Tag: 7 Shades

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Sammael Hicks rides again!

Sammael Jehosephat Hicks is the (Dead)star of the show today. It’s Deadstar Publishing’s 11th birthday and we’re celebrating with a return to the cursed town of 7 Shades.

We released the first 4 part miniseries in 2018 and followed up in 2019 with Hell’s Belles. Originally we’d planned to release the second 4 part miniseries in 2020… but there’s been this slight global disruption going on recently that slowed us down a bit. Nothing major… just a pandemic…

It’s looking like we’ve turned the corner now and we’re starting to come out the other side. We’ve been discussing signing events at comic stores, and in a few more weeks we should be attending our first comic con in over a year. That, coupled with it being our birthday, made us think that the time is right to peel back the curtains and give you a peek at the mysteries beyond.

And then Jericho

And Then Jericho Cover

“And then Jericho” is the first book in the next 7 Shades arc and you can get it today! Yes, that’s right. It’s our birthday so we’re giving you a present! We’ll be releasing the book in physical form at the London Film and Comic Con on July 24th-25th but you don’t have to wait that long for it. The ebook is on our store today!

Spoiler Warning!

If you haven’t read the first arc and Hell’s Belles, the first oneshot, then you should pick those up now.

Got them? Good! “And then Jericho” follows on after the events of Hell’s Belles (the last thing we released before the world paused) with Samm Hicks now squarely in post as sheriff of the wretched town of Seven Shades. Meanwhile Cousin Uriel, the Hicks brothers’ slippery snake-oil selling shyster of a relative, has arrived to help enact Mayor Azrael Hicks’ plans to ensnare the unwitting townfolk and turn them to his bidding. All the while, Samm’s sister Elsie-beth is getting sicker. And Samm? Well, he’s got other things on his mind. Can he save the town? You’ll have to buy the books to find out!

Two pages from "And then Jericho"
Click for the full size image

The ebook is available today – and you can preorder the physical copy which we’ll post from Monday July 26th.

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Panels and Interviews oh my!

Swansea Panel Image

In the past few weeks we’ve had the pleasure of working with the Swansea Comics and Gaming Convention on a few different things.

Back in March, our editor (Kevin) was interviewed by Adam and Ricky as part of their ongoing spotlight series on small press creators. You can see what we ended up discussing (with topics ranging from how we got started through to who would win in a fight between Sonic and Mario) here.

A few weeks later, the duo ran a 24 hour live stream to celebrate the Swansea Comic and Gaming Convention 2021 with assistance from a variety of co-hosts, and we had the opportunity to collaborate again when they asked if we could conduct a creator panel for them. Since Kevin had encountered a few technical issues during the interview, we opted to record the panel a few days before and we sourced questions from various fans.

Pete Rogers (the writer for 7 Shades) was joined by Dave Clifford (artist on both 7 Shades and Dexter’s Half Dozen) and we had our first real chance to catch up since November 2019! The video is below and there’s a full transcript here.

It was probably a good idea that we pre-recorded it because on the day disaster struck and the file didn’t transfer correctly to the location Adam and Ricky were streaming from. Fortunately, we’re based in Cardiff so a quick dash down the M4 with a portable hard drive solved the problem – and Kevin had a chance to watch the livestream in person for a bit.

You might notice there’s a link in the bottom right of the video for the panel – that’s because as part of their 24 hour livestream, the Swansea Comic and Gaming Convention were raising money for the Wales Ape & Monkey Sanctuary. The fundraiser is still active and your support there will help keep a non-breeding, non-capturing ethical sanctuary open.

Going forward, we’re exploring how to make more video content… so watch this space!

 

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Interview with the creators of 7 Shades

Our  next release is going to be 7 Shades: Hell’s Belles, the follow up one-shot to last year’s 4 issue miniseries. A few months back we caught up with David Clifford and Peter Rogers while they were doing a signing event at The Comic Guru and were able to record this interview with them.

In the interview David and Peter go into detail what the creative process looks like for them as well as talking about future plans. The series has been really well received so far and we’re looking forward to that continuing. Next week we’ll be launching 7 Shades: Hell’s Belles at Thought Bubble in Harrogate. David will be at Thought Bubble and will also join us at MCM Birmingham on November 16th and 17th. We have more appearances planned for the future. Keep an eye on our appearances post for more details.

We’d love to know what you think of the video – and of the series… and if you’re yet to pick up the first season you can find it here!

