Doing it for the kids...

Happy Monday to you all!

This is a pretty big week in Etherington world, as not only do we have a ton of news and comic previews and releases to share, but our older brother is getting married at the weekend! WHOOP! Huge congratulations in advance, William and Karen - we can't wait to party with you guys.

In the meantime we thought we'd start with something cool. And we mean really cool.

Lorenzo and I make comic books. It's not the only work we create, but it's the medium that most appeals to our sensibilities. Storytelling with pictures and words has become our passion, and we always hope that our enthusiasm rubs off on our readers. But really, all we ever hope to see, all we ever need to see, is THIS.

These two amazing shots of young Noah Gillingham (seen reading our YORE collection and Baggage) were sneakily taken by his Dad, the remarkable filmmaker, James Gillingham. I think they sum up the power of comics better than any words. A young reader, entirely lost in a new world and a new adventure, oblivious to everything around him. I particularly like the momentarily abandoned Playmobil figure.

And who remembers KNEELING to read? That is commitment to the page...

Thanks Noah and James for reminding us of the pleasure that can result from (hopefully) doing a good job, and making something fun.

ReaditDaddy digs the Doog!

Part NINE of Von Doogan month is a great review of The Curse of the Golden Monkey by the fine folks at ReaditDaddy! You can read the full review HERE! Whoop! Thank you, guys!

More soon!

Lorenzo!

The Art of Von Doogan...

Part EIGHT of Von Doogan month is a gallery of Von Doogan posters, covers, character concepts and rare stuff! Enjoy!

Lorenzo!

Fantastic Interview Online ... Doogan, Don and 21 Draw under discussion!

We were delighted to be approached recently for an interview with leading comic review site, Bleeding Cool. These guys really know their onions when it comes to all things sequential.

And it was a fantastic chat, the best bits of which have been gathered and edited and arranged for your reading pleasure .... HERE!

So if you want to know more about Doogan's adventures, our trip to New Zealand, Don's origins, or Lorenzo's involvement with the hugely successful crowd-funded art book, simply click the link above and have fun.

Thanks to Olly MacNamee for helping to spread the good word!

Doogan fan Hamish has an EPIC WIN!

Part seven-and-a-half of Von Doogan month is this great pic tweeted out to us yesterday of top fan Hamish, who was named Doogan challenge winner this week in the Phoenix! Huge congratulations, Hamish, I hope you enjoy your prizes, and thanks for helping the Doog!

Lorenzo!

Forbidden Planet gives the Doog the thumbs up!

Part SEVEN of Von Doogan month is a big shout out to Richard Bruton over on the forbidden planet blog, who posted a great review of The Curse of the Golden Monkey this week.
You can read the full review (and see some sneak peeks at puzzles from the book) HERE! And you can buy the book from the forbidden planet store HERE!

In other news, as reported by the Guardian HERE, we're going to be appearing at the readingzone children's festival next week, so we'll see you all there!

Lorenzo!

Doogan sampler! Three FREE puzzles from the book!

Part SIX of Von Doogan month and today I'm giving you three FREE puzzles from the book to try out! Just click the links below to view a large version of each puzzle, and if you get stuck, I've uploaded some CLUES HERE and the SOLUTIONS HERE!

Lorenzo!

Great review for Von Doogan on Page45.com

Day FIVE of Von Doogan month starts with an epic review of the book by those kind folks over at Page45.com. Page 45 is an exceptional independent comic store, where the staff take the time to personally read, review and recommend their favorite titles. To read the full review, GO HERE and scroll down until you see the Doogan cover, then why not GO HERE to buy the book from Page 45!

More soon!

Lorenzo!

How I drew the Von Doogan Golden Monkey cover...

Part four of Von Doogan month is a look behind the scenes at the design of the book cover. Below is a break down of the process, from rough to final art, enjoy!

Lorenzo!

Six FREE Von Doogan mini puzzles!

Part three of Von Doogan month here - some free mini puzzles from the Doogan vaults to get your brains working! Also, the good folks over at Digital Spy have reviewed the book, which you can read over HERE!

How to draw...Von Doogan!

Part two of Von Doogan month here, with a little step-by-step of how to draw the Doogster! More soon!

Lorenzo!

Etheringtons Down Under - off a Bridge ... over a Jungle ... running WILD!

As you may be aware, while performing at the Auckland Writers Festival last month, Lorenzo and I (ably assisted by renowned poet/playwright/performer, Inua Ellams, and arctic monkey/adventure biographer/publicist, Huw Lewis-Jones) jumped off a perfectly serviceable bridge.

This was all done in the name of promoting the festival and generally scaring ourselves silly. Well, Inua and I were scared, anyway. Lorenzo was the picture of cool. This is how it went down.

Lorenzo got the most amazing dunk in the Tasman Sea. THAT is how you bungy. As you can imagine, we were all pretty delighted with having survived. Come to think of it, you don't have to imagine it. Here we are. Delighted.

After that it was all down hill...

But wait, there's MORE!!! And it was GENUINELY 'down hill', as Lorenzo and I headed out to Waiheke Island for some zipline action. This time we caught it on film. Here we are, hanging out while performing a little midair promotion for the writers festival. Note: for the hard of hearing we've subtitled the video in youtube and you can turn the captions on using the option beneath the video.

Okay, that's probably about enough silliness. The city of Auckland and Waiheke Island were stunning places to visit. As a tiny taster of New Zealand, they have served to whet our appetite for future adventures on the other side of the world.

Thanks to Fiona Stevens, Henry Van Asch and all at AJ Hackett Bungy for the lunacy on the bridge; thanks to Fiona and Phillipa Muir for the incredible meal at Depot (sliders, baby - food of the gods ... and how did we manage to book a table in a restaurant that doesn't take bookings???); thanks to Louise Vallant and Kelly Tapper, former Random House PR guru's, for introducing us to Waiheke Island and the pleasures of zip-lining, and NZ vineyards (not experienced at the same time!); and finally a huge thanks to the people of New Zealand, for being completely awesome all day long. Sweet as, bro.

Noho ora mai ra, na The Etherington Brothers.

Von Doogan and the Curse of the Golden Monkey released TODAY!

WHOOOOOP! It's VON DOOGAN DAY! Yes, my first Von Doogan book - The Curse of the Golden Monkey - is released today! To celebrate, we're declaring June VON DOOGAN MONTH, so you can expect to see a plethora of Doogan puzzles, making-of features, exclusives and more during the next four weeks here in Etherington world.

In the meantime though, you can buy the book HERE, or if you live outside the UK, you can get the book sent to you anywhere in the world with FREE shipping HERE! Enjoy!

Lorenzo!