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Latest News

This page contains all the news since June 2004.

20/12/2008... Issue 2.7 is on sale NOW!
02/08/2008... A nice O Men feature on Forbidden Planet here
09/06/2008... O Men 2.6 gets 4 out of 5 on www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com!
Check it out here
Or just read it here!
We start with a bloodbath on the London Underground and end with a profound betrayal; all in all it's another dramatic and emotional issue of Martin Eden's superheroic soap opera.
Eden once again delivers a comic which is a veritable 'How To' guide on low-key, character-led stories in a superhero setting. While there isn't much in the way of kinetic superhero action in the issue, it is nonetheless a dramatic read as personalities and relationships are put through the grinder. There is a depth and honesty to the characterization, despite the fantastic setting, which is far more successful than many professional attempts at the same approach, mentioning no names of course, because that would be New Avengers inappropriate. There's also quite a bit going on, as Eden juggles more plots and subplots than we saw in the previous volume; there is perhaps a slight sense that with these numerous plots, and so much time spent on characterization, that the story in general isn't moving forward quite as much as it could be, but when it's all such strong work it seems churlish to complain.
The art is pretty solid; the storytelling is particularly strong, with plenty of effective page layouts and strong noir-ish panel compositions that show a keen eye for visual design. Eden sets himself a huge channel this issue with a sex scene between two of the protagonists (or maybe three; it's complicated), something which would have been very easy to do badly, but which is instead handled with a great deal of sensitivity and some clever storytelling. It's not a flashy issue, but there's something impressive about the measured subtlety of the visuals.
With this issue, Martin Eden maintains the high quality, particularly in characterization, that has become expected of The O Men; truly this title is the very model of how to do proper superhero stories for a mature audience.
09/06/2008... Issue 2.6 notes uploaded.
12/05/2008... Issue 2.6 now available.
08/03/2008... A quick update on O Men 2.6 - it should be ready this month and then Martin is intending to release 2.7 at Bristol in May, if all goes well. See the new interview for a full update on the future of The O Men.
08/03/2008... Check out a new interview with Martin in the interview section.
08/03/2008... The O Men is SFX's Fanzine of the month (in the new issue, Primeval cover). They ran a nice review and a pic of the cover of O Men 2.5 too. That has made my day!
THE O MEN SEASON 2 #5
The first run of Brit superhero comic The O Men was met with a great deal of praise from comics websites and various magazines, and the second season, which kicked off in May 2006, has kept the standard high. It sees the O Men team, which had been all but obliterated in the first season, tentatively reformed while the survivors deal with the fallout, and introduces some new characters along the way. Issue five is a peculiar beast, an anthology which combines the backstory for new character Asylum with those of various other characters in a really quite ingenious way. You really do need to read the previous issues – the first three of season two have been collected into a single comic, available from the official site for £5 – but The O Men is a solidly constructed and captivating read that’s well worth the investment.
05/11/2007... The O Men was reviewed in Australian magazine People. See it here.
04/11/2007... Notes for issues 2.4 and 2.5 are now uploaded.
01/09/2007... If you're new to The O Men and fancy starting with the first collection of Season Two (great jumping-on point!), Martin