A look back on 2013.

All said and done 2013 was a pretty awesome comics year.

Having collected for my whole reading life my excitement for the medium has never waned. But this year especially has reminded me what a great hobby I share with some of the best people I know.

I worry where comics will end up. Sure it's a big world out there but numbers are malingering. The movies have helped some as have the TV series and the like. But for quality of product we've never been stronger. Eventually Jo public will understand.

Some high points of my year go to prove all the above points. 

Listed in no particular order.

The friendship and comics chat of some great guys and girls at the Chaos City Comics Club where we meet every Saturday. Marc Laming, Matt Harrower, Alex Martin, Christian Wildgoose, Mark Foster, Ross O'Neill, Natasha and the guys at Chaos City Comics and Krypton Komics. We have had some great road trips to Thoughtbubble, Nerdfest, NYCC and a whole lot more. There's more planned and I look forward to each and every meet up.

Getting to know the great Pat Mills and discovering that we have so much in common. He's a true professional and has more ideas in a single page than most writers have in a whole series.

The NYCC this year was the best so far. Getting to spend time with old and new friends. Rachel and Jess Deering continue to make me chuckle and I look forward to seeing them soon.

Getting my name in the brilliant Kings Watch from Dynamite Comics was amazing! Thanks to the aforementioned Mr Laming. One of the most talented guys I know and a true gent. I have a feeling that great things lay ahead for this Comics Club alumni. 

Having a character named after me (well my twitter handle of 'Riptide') in an upcoming comic by the super talented Matt Harrower was also an excellent moment.

Meeting the guys from 11 O'Clock Comics and The Orbiting Podcasts and getting a shout out made me smile on a boring commute.

Returning to writing comics (coming out soon I promise) and getting to be the comics reviewer for beardrock.com

The movies. Shit Beans! When I was a kid, who thought that we would get movies of this quality!?

And finally, the comics themselves! Better written and drawn than ever before. There's a real richness and diversity of product out there. Long may it continue.

Roll on 2014!

Bingo Bonanza Covers 1-3.

Years and years ago I tried to start a small press project with a lot of help from Ed Traquino.

It was great fun and still has some high points. 

Here are covers 1- 3.

Comics Club Christmas!

Last I night was the annual Chaos City Comics outing.

Joined by new alumni it was a great and laughter filled evening.

Below is just part of the great presents I got!

From the marvelous lady!

From the mighty Matt Harrower and Nathasha.

An amazing hardback Star Trek Collection from Derek and Marina Watson.

This amazing book from Timothy Stafford Stafford.

From Big 4 Comics Club member Alex and his missus Emily.

And these two from the most talented geezer I know - Marc Laming.

Now tell me your LCS is better than ours!

What a great Xmas Eve. Next year we might need a bigger boat!

NIA.

Happy Christmas from Never Iron Anything!

Twitter.

Possibly my favourite exchange between creators ever! 

Seasons.

Take a look at this video about Seasons by Mike Medaglia.

I did a review of it over at Bead Rock http://beardrock.com/eyebrow-art/comics/seasons and they were kind enough to include a quote of mine.

Have a look.

NIA.

Comics Club.

Me and some pals at our local comic shop have just posted our Best of 2013 list.

Take a look.

http://comicsneedyou.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/comics-club-end-of-year-club.html


NIA

Best advert ever?

Beard Rock.

Hi All.

I have been posting a few pieces over at www.beardrock.com so it would be great if you could pop over there and have a read (in the comics section).

Also feel free to pop over to twitter and say hello @Ezohyez

NIA.

Review - Between The Billboards - Issue 1.

Between The Billboards: Part 1 – ‘Inevitable’.

Written and Drawn by O. D. Pomery.

www.owenpomery.com

Two pieces of barely illustrated grey and plain card enrap a number of White and grey images. But this parcel says so much more than the average comic and ina shorter time.

Perfectly reflecting the loneliness of a city. It uses static panels to reflect a quiet moment in the heart of a city. No interaction. No real speech of note. It’s a narrated story from start to finish. Commenting on the city and the people through billboards and wings.

It’s a short story in comic form that shows the life inside and outside of the space between two outward facing billboards in a nameless city. It’s part art project and part small press comic. It’s also truly beautiful in both the writing and the art.

It refreshingly poses humanely spoken feelings and questions of solitary reflection.

Then comes the parallel of the two billboards to the two upright wings of a butterfly. These are drawn with a minimalistic eye that says all that we need to hear. The parallel is almost unspoken. Just poetry in comics. This particular reader loved it.

The butterfly exists in the space between its wings as the bespectacled central character exists between the two arms of advertising billboards high in flight between the skyscrapers of a city..

