UPDATED: Asterix calendars

It's that time of year again when thoughts start to turn to next year, to that end I wondered if I'd be able to replace the 2023 Asterix calendar on my wall with a new version for 2024, luckily it seems I can...

Asterix calendar 2024

Asterix calendar 2023

A chance find at a bookshop in December 2019 has meant that, happily, an Asterix calendar has been hanging on my wall this year. 

2022 appears looks set to be a bumper year for Asterix calendars with these two calendars currently available on Amazon...

Working out a gift list for last Christmas inspired me to see if a calendar has been produced for...and, good news, it has been...and it's been on my wall all year

 

the calendar previously on my wall...

...I then started wondering if there had been calendars for other years...so far I've found just this one

A quick bit of googling brings up plenty of 'kalendars' for the German market but few others - or maybe they've just dropped the word 'kalendar' from the title (so that it can be sold more widely).

Anyway if you know of any other Asterix calendars do let me know - thanks.

If you're interested in comic calendars then you can check out my previous posts on the subject...

1). Beano & Dandy calendars are here
2). Commando calendars are here
3). Judge Dredd calendars are here
4). Broons calendars are here, here and here
5). Oor Wullie is here
6). Dan Dare calendar is here
7). Miscellaneous calendars are here

8). Viz calendars are here

UPDATED: Cosmic magazine

The other day (here) I looked at Take a Break spin-off magazine - "Cosmic - the BEST kids' magazine in the universe" - this starred Captain Cosmic (who has his own annual here). I've now identified further issues of Cosmic and present them here...

Contributors are as follows:

Scripts: Guy Campbell

Pencils: Paul Moran

Inks: Simon Ecob

Colour: James McAlister

Plus for the final issue (red cover, dated 11-24 February 1999) there's also...

Glenn Dakin providing the script for the Taliska story, Adrian Salmon providing the pencils & Bambos Georgiou the inks. David Leach also get a shout out.

Updated issues are shown in red - thanks to "3DEB" who sent me these images; £DEB entered (and won!) some of the competitions and is still the proud owner of a Captain Cosmic ruler and pencil sharpener.

Volume 1

Cosmic magazine - volume 1, issue 0, July 1997

Cosmic magazine - volume 1, issue 1, August 1997

Cosmic magazine - volume 1, issue 2, September 1997

Cosmic magazine - volume 1, issue 3, October 1997

Cosmic magazine - volume 1, issue 4, November 1997

Cosmic magazine - volume 1, issue 5, December 1997

Volume 1 is thought to last 5 issues (so Aug-97 to Dec-97)

Volume 2

Volume 2 is 13 issues long; monthly dated issues from Jan-98 to Dec-98 and then up to at least issue 13 (which is dated 26 November - 9 December 1998). So I suppose there could be an issue 14, which would be dated 10 December 1998 - 23 December 1998, which seems an odd date to finish the year on. I suspect there were only 13 issues as these could have been published 4-weekly with then a 'Christmas' issue to make up the gap between publishing monthly and publishing every 4 weeks.

Cosmic magazine - volume 2, issue 1, January 1998

Cosmic magazine - volume 2, issue 2, February 1998

Cosmic magazine - volume 2, issue 3, March 1998

Cosmic magazine - volume 2, issue 4, April 1998

image not to hand - can you help?

Cosmic magazine - volume 2, issue 5, May 1998

Cosmic magazine - volume 2, issue 6, June 1998

image not to hand - can you help?

Cosmic magazine - volume 2, issue 7, July 1998

Cosmic magazine - volume 2, issue 8, August 1998

Cosmic magazine - volume 2, issue 9, September 1998

Cosmic magazine - volume 2, issue 10, October 1998

Cosmic magazine - volume 2, issue 11, November 1998

Cosmic magazine - volume 2, issue 12, December 1998

Cosmic magazine - volume 2, issue 13

This is dated 26 November 1998 - 9 December 1998

Volume 3

Cosmic magazine - issue 4

The dating of issue 4 as 11 Feb - 24 Feb means that previous issues must have been dated as follows:

Issue 3 = 28 Jan - 10 Feb 1999

Issue 2 = 14 Jan - 27 Jan 1999

Issue 1 = 1 Jan - 13 Jan 1999

so Cosmic has moved from being published "monthly" to being published every fortnight

Sadly I've no idea how many further issues / volumes there were - if you know (or can fill in any of the gaps above) do just get in touch.

