Just a quick post to put up some bits and bobs that have been collecting and need a place to go.

Next weekend, 24-25th October, is the MCM Expo (Movie-Comics-Media) at London's Excel Centre. You will find me in the Artists' Alley on table C14 - see the floor-plan here. This will be a new experience for me as the MCM appears to have its feet firmly planted in the worlds of manga, anime and television, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes for The Rainbow Orchid.

There have been some new and positive reviews for RO in the wake of BICS. First, let me point you to Shiny Shelf, and when you've had a read of that, you can click over to the Monkey On My Back blog, and listen to their podcast too, where they have more nice things to say. And talking of podcasts, the Geek Syndicate lads were also generous in their praise. I must also point out what's becoming something of a rather nice 'fan page' by Linda Wada, with a huge list of updates here - scroll down from the audio interview. Thank you to everyone for these, I really appreciate the support quite massively.

Work on volume two is going well and I am now about a month away from completion. I've got three pages left to pencil, fourteen to ink and colour, and then all the little extra bits that are required for the book. As much as I like volume one, the work in it is actually six years old (with the exception of the few re-drawn bits and two new pages) and I'm over-familiar with it. I'm much happier with the art in volume two (even though some of that is a few years old too) and the story goes up a notch, or maybe I should say goes in a notch, as the plot deepens and builds. Volume three is the big release (I hope).

Anyway, you'll be able to decide what you think of it for yourself in April 2010, when it's published. For now, here's a little pencil detail...

Leaving at a far more sensible hour than we had to for BICS, Elyssa and I had a trouble-free run up to Cheltenham on Saturday (well, a little traffic around Oxford) to attend the Literature Festival, that this year sees its 60th anniversary (it's the longest-running festival of its kind in the world).

Even with the handy sat-nav, we were slightly defeated by the town's one-way system, but made it to the George Hotel with just one major breach of the Highway Code and plenty of time left to stroll into town, have some lunch, and then make our way to the Writers' Room at the Town Hall to meet Sarah McIntyre and her husband, Stuart. I tried not to stare too much at the celebs who were lounging around, waiting for their various events, but to give you an idea, Sarah had just given a copy of her new book, Morris the Mankiest Monster, to Cherie Blair, and Michael Morpurgo and Martin Bell were deeply ensconced in their newspapers (until Sarah went over to say hello to Mr Morpurgo, jolting him into waving at us all while he bemusedly tried to place this group of people all excitedly grinning at him).

We then trundled over to The Playhouse where our event, 'Graphic Novels', was to take place, and to meet up with our fellow 'performers' (as our wristbands designated us), John Dunning (whose new book, Salem Brownstone, is just out) and Kieren Phelps (our host, and senior lecturer in illustration at Gloucestershire University). The festival organisers and stage manager were all very well practised in what to do with us, and in a few minutes we were mic'd up and had our slideshow presentations beaming onto the screen.

The panel itself went very well, I think. Each of us three creators gave a ten-minute slide-show and presentation on our work and the art of creating comics, followed by a few searching questions from Kieren, and then opening up to questions from the audience (which was about 40-strong, a nice mix of kids and adults, male and female). My talk introduced The Rainbow Orchid, its influences in both story (Haggard, Verne, Doyle) and art (clear line from various Tintin Magazine contributors to some of the present day adherents), the creative process, research, and the fact that in the end it's all about the story - not the medium especially (though comics is a wonderful, unique and fascinating medium!). It's interesting that we all seemed to have a fairly similar outlook to our creative endeavours, and are also enjoying the cusp of a new wave, I think, of UK-published comic albums from mainstream publishers (still relatively scarce). Afterwards we went out to the lobby where a travelling Festival stall of Waterstones had our books for sale, and we were able to meet our audience and sign books for them, which was very enjoyable.

That evening Elyssa and I went to a very ornate Thai restaurant with Sarah and Stuart, and then for a late-evening stroll round Cheltenham, before tea in our very nice little hotel room (where Sarah signed a Mankiest Monster we'd brought for a friend). We got back on the road pretty soon after Sunday's breakfast and managed to get home by lunch time, making very good time. All in all, a very nice event, so a big thank you very much to the festival organisers, and a special thank you too to Gemma Shelley from Egmont, who overcame a bit of a troublesome journey from London to lend her support, and to Elyssa for (once again) her great photos.

Edit: See Sarah's great write-up here.

Every year I've been meaning to go to BICS (the British (previously Birmingham) International Comics Show) and every year I've had to cancel my plans as something work-related took over. This year was different - despite the fact that two extra days of drawing would be very useful indeed right now, I had a book to sell and a table-share with Accent UK - I couldn't miss it.

Elyssa and I left early on Saturday morning, hoping to reach Birmingham for 10 am, but that plan went pear-shaped after a body was found on the M40 and a section of the road was shut. Somehow we got lost along the diversion and ended up at Brum's Millennium Point at just before midday. Thank heavens for the sat-nav though!

