Leonia and Mike wish you all a fantastic Christmas and a wonderful New Year!
Thank you all for your support and friendship in 2007!
The cover of
Quantum Prophecy: The Gathering
(the US title for the second book in the series) has just been revealed...
Update: I've also just discovered the new cover for the paperback version of
Quantum Prophecy: The Awakening!
For readers in Europe, the last postal date for Christmas is December 18th - you should order your copy of The New Heroes: Superhuman now if you want to receive it in time for Christmas! And when you place your order, please let me know to whom you would like the book dedicated - the sooner I have that information, the sooner I can mail the books!
If you haven't yet ordered your copy of
The New Heroes: Superhuman
and want to receive it in time for Christmas, then time is running out... Here are the official
"last posting days" according to the Irish postal service:
| Ireland | 19th Dec |
| Northern Ireland | 19th Dec |
| Great Britain | 18th Dec |
| Europe | 18th Dec |
| USA/Canada | 7th Dec |
| Central/South America | 7th Dec |
| Australia/New Zealand | 7th Dec |
| Hong Kong | 7th Dec |
| India/Philippines | 7th Dec |
| Israel | 7th Dec |
Anywhere else, and it's probably already too late... But you never know! Get your orders in now!
Older readers might like to check out the latest issue of 2000 AD
(#1566, dated 5 Dec '07). Hidden among the usual great stories is a one-off
story, a five-page "Time Twister" drawn by Gary Erskine and written by some hack called
Michael Carroll...
As you can imagine if you've been following this site for a while, I'm dead chuffed about this! I'm a huge fan of 2000 AD and it's pretty cool to finally have a story published in a comic that I've been reading since I was ten years old.
Note: these days 2000 AD is very definitely an adults-only comic, so (here comes the cheeky bit!) if you're not yet an adult you could ask your parents to buy number 1566 and only show you the pages with my story!
Many of the classic tales that featured in 2000 AD when I was in my formative years are now being reprinted in lovely big volumes; they're smart, funny, exciting and - best of all - young-person friendly!
If you're having trouble using the PayPal button to order your copy of The New Heroes: Superhuman, please click here!
The first copies of The New Heroes: Superhuman are going into the mail first thing Monday morning. More will follow on either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on how long it takes for the stationery supply company to deliver the three hundred padded envelopes I've ordered.
As mentioned elsewhere, The New Heroes: Superhuman is a signed, limited edition book. If you would like your copy personalised feel free to ask! Also, if you have a favourite number (between 1 and 1000) then I'm sure that won't be a problem, as long as your number hasn't already been taken (and hurry, because quite a few of the good numbers are already gone!).
Not much news to report lately, except to say that The New Heroes: Superhuman has gone to the printer and the books will be delivered in the very near future. I've posted a more detailed report on the New Heroes Forum.
I'm back from my travels around Ireland for the Children's Book Festival... It was exhausting, but a lot of fun. Check out the report for all the juicy details...
Scotland! Yes, after many years of "getting around to it" it looks like I'm finally going to be heading across the water to visit our Caledonian friends! Next February 2nd and 3rd, Inverness will be home to Hi-Ex, a comics and arts convention that will boast some of the greatest names in the comics industry, plus me.
I'm also hoping to visit a few schools and / or libraries while I'm there; details to follow.
I'm half-way through my tour for the Children's Book Festival... Galway has been successfully conquered, now I'm off to Waterford and Wexford. Back on Wednesday evening, so expect a lengthy report shortly after that!
