Posts tagged: Paul Cornell

Star Trek signing with Paul Cornell at Atomic Basement Comics

 

On Wednesday February 12, writer Paul Cornell and I will be signing our Star Trek: Year Five Valentine’s Day Special at starting at 7:00pm at Atomic Basement Comics.

I’m really proud of this book. It’s got a great script by Paul that has all the best, most charming aspects of James T. Kirk presented in a fresh, modern narrative. The story feels remarkably significant and life-spanning, while being told in only 20 pages. The interior colors are by my friend Charlie Kirchoff and letters by Neil Uyetake. And one of the variant covers (pictured) is by me, linework and color! I can’t wait for everybody to see this one.

Paul and I are signing at Atomic Basement Comics and then we’re off to the Gallifrey One convention this weekend at the Mariott Los Angeles Airport Hotel, where we will be talking about the book again as a part of the Current Star Trek Comics panel on Sunday afternoon at 2pm!

It’s a free event, so come see us!

Paul Cornell & Christopher Jones
signing Star Trek: Year Five Valentine’s Day Special
Wednesday February 12 – 7:00pm

Atomic Basement Comics and Creator’s Lab
400 E 3rd Street,
Long Beach, CA
562-294-4444

https://www.atomicbasementcomics.com/

 

Christopher Jones at Gallifrey One 2020

I am delighted to be returning as a guest to the Gallifrey One convention, February 14-16 at the Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel. I have a great time every year at Gallifrey One, and this is the first time I’ll be attending as a local, since moving to Los Angeles in December!

This year I will NOT have a table in the Dealers Room, but there will still be plenty of opportunities to see me and (if you are so inclined) buy my art!

Here’s my schedule:

Friday, February 14

 

1:00pm – Autographs

I’ll be signing autographs and selling prints in the Autograph area for two hours each day of the convention. Autographs are always free and I’m happy to sign items you already own. Stop by and say hello!

6:00pm – The Game of Rassilon

Christopher Jones • Dan Peck • Michael Nixon • Ben Paddon • Riley Silverman
Once more, we play our dangerous game, a game of chess against our old adversaries… wait. That’s Hunt for Red October. Sorry. This is silly Doctor Who speed role-playing in front of an audience. Come see the fun!

Saturday, February 15

 

1:00pm – Autographs

It’s the second daily autographic block. I should be there until 3pm. Come see me!

4:00pm – Taking Your Love of Doctor Who to the Next Level

Christopher Jones • Lauren Bancroft • Abie Ekenezar • Andy Hicks • Jennifer Picker • Brian Uiga • Kevin Wilcox
I started as a Doctor Who fan and now I draw Doctor Who comics! Crazy, right? Come here about the individual journeys of the panelists from Who fandom to something… more!

8:00pm – The Masquerade of Mandragora 2020, Featuring “The Time of the Comedy”

Christopher Jones • Tony Lee • Lauren Bancroft • Abie Ekenezar • Joseph Scrimshaw • Riley Silverman
Something funny will happen to fill time during the Masquerade judging. We hope.

Sunday, February 16

 

11:00am – Christopher Jones: Illustrating the Future

If I had titled this I would have called it Doctor Who: Heralds of Destruction – Live commentary. I see actors do live commentary on their TV episodes all the time at these conventions. Why can’t I do the same for my comic book work? I’ll be talking about my creative process and sharing some behind-the-scenes stories and easter eggs from the Third Doctor mini-series I drew, based on a story by Paul Cornell!

12:00pm – Autographs

Last chance of the weekend to come get something signed or buy one of my prints. Don’t miss out! (I’ll have to leave a bit before 2pm to get to my next panel…

2:00pm – Current Star Trek Comics

Paul Cornell • Jody Houser • Christopher Jones • Collin Kelly • Jackson Lanzing • Denton Tipton Paul and I will be talking about our brand-new Star Trek: Year Five Valentine’s Day special as part of a presentation on what’s happening with IDW’s Star Trek comics.
Again, I’m always happy to talk to fans and make new friends, so please come say hello. Autographs and photos are always free!

London Film & Comic Con + UK Holiday wrap-up post

My trip to the United Kingdom for London Film and Comic Con was (not surprisingly) one of the most amazing convention trips I’ve ever had. Some of the content of this post already appeared in bits and pieces in my Facebook and Twitter feed, but I wanted to add a few things and gather it all in one place.