I was on the end of Colin Mathieson and Dave West's Accent UK table (choc-full of their lovely comics), and with my two new display stands had quite a nice little set-up, with just enough space to sign and sketch in books. And sign and sketch in books is what I spent pretty much the entire weekend doing, which doesn't make for a very exciting report, I'm afraid.

As ever, it was really nice to catch up with so many comic friends, old and new. The biggest surprise of the weekend was meeting Alex Bardy from my old fanzine days. We probably hadn't been in touch since the late 80s or early 90s, and it was he who accepted my first fanzine art submission, a cover for Cerebretron (his science fiction fanzine), which encouraged me to become a fairly prolific illustrator for several other publications too.

I don't want to start a long list of people I spoke to, because I always forget someone and feel awful about it later, but I will mention my table-mates of the weekend - besides Colin and Dave, there was the very talented Andy Bloor (master of shadows!) and Jason Cobley, who has several titles you should look out for from Classical Comics (Dracula with Staz Johnson looks stunning). I was also next to Ben Dickson who is always good company (you have read Falling Sky haven't you?). Having seen a few other BICS reports and photos now, I see there were so many other people I know and should have said hello to, but didn't see them all weekend. It seems silly when the show basically just consists of two (big) rooms, but that's the way these things go.

Elyssa and I stayed at the Britannia Hotel, a place whose glory days are long-past. We were on the ninth floor in a room that looked as though it had been the site of a violent brawl (gouges out of the wall, heavily chipped furniture) and with no windows, so come the morning it was still pitch black. It was a comfortable bed for the night though.

Sunday was a bit slower (which was quite nice actually), but I still made sales throughout the day. I also had my brother's new publication, Alice at R'lyeh, selling all of them by the end of the show (you can buy a copy here).

Overall, I enjoyed the weekend. It reminded me of the old UKCACs in London, quite a traditional comics show. It was great to talk face to face with so many people about The Rainbow Orchid and to hear what others are doing too, though a shame I was unable to go for a wander myself (I especially wanted to see Bryan Talbot's talk on Grandville). Apologies to those I missed or only managed brief conversations with. Most of all - thank you very much if you bought a copy of The Rainbow Orchid - the interest and response was terrific.

Here are the thumbnails for the final eight pages of The Rainbow Orchid volume two, and then a strip from the A4 roughs from the penultimate page.

Last night I got a late train up to London, met up with Elyssa at work, and then we went to meet Pádraig Ó Méalóid and his lovely wife Deirdre (both over from Dublin) before going on to The Cartoon Museum to celebrate the launch of Bryan Talbot's new book, Grandville.

There was a short introduction by Bryan's editor at Jonathan Cape (his publisher) and then a few words by one of Bryan's first publishers, Lee Harris, who produced Brainstorm Comix in the 1970s. Bryan then said a sentence (literally!) and we all got on with the mingling and book signing.

Besides being one of the UK's most important comic creators, Bryan is one of my long-time heroes, and when he offered to write a quote for the back of The Rainbow Orchid I was chuffed beyond belief. I'd been devoted to Bryan's portrayal of Nemesis the Warlock in 2000AD and was a subscriber to the Valkyrie Press Luther Arkwright series. And now we have Grandville, an utterly superb piece of work that looks as though it will spawn a series of albums featuring the main character - Detective-Inspector Lebrock of Scotland Yard (who happens to be a badger).

You can trace Bryan's career so far to see a kind of logical culmination in this book. He's always been a master of the intelligent action-adventure (Luther Arkwright and Heart of Empire), and the animals come, perhaps, from his studies into Beatrix Potter for The Tale of One Bad Rat. Mix in some history that resonates with a veracity that only comes through genuine research (Alice in Sunderland) and wobble it somewhat with a dose of the fantastical (Nemesis, Luther etc.) and you have Grandville (and note the lovely little nods to Spirou (the hotel porter character) and Tintin (Snowy appears as a washed-up drug-addict) that add a cheeky wink to the story). This is a stunning book and Bryan's work just gets better and better.

Edit: Pádraig has a great two-part interview with Bryan over at the Forbidden Planet International blog. See part one here and part two here.

This has been such a good year for comics, I've never been short of new titles to buy and I always have several more on my wish-list. Here's a quick look at four recent books.

Dave West has published a collection of his highly excellent Strange Times, which came out as a series of mini-comics and then began serialisation online over at the Accent UK website. But, and I emphasise this quite strongly, you really must own this marvellous hardback collection! It's a substantial package and an absorbing read, as well as being a beautiful object to have on your shelf (really nicely designed by Andy Bloor). I'll be sharing tablespace with Accent UK at BICS this weekend, so you can buy a copy directly from Dave himself if you're going - and you really really should.

