Welcome to the News section.
Here, you’ll find news on the latest happenings in Thick Black Line’s world and the wider creative community.
Discovered something groundbreaking?
Produced a
career-defining piece of work? Let us know and we’ll post it up.
STRANGE HAPPENINGS!... Monday 23rd April, 2012
Well, that first quarter of 2012 flew!TBL has been hard at work and has a few very exciting bits and pieces to report...
Gaz has all but completed his duties on 'Yoshimi & Katoi's Strange Hill High' and, as reported back in January, the dailies are looking very special indeed. Look out for it on BBC1 towards the end of 2012. Good luck to directors Chris, Geoff and the production army in getting it all done and dusted. Break a leg, team! (well, if you HAVE to break a leg, make sure it's a little vinyl one.) More here.
Image courtesy of Fremantle Media Enterprises. (Left to right: Templeton, Mitchell Tanner, Croydonia Puttock, Bishop, Stephanie Bethany).
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SHE'S BE-HYNES YOU!... Monday 23rd April, 2012
I couldn't think of a good enough headline for this next bit of news, but TBL is massively proud to report a recent collaboration with another member of British comedy, TV and movie royalty, Jessica Hynes. Gaz had great fun bringing some of Jessica's new characters to life in blood-soaked, comic book glory... More on that when we can bring it. But a small teaser won't hurt...
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CANTERBURY'S FLAPS!... Tuesday 31st April, 2012
Prepare for the return of Simon Pegg & Canterbury. Simon recently did Thick Black Line the accolade of using one of Gaz's images to announce to his army of tweeters of his next instalment of The Adventures of Simon Pegg & Canterbury. Can't wait! Toast! See the tweet below or see the image a little better here:
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"YOU'RE DEAD!"... Tuesday 31st April, 2012
As reported at the start of 2011, TBL is collaborating with Folkestone artist and penman, Shane Record on one of Shane's short stories, 'Dead Bird' and we're pleased to report that it's on its way to getting out there! Graphic.ly have approved the first snippet. Please feel free to comment - all feedback is welcome except from you, mum - I already know you love it. View the preview on Graphic.ly HERE.
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NOTHING TO SEE HERE!... Tuesday 31st January, 2012
First off, Happy New Year from Thick Black Line! 2011 was indeed the exciting year that TBL was promised and we hope it was for you, too...
Gaz is still hard at work with the good folk at Yoshimi & Katoi, Factory Transmedia, CBBC and model-makers extrordinaire, MacKinnon & Saunders. We can safely say that when 'Strange Hill High' airs on BBC1 in late 2012, kids' TV won't be the same again..
Since we'd all probably be killed if we showed anything at the moment, we've attached a censored picture of Gaz, enjoying a hard-earned cup of tea next to some of our creations. Thanks to show creator and executive producer, Kat Van Henderson for the photo.
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SHH-H-H-H-H-H!... Tuesday 2nd November, 2011
Well-aware that the News section has been quiet of late, I think it's high time that I let you know what TBL has been up to for the past four months.
Thick Black Line has successfully rebranded and Superhero-ified a line of chewing gum for the European market (more on that later, once it's made public).
Speaking of being made public, for the past 2 years, Gaz Roberts of Thick Black Line Ltd. has been involved in the pre-production of a ground-breaking new CBBC show, ' Yoshimi & Katoi's Strange Hill High'. The good news is that it's been officially announced and it's full steam ahead with production. Gaz has been charged with the task of creating the full cast of characters... The work displayed here was created for the pitch back in 2009 - while good enough to win the pitch, we've started work on all-new characters... Look out for Yoshimi & Katoi's Strange Hill High on TV in late 2012... more here.
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"OH I DO LIKE TO EAT BESIDE THE SEASIDE!"... Tuesday 21st June, 2011
Folkestone, Kent. Once famous for fish, old sea-dogs and hearty, British, seaside fun. Once. BUT NOW - enter the dynamic duo of "Bucket & Spade" aka Mark Sargeant and Josh De Haan!. On behalf of Pebbleshores, colleague Daniel Kennedy & Gaz Roberts teamed to produce a super 'thank you and good luck' gift to them both on the opening of fantastic new Kent restaurant, Rocksalt. I'm very proud to have produced this fun-packed piece, especially as both Sarge and Josh loved it so much. Good luck chaps! See the comic here.
