COMICS FOR YOUNGER READERS
(from middle-grade to YA)
Banner art by Neil Googe for Monster Fun
Black Beth
This was a long-forgotten British sword and sorcery strip by Spanish artist Blas Gallego, which I resurrected for Rebellion's Treasury of British Comics along with sensational Greek artist Dani. Specifically adapted for a YA readership, Beth's adventures have since appeared in several specials, a U.S.-format one-shot and a trade collection.
Star Wars
I enjoyed a lengthy run on several monthly Star Wars comics for Panini Germany, with stories ranging from adaptations of novels (Jason Fry’s Weapon of a Jedi and Greg Rucka’s Smuggler’s Run) to original stories set along the Star Wars Rebels timeline. Most of these found their way into US reprints, although my Star Wars: Resistance adaptations have yet to be seen outside Europe and Australia.
Got to work with some incredible artists including Ruairí Coleman, Cosmo White and Ingo Römling.
Star Wars is copyright and trademark Disney. All rights reserved.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
In 2013 fellow 2000 AD writer Al Ewing generously recommended me to editor Ed Caruana at Panini UK. Ed was looking for writers to pitch 12-page one-shot stories for a new monthly comic aimed at middle-grade readers and based on the phenomenally popular animated show by Nickelodeon.
Printed in the UK and translated all over Europe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became one of the UK's best-selling originated comics for younger readers. Working closely with license-holders Nickelodeon, I enjoyed a steady three-year run on the title before the TV show concluded in 2017.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles images © Viacom Overseas Holdings C.V. © Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Based on characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.
Trollhunters
While working on Star Wars for Panini Germany, I was asked by the editor if I’d be interested in creating strips for a new bi-monthly Trollhunters comic, based on the DreamWorks TV show (itself adapted from the 2015 novel by Guillermo Del Toro and Daniel Kraus). I consulted on how best to launch the comic stories and suggested an adaptation of a key scene from the very first episode, which served as an excellent introduction to the show’s concept and main characters.
I followed this up with several original stories set within continuity of the first half of the first season. For this research-intensive project, I worked in close collaboration with the story team at DreamWorks, and wrote every story on the magazine’s five-issue run.
Trollhunters is copyright DreamWorks Animation and Double Dare You Productions
Interior art by Ingo Romling throughout
Kid Kong
Debuting in the first issue of children’s humour comic Monster Fun in June 1975, Kid Kong was created by artist Robert Nixon and later drawn by Rob Lee. Immensely popular in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the strip starred a monstrous but sweet-natured gorilla who lives with his adoptive grandmother. Kid is essentially a hulking banana-obsessed child completely unaware of his own strength and whose short-sighted grandma remains oblivious to the unfolding chaos.
Working with several artists, including Tiernen Trevallion and Hilary Barta, I wrote Kid Kong strips for several children’s humour specials published under Rebellion’s Treasury of British Comics imprint, before settling into a regular monthly strip for the revived Monster Fun title. This ongoing strip was drawn by the brilliant cartoonist Karl Dixon.
Crabbe’s Crusaders
Another strip revived from the IPC vaults for Rebellion’s Treasury of British Comics imprint, Crabbe’s Crusaders first appeared in vintage children’s title Buster in 1969. It featured a team of orphans shipwrecked on the island hideaway of Professor Crabbe, an inventor of outlandish rescue vehicles and who drafts the kids into a series of Thunderbirds-esque peacekeeping missions.
Working with the spectacular Marvel artist Ruairi Coleman (with whom I’d previously worked on Star Wars), we reworked the original concept, giving it a modern spin involving aliens, holographic tech, an ecological theme, and - of course - city-smashing kaiju monsters!
Treasury of British Comics
In 2016, 2000 AD publisher Rebellion acquired the majority of a vast comic book catalogue previously belonging to British publishing giant IPC. Having been re-sold and re-branded several times over the years, the archive – containing several British comic-book icons from Roy of the Rovers to Hook-Jaw and Ghastly McNasty – was finally absorbed into Rebellion’s already sizeable horde of IP, forming the single largest archive of British comics in the world.
The acquisition included all titles and characters created after 1 January 1970 (with a couple of exceptions including Whizzer and Chips and Roy of the Rovers) and covered a dizzying range of titles, from humour comics (Cor, Buster) and horror (Scream!, Misty) to ‘girls’ anthologies (Tammy, Jinty), ‘boy’s own’ adventure (Battle, Action) and dozens more.
I scripted several strips for the various specials published by Rebellion soon after, including a younger readers version of 2000 AD subtitled Regened.
A one-shot strip about a teenage Johnny Alpha, originally published in Free Comic Book Day 2018, with art by Ben Willsher
Another one-shot strip for '2000 AD: Regened', this time with Judge Anderson (one of my favourite characters) with art by P.J. Holden
'Fate of the Fairy Hunter' was an original one-shot story created – with 'Black Beth' artist DaNi – for the 2017 'Scream and Misty Special'.