Production team

We’d like to thank the following for making the interview possible:

  • Editor & Videographer: Benjamin Powell
  • Audio Engineer: Barney George Andrews
  • Sound Mixer: Patrick Flannery
  • Image FX: Dani Abrams
  • And a special thanks to Kristian Barry of The Comic Guru for allowing us to film in his store.

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Passing on our knowledge to the next generation

A few weeks ago we ran a poll on our Facebook page asking if our fans would find value in us sharing our experiences of running an independent publishing company for almost a decade. The overwhelming result was that it was something people would like to see… so we’re going to do it!

Facebook Poll asking whether people wanted us to pass on our knowledge
Facebook Poll asking whether people wanted us to pass on our knowledge

We’ve already thought of a number of topics we could cover, from what talents/roles are needed to take a comic from start to finish – to how to budget for expos and more.

As this is something we want to get YOU involved in though, we have a request: let us know in the comments what topics you want us to write about. That way we can be sure we’re giving you the really useful parts of our experience.

The first post will probably go up in December or January as we have other things (like launching 7 Shades: Hell’s Belles and Dolphin Squad: The Colouring Book) to focus on until then.

7 Shades Hell's Belles cover
7 Shades Hell’s Belles cover
Cover for the upcoming Dolphin Squad Colouring Book
Cover for the upcoming Dolphin Squad Colouring Book

 

 

 

By the way… both titles are now available to pre-order!

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Ask us about our bundle deals

Two of our price guides

When we go to expos and comic cons (and we’re doing about 20 of those this year) we have a little sign on the table with our prices and a notice that says “ask us about our bundle deals”.

Two of our price guides that mention our bundle deals
Two of our price guides that mention our bundle deals

The reason for this is fairly simple: comics are sequential and if you want to pick up a whole story arc at once we want to encourage that… so to make it easier for you we offer discounts based on how many story arcs you pick up at once.

That hasn’t really been possible with our online store until now and we felt that was a little unfair so we’ve created a few pre-selected bundles specifically for the website.

We have four bundle deals so far:

What’s in each bundle?

With each of them, we’ve tried to focus on value for money. The badges are an easy one – they sell for £4 per set of 3 but the bundle is only £6 for six badges. With the 7 Shades miniseries you can have the whole 4 issue story in ebook and physical formats for £17 – it would cost you £24 if you wanted to buy those individually. Our Dexter’s Half Dozen bundle gets you 296 pages of printed comics and the same in digital copies for just £30 compared to the £68 that would cost when bought individually. And with our Dolphin Squad bundle deal you’re getting three graphic novels, a poster, six badges and a whole host of downloadable goodies for just £30! Buying the three graphic novels on their own would be more than that.

We’ve collected things this way because that’s what people usually ask for when they see us at conventions – but if you have other ideas on bundle deals that you’d like to see, contact us and let us know!

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7 Shades – A Brand New Comic From David Clifford and Peter Rogers

Last Saturday we attended the Cardiff Independent Comics Expo and had the pleasure of being joined by the creative team behind 7 Shades and Dexter’s Half Dozen.

 

The creative teams behind 7 Shades and Dexter's Half Dozen
The creative teams behind 7 Shades and Dexter’s Half Dozen

To the left is Peter Rogers, author of the Eagle-nominated anthology series Eleventh Hour as well as many other things. In the middle is David Clifford, artist behind both Dexter’s Half Dozen and 7 Shades – and to the right is Jamie Lambert, writer for Dexter’s Half Dozen.

When we were approached with the concept for 7 Shades we were immediately intrigued. It was described to us as a supernatural western, and having already seen the art for Dexter’s Half Dozen we were sure that David could do the theme justice. And he has.

Each page is fully painted art and looks gorgeous… as you can see here:

The story revolves around events occurring in the mysterious town of 7 Shades. The man you see being rudely awakened in the page above is our protagonist, Sammael Jehosephat Hicks, and he – with the rest of his family are on a quest to save his sister. Sammael is a pretty unreliable individual and to put your faith in him for something crucial is probably a bad idea. To say much more would spoil a story that ought to be read – and you can start that journey here! Below are the covers for issue 1 and 2. The series will be released in arcs and the concluding part of this arc will be released September 2018.

 

One of the things that Peter and David are keen to do is to have a Q&A page in each issue starting from issue 3. If you’ve got a question you’d like them to answer, you can email us or contact them through their own website.