Welcome to Engine Comics, a UK based independent sequential art publisher.

To buy PRINT and PDF versions of our titles go to https://enginecomics.gumroad.com/

SEPTEMBER 2024

Things are starting to warm up at the Engine Room as we head into the convention season in UK – first up is The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, happening 27th to 29th September in the picturesque landscape of Bowness On Windermere. This is our first time at the Lakes, and we’ll be in great company as we also take part in the  International Comics Rights Market, the first of its kind in the UK which introduces UK based creators to editors and literary agents from Europe. Come find us, table 18 at the marquee on the tennis courts, or G and H on the festival map.

After that, Engine Comics writer/artist/editor/publisher will be returning to his old haunts at UCLAN as a guest at Preston Comic Con, taking place at 53 Degrees, on Saturday 5th October only.

He will be drawing for attendees and will have limited numbers of the Aphelion Zero Ashcan sketch cover available.

Baz will also be appearing and sketching at at Spooky Con on Sunday 27th October. Spooky Con is a FREE halloween themed comic convention designed and presented by Wow Enterprises LLp in conjunction with Trafford Libraries taking place at Urmston Public Library.

Which leads us next to…

The first issue of Aphelion will be launched at Thoughtbubble 2024. Cover A art for issue one above by series artist Barry Renshaw, with Cover B art to be revealed soon. The 52 page fully painted (NO A.I.!) bumper first issue, written by Troy Martin, will be £3. It’s been a long time coming for various reasons but we believe it is well worth the wait. If you like your horror eldritch, or your occupiers Roman, this is the comic for you. Make sure you also look out for issue 3 of Ace Renshaw’s surreal spy thriller RUN, the penultimate issue also released at TB2024, 16th to 17th November!

Finishing off the year, Baz will be appearing at the Sale Christmas Comic Con on Saturday 7th December, details to follow.

In the meantime, checkout the first of an ongoing YouTube series. The first edition is ENGINE COMICS presents THE REDEYE MAGAZINE ROUNDTABLES – ANTHOLOGIES (US EDITION). Sara Hagstrom (Lucky Pocket Press), John Anderson (Soaring Penguin Press), Jake Slingland (SCARFFF Comics Magazine) and Colete Martin (Pain Chaser) talk with host and REDEYE Magazine editor/publisher Barry Renshaw about their inspirations and processes with the anthology comic book format.

AUGUST 2024

While work continues apace on APHELION #1, other things are developing at Engine Comics…

FEBRUARY 2024

A great opportunity to see what lead to the creation of graphic novel VOODOO MACBETH by Norris Burroughs, you can view the video of the zoom webinar conducted earlier this month by Dr Steven Payne, PhD, Director of The Bronx County Historical Society (3309 Bainbridge Avenue, The Bronx, NY 10467). The video relates to the Allerton Coops, a historic apartment building complex located at 2700–2870 Bronx Park East in Allerton, Bronx, New York City, and it’s connection to the author and two members of the cast of Voodoo Macbeth: Canada Lee and Jack Carter, as well as Norris Burrough’s creative journey.

View the video recording of the webinar HERE:

Read an article on the talk HERE:

JANUARY 2024

REDEYE ANNUAL 2024 coverage continues, and we have an exciting announcement for APHELION #1 coming soon…

COMIC BOOK NEWS by Benjamin Williams

DECEMBER 2023

Work continues on this month with Engine Comics projects, with a couple of interviews recently posted up focusing on the return of REDEYE MAGAZINE and a mention of upcoming titles…

Down the Tubes with Matthew Badham

Broken Frontier with Andy Oliver

NOVEMBER 2023 PART 2

Still coming down after the whirlwind which was Thoughtbubble 2023, and meeting so many great comics people! Make sure you get your print copy of REDEYE ANNUAL 2024 before they sell out! In the meantime I’m happy to announce a new printing of an Engine Comics classic – Voodoo Macbeth, by Norris Burroughs. This title was one of the few oneshots published back in the first incarnation of Engine Comics in the early Noughties, now available again after 15 years out of print!

