The image on the left is to be the cover of the new Massacre for Boys comic, Picture Library, and on the right we have a pin-up of Jerusalem West as featured in the comic book 'West'.

Friends, how are you all?

I’d like to bring to your attention that I’m currently selling two exclusive art prints of my artwork (as seen above). Both of these high quality prints sold really well during my recent appearance at the Demoncon comic convention.

Both of these signed prints are A4 in size and come with a Certificate of Authenticity (sounds very posh, doesn’t it). Only 50 of each have been printed.

The prints are priced at £6 each or two for £10 (+ £2.50 p&p. UK only. Outside of the UK, please email me for postage cost).

If you are interested, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Once again, thank you all for your wonderful support.

David Frankum.

One happy customer. Massacre for Boys editor, Chris Denton, proudly displaying his exclusive art print.

I am both thrilled and excited to announce that I will be appearing the Demoncon comic convention on Sunday the 17th of March in Maidstone, Kent.

Poster by Grant Perkins.

I shall be at this exciting event with my portfolio on display and selling my ‘warm up drawings’, which proved to be amazingly popular at the last Demoncon (To see a selection of my warm up drawings, go to http://davidfrankum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/warm-up-drawings-sketches.html ). I’ll also be selling two exclusive, high quality prints of my work (see images below) as well as producing sketches and talking about my artwork,
future projects and, well… anything you wish to talk about.

Examples of the two exclusive A4 sized prints for sale at my table.

Demoncon is a wonderful family orientated event, bringing together a lovely range of diverse creators and publications. It’s great to have such an event here in the South East.
This years event includes over 60 guests, some of which I have produced artwork for. The guest list is very impressive. Demoncon isn’t just about comics. Authors (such as Dan Abnet) will be there as well as role playing game companies and a furniture maker!
A melting pot of creativity, something for everyone of all ages

For more details and the current guest list, head over to: http://thegrinningdemon.com/events/event/demoncon-5/
or the facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/events/413330588721907/?fref=ts
(I believe that you can get your entry ticket cheaper via the website).

Oh, I almost forgot. There’s a raffle as well. Woo! Woo!
60 + prizes up for grabs (I’m submitting an original piece of art work as a prize, see image below). Surely you’re on to a winner here.

Galactus invades Maidstone! You can win this original piece of artwork, drawn by myself, in the raffle.

Well, that’s about it from me.
So, I hope that you can make it and I look forward to seeing you at Demoncon.
It’ll be a fun day.

Enjoy!

Flesh: Future Shock as seen in Zarjaz #16. Story by Andrew Cheverton. Artwork by myself (David Frankum).

I first met Andrew Cheverton back in March 2011 at the London Comic and Small Press expo which was held at Goldsmith’s University in New Cross. The Angry Candy table was the first one I visited as I was very curious about a comic book called West. The creators (Andrew Cheverton  and  Tim Keable) and I indulged in a long conversation about creating comic books and it’s fair to say that a friendship between us all quickly developed.  Towards the end of our enlightening chat, Andrew told me that he had script on his hard drive which was “doing nothing” and would I be interested in drawing it..?

“Hmm, maybe, what’s it about?”

“Oh, it’s short story with a twist. It’s based on the old 2000AD strip, Flesh!”

“Flesh?! Where do I sign?”

Flesh! is one of my all time favourite stories to appear in The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, 2000AD. I remember reading it when it came out in the late 70′s, when my uncle used to pass on his comics to me. What child wouldn’t be both captivated and excited about a story containing cowboys, time travel and dinosaurs (oh, and some gore thrown in for good measure)? Some of the images brilliantly drawn by the artist, Roman Sola, have been etched into my brain since those childhood experiences, and they still remain as an influence to this day.

Flesh! as seen in the Science fiction oriented comic 2000AD.

Andrew sent me the script, which I enjoyed immensely. It had a lovely “old school” feel to it and the chance to draw the two main characters, Earl Reagan and “Claw” Carver, pushed my thrill power levels to overload. In many ways, this opportunity was a dream come true.

Originally, Flesh: Future Shock wasn’t to appear in Zarjaz but in a completely different 2000AD fanzine. This particular publication was to be printed as a “newspaper”, which both myself and Andrew were very excited about. Andrew’s script was originally to be read over five pages and we had the challenge of editing it down to a single A3 page. None of the original story was changed, but on a few occasions, two panels were condensed into one. It was great fun trying to solve this puzzle.

My rough page layout for Flesh: Future Shock.

