#122: Hello Sunshine

Also, YOU decide my next gig

Declan Shalvey

May 16, 2023

ALL THE LATEST

-A lot going on! As I write this I’m working on the final issue of this first OLD DOG arc, TIME BEFORE TIME scripting is now done so a lot of stuff is wrapping up, once this issue of OLD DOG is finished. Technically, the only active gig I’ll have soon is writing the second ALIEN arc, which is kind of crazy. The weather’s taken a sunnier turn here on the banks of the River Fergus emphasizing that feeling of change.

-A lot of writing has been done lately! Alien #5 is written, as well as the following issue (had to get that done first as we’ll have a guest artist for that issue) which will end the first arc. The following arc has been approved, just dealing with some notes on that and I’ve just written my pages for the last issue of TIME BEFORE TIME. Feel like I’m clear to concentrate on drawing for a while.

-I’m off to Scotland next weekend, to do a signing at FP Glasgow, but will be spending a couple of days with an artist friend beforehand, aiming to develop a creator owned idea together. I’m a big fan of this artist and we’ve talked about doing something for years, so hoping it’s something we can line up for 2024. I’m also signing at Comic Stores in Malaga on June 2nd! Hope to see some Scots and Spaniards in the next couple of weeks!

-THE BEST OF 2000AD is out now, with this above web-exclusive by me! You can order it here!

-I’m planning a break at the end of June, where I want to spend time developing some ideas for the future alongside some planned travel. I’m going to be doing a short project to keep the bills paid soon, but outside of that, it’s a bit of a creative sabbatical I have planned. There’s a graphic novel or two I want to draw someday, so I think I might try write them over the summer, and will have either ready to go when the time is right. Though something tends to come up to distract me! Will start writing the next OLD DOG too for whenever I’m clear to draw it.

-Got offered to write a short story for Marvel last week, it’s a fun one, so I took it. No idea who’s drawing it yet. Gonna call this PROJECT FEAR.

-Had an idea to pitch a one shot story for a beloved franchise with a brilliant artist. Gonna give it a shot, no idea if it’ll work out, but would be very fun if it did. Will send out some feelers this/next week.

-David Harper’s SKTCHD BOOK 2023 lives! With a cover designed by yours truly, I believe he’s already posted them all out already. Also, congrats to David on the 400th episode of his OFF PANEL podcast!

-I’ve wanted to try out a poll on here, just for shits and giggles but also, just to see what the appetite on here is for my work in the future. So, I ask you Decolytes, once I wrap up OLD DOG…

To be clear, no matter what I will continue OLD DOG, I’m just looking to switch thing up for a bit of a break. I’m not going to base my decision on what this poll says, but I am genuinely curious as to what you readers think. At the moment I’m in a [very fortunate] position where I could pitch a project to Marvel, or maybe one to DC. I could work an a limited creator owned idea [as mentioned above, I have those 2 different projects on the burner I could jump on] as a breather from OLD DOG. I like to be able to jump back and forth from creator owned and work for hire, through creator owned comes with some burnout from the relentless hustle. The advantage of doing a Marvel/DC thing is that these things sell themselves to a degree, though being honest, didn’t really feel like there was much of a promo push with ALIEN, I felt I had to push it just like the creator owned stuff, so maybe that’s not so much of an advantage as I’d previously thought.

I do have a small Marvel project once I wrap Redact One of OLD DOG [let’s call that PROJECT MINER] while I recharge the batteries but yeah, I’m in the fortunate position where I have options and I’m curious, what would ye like to see me do next…? Again, feel free to sound off in the comments too, I’m up for the chat.

KICKSTART

I’ve two Kickstarters I wanted to spotlight here, please do take a look.

The first is a project by creator Colin Craker, THE AGENCY CASE FILES VOL 1: DECLASSIFIED, a 144 page sci-fi noir graphic novel. I’ve been really impressed with the fan art he’s posted over the last couple of years but more importantly, was impressed to see that he’s been developing his own graphic novel all the while. We met up a few months ago and I encouraged him to do a print edition of the project, many others had done the same so im glad to see he’s actually doing it! Don’t make a fool of me after encouraging him, go check out the campaign and secure yourself a copy!