As promised, here's the latest schedule of my upcoming appearances at the Children's Book Festival... Feel free to drop in and have a listen if you're in the area (best to check with the venues beforehand just in case any of the details change).
| Date | Time | Location | ||
| Tue 16 Oct | 10:00 | Oranmore Library, Galway | ||
| 11:30 | Westside Library, Galway | |||
| 13:45 | Galway City Library, Galway | |||
| 15:00 | Ballybane Library, Galway | |||
| Wed 17 Oct | 10:15 | Gort Library, Galway | ||
| 12:00 | Athenry Library, Galway | |||
| 15:15 | Tuam Library, Galway | |||
| Mon 22 Oct | 10:00 | Central Library, Waterford | ||
| 11:30 | Central Library, Waterford | |||
| 13:45 | Central Library, Waterford | |||
| Tue 23 Oct | 10:00 | Enniscorthy Library, Wexford | ||
| 12:30 | Bunclody Library, Wexford | |||
| Wed 24 Oct | 09:30 | New Ross Library, Wexford | ||
| 12:30 | Wexford Central Library, Wexford |
Before all that, of course, I'll also be attending Octocon 2007 (the National Irish Science Fiction Convention) in the Glenroyal Hotel, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland, on October 13th and 14th (I'll probably be there for pretty much the whole weekend).
The competition has closed, the votes have been cast, and I'm delighted to announce that the winner of the 2000 AD September Art Competition: The New Heroes is Matt Timson (AKA Johnny Eyebrows), who submitted this absolutely fantastic painting of Quantum:
Matt has won a complete set of the HarperCollins New Heroes books, plus a copy of the US edition of Quantum Prophecy: The Awakening.
Thanks to everyone who took part in the competition. Click below to see all their excellent entries!
The question I am asked most frequently these days is this:
A good question indeed... I've been dodging the answer since even before the third book was published back in July!
The truth is that right now I don't know the answer. Whether there will even be a fourth New Heroes novel is up to my publisher, HarperCollins. If they decide that the sales have been strong enough to warrant further books, then we'll continue the series.
However, while the future of the fourth novel is currently undecided, there almost certainly will be a fourth book.
What does that mean? You'll see what it means if you click here...
I've recently added some new features to this website's Restricted Area, which - as always - can be accessed by those who know the correct password...
Just thought I should mention this (in fact, I probably should have mentioned it a few weeks ago - sorry!)... Pretty much every month on the official 2000 AD website there's a fan-run art competition, and this month - September - the topic is... the New Heroes characters!
There aren't many entries yet (I'm hoping that there'll be a rush towards the end of the month!),
but if you want to see some artists' interpretations of the characters, skip on over and
check it out:
2000 AD September Art Competition: The New Heroes
I realise that it's a bit short notice, but you can also participate in the competition if you're a member of the 2000 AD site (it's free and easy to join!).
Upcoming Events...
Sub-Con - Mark Saturday September 29th in your diary, for
that is the day of SubCon! Come along to the Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2, for a chance to meet some
of the most talented people in the comics industry (I'm not a guest at this one, but I'm going to do my best to
be there!)
Octocon - This year's National Irish Science Fiction Convention takes place on October 13th and 14th, in the Glenroyal Hotel, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland. Once again I'm a guest at this year's con, which means I'll be participating in panels and generally pretending to know what I'm talking about.
Children's Book Festival - The long-awaited sequel to last year's world-wide tour of Ireland. Some of the details are still to be confirmed, but so far it's looking like I'll be in Galway on October 16th and 17th, Waterford on October 22nd, and Wexford on October 23rd and 24th. I'll post the full details soon!
Dublin City Comic Con - Following the success of last year's event, the DCCC is moving to a new venue - Tara Towers Hotel, Dublin - and expanding to two days: 17th and 18th November (I'm not a guest at this one either, but again I'm hoping to be there).
Please note: All convention appearances are subject to work commitments...
Users of Facebook might like to check out the New Heroes Facebook group... There aren't many folks on the group yet, but every group has to start somewhere! Join up today!
The US release of the second book in the series is scheduled for publication on July 3rd 2008.
It will be called Quantum Prophecy: The Gathering.
More news - plus a cover image - coming soon!
Just launched: the brand new Quantum Prophecy Forum! Please drop in and sign up to chat with other readers about the books, characters and other aspects of the New Heroes / Quantum Prophecy books! From now on I'll be posting news and such on the forum as well as this website.