It’s pretty hard to draw dinosaurs (well, it is for me anyway). There are very few about now to draw from life, so I spent a few days in the Natural History Museum, in London, to make studies of the Triceratops’s bone structure so that I could gain a better understanding of their scale and mass. Painstaking research and accuracy play a big part in my artwork; quite often, I draw particular poses, objects and scenes from life. I believe it’s a huge part of telling a believable and convincing story and it helps me to understand how “things work”. It’s a key ingredient of my work and a process I thoroughly enjoy.

Preliminary sketches of a Triceratops.

Throughout the summer of 2011, I worked tirelessly on Flesh: Future Shock; I divided the strip into two separate A4 sized pages and bounced from one page to the other, trying to bring the whole strip together at the same time. Once completed, the two pages were “pasted” together to create the overall page to fit the publishers requirements.

My 'wire-frame' version of the first page which I sent to Andrew for a 'yay' or a 'nay'. Thankfully, he said 'yay'.

The completed page which was drawn completely in Photoshop.

The overall effect of pasting the two pages together worked very well. Andrew and I were very pleased with the end result. It had been a tricky task editing the entire story onto one page, but we believed that we had created a strong, punchy story and one that the readers would fully enjoy.

The entire A3 sized strip.

But, the unexpected happened. No sooner had I completed all of the artwork… the publication had folded. Flesh: Future Shock would never see the light of day. These things, unfortunately, happen. I was particularly upset and I’m sure Andrew was as well. What were we to do?

Well, I had an idea whereby we publish the story ourselves, either as an A3 print or by  redesigning the strip into a stylish story book by dividing the panels onto separate pages. I created a mock up version which I sent to Andrew who was very keen on the idea.

Page One of the Story book version.

Another alternative was to pitch Flesh: Future Shock to Dave Evans and Richmond Clements at Futurequake Press, who produce a brilliant 2000AD fanzine anthology called Zarjaz. Andrew presented our strip to the both of them at the Thought Bubble comic convention. Both Dave and Richmond were very familiar with both of our previous works and it’s fair to say that they loved what we had produced. They quickly and enthusiastically snatched Flesh: Future Shock out of our hands. Both myself and Andrew were very pleased that our story was finally going to be read, and for it to be featured in such a brilliant and caring publication was a huge bonus.

But, there was yet another problem… Zarjaz is printed at A5 size, Flesh Future Shock was designed to fit onto one A3 page. Reducing the artwork down would pretty much make the story unreadable. Our next task was to solve a new puzzle by “re-mixing” the entire story. Andrew took care of this brilliantly. I’m not sure why I didn’t do it myself, as I’m very precious over my artwork; I think it came down to trust. I had worked closely with Andrew on the project right from the start and I had gained a huge amount of faith in his abilities, especially after seeing what he magnificently produces with his own comic, West. Andrew produced a superb job, editing the artwork to spread over three pages, including a double page spread, which was very much a tradition in the older issues of 2000AD. I can’t praise and thank him enough over his handling of this task. I thought that the final pages looked wonderful and to be honest, the strip looked better for it. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?

The second page of the 're-mixed' version for Zarjaz.

Flesh: Future Shock was released in Zarjaz #16 in November 2012 at the Thought Bubble Comic Convention (funny how things go round in a cycle) to a well received response. Steven Denton wrote this of it in his review of Zarjaz #16 on the Massacre for Boys blog:

“Short, snappy, and beautifully-illustrated by David Frankum, Flesh could easily appear in the 1982 2000AD annual.  Andrew Cheverton has taken this over-the-top gore fest and shaped it into a tale for 2000AD’s signature sci-fi Future Shock style. Frankum’s art work is reminiscent of Bryan Talbot at his best, with dark, solid shadows and form-defining hatching. If the small press had an A-list of artists then David Frankum would be on it.”

Flesh: Future Shock is a strip I’m extremely proud of. It was a journey full of highs and lows, but we made it to our destination. Creating this story was a wonderful experience; from my first meeting with Andrew, to popping into Orbital comics in London and seeing someone looking at our story and taking the comic to the counter to buy and enjoy. A magnificent moment.

There's nothing better than seeing your artwork in one of the most highly respected comic shops, Orbital Comics.

Zarjaz #16 can be bought from the Futurequake Press shop and at Orbital comics (subject to availability)

Enjoy!

Zarjaz Issue 16. Cover by Jon Haward.

Please check out Andrew’s other exciting projects over at the Angry Candy website. Andrew and I are currently working on an ongoing comic series titled ‘A Month of Sundays’.

Christmas can be a very stressful time... Please, don't lose your head.

Well, that’s it.

The Frankum studio has closed down for the Christmas break (well, apart from ‘live’ sketches over the Festive season). All of my Christmas deadlines have been completed, all of my work has been ‘backed -up’ and my desk has been (finally) tided.

