The dark side

A typically dramatic and atmospheric picture from Martin here. It will come as no surprise that this came originally from his movie concept art portfolio. We talked about using it for a DFC cover (#34, January 2009) to tie in with "The Wrong Side of Bedlam", the episode that introduced Gus. But when we saw the age group that most of the DFC strips were pitched at, it was clear that something like this wasn't going to fit with the rest of the comic. Call me fussy, but dark and brooding just can't rub shoulders comfortably with candy-colored lettering and a Lazarus Lemming cover insert.

Mirabilis is sometimes dark and chilling and, in hindsight, probably didn't sit well with the DFC readers, who I'd guess were predominantly 7- or 8-year olds. That's why I'm keen to get it out in graphic novel form. Then it can find its own audience. Not that our story is ever very dark, come to that. No more so than a Tim Burton movie, say; we're not talking Pan's Labyrinth here. You'll be seeing this and other brilliant pics by Martin in the Gazetteer.