Exclusive Knight and Day Book!

On the Road with Knight and Day!  The story begins with a little girl wanting a cat, then her mother needing a vacation, and ends up with a compromise that has the Knight family driving 18 hours to Florida... on a whim!  It'll be over 20 pages of Knight and Day goodness when finished, with new artwork for the cover, and some never before seen strips and illustrations from their trip, including some time at Walt Disney World, and a side trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina.  The Kickstarter cartoon above will definitely be in there as well, IF this book gets made, that is.

This book has been planned for a while to be the big incentive in getting people to contribute to this much needed kickstarter.  However, I've been pretty busy so the book is on hold until the Ghost Pirate Skeletons of Three Craters Lake is finished, and I've put to bed the magazine I'm currently illustrating.  Have no fear, though... I love this story and it will get done.  Only if the kickstarter succeeds, though, will you see this delightful little collectible.  Otherwise, you'll have to wait for the next Knight and Day comic strip collection to come out... and that may be a long wait!

First off, yes, I do plan on having one more Knight and Day comic strip collection... a companion to my first book Take Me Away From All This!!.  And yes, most of this vacation storyline will appear in that book.  However, the second book was supposed to celebrate 10 years of Knight and Day, which was last year, so you can see where the schedule is right now.  Frankly, I'm about halfway through the book, so... depending on where the company goes next year, it may be a very long wait.
My plan is to finish On the Road with Knight and Day this December, have the limited number of books printed, and, providing the Kickstarter works out, shipped out in January.  I will try to get the cover art done in time to post it at the kickstarter for all to see.

Check out my kickstarter page for more.  See you there,    JOHN :0)

New stuffs!

I haven't posted in a while because I have been extremely busy creating a lot of new material, preparing for the convention season, and arranging for tons of new merchandise and art for all of us HappyGlyphs Comics fans! In this blog post, we'll try to catch up on these things.

First off, for upcoming conventions I have a new comic book, and some awesome collectible pins!

The Inquiring Minds "Funny Pages" is a full color comic strip collection in standard comic book format. Like The Inquiring Minds #1, this book collects some of the best of The Inquiring Minds Sunday and daily strips, all in full color. The new book has a lot of the same material as the first book (which is being phased out... no new copies will be printed). The standard comic book format allows for a lot more comics in fewer pages, and also some taller strips and artwork.

The collectible pins speak for themselves! If you collect pins at Disney parks, then you'll know exactly what you're getting here; cool pins you can stick to your hat, your jacket, or even a comic con lanyard. And best of all, they're pretty cheap. :0)

I am also expanding to a new range of artwork that is more affordable, but just as nice. The new art prints are decent quality, but cheaper than our Fine Art prints. Sales will determine which direction we will pursue in the future, or perhaps we'll continue to offer both options as well as original art.

So a new book, new art, and new collectible pins! A nice start, eh?

All of these will be available at the Baltimore Comic Con, the Columbus Comic Con, and hopefully others soon. We will also offer these at the HappyGlyphs Comics Shop at HappyGlyphs.com after the next site upgrade.

Now, I'm off to put all these new items into inventory! Paperwork never ends, does it? :0)

All the best, JOHN :0)

PS And don't think I'm riding high on past laurels!  Check out HappyGlyphs.com for lots of new Knight and Day strips, including color Sunday strips. :0)

Press Release: Once Upon A Times... the Early Comic Strips of John Steventon

Press Release: Once Upon A Times... the Early Comic Strips of John Steventon
For Immediate Release: April 10, 2010

John Steventon and HappyGlyphs Comics are very proud to announce a brand new comic strip collection, Once Upon A Times... the Early Comic Strips of John Steventon.  As the title implies, this is a collection of John Steventon's early work.  John is best known for his two comic strips Knight and Day and The Inquiring Minds, and this book explores the origins and evolution of these two comic strips and the characters that reside within.  "This book explores my growth as a Cartoonist," John says, "and follows my various attempts at newspaper Syndication.  There is a lot of fun stuff for the casual reader, and a good deal of valuable information for anyone wanting to learn about the craft of Cartooning."

