While everyone is gearing up for NYCC this weekend, forward-thinking freefolk are getting ready for Thought Bubble in Leeds, one of the premiere UK comic conventions. Consistently a host to wonderful indepdent artists with an ever-increasing line-up of headliners as well, Thought Bubble is one of those conventions I am always jealous of being unable to attend.
Well, looks like we can already chalk up at least on reason as to why, as Owen Michael Johnson (of “Reel Love” and “Raygun Roads” fame) will be launching a new book with John Pearson entitled “Beast Wagon” this year with an exclusive 6-page preview. Described as “One Flew Over the Cucko’s Nest with talking animals” and set in a safari park, the book is slated to be another in a long of successful anthropomorphic comics as well as hits from Johnson — and while I’m not as familiar with Pearson’s work, having flipped through his site I’m already excited to see more. With evocative shading and life-like caricatures, I can only imagine what’s in store for the series.
The preview, which will be lettered by Scotland’s own Colin Bell, will be out soon at Thought Bubble next month. Be sure to snag two copies, one for you and one for me. For the full press release from Johnson about the new book, please see below.
Beast Wagon Press Release
Owen Michael Johnson & John Pearson invite you to board the Beast Wagon at Thought Bubble
Preview of anthropomorphic comic book set in a Safari park includes 6-page preview and fold-out map.
The co-creator of cult hit Raygun Roads and the critically acclaimed coming-of-age tale Reel Love has described Beast Wagon – scheduled for release in 2015 – as ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest with talking animals…’ and promises ‘an examination of systems and control. This preview is an intense little introduction to the book we’re making. John is an honest artist. We’re pushing each other, creatively, into dark waters.’
Pearson, an illustrator heralding from Leeds and one of the contributors to the CULT exhibition at Orbital Comics in April, said ‘Beast Wagon will be a debauched tale of insanity. Owen has pulled out the stops to explore madness and frustration across many complex layers. I’ve been scooping out my mind to put together a collection of images that feeds into the vision of hell we’ve had. Madagascar this is not.’
Released under Johnson’s Changeling Studios imprint, the preview will be lettered by Colin Bell (Dungeon Fun) and available at Thought Bubble Sequential Arts Festival, which is held in Leeds this November.
