COMPETITION WINNER!

Today is the tenth anniversary of my blog starting up and I have been running a competition to win the complete Fred Egg Comicsography.

Thank you to everyone who has taken part.

The draw has just taken place and the winner is... Maxine Lee-Mackie!

Congratulations!

WALTER SIMONSON WITH TOM PALMER STAR WARS ARTIST'S EDITION

I was lucky enough to get a copy of this beauty recently:

A wonderful book that presents colour scans of the original artwork from the comics of the 1980s.

Here are a few interesting images from inside, along with the printed versions:

The art has been flipped for this cover! I wonder why? Maybe that old chestnut of the bad guys usually coming into frame from the right. Interestingly, Simonson's signature has not been flipped, and occupies its position on the middle left on both.

A misspelling of "niether" that has been corrected in the final edition.

Tarkin with an "a" has been corrected too. Note the names sneaked into the diagram; Walt Simonson, Louise Jones (editor), and Tom Palmer.

Here Leia originally said, "You new in town?" In the published version, "You" has been excised, plainly showing the space where it had been.

An interesting aspect to these three preceding examples is that the changes are not visible on the original art. There's no liquid paper on these pages. The changes must have been implemented at a later stage in the production.

I wonder what the blue tint on the foreground figure is for. Can't see anything in the printed page that would have required that. It's the only example of this in the entire book.

This one has the lines of red doing a lot of the work in the finished page. Or the "red supprint" as written in the margin. I also like seeing what are obviously fingerprint ink smudges on the original art to create texture.

These books are great, and seeing the artwork at a large scale is definitely the main draw. However, I wish they would not cut off so much of the notes in the margin. This one says something or other "to his ship". Seeing the production process is also a big part of my interest in these.

There is probably a novelty to seeing the artwork without colour for American readers. However in the UK, we were presented with these stories in black and white in the first place.

Let's end with this great image. Lobot punching Lando off of Cloud City. What's interesting here is that the foot on the right overlaps the page border. On the printed cover, all the foot is there, and the lines through the right hand side have been continued, perhaps by some production staff. This also happens to an extent at the top of the image. And the left has the top of Lando's head drawn in. It seems the entire image has been downsized slightly to fit the page. Perhaps the "Columbia Ten-Speed Racer" banner altered the usual dimensions.

An excellent book!

A PLACE TO HANG YOUR CAPE interview

Fred McNamara has interviewed me over at A Place to Hang Your Cape.

Have a read here.

THAT COMIC SMELL #50 - Creator Conversation With... David Robertson

The latest podcast is online now.

From the web:

“My next guest has starred in such things as…”
This is a new stage in evolution for TCSPod. A new type of episode in which Tom sits down with creators and asks them questions to find out a little more about the creators themselves. A bit more than just their amazing work. We all love comic creators but let’s be honest, we are all rather nosey and would love to find out about them. This is the prime opportunity.
The first guest keeps it all familiar by being our very own, Fred Egg Comics himself, David Robertson. Come take a journey through some of David’s other hobbies, his music tastes, thoughts on ghosts and so much more.
This and all the usual comics chat on the only comics podcast to totally not rip off Richard Herring’s emergency questions. Not in the slightest…
That Comic Smell!
Get us on…
Soundcloud: tinyurl.com/y8vzeh3c
Spotify: tinyurl.com/y2qtu2cs 
YouTube: tinyurl.com/yajnxcno
iTunes: tinyurl.com/hwbqxab 
Podbean: tinyurl.com/yxvecykj 
and most places you find podcasts."

BUT A DREAM! at OPTICAL SLOTH

Kevin Bramer has written on But a Dream! over at Optical Sloth.

Have a read here.

FRED EGG COMICS BLOG 10th ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY

August 2019 marks the tenth anniversary of this blog, which seems ridiculous, but there it is.

It’s been good keeping this going, both as a record of what I’ve been up to, putting out thoughts on comics, and getting in touch with many great comics people.

I want to mark the occasion by running a competition. Up for grabs is every Fred Egg Comic currently in print. So that’s:

Berserkotron
Dump #3
Zero Sum Bubblegum
Wow! Retracted
Break the Cake
But a Dream!

Also included is Dundee Comics Comic.

I will give away copies of some anthologies I’ve been in too;

Treehouse, Chronicle, Inkthology, Swift at 350, and Love Bites!

Simply retweet on Twitter (#FredEggComics10), or share my post on Facebook. On 22nd August (the tenth anniversary date) a winner will be chosen at random and announced.

Good luck!

THAT COMIC SMELL 49: British Super-Heroes

The new episode is online now!

From the website:

“AY UP GUVNA!”
We’re coming down the old apples and pears to bring you the best of old Blighty. We are of course talking ‘British Superheroes’
Come and join us first as we show off our latest grabs before we go delving into our picks of Britain’s ultimate super powered beings… or not so? We spark a little debate about what constitutes as a Super Hero and even as a comic. There’s a little reaction to the latest Marvel movie news and a whole host of Brit Supes comics chat.
This and all the usual comics chat on the only comics podcast that’s right behind you…
That Comic Smell!
Follow us on Twitter & Instagram @thatcomicsmell
Get us on…
Soundcloud: tinyurl.com/y8vzeh3c
Spotify: tinyurl.com/y2qtu2cs
iTunes: tinyurl.com/hwbqxab
Podbean: tinyurl.com/yxvecykj
and most places you find podcasts."

BELL TIME part 56

Here's the final page. Click for a larger view.

Thanks to everyone who's been reading along. I hope you've enjoyed it. Thanks also to everyone who has given feedback.

Bell Time will be collected into a book later in the year.

BUT A DREAM! at ALMOST NORMAL COMICS

Warren "WEE" Elliott has written on But a Dream! over at Almost Normal Comics.

Have a read here.

BELL TIME part 55

The penultimate page!

Click for a larger view.