AMERICA, 1936. At the height of the Depression sweeping the nation, in an era of social inequality, a brilliant twenty year old actor and magician named Orson Welles set about producing and directing the new Negro Theatre Project in Harlem, New York. In an audacious move, he chose Macbeth transported to 19th Century Haiti, and starring one Eric Burroughs, for whom Welles transformed the role of witch queen Hecate into a Mesphitophelean Prince of Darkness, so inspired was Welles by the actors performance.

The uniquely personal memory of this landmark event which launched Welle’s meteoric rise, and the controversy in Harlem at the time, was related by the actor to his son Norris Burroughs, and now via a potent brew of fact, memory and magic into this stunning B/W 70 page squarebound US format oneshot from Engine Comics.  ORDER £5 Print, £2 PDF

NOVEMBER 2023 PART 1

PRESS RELEASE: REDEYE MAGAZINE RETURNS AT THOUGHTBUBBLE 2023
Now at the printers, the highly regarded magazine dedicated to promoting independent comics returns this November with the 60 page REDEYE 2024 Annual (£3/$4, 11/11/2023).

The lineup for the latest incarnation of the magazine includes: cover star Gustaffo Vargas, the spicy Peruvian talking about returning to the streets of future Lima City in Anticucho; Time Bomb Comic chiefs Dave West, Steve Tanner and David Morris talk about bringing independent anthologies back to the newsstand; writer Joel Meadows and artist Andy Bennett talk about having the Worlds Greatest Consulting Detective face homegrown fascism in their alternate history graphic novel Sherlock Holmes and the Empire Builders; co-founder of Comics Youth Rhiannon Griffiths MBE talks about how comics are saving lives in marginalised communities with Graphic Medicine; and artist Beck Kubrick and writer Christof Bogacs cross timezones to talk making friends on Twitter, crowdfunding and intense work ethics on Meat4Burgers: Welcome to Burgatory.

The Annual is a test of the waters for the editor to see if there is an appetite still for this type of magazine, and if so future issues will include more interviews, reviews and articles. Renshaw asks for readers and creators alike to get in touch via email and be involved.

Engine Comics will also make scans of the previous issues, long out of print, to download “in all their messy, typo-filled, naive but well intentioned glory” says Renshaw.

The latest comics titles launching from Engine Comics will be the ashcan edition of Aphelion: The Rise of Calvus, by writer Troy Martin and series artist Barry Renshaw, a violent horror set during the time period of the Roman occupation of Britain. The US format series follows the journey of a centurion willing to lose everything for power, an empire with something to prove, an island refusing to be conquered, and the eldritch horror from beyond time and space willing to destroy them all. The limited edition ashcan will have a preview
of the first issue out in December, a sketchbook section and blank sketchbook flip cover. It will be available at the Thoughtbubble 2023 Engine Comics table with every purchase while stocks last, and artist Renshaw will be able to do a custom sketch on the flip cover. Any readers who tag @EngineComics in their social media with a copy of the ashcan in hand before December 1 st 2023 will get the first issue of Aphelion sent to them free upon release.

Also available from the table will be the second issue of Run (£2/$3), the ongoing revenge thriller from writer and artist by Ace Renshaw, which follows young escapee Alma who has recruited a nameless assassin to help her track down the mastermind behind the fallen Red Castle organisation, responsible for training children across the world in secret schools. Dealing with their own traumas at the hands of the vicious cult, they find themselves chased by remnants of Red Castle’s loyal operatives… Engine Comics can be found at
Redshirt Hall, Row D, Table 26.

To buy PRINT and PDF versions of our titles go to https://enginecomics.gumroad.com/. The publisher can be emailed direct at info@barryrenshaw.co.uk.