Thanks again to Tony Lee and London Film & Comic Con for bringing me to London, and for allowing me to push my return back by a week allowing my friend and convention-helper Tim Fox and I time to enjoy London and other parts of the UK after the LFCC weekend.

Christopher Jones and traveling companion Tim Fox who doesn’t like flying…

London Film and Comic Con

The convention itself was a great experience, greatly thanks to Tony Lee and his LFCC Comic Zone Team.

The LFCC Comic Zone Team: Antony McGarry-Thickitt, Amy-Jayne McGarry-Thickitt, Tony Lee, Michael Mastakin, and Dan Hart.

I got to meet lots of British fans and connect with other creators from the worlds of comics and Doctor Who, including (but by no means limited to) Rachel Stott, Dan Slott, Sara Pichelli, Mike Collins, Jeff Cummins, Steve Niles, Jorge Jiminez, James Peaty, Chris Thompson, Alisa Stern and Scott Ampleford of Puppet Who, and Stephen Saleh.

Normally at conventions I’m busy working my table and I never get to see any of the “celebrity” guests, but thanks to Tony I was able to find time to get photos with Doctors Tom Baker, David Bradley, Paul McGann, Colin Baker, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, and Peter Capaldi!

Paul McGann, Christopher Jones, Colin Baker, and David Bradley

Christopher Jones and Christopher Eccleston

Christopher Jones and a very tan David Tennant

Matt Smith and Christopher Jones

Peter Capaldi and Christopher Jones

I did a few sketches over the weekend, this one was probably my personal favorite.

Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor on a sketch cover variant of the Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor comic.

This gets an honorable mention because it amused me so much. When you are at a London comic book convention with EIGHT Doctor Who’s in attendance and you’ve just drawn a 7th Doctor mini-series and a fan asks for a sketch of “Ace,” you could be forgiven for not immediately realizing they wanted a sketch of Ace the Bat Hound!

 

Four Days in London

The London House Hotel and it’s cool (creepy?) automatic door.

Tim and I had arrived in London on Thursday morning and had already visited the Tower of London so we didn’t have to wait until after LFCC was over to feel we’d seem something of the UK beyond the Olympia convention venue, our hotel, and the daily coach rides in between. (And by coach I mean bus, not a horse and carriage.)

The Monday after the convention, Tim and I checked out of the hotel where we’d been put up by the convention and moved to a little hotel in Kensington. The door to the London House Hotel opens automatically as you approach, and every time it did I thought of The Prisoner.

Once checked in we were now in the “touristy” part of the trip. We did a double-decker bus tour of London that ended with a fancy tea at Harrods. We visited the Camden Town shopping district. We met up with Dutch, a friend of Tim’s he’d known for years but only online and all had dinner together. We met up with Chris Thompson (Brand Manager for Titan Comics) who I’d seen briefly at LFCC and had a much more leisurely conversation, talking all things Doctor Who and comics. I did a quick signing at London’s legendary Forbidden Planet comic book store on the day the final issue of my Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor “Operation Volcano” mini-series was released.

Thursday afternoon we met up with Tony Lee for better “quality time” then we’d snagged with him during the busy convention weekend. Together we visited The British Library, and half the fun was seeing Tony’s obvious joy in sharing one of his favorite places. The building itself is beautiful, but we saw bibles transcribed by monks, handwritten lyrics to Beatles songs, original manuscript pages from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein (on display side-by-side with a copy of Bernie Wrightson‘s illustrated edition of the book, to my delight), and the Magna Carta. Amazing place.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat and I took the opportunity to give Tony the sketch I had done of him on the scooter he’d been using to whiz around LFCC all weekend. I’d left the hair “open for color” rather than filling it in black, but Tony thought it made him look white-haired and accused me of drawing his father. The sketch is presented here with the hair colored brown in deference to Tony.

Tony Lee on his LFCC scooter.

It was around this time that Tony learned that Frazer Hines (2nd Doctor companion Jamie from Doctor Who) was nearby, so he was invited to join us, and we all moved to another nearby pub for some good conversation and a low-light-level selfie.

