ALIEN - The Original Art Edition

I was only a child at the time of the release of the original Alien and I was super eager to see the movie. 

The reason for this eagerness is due to the Heavy Metal comic book adaptation of Alien. I had stumbled across the book when it had been on display in my local branch of WH Smiths, flicking through its pages I was captivated by the amazing imagery on display - it was like the best ever edition of 2000ad I had ever seen! Also on display was companion book – The Book of Alien – which was full of photographs of the titular alien and the spaceship designs. I was eventually steered away from the books by a member of staff who then warned me that the books were not intended for young boys of my age and was only for adults. Nothing could have made me want to look at the book more than a warning by an adult – especially a comic book; it had become a forbidden treasure.

 

A year later I found a second hand copy on a market book stall. I pestered my parents to buy the book for me, they had no idea that it was based on a hardcore (for the time) 'X' certificate movie. I soon had the book in my possession and I read it over and over, it made me more desperate to see the film.

I saved my pocket money to buy copies of Starlog and Fantastic Film magazines just so I could look at the photographs and concept artwork from the film.

The Alien comic book with its graphic scenes of gore and adult language soon came to the attention of the public moral guardians. The book was featured on the BBC 'Watchdog' program; a show where disgruntled members of the public complain about what they consider foul in popular culture. All of this just heightened the aura around the book and the film. 

Years later when I saw the movie it did not disappoint - At the age of twelve I had become a ravenous Alien movie fan and Star Wars and Doctor Who were quickly forgotten. I collected anything with the Alien logo on.

The book has been out of print for a good few decades and has now been re-released in two editions by Titan Books - a copy of the book as it was on its original release and the other being an over-sized hardback book known as the 'Original Art Edition.' 

The book is HUGE. I have used the bluray Alien box set as a size comparison.

The Original Art Edition is a reproduction of the actual original Walter Simonson artwork for the Alien comic book. If you are a fan of Alien and original comic art then this book is a must.

 It is a huge book! The photos on this blog do not do justice to the size of the book. The pages have been beautifully printed to reproduce the exact size and detail of the original art boards (with the print boundaries trimmed). Here we have the original artwork reproduced - warts and all, it is the nearest thing to owning the actual original artwork. Luckily for us Simonson kept all of his original Alien art boards, it is common practise for artist to sell their original pages to supplement their meagre income. You get to see the corrections, pencil lines and even coffee stains that make up the original art - it is a fascinating process that you would not normally get to see.

At the back of the book is the original comic book script by Archie Goodwin (based on an early draft of the movie script complete with deleted scenes) and an interview with the artist who talks about the process of putting the book together. There are also some very interesting 'try out' pages that Simonson submitted in order to get the job of working on the book. These behind the scenes pages show us what the artist imagined what the film might look like with no reference photographs and only extracts of script to work from.

A beautiful book from Titan and highly recommended for all fans of graphic art and the Alien movie.

Shhhhh...

An update on my work. As some of you already know, I have been hard at work on writing and drawing a graphic novel. I cannot yet reveal the details of the story but I can say that I am in talks with a major well known publisher and I am very excited about the possibilities of this deal. All I will say is that if you like comics, film or TV then you probably own a number of gorgeous books by this publisher!
Over the past few months I have been bashing my script around and working on various redrafts, it's harder than you think writing a graphic novel! I had hoped to be drawing by now but I am taking some very sound editorial advice to make sure the script is as good as possible before commencing on the final artwork.

Here is a little sneak preview of the pencils from one small panel from a sample page.

"Shhhhhhh!"

I hope to reveal more exciting news as it happens.

Mike Singleton - RIP

The Lords of Midnight and Doomdark's Revenge

I was very sad to learn of the untimely death of veteran games designer Mike Singleton on October 16^th 2012. The Lords of Midnight and its sequel Doomdark’s revenge were true ground breaking classic video games and very much in my all-time top ten games list. 

