| News: | |||||||||||||
| 2012 02 02 |
From DC Comics: This summer, DC Entertainment will publish all-new stories expanding on the acclaimed Watchmen universe. As highly anticipated as they are controversial, the seven inter-connected prequel mini-series will build on the foundation of the original Watchmen, the bestselling graphic novel of all time. Before Watchmen will be the collective banner for all seven titles, from DC Comics. "It's our responsibility as publishers to find new ways to keep all of our characters relevant," said DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee. "After twenty five years, the Watchmen are classic characters whose time has come for new stories to be told. We sought out the best writers and artists in the industry to build on the complex mythology of the original." Stepping up to the challenge is a group of the comic book industry's most iconoclastic writers and artists - including Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets), Lee Bermejo (Joker), Amanda Conner (Power Girl), Darwyn Cooke (Justice League: New Frontier), John Higgins (Watchmen), Adam Hughes (Catwoman), J.G. Jones (Final Crisis), Andy Kubert (Flashpoint), Joe Kubert (Sgt. Rock), Jae Lee (Batman: Jekyll and Hyde), J. Michael Straczynski (Superman: Earth One) and Len Wein (Swamp Thing). Before Watchmen includes: Each week, a new issue will be released, and will feature a two-page back-up story called Curse of the Crimson Corsair, written by original series editor Len Wein and with art by original series colorist John Higgins. There will also be a single issue, Before Watchmen: Epilogue, featuring the work of various writers and artists, and a Crimson Corsair story by Wein and Higgins. "The original series of Watchmen is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell. However, I appreciate DC's reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work. May these new additions have the success they desire," said Dave Gibbons, Watchmen co-creator and original series artist. "Comic books are perhaps the largest and longest running form of collaborative fiction," said DiDio and Lee. "Collaborative storytelling is what keeps these fictional universes current and relevant."
More news on this as soon as we receive it!
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 12 13 |
2000 AD #2011 On sale from Wednesday December 14th, the annual 100-page issue of 2000 AD this year features a cracking yuletide-appropriate 12-page Judge Dredd tale written by Al Ewing, with art by John and colours by Sally Hurst. Go on - treat yourself! You deserve it!
|
||||||||||||
2011 10 20
|
Octocon 2011 - John's report! It's hard to believe Octocon has come and gone as we now wind down to Christmas and the end of a very hectic year for Turmoil Colour Studios. When we put the calendar up early 2011 of all the conventions and Comic expos we were attending, it seemed such a long way off. SF Cons have a slightly different feel to Comic cons. There is of course the appreciation of great stories and imaginative ideas that we find in both fields of creativity, but comics are a side-show to the main course of Speculative Fiction writing, as one would expect, so to be invited to an SF con as a comic creator is a special honour. All the cons I have been fortunate to be invited to this year, no matter what their size, have had all the same attributes: energetic and motivated organizers, a mix and blend of highly-talented guests, and finally the most important of all for a successful convention, the audience that came to support the event. Octocon had all of this with the added ingredients of Irish eloquence and Dublin Guinness. I tried to think of a metaphor to describe my feelings and perception on my enjoyment of the weekend and the best I came up with was the drinking of a pint of perfectly poured Guinness. We start by sipping through the small but smooth tantalizing pre-taste of the creamy white head (committee) before we encounter the strong yet invigorating taste of the dark body of the liquid beneath (audience). So Octocon looked good, tasted good and by golly I came away feeling slightly intoxicated. I do not intend to do a full named thank you and report of the convention as I am sure you will find that on the official Octocon website, giving more detail and written in a more entertaining way than I could ever manage, so please check it out! But I will say a thank you to Michael Carroll for his introductions at the panels we both served on, that left me squirming in embarrassment but blushing with delight at the many compliments he expressed about my work and career, and to John Vaughan when he presented me with a Golden Blaster award for Creative Achievement, and who also managed to raise my blushes with his eloquent comments on my career.