The format is consistent throughout...52 pages, plenty of comics, quizzes, competitions, posters, information, reviews - all that sort of stuff really that kids love. Issues have a Captain Cosmic strip at the start followed by Taliska's travels in time strip.

Further details have come to light since that first post...

UPDATED: Artist sketchbooks

I've enjoyed looking at the various programmes that have been produced to support all sorts of comic conventions over the years - one of the highlights for me in attending such a show is to meet the artists and to (just maybe) come away with an example of their art. If you can't afford a piece of original artwork then maybe a sketchbook from them is the next best thing? I've looked at many of these sketchbooks individually but I thought it was worth bringing all these posts together - and adding a few new images in too. Enjoy!

UPDATED - now with this Alan Davis sketchbook

it's described thus... a large size sketchbook of preliminary/unreleased/final art to covers/commissions Alan has done over the last decade or so.

I've looked at the sketchbooks of Simon Bisley before (here) and I see there are some new sketchbooks to buy, here they are...

The current sketchbook (dated 2021) is for sale here

Warning these links may have expired...

This edition (limited run of 700 copies) is available here for $40 but hurry, there aren't many left

This version (limited edition of 150 copies) is available here for $50 but hurry, there aren't many left

This version (limited edition of 150 copies) is available here for $175 but hurry, there aren't many left

Previous Bisley sketchbooks...

Simon Bisley sketchbook - 2018, 64 pages, limited edition of 400 copies

Simon Bisley sketchbook - 2018, 64 pages, limited edition of 100 copies

There also seems to have been this version too...

Simon Bisley sketchbook - 2008, 32 pages, limited edition of 1000 copies

All previous mention of Simon's work can be found on the blog here

Glenn Fabry sketchbook 1

I looked in more detail at this sketchbook here and here

Glenn Fabry sketchbook 2

Glenn Fabry sketchbook 3

I've looked at Glenn's work a few times on the blog - check out all the posts here

New addition to this post - The artbook of Glenn Fabry - limited to 100 copies and with an original retail price of 100 euro

Also new for this posting - Monograph by Glenn Fabry

Duncan Fegredo

David Millgate

Art from Sinister Dexter co-creator and Judge Dredd artist. This high quality 48 page A4 art-book, featuring concept art, sketches, 2000AD art, pencil, colour and inked work, produced with permission from 2000AD.

The first print run was just 100 copies, retailing at £14.99 plus postage (£3.00 UK), it was initially on sale at ICE Comic Con in Birmingham on 9th September 2017.

Or you can STILL pre-order a signed copy via Baden James Mellonie via Paypal badenmellonie@hotmail.com (for £17.99 UK, please ask about non-UK postage before ordering) or contact Baden on Twitter @MelMellonie

Frank Quitely

widely available - 128 pages, the Amazon blurb says

With three decades of comic art behind Frank Quitely, Drawings + Sketches selects work from Jupiter's Legacy, Jupiter's Circle, WE3, Pax Americana and more offering insights into the stories and processes behind them. Comics were invented in Glasgow. It is fitting then that Glasgow should be home to Frank Quitely, known worldwide for drawing Batman, Superman and X-Men. A standalone beautiful and inspiring art book, a must-have for any fan or aspiring comics creator.

John Higgins sketchbook

I didn't get this from an actual comic convention in Moscow, instead I got it at the 2000AD 40th birthday event in 2017, A5 sized, 44 pages

Chris Weston sketchbook, US comic book size, 40 pages, colour plus black & white illustrations

rear cover...

I looked here at this sketchbook in some more detail 

Boo Cook sketchbook - A5 sized
As it says inside "...sketches from 32 sketchbooks over 27 years"

Graeme Neil Reid sketchbook (2010), US comic sized, 28 illustrations
limited edition of 30 copies

Graeme Neil Reid sketchbook (2008), US comic sized, 28 illustrations

Graeme Neil Reid sketchbook (2012), US comic sized, 28 illustrations

Gary Erskine sketchbook, A4 sized, 60 pages, colour 

Which was then reprinted (and enlarged) and looks like this...

You can buy it here

Cam Kennedy sketchbook 1

Cam Kennedy sketchbook 2

I looked at these sketchbooks in more detail here

Brian Bolland sketchbook

Only 500 printed (according to the seller on ebay where I've swiped this image from)

Staz Johnson

You can buy this here

These two I picked up at the recent Lawless convention - sketchbooks by D'emon D'raughtsman D'Israeli 

All sketchbooks can be found on the blog here