Badges already...

These are so exclusive and hot-footed from Badgeland that not even I have any of them... yet! But we've had them specially made as a thank you for the fabulous support so far for our Hairy Steve campaign , and they will added to the goodies that all funders who have contributed over $20 receive. Jamie's got them all securely stored in his safe right now, and I'm waiting to find out if I have to actually make a donation to the campaign to get mine. He's thinking it over.

Meanwhile, more zombies have escaped from my drawing board, and made their brain-sucking way to the Hairy Steve Gallery. This one will be joining them soon, along with several others. The Army mobilises...

Hairy Steve - the continuing story... um... continues!

Page 3 is now up and running! Well, more falling than running, if you know what I mean. If you don't, then have a look at the latest page.

Meanwhile, the latest in our Zombie funders has now emerged from the shadows. We shall be publishing more of these very soon on the campaign website, and it's not too late to walk among them, whilst becoming part of this exciting project, and receiving lots of other stuff into the bargain, including original artwork by Jamie Smart and me. All details HERE.

Heeeeeeere's Jimmy!...... (with permission)........

Page Two of Hairy Steve is up... EARLY!!!

We couldn't wait. www.hairysteve.com

And here's the very first of our Zombified backers. Step into the light, Cathal...

Hairy Steve unleashed...

That's it - after a short delay caused by the unexpectedly rapid outburst of enthusiasm, good will and financial support, Hairy Steve has today been officially launched to the world, and you can see the first page at hairysteve.com . Up above, you can see me trying to look mean and moody alongside the beast himself (no contest!).

After five years since the first page was drawn, it's a tremendously exciting moment for both Jamie Smart and me, and not a little nerve-wracking, since I still have two thirds of the comic to draw, along with a whole heap of artwork for the 'perks' people have generously contributed to in order to help fund this thing, and be a part in its creation.

So the pressure is on, but with the warmth and encouragement that has enveloped Jamie and me like a warm blanket, it's good pressure, and a challenge I'm really looking forward to, every line of which I intend to enjoy to the max.

And it's not too late to play your part if you want to get on board. We may have reached our initial target already, but so long as people are happy to contribute, we'll be more than happy to work on those perks, and are already thinking up new ways to keep this whole fun hairball rolling along, gathering as many others into it as we can. The enthusiasm we've garnered so far has been addictive and a really positive force for moving forward. I can't stress enough how vital that has become.

I'm particularly going to enjoy turning some of you into zombies as one of the perks of funding process. Below is an example of just how I'll be doing this. If you'd like that to be you, the Hairy Steve webcomic will tell direct you to how to go about it, or you can head straight to our Campaign HQ for the full details of all the different ways to join in.

Thanks again to everyone who has done so this far, and I hope the fun keeps rolling along!

Day Four in the Hairy Steve House...

Jamie Smart and I have been absolutely blown away and humbled by the early reaction to our Hairy Steve campaign. Not only have we had numerous messages of support and good will from loads of lovely people, but we've been staggered by the level of contributions, which saw us reach our publication target within four hours of going live on this three month campaign. Not only that, at the time of writing, we are just over three days in, and forty dollars short of our overall target for the project.

That is simply mind-blowing for us. In fact it has caught us on the hop so much that we are now having to apologise for not actually being ready to launch just yet. The artwork is ready to unleash, but poor beleaguered Jamie hasn't had time to build the website for it yet. This will be done as soon as possible, and we're really, really looking forward to unleashing Hairy Steve on the world the moment it is done, even more so after the enthusiasm we've been bombarded with over the past few days.

Naturally, we're not going to be too upset if we go over our target , but we are already looking at ways to use any surplus funding to keep the Hairy Steve campaign alive, fun and rewarding to our family of contributors. We're all in this together, and that, for me, is what excites me most. The support of people who are happy to play a part in this project is fabulous and very inspiring.

Above is a small taster panel from one of the early pages, and below is the original pencilled cover I drew five years ago...

Hairy Steve goes live...

Very excited about this!

If you click here, you should hopefully be transported to news of a scary new (well, we actually started it five years ago, but it scared us so much, we shelved it until now) venture for fellow comic artist/writer, Jamie Smart, and me.

It's all explained when you get there, so I won't go into it again here, other than to say we really hope you like what you see, and that you can help (yes, you can help) by spreading the word, or even becoming a part of it yourself.

Jim Broadbent caricature...

Marvellous British actor, Jim Broadbent, was the 'victim' of this month's Cartoonists' Forum Caricature Contest, producing an excellent array of entries once again, and a close-run contest, with fellow Scottish Ozzie** exile, Malcolm McGookin, eventually triumphing by a mere 3 points over Noel Ford, who in turn pipped Pradeep Rajguru to second place by a single point. As usual, I don't enter the contest since I moderate proceedings, but I can never resist the challenge (see above), and my interpretation shows Jim Broadbent in one of his best-known roles as Professor Horace E. F. Slughorn, potions master and head of Slytherin House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, in the Harry Potter movies.

At the time of writing, we are still waiting to hear from Malky who he has chosen for next month's contest, but if you fancy having a go, sign up here (it's free!). Details of Contest Number 12 will be announced very soon.

(**Malky's Oz being Australia, whereas mine is Oswestry... but he's got funnel web spiders and other assorted beasties to contend with - we've just got cows)