Over the years I've regularly received queries about writing, mostly from people who want to write but haven't yet done so. In recent months the numbers have tripled (at least). So I've decided to put down some thoughts about the process... On Writing
Here's a little something from way, way, way back in the past: my first ever published
comic strip! It's also my first serious attempt at a superhero story, so there is a connection
to the New Heroes, sort of.
"Overman" appeared in 1994 in a magazine published by the Irish Science Fiction Association, and
it hasn't seen the light of day since. But now, thanks to digital cyber-wizardry and all that, I present
a rare piece of genuine Michael Carroll fiction that is older than quite a lot of the New Heroes' readers...
How cool is this? Talented New Heroes fan Jenni Jack recently sent me her ideas for new costume designs for Energy...
Let me know what you all think of Jenni's design - and please send in your own designs. I won't have time to convert everyone's designs into Poser images, but I'll put the best of the images on-line (maybe I'll create a "fan art" section...).
Forgive me for this little rant, but I feel it's something that I need to get off my chest!
Quite a few reviews of the New Heroes books have made a comparison with - or a reference to - the Pixar movie The Incredibles... There have even been suggestions that my books were inspired by that movie.
Well, the truth is that I wrote the first book long before I'd ever even heard of The Incredibles. In December of 2002 I sent an early draft of the book - then called Hero - to a publisher in the UK. It normally takes some time for an unsolicited manuscript to go through the system, but by September of 2003 I had heard absolutely nothing from the publisher so I sent off an e-mail asking what was going on. I was told that the situation would be chased up - not the best news, but at least I finally knew that the book had arrived! But then January 2004 rolled around without further communication from the publisher, so I decided to give up on them and start looking for an agent. On March 1st 2004, I received a one-line rejection from that publisher. That was fourteen months after I sent them the book, and the rejection letter wasn't even signed! How rude is that?! (But I didn't care by then because I already had an agent... I merely chalked it up to experience and vowed that I would never, ever work with that publisher nor recommend them to any other writer.)
The Incredibles was released in late 2004 - two years after I'd first sent the book to a publisher - and even more years after I began working on the idea. So there's no way I stole the idea from Pixar! Sometimes these things are just a coincidence.
It really doesn't bother me that much any more: I think that anyone who has read the New Heroes books will know that any similarity with The Incredibles is purely superficial. They're very, very different stories with very different approaches.
Anyway... This was all brought back to me recently because of what's happening with Michael Scott's book The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. Since the book was announced, an awful lot of people on the internet have implied that it's an attempt to cash in on JK Rowling's Harry Potter novels. Some have even gone as far as to suggest that Ms Rowling should sue Michael Scott for plagiarism.
Now, I've known Michael Scott for sixteen years. He is one of my closest friends and without doubt one of the most imaginative, intelligent and skilful writers working today. He would never knowingly steal an idea from another writer: he would never need to! Trust me on this: the man is absolutely brimming with ideas. He has more great ideas for books than any dozen other authors you could name - combined!
So with regard to The Alchemyst, let me lay down the truth: Nicholas Flamel was a real person and not a character invented by JK Rowling. See Flamel's entry on Wikipedia.
Nicholas Flamel is mentioned a few times in the first Potter book, but he's not a character (and certainly not a "Harry Potter character"). As far as I recall, he doesn't actually appear in the HP books: in the first one he's mentioned as the discoverer of the Philosopher's Stone (or Sorcerer's Stone as it's annoyingly - and inaccurately - called in the US editions).
In The Alchemyst, Flamel is one of the main characters. The plot revolves around him - he is not merely a "name-dropped" character.
You see, contrary to what some people believe, fiction did not begin with with Harry Potter! Just because JK Rowling and Michael Scott's books are both referencing the same historical character does not mean that Mr Scott is stealing Ms Rowling's idea! After all, Nicholas Flamel also appears in Victor Hugo's classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame (which was published 166 years before the first Harry Potter book).
Unfortunately, the same people who believe that Flamel is somehow "off-limits" because Rowling mentioned him are likely to get annoyed with me: I'm not disparaging the Harry Potter books. Why would I? They're great. And more than that, they reintroduced reading to a whole new generation of young people. If not for Rowling's success a lot of writers (myself included) would not be where we are today.
