2005
Another one off from my 'existential' period, it's about a new forbidden technology which has an unseen but insidious effect on society. It treads similar ground to Dreamscreen and A Scanner Darkly, but I still think it could make for a very powerful and unusual science fiction piece, once I actually sit down to script it fully.
2004
story - Darren Powell & Tony McGee
pencils - Chris Askham
inks - Tony McGee
A while back Dan wanted to form a creative publishing collective, and after much debate, we decided the best way to kick it off would be to put out a book by three of the principle culprits involved, me, Dan and Chris Askham. Dan and myself then set about the daunting task of trying to write together, which surprisingly enough, proved a whole lot easier than you might imagine. Cairn is a bizarre dark horror mystery steeped in folklore, unlike anything the two of us have done seperately. At nearly 100 pages it was always going to be a lot to ask of Chris, and after sending me the first 7 pages last year it now looks like a dead project. A shame, as it could've been something special.
story - Darren Powell & Tony McGee
pencils - Chris Askham
inks - Tony McGee
2002
On about its third distinct version, this as yet untitled short story started life as a Twilight Zone inspired tale of two lovers in purgatory. Then I reworked it as a proposal we didn't run with for what turned out to be Cairn. The last jumbled take on it came from a dream, which might make for an interesting story if I can ever work it into something coherent.
2001
Or Dark Weather Strikes Back if you prefer. A 3 parter set in a block of flats, each issue focusing on a different character: Mollly, a kid who daydreams she's a detective, moody Luke from Dark Weather, and the runaway Jenna who ends up changing their lives for the better. I loved the rather intricate plot, but when I came to script it it just wasn't working. Ended up cannibalising ideas for my next two one-offs, with Molly and Jenna being recast as Gemma/Jemma in Island, and some other bits I liked being reworked into The Wrong Girl.
1998
I'd entirely forgotten this story until I realised that Sally from The Wrong Girl bears more than a passing resemblance to Sally Ann, the lead from this untitled school reunion story. After Dark Weather I felt everyone was expecting more of the same, so I attempted to oblige. A two parter about some old schoolfriends meeting up for a weekend, it didn't have a lot going for it, and despite briefly making a start on the artwork, I happily forgot all about it when Angel Nebula popped into my head.
1998
The Gimp made his solo debut in this 1997 two page strip. Artist friend Martin Stephenson particularly liked that strip and the character for some reason, and repeatedly asked me to write a crossover with his large chested Brummie superheroine Lariat. Eventually I realised he wasn't joking and wrote 22 pages that made the Gimp City comic look rather sensible. Martin and me were planning on co-drawing it, but in the end Martin never did any more issues of Lariat so it became a non starter. I've since misplaced the script, but highlights included Lariat's 'fight' with Gimp's archenemies Aardvarknose and Zzzzzzzzzzz in the old Bull Ring, and my favourite bit where Gimp re-enacts the theme tune to Godzilla and Godzuki using a plastic toy Godzilla. If I do put out another humour comic, the Gimp will definitely feature in there somewhere.
1997
A real curio this, a 2 part mid 19th century tale of a woman traveller who together with a former lover uncovers the lost prophecies of Nostradamus. I recall researching the time period and Nostradamus for the story, both of which I knew little about, and making a start on the first couple of pages of the art, which for some reason was to be in borderless landscape format. After finally writing something worth printing in Dark Weather, I was bursting with enthusiasm and mad ideas, and this was one I really liked but it fell by the wayside as I could never quite capture the period to any credible degree. Only these pencil roughs remain.
1995
A painful 16 page teen angst story about a guy struggling to get over a previous infatuation (god knows where I get my ideas from). It was the kind of thing that could have been written by a sixth former, so I abandoned the art after a half dozen pages. Slightly older and wiser and with the benefit of hindsight, I was able to tackle the same theme much more successfully and with humour in Dark Weather a year or two later, particularly #3. Some of these panels from Ghost Girl actually appeared on the back cover of Dark Weather #2. I'd love to say it was a knowing tip of the hat, but in truth I was just stuck for a back cover.
1994
I was quite into alternative history books at the time, particularly anything about the Mayans. This story flashed between the Mayan timeline and the present day, as a girl (named Maya, believe it or not) had been reincarnated for somesuch which I can't remember. The only art I produced for it was some character sketches and this bizarre cover. Best left forgotten really.
1993
What a dumb title. This early foray into space opera had every sci-fi cliche going. An amnesiac astronaut crashlands on an alien planet, then sets off to uncover his mysterious origins. I had most of it mapped out as a finite story, but the more I drew the unhappier I got with the direction it was going and started to deviate from the script to the point of making it up as I went along. 20 never to be published pages survive. I did the whole joyriders in space thing much better and less po faced in a later proposal Cruisers, which I won't get into here.
1991
Partnering the Wayfarer in my tryout comic (which I printed up as a promo piece but thankfully never sold) was SoulStalkers, a horror fantasy set in an English coastal town. The daft plot concerned a local lad falling in with a group who hunted extra dimensional soul stealing demons. I'm guessing it was inspired by Marvel UK's Knights Of Pendragon, a big favourite of mine at the time. Again I had big ideas for this, but 10 pages is all that I produced.
1991
A huge sprawling fantasy epic was more than a little overambitious for my first proper attempt at comics writing. The Wayfarer was a normal (if cantankerous) old man who was chosen by nature to be the earth's protector. The big twist I had planned was that at the end of the first story arc the Wayfarer gets killed and is replaced by his friend's idiot nephew. I drew a 10 page tryout strip but was never that happy with it, and I've since attempted to rework the story countless times over the years. The most recent version was called Myth and was set more in the real historical world around 500 BC, albeit with a smattering of myths and legends thrown in. The persistent problems that have stopped me developing this any further are the fact that it would be a complete pain to draw with the level of historical accuracy I want, plus it's still very epic in scale and would demand an ongoing series. Maybe one day...