The second is by an Irish writer Colin O’Mahoney and Brazilian artist Mari Lorin. A wonderfully bizarre one-shot called WHEN LANGUAGE FAILS. I know Colin from online, always been a great supporter of myself and other Irish creators, so I’m happy to return the favour and shine a spotlight on this project of his and back it. Check out the campaign for yourself here

OLD DOG

So good to have Issue Four out on the stands! Anyone read it? By all means, use that comments section, I’m desperate to get some feedback on the new issue!

I’ve half of the last issue pencilled and have started inking. Want the first half done before I head to Scotland this weekend. I’ve very excited to get this last issue one and have this first volume finished. It’s been a long road for me to get to this point and I’ll be really happy to have accomplished what has been a creative high-point for me.

Here’s a tease from the drawing board today. Will likely talk more about Issue Five [which really ratchets up the weird] in the next Declarations.

ALIEN

The THAW arc is now all written, with Andrea Broccardo currently working on #4, Triona Farrell has handed in the colours for #3, so we’re chugging along. Andrea was just at the Lake Como Comic Con [I’m jealous!] where I hope he was getting the in-praise he deserves. Issue Two is out in a couple of weeks, here’s a peek at the first page…

And here’s PART TWO of our Alien Chat. You can catch up on PART ONE here.

ANDREA: And you, if you have the chance to draw an Alien story, what character from the franchise would you love to draw?
DEC: Funnily enough, I’d like to draw Dayton. Hmm. Maybe there’s something there…
ANDREA: Eheh, hope for our readers there’re no spoilers here! :P
Haha, we’ll see. I’d really like to draw Bishop, actually. All the human body horror stuff would be fun to draw with a Synth and while I’m not mad about drawing likenesses, that Lance Henriksen face would be fun to draw.
ANDREA: Bishop is a great character. I think that James Cameron did a great job on him, he’s a synthetic, but more human than other human characters!
I pretty much love the androids and synths in Alien Universe, the Ash revelation in the first movie was an unexpected plot twist that made the situation more scary for the Nostromo crew! The dialogue about the Xenomorph alien lifeform is a masterpiece, like the Rutger Hauer final dialogue in Blade Runner!
DEC: Yeah, I’d be interested in digging into the Synth lore in a future arc, if we get the opportunity. I love stories regarding artificial intelligence and there's such scope regarding the Synths in the world of Alien.
ANDREA:You worked on a lot of Marvel characters, are there differences to approach the work on Moon Knight or Deadpool and on movie IP? I’m talking about both, drawing and writing.
DEC: Well, I’ve written more creator owned stuff than work for hire, but drawn a lot of work for hire, so it’s different experiences. Writing, say, Hulk of Deadpool, there are certain restrictions with the characters. You have a lot of freedom as you’re working directly with Marvel and they can say yes or no. With working on a movie IP, there are more hoops you have to jump through, which is a bit more complicated, as there is Marvel and 20th to deal with. But, as long as you have an editor who can thread that needle, it’s no big problem. Just something to be aware of. For example, you’ve had some suggestions being more steeped in the Alien lore. Some of those things are totally in-world things that work, others that I would expect that wouldn’t be approved up the chain and was right. It’s a bit of a tightrope to balance. It’s manageable though.
ANDREA: I worked on a lot of X-men related series and on a lot of Star Wars titles too and I think that the kind of work is pretty different, even if the publisher is the same. Working on IP like Alien or Star Wars has for me, a totally different working approach. I spent a lot of time looking for references, to create a visual setting that immediately is recognizable by Alien or Star Wars fans. The technology, the monitors, the rooms and the corridors need to have a specific style that permits readers to understand with a look to say “Hey, this is an Alien comic book”.
DEC:I’ve never really worked on a licensed book that way you have, the closest would be 28 Days Later, but that was set in a contemporary dystopia, which was pretty easy to draw. You’re dealing with very established visual worlds with projects like Alien and Star Wars, with fans who know the world so well, they’ll catch you if you mess up 😛
Projects like Moon Knight or Deadpool have a lot more freedom, as I think Marvel are more flexible in letting you establish your take on the world.
ANDREA: How difficult is it for you to write a series that even has a sci-fi setting, this is a low, retro sci-fi? I mean, in the real world we have Wi-fi, super fast internet lines, flat screen monitors, holographic and 3D while, Alien have sci-fi technology that is futuristic, but for ‘70s. When I worked on Deep Beyond, for Image, I had to create a world where technology was stopped at the end of ‘90s, so a lot of cable, pc, rifles, guns, dresses, hairstyles, I admit that was very tricky and difficult!
How's it for you?
DEC: Honestly, it feels very natural. Both of my Image series Time Before Time and Old Dog have different levels of sci-fi concepts, but both still have a more grounded approach. Time Before Time has time travel for example, but the time travel devices are clunky, with wires, pipes and levers. Old Dog is light on the sci-fi, but I do draw more hi-tech stuff like holo-screens and hovercrafts, etc. Probably as I feel more relaxed about drawing that stuff. A lot of the stuff you’re drawing into Alien, I’d have trouble with drawing, I think. Alien is still very much in its own original sci-fi world, but the approach is very grounded, the tech, the biology, etc.. It just takes a slight leap into the high concept stuff. As I’ve confessed to you before, I was never a huge Alien fan as a kid, but that grounded sci-fi approach really appeals to me, and is what makes me excited about coming up with more stories.
Now that we;re a few issues into the series, what have you found the most fun/interesting aspect to draw? This being your dream book, have there been any downsides to drawing the book, or are you still getting a kick out of everything? I’m hoping I’m giving you enough things to keep you entertained.
ANDREA: Believe me if I say that ALL I’m drawing on this series is totally fun to draw! I had the opportunity to draw scenes that I never drew before in my career and some of them were really fun and stimulating to draw! I loved to draw the mass scene with many Xenomorphs, they are really hard to do, because the Xeno has a lot of detail and drawing all of these details for each Xeno, in sequence with hundreds of Xeno was hard but, man, I LOVED it!
Another thing that I’m loving is the emotional aspect inside the story. We have a family, they love each other and they have to face a mass Xenomorphs invasion and the Weyland Yutani soldiers at the same time. This meant a lot of emotion and I worked a lot on the expressions on characters' faces and bodies. I hope that readers can feel the fear, the sadness, the love on our characters. I would hope that our issues weren't only empty characters with pretty faces, but characters that could be real, with real emotions and I hope that I’m doing a good job in that sense. There will be a scene, in issue #4 that will be very strong in terms of emotion and violence and I admit that I was totally involved in an emotional way like I wasn’t before in other comics that I drew, so Dec, to answer your question, you’re giving me a lot of funny stuff to draw, so please, continue! ( and add a Queen in your story! And eggs! I haven’t drawn Alien eggs before!)
Talking about eggs, another thing that is funny to draw are easter eggs inside the story! I’m literally filling every issue with easter eggs taken from the Alien movies, comics and video-games. No prize achievement to the reader that will find them all!
DEC: Everyone wants to draw that damn Alien Queen! Will see what I can do with some eggs… Okay, I think we’ve teased people enough about the series, thanks for the chat Andrea, and keep up the great work!

