MEGA ROBO REVENGE

It's been a little while but Alex and Freddy are BACK in the brand new series of Mega Robo Bros: MEGA ROBO REVENGE, starting in this week's issue of the Phoenix! (Issue #267, pictured above!)

I've been looking forward to this one for ages; it's by far the biggest MRB story yet, in terms of scale, in terms of plot, and in terms of SHEER NUMBER OF CRAZY EXPLOSIONS. Lots of stuff here we've been building to for ages, so strap in and enjoy!

Available in shops nationwide! Or now would be an excellent time to SUBSCRIBE if you haven't already - and look, if you do so now you can get a FREE copy of How To Make Awesome Comics too! Which I also recommend.

Hourly Comic Day

Yesterday was Hourly Comic Day, a thing that lots of cartoonists join in with whereby, for every hour you're awake that day, you draw a quick comic about something that happened.

I have always meant to join in with this as I thought it looked FUN and an INTERESTING CHALLENGE and all that kind of thing, and because lots of great cartoonists I admire and respect do it and somehow make amazing and hilarious and inspring things.

I am, however, usually too busy making comics. But yesterday I had a rare day away from the drawing board so I thought, the heck with it, let's join in. So here, for your enjoyment, is MY DAY.

Mega Robo T-Shirts!

Just a note to mention that Mega Robo Bros t-shirts are now available from the Phoenix Shop! And, honestly, they look pretty great.

Available in sizes for ages 9-11 and 12-14! A bunch of people have asked if adult sizes and / or younger kids sizes are on the way - not yet, but do go tell the guys at the Phoenix if you'd like some, so they can gauge demand!

Okay! Please go buy awesome t-shirts!

(Awesome ad artwork by Paul Duffield)

Thought Bubble Sketch Commissions

Hello! I'll be at the brilliant Thought Bubble comics festival in Leeds this November, and I've had a few enquiries lately about doing commissions for people in advance of it. So I thought I'd come up with a plan. So I have. And it is as follows: 

I'm going to be offering A4 pen & ink sketches for £10.00 GBP - or less if they're bought as part of a bundle with some of my books (Mega Robo Bros, Tamsin and the Deep, Pirates of Pangaea, and How To Make Awesome Comics). So the planned price list is:

Sketch: £10

Single book: £10
1 Book + Sketch £18 
2 Books: £18
2 Books + Sketch: £25

As to subject matter, you have a few options. I'm very happy to do sketches of my own characters, so if you want Alex, Freddy, Stupid Philosophy Penguin or whoever, that's absolutely fine, and I love you very much for asking, and here are 150-odd examples of that sort of thing if you like that sort of thing.

If you want something else: I don't usually draw other people's characters any more, but I'll make an exception for Thought Bubble, as I appreciate there are people whose thing is getting every artist in the world to draw Batman or whoever. However, I have to make these things fun for myself, too, so I'll happily draw basically anybody - real or fictional, alive or dead - just so long as they are either:

a) piloting a GIANT ROBOT

or b) riding a DINOSAUR.

I've used Freddy as an example there but, as I say, if you want a drawing of Moon Girl or Oor Wullie or Queen Elizabeth II or whoever it may be, that's fine. As long as they are on a robot or on a dinosaur.

If you'd like to order something in advance and pick up at the convention, that's great, as it gives me more time to work on your sketch in advance - just drop a line to [email protected] letting me know what you want.

Oh hey, I should mention: part of the festival is the ceremony for the Young Peoples Comic Award, for which both Mega Robo Bros and Tamsin and the Deep are shortlisted.

Which is kind of crazy.

See you in Leeds!

Mega Robo Sketchfest

Those nice people at The Phoenix recently ran a special offer to celebrate the launch of my new book Mega Robo Bros, whereby anyone who bought a book through the website would get a signed copy and a free original sketch by me. I agreed to this, slightly nervously, hoping we might sell a few and bracing myself for it being "around 40".

Well, anyway, we were only out by a hundred or so.

I cannot overstate: this was tough! This took a lot. This turned into a real "Hamilton wrote... the other 51!" moment for me. But I wanted to make each one cool, and different, because it really means a lot to me that these characters seem to have connected with people, and I wanted to do something special to say thank you for the support.

So, anyway, here are a LOT OF DRAWINGS OF ROBOTS. Enjoy!

If you missed the offer, the book is of course still available from all good bookshops. This offer's over for now, but if you'd like a sketch, come find me at any of the various festivals and events I'm doing this year, and I dare say I could be talked into something.

MEGA ROBO BROS Vol 1

My new book MEGA ROBO BROS is out today from David Fickling books! It collects the first big arc of Alex and Freddy's adventures - for those counting at home, it's edited highlights of Season 1, and then the entirety of Season 2. (Season 3 currently unfolding weekly in the pages of The Phoenix!)

Anyway, I am super proud of it, and really hope people enjoy it. Early reviews have been extremely encouraging, but you know how these things are, it's always a question of getting the word out. I've updated my website with a new MEGA ROBO BROS page where you can read a preview, check out a bunch of the uncollected strips in their entirety, and more. Please feel free to share, link, tweet, tumbl, or whatever it is you're supposed to do nowadays.

And hey, if you're in Oxford, come along to Inky Fingers on the Cowley Road TOMORROW (Saturday 4th Jan), where I'll be painting giant robots in the window and signing books and drawing stuff for people, should you want that.

Also, SPECIAL OFFER: any and all copies of the book ordered this week from the Phoenix's online shop will get a free, original A5 sketch by me! Every one unique! Go grab one quick before my hand falls off.

Pirates of Pangaea Checklist

I've had quite a few people lately asking about when the next Pirates of Pangaea book might be out and, while I don't exactly know (although I could point you to some excellent books you might enjoy in the meantime), it's worth pointing out that for anyone eager to follow Sophie and Kelsey's further adventures, there are several which are uncollected as yet but can be tracked down in back issues of the Phoenix. To aid in this, and to help you satisfy all your Pirates Riding Dinosaurs needs, I thought I'd put together a little, in-reading-order...

PIRATES OF PANGAEA CHECKLIST!

Volume 1: The Golden Skull 

20 episodes

Collected as Pirates of Pangaea: Book One. 

ISBN: 978-1910200087

Available in good bookshops everywhere!

The Ghosts of Mathrak Chu

4 episodes

Available in The Phoenix, issues 33-36

Start here!

Volume 2: Escape From Razorbeak Mountain

20 episodes

Available in The Phoenix, issues 53-72

Start here!

Racers of Riverbed Run

4 episodes

Available in The Phoenix, issues 79-82

Start here!

The Treasure of La Sirena

1 episode

Available in The Phoenix, issue 100

Start here!

The Blue Devil

4 episodes

Available in The Phoenix, issues 110-113

Start here!

I believe, at time of writing, that all issues are in stock, please address all enquiries to [email protected]!