Basically, the book is made up of chapters defined by John's various attempts at newspaper syndication.  Each chapter contains a new comic strip, and starts out with material submitted to Syndicate Editors.  This includes plot synopsis, character sketches, and cover letters, as well as the strips themselves.  Also included is John's thoughts on the strips, comments received from Editors, and other hard earned information as to why a strip wasn't picked up, and what could have been done better.

The strips are not the stinkers you may expect from a Cartoonist just starting out. "Actually," John says, "I left out my really early stuff, and my attempts at magazine cartooning.  What is here, though, are the origins of my more popular characters, and their evolution through various looks and even name changes.  Some of the early chapters may be a little rough, but I think the humour is very good, and surprisingly there's some nice art here."  By rough, the Cartoonist explained that his early material doesn't follow the standards of the newspaper comics page. "I didn't use the character's names in every strip, and my first strip was an adventure that needed a bigger platform to tell its story than a comic strip.  The reader may wonder what the heck is going on at times, but I do give a synopsis to get things started, and hopefully I can be forgiven for stumbling through my first attempts at Cartooning".

Over all, there is a nice progression to the book.  As the Cartoonist learns from his mistakes, the strips get better and easier to follow, and will hopefully leave the reader wanting more.  For that, the reader can turn to John's first book, Take Me Away From All This!!, a Knight and Day comic strip collection.  Knight and Day was created immediately after the completion of the strips in Once Upon A Times..., and this new book serves as a delightful prequel to Knight and Day as well as The (new and improved) Inquiring Minds that soon followed.

Once Upon A Times... is a must for any fan of HappyGlyphs Comics, and anyone interested in developing a comic strip of their own.  Once Upon A Times... will be available through HappyGlyphs Comics, and Lulu.com. Click the store name to visit that site.


Iris Knight, April 10, 2010

Press Release: Two Henges, a Hill, and One Long Barrow

For Immediate Release:
June 15, 2007

Two Henges, a Hill, and One Long Barrow



HappyGlyphs Comics is very happy to announce the release of our newest, and most unusual for us, book. "The book is unusual", explains John Steventon, "because it is not a comic book or cartoon collection; however, it's not that far a stretch. Two Henges, a Hill, and One Long Barrow is a travel book that deals with ancient sites in Great Britain. Our first graphic novel, 3 Knights in India is a kind of travel book, and of course our company logo contains a large stone with a petroglyph on it. I think Standing Stones are cool, and I often include them in my cartoons."

Two Henges, a Hill, and One Long Barrow is a look at West Kennet Long Barrow, the Avebury complex, and especially Stonehenge through the eyes of Cartoonist and Illustrator John Steventon.

Four dozen high resolution, color photographs (most of them full page) give the reader a visual tour of these wondrous places, with the author’s learned commentary adding facts, asking questions, and giving a unique insight into their design, purpose, and meaning today.



John Steventon has visited the UK many times over the last dozen years, and spent a lot of time at many of its historic places. With this book he encourages you to learn more about these fascinating places, and to one day see them for yourself.

Although this is our first non-cartoon book, Two Henges, a Hill, and One Long Barrow does include several illustrations by the Author.

The book is 64 pages, and full color. It is immediately available through our Lulu.com bookstore, at the following link:

http://stores.lulu.com/knightndayemail

While you are there, please take a look at our diverse, and growing, list of books. We also offer free downloads of some material, and free previews of each book.

“Take Me Away From All This!!”
A Knight and Day Comic Strip Collection

3 Knights in India
A Knight and Day Graphic Novel

Two Henges, a Hill, and One Long Barrow
Photographs and Essays

And if you like history, I can heartily recommend Brian Hughes' book, The History of the Wyre (From Harold the Elk to Cardinal Allen). It's fun, informative, and filled with illustrations from my favorite cartoonist!