Christopher Jones, Tony Lee, Frazer Hines, Tim Fox

Dinner with Dan Slott, and the Paul Cornell tour or Fairford

Thurdsay evening we met Dan Slott and Paul Cornell for a lovely Indian dinner, and afterwards Tim and I took the train with Paul to Swindon and then drove the rest of the way back to his home in Fairford, Gloucestershire which was a setting in our #DoctorWho The Third Doctor comic series “Heralds of Destruction.” We got in late enough that Paul’s wife Caroline Symcox and their son were asleep so we crept in quietly to get some sleep ourselves and be social the following day.

Friday began with some conversation at Paul and Caroline’s lovely home, which is the Vicarage for St. Mary’s Church. Caroline is the Vicar of the church, which was a featured location as UNIT’s temporary base-of-operations when they were in Fairford in our Doctor Who story! Caroline was good enough to give us a personalized tour of the church, which is a beautiful building with amazing history, especially it’s stained glass windows. I’d wanted to get a photo with both Paul and Caroline in front of the church, but Paul had already ducked away when I wasn’t looking to do some childcare while Caroline gave us the tour, and then Caroline got busy with some unexpected church business, leaving Tim and I to walk back to the Vicarage to meet up with Paul and await Caroline and the babysitter so Tim, Paul, Caroline and I could head off to Avebury!

St. Mary’s Church as seen in Doctor Who: The Third Doctor “Heralds of Destruction”

Chris standing in front of the real thing.

“Vicar: The Rev’d Caroline Symcox”

Avebury is an amazing place, home to a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world.

Christopher Jones, Paul Cornell, & Caroline Symcox at the Avebury Stone Circle.

After Avebury it was back to Fairford. Paul and I did some plotting and planning that will hopefully lead to another collaboration in the coming months (we’ll see), and then we all had a quick dinner at the pub before Paul gave Tim and I a ride back to the Swindon train station.

Cardiff (AKA Doctor Who Mecca)

Tim and I took the train from Swindon to Cardiff, which has been the base of production for Doctor Who since 2005. We didn’t get to our hotel until around 11pm, so we didn’t do much other than get some sleep before doing a tour the following day. The tour started from Wales Millennium Centre in Roald Dahl Plass, and we spent the afternoon travelling by coach (no double-decker this time) to various Doctor Who filming locations, occasionally stopping to walk about. It seemed that fully half the locations we visited were from either Father’s Day or the Human Nature / Family of Blood 2-parter, both written by Paul Cornell. This amused Tim and I greatly given where we’d spend the previous day. Arriving back at Roald Dahl Plass the tour guide pointed out Eddie’s Diner, the shooting location for the 50’s Diner (supposedly in Utah) seen in two different Doctor Who stories, so it was obvious where Tim and I were going to have dinner before catching the train back to London.

 

Looking for Patient Zero on the Doctor Who filming locations tour.

Tried to talk to Torchwood. Nobody Home.

Poor Ianto.

Eddies Diner, found in Cardiff Bay, not Utah.

Back in London

At this point we were running out of steam, so our last day in London consisted of a quick return trip to Camden so Tim could pick up a pair of boots he wanted, and then repacking our luggage for the return trip home. It was an exhausting, but amazing trip, and I can’t thank everyone enough for the hospitality we were shown while there. I’m hoping we can make it back very soon. If only I could figure out a more convenient way of getting back and forth…

Maybe this box I found in Earl’s Court can help.

 

Doctor Who: The Third Doctor #1 on Wed 9/14 & Signing at Hot Comics!

On Wednesday, issue #1 of Doctor Who: The Third Doctor hits comics shelves! I really can’t wait for everyone to see this book. Paul Cornell‘s The Heralds of Destruction is the Third Doctor story that we classic whovians deserve, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Signings

Hot Comics Doctor Who SigningIf you live in Minnesota, USA and plan to pick up a copy for yourself, stop by Hot Comics & Collectibles in New Hope where I’ll be signing between 3pm and 8pm!

Hot Comics and Collectibles New Hope
3524 Winnetka Ave N.
New Hope, MN 55427
Facebook Event

If you live in the UK, Paul Cornell will be signing at Forbidden Planet in London from 6pm!

Forbidden Planet Megastore
179 Shaftesbury Avenue
London
WC2H 8JR
Details Here

Also, Paul Cornell and I will be at New York Comic Con next month, so that would be a good opportunity to get your books signed by both of us. And I will be at Chicago TARDIS in November and will be happy to sign books there too. So be sure to pick up your copies this week even if you can’t make it to one of our signings on Wednesday.