AUGUST 2023

PRESS RELEASE: REDEYE MAGAZINE TO RETURN AT THOUGHTBUBBLE 2023

The highly regarded magazine dedicated to promoting independent comics returns this November with the REDEYE 2024 Annual. Originally launched in November 2003 from Engine Comics and the Accent UK collective, REDEYE Magazine ran for six print issues and one digital edition, garnering praise for its news coverage, previews, articles, interviews and reviews. It had an explicit mandate to treat the smallest self published comic with the same respect and interest as other magazines would afford releases from mainstream publishers like Marvel and DC. Editor and publisher Barry Renshaw placed Engine Comics on hiatus in 2009, and later began work as a freelance production editor, artist, designer and writer for magazines such as Comics International, Multiverse Magazine and others. SFX Magazine called it “Excellent” and “a vital read… it has never failed to impress”; Aintitcool called it “a must have”; and DownTheTubes said it was “simply brilliant.” Renshaw has been a regular face at UK comic conventions for the past twenty years, and recently provided art for the launch title from publisher Cutaway Comics, the four issue fully painted Doctor Who spin off series Lytton.

He puts the decision to revive REDEYE down to the current state of UK comics. “The diversity of comics available now from independent publishers and small press creators is extraordinary,” he says. “I’m overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of choice, and at the last Thoughtbubble I began to feel the excitement again in comics I used to feel back in the early 2000’s. Obviously so much has changed in the interim- technology, distribution, printing, crowdfunding, multiple social platforms- and it felt like the right time to bring it back, twenty years after that first issue, to reassess where we are now.”

The lineup for the latest incarnation of the magazine is still being formulated, and Renshaw asks for readers and creators alike to get in touch via email and be involved. “Ultimately the magazine is there to highlight the most interesting new work being done, while also putting that in the context of what has come before. REDEYE is just one of a very long and distinguished line of news and reviews magazines, and I think it’s important to look at the past as well as the future with retrospective articles alongside interviews and previews of the newest kids on the block. Creators and publishers will need to get in touch with information of new titles available from November 2023, by the cut off date of 1st September 2023 to be included.” Engine Comics will also make scans of the previous issues, long out of print, free to download “in all their messy, typo-filled, naive but well intentioned glory,” says Renshaw.

Engine Comics is also known for other well-reviewed titles, such as The Rough Guide to Self Publishing, the anthology Fusion and one shots such as Voodoo Macbeth and Seer. The latest title from Engine Comics will be Aphelion: The Rise of Calvus, by writer Troy Martin and series artist Barry Renshaw, a fully painted horror set during the time period of the Roman occupation of Britain. The US format series follows the journey of a centurion willing to lose everything, an empire with something to prove, an island refusing to be conquered, and the eldritch horror from beyond time and space willing to destroy them all. Issue 1 of 5 will be available at the Engine Comics table at Thoughtbubble 2023. REDEYE, Aphelion and other titles will also be available digitally from enginecomics.com. The publisher can be emailed direct at info@barryrenshaw.co.uk.

NOVEMBER 2022

We’ll be found at table 95 in the Redshirt Hall at this years Thoughtbubble, just to the right as you enter the convention through the main doors. We’ll have a new title, RUN, by Ace Renshaw, alongside prints, badges and other merchandise especially created for the show. We’ll also be doing free sketches over the weekend, so get your requests in early!

VOODOO MACBETH – A GRAPHIC NOVEL

STORY, ART AND LETTERS BY NORRIS BURROUGHS

AMERICA, 1936. At the height of the Depression sweeping the nation, in an era of social inequality, a brilliant twenty year old actor and magician named Orson Welles set about producing and directing the new Negro Theatre Project in Harlem, New York. In an audacious move, he chose Macbeth transported to 19th Century Haiti, and starring one Eric Burroughs, for whom Welles transformed the role of witch queen Hecate into a Mesphitophelean Prince of Darkness, so inspired was Welles by the actors performance.