Okay... Rant over! (That's one of the problems with a job in which there are no co-workers and no bosses: there's no one to complain to about all the annoying things!)
Something I should have mentioned a long time ago: The New Heroes series is now available on Play.com. As with almost everything on that fine website, the prices are low (UK£4.99 or €7.99) and the postage is free. Click the links below to go directly to the appropriate page.
Sakkara
Absolute Power
The third book in the New Heroes series, Absolute Power,
is officially published today! I've already heard from some readers who ordered their copies on-line from
Amazon.co.uk,
but as of today it should be available in all good bookstores across the UK and Ireland.
As mentioned before, in the unlikely event that the book isn't available in your local bookstore you should simply ask at the one of the assistants to order the book. Then you have to get every person you know to do the same! If you do, I'll be your friend!
A sketch of Titan by professional (and extremely talented) comic artist PJ Holden!
Competition Time! Win one of ten copies of Absolute Power
in the latest issue of Judge Dredd Megazine! That's issue 260, on sale now!
Parents please note: Judge Dredd Megazine is an adult-oriented comic and definitely not for younger readers!
On Monday June 25th at 8pm (GMT) I'll be taking part in a live forum on the excellent
WriteAway website. Please feel free to join in and ask me all those
burning questions about the New Heroes / Quantum Prophecy series! If you're not already a member of
WriteAway you'll need to register (it's completely free and very easy to join).
Spoiler warning: US readers should please bear in mind that WriteAway is based in the UK, so we will almost
certainly be discussing the second (and probably third) books in the series!
Absolute Power is coming... As I write this, the third
New Heroes book will be hitting the shelves of the UK and Irish bookstores in less than two weeks! With The
Quantum Prophecy and Sakkara some stores received the books early, so now is the time to start checking.
If they don't have the books on the shelves, please ask one of the store assistants - they just might have them tucked
away in the storeroom.
In the unlikely event that your local bookstore doesn't stock the New Heroes series, then your mission is to arrange for all your friends and relatives to visit the shop every single day and ask about the books!
Unfortunately, readers in other territories will have to wait a little longer, unless they want to order the book from an on-line bookstore such as Amazon.co.uk.
As you may recall, a few weeks ago I conducted the world's first interview with Michael Scott about his new novel The Alchemyst (the first part in his new series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel). I'm delighted to report that The Alchemyst is now enjoying its second week on the New York Times best-sellers list! If you haven't yet read the book, I urge you to do so - it's destined to be a classic!
In 2006 I was a guest at Octocon (the Irish National Science Fiction Convention), and as a feature on their website I took part in a Q&A session... 42 Questions with Michael Carroll
I've just uploaded the Absolute Power advert to YouTube. Check out the Features page for the relevant links.
An interview with yours truly has just appeared on the great
Fractal Matter website - check it out! It's full of my
usual waffle, but moderated by the interviewer Danielle Lavigne, who is an extremely talented writer
herself.
Danielle's also reviewed Quantum Prophecy: The Awakening
on the same site.
For another interview (well, more of a Q&A session), have a look at the Shelf Life section of Verbal Magazine #05 (May 29th 2007). Be warned: this is a PDF edition of the magazine and as such is quite large! The published version of the interview has been cut down quite a bit from my original answers, which I've decided to put on-line here.
If you're a fan of the New Heroes, and you have a nice fast connection to the internet, you might like
to check out the brand-new trailer for The New Heroes: Absolute Power... All lovingly rendered
in home-made computer-graphicy goodness by yours truly!
Just right-click on this link and select "Save as..."
(or "Save Link As...") to download the file! It's 7.2MB and it's in WMV format. I'll also be putting it up on
YouTube soon, but for now, this is the only place to get it!
The New Heroes: Sakkara is one of the titles on the Boys into Books list commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in the UK. The project aims to provide information about titles which might attract and enthuse boys of 11-14 about reading for pleasure. Discussing Sakkara, the report says, "Carroll's highly visual and spare writing style make this the perfect series for leading comic book fans into fiction."
