishing: the promotion and marketing!

So what is Longship actually about? As you'd assume from the title it's a story about Vikings, and a tale that Lawrence himself describes as 'a story of life, death, what you leave behind, and what we will do to honour those we love.' But as you can see from these opening couple of pages it's so much more than that. It's guaranteed to defy your expectations.
But you can expect to hear a lot more about Longship over the coming months...

The Squadron of the Screaming Damned Are Scheduled To Land!

 We're delighted to announce that our long-awaited Squadron of the Screaming Damned book will be launched at the Nottingham Nerd Fest convention taking place on Saturday October 5th!  A complete thrilling adventure told by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page, Squadron of the Screaming Damned is their amazing follow up to London Calling which we released to critical acclaim in 2010.  Once again featuring Charlotte Corday - the mysterious secret agent whose missions are so top secret even she doesn't know what they are - the story begins with a WWII German U-boat surfacing in Charlotte's bathtub, as Page and Walsh give us another fabulous dose of the weird and wonderful that made London Calling such a hit.

If you'd like to see even more of Keith's fabulous art, preview pages from Squadron of the Screaming Damned have been running on previous blogposts - so take a look!

There's been a dearth of comic conventions in the Midlands over the last couple of years (although everywhere else they seem to be multiplying like rabbits!) so it's great that we'll be releasing this one on relatively home turf, so to speak, and be supporting a new arrival on the UK convention circuit that really could be the start of something big. But those of you who can't make Nottingham for the Nerd Fest panic not - the Squadron of the Screaming Damned are scheduled to land at this November's Leeds Thoughtbubble too!

Squadron of the Screaming Damned - Pages 10 & 11

There's been a few gremlins these last couple of weeks, but to make of for Charlotte's last cliff-hanger lasting a little longer than usual here's a double dose of the quite fantastic Squadron of the Screaming Damned from Stephen Walsh and Keith Page!

Squadron of the Screaming Damned - Page 9

Things are getting ever stranger for Charlotte Corday in the latest preview page from Squadron of the Screaming Damned, written by Stephen Walsh with artwork from Keith Page!