15th September, 2009 - Posted by Chris
Just wanted to share some news that was made official today.
Robert Heske (of "Cold Blooded Chillers" and "The Night Projectionist" fame) has kindly included "The Ends" (written and lettered by Myself – Art by my boy Marc Jameson) in the forthcoming "2012: Final Prayer" Anthology.
Scope it out here: 2012: Final Prayer
To quote Marc
“As you can see there’s an ass-load of quality content that’s gonna be in the book. It’s also cool to see a few familiar names on the list alongside me and Chris, such as Rita Gorgoni and Stefano Cardoselli of Azurek Studio as well as Shawn Gabborin of Angry Gnome Comics.”
There’s also a few names I recognise from the Insomnia crew (Stephen Downey, Martin Hayes, Ollie Masters and Dino Caruso, Xander Bennett and Melanie Cook).
Looks like we’re in good company.
Tentative release date: 15th November 2009… Should be good!
In other news I NEED to share this awesome picture of me drawn/coloured by the amazing Rob Jackson :
That’s all for now folks!!!
Cheers,
Chris
24th August, 2009 - Posted by Chris
Just wanted to post a recent piece I coloured on request of a friend. Gargoyle (DaveW) from the ‘Waiting for the Trade’ commissioned this Dredd sketch from the awesome Jimmy Bott and I haphazardly slapped some tones on it.
I’ve also just finished with the last of the Hometown Heroes #0 issue pages leaving me some time now to sink my teeth into some more projects, more on those soon though.
Cheers,
Chris
9th August, 2009 - Posted by Chris
I wanted to let people know that Page 5 of ‘Inner Turmoil’ has been posted over at Markosia. ‘Inner Turmoil’ and ‘The Dark Tyke’ are both chapters of the comic which I coloured… seemingly a long time ago, I’m still fond of them though.
Also Murky Depths #9 was just released, although I don’t have a story in this mine and my artists (Marc Jameson) bio for my story in #8 is in there along with my ugly mug.
Murky Depths just keeps getting better and better, if you haven’t already read it but are a fan of Dark Speculative fiction in prose OR Comic form then you should try it.
Cheers,
Chris
7th August, 2009 - Posted by Chris
So B.I.C.S is rapidly approaching, early October sees what should be my first real con of the year with Bristol being smaller than usual and me having to dash off early.
I will hopefully be going there with samples of my work in progress and ideas to show to anyone who is interested but I will also be very interested in one particular Graphic Novel that is due for release thereabouts, Burke and Hare.
Yes it’s from Insomnia but regardless of any ties I have when i first saw pages from the book i knew I had to get it, there should be more graphic novels like this.
The book also has a foreword from the awesome Alan Grant, further proof (as if it were needed) that this book is going to be something special. I’ve quoted the below from the Insomnia site.
"There’s a moment in life that I savour: that delicious, perplexing instant when you realise that something you’ve ‘known’ for years is actually a crock of nonsense. Like discovering there’s no Santa Claus. Or realising your parents can’t read your mind when you think about sex. The Universe ripples like Predator shimmying through the jungle…and when it rights itself, reality has taken on a slightly different hue.
I had just such a mini-epiphany the first time I read Martin Conaghan and Will Pickering’s ‘Burke & Hare’. At school in the 1950s and ’60s I was taught almost no Scottish history, and I spent the next 50 years believing Burke and Hare were ‘resurrection men’, graverobbers who dug up freshly buried corpses and sold them for cash. It was a revelation to discover they were actually serial killers, vile brutes who measured the price of human life in pounds, shillings and pence, monsters for whom alcohol and smothering were the tools of their trade.
And yet… Burke and Hare were men, too. They were human beings who – superficially at least – weren’t all that different from their Edinburgh contemporaries. The major difference between them and most of the human race is that they saw murder for financial gain as an acceptable way to earn a living.
Revealing their story in generally short, concise chapters, Martin Conaghan’s script is sparing and very much to the point. Indeed, he takes great care not to over-embellish the story with fiction, sticking almost religiously to the facts as presented to us by history. It is an approach which works well, presenting the killers’ heart-chilling evil deeds as being almost mundane in their execution.
Will Pickering’s art fits the story – and the times – perfectly. Facial expressions are beautifully captured, as are the dress and general atmosphere of the period. The detail on many pages – especially those external shots of Edinburgh in the early 19th Century – is priceless. And Rian Hughes’ cover design is exactly what the story inside demands.
Together, Martin and Will have produced something of which they and their publisher – the relative newcomer, Insomnia – can be very proud. As well as being educational and entertaining, they’ve gone one better and given us something important.
Hopefully, the Universe will ripple and change for a great many of their readers. "
Alan Grant, Moniaive,
July 2009
Exciting times..
Chris
25th July, 2009 - Posted by Chris
Just got the aforementioned sketch card through the post from Chad Cicconi, it came nicely laminated which I didn’t expect.
Now I just have do find a nice place to put it so i can see it all the time.
Chris
18th July, 2009 - Posted by Chris
I was trying to remove the ComicPress part of my old WordPress layout and cocked it up, hence the reason for the slight re-design.
I actually like this new one more though.
Cheers,
Chris
17th July, 2009 - Posted by Chris
Just wanted to post this ultra-cool Blink commission that Chad Cicconi did for me.
I’m a huge fan of the character and just can’t wait to get my hands on this beauty, if you like what you see go to Chads site, the prices are very reasonable. 
Cheers,
Chris
11th July, 2009 - Posted by Chris
Just a quick update, things are chugging along with Hometown Heroes & Shiver and I’m working on a few more anthology submissions.
‘The Dark Tyke’ story that I coloured for Markosia / Baby Boomers is all up on their website now and they have just started posting Chapter 12 ‘Inner Turmoil’ which I also coloured for them.
Anyway, back to the grind.
Cheers,
Chris
7th June, 2009 - Posted by Chris
Just wanted to post some links to the the first two proper reviews I’ve seen on Murky Depths #8 and my story ‘Pilgrimage’.
“Another atmospheric comic strip comes from Christopher Barker, whose character goes on a ‘Pilgrimage’ through a post-apocalyptic landscape in search of the few remaining tall buildings. The story cleverly mixes religious symbology with a post-apocalyptic reverence for surviving technology and was a satisfying conclusion to this issue’s fiction.”
http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/articles/books/2009/nz13973.php
“The issue ends with another graphic story in “The Pilgrimage” by Christopher Baker. Zenith is on a special pilgrimage, one in which her friend Zenith gives his life. Baker surprises us with an end we do not expect in another effective story.”
http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=9175
Despite SFRevu getting my name wrong it feels really good that people actually seem to like the story.
Giving me the warm fuzzies!
Cheers,
Chris
16th May, 2009 - Posted by Chris
Interesting video by Scott McCloud at the TED confrence. not news to anyone who has read his ‘Understanding Comics’ and ‘Re-inventing Comics’ books. Interesting non-the-less.