Out of all my years as working as an artist, 2012 has got to be one of the best. I feel both honoured and privileged to of worked on such fantastic projects. I am forever grateful towards the inspiring individuals I have had the pleasure to meet and work with. It really has been a blast.

Thank you all for a wonderful year, for all of your ‘likes’, tweets, shares, emails and enthusiastic feedback. I hope that you have enjoyed my artwork as much as I have enjoyed creating it.

I am very much looking forward to 2013. I have lots of exciting projects on the horizon which I’m sure you’ll all hear about very soon. Stay tuned, folks.

Until then, have a very Happy Christmas and I wish you all the best for 2013.

May the road rise with you.

David Frankum.

Greetings!

Just thought I’d let you all know that I have (yet another) blog, titled ‘Lostappeared!’. This one is basically an on-line scrapbook. Few words/ lot’s of pictures of my artwork. Old, new, sketches, finished pieces etc. Please feel free to subscribe, add comments, share and ‘spread the word’. Fingers crossed, it will be updated with ‘something’ on a regular basis.

Enjoy!

http://davidfrankum.blogspot.co.uk/

The opening panel to Flesh: Future Shock!

I am both pleased and excited to announce that Zarjaz issue 16 has now been published and is ready for you to enjoy.

Zarjaz #16 features a story titled Flesh: Future shock! This tale of time travel, cowboys and dinosaurs has been illustrated by myself and written by Andrew (West, The Whale House) Cheverton. Our story was inspired by the classic 2000AD strip, Flesh, and it features two well known characters from the original classic story, Earl Reagan and ‘Claw’ Carver. I hope that you enjoy these exciting tasters.

Zarjaz is a comics anthology fanzine for the long-running British science fiction comic 2000AD and it is published by FutureQuake Press. Even if you have never read 2000AD before, you will easily pick up and enjoy our exciting tale.

Zarjaz issue 16 also features eight other thrill-powered stories, brought to you by some of the best talent in the industry. For the full contents of this excellent publication, click here.

Zarjaz Issue 16. Cover by Jon Haward

To order your copy, head on over to the FutureQuake shop
and scroll down to the Zarjaz section.

It has also come to my attention that it can also be purchased at Comicsy.

While you are at the FutureQuake shop, if you haven’t done so already, you may wish to order the following publications which also feature my artwork:

FutureQuake#16 Generations by Russell Norris and David Frankum

FutureQuake #17 Ex Libris by Eoghan Ahern and David Frankum.

Zarjaz #12 Zenith Invasion Chris Denton and David Frankum.

Thank you all once again for your support.

Enjoy!

As you can see from the poster above, I shall be appearing at DemonCon 4 comic convention this Sunday in Maidstone, Kent (start time: 11:00).

I will be sharing a table with Chris Denton, a writer/editor who I have collaborated with on a few well received comic strips. As well as promoting Mr. Denton’s popular Massacre for Boys comic (featuring me), I’ll be there with my portfolio, selling some of my ’warm up drawings’, promoting my current/future projects and… well… to enjoy the day and chatting to folk.

Incidentally, the current issue of Massacre for Boys, Action Special, has received great reviews from some highly reputable comic websites. Please feel free to have a look.

The Forbidden Plant International Blog
Broken Frontier

DemonCon 4 will have a huge wealth of talent on display and a wonderful variety of publications on show. As well as the names on the above poster, other guests include Shelley Rapley, Eric Moore, Paul Rose, Lance Manley, Gibson Grey and the fantastic publishers, Cinebook. Something for all ages.
Also, please check out the hugely talented artist Robert Wells whose recent comic, The Department of the Peculiar, is superb.

So, if you’re at a loose end this Sunday, please pop in and say “hi”.
I’m really looking forward to seeing you.
I’m sure that you’ll all enjoy!

Oh, and there’s a raffle. Woo Woo!

Time travel, Cowboys and Dinosaurs... what more could you ask for?

I am very pleased to announce that Flesh: Future Shock will be appearing in Zarjaz Issue 16.

Zarjaz, published by FutureQuake Press, is a comic anthology fanzine for the long-running British science fiction comic 2000AD.

Flesh: Future Shock is drawn by myself and written by Andrew Cheverton. Our story was inspired by the classic 2000AD strip, Flesh, and it features two well known characters from the original classic story, Earl Reagan and ‘Claw’ Carver.

Zarjaz Issue 16 will be published in November, in time for the Thought Bubble comic convention which is to be held in Leeds (11th – 18th).

For all of the latest news on Zarjaz and Dogbreath (The Strontium Dog comic anthology fanzine), please head over to The Quaequam Blog.

