I have just re-read the dark knight returns and I’m still impressed Frank Miller really could write back in the day. He’s more of a cartoon of himself these days as I think the Dark Knight Strikes Again shows you. It’s not that it’s bad, in fact I enjoyed it, but it’s just crazy hard boiled kinetic action. DK2 has all the characters a fan wants and it plays with them in a very un DC way. The problem is Batman becomes just another Sin City Hero, he’s Dwight, he’s Marv he’s almost Hartigan but he’s not Batman. It doesn’t follow on in continuity from the Dark night so it’s like an Elseworlds of an Elseworlds and the computer colouring is simply shocking. The original dark knight's artwork was vibrant and atmospheric, dense and energetic with subtle and well chosen colours, like the original scrip it’s art was expertly waited. DK2 is gaudy cartoony and simplistic, is colouring is bordering on disgusting and instead of filling the blank spaces left by Millers excessively open artwork it just emphasizes the poor choices that have been made.

The thing is Batman would be at home in sin city, he is hard boiled and he’s not scary because he’s dressed as a bat it’s because he’s 6 foot 2, 230lb clearly insane and all dressed up just to punch you in the face.

I'm in a generous mood this afternoon so I'd like to give away a copy of Walking Wounded #1. This is the exciting debut of Massacre For Boys premiere Nazi-bashing war comic, and it's got zombies in it. More details are available on the Massacre Website.

This already legendary publication could be yours if you can answer the following question:

The 2000AD superhero strip Zenith was written by Grant Morrison. Who was the artist?

Not too difficult, I hope, and here's a memory-jogging example if you need a clue:

Think you know the answer? Then email it to compo at massacreforboys.co.uk for your chance to win. The number of entries isn't likely to be high so the odds are very much in your favour!

Closing date for entries is midnight on Saturday 23rd June, first correct answer out of the figurative hat wins.

Great series, Zenith, I am a little upset that a copright wrangle between Morrison and Rebellion is preventing any reprints.

I've taken up my pen again this weekend and made some good progress with The Glasshouse. This is the middle story from Walking Wounded #2, which will be a collection of three 8-page strips. Steve's currently working on the art for the first one.

My writing method has become a lot more intricate as I've learned what comics scripting is all about. Now I tend to work in 6 or 8 page chunks, and complete them in four stages:

1) Detailed plan.
2) Revise plan and panel breakdowns.
3) First half of the script.
4) Second half of the script.

After than the script goes to Steve for his comments and after discussions I may work on rewrites if required.

For The Glasshouse I'd actually completed stage 1 some time ago, but then left it to let the idea gestate and to focus on other things. Yesterday I came back to it, working on the plan and then doing the breakdowns which look like this:

I used to draw thumbnail page layouts but I have more or less stopped now as that's the artists job and they never corresponded with how it turned out anyway. Obviously I need to make sure that the effects I want to achieve with particular panels or transitions are practical, but that's where my job ends and Steve's begins.

Today I managed stage 3 so only one more day to go minimum.

Each script presents different challenges. The previous Walking Wounded one, Future Heroes, was pretty tricky because the structure is complicated and striking the right tone proved a struggle. With The Glasshouse it's all about the dialogue. If I can get that down I reckon I'll have cracked it...

Will you look at that. We now have a logo courtesy of my friend James. http://tubbypaws.blogspot.com/ I asked him to do a logo for the walking wounded that was in keeping with the whole 70’s feel of the project. And he only went and did a bang up job.

Now I have got to convince him he wants to do all the cover lettering for us or the rest of our comics will forever suck in comparison.

The Crusader vs Skagman is now available to buy at Rokcomics.com. It's suggested for mature readers so you'll have to turn safe search off in order to see it listed.

After some experimenting with the strip on my Sony Ericsson W810i, Steve went back and relettered each panel so that it was readable without having to squint. As John Freeman suggested, 18-pt text seems to be right.

A large advertising campaign is promised which should bring Rok to the attention of the nation's comic lovers. At this point we'll see whether Crusader is popular enough to continue in this format. I hope so, actually, because I have a cool idea for a second strip...