(I expect I’ll be seeing a lot of sketch covers in my future…)

Reviews & Press

There are already reviews starting to surface for the first issue. Here are a few to check out:

Recently I went over my process for bringing the Third Doctor art to the page for Comics Alliance. Check that out if you really geek out about the details like I do.

Here’s a couple interviews Paul Cornell did about the series.

Preview

DOCTOR WHO: THIRD DOCTOR #1
Writer: Paul Cornell
Artist: Christopher Jones
Colors: Hi-Fi
FC – 32pp – $3.99 – On sale: September 14
Order on Comixology

Paul Cornell returns to Doctor Who comics with “The Heralds of Destruction!” When something enormous crashes into Bedfordshire, the Doctor, Jo Grant, and the forces of UNIT under Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart mobilize immediately, only to find themselves in the middle of a pitched battle against a terrifying invader. But the shocking face that awaits their return to base may tip the whole world off its axis! It’s classic third Doctor action as you’ve never seen it before!

3d_01_cover_a-1

 

 

 

CONvergence 2013 – Guest of Honour Badge Art

I’m back home from CONvergence 2013, and what a weekend it was. (OK, I was back home a week ago, but since then I’ve been busy catching up on projects and cobbling together photos for this post!)

Without further delay, as promised, here are the CONvergence 2013 Guest of Honour Badges!

Every year I do original badge art for each of the convention’s Guests of Honor. It’s a rather labor-intensive tradition, but it makes a great early impression with guests that their time at CONvergence is going to be something unique and special, and honestly it’s the best icebreaker in the world for me to meet these great people. They almost always flip when they see their badges and are excited to meet the crazy artist who made them!

CVG 2013 GoH Badge - Lou Anders prevCVG 2013 GoH Badge - Charlie Jane Anders prevCVG 2013 GoH Badge - Caitlin Blackwood prev


Here’s Lou Anders shown in the outfit he wore when accepting his Hugo Award. Lou seemed like a great guy and I was sorry I didn’t get more time to chat with him at the con.

I went for her iconic hair and glasses for Charlie Jane Anders‘ badge. At the con her blonde locks had been dyed a spectacular pink. I knew going in there was a good chance I wasn’t going to match her at-con look. Ah, well…

For Caitlin Blackwood‘s badge I went for her iconic moment as Amelia Pond from Doctor Who. I didn’t get much of a chance to talk to Caitlin, but by all accounts she and her mom had a good time!

CVG 2013 GoH Badge - Bill Corbett prevCVG 2013 GoH Badge - Paul Cornell prevCVG 2013 GoH Badge - James Moran prev


I’d met Bill Corbett before, even getting to work with him on the Joseph Scrimshaw-produced Super Powered Revenge Christmas #1. While Bill’s ongoing gig these days is Rifftrax, for the sake of a familiar visual I put the silhouette of Crow T. Robot (who Bill voiced after Trace Beaulieu) from MST3K.

Paul Cornell has been good enough to visit CONvergence a number of times before, and rather than reference one of his writing projects again, I thought instead I’d highlight his now-traditional Cricket demo, with CONvergence mascot Connie and her sister robot Connie Mark 2 taking up the game.

I usually avoid using Connie on the badge of first-time Guests of Honor, but referencing the poster for screenwriter James Moran‘s film Severance was too good to pass up.

CVG 2013 GoH Badge - Kevin Murphy prevCVG 2013 GoH Badge - John Picacio prevCVG 2013 GoH Badge - Melinda Snodgrass prev


I hadn’t met Kevin Murphy before, and sadly still really haven’t. We were both in the same room a couple of times, but that’s as good as it got. His badge is a companion piece to Bill Corbettt’s featuring the silhouette of MST3K‘s Tom Servo.

I got to interview John Picacio for his One-on-One panel. His badge is a reference to his cover art for the novel No Going Back.

And finally, when I realized that Melinda Snodgrass‘ breakthrough Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Measure of a Man” had introduced the Enterprise crew poker games and that she was one of the major contributors behind George R. R. Martin’s Wildcards series, the mash-up seemed rather obvious!

I’ll have the rest of my CONvergence report up in a bit!