Temple Classic Covers 42

Temple Classic Covers 42 (c) Adam Grose

Temple Classic Covers 41

Temple Classic Cover 41 (c) John Kirkham

 

Another brilliantly thought out front/back cover combo from John Kirkham, showing why he was my first and only choice for art designer of the 100% Biodegradable anthology.

Temple Classic Covers 40

Temple Classic Cover 40 (c) Ian Alexander.  Back cover (c) David Morris

 

This front cover by Ian really impressed me, as it marked the transition from young comic artist wannabe to professional cartoonist. 

The back cover by David Morris (who was Central Mailer of the Temple at the time, and no stranger to members missing deadlines and coming up with outlandish excuses) was provided with tongue firmly in cheek.

Temple Classic Covers 39

Temple Classic Cover 39 (c)  David Jeffreys

 

After a long time absent from the Temple, David Jeffreys returned to jiggle his magnificent breasts at everyone.

His colouring and art style had really come a long way since he'd last been seen in the Temple's pages, and it was nice to have him back even if it was only for a short time.

Temple Classic Covers 38

Temple Classic Cover 38 (c) Frank Clarke

 

As well as providing some terrific cartoons, Frank was the first Temple member to introduce political satire into the mix.

Frank passed away several years ago, and his humour is sorely missed.

Temple Classic Covers 37

Temple Classic Cover 37 (c) Tony Suleri

I've always loved this cover by Tony.  Great characters, bright colours and tonnes of detail!

Temple Classic Covers 36

Temple Classic Cover 36 (c) Kyle Kimmons.  Back Cover (c) John Kirkham and David Hailwood

 

Kyle Kimmons briefly returned to see how things were going, and drop off a lovely colour cover, and John Kirkham provided a most amusing back cover which contained our short lived yet lovable creation 'Klaytus Girate the Schizophrenic Pirate'

Temple Classic Covers 35

Temple Classic Cover 35 (c) Tim Geeves

Temple Classic Covers 34

Temple Classic Cover 34 (c) Neill Cameron

A nice montage of images which demonstrates Neill's range.  Catch more of Neill's robot punching dinosaur rampaging antics in The Phoenix

Temple Classic Covers 33

Temple Classic Cover 33 (c) John Kirkham

 

Another terrific illustration, courtesy of John Kirkham.  

I was very taken with the character on the cover, and used him in many of me and John's three panel 'Headcheeze' comic series as a rather inept lifeguard.

Temple Classic Covers 30

Temple Classic Cover 30 (c) Stuart Giddings.  Back cover (c) Chow

 

To mark me and Stu Giddings departure from the Temple, Stuart drew the pair of us as zombies (I still use his picture of me as an avatar in some places online).  

I missed the next two issues of the Temple due to being caught up in college life (so if anyone has covers for issues 31 and 32 please send them my way!), but returned soon after.

The back cover was provided by Chow to add a bit of optimism to this death-day affair.

Temple Classic Covers 29

Temple Classic Cover 29 (c) Chow

A lovely cover from my old pal Chow, who I've worked with on several strips in the past.

Temple Classic Covers 28

Temple Classic Cover 28 (c) John Gallagher

 

John Gallagher was also the publisher of terrific horror anthology 'Bedlam' and had a taste for drawing the creepier things in life (except on this cover).

Temple Classic Covers 27

Temple Classic Cover 27 (c) Stuart Giddings and John Kirkham

 

John Kirkham put his design skills to good use by coming up with the concept for the front and back cover, which was used to usher in the turn of the century.  

Great choice of images, and a lovely colour scheme too.

Temple Classic Covers 26

Temple Classic Cover 26 (c)  Niblo Hartman and Neil Alexander

 

The dynamic duo of Neil and Niblo struck again with an illustration featuring their popular Full Montgommery character.  They also made good use of their Newspaper Cutting style (often found in their reviews) to give all the temple members some rather lovely personalised messages for Xmas.

Temple Classic Covers 25

Temple Classic Cover 25 (c) A Whole Heap Of Artists!

Upon reaching it's milestone 25th issue, John Kirkham (who had once again taken over as Temple Central Mailer, with me as Deputy CM) hit upon the idea of collecting all the Temple covers together as one cover image.

This issue also marks the moment that the '...of heroes' part was dropped from the APA's name, as both myself and John realised that it didn't properly reflect the material contained within, since very few of the members contributed superhero artwork.

Temple APA Issue Sixteen

Sun, sea and saucers...

Temple APA Issue Sixteen is now available to download as a totally free pdf file, containing contributions from the likes of Dave Hailwood, Simon Mackie, Tony Suleri, Paul Eldridge, Malcolm Kirk and Ben Peter Johnson, (who also provides the cover).

You can download from Dropbox, MediaFire or view online at Issuu.
PDF file size is 19.69 MB.

The Temple APA is a showcase for amateur and professional creators who are active in the UK comics scene. If you'd like to contribute or just want more information, check out the Temple blog or like us on Facebook...