The Lords of Midnight, first released on the ZX Spectrum in 1984, was the very first game that made me believe in a virtual world and that a humble video game could also work on a story telling level. Mike Singleton was a pioneer of game design and world building and this week the industry lost one of its great unsung heroes.

Every time I played this game I lived and breathed that world and its characters. The game felt alive with possibilities and a purpose and I obsessed about the open ended gameplay. The characters of Luxor the Moon Prince, Rorthron the Wise,  Morkin and Corleth the Fey became my first believable video game heroes. I even kept a diary whilst playing my game, my encounters, battles and losses became my own personal folk tales. The game had a sense of literature that made me want to read books that had similar themes, I discovered Tolkein through my love of playing The Lords of Midnight.

The first person view point gave the game a realistic edge over the simple crude graphics of other games of the time. Looking out across the frozen planes of Midnight and seeing mountains and forests as well as the distant banner of great armies that I could travel towards made for an intoxicating chilly atmosphere of discovery and danger. Aided by the fact I played the game in winter in a house with no central heating and on a tiny black and white telly all helped to make it feel as if I was traveling across a frozen world locked in perpetual winter. The world and its layout of snow covered open plains, forests, mountains and citadels is still indelibly etched on my mind, just as Tolkein’s Middle Earth was after reading the Lord of the Rings books (which this game owes much to).

 For those of you have never played Lords of Midnight it was one of the first games to combine strategy gameplay and AI with simple but beautiful first person graphics. The game could be played as either, a straight adventure game, a strategic warfare game or both. The aim of the game was to stop the forces of the evil WitchKing from over running Midnight with his own armies. The player started out by controlling a small group of characters that travel the world of Midnight recruiting other Lords, these Lords also controlled their own armies. Once a Lord is successfully recruited (which was not always a given), their armies could be moved and controlled by the player. For its time the graphics were ground breaking as was the details found within the game play. Each Lord had his, or her own, strengths and weaknesses and morale, as well as allegiances with other Lords. The game was turn based with the player moving his armies and then the computer moving its own. The turn based nature made for very gripping strategy game-play as you never knew what the next day/round would result in. This game made you think about your moves and each decision had an outcome in the field of battle.

 

Mr Singleton followed up the Lords of Midnight with Doomdark’s revenge. Doomdark's Revenge featured more detail, more complex characters, objects and even changing weather conditions! He really performed miracles on a tiny 48K of memory and simple 8 colour graphics. 

Mike Singleton had always intended for the Lords of Midnight series to be a trilogy but the third game was not forthcoming on the spectrum, I waited year after year for the third part, hoping. During that time I read an interview with Mike Singleton about his plans for the third game - The Eye of the Moon. He revealed the fate of some of the characters from the earlier games and that it would be set decades after the events of Doomdark's Revenge - I hung on every plot reveal, as if I was getting insights into some great novel or a film series. I was that enthralled by the series of Midnight games.
A third midnight game was eventually released on the PC many years later but it seemed a shadow of its former glory and I did not play in case I ruined the memory of those first two cherished games.

 Honestly, I loved these original games, I still do. The none linear narrative and the attention to detail in the elegant yet complex game design, the mix of strategy and adventure and even the striking packaging of the games were all very much ahead of their time - they were the Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim of their time.

When I eventually sold my Spectrum and all of my games, in order to upgrade to a Commodore 64, I still kept my copy of The Lords of Midnight. I still have this boxed copy somewhere in my house; a memento of more innocent times.

Even to this day I always hoped and dreamed that maybe Mike would make a new Midnight game in the style of the original two. I knew he was working on an update of the original game to play on the IPad and using touch controls with improved AI and graphics (though hopefully not too improved). It is a game that I still am still eager to play again, like visiting an old friend. I had hoped that if the remake had performed well enough Mike would have properly concluded the trilogy by making Eye of the Moon in the same style.

Rest in peace Mike Singleton and know that you made many gamers happy during those dark 8 bit winter months of 1984 onwards. You showed us that games  were capable of producing stories, characters and open ended game-play. You have influenced a generation of designers, coders and artists. Your legacy in the history of video games will live on.