For it to be such a well-run convention and also so much fun, people worked very hard to ensure things ran smoothly, thanks to Gareth, Danielle and Trish who worked themselves to a shadow of their former selves to ensure every participant and attendee enjoyed all the con had to offer. And to Perp 1 and Perp 2 (also known as Gavin and Rob) who helped me out at my reading of Michael Carroll's "Judge Dredd: Unchained" script. A special thank you to all the new followers of the Razorjack saga we now have, as we managed sell all the Razorjack graphic novels we took and every copy of Michael Carroll's Double-Crossing novel that we had to hand. We hope to bring you more exciting news concerning Razorjack later in the year!
|
||||||||||||
2011 10 10
|
Judge Dredd Megazine #316 On sale this week: the first part of Judge Dredd: Unchained, with art by John, colours by Sally Hurst, script by Michael Carroll. The Megazine also features the first part of American Reaper by Pat Mills and Clint Langley, part three of Cursed Earth Koburn: Going After Billy Zane by Gordon Rennie, Carlos Ezquerra and Hector Ezquerra, plus movie reviews and a feature on the classic (but short-lived) British comic Scream.
Octocon takes place in the Camden Court Hotel, Dublin 2, and though it officially begins on Saturday, the gathering begins on Friday evening... This year marks Octocon's 21st birthday, so expect a lot of fun! Other guests include Richmond Clements, Rob Curley, Derek Gunn, Barry Keegan, Celine Kiernan, Conor Kostick, R.F. Long, Oisín McGann, Maura McHugh, Alan Nolan, Peadar Ó Guilín, Pádraig Ó Méalóid, Sarah Rees Brennan, Nick Roche, Brian J. Showers, Vicky Stonebridge and John Vaughan (whose Vault of Horror has been one of the most popular Octocon events of recent years - trust me, it's worth attending the con just to see this!).
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 09 22 |
News Round-Up
Run by the always enthusiastic and energetic Mike Alwood. An incredible amount of quality comic talent turned up, which gave John an opportunity on the day to catch up with a lot of old friends. Check out The Art of Brett Ewins, a delicious and brand new book about... guess who? John adds that he also met some new friends who showed great interest in Razorjack - that is always a factor in his enjoyment of any event! Michael Wigg was the proud winner of the sketch of the day. Michael had sloped off early from the Expo (tsk!) but came back especially to pick up his prize... taking forty minutes to make the round trip! We are very pleased he did!
John has just completed the art for a two-part Judge Dredd story for the Megazine: "Unchained", written by Michael Carroll and coloured by Sally Hurst, begins in Judge Dredd Megazine #316, on sale early October! The creative team - John, Sally and Mike - will all be guests at Octocon in Dublin, Ireland on October 15 & 16, so bring along your copies of Megazine #316, Razorjack::Double-Crossing/i>, Watchmen or anything else you'd like to have signed!
San Diego Comic-Con 2011 John writes: "After a very busy and 'interesting' lead up to the convention (interesting as in the Chinese curse: may you live in interesting times!), it was very nice to leave the trials and tribulations behind in the studio. And only have to suffer the trials, flight delays and tribulations of missed connections!" But once John and Sally finally arrived in San Diego they were picked up by a con volunteer even though they were twelve hours late in arriving. From that moment on it all went like clockwork. Kudos to the SDCC organizers for a well-run and enjoyable convention!
The UK Invasion on the Saturday was very popular. One interesting fact the audience discovered was Garth Ennis at forty-one was the youngest panel member. All the other geriatric participants did seem to have trouble staying awake. Poor old things! "The Watchmen: 25 Years Later" panel was rammed packed with fans who asked erudite and interesting questions. Any mentions of new Watchmen projects were diplomatically avoided! John appeared at the Com.x booth run by Ben Shahrabani with help from the guys of www.zombiepodcast.com check out the brilliant radio drama: We're Alive - A story of survival. There is something very powerful and completely immersive with good radio plays and this is better than good! John signed for a couple of hours on both days with Michael Carroll, whose Razorjack novel Double-Crossing was very well received. John also signed at the Splash Page Comic Art booth, the sole vendor at the con for the Exclusive Watchmen prints. John writes: "These sold very well, as you would expect from any Watchmen-related material. A number of fans came by and a few did say they read this news blog. It is great to know it reaches you out there! Always come by to say hi if you do read this and tell me so!" Note: There is still a small number of both sets of the SDCC Watchmen prints available: if you're interested in purchasing a set, please get in touch with John. John would like to give a special thanks to Sally Hurst, Leonia Carroll and Michael Carroll, for all the help and assistance that they gave to John making SDCC 2011 such an enjoyable event.