The advertising is alive for mere moments in the eye of an observer as the life of a butterfly passes us by.

A book that sits in a pure moment. Existence portrayed as a fleeting moment of being.

It's a short book and in a small format.

It's layouts are simple and not much moves.

But then again it doesn't need to.

It’s well worth a look. I picked mine up at the London Comica Festival but you can get a copy through the creator’s website.

NIA.

Doctor Who.

In honour of the 50th anniversary I thought that I would post this fun advert for DWM that I found in a 1989 issue of Marvel UK's Death's Head issue 5.

Ridiculous Comic Competition -Year 1.

The New Ridiculous Comic Competition - Year 1.

This year at. Thoughtbubble myself and some Comics Club pals decided to have a bit of fun.

The premise was to but the most ridiculous comic we could find and later over dinner the group as a whole would decide on a winner.

Here are the rules so you can play along at home.

1. Spending is limited to £1.

2. You have a limited time to buy the book (this year it was between 2pm and 5pm in any of the Thoughtbubble 2013 halls).

3. You can buy as many issues as you like but must only put forward a single comic (not a trade) as your candidate.

4. The winner receives all the comics in the competition as a prize.

5. Anything by Paul Cornell is not allowed - too easy.

This years players were myself, Alex Martin and Matthew Harrower.

Further judges were Dave Stokes, Jess and Dean Beattie and Marc Laming.

All comics were carefully examined by contestants and judges. Good and bad points were thoroughly discussed.

The entrants were as follows.

1. Damsels issue 10.

2. Images of Shadowhawk issue 1.

3. Action Force Monthly issue 9.

The winner was Action Force Monthly. The other two books were joint second. 

This sort of thing may well have helped?

A fine showing. Can it be bettered next year?

NIA.

Sexy Art.

Had a great chat with Viz and indie creator Paul Rainey.

I also purchased a great page of art from him.

Sadly due to the sexy nature of the piece this is the only panel I can show you.

Another Kickstarter Rant.

Listen. Lots of people on Kickstarter's Comics Section are cool. There is a lot of real energy and creativity going on and some great products released already.

I'm not a big numbers backer on there but do visit the site a lot.

I think the main problem is that people treat it like a side project. For the customer it's not like that at all. We still pay money for a product. We also accept that we have to wait for it.

But.

If you release a, let's say a book on comics for example.

You have not one but two release parties.

It's also now on sale in a number of book shops and being read already by people you know.

People are tweeting about it. 

Reviews are being posted.

Please.

For fuck's sake send it to the people who backed your project?

Don't ignore them on twitter.

And. Worst of all. After ignoring tweets from them post a photo of the beach you are laying on!

Try and be at least a little professional?

That beer you have in your hand may have been paid for by the backer after all!

NIA.

Comica.

Morning.

Later this evening I shall be at The Platform Theatre, Central St Martin's College of Art and Design, Handyside Street, London, N1C 4AA (7.30pm onwards).

At the following event.

It will be my first time volunteering and it is being held by Comica and chaired by Pat Mills.

Joe Sacco is a legend in comics so can't wait!

Should be awesome!

Come say hi. 

Ez

Something Different.

We demand the noise of the firearm.

The phone ringing in the bag.

The trashy self deluded music of modern life.

The ping of floors in an elevator.

The whine of the errrrrrrrrr.

The falseness of the can I help you?

The squeak of the siren.

The punch of the drill.

The drone of the idling truck.

The chunter of the ignorant.

And the muffled nod of the murder.

CLATTER. CUNT. CLATTER.

It's all that matters.

Interview - Rachel Deering.

Morning.

Pop over to my column at www.beardrock.com for a fun interview I did this year at the New York Comicon with Rachel Deering.

http://beardrock.com/eyebrow-art/interviews/interview-rachel-deering

NIA.

NYCC 2013.

Back Issues - NYCC 2013.

Some more great back issues from day 2 at the Con.

Frank Cho at NYCC 2013.

It's always great when you meet a hero and he takes the time to have a chat and is a great guy. 

NYCC 2013.

I found this around the corner from the convention centre.

Proof once again that everything come back to comics! 

Jose Garcia Lopez - NYCC.

Yesterday I met this man!

What a dude.  

New York Comicon 2013.

Some of the great back issues I got yesterday. 

All a dollar each!

NYCC 2013.

This year's event started off well when I arrived in my hotel room to find this.

New York Comicon 2013.

Hey everyone.

I shall be at the NYCC all four days this year so if you have a title I can review on here or at www.beardrock.com then drop me a tweet.

@Ezohyez

Or just say hello.

Hopefully see you soon.

Chaos City Comics - Marc Laming signing.

This Saturday at Chaos City Comics in St Albans, Herts, UK.

www.chaoscitycomics.com

I will be there covering the event.