Hope ye liked that, and that ye’ve gone and tried out the first issue. I have to say, I’m surprised how positive the reaction has been, I know the Alien fanbase is a passionate one and would expect them to be protective, but so far people seem to be digging it. Sound off in the comments if ye’d like more interviews like this by the way. I like doing them but they do take a while, so more likely to do them if I know ye’re enjoying them.

TIME BEFORE TIME

Issue 24 is out in just over a month, I think FOC is imminent so wanted to show off the some of GOSPEL’s Will Morris’ beautiful pages coloured by the ever pitch-perfect Chris O’Halloran.

[TIME BEFORE TIME, where good things happen to characters always]

Gorgeous stuff for what is a really special issue.

Issue 26 is about to be solicited, so here’s an advance peek of my cover

And a variant cover by the amazing Erica D’Urso, of INFERNO GIRL RED fame. Isn’t that just stunning…?

It’s now out in public that we’re wrapping up the book, all the more reason to make sure you’re ordering the book as a lot of big things are going to be happening. Also, it’s your last chance to have a letter published in the series so if you want in, email timebeforetimelines@gmail.com asap.

DEC RECS

SINS OF THE SALTON SEA

Written by Ed Brisson

Art by CP Smith

Published by AWA

Old friend [and collab-bro on our PUNISHER VS BARRACUDA book that never surfaced] Ed Brisson has a new crime book the incredible CP Smith out at AWA called SINS OF THE SALTON SEA. Man, this is just an excellent crime thriller, with some great twists that before you realise it; you’re locked in. Smith’s work has evolved since I’ve last see it too, which is an added treat.