The recent UT's got me looking though back issues, and then the Who's Who, and all of that. In doing so I not only enjoyed revisiting stories of old, I also came across some great art by poster Visionary in the process.

I thought it was high time for a thread of appreciation of the possibly fake man's contribution over the years. I don't know about you but think it's all excellent! Here's a selection of my favourites.

The EEE! crew:

Let's start with Kinki...just because.



Remember when Al B. mutated a spider called Babs? (1)



Ms. Muffy Framlicker



Amy Aston



Remember when Al B. turned Hallie blue? (2)





Lair Legion Line Up!



Hatman!



Goldeneyed!



Citizen Z!



Hamboy!



Silicone Sally!



Yuki Shiro!



Trickshot!



Alcheman!



(Okay okay Alcheman was never in the LL, bit he fits the style art-wise so I'm putting him here)

Liu Xi Xian!



Hallie!



Tandi the sex-bot come administrator! Robosapien lives matter!





Remember when everybody(3.1) went to the Mythlands? (3)

Mythlands Visionary. Still possibly fake.



Ruby Weaver



George Gedney - we hardly knew ya!



You're not in Parodiopolis anymore Asil.



Con Jonstantine! Note the Brownie by his feet? Some say he's still mimicking Con in the Mythlands to this day.



Mythlands Dancer is the best Dancer!



Zebulon



Mythlands Tanner! Let's be honest, I'll take any Tanner.



Hallie (I'm not looking Hallie, no honest, well okay maybe a little).



Even Fleabot!



Mythlands Miiri or regular Miiri?





Who doesn't love Miiri?



Remember when poster Hatman made some action cards from Visionary art? Wish I had the original for this pic of Yuki!




A detonator hippo, just because.




Velcro Vixen. You may continue.




Is he not...The Hooded Hood?




Thanks Visionary, for all of it and more.

Got more Visonary art to share? Post it here.

Al B.


1. It happened. Not sure where, but it happened.
2. See #1 above.
3. UT #274. You're welcome.
3.1 everybody didn't go to the Mythlands, just a select few.

This one got shortlisted for Best Pulp Cover Art 2011 (ish)

It should have won! One of your books I do have sitting on my bookshelf. If I ever have an opportunity to go to the States or back to the UK I'm going to pop it in my suitcase to request both of you to sign it. I remember at the time thinking I would make a lady Sorceress in an online role-playing game I was enjoying, just so I could use this as her avatar.

Al B.

This one got shortlisted for Best Pulp Cover Art 2011 (ish)

I have others in my old computer, will have to look for them: rabito, Yerk, .and more..And loving all of them..but it is late here
I don´t keep my old stories, but his drawings I do

Attachments

yo-woman.jpg (434 x 679)

not too much clothes can be seen in these por women..must be getting lot of cold...

blutwyche[at]gmail[dot]com

Pity. Can you re-use it for something else?

Admittedly, many of those images make me cringe these days, but that's always the way when it comes to looking at older work.

I probably have other PV images, if there's an easy way to share them. I may have to break out the portable hard drive that has all of my old files.

As for some recent stuff, here are some robots I drew for a Transformers game that I found online:









They're at least more interesting to look at than a lot of the work I get to do.

I've so far only written stories for the PV though. So I'm loyal there.

Of course, that might be because I can't seem to write any more at all, but still...

I feel the same way about most everything I've ever written, including replies.

But I'll always be a fan of your Parodyverse style as demonstrated here.




I've just bunged them all into an imgur account, but kept them private. Can still hotlink here, but it hasn't shared the album generally. Though I'm sure if I shared it I'd get lots of fake internet points. Might even make front page!




Heh, look at those things! They look a bit like if Modok and Optimus Prime had kids.




I found this guy too, I think he was one of yours from a game you were working on - if I recall there were some others but I couldn't find them.

No, it's a very specific storyline and piece of world-building, actually first written straight after the original novel. I may hassle the editor one day but since White Rocket Books is really a one-man-band it feels mean to pressure him. Plus, either Blackthorn was my worst-selling book or I got screwed, since I still haven't received a single penny royalty for it yet.

It does mean that the planned third part of the trilogy probably won't ever happen.

In the same really-slow-getting-to-print stuff, about three years back an editor pitched me doing an ongoing monthly novella e-book series. So I dusted off an old idea and wrote the first four-volume arc of my Byzantium series, on the understanding that this would be put out on a regular schedule to build up reader loyalty and buying habits (the e-books were $2.99, I think). #1 came out in 2013. #2 came out in 2014. #3 has had five release dates so far, the last of which passed last November.

Such is ther world of small-press publishing.

Well, you know one was sold at least because it's sitting on my bookshelf alongside the Robin Hood series (and in-between Lovecraft's Necronomicon and Tolkien - good company Ian). I even paid full postage for it!






Yikes. Well, I don't know what to say that is in anyway reassuring other than - hey you have stuff in print! But I'm sure you've already acknowledged that part. It is a great thing to see all your output though.

Have you found the self self-publishing you are doing with the "Watsarverse" series is a better reward, or at the very least, you're able to track it better?

I actually did draw one that was a cross-over with GI Joe apparently... one of the Cobra planes as a robot:




However, a while back Hasbro did produce some Marvel characters crossed with Transformers, and that had some unfortunate results:



So maybe they learned their lesson.

My affection is all for the characters... and I admit, there are a few character designs that I do like. Donar was always a favorite of mine... all of the Regulars were fun to draw. And obviously I liked Al and Friends...




I'm afraid that the only online gallery I have any more is the pony stuff... My other ones have gradually gone down. I had to google search for images of those robots that were released by the company who made the game in order to post those.




Ha! That is both frighteningly accurate and quite terrifying to imagine. I am not going to search for any evidence of that ship online...

The funniest stuff came from comments from posters and made others to get ideas...IMO..

In any case in this weeks there are many stories that I cdidn´t read the first time, so I am Reading yours and others stories as they were new. And that is great!
Yo getting asleep...busy week
night night

And Hallie. You liked drawing her a lot. And Miiri.




Well then, these are rare gold!




Me either.

I've had to learn the had way that aithors royalties come from net profits. A book can sell hundreds of copies and still be in net loss. Publishers can deduct various expenses before tallying proceeds, including but not limited to marketing, admin, accounting, tax, free copies distributed, proofing and editing costs, ISBN registration, copyright enforcement, and legal costs.

Most of my publishers (I've had eight) have been pretty good at being fair about these. The others won't be seeing me again. But it does mean for some books where publishers have shelled out up-front for print runs or publicity launches there is sometimes simply no net profit for the author to get 60% of.

I'm always happy to proof anything for you for free. I really enjoyed reading the drafts to Mumph and TTC.




Mon-Mathra had her/his way with numbers. Surely an evilest of villains!




That sounds cool. Do you have a preference? Or is the work the same in either case?




Yep. I bet this was more enjoyable as well?




Always ask for a bit up front - noted.




I recall you mentioning this previously. It seems so strange to me, but what would I know.




Yikes, what a rotter! I hope you gave him a good serve!









You know, social media is a fickle thing, but there is a means to it. I could try to get some hits for you? It may or may not work...but if you permit it I'd be happy to give it a go?

One thing I have also seen which has worked is offering a teaser - the first chapter (or book in a series) for free at the Kindle store - or something like that. Get them in. Rope them up.




I can only imagine.




Makes sense. Thanks for sharing these behind-the-scenes stories. It's interesting to see.