It may seem like I have been quite quiet this year. It is true I have not written many reviews, however I have been working on two really exciting projects that will be kickstarted later this year.

Boxes is a new magazine from brilliant Scottish creator Steven Ingram. It will feature original comics from some wonderfully talented artists. Steven asked me if I would contribute some comics criticism to the magazine – well what could I say but ‘yes please!’. My article is titled – ‘The Golden Age Girls – An examination of ageing in comics via Cliff Chiang’s Catwoman Lonely City, Jaime Hernandez Locas and Alison Bechdel’s The Secrets of Superhuman Strength.’

Published by Third Bear Press, the magazine will be kickstarted in June – watch this space for more updates! Check out the amazing cover below.

The second project I have been working on is a little different. Vigilantia: what happens when artists and writers pay attention to Mogwai. As the title suggests it is a book of impressions of the work of Scottish art-rock band Mogwai. I have contributed a two page comic created in collaboration with a fantastically talented artist Jonny Cannon. Jonny is author of the amazing book The United and I am so pleased with the brilliant job he did on this.

The book will be out this Autumn from Chroma Editions, with profits going to the charity Refuweegee. Check out a couple of panels from the strip below.

The second volume of Jonny’s psychedelic noir British superhero epic The United is nearly wrapped up. The United: Going Underground will be appearing later this year. If you are not familiar with his work then I urge you to check it out. The first volume of the United is still available from the Cannonhill Comics website and many comics shops across the land (including Forbidden Planet in Glasgow and Edinburgh.)

Jonny describes it as “an angry love letter to comics” – I’ll be writing about the release in a bit more detail closer to the release date. Can’t wait, it looks amazing.