Temple APA blog
Temple APA Facebook page

Temple Classic Covers 24

Temple Classic Cover 24 (c) Kyle Kimmons

This issue marked the departure of the Temple's founding member, Kyle Kimmons, who had briefly returned as Central Mailer to help keep things on track.  He did pop into the Temple on a few occasions after, but never stayed long.

I'm sure he's still out there somewhere, clad in a Zorro mask, waxing his moustache and fighting crime.

Temple Classic Covers 23

Temple Classic Cover 23 (c) Ian Alexander

A nice Warhammer inspired cover illo by Ian.

Temple Classic Covers 22

Temple Classic Cover 22 (c) Stuart Giddings

A jolly marvelous redesign of me and Stu's Nevada Tombs character, who appeared in 'The Teksas Chainstore Massacre', which was probably our most popular strip. 

Chainstore Massacre was published in 6 different comics (including Meanwhile, CAOF and Violent), and was finally given its last outing in Dave Candlish' Paragon a few years back.  It can still be viewed online here:

http://factorfictionpress.co.uk/violentwebcomic/2008/03/09/the-teksas-chainstore-massacre-1/

Temple Classic Covers 21

Temple Classic Cover 21 (c) Niblo Hartman and Neil Alexander

This issue also came with an alternative cover by manga artist Laura Watton, which I'll have to try and dig out at some point.

Temple Classic Covers 20

Temple Classic Cover 20 (c) Anthony Smith

  

Anthony Smith was a fantastic cartoonist, inker and also drew erotic images which you may have been able to deduce from this cover.  

Not sure what he's up to these days, but hopefully it includes lots of arty things.

Temple Classic Covers 19

Temple Classic Cover 19 (c) Kyle Kimmons

 

The Temple's first ever colour cover, courtesy of founding member and heroic moustache twiddler Kyle Kimmons.

This issue also marks my first stint as Temple Central Mailer (and a hell of a lot of photocopying on my behalf, in an attempt to keep the issues looking meaty after the previous issues complications).

Temple Classic Covers 18

Temple Classic Cover 18 (c) Tim Geeves

Issue 18 was probably the source of the biggest Temple controversy, and came very close to being the last Temple ever. 

You see, after all the momentum that the Temple had built up and the constant influx of new members, this issue promised to be the biggest and the best yet.  The legendary John Freeman was coming onboard, as was some likeable chap named Neill Cameron.  The future was all bright and shiny and happy times were to be had by all, oh yes indeed!


Except Issue 18 completely failed to materialise.  Several months passed, many a frenzied phone conversation was had, and attempts to contact the new Central Mailer (responsible for putting the issues together and sending them out by mail) failed.

True to his Superhero heritage, the Temple's founder Kyle Kimmons travelled several hundred miles across the country, rounded up a small possy of angry Scotsmen (Darren Taylor) and raided the Central Mailers house in an SAS fashion.  After wrestling the contributor's pages from the CM's cold, dead fingers, they compiled the issue in record time and sent it out as fast as they possibly could.

Sadly the damage was already done, and after that issue the membership began to dwindle and the Temple never really recovered.  Still, if it hadn't been for Kyle and Darren's valiant efforts (and John Kirkham, who must've racked up one hell of a phone bill that month doing rumour control), the Temple would've been 55 issues shorter.  Cheers, chaps!  May your collective beards and moustaches never tarnish!

Temple Classic Covers 17

Temple Classic Cover 17 (c) Gordon Somers

 

A really nicely thought out superhero themed cover from another great Scottish artist, who also happens to be Darren Taylor's cousin.

Come on Gordon...when are you going to do some more Blackdog pirate strips, eh?  I've been waiting ages!

Temple Classic Covers 16

Temple Classic Cover 16 (c) Matt Garvin

Interesting Factoid #2:  Within five seconds of meeting Matt at a comic convention, he accidentally spilt an entire pint in my lap, thus forcing me to retire to the toilets and thrust my groin at the hand dryer, to the accompaniment of many a strange look from grown men dressed as Klingons.  Several hours later, for an encore, Matt decided to spill a skinheads pint and immediately blame it on me.  Oh what merry larks! 

Good Guys Go Digital

Ex Temple member Neil Alexander has decided to infect the digital world with his insane comic ramblings!

Good Guys Issues 1 and 2 are available to buy both on Comicsy and on Drivethru for a mere £1/$1.49.

Neil describes his superhero series as "an action packed sit-com-ic that takes a sideways swipe at societies fame fixated failings."

He also urges: "buy it, you computer sh*ts!" and who can argue with a sales pitch as eloquent as that, eh?

Temple Classic Covers 15

Temple Classic Cover 15 (c) Tony Suleri

 

Now where would the Temple be without a fantastically intricate Tony Suleri cover, eh?  

Tony is another long-time Temple contributor, and his distinctive style has made him a very popular artist in the small press/indie comics field.  I've worked with him on more projects than I have with any other artist, and am constantly surprised that he has yet to be snatched up by a professional comics publisher.

Check out his 550 page epic 'Cosmogenesis' (written by Adam Grose) for some truly mind-meltingly detailed artwork.