As mentioned before, I will be taking part in the Read All Over festival on May 12th, 2007, in The Ark Cultural Centre, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, Ireland. Interested in coming along? Ah, go on... Because if you do, you'll get to hear me read an exclusive preview of Absolute Power! More information is available on The Ark's website.
The first part of Michael Scott's fantasy series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel will be published later this month... And it's going to be a big book: it's being published simultaneously in 29 different countries! The advance reviews so far are incredibly positive, which isn't a surprise to me because I've read everything Michael has ever written, and the man is not only a genius, he's an absolute master storyteller.
There's going to be a lot of publicity once The Alchemyst comes out, but lucky you... Now you can read the world's very first interview Michael Scott has given about the book, exclusive to this website (well, exclusive for the next couple of days, until Michael includes it on his own website)!
I will be taking part in Read All Over on May 12th, 2007, in The Ark Cultural Centre, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, Ireland. Check the Ark's website for more details!
If you don't hear back from me for a couple of days, that's because Leonia and I will be in London! We are participating in a number of events over the coming week, including the official 30th anniversary party of the Galaxy's Greatest Comic, 2000 AD.
Even though the UK publication of Absolute Power is still a few months away, I've been receiving a lot of e-mails about the book! "Who stops XXXXXX XXXXX?" asked David McKie. "Is Colin going to XXXXX XXXXX?" asked Janine Gilden-Turney. "Is XXXXXX going to be able to XXXX XXXXXXX XXX before XXXXX, or will XXXXXX XX XXXXX finally get the XXXX XXXXXX?" J. Garzon wants to know. And so on. (You'll notice that I've censored these questions!)
Now, you should all know by now that I do not give out spoilers for the books! You're all just going to have to wait until July!
But that's just mean!
What? Who said that?I did! I'm the manifest anxiety of all those frustrated fans!
Oh. Right. Well, who am I to argue with a manifest anxiety? I won't give out spoilers, but here's what I will do: I've hidden some clues about Absolute Power throughout this website! I won't say exactly how many clues there are, but it's more than ten. And they're not going to stay in the same place: I'll move them around every couple of days, just to keep you all on your toes!
To get you started, you can find the first clue on the About the Author page. But the rest of them won't be so easy to track down!
Good luck!
Readers in the US should now (or in the next couple of days) be able to purchase
Quantum Prophecy: The Awakening.
I've recently received a number of queries about the book, so I thought it would be best to
present the answers here, in an easy-to-use list! So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, cats and dogs,
these are the facts!
- Despite rumours to the contrary, Quantum Prophecy: The Awakening is not a new, stand-alone adventure
written only for the US market! Honestly, I don't know where that idea came from!
- Furthermore, it is definitely not "set after the events of Sakkara but before Absolute Power" as
one fan has been telling other people.
- Furtherfurthermore, is is absolutely not true that the book has been substantially changed for the American
market. The only changes to the text are the American spellings, two or three very minor adjustments (you won't even
notice them), and a couple of corrected typographical errors. I promise: the plot, characters, events and 99.99% of
the words are the same as in the HarperCollins edition!
- The only noticable difference is the new title and new cover. Oh, and Quantum Prophecy: The Awakening is a hardback.
So there you have it! The complete truth, straight from the horse's keyboard!
I've heard that the book has already reached the shelves of some bookstores, so I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome all the new readers from the US! I hope that the altered series title doesn't cause too much confusion - but if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
A writer recently asked me to provide comments on a magazine article they had written. It was an interesting article until I got to one particular paragraph in which the author basically tried to make the point that scientists don't really know anything. To prove this point, the writer listed a large number of well-known and often-repeated "facts" about the ignorance of scientists. Well, I don't claim to be a scientist, but I do know a little about some sciences, and I'm smart enough not to believe something just because it gets endlessly repeated. I invoke that rarely-used principle known as "looking things up."