The uniquely personal memory of this landmark event which launched Welle’s meteoric rise, and the controversy in Harlem at the time, was related by the actor to his son Norris Burroughs, and now via a potent brew of fact, memory and magic into this stunning B/W 70 page squarebound US format oneshot from Engine Comics.  ORDER £5 Print, £2 PDF

PREVIEW PAGES:

RUN #2 – OUT NOW

Story, Art and Letters by Ace Renshaw

The ongoing revenge thriller follows young escapee Alma who has recruited a nameless assassin to help her track down the mastermind behind the fallen Red Castle organisation, responsible for training children across the world in secret schools. Dealing with their own traumas at the hands of the vicious cult, they find themselves chased by remnants of Red Castle’s loyal operatives… 28pp, £2, full colour, US format

ORDER

PREVIEW PAGES:

RUN #1 – OUT NOW

Story, Art and Letters by Ace Renshaw

Issue one of Ace Renshaw’s explosive and surreal spy thriller! Children across the world have been indctrinated to become faceless assassins by the cult known only as Red Castle. Their hold has been unchallenged, until an unlikely rebel rises…

28pp, £2, full colour, US format

ORDER

PREVIEW PAGES:

APHELION- THE RISE OF CALVUS #1 OF 5- COMING OCTOBER 2024

W: Troy Martin; Art & Letters by Barry Renshaw

THE YEAR IS 42AD, and the Roman Empire has its eyes set on a stubborn and mystical island in the North. They need a bloodthirsty commander to lead the charge, and Centurion Calvus thinks he has gone as far as he can within the ranks of the Roman Legions. When he is given the opportunity to use his brutality to progress further than he ever dreamed possible, he realises his world is a lot deeper and far more eldritch than he ever imagined.

LITTLE STAR – ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL COMING NOVEMBER 2025

Story, Art & Letters by Barry Renshaw

TAKING REFUGE IN A BORDER TOWN ON THEIR WAY TO SAFETY IN A NEWLY INDEPENDENT SCOTLAND, A YOUNG COUPLE WITH A PRECIOUS CARGO, ROB AND LOUISE, FIND THEMSELVES AT THE MERCY OF A BROKEN SYSTEM, PEOPLE TRAFFICKERS AND RUTHLESS BUSINESSMEN. AN ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL SET FIVE MINUTES IN THE FUTURE, EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITY OF FINDING HOPE EVEN AMONG THE CONSEQUENCES OF DECADES OF DEVASTATING AUSTERITY.

CHORUS #1 OF 4 – COMING MAY 2026

WARRANT OFFICER YOLANDA MORGAN FINDS HERSELF BEHIND ENEMY LINES WHEN HER SPEC-OPS TRANSPORT HELICOPTER IS DOWNED IN THE WAKE OF A NUCLEAR DETONATION. FOLLOWING THE DISTANT VOICE OF HER MISSION COMMANDER TO REACH THE GREEN ZONE, SHE SUDDENLY HAS TO COME FACE TO FACE WITH THE VICTIMS OF A WAR SHE HAS HELPED WAGE FROM A DISTANCE… A FOUR ISSUE NEAR FUTURE WAR ZONE SERIES, SCHEDULED FOR MAY 2026 RELEASE.

THE EMPTY CROWN #1 OF 4 – COMING NOVEMBER 2026

IN THE AFTERMATH OF A BRUTAL ALIEN INVASION, SELF TAUGHT DOCTOR TOBY JABLONSKY MANAGES TO KEEP HIMSELF AND HIS THREE SONS SAFE IN EXCHANGE FOR PROVIDING MEDICAL SERVICES TO THE LOCAL WARLORD. AFTER ONE ATROCITY TOO MANY, TOBY MUST DECIDE HOW HIGH A PRICE FOR PROTECTION HE IS WILLING TO CONTINUE TO PAY… A FOUR ISSUE SERIES, SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 2026 RELEASE.

https://enginecomics.gumroad.com/

ENGINE COMICS is a UK based independent comic book publisher.

For our latest and up coming comics, check out the TITLES page.

To buy PRINT and PDF versions of our titles go to https://enginecomics.gumroad.com/

For the current roster of creators involved in our titles, check out the ENGINEERS page.

We are not currently open to submissions.

Previous titles have included REDEYE MAGAZINE; the FUSION anthology; THE ROUGH GUIDE TO SELF PUBLISHING; the oneshots BLACK HARVEST MOON, SEER, and VOODOO MACBETH; and SEVEN SENTINELS.

For a brief history of the imprint, go to the BACK STORY page.

Contact: info@barryrenshaw.co.uk

To buy PRINT and PDF versions of our titles go to https://enginecomics.gumroad.com/