Get down there! 

Star Lord.

Marc Laming just posted this on his twitter feed.

Awesome!

This happened!

I am chuffed to fuck (that means very pleased!)

Kings Watch issue 1 from Dynamite Comics (out today) featured this!

Many thanks to Marc Laming. He made this comics fans year! (At least).

Cover of the day.

Preview – Kings Watch issue 1.

Preview – Kings Watch issue 1.

Writer – Jeff Parker.

Artist – Marc Laming.

Colourist – Jordan Boyd.

Letters – Simon Bowland.

Covers – Marc Laming and Ramon Perez.

Editor – Nate Cosby.

Publisher – Dynamite Comics.

(Release Date – 11^th September 2013.)

There are strange lights in the sky. Crazy monsters, hooded villains and sexy mystical women are gathering and the world is going to shit quick. Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician and The Phantom (with added groovy cast members) band together to take on these strange events. Kings Watch is the mini-series that reintroduces these characters back into the world with a vengeance.

Cards on the table.

It’s no secret that Marc Laming is a great mate of mine and one of the pillars of our local Comics Club. In fact we first met at a signing when he was doing Planet of the Apes for Boom Comics a year or so ago. He remains one of the best artists out there. His style has a traditional noir style to it. You can see some Wally Wood, Alex Toth, Howard Chaykin and Alex Raymond. For me he is easily one of the best artists out there stylistically along with Alex Maleev, Nic Klein, Michael Lark, Butch Guice and Mike Perkins. All part of a pleasing trend at the moment in comics that combines great art and superb storytelling ability. And he sure can pull off a horse.

Jeff Parker has also featured heavily in these pages over the years and I have always made lots of noise to those that listened about his excellent Thunderbolts run at Marvel Comics. His work is always full of cool dialogue and nasty edged action.

I also think that Dynamite are really on the top of their game at the moment. Having always been a fan of the old pulp titles I am now buying more of their books than DC Comics. They have been trying some crossovers recently with their Masks and Dark Nights series. This book looks set to top the lot.

I have genuinely not been this excited for a new release for years. Having been privy to some preview pages I can guarantee that you are in for an excellent book.

A two fisted, non-stop exercise in cool storytelling. Kings Watch brings back this bundle of King Features characters in one interwoven story that spans the globe. Defenders of the Earth with added edge and some John Wu ‘fuck you up’ attitude. Spin into this mix some genuinely funny moments (I get the impression that the Flash / Zarkov interactions are going to be a highlight) and this is really rolling into Dynamite’s best book to date.

But I think that it’s The Phantom who seems to be turning into my favourite so far (at least from what I have seen). The moments where he is fighting a dinosaur creature in issue 1 looks like it’s been thought up by Jack Kirby and drawn by Al Williamson. There’s a little bit of Wolverine, some Wildcat and a whole bunch of Batman Year One in the mix. He will keep punching you until you drop and looks fucking cool (even in those stripy shorts).

The colouring on the book is also worth a huge shout out. Above and Beyond artistry by Jordan Boyd. The richness of the colour jumps out at you in each panel. Just an incredible attention to details. Magnificent stuff.

I urge you to pick this book up. In my opinion it's going to be the next big thing! 

If you fancy hearing more about this book pre-release there’s a great interview with Marc and Jeff at www.noncanonical.com

You can also find Jeff Parker on Twitter @jeffparker

Marc Laming is on Twitter @monkey_marc

Jordan Boyd is @jordanboyd

You can also find more of my humble mumblings and those of Comics Club @Ezohyez or at the comics pages at www.beardrock.com

NIA. 

Notes on the new project.

Today the notes on the new project got a bit sweary!?

Be A Bounty Hunter!

Blast from the past!

Loved this Marvel card game when I was a kid! 

My Golden Age!

Every book is great!

Tony Stark - you tricky bastard.

From Iron Man 83 

Written by Len Wein.

Art by Herb Trimpe and Marie Severin.

Colours by Glynis Wein.

From 1975.

Just superb.

The Red Ghost never looked so cool.

Panel of the day.

From Marvel Two-In-One issue 46.

Written and drawn by Alan Kupperberg.

Inks by Chic Stone.

From 1978.

My dog Stan.

Cool as shit! 

Holland.

I just got back from two long weeks in The Hague. At 45 minutes from Amsterdam it's a hollow substitute. I think it actually closes at 8pm.

I did however pick up some great Euro comics goodness at Aelix Comix and Strips. The shop is awesome and stacked to the rafters. Well worth a visit. The owner went out if his way to chat and introduce me to some Dutch comics. 

Since Dutch addresses are a little bit of a mouthful for an English only idiot like me here is the address from google. Enjoy.