The Skeleton Key

There's a war on. Well, two wars really. There's the one everyone knows about with soldiers and bombers and there's the other one, with spells, magical swords, zombies and giant ravens.

The Rowan Tree Legion are here to help us win both.

The Skeleton Key is a new all ages comic by myself and Mhairi M Robertson, and the easiest way to describe it would be "Dad's Army with witches". We have been working on it for AGES so it's great to finally be able to share it with folk. Skeleton Key is now available from the Magic Torch Comics shop.

There is also a new edition of Mhairi and I's first publication, Wee Nasties, an early years book which introduces younger readers to some of the folk characters of Inverclyde. That's available from the Magic Torch Comics shop too.

In other comic news, I'm delighted to be presenting at the From Heritage To Creativity Workshop : Inspiration For All event, in association with Scotland's Urban Past and the #DareToDream storytelling festival. I'll be talking about some Magic Torch Comics projects, and then Andy and I will be helping folk create their own comics in the afternoon.

And I'll also be along at the awesome Edinburgh Comic Art Festival on Saturday 26th November, presenting on Community Comics and Cultural Identity.

Captain Kidd meets Doctor Who

It being May, I generally like to celebrate the life and legends of legendary pirate Captain William Kidd - but to be honest, it's hard to top the actual discovery of Kidd's real life treasure in Madagascar.

Here instead, are a few test pages created by artist Mhairi Robertson, for a wee comic I wrote just for fun with Kidd's Oak Island treasure being the site of an adventure for time travelling hero The Doctor...in both his First and Tenth incarnations. Seemed like that fitted better over on this blog with the other fan fiction, rather than on the respectable folklore based website that is Tales of the Oak.

Before anyone gets too hung up on the historical accuracy of Captain Kidd meeting Doctor Who, let me remind everyone about the time pop culture pirate Kidd also met Batman...

We never quite got around to finishing it...but who knows...maybe next year. Right now, Mhairi and I are working on a new comic project, Rowan Tree Legion, which we totally are going to finish.

Kidd appears frequently in things I write, from being one of the hosts of the vintage horror comic Tales of the Oak to popping up in the childrens book Wee Nasties.

In May 2017, Magic Torch will be publishing I Thought I Was Undone...a full length Captain Kidd graphic novel, exploring the truth and the legend of the unfortunate Scottish pirate...