The exhibition runs from 14 July to 8 August and there are some real gems to see.

The launch  on 14 July with fizzy drinks and chocolate covered strawberries was attended by a veritable aristocracy of the British comic scene surrounded by Kevin’s artwork from Marshall Law, 2000 AD, Arzach and one piece of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen artwork, which was sadly already sold by the time the exhibition opened, (bad news for us but good for Kevin I am sure).

For those who lived and grew up with 2000AD in the late 70s this a journey back in time with such classic covers as ‘Tube Warrior’ from 1980 (prog 174), inspired by the song Going Underground by the Jam and featuring the first appearance of Nemesis the Warlock and Termight.

Looking at this cover, even though it is uncoloured, transports you back to a time when comics came out every week and there was a buzz to be gained – 2000AD, NME and maybe Fireball/Battle Action every week, with 2000AD being the one that you saved to last to savour the stories and marvel at the writing of such stories as ‘The Cursed Earth’ in Judge Dredd or The Ballad of Halo Jones.

However thats for another posting, the main thing here is to talk about this amazing opportunity for you to see and maybe even own your own Kevin O’Neill artwork.

The pieces range from £850 to £9750 and each and every one of them is a bargain.

The sight of Kevin O’Neill, Alan Moore and Pat Mills all together, all long term collaborators in one way or another, in the gallery added an extra kudos to the evening but go to the gallery and check out the pictures, they will amaze.

If you cant get to the gallery then make sure that you pay a visit to the website for the Illustration Cupboard where you can preview all the artwork on line and, if you want, make a purchase.

The Illustration Cupboard – Kevin O’Neill Exhibition

The Illustration Cupboard

Gallery Hours:

______________________________________________________________

And incidentally, a clear plug here, if you are interested in comic strips and comic publishing then do check out DS Comics by our very own David Shenton whose  work has appeared in the Guardian , Gay News, Building Design, Solicitors’ Journal, Disability Now, Optician and other publications.

Check out his website and you can buy some artwork of your own from him too as well as his highly acclaimed ‘Get Her!’ and regular weekly strips from the ‘The Shentons’. All in one compact site – and if there are any gallery owners that might want to put on an exhibition of David’s work then he has also done illustration as well as comics and comic strips.

WATCHMEN is the latest film from director Zack Snyder and the team behind 300. Based on a famous graphic novel from the 1980s it tells the story of an alternate America in which the Vietnam War was won, Nixon was elected for a third term and costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of society. It was passed ‘18’ for strong bloody violence.

The BBFC Guidelines at ‘15’ state that ‘violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury’. In WATCHMEN however there are a number of scenes that focus on strong detailed violence and its gory result. In one such example, a man is stabbed through the arm, with it forcefully twisted and broken as the knife is shown penetrating his arm and emerging from the other side. In another, a man is shown being struck in the head with a meat cleaver followed by repeated bloody sight of the cleaver striking the head. Both of these scenes, in addition to one or two others, were considered inappropriate at ‘15’ and better placed at the adult ‘18’ where detail of strong violence is permitted.

WATCHMEN also contains an attempted rape scene, strong language and sexual activity without strong detail.

This work was passed with no cuts made.

The main spoken language in this work is English

Directed by Zack Snyder

The cast for this work includes: Carla Gugino, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Jackie Earl Haley, Matthew Goode, Stephen McHattie, Matt Frewer, Laura Mennell, Danny Woodburn, Niall Matter.

When submitted to the BBFC the work had a running time of 161m 54s.

The running time of this film was calculated from the measured length of 14571+9 ( feet + frames ).

This work was submitted to the BBFC by Paramount Pictures UK .