Anyway, I corrected the writer's errors and thought no more about it, until this evening, when I received an e-mail from a young reader who asked some very good questions about the feasibility of superhuman powers (I won't name names, but you know who you are!). The e-mail contained the phrase, "as everyone knows, we only use about ten percent of our brains..."
Yes, everyone knows that. But it's not actually true... So I've decided that it might be a good idea to discuss some of the more popular "well-known facts" and their basis in reality.
1. We only use ten percent of our brains.
False. This figure is off by ninety percent. Have you ever heard a doctor say, "Well, he got shot in the head, but
luckily the bullet lodged in the ninety percent of his brain that he wasn't using."? No, you haven't, and there's a
good reason for that: Unless we're suffering from some sort of brain damage or disease, each of us uses all of our brain.
Not all the time, of course, but during the course of the average day every part of our brain gets used.
If the myth were true, then we'd have to ask what the other ninety percent is for. Is it just there to fill out our skulls
so that our heads don't cave in?
Some people stick to the myth because it's a handy way of explaining psychic powers and the like, but the real explanation
behind psychic powers is this: there's no such thing. I have never seen or encountered anything that could convince me
that there is such a thing as telepathy, or precognition, or telekinesis, or anything like that. Oh, I know lots of people
who know someone who knows someone else who claims to have psychic powers, but I've never actually met any of these psychics
myself!
2. Scientists don't know why alcohol makes people drunk.
False. Maybe there are a few scientists who don't know this, but I'm sure that the majority of them have at least some idea.
Ethanol (alcohol) causes drunkeness because as a liquid it is very quickly absorbed into the body. It rapidly reaches
the brain, where it causes the GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid) receptor to remain open longer than it normally would,
allowing more negatively-charged particles to enter the brain cells, with the overall effect of slowing the functional
processes of said brain cells. This can lead to some loss of balance, motor control, and short-term memory. It can also
upset the regulation of endorphin production, leading to temporarily-boosted feelings of depression or euphoria (and
that's just the tip of the iceberg, which is why I personally will never touch the stuff!)
3. According to the laws of aerodynamics, bees can't fly.
Nonsense. This is just one of those myths that people like to believe because, in their minds, it brings scientists
down a peg or two! Aerodynamic analysis shows that bees fly because their wings encounter the effect known as "dynamic
stall" in every cycle of oscillation (I could explain dynamic stall here, but I honestly don't have the time to go into
it!)
4. Scientists don't know why we yawn.
Yes they do. We yawn for many different reasons, among which are to (a) stretch facial muscles, (b) equalize the pressure between
the inner and outer ear canals (c) rapidly intake oxygen, (d) regulate body temperature, (e) release built-up emotion
(similar to laughing or crying)...
5. You have to wait an hour after eating before you go swimming, or you'll get stomach cramps and drown.
Another myth! What if you wait only fifty-nine minutes - are you still in danger? How does the food know that an
hour has passed? No, it's nonsense, but it's something that people choose to believe "because it's better to be
safe than sorry."
From some points of view, that sort of makes sense. After all, maybe - just maybe - if you
exercise after eating you might get a cramp, and if that happens when you're on land, well, you'll just fall over
and double-up in pain. But if it happens when you're in the water... The problem with that logic is this: how come
you never get stomach cramps within an hour of eating if you don't go swimming?
6. A dying Nigerian billionaire wants to give you his money.
Lucky you! You've received an e-mail from a man whom you've never met, but he apparently knows that you can be
trusted to look after his billions!
No, this one is false too. And you haven't won that on-line lottery you don't remember entering either. These things
are just scams to get you to part with your bank details! Never, ever answer e-mails like this! Don't even send a reply
saying "Get knotted!", because then you're just validating your e-mail address.
It's also worth pointing out Microsoft never, ever send out e-mail warnings about viruses, and your bank will never ask you
to visit their website and confirm your personal information (these e-mails direct you to fake websites that look and
feel just like the real thing; enter your details and - zap! - your bank account will be cleared out in seconds!).