You made two of my favourite games and for that, I thank you!

 Long live the Lords of Midnight!

Here are extracts from the original Crash Magazine review of The Lords of Midnight from 1984.

 

Beyond have produced a game of immense complexity that transcends the simple word-matching of the mainstream adventure and in many respects more resembles a strategy war game. Many features of the game are new or are developed to an elaborate degree setting new high standards in Spectrum software.

The cassette is accompanied by a lavish booklet giving thorough and very sound playing instructions. When I say you will need them, and you most certainly will need to read some of the hints given, I mean this as a compliment to the inventive depth which pervades the whole project.

Although this game is so complex it is difficult to review in the few days available there is one feature which impresses on the very first frame of the game. The graphics which show your journey through the land of Midnight are little short of stunning. The panoramic views are drawn in full perspective and consecutive moves see mountains, forests, hills, citadels, towers and fortresses rising in stature as you approach or fade to distant outlines as you leave. The screen as a whole is very well presented as if designed by a graphic artist. There is no crude split on the main screen but instead a pleasing mixture of superb views of the scene, tastefully redefined characters for the text, a heraldic shield depicting the crest under which your character fights, and highly decorative and detailed representations of the numbers and type of foe you might come across. These last are the best I’ve seen on the Spectrum.

Possibly the most pleasing aspect of the Lords of Midnight is its wonderfully coherent storyline.

You initially have control over four characters: Luxor, Morkin, Corleth the Fey and Rothron the Wise but as you progress such characters as the Lord of Shimeral and the Lord of Brith and their armies add support to the forces of the Free.

If I run through a typical game it may show you some of the great features it has and perhaps some tips if you’ve already got a copy.

My tactics, and remember you’ll need them as this is very much a strategy game, involved building up armies at the Citadel of Shimeril guarding the western route into the tranquil south-east and at the Keep of Athoril which overlooks a major route south.

At the end of the seventh day at nightfall, when looking throughout the eight compass directions, I could see the silhouettes of the towers, citadels and armies that surrounded me, my thoughts turned north to Morkin who I now knew had this very day penetrated deep into the dark Mountains of Ugrorn, into the Tower of Doom and at this very moment was wondering how he might get back with that precious object held tightly within his grasp. He had the Ice Crown.

Difficulty	8
Atmosphere	10
Vocabulary	N/A
Debugging	10
Overall Value	10

To read the full Crash review, go here:

http://www.crashonline.org.uk/07/midnight.htm

Dan Fortesque - "Back from the dead!"

Well he may never have gotten an official sequel after MediEvil 2 but it looks like Sir Daniel Fortesque, hero of Gallowmere, has been resurrected one more time for Platstation All-Stars Battle Royale.

You can see a video of Sir Dan in action here...

A few people have emailed me to ask me what I think to Dan appearing in the game and what do I think to this iteration of him? My answer is that I think he looks mighty fine, he looks more like "Resurrection Dan" than the original games but that is no bad thing in my book.
Having had nothing to do with this game or this iteration of Dan I couldn't tell you if they have used my original voice from the previous games for this version of Dan.

EDIT - They didn't, he sounds more like the Swedish chef from the Muppet Show than Dan Fortesque, not nearly angry or vocal enough for the old school Dan. :)

I think most of the original team (who have subsequently moved on from Sony) would be surprised if they had learned back in 1996 that a game character they were working on would be appearing in a game in the year 2012! It's good to see the old fella back, all be it in a cameo role. 

MediEvil Scrapbook Video

I was sent a link to a fan made video featuring various bits of concept art and promotional materials from the MediEvil game series. A lot of the original crayon drawings are from 1995 onwards. It's still nice to see the MediEvil games getting some love from the fans.

H.R. Giger Museum: Alien - Prometheus

In anticipation of the release of Ridley Scott's Prometheus I though it timely to post my photographs of my visit to the H.R. Giger museum from 2007.

