The comic is "from the worlds of Albion" and revives (or, rather, updates) the old, long-forgotten British superhero who first appeared 1949. The comic also features an article on the original version of the character by Mr. Gibbons.

John, being the "hard-bitten cynical pro" that he is, says he is not that easily impressed any more but "the script Dave has written for Thunderbolt Jaxon for Wildstorm has given me the opportunity to draw scenes and situations I have been wanting to draw since the first day I got into the comic business. All the elements that appear within this story bring together many of my enthusiasms and interests, the Early Northern European cultures and Mythology which Dave has intertwined within a modern British setting gives a depth and background in an imaginative and original way that I find inspiring."

With this series and Meet Darren Dead (see below), John feels he is doing some of the best work of his career and is into one of his most enjoyable and creative periods that has reignited his enthusiasm for comic illustration and considering he is "such a hard-bitten cynical old pro" that is saying something!

THUNDERBOLT JAXON

Written by Dave Gibbons; Art by John Higgins; Cover by Gibbons

Jack, Billy and Saf are three ordinary, adventurous kids who make a startling discovery: a mystical Norse relic from the fourth century. All is well as they take their newly found treasure home, ever so pleased with themselves, with not a clue as to the remarkable events they will soon ignite - including the rebirth of legendary British hero Thunderbolt Jaxon!

Wildstorm Universe, 32 pages, Color, $2.99 US

On Sale February 1, 2006

John writes: "I've wanted to work with Rob for quite a while. We've been talking over ideas ranging from American westerns to Alien Superheroes, and with Rob's strange and twisted mind-set the ideas have always been 'interesting'... But with this character I think Rob has surpassed 'interesting', and it's one I hope that has some of the best attributes readers have come to expect from the alien and wonderful 2000 AD universe."

John, being the "hard-bitten cynical pro" that he is, is not that easily impressed any more. He adds: "for me as an artist to look forward to starting work at the drawing board every day shows how strong a script Rob has written.

"Rob also has written one of the best punch-lines I have ever had the privilege to be the artist for, which I obviously cannot tell you much more about except to say the character had to wait over fifty years to express it".

Here's Rob's first description of the title character:

... chubbiness is gone, he's skin and bones, and his skin is thin and hanging off him, making him look kind of ghoulish although he essentially still looks human. As a star he's going to play off his dark, mysterious image so i reckon dark lennon sunglasses (he doesn't want to scare people by showing them his eyes), a hat to hide his now whispy hair and maybe a long dark coat that's virtually a cloak. He's going to want to look mysterious, rather than overt, and the less skin he shows the more he can hide his deadness from the general public - after all, he's a celebrity, and he's the grumpiest fucker in the world. you would be too if you were dead but still alive.

I have just finished the last page of Watchmen colouring on Thursday.

DC production have allowed me so much input all the way down the line; I went in for two days to do a final check on all the colour before it went to the printers, I then went in Thursday and signed off on each page from the printers' proofs and caught a couple of things even at this late stage.

No other comic production - as far as I know - has ever had such a (colour) artist's input so close to press.

The great thing has been for me to see it all collated in sequence; before it went off to the printers I caught so many things and was changing stuff (albeit minor stuff) just because they gave me such access.

One thing amongst many that I feel we improved on is the News agent's street corner, just because I finally had an over view of the whole story and art which I never had the first time around.

Watchmen, probably the most famous graphic novel of all (and an inspiration to a whole generation of comics artists and writers), is currently undergoing a transformation prior to its rerelease this coming autumn (or "fall", if you're American).

Written by Alan Moore, drawn by Dave Gibbons and coloured by John Higgins, Watchmen was first released as a twelve-part "maxi-series" starting in September 1986. A paperback collecting all twelve issues was released around a year later, as the series came to an end. To this day, the Watchmen graphic novel remains one of DC's best-selling titles.

A special edition of the graphic novel - containing an extra 48 pages - was released by Graphitti, and it's this on which the Absolute Edition will be based. The package is being designed by original artist Dave Gibbons, and will be completely re-coloured by John Higgins.

John tells me:

Digital re-colouring: I am keeping it within the template I had set up for the colouring all those years ago, as there is only one Watchmen colour methodology in my mind, which is what I have tried to stick to.

Just because the computer technology now gives a million more choices, the integrity of colour story-telling has not changed. Its purpose is to support the multi-layered story-telling that Alan had written and Dave had illustrated with his supreme visual depiction of the world of Watchmen.

My job was/is to give graphic emotional colour to the story, and to enhance scene change and movement, to clarify detail. This last point, I think, is the most important part of my job, as the complexity and the detail is so impressive.The texture and depth Dave achieved in Black and White line is monumental.

"Everything is looking really good, crisper and more vibrant than ever and it's great to be working with John again."