And while we're on the subject of e-mails: If you receive an e-mail - even from a close friend - that contains the phrase
"please pass this on to everyone you know", then absolutely do not follow that instruction! These e-mails often claim to be
part of a school project: "Little Timmy wants to see how far this e-mail will get! Please pass it on..." What I want to know
is this: how is Little Timmy supposed to get an answer to his question? Where does the chain of e-mails end? Nowhere, that's
where! The e-mail keeps circulating forever, clogging up the Internet with even more useless junk! Besides, I happen to
know that Little Timmy is a bed-wetting cry-baby who picks his nose and eats it. So there.
7. In the last Harry Potter book we're going to learn that Hermione is really Harry's long-lost sister.
That one is absolutely not true, and I know that for certain because I've just made it up right now.
But feel free to pass it on to everyone you know: it's part of a school project I've been working on... :)
Fans of the Rogue Trooper stories from 2000 AD
(or of the excellent Rogue Trooper game for PC, X-Box and PS2) might like to click on over to
2000 AD Review to
see "Tales of the Genetic Infantry: In the Dark", my latest small-press comic strip.
Set in the distant future on the hotly-contested planet of Nu-Earth, Rogue Trooper tells of a genetically-bred soldier who survives an enemy ambush, then discovers that the G.I.s were betrayed by their own side. With the personalities of his dead buddies stored on "bio-chips" in his equipment, the G.I. vows to avenge his fallen comrades...
"In the Dark" tells the tale of another G.I. caught up in the Quartz Zone massacre... It was drawn by the mightily-talented Bolt-01 (who also drew my superhero tale "By the Book").
It has been brought to my attention that some users have been are unable to see a certain image that should appear on this page (check here)! Until recently, international law prevented the publication of photos of the supervillain known as Ragnarök. That law has been repealed, but apparently some internet providers are still blocking the image. Here's another attempt at including the photo: if you still can't see it, let me know!
Also, we've managed to track down a rare photo of Façade, which can be found on the character pages!
Readers in the US don't have long to wait now... In a little under four weeks
Quantum Prophecy:
The Awakening will be published. As mentioned elsewhere
on this site, the US publishers - Philomel, part of the Penguin group - didn't
really go for "New Heroes" as the series title, and wanted to use "Quantum Prophecy"
instead. Of course, that also meant changing the title of the first book!
The Awakening should be reaching the stores on April 5th... So if you happen to be in the US around that time, have a look for the book - and let me know if you find it!
Another treat for those of you who know the password to the Restricted Area: some more 2000 AD models!
I'll be a guest at Phoenix Convention IV on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th of March, in Wynn's Hotel, Dublin. It should be a lot of fun: Guest of Honour is the legendary Kim Newman, and other guests include comics writers Leah Moore and John Reppion and novelists Catie Murphy and John W. Sexton.
It was thirty years ago today, Wednesday February 23rd 1977, when the future finally arrived.
I was ten years old, almost eleven, and in the evening I went to the local newsagents' just on the off-chance that the comics had arrived early. They usually arrived on Thursdays, but occasionally they appeared on Wednesday evenings.
I was in luck: the newsagent was opening a bundle of comics just as I entered the shop, and so I became the first person in the area to buy a copy of 2000 AD.
Three decades on, I'm still reading 2000 AD, though these days my copies arrive in the post every monday Morning.
2000 AD has changed a lot over the thirty years (but then so have I). It started out as a "sci-fi comic for boys!", aimed at the then-huge market of pre-teen male comic readers. I don't know the exact figures but I believe that it wasn't uncommon for a comic to sell a quarter of a million copies each week.
2000 AD has produced some stunning characters and stories over the years, most notable of which is Judge Dredd. Forget the so-so movie version from 1995: the real Dredd is a lot different. Tough, fair, uncompromising and - at times - absolutely ruthless, the lawman of the future is easily one of the greatest comic characters ever created.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, 2000 AD started to grow up. The comics boom had faded, new readers were few, and to keep the existing readers happy the comic started to present more adult themes. Now, in 2007, I honestly couldn't recommend it to anyone under the age of eighteen, despite the high quality of the strips.
