Into The Woods Out

Alexi Conman will be at the Cardiff International Comic Expo this weekend. Amongst other excitement Stacey Whittle will be releasing the Into The Woods anthology there. As previously mentioned, Alexi contributed to this publication - a story called 'Changeling', with art by Conor Boyle.

Having now seen the finished product, Alexi can assure you that it is of the highest quality, an excellent collection of original fairy tales, from the chilling to the heart-warming, featuring an outstanding cover by Andy Bloor and Steven Howard as shown above. He urges you to purchase a copy. If you're not at Cardiff, try and catch Stace in person or visit the online shop.

Bayou'd be mad to miss it

Another project that Alexi Conman has contributed to that should see publication later this year is Bayou Arcana (Volume 1: Songs of Loss and Redemption), edited by Jimmy Pearson and published by Markosia.

Bayou Arcana is a 'southern gothic' fantasy/horror anthology of linked short stories (each with a different creative team) about a magical swamp and the community of escaped slaves who've made their home there. To make the structure even more complex, the creative teams are all made up of male writers and female artists to hopefully give the book an interesting and balanced artistic dynamic.

Alexi scripted a story called 'Tohopka', about a half-Hopi emotionally-repressed bounty hunter of that name, who sets out to capture the escaped slaves. Alexi is very pleased that the story is being drawn by Vicky Stonebridge, who has a really vibrant art style with a genuine sense of magic that will suit the book perfectly. With a host of other great talent involved, the book is sure to be a winner and Alexi is very much looking forward to seeing it complete.

For more info (including ordering options), Alexi urges you to visit the Markosia website.

Wood you believe it

Although Alexi failed to conquer the world in 2011, he maintains that goal for 2012. One of the comics projects that he's involved with that will be released this year is Into The Woods.

Conceived of and edited by the stupendous Stacey Whittle (of Small Press Big Mouth fame) with design and production by the astounding Andy Bloor (of Accent UK fame), it's a really varied anthology of fairytale stories, ranging from the light and fun to the dark and eerie.

Alexi scripted a four-page story (somewhat towards the dark and eerie end of the spectrum) called 'Changeling' for the book. As the completion deadline approached, things were looking uncertain for this little tale (due to a couple of changes in the project's artist roster), but at short notice, to Alexi's immense approval, one of the most hotly-tipped artists currently working in the UK small press stepped in - Conor Boyle. Aside from being ruddy good, he's lightning fast and turned in some great pages that Alexi thought made a tricky story work really well.

In addition to 'Changeling', the book features seven more stories:

• Nic Papaconstantinou, Bevis Musson and Filip Roncone - 'Amber And The Egg'
• Richard McAuliffe and Sara Dunkerton - 'Red Riding Hood'
• Scott Harrison, Lee Grice and Filip Roncone - 'The Madness From The Sea'
• Daniel Clifford, David Wynne and Ian Sharman - 'The Black Shoes'
• Lee Robson, Simon Wyatt and Filip Roncone - 'The Lang Pack'
• Ollie Masters and Valia Kapadai - 'Time For A Change'
• Matt Gibbs and Alice Duke - 'Samhain'
• Stu.Art - 'Blood & Sacrifice'

Plus pin-up/cover art from Graeme Howard, Vicky Stonebridge and Andy Bloor & Steve Howard.

Having seen much of the finished material, Alexi is mightily impressed with the high level of quality that's maintained throughout and urges you to pick up a copy when it's released at Cardiff International Comic & Animation Expo on 25th-26th February.