Flight 7

I recently finished my contribution for Flight 7, which'll hit book stores just before SDCC in July. As many of you know, the series will end in volume eight, so this is my second last short-story in the anthology series. I'm already a little saddened to see the end of the line, but I'm also excited to see how things'll progress afterwards – most of us have now started working on graphic novels with some pretty cool titles on the way. I still remember picking up the first book and admiring the style and marksmanship of the storytellers. Now, looking back at the stories, I can actually see how much everyone has evolved during these years. I think it has a lot to do with the whole forum concept, of exchanging ideas online, developing stories together and learning from each other. This method has made some amazing collaborations possible, bringing people together from all parts of the globe. But most importantly, I think it's due to the friendly, creative and encouraging atmostphere amongst the crew. To this day, I still feel humbled and privileged to be amongst my favourite artists – and I'm baffled how on Earth I even got there. Seriously, I'm a bloke from totally the other side of the World, and suddenly I'm chosen to jam with all the cool guys. It still gets me hyped. :)

So, getting back to the upcoming volume, guess what.

Kenneth's back. :) I was seriously amazed at all the positive feedback I received from my previous Kenneth Shuri story in Flight 6, that I decided to go back to the character and begin evolving the concept. It's still a little early to say, but I have several ideas for longer storylines which will hopefully some day develop into full graphic novels. That lead me writing Kenneth Shuri and The Big Sweep which sort of begins where The Excitingly Mundane Life of Kenneth Shuri ended. The 20-page story is a sort of in-betweener, bringing more depth to the characters and leading them to the point where the longer stories will kick off from.

It's a little difficult to extract previews from the story without spoiling too much of the plot, but here's a few extracts to satisfy your appetite. :)

I have to thank Daniel Taylor and Dean Trippe for their help on coloring the comic. It was a joint effort but I know I couldn't have made the deadline without their help. And as I said earlier about collaborations, this is another awesome example of how Flight brings people together. I've admired Dean's work for such a long time, so I was really humbled by the fact he was interested in helping me out. That totally made my day.

But more on Kenneth and Flight 7 later. Please check back here (or Facebook) for updates. :) Take care, everyone!