Tag: Top Cow

Coming in May – Artifacts: Lost Tales #1

Exciting news – I’m finally a comic writer!

Back in 2013 I entered the Top Cow Talent Hunt, in which I was a runner up. Off the back of this, I wrote a short script for Top Cow set in feudal Japan, which after much excited waiting on my part is finally coming out in May.

‘One Man’, a samurai-era story featuring the magical Bloodsword, features in Artifacts: Lost Tales #1, released on 6 May. You can see a few more details here, though you have to scroll down the page to find it.

I’m really excited to get my hands on this. I haven’t seen the art yet, and it’s going to be awesome to see someone else’s talent bring my ideas to life.

If you’re into comics then please consider pre-ordering Lost Tales at your local shop – pre-orders make a big difference to how many copies of a comic get onto the shelves, and so how many people can buy it that way.

Yay comics! (I’m a little excited)

Trying my hand at scripting

It turns out I officially have talent. Or half a talent at least, as I’m a runner up in comics publisher Top Cow’s 2013 talent hunt.

Top Cow logo

This is only the third time I’ve even tried to write a comics script, and I clearly got something right because they’re going to publish a short comic story written by me. It won’t be the one I entered in the competition, which is a shame because I’m quite proud of it, but this is still very exciting. It’s a great thing to have in my portfolio, and a way to sell myself when approaching other companies.

Writing a script was a very different experience from writing prose. It’s not just a matter of dialogue, it’s explaining other aspects of the scene in the right type of detail for your medium, in a way that will make the story flow. Comics have their own particular challenges and opportunities, and I’m glad I’ve read plenty of Scott McCloud‘s books on comics storytelling. If you’re at all interested in how to write comics, or just how they work, then I really recommend reading McCloud, he has a fine analytical mind and explains things very clearly.

So anyway, now I need to spend some time working out how to make the most of this opportunity, and of the possibility that I don’t suck at scripting. To the keyboard!

Wait, I’m already there.