Enjoy!

What’s that? Ah, an idea! Quick! Paper and pen… Eureka!

As soon as we had returned home, I contacted Owen Watts, editor of the superb Doctor Who fanzine anthology book, Doctor WTF?! I had read his first Dr WTF?! (2011) publication and it had blown me away. Owen had brilliantly masterminded a comic book full of inventive ideas, told and illustrated by some of the best talents in the Small Press comic industry. It was his first attempt to put together a comic anthology and he passed magnificently with flying colours. Truth be told, I was a bit miffed that I wasn’t invoved (if I recall, I was unavailable) but now… here was my chance.

I was aware that Owen was putting together another Doctor WTF?! anthology and I badly wanted to be part of it. I begged and pitched him my idea… I waited anxiously for a reply… the man from Somerset… he say “YES!” I was very grateful as I knew that Owen’s policies are that the story had to be written by one person and the artwork was to be drawn by somebody else… not by the same person, which, was the case with my strip.

My original pitch for Doctor WTF?! At this stage I hadn't 'designed' my lead characters so I used the current Doctor Who and his assistant to illustrate my story.

For the concept of Doctor WTF?! Owen laid down some rules. Basically, you’re not allowed to use any of the past or present Doctors, assistants, aliens, monsters, robots etc. The only object you could use was the Tardis. I thought that this was a great idea. This way, Doctor WTF?! offers a refreshing alternative to the existing Doctor Who universe, one that Doctor Who fans wouldn’t have previously seen or potentially see in the future.

Larger than Life. Black and white version.

After Owen had given me an enthusiastic thumbs up, I went back to the drawing board to create my own Doctor… how exciting! I wanted a Doctor who was full of English debonair, almost arostocratic. He had to have a visual trademark as all of the Doctors have. I decided to give him a monocle. My ever-thoughtful Doctor would have one eye to look over the bigger picture of a task and the monocled one to study the finer details in whatever situation was presented to him. I wanted his assistant, Christina, to be the complete opposite of my newly created Doctor. Chalk and cheese. Visually, I wanted her to be a bratty, Gothy, punk rock chick. Christina was to wear black clothing and the Doctor was to be dressed in white. I wanted this double act to be at the opposite ends of the scales, yet highly compatible.

I had great fun in re-inventing all of the Doctor’s arch-enemies, as seen in the last panel of Larger than Life. This part of the story gave me a chance to inject some of my own humour into a comic strip, which I’d never had the chance to do before. I have always been a big fan of the television and film parodies which have appeared in MAD magazine (especially if Mort Drucker illustrated them). It was highly enjoyable to create visual puns in the same way as one of my influences but in my own flavour. Two of my personal favourite ideas, The ‘Reading’ Angel and The Scare Tescrow, didn’t make it into the final version, due to their puns being too small and becoming lost amongst the other characters. The reinvention of the interior of the Tardis was equally as fun to design as well, especially all of the ‘fun stuff’ on the central console. If I recall, the fish tank was a last minute idea I had during the colouring stages of the page.

The full colour version. The little boy at the end of 'Larger than Life' is Asa Swaby, a 'real life' six year old. Asa is my son's step-brother and is undoubtedly the biggest Doctor Who fan in the known universe. Featuring Asa in a Doctor Who story made his dreams come true.

Writing and drawing Larger than Life came at a time when I was personally in need to express myself within a comic strip. I don’t see myself as writer as such, but I have a head (and countless of sketchbooks) full of ideas and it was both therapeutic and beneficial to exercise my creative needs. But, more than anything, Larger than Life was fun and to create. In many ways, Larger than Life was a continuation of a theme I had explored in a strip I had written and drawn called ‘A little help from my friends’, which took the reader on a journey of ‘who is real?’ . Since Larger than Life has been published in Doctor WTF?! I have received a number of emails enquiring about the use of Rene Magritte’s painting “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” (“This is not a pipe”) in the second panel of the story. “Did the Doctor collect this painting on his travels through time and space? Is there a connection between the painting and your idea for the story? Is it one of your favorite paintings?” I feel that if I explained why I put Magritte’s masterpiece, which challenges the observers preconditioned perceptions of reality, there would be little left for the reader to discover…

Enjoy!

Mr Owen Watts being chased by one of the action figures who didn't make it to the final panel in 'Larger than Life', The Scare Tescrow. As a 'thank you' to Owen for his support (not just for my contribution to Dr WTF?! 2012 but for everything else as well), I drew this picture and presented it to him at The Bristol Comic Expo. Please, don't get the wrong impression from this image. Owen is somebody who I have a huge amount of respect for, not only for his editorial skills but also for his creativity, enthusiasm and charm. I consider him to be one of my best friends in the comic world... it's just that I like The Scare Tescrow more.

