A Look At Longship

 Here's a first look at another one of our future releases that's been steadily coming together over the last year or so. Longship is written by Laurence Rider with art by Rebecca Teall and is quite simply going to be quite different to anything we've published before.

Below are the works in progress of the first three pages, just to give you a taste.  These are by no means the final versions - Rebecca put these pages together as a sample to how the project was developing so the colours and lettering are still very loose - but they give you an idea of what to expect!

Squadron Of The Screaming Damned - Coming Soon!

Proof that the Short Fuses blog is like buses - nothing for ages then three come along at once...

Here's a look at the cover the Squadron of the Screaming Damned - the sequel that's not a sequel to London Calling by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.  We were hoping to have this ready for the London Supercon but  events conspired against us and it will now be out a bit later in the year - but trust us, the wait will be worth it.

For those of you that raved about Charlotte Corday's previous adventure from Time Bomb Comics (and there were quite a few of you) you'll be pleased to know that Stephen and Keith have concocted another surreal adventure of nostalgia-inspired madness using the same recipe that made London Calling so tasty.  For those of you that just didn't get it the first time around all we can say is "Move along! Move along! There's nothing to see here!" (But you really are missing out on something quite wonderful.)

Skylark Sneak Peek!

Those of you with long memories may recall a book we mentioned a couple of years back called Skylark.  It was on the back-burner for while but things are finally starting to move along nicely with it, with artist Alex Thompson producing some stunning pages from Jonathan Darque's script.

This is page one, which gives a hint of the wonders to come from this cracking story.

Jonathan was one of the first creators to come to Time Bomb Comics with a story idea and he's been a real gentleman with his patience whilst the story was caught up in development hell. Alex is probably one of the most talented new artists to emerge in British comics over the last couple of years, and has worked with Time Bomb's Steve Tanner on stories for Accent UK and Bayou Arcana.  Alex was also one of the featured artists in the gallery section of Dick Turpin and the Crimson Plague and we're delighted to be able to showcase her talent to the max in Skylark.

Henry Holden Rides Into Previews!

Our recent release The Last Ride Of Henry Holden is available for all shops in the UK & Ireland to order in the February Previews catalogue!  (Of course, those of you living further afield can always buy a copy through our online shop!)

Even better, Forbidden Planet International are also offering the book at a special pre-order price of just £4.82 which you can avail yourself of here.

Hopefully this will mean the book will get into the best comics shops across the land - but please ask your local shop to order a copy or two (or three! or more!) if you can.  In fact, to reward anyone who does get their local shop to place an order and can email us the details of the shop so we can verify it, we'll send you a free copy of the next Time Bomb Comics release - Squadron of the Screaming Damned - direct to your door!

The Cover Of Henry Holden

The next release from Time Bomb Comics is almost here!  Those of you who have been following Time Bomb over the past few years know that "The Last Ride Of Henry Holden" has been a long time coming - but this one really has been worth the wait.

The pages should be heading over to the wonderful Stuart Gould at UK Comics by the end of next week, and the book will be officially launching at this year's Leeds Thoughtbubble Convention in November - along with 45 other new comics from other publishers!!!

We'll also have a very limited amount of pre-release copies with us at the Cardiff Mini Expo on 4th November - so now you know where to be if you want one first...

The First Page Of Henry Holden

It always feels magical when the finished pages start coming through. Lettering Doyenne Nikki Foxrobot puts the icing on a cake baked by writer Alex De Gruchy, penciller Giorgio Ianotti, inker Mike Bunt and colourist Owen Watts.

Here's page one - ain't she purty!

The Last Ride Of Henry Holden, coming in November 2012.

Past, Present and Future

What? It's Spring already?!? I guess it's time to come out of hibernation then, with our first Short Fuses of 2012!

The usual excuses apply for the lengthy delay in postings, but just because the Time Bomb Comics newsblog is quiet that doesn't mean that we have been - oh no! So in relatively short order here's all what you need to know - past, present and future:

Both Dick Turpin and the Crimson Plague and London Calling went out to UK comic shops through Diamond last month, with sell-outs and re-orders from at least two fine establishments reported (the customers of Whatever Comics in Canterbury and Nostalgia and Comics here in Birmingham obviously have great taste in comics). Initial order numbers weren't huge by any means - Marvel and DC don't have anything to worry about just yet - but good enough for Diamond, and it's great to know that some our titles have reached the length and breadth of the country at long last rather than just those pockets where we've attended a convention.

Speaking of conventions, we attended our first show of the year at the Cardiff Comics Expo at the end of February. Apart from the clash with Supercon (which thankfully has already been avoided in 2013) that undoubtedly had an impact on both the attendance and guest list at both shows both events seemed to be great fun for those who went, which is really what it's all about isn't it? For us, Cardiff was a fabulous weekend with overall sales much better than expected and a "feel-good" atmosphere throughout. It was also a buzz to catch up with people who we first met at last year's Cardiff show and we're coming back for more this time around.

There were also some great books launched exclusively at the show: Stacey Whittle's Into The Woods anthology, Richard McAuliffe's Damaged Goods and the Sweeney Todd adaptation from Classical Comics are all well worth a look. Honourable mention must go to the already released Unbelievable:The Man Who Ate Daffodils from Simon Wyatt - a gem of a graphic novel set in Wales from a Welsh creator.

Moving to the present we have Kronos City, long in gestation but now just about done. Last week I was completing the final tweaks on the layout and next week the book will be at the printers for its Bristol Expo launch. It's a great looking book, and being a 136-page full colour graphic novel is our most ambitious launch to date. I'm sure it's going to be well received - I think the creative team (Andrew Croskery, Alex & Lauren Willmore and Jim Campbell) have done a terrific job!

There will be a Kronos City panel at Bristol - 11.15am on Saturday 12th - and a full creator signing immediately afterwards. We'll also be having a special launch price for the book all weekend - so you can pick it up for just £10 instead of the usual £14.99!

Moving to the future, a couple of things are worth a mention. The Last Ride Of Henry Holden is now being lettered by the wonderful Nikki Foxrobot, so will be officially scheduled soon. We've also signed up a fabulous graphic album from Lawrence Rider and Rebecca Teall, called Longship. Hopefully it will be published in 2013, and is quite simply unlike anything Time Bomb Comics has released before. Expect to hear quite a bit more about it over the coming months, but here's an inital cover design to whet the appetites!