A Happy Christmas to all our Readers

It's been quite a year. I hope you can all have a peaceful time this Christmas and recharge for the year ahead.

Nollaig Chridheil!

Mark

More Magpie of Space

 The Magpie is back! Lt Hazard has been lost in teensiness somewhere in the Engineering Lab and now we know what has happened to him. Read all about it in The Magpie of Space.

MILK Has Been Funded

The good news today is that my pal Stevie White will have his graphic novel MILK published thanks to a lot of good people who pledged to fund it on Kickstarter.

 

The other good news is that I now have time to finish the next Magpie of Space comic. So watch for that soon.

 Happy St Andrew's Day!

As you may know, Space Pilot HQ is based in Scotland (along with a wheen of proposed spaceports). So I want to share our national day with you. 

 Here are a couple of saltires that you can print out. The double one gets folded over and glued with a stick up the side. Then trim off the top edge to restore symmetry.

Activity Expected Soon

 I've been launching a Kickstarter for my comics chum Stref and now it's all up and running. This is a great comic book called MILK and it showcases the huge variety of art styles that he can work in. All original Stref stories broadly across the SF and horror genres, it is available to pledge for here on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/soig/milk

This means I am starting to get some of my time back and a new episode of Magpie of Space is on the way too. Watch for news soon.

Magpie of Space: Watch this (Magpie of ) Space

Magpie of Space: Watch this (Magpie of ) Space:  Sorry for the delay in another issue coming out. I do have the plot for the next one and it will happen soon.  The reason for the delay is ...

Early Signs of Autumn

 2020 has presented us with a very long summer in many ways, but now there are little signs of autumn here in the southwest of Scotland. I collected a few today as I explored the Crichton Estate.

A Trip to Mars by Camera

 I've been admiring the nearby bright and clear view we're having of Mars this week. It's burning bright and fiery in the eastern sky around 11pm or so from this part of Scotland. I snapped off a few shots with my Pentax K-7 and git these quite satisfying results.

 

The little red dot of Mars in the night sky, too bright for the stars to be detected on the same image (ISO3200 f/4, 1/8s, f=18mm).

 

A closer look with a 300mm lens. Mars shines through the glare of a street lamp (ISO3200, f/5.6, 1/10s).

 

An enlarged view taken with the 300mm lens again (ISO3200, f/5.6, 1/60s).

It's still up there. So look out for it tonight if it's clear.

A Game For Space Farers

 How will Prof Poot Poot cope with all of the stress laid on him in Episode 10? Well Dr Zoe Scope has an idea and all will be revealed in the next instalment of Magpie of Space. She thinks playing a particular 3D game might help focus his mind and help him to offload the stress.

 

Out now!

Magpie of Space: Contagion - Episode 10

The waiting is over. Episode 10 is here.

Magpie of Space: Contagion - Episode 10:  Captain Bold, Chief McPhail and Mike Maseko have miniaturised and gone into the space station in search of the equipment necessary to recha...

A Break For Some Celebrations

Fine Wind, Clear Morning by Katsushika Hokusai

After getting Magpie episode 9 finished I've had a little time off. I turned 60 last week which means I'm starting on my second life, a big occasion. Katsushika Hokusai, a great artist of the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, changed his name on turning 60 and called himself "old man crazy to paint." I'm undecided about my second life name; "old man crazy to animate" might work but I also draw comics. Maybe "old man crazy to draw stories" might work best.

Anyway, there will be more Magpie of Space coming soon. My wife and I will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary shortly and then I'll reveal whether Chief McPhail's crazy plan works out.

Hokusai painted Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, of which The Great Wave off Kanagawa is one (look in the background).