Dr WTF?! 2012 and 2011 are still available to buy. Why not treat yourself and be highly entertained . Head over to www.facebook.com/drwtfcomic or contact Owen here.

Doctor WTF?! 2012. Cover by the legendary 2000AD artsit, Colin Macneil.

Me! August 2012

Greetings, Folks.

I’m still alive.

Honest.

Over the last couple of months, I have received a number of emails and messages asking why there has been a lack of new artwork from me lately. Thank you kindly for your concerns, but I can promise you that everything is fine and that there really isn’t any need to worry…

The truth of the matter is that I’ve been incredibly busy. I am currently working on several different art projects, all of which are very exciting. I’m not complaining about my heavy work load, not at all (although a set of Doctor Octopus’s arms would be very handy). As well as being very busy on the creativity side of life, my family and I have recently moved house. As you can imagine, it has been a bit tricky trying to juggle everything at once, but thankfully everything is starting to balance out.  As I write this post, I am sitting very comfortably (and proudly) in my brand new studio, planning out my new and exciting creative journey.

‘All systems go!’

On the comic front, I am currently working on several projects, one of which is a cover (my first ever) for the forthcoming Massacre for Boys comic ‘Massacre for Boys: Picture Library‘. I was thrilled to be asked by The Denton brothers to return and draw for their fantastic comic as the cover artist. The story that I have been asked to capture in a single image is superb, so much so that it inspired me to create eight different designs. I have always wanted to draw a cover for a comic and I am delighted to announce that my first one will be for Massacre for Boys.

I am also drawing a few pages for Rol Hirst’s fantastic ‘Too Much Sex and Violence’. A brilliant title, I’m sure you’ll agree. If you haven’t already read Rol’s utterly brilliant, weird, intriging comic, then I must suggest that you do. I am incredibly happy to be involved in such a great publication. As well as illustrating for Too Much Sex and Violence, Rol has given me the chance to design and visually create a new character to inhabit the Northern seaside town of Fathomsby. This opportunity is, for me, extremely exciting and inspiring.

Another project I am currently working on sees myself and the brilliant writer, Russell Norris, reuniting again to create a sequel to a story that we have worked on in the past… Oh, and did I mention that I’m still working with Andrew Cheverton developing his epic, on-going series, A Month of Sundays?

As well as working on all of the above comic strips, I am also working on several other ‘art’ projects which I will announce in the near future.

Next Question… Yes, you at the back with the purple and yellow tie…. Sorry, what’s that? Is any of my artwork to be published soon?

Ah, yes. I have two comic strips due to be published. I believe they are to be released at the end of the year, or there abouts. I’m really excited over the release of these two strips. One of the strips was written by Chris Denton and the other was written by Andrew Cheverton. If you were fortunate to attend the DemonCon Comic convention, you may have noticed a page from each strip in my portfolio. Both strips are to published by FQP. I know I’m being a bit of a spoilsport by not elaborating more on these two stories, but as soon as FQP release details, I’ll give you a heads up, as with all of the above projects and their developments. Watch this space…

I’d like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all of you who have personally contacted me regarding my artwork in both Dr WTF?! and Massacre for Boys: Action Special, which were released during the Spring of this year. I really appreciate the fact that you’ve taken the time out to write to me and it makes me happy to know that you have found enjoyment in what I have produced. I basically ‘celebrate text through drawings’ to provide a source of entertainment and escapism, even if it’s for just five minutes of your life. To know that I have fulfilled that duty is incredibly pleasing and I’m delighted to hear that you’ve enjoyed the experience. I’m glad that I can be of service. Thank you once again for your feedback and your kind words. If you haven’t as yet read either of these fine publications (you know what’s coming next…) please click on the appropriate links above. I’m sure you’ll enjoy.

Well, that’s pretty much it from me for now. Over the coming weeks, now that I’m back in the saddle, I’ll be posting sketches, pieces of artwork and various other ‘stuff’ of interest here on my blog as well as previews for my up-and-coming comic strips. So stay tuned, folks. In the meantime, I’d like to share this image with you. You may recognise it. It is a piece of artwork I drew for the DemonCon Comic convention raffle (please head over to my blog post about DemonCon right here). My good friend and owner of The American Comic Shop in Chatham, Kerry Earl, took to colouring it in and he completely took me off guard by presenting it to me when I popped into his shop. No one has ever coloured my work before (apart from myself). It looks pretty amazing, huh?

Enjoy!

My colouring sense is tingling! Drawn by me. Coloured by Kerry Earl.