Temple Classic Covers 14

Temple Classic Covers 14 (c) Lee Cooke

Lee Cooke was possibly one of the fastest artists on the face of the planet (only just beating Tony Suleri) and had a habit of labeling every finished page with the amount of minutes/hours it had taken him to complete.  I worked with Lee on a number of strips which were aimed at a younger audience than I was used to writing for (which explains why they contained so many swear words!) and appeared in Shane Chebsey's legendary CAOF comic back in the nineties.

Temple Classic Covers 13

Temple Classic Covers 13 (c) Darren Taylor

 

A rather amazing Scottish superhero artist and a jolly nice bloke too!  It was immediately obvious from the quality of Darren's art that he was going to go places, and since leaving the Temple's hallowed halls he has worked for a whole host of professional organisations including Cbeebies, NickJr, Nelvana and Disney UK.  You can see more of his bally marvelous artwork here. 

Incidental Factoid #1.  I once went to visit Darren whilst he was living in Kent, and his then miniature daughter successfully managed to tie my shoelaces together.  To this day, I still haven't figured out how to untie them...

Temple Classic Covers 12

Temple Classic Cover 12 (c) Simon Mackie

 

Simon Mackie is one of the Temple's longest running members, and still contributes to this day.  His Flick and Jube comic strip was often the highlight of the Temple, and can be read in its entirety here:

Free Doggie!

For World Book Day UK comic writer Jason Cobley has made all his ebooks free, including The Greatest Adventures Of Captain Winston Bulldog, The Extraordinary Exploits Of Captain Winson Bulldog, and Bulldog Clips.

I've always had a bit of a softspot for Captain Bulldog as the Bulldog Adventures Magazine was the first small press comic I ever brought (way back in the nineties!). There's some mighty fine creators involved in these comics, and you'll find the likes of Garen Ewing (of Rainbow Orchid fame), PJ Holden (2000ad regular), Neill Cameron (highly popular artist for The Phoenix, and ex-Temple member) and there's even a few contributions from myself and Paul Harrison Davies (my Bunk Mates and Hoodied Horror collaborations with Paul appear inside Bulldog Clips).

Anyway, enough waffle from me! They may not be free for long, so pop along to Lulu and start downloading them now!

Temple Classic Covers 11

Temple classic cover 11 - Artwork (c) John Kirkham.

 

This issue John Kirkham (or 'Fuz' as he was then known) burst onto the scene with a brilliant, eye catching cover.  He later went on to run the Temple on several occasions, and his flare for design work made him the perfect choice for Assistant Editor on the 100% Biodegradable comic anthology

The cover for this issue proved so popular that it was used again for the Temple's one-off comic anthology 'Small Fish'.

The Good Guys

Ex-Temple member and all round jolly nice chap Neil Alexander will be launching his anarchic superhero comic series 'Good Guys' at the Cardiff Comic Convention this weekend.  Comics are £3 each, or £5 for both.

 

The tagline for the series is:

'Saving the world that’s not in peril. Good Guys don’t give up, even when nobody needs them.'  So  you're sure to encounter happy hijinks and joyous carnage aplenty.

 

  If you're not attending the convention, they are both available on his newly revamped website here: http://neil-alexander.com/good-guys/buy-the-comic.html

 

If you are attending the convention then please pop along to Neil's stall an give him some money and a hug (he particularly enjoys big sweaty man-hugs.  Can't get enough of 'em).

 

He also has a Facebook page, which you can 'like' in an attempt to make Neil feel popular and handsome and stuff here:  https://www.facebook.com/goodguyscomic

 

 

Temple Classic Covers 10

Temple classic cover 10 - Artwork (c) Neil Alexander.

This issue welcomed onboard my good friend Neil Alexander (another artist who I still work with from time to time).  Neil eventually partnered up with his mate Niblo, and together they wrote some of those most amusing 'artistic critics' of other contributor's work, usually over a bottle of cheap vodka.

Temple Classic Covers 9

Temple classic cover 9 - Artwork (c) David Jeffreys. 

David had the pleasure of being the Temple's first controversial artist, with his liking for illustrating buxom young wenches in various states of undress.  He also gave rise to the Temple's very first Special edition, which was naturally a Swimsuit Edition.

Temple Classic Covers 8

Temple classic cover 8 - Artwork (c) Ian Alexander.

Ian was the Temple's youngest member, and did this cover at the tender age of 12 or 13.  I still work with Ian to this day, and as you'll see from his work on Eat Me his art has come a long way since then...

This is also the issue that myself and Stu Giddings (along with a wealth of other newcomers) first joined the Temple.

Temple Classic Covers 7

Temple classic cover 7 - Artwork (c) Kyle Kimmons.

Temple Classic Covers 6

Temple classic cover 6 - Artwork (c) Kyle Kimmons and Mark Tomblin.

Temple Classic Covers 5

As the cover for issue 4 is missing, let's skip ahead to issue 5!  Art by Adam Paga (I think...)

Temple Classic Covers 3

Temple APA Cover 3, by Ryan Sharp (art (c) the original creator)

Temple Classic Covers 2

Temple APA Cover 2, by Kyle Kimmons