The cover is by John and Len O'Grady, and the comic's editorial focusses heavily on the new series, describing it thus:

...the big news this week is the zarjaz return of a story last seen way back in 1987. Freaks, written by Peter Milligan and illustrated by John Higgins, was a short six-part series that ran in Progs 542-547 and dealt with the fear and prejudice you Earthlets exhibit towards anyone that looks different from yourselves. Its protagonist, the narcissistic Muswell Hill-dwelling Carl Woolf, cared only for his image and reputation - so when he was snatched by aliens from the plabnet Kakkak in a bid to learn more about mankind, he suddenly became the repulsive outsider. Framed for murder by the warmongering General Stunal, he escaped from captivity, with the aid of the beautiful - by Kakkakian standards - Kilquo, and in the process discovered that humans and Kakkaks are all part of the same cosmic family. Carl's experience on Kakkak unleashed a latent telekinetic ability that had been smothered by living on Earth, and as the pair fled back to Eighties London, Kilquo wondered what powers she would develop away from her homeworld...

Now, seventeen years later, we are about to find out as John Higgins and Mindy Newell take up the story. A celebrated actress, Kilquo can morph her physical shape, allowing her to blend in with the other humans - but she is being watched by authorities interested in what her talents could benefit them...

In Faces, nothing is what it seems behind the façade...

The official press release:

Identity Disc #1 (of 5)
Written by Robert Rodi. Pencils by John Higgins. Inks by Sandu. Cover by Tony Harris.
When six of Marvel's most violent and cunning villains join forces, the fate of every hero in the world is at stake. Sabretooth, Bullseye, the Juggernaut, Deadpool, Sandman and the Vulture -- are forced to work together by a mysterious agent who somehow knows every dark and dirty secret in their violent lives. Their mission: to retrieve the nearly priceless Identity Disc -- purported to contain the true identities, the home addresses and even the credit reports of every hero in the Marvel Universe. To obtain the disc, hidden deep in the bowels of a practically impenetrable A.I.M. terrorist base, this agent will need an army. Or six super-villains. But how long can these psychopaths work together before the chaos begins?
32 PGS./MARVEL PSR .$2.99
UPC: 5960605581-00111

You can find three pages of this stunning artwork in the Gallery!

Showing full colour artwork from John's career (covers from The Thing from Another World and interior art from the Judge Dredd stories), and Black and White line art from his Marvel, DC and 2000 AD work.

Please come and support art in the community of Bayonne, NJ. And if you do, let John know and you can buy him a pint of Guinness at Kapps bar on Broadway and 27th.

To contact John Higgins (to let him know you're coming!), click here.

He elaborates: "When I have time I must do a blow by blow account of how I went from one commissioning phone call, through character design, story boards and multiple editorial decisions to produce 22 pages of print-ready art within six weeks!

"It should be impossible but we did it!"

John is also doing an event to tie in with the launch of the jeans, in the Levis store Regents Street, London, on 13th, 20th and 27th September: "With my beautiful assistant Jenna (Higgins) I will be painting a 6ft by 24ft mural, to publicise the launch and also to preview the second comic they are planning on doing. I am looking forward to painting characters and stuff from A Bold New Breed issue 2. The mural I haven't planned in detail yet but I suppose it will cover Darkness demons multiplying, radioactive mutants, flesh-eating zombies and chainsaw-wielding Manga horrors! And probably cute furry things too!" Click here for some images from a similar event that took place in Holland.

Had our second regular creator get-together last night. It was a nice surprise to see Garth Ennis, especially considering he lives in New York now. Plus John Higgins, Dave Gibbons, David Lloyd, Glenn Fabry, Antony Johnston and others.

Saw some of Fabry's artwork from his forthcoming Thor mini. Really beautiful stuff, a return to the glory days of his Slaine linework.

All in all, top night. Especially the bit where Fabry went home wearing Gibbons's jacket. Heh.

Enough name-dropping. Need Nurofen.

We creator types clearly don't get out much, so John Higgins and I decided to re-invigorate the semi-regular creator piss-ups that he initiated something like 15 years ago. It's now a regular, monthly, creators-only free-for-all, and the first sesh kicked off last Thursday. A few people who said they'd try and make it dropped out at the last minute, so I was really worried I'd end up being left sitting in the pub on my own like a nae mates...

Fortunately, the whole thing turned out to be a roaring success! Antony Johnston and myself were the first to arrive, soon followed by Rufus Dayglo, John Higgins and Mike Carey, Simon Furman, Chris Weston, Robbie Morrison and Mark Chapman, plus numerous other folks whose names I never did pick up... or at least retain (damn booze!). Fun was had, bullshit was swapped, beer was drunk, and the world was generally put to rights.

Looks like next month's shindig will be even bigger. Hopefully it'll become a British comics institution. That's the plan, anyway...

Love and Cuddles,
Mike Carroll, a.k.a. The WebMaster!
(written like that because it makes me sound like a superhero!)