Wow, has it really been that long since I posted on here last? Wow, crazy! It has certainly been an interesting time since I spoke with you all last... let me bring you up to speed a little bit.
Last year, I had the privilege of working with, and becoming friends with both the legendary
David Hasselhoff, and the king of Muscle Rock, the Mighty Jon Mikl Thor. These two collaborations came about whilst I was working on my ongoing RETRO TALES project, which is on hold but will be going ahead soon. I first got in contact with the Hoff via his website, and has since spoken to the legendary Knight Rider star several times. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of this. Getting to speak to David and exchange ideas for this has been an awesome, wonderful experience. It's very surreal, but also very,very cool at the same time. David has told me that I'm officially "Hofftastic"... and also sent me a photo of himself and STAN LEE with my artwork, which is possibly the most amazing compliment of my career!! The Hoff character, co-created by the Hoff and myself will appear as a time-travelling agent of H.O.F.F. (Heroes Of Fearless Freedom), and will team-up with the Funk Commandos in a history-making special team-up issue of RETRO TALES... and will be co-written by myself and David Hasselhoff.
As for my collaboration with
JON MIKL THOR, the one and only ROCK WARRIOR will be returning to the world of comics to team-up with the Discotronic Funk Commandos, the HOFF and some other super special guest-stars that I can't name (yet)!
Not only is the Rock Warrior going to be appearing in the pages of RETRO TALES, but I have also produced the artwork for two of his latest albums THUNDERSTRYKE 2 and ARISTOCRAT OF VICTORY. I can't put into words how proud I am to be collaborating with another of one of my all-time heroes! I am a HUGE fan of THOR, both as a person and his music, and I can't begin to say how many pages I've drawn listening to his music. I can honestly say that working with THOR has been a career highlight and an absolute pleasure. Plus, he's one of the nicest, most fan-friendly guys you could ever wish to talk to... either here, or on Asgard! In a show of mutual admiration, the Heavy Metal Thunder God had these VERY kind words to say about me, which I genuinely appreciate and treasure: "The comic and entertainment business is ever evolving...a machine of intertwining ideas that groan and bend - an enigma, with technology becoming a mystery of metamorphosis. It is with great pleasure and honour to see a beacon in the night, a shining star of creativity and talent... may I present Simon Williams. He has a resume a mile long with glories of the past but is also the future of this industry. In my dealings with him, he is someone you can count on to deliver the goods. He has original skills far beyond those of mortal men. Simon Williams has become a great friend and fellow entrepreneur. Hail to Simon and RETRO TALES!"
I've also had several pieces of artwork published in the US, including pin-ups in SAVAGE DRAGON and MARS ATTACKS JUDGE DREDD, where I collaborated with my good friend Anthony D. Lee... whose did an outstanding job on colours. You can check them out below.
And then, not only the highlight of last year, but perhaps my career... Heroclix released a Death's Head figure, based on MY artwork! Yes, the first ever official Death's Head toy... and it was based on a piece of work that myself, David Roach and Jason Cardy produced for Panini Comic's Death's Head Collection TPB! Words cannot describe how proud I am of this... the character I worked so hard to help bring back to comics, and his first official toy is based on my work. You can check it out below.
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| Original art by Simon Williams, David Roach (inks) and Jason Cardy (colours). They even included "Towards Enemy, Yes?" on his gun, which was Jason's contribution to the original work! |
I hope you've enjoyed catching up on this... I have got more new artwork to tell you about, but I'll do that next time. In the mean time, I shall leave you with this... a recent Hulk/Rocket Raccoon print that was sold at both the recent
Heroes and Legends convention in Margam Park, Wales... and
Auto Assembly 2014, with 50% proceeds going towards the ongoing medical care of Rocket creator Bill Mantlo. I'm very proud to be able to say that with the help of both
Simon Wyatt (
Unbelieveable: The Man who ate Daffodils) and
Jason Cardy (
Transformers: Regeneration One, Grimm Fairy Tales) we were able to raise £100! If you've seen the newest Marvel movie
Guardians Of The Galaxy, and would like to donate towards the ongoing care for Bill Mantlo, you can find out more
here.