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 09 09 |
Comic Heroes Magazine issue #8
Definitely worth a purchase if you're a fan of John, or comics, or both...!
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 07 06 |
SDCC 2011 Watchmen Portfolio - Update! John has sent us a small but fascinating gallery of photos revealing the behind-the-scenes process of the printing of the new Watchmen portfolio for this year's San Diego Comic-Con.
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 06 29 |
San Diego Comic-Con 2011 Big preparations for SDCC 2011: John has been invited as a special guest and will be on a number of panels, starting with a Spotlight Hour on Thursday July 21 from 1:30-2:30pm: John Higgins: From Watchmen to Razorjack and Beyond. John writes: "Sort of an early bird special, I suppose, very early on in the convention but I hope to see some familiar faces in Room 4 from my previous visit to SDCC. In fact, I will be pleased to see anyone at all!" Michael Carroll (author of the Razorjack::Double-Crossing novel) will be helping out with erudite and probing questions. Exclusive! Any audience member attending the panel can enter a free draw to win a limited-edition Watchmen portfolio, store value of $120! John will also be on two other panels over the weekend: The UK Invasion on Saturday, July 23 from 5:30-6:30PM, Room 7AB. The panel will be moderated by Charles Brownstein, and participants include Alan Davis, Garth Ennis, Dave Gibbons, John Higgins, David Lloyd and Grant Morrison. There will also be a special Watchmen: 25 Years Later panel, on Sunday, July 24 from 11:00-12:00PM, ROOM 7AB. The panel will be moderated by Douglas Wolk, and will feature Dave Gibbons, John Higgins and series editor Len Wein. John has created, specially for his appearance at this year's SDCC, an exclusive set of Watchmen prints... Click the images below for more details!
So if you're attending this year's SDCC, start marking your diaries now...!
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 05 20 |
Limited Edition Watchmen Prints - last few left!
Get 'em before they're gone... The last few Watchmen prints from this year's Bristol International and Small Press Comic Expo are now available for sale on eBay. The prints are individually numbered and are signed by Dave Gibbons and John Higgins, who created this stunning piece of art specially for the convention.
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 05 16 |
Bristol International and Small Press Comic Expo Horror stalked the corridors of the Ramada Hotel in Bristol as Razorjack launched the latest phase of her assault on The Core Loop... Not only did the weekend see the launch of Double-Crossing, the first Razorjack tie-in novel, but The Iron Queen's presence could also be felt in the limited-edition hand-made screen-prints created specially for the convention, the hyper-limited Deluxe Box-Set of the Razorjack Graphic Novel, and in the two Razorjack sketches John created live during the course of the con!
Despite the great demands on his time (and the pressure of working with so many on-lookers jostling for a better view) John managed to produce two stunning A2-sized black-and-white sketches. Watching John at work is at once both a pleasure and a mystery... He begins by first lightly roughing out the main features, then - working chiefly in marker-pens of varying thicknesses (the near-vertical workspace of a flip-chart isn't conducive to brushes and ink!) - he alternates between the fine details and the solid-black areas, often moving from one part of the drawing to another in a pattern that seems unfathomable to us mere mortals. Everyone who made a purchase at the Razorjack table on both the Saturday and Sunday of the convention was entered into a draw to win that day's sketch. The process drew a huge number of people to the Razorjack table, including - as seen below - Bob Wayne (DC Comics' Senior Vice President of Sales) and John's old friend Dave Gibbons (if you don't know who Dave Gibbons is, you should be ashamed!).
We'll have more info on the Bristol Expo soon, both here and on the Razorjack site!
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 04 28 |
Razorjack :: Double-Crossing
The convention takes place on 14th & 15th May 2011 at the Ramada City Inn and the Mercure Holland House Hotels, and promises to be a huge event! Among the many other top guests at the convention, John and Mike will be joined fellow Razorjack crew Sally Hurst and Al Ewing, with the strong possibility that Razorjack herself will make an appearance... For more information on Double-Crossing and the entire Razorjack project, check out the official Razorjack website!
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 04 05 |
Exclusive John Higgins Print at Bristol Comic Expo! In association with publishers Foruli, a limited-edition print by John will be available at the upcoming Bristol International and Small Press Comic Expo (May 14 & 15, 2011). Courtesy of the convention's organisers, we have the preliminary sketch and John's pencilled version (the final print will of course be even better!)