I got interested in Francesca Cassavetti's work after it was highlighted by Richard Bruton on the Forbidden Planet International blog, and after meeting her at Caption this year I finally did what I'd been intending to do for some time and bought a handful of her totally delightful comics. I love her natural cartooning style, with a dash of Posy Simmonds and a pinch of bande dessinée thrown into the mix. I'll particularly single out The Most Natural Thing in the World which focuses on the trials and joys of new motherhood, but there isn't a single title out of the four I own that I didn't enjoy.

After seeing a few bits of preview art online I was very interested in Richard Sala's Cat Burglar Black from First Second, and got my hands on it last week. It's brim-full of lovely drawing brought to life with sumptuous watercolour and offers up an intriguing story with an inviting cast of characters. Another one for the 'highly-recommended' pile.

I tried to buy a copy of Self Made Hero's The Hound of the Baskervilles a little while ago and failed, but have at last added it to my ever-tightening shelves. I really enjoyed this adaptation (by Ian Edginton and I N J Culbard) and rewarded myself with chapters when I reached little targets on some recent Rainbow Orchid pencils. Adaptation is an art all of its own, and Edginton has done a seamless job here, more than ably assisted by the characterful illustrations of Mr Culbard - I particularly loved the depiction of Dr Mortimer (though am wondering where one of the train coaches disappeared to on the journey to Dartmoor!). A Study in Scarlet is next and I eagerly await it.

Yesterday was the deadline for all entries into the East Grinstead Bookshop competition, and today I put all entrants into my trusty old tin and pulled out a winner. And that winner is Thomas Victor Leighton!

Congratulations, Thomas. As well as an original Julius Chancer drawing by myself, you'll get a complete set of the special promotional RO badges from Egmont and a Rainbow Orchid t-shirt. I also picked three runners-up who will each receive a set of the badges, so congratulations Fathi Tarada, Adam Wyartt and Raphael Moran.

To everyone else - thank you so much for buying the book from The Bookshop and entering the competition, I'm really grateful. Look out for a new competition in the not-too-distant future...

Two fantastic drawings of Evelyn Crow have come my way this weekend. The Evelyn on the left is drawn by David Goodman, and the Evelyn on the right is drawn by Rick Eades. Thanks so much, chaps! They've been added to the readers' art gallery, where new drawings are always welcome.

The Rainbow Orchid volume two - proof of life.

Not content with one book launch, I decided to have two, the second being in my home town of East Grinstead at the local independent bookshop - The Bookshop on the High Street.

East Grinstead's High Street features the longest continuous run of 14th and 15th-century timber-framed buildings in England, with The Bookshop being one of these, despite the fact that a German aircraft dropped a bomb behind it in 1943, killing the then owners and almost destroying the building outright. Luckily things were much more pleasant on Friday (21st August) as people started arriving from about 7pm for the Rainbow Orchid launch event.

We had Pimms, orange juice and snacks laid out, as well as six of the A1 boards that had been up at the Foyles Gallery exhibition a couple of weeks beforehand. John, the bookshop owner, had even gone to the trouble of getting a lovely orchid in as part of the shop decorations. I sat down to sign my first book at about 7.10pm, and signed the last one at about 9.15, only stopping briefly half-way through for a quick list of thank-yous and to present Harvey with a giclée print of the Breguet plane that he so kindly constructed a model of.

I was determined not just to sign books but to give everyone a quick sketch as well (which I didn't do at Foyles), which meant that everyone in the queue was enormously patient as I scribbled away as fast as I could on each book. The turn-out for the event exceeded all our expectations, with a really lovely buzz all evening. I don't know how many books were sold, but after the copies on the rack were sold, a big pile on my signing table went and the window display also had to be plundered to fulfil demand. Sadly some people didn't have time to queue, so I was left with a few books to sign on Saturday to be forwarded to their owners at a later date. I'm really sorry I didn't get to chat to everyone, and I'm really grateful to all who came - especially those who travelled any kind of a distance. Some came from London which was really lovely - it's not that far, but I know a psychological barrier has to be broken to come to events outside of London as well as a geographical one!

There was a marvellous mix of friends, people I hadn't seen for ages, people I'd never met before, and men, women, and children (girls and boys) of all ages. The evening zoomed by for me. My wife Elyssa and good friend Louise had made an amazing Rainbow Orchid cake (including raspberries from our garden) which I hope everyone got a piece of.

An enormously-massive thanks to Elyssa who worked so hard to organise this event (and also managed to take these photos in the second half of the evening), and to all those who immediately went into useful mode and helped with the drinks and food - I'm very grateful indeed. And special thanks to John the bookshop owner for providing his lovely bookshop for the evening and staying late to host us. You can see an album of photos from the evening here, and there are some up on the Tintinologist Facebook page as well (thank you Simon).