I have been fortunate to have been able to travel to art exhibitions and galleries around the world that have displayed the works of some of my favourite film/concept/comic book artists; Moebius, Miyazaki and way back in 2007 I travelled to Switzerland to visit the H.R. Giger Mueseum.

The Giger museum is located in the beautiful area of Gruyeres at the Chateau St. Germain in Switzerland and is worth a trip if for the journey alone.

The train journey to Chateau St Germain takes a journey through the lush mountainous countryside of Switzerland. When you reach St Germain you would scarcely believe that the "God of Biomechanics" would have chosen such a lovely location to house his nightmarish unearthly work.

Chateau St Germain is a perfectly charming small walled medeval village. After a short uphill walk from the train platform you pass through one of several gateways and once insdie you are greeted by lovely white washed rustic shuttered houses and rising cobbled streets.
Gruyeres is famous for its local cheese and there are many chances to sample this famous dairy product and have a cheeky beer or a strong coffee in one of the several cafes or restaurants.

A view from an upper floor window looking down at St Germain's high street. Chateua St Germain is situated on a hill which means you get some fabulous views of the surrounding countryside. Flanking St Germain are lovely hillside valleys, forests and snow capped montains.

But where is Giger?

After few minutes walk we finally get our first clue of the whereabouts of the Giger museum. Above the archway is a metal sign proclaiming "Museum H.R. Giger."

Before reaching the entrance to the museum, visitor are treated to some of Giger metal sculptures. I wonder what the locals think of their quaint charming village being home to such wierd otherworldly gargoyles?

Time for a quick photo opportunity next to a female scuplt that has a resemblance to the biomechanoid she creature from the film Species. Not a particularly good film it has to be said, but Giger's creation for the film was a highlight.

And finally we come to the entrance to the museum itself. The museum operates a strict over 18s policy as the contents of the museum are pretty hardcore in terms of sexual imagery. There is also a no-camera regulation that is enforced as you enter the museum.

The interior of the museum is like a cross between a high class strip club and a haunted house tour that just happens to be an art gallery.
What surprised me upon coming face to face with the artwork was the size of the paintings - a lot of them were the size of an entire wall. It is always worth seeking out original art whenever possible. Seeing original art can be quite a breathtaking event as the artist's work can have a very different impact when seen in the flesh/canvass and can often bring a whole new perspective to an artists oeuvre. Giger's original works are no exception to that rule.
Walking into and through the museum has the effect of having passed through a portal into a medeval biomechanical church - where flesh, sex and machine meld together to become something new and unique. You soon begin to forget all abot the lush green normality of the world outside, as if the colour green no longer existed.

Giger has studied as an industrial designer and this is very evident in his mechanical aspects of his work and never more so in a room that houses his metal work sculptures that he created for an aborted version of the film Dune. Giger not only paints and draws but he is a very hands on artist, building huge metal scupltures that dominate some of the rooms of the museum.

The ALIEN concept paintings occupy a room that is dedicated to the works created for that film. It was a real thrill to come face to face with the actual original concept art after seeing them only in books.
But the best thrill of all is coming face to face with the actual Alien itself. Giger has created two full size bronze statues made from the casts of the original costume he built for the film. One of the statues stands in a glass display case and the other hangs from the ceiling like a great spider ready to fall in unsuspecting visitor - or anyone found taking photographs!
The actual Alien is HUGE! It towers over you like a giant biomomechanical hybrid of a man, a shark and a large cock! The enormous height of the creature really does not come across in the film and I was really taken aback at the size and power of the creature. Even in this inert for it felt like looking at the Devil itself. The toothed phallus head of the creature struck a primordial fear into my soul, it was as if my subconcious registered this creature as something I should be running from - just as I would run from a deadly spider or a shark..
The smooth skull like face of the creature consisting mostly of gleaming metal teeth seemed to hold me in a hypnotic grip - just like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle I found it impossible to look away. I could now understand why, in the film, the characters of Brett and Lambert were frozen with terror and awe when faced with the metal giant.

The original painting of the derelict spacecraft. The actual model that was built by Giger was not on display at the museum. I think the actual model is in the hands of a private collector.