The Bristol Expo will also see the launch of the first Razorjack tie-in novel, Double-Crossing by Michael Carroll, plus John will be creating a piece of orginal art each day to be won by one lucky fan!
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 03 22 |
Razorjack music suite - first live performance! The first live performance of a selected piece of music from the Razorjack music suite - "Morneen's Song", with words by Sally Hurst, music by Groovesonic - was performed last week at the Lincoln Arms Pub, Dorking, Surrey. Skip over to the Razorjack site for more details and an exclusive clip of the track!
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 03 09 |
Razorjack: House of Mirrors The official sub-site for the Razorjack: House of Mirrors project is now on-line! Features include news, galleries, exclusive extracts from the forthcoming Razorjack novels by John Higgins, Michael Carroll and Al Ewing!
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 03 07 |
John's report on Roll Out/Roll Call 2 Just back from the Roll Out / Roll Call 2 Show in Fordingbridge, situated on the far edge of the New Forest! Now that sounds like something from The Lord of the Rings: "On the far edge of the New Forest, Bilbo Baggins set forth..." The show was run impeccably, with a very high attention to the individual guests' needs by Dave Tree and his gang from All The Cool Stuff shop.
The usual content of my output over the years since the days I worked on Transformers and Star Wars comics for Marvel UK - horror, sex, ultra-violence, bodily disembowelments and general eviscerations - did not have much of a readership there except for a couple of dark but enlightened souls. Or is that a contradiction in terms? Anyway, I felt I made some new friends and certainly enjoyed catching up with the old ones. The winner of this show's sketch was Steve Whitcher.
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 02 24 |
John's report on the Exeter Expo: I found the Exeter Expo was a most enjoyable way to spend a cold wet and drizzly February Sunday. I would describe it as a Kylie Minogue of a comic event. Small but perfectly formed. I met a large number of very nice people who showed great interest in Razorjack: House of Mirrors. These I am calling the 'Exeter Posse'. Not original but, hey! They have all agreed to come to Bristol, so looking forward to another beer or two with them.
The sketch is very large, drawn over the course of the day on an A1 flip chart, this picture we have here, had me standing next to it. But Sally of Loco Motive Studios removed me from the photo as she thought I might scare the children. I said "Hey, it's had been a long drive to Exeter, after a hell of a very tiring Judge Dredd deadline with late nights and early starts." She said, "You're too fucking ugly to be seen in public!" Then I said "..." Well, she had the last word!
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 02 24 |
19 February, Chaucery Memorial Evening:
The original painting of the Mosquito Bomber went to Carlo and Elizabeth Marogna after a tense and nail-biting auction on the night of the event for... £100.00. John said afterward, "Bloody hell, it would have made more money and been cheaper for me if I had given them three hundred quid from my own pocket than spend seven days painting it. Bollix!" But he then added, "The auction was meant as a fun event for the night as much as for the money made for the Monument support group, and the act of painting it was an enjoyable break from a long and hectic work schedule and it did go to the right people." What a gentleman! The evening raised a healthy £600 toward the upkeep of the memorial.
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 02 13 |
Greysuit: Project Monarch
Now available in trade paperback from Rebellion, this 128-page volume collects the first two Greysuit stories: Project Monarch and The Old Man of the Mountains, written by Pat Mills, with art by John Higgins and colours by Sally Hurst. The covert operatives known as Greysuits enforce the British Government's interests in the world's most dangerous places. Specially conditioned to have heightened strength and reflexes, Greysuits are the most deadly secret agents alive.
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 02 10 |
Razorjack: House of Mirrors "House of Mirrors" is the project title for the latest phase of Razorjack's invasion... More information will be coming very soon, but for now all you're getting is a brief preview...