But that's all a little negative! Even though 2000 AD is now aimed at adults, younger people are still in luck: many of the classic tales are regularly reprinted as graphic novels or the 2000 AD Extreme Editions. Check out Judge Dredd in The Apocalypse War and The Cursed Earth (or buy the Judge Dredd: Complete Case Files series, which reprints every Dredd tale from the very beginning), Robo-Hunter (especially Day of the Droids), Strontium Dog: Search/Destroy Agency Files, The Ballad of Halo Jones, The Complete Dr. & Quinch, Fiends of the Eastern Front, The Complete Alan Moore Future Shocks, Rogue Trooper...
Yep, there's been a lot of good stuff over the years! With approximately 25 pages of comic-strip goodness in each issue of the comic, and with the current issue being prog 1525, that gives us... Um... 38,125 pages. Not counting annuals, special editions, or the spin-off Judge Dredd Megazine. And it doesn't even count Starlord, a short-lived companion comic from 1978. It only lasted twenty-two issues, but its impact is still noticable.
I could go on - for hours - but time is short (and time is money, therefore, money is short. Or something), so I'll wrap up...
2000 AD was produced at a time when science fiction was considered to be a passing fad (remember: it arrived before Star Wars). Against expectations of everyone except the creators and the readers, the accurately self-titled "Galaxy's Greatest Comic" outlived all of its rivals.
It's been entertaining me for three quarters of my life, which is quite something when you think about it!
The comic inspired me to write. And if I hadn't been interested in writing, I'd never have joined the Irish Science Fiction Association in the late 1980s. And then I never would have met Leonia, the love of my life.
For that, if nothing else, 2000 AD will always hold a special place in my heart.
Thirty years... Why, it doesn't seem that long at all! Will it be around for another thirty? I hope so. It certainly deserves such a success.
Check out the 2000 AD Books website for a list of the graphic novels, or the 2000 AD Online site to see what all the fuss is about!
Been a bit busy lately writing stuff to do much on the website (actually, one of the things I'm writing is for the website, but it's taking longer than I thought because real work keeps getting in the way), but seeing as we're approaching the 30th anniversary of the great science-fiction comic 2000 AD, I thought I'd celebrate by putting up images of some of the 2000 AD-related 3D models I've put together over the years. Click on over to the Restricted Area to have a look (but be warned: the page is very graphics-intensive!).
More new wallpaper images, over on the Features page. I've had a number of request for wallpaper versions of the new New Heroes logo, so I've included a couple of variations. And many thanks to Sophie Hart for turning her "Ben Affleck as Titan" image into a movie poster! Ah, if only it were real...!
Unfortunately, this isn't a real photo: it's a mock-up created by talented New Heroes fan Sophie Hart! Sophie writes: "Thought you might like to see this pic I put together! I love the Benster and Titan is my fave of the older heroes in your books, so here's Ben as Titan! I based it on the poster for Daredevil but the head came from another pic. What do you think?"
What do I think? I think I wish I'd thought of it first! Well done, Sophie - that is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time! And Daredevil is a good choice too: In my opinion it was criminally under-rated. Especially the director's cut, which turns Daredevil into one of the best superhero movies ever made!
P.S. My good lady Leonia is also a huge fan of Mr Affleck, and she extends her appreciation!
As you can see, the website has undergone a radical change! Why? Because I can. So there!
Sometime over the next couple of days this website will be undergoing a bit of a change...
I've come to the conclusion that the old way was just too difficult to maintain (I write all the code by
hand - none of this Pageweaver nonsense for me!), so I set about coming up with a design that (a)
looked really cool, (b) was a lot simpler to work with and (c) was smaller and faster to load.
On the right is a tiny version of the new logo I've designed, and below a little taster of what the pages will look like...
In answer to those of you who've been wondering why I haven't been replying to your e-mails in the past few days... Check out "A Cautionary Tale" This is a true story! Genuine non-fiction!