The original painting of the "pilot" of the derelict. I have always wondered about the fossilised remains of this creature and I hope the Prometheus film does not disapoint. The one thing I love about the Alien film is its "alien" nature and mystery. The other films in the series loose that factor and the alien itself is just reduced to being a simple animal-esque monster or even worse; cannon fodder.
The large sculpture of this creature that Giger built for the film was saddly vandelised and destroyed after a premier of the film back in 1979. It would have been amazing to have seen the original giant sized sculpt of this prop.

One of several concept paintings of the fully grown Alien. This actual painting that was on display was a reproduction as the original had been stollen many years before. Somewhere, a private collector has this original painting in their possession.

The alien has both a graceful beauty and a disturbing sexual quality. The creature from Alien still holds a strange fascination for me, despite being copied, plundered, diluted and abused (Alien v Predator). No other Alien movie quite captured the quality of Giger's original biomechanical design.

So... this was only a tiny portion of the painting and sculpts that were on display at the museum and I did rather focus on the Alien aspect of Giger's work.
I would have taken a lot more photographs of the museum but the strict no photography rule prevented this and back in 2007 digital cameras were abit more conspicious than they are today. I am sure with the advance of small camera phone it would now be a lot easier to snap of a few cheeky shots of the works.

The Giger Bar

After the museum it is worth checking out the Giger designed and owned bar. The bar is situated across from the museum and is a great place to have a calming beer and a tray of grilled cheese. Giger designed all of the interior to the bar and sculpted all of the fittings. It was like sitting inside the ribbed belly of some gigantic alien being.
As you sip your beer you cannot help but check out all of the details inside the bar. It really is the most visually impressive bar I have ever been to and it is free of charge to enter unlike other artist owned bars I can think of (cough - David Lynch - cough).

I loved these oversized chairs that are attatched to the bar. Sitting in one of the chairs makes you feel small like a child as your legs dangle from the chair, your feet barely touching the floor.

The detail on the furniture such as the chairs is wonderful. The leather cushions that are built into the chairs are sculpted and manufactured to resemble Giger's work, it felt criminal to even sit on them!

Check out the detail on the table legs and the stone floor. I love the aztec/circuit board stylings of the floor tiles.

When you want to get away from the bar you can retire to one of the cubby holes to chill out and relax with a beer. Perhaps not the place to go on a first date, I think the diseased stone babies built into the walls might not make the most romantic of settings.

Leaving the bar we discovered an outdoor area behing the museaum. Giger had placed some biomechanical garden furniture in the area, it was as it his work was attempting to integrate itself with the natural beauty of the countryside. I quite liked the moss and fallen leaves that had settled on the weathered stone bones.

When you have had enough of biomechanical genetalia and diseased babies you can continue to explore St Germain. We walked to the top of the hill that the village is built upon and looked out at the natural beauty of the Swiss countryside. The rolling hills, mountains and expansive blue sky were a healthy contrast to the dark nightmarish world we had inhabited for the last few hours.

I would recommend this trip for two very good reasons:

1. The Giger museum, it really is a wonderful experience to see the large original works of art.

2. The beautiful countryside of Gruyeres, it really is breathtaking and perhaps the most beautiful clean place I have ever explored.

So... Prometheus, will it live up to the legacy of Giger and Alien?

Fingers crossed.

Dr Who Toy Photography Book

Here's a fun "hobby" project that I have been working on - The Doctor Who Monster Toy Book

A digital download book for children of all ages who enjoy toys and Doctor Who or just enjoy looking at crazy retro sci-fi toy monsters.

This is a teaser image for a digital book project that I have been putting together with a group of model makers and photographers - the history of the old classic Dr Who TV series, retold using action figures, custom made monsters and hand made model sets.

A lot of painstaking work and ingenuity has gone into the photographs that readers will be suprised and delighted by.

There will also be features on how to create playsets and miniature photographic tips making it an entertaining read for children and adults alike!

The book should be available for download in early May.