I MET SIMON PEGG!!!

It was worth queuing up 3 hours in the cold for.

Seriously, I NEVER usually do stuff like this. I'm not generally the type to get wowed by celebrities, but this was different. Simon Pegg is now, rightly so, a massive name in Hollywood, but one show will always remain special to people like me: SPACED.

Much like his character, Tim, I too was living in a house full of ...strange...people, whilst desperately trying to break into the comic book business. So the episode where he finally gets his big break at "Dark Star Comics" (basically 2000AD) meant a lot to me and gave me hope for the future (Yes, I KNOW it's bloody made up!).

So, here I am, years later, finally working for 2000AD myself, and I just wanted to express my gratitude to him by giving him a drawing of him, as a mutant, with his favourite character, Strontium Dog. The line he's saying riffs off one of the famous 2000AD references in the show.

I gave it to him as he was signing copies of his new book, "Nerd Do Well" in Liverpool's Waterstones, and as you can tell from the photo, he seemed to like it! Even gave me a very cool shout out on Twitter ....which I'm still not joining despite everyone poking the crap out of me about it...

I love it when you meet one of your heroes, and they're just as cool in real life.

L

THE GET WELL CARLOS PROJECT!!!

Here's yet another victim of my deadlines--not getting a chance to report on this piece.

Ok, so a while back writer, and now Saint, Mark J Howard got in touch with a host of 2000AD fans and creators, to do an unbelievably nice thing for the legendary artist Carlos Ezquerra, who was in recovery from Lung Cancer.

The project was to create a comic with each contributer doing a page, depicting whatever they wanted to, as long as it expressed what they felt toward Carlos. My illustration is above, but my god, this was just one of many, and it's times like this that makes you proud of the fanbase. You can follow the thread on the 2000AD boards here.

For a limited time, you can download the public pdf of the full comic HERE or HERE. And if you choose to download, they ask that you please donate to a Cancer charity.

Enjoy the comic. It really is a great read. Thanks!

UPDATE: Also there is a second volume being put together now, just not in secret and with a longer deadline so we should be able to scoop up anyone else who wants to contribute.

L

INTERVIEWS AND PODCASTS!!!

Hey guys, little late reporting these as I've been in a deadline nightmare, but first up:

I've been interviewed in the latest JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE 303! Have to say, it was very nice to see that much space dedicated to my waffle, and NO, I won't tell you what big name artist I yelled at years ago....

Next, I've made another appearance on that great podcast "EVERYTHING COMES BACK TO 2000AD"! This time, the hosts Rich and Flint left the room and let the REAL pros take over! Enter: the foxy Stacey Whittle (of Small Press Big Mouth), 2000AD artist Jon Davis Hunt, a brief stop over from my nemesis artist PJ Holden, and me!

We had a great time reviewing Rich and Flint's work on the latest strips for ZARJAZ /DOGBREATH, with some added advice for any upcoming creators out there. You can find this show here!

Finally, I was approached by the Bionicle fan podcast, THE THREE VIRTUES, for an interview about my time as the artist on the series and had a really fun chat with them. Seriously, these guys are incredibly professional considering their age (14-16!), and a lot more enterprising then I ever was back then! They'll go far. And they didn't mind me eating a family sized cheese cake through the show.

They haven't put it up on the main site yet, but you can download it HERE or look up the show on iTunes!