It has been a pretty interesting few months behind the scenes here at Hard Graft towers since our last update which was waaay back in April. Thats almost five months? Incredible.
Anywayyou’re probably wondering why there has been such a massive gap between comics and I’m here to explain the relevant reasons why this is so. But first a few announcements.
Firstly Hard Graft issue one is now on Graphic.ly! Check it out and buy one if you like Hard Graft on your mobile! Better still why not spread the word and let all your mates know!
Secondly unless something massive changes issue three will end early. I have my reasons why it has come to this but I don’t feel that the time is right to divulge them now. I know that many creators usually keep silent when there is a sudden change of artist but I feel that I owe it to my hardy band of fans that I at least let them know whats going to happen.
Thirdly I have tapped Jules to produce all content from the end of issue three onwards. I want quality and I also want reliability and Jules brings these to the table in cart loads in my opinion. She has her own distinct art style which is evolving all the time as she does more work and if you want to see what she has done recently then I urge you with every fibre of my being to check out Valkyrie Squadron which is an uncompromising sci-fi romp. If you’re not convinced after reading that then frankly you’ll never be I’m afraid.
This brings me onto my fourth and final announcement that we plan to cull issue 3 at 16 pages and then progress the story into issues 4 and 5 which I’ve already scripted. I’m already working on an issue 6.
If you have any comments, complaints, questions or all of the above then please comment below and I’ll be in touch to answer those.
And so, now that Alan has made sure his ribs aren’t broken, they conclude hiring negotiations and get down to business. If only all hiring was this awesome.
This concludes side story one. Now what seems to be on people’s minds recently is whats happened to German?! Well I can answer that question!
He’s been hard at work on issue 3 and on Friday and next Monday I’ll have some stuff to show you from what he’s done so far which has been absolutely superb. On top of this he’s been doodling the covers for the Hard Graft limited edition minibook and he also worked overtime to deliver the Kathy needed for the Comic Creators Alliance wallpaper.
Obviously though we all need our Hard Graft fix and at the same time we can work on explaining parts of the story which would otherwise be left to the sidelines. This is where Jules comes in.
In the end its a win win situation. We all get more Hard Graft from two top quality artists. Whats not to love about that?
Also got a few nice things to point out to readers!
We’ve got a Hard Graft Fan Map! If you like Hard Graft and want to tell the world where you are in the world follow the easy instructions to put your mark on the map! Its good fun but I can’t do much about the tiny map size :/
Next we have the formspring.me Hard Graft question widget! Got a question to ask either Prestwick, German or the cast? Then dump it here and we’ll do our best to get back to you. Also listed are previous questions and answers.
And that wraps up issue two. Another 22 pages in the can and issue 3 is..er..well..we’ll chat about that on Friday. My apologies about the lack of a colour page but this is being remedied ASAP so check back in the next 24/48 hours. UPDATE: COLOUR PAGE IS HERE! BASK IN ALL ITS GLORY!
And so, like a pheonix from the ashes, Bernadette emerges and she isn’t very pleased but then again if you had been pulled back into a burning building by a bloodied Talibob psychopath then you’d be pretty annoyed as well wouldn’t you?
The inspiration for this page came from when I was writing and Muse’s Space Dementia came on last.fm, the whole climatic scene just built in my head and the whole thing just wrote itself! Amazing how easy things were back then.
EDIT: Please remember to spare a thought for the tens of thousands of Iranians who will go out onto the streets today to protest against the reigime and campaign for a free Iran. They’re braver than I’ll ever be. If you know anyone who lives in Iran, please pass this message on.
Anyway, thanks once again for coming along and reading and please tune in on Friday when I’ll explain where Hard Graft will be going next!