Special thanks to Douglas Blyde for the photo.
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COMEBACK KEN? WELCOME TO LONDON... Monday 20th June, 2011
Thick Black Line was invited by creative problem-solvers Innovation Arts to take part in a 5-day event for Edelman, the largest PR company in the world. I had the pleasure of capturing conversations and debates on various topics including The City of London with former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone... See the sribings here.
Thanks to John Leggat for the photo.
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THERE'S A NEW GUY IN TOWN AND HIS NAME'S, UM, GEOFF... Monday 4th April, 2011
Reteaming with the legends at Blend, TBL was posed this question:'If Blend was a superhero what kind of superhero would they be? "... Behold THE BLEND, or as we prefer to call him, 'Geoff'...see him here.
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A COFFEE AND A CHAT... Friday 18th March, 2011
Thick Black Line recently took part in Disability Cafe, a new event format designed to provide organisations with the practical tools and advice to progress their disability agenda. Employed by two lovely Helens from My Plus Consulting and Meeting Magic to capture thoughts, insights and presentations from the day. It was a roaring success - well done to all who participated. See! It's not always superheroes and Coke Zero around here! Learn more about Disability Cafe here and see the work here.
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TOAST!... Friday 11th February, 2011
To celebrate the cinema release of his new movie, 'Paul', The Adventures of Simon Pegg and Canterbury app will be on sale for the next 10 days at just 59p or 99c! Here
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Thick Black Line presents... Friday 11th February, 2011
Kal-El, The Man of Steel, Man of Tomorrow, Superman. The final piece can be viewed here but I thought it would be nice to put up a little something about the creative process that Thick Black Line practices. Enjoy.
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Happy New Year... Tuesday 11th January, 2011
The pencils are sharpened, the pens have been tested and the sketchpads have been stocked... Welcome to 2011. It's already shaping up to be very exciting one for Thick Black Line as I hope it is for you. To kick the year off, here's a sneak peak of an image from a new illustrated story entitled Dead Bird' written by Shane Record, illustrated by Gaz Roberts.
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APEY Christmas!... Monday 13th December, 2010
TBL has collaborated with the digital legends at Skinkers once more to bring you this year's most monkey-themed, seasonally simian Christmas procrastinator, Don't Wake The Christmas Monkey. Play it here but don't let the boss catch you.
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It's FINALLY here!... Thursday 25th November, 2010
The Adventures of Simon Pegg graphic novel app is released today on Apple products and Android, buy it here.
Simon also took a hard copy along for the Loose Women to enjoy...
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The EMPIRE Strikes Back... Friday 19th November, 2010
The Legendary Empire Magazine Online is currently giving away the exclusive first chapter of 'The Adventures of Simon Pegg...' Check it out here and then pop over to apple to download the full app on 25th November.
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Meanwhile in Londinium... Monday 15th November, 2010
Hot on the heals that the Batman Live show is heading to UK shores soon, issue #41of the Batman Legends comic book sees the Caped Crusader visit London courtesy of Grant Morrison. Good luck getting the Batmobile around the North Circular of a week day, Bruce... Read more here.
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IT'S (A)LIIIIIIIIIVE! Friday 12th November, 2010
Honey, I'm home! It's clean, it's simple and the body of work is growing in a very exciting way. The aim of the site is to act as a showcase of some of the fantastic projects that TBL has been involved with since being established in the 2nd quarter of 2010. Have a look around and hopefully we can watch it grow into something quite impressive. Most of all, if you're someone who can benefit from a TBL collaboration, get in touch. Thanks, and I hope you see something you like, Gaz.
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HOW GRAPHICALLY NOVEL, MR PEGG Friday 12th November, 2010
Thick Black Line is proud to present Simon Pegg as you've never seen him before in the amazingly titled digital graphic novel, The Adventures of Simon Pegg and Canterbury and the Mystery of the Scarlet Panther and the Star of Nefertiti and the Tablet of Amonhotep IV (phew!). Gaz worked very closely with friend and colleague Ben Swindell at Blend, the good folk at Cornerstone (Shout out to Adam Humphrey and the acclaimed Mr Ben Dunn) and of course Mr Simon Pegg himself to produce 67 pages of "fried gold". We're all extremely proud of it and hope it will be a great treat for fans of Simon, comic books and comedy alike. Available for Apple platforms and Android later this month - watch this space.
e: hello@thickblackline.com