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 02 10 |
Upcoming Appearances John is scheduled to appear at the following events in 2011:
|
||||||||||||
| 2011 01 23 |
Original painting to be auctioned John has created a stunning painting of a WWII Mosquito to be auctioned in aid of the upkeep and preservation of the Chaucer Memorial in Rustington, West Sussex.
|
||||||||||||
| 2010 10 11 |
Judge Dredd Megazine #303 John returns to Judge Dredd in "Idle Hands", a one-off ten-page story written by Al Ewing, with colours by Sally Hurst... On sale now! (Cover date: 9 Nov 2010)
|
||||||||||||
| 2010 10 04 |
John will be at the New York Comic Convention on the 8th, 9th and 10th of October at the Jacob K. Javits Center, Manhattan. John will be signing and sketching for the whole weekend at the Com.x booth #1769. Come over and say Hi, and ask him about the Razorjack Project, an on-going multi-media and multi-talent endeavor from Com.x, revolving around the world of Razorjack created by John Higgins. Stories set on twisted worlds of twisted people. Populated by armies of ferocious, unstoppable female warriors and the ultimate destroyer of worlds... Razorjack. See where it all started in Razorjack: The Graphic Novel By John Higgins
Read previews of the new Razorjack novels: Within the Razorjack Project we also have a visual interpretation using prosthetics and a live model - photographed by Will White - of Razorjack in all her naked grinning glory. There will also be a special NYCC poster using one Will's images with artwork created by Eddie Deighton of Com.x: come by and pick one up!
|
||||||||||||
| 2010 08 12 |
From David Lloyd
(yes, that David Lloyd!): See www.cartooncounty.com (though the site doesn't mention John's show yet).
|
||||||||||||
| 2010 03 01 |
2000 AD #1674: Judge Dredd - The Talented Mayor Ambrose Long-time Dredd nemesis PJ Maybe returns in the first part of this new saga, written by Dredd's co-creator John Wagner and illustrated by John Higgins, with colours by John Higgins and SJ Hurst. In slightly-related news, this brings the number of bibliography entries to a whopping 400! (And I'm still convinced that there's more work out there that John's forgotten about!)
|
||||||||||||
| 2010 01 29 |
John has just started a Judge Dredd series with John Wagner for 2000AD, which he describes as "a pure joy." John writes: "John W has a way with Dredd that is still as fresh and exhilarating as it ever was. It is set between the Machiavellian machinations in the Justice Department in Mega-City One and the mutant-infected badlands of the Cursed Earth. Classic Dredd. Sally Hurst is picking colour combinations and sorting line holds that gives a dirty, hard feel to the story, just right for this tale of intrigue and murder." John and Sally are doing a signing with a mass gathering of artists from the latest book from British independent publishers, Com.x. Check out 45 by Andi Ewington and forty-five different artists. Come by and say hi, in FP London, 5 pm onward on the 4th of Feb 2010. A photo session has been arranged in February for Razorjack, using the incredible prosthetic created by Nigel Booth. John will be doing a full report on this soon. Finally... Remember September's Postcard from Alternity? Well, the feature should have been accompanied by a nice long letter from John, but, mysteriously, it wasn't (it is now, though - check it out). John's letter arrived four months after the rest of the postcard's contents. Why this happened, no one knows. Our fifty-strong team of world-class investigators failed to uncover the cause despite their vast knowledge and unparalleled skills and their unlimited budget. It could be that the webmaster screwed up. Or it could be that John forgot to attach it to his e-mail. But most likely it was a one-in-a-billion chance that a freak burst of cosmic rays skipped through the hole in the ozone layer, reflected off a random chunk of decaying satellite debris and struck the internet at just the right point to cause a temporal flux. Probably.
|
||||||||||||
|
For older news, check the News Archive.
| |||||||||||||
|
Please get in touch if you have any queries, or if you can help
provide cover scans (or other information) for the bibliography.
| |||||||||||||
Ealing Expo, London
Judge Dredd: Unchained
The spotlight panel was fun for John who gave a talk entitled "From Watchmen to
Razorjack and Beyond." He also received an Inkpot award for
"Achievements in Comic Arts" which was a pleasant surprise and much
appreciated by John. A set of Watchmen prints was split between three
winning audience members of the ticket raffle. John wishes to thank
all who attended the panel, and Michael Carroll for the erudite and
probing question-and-answer session that wrapped up the talk.
The latest issue of 
The show was a specialist collector's dream. Transformers, Action
Force and Star Wars were the main attractions.
Nick Jones won the Razorjack/Twist Bitch sketch of the day. This is a new promo where the name of
anyone who buys a copy of the Razorjack graphic novel on the day, will be put into a pot and one
name will be drawn out an hour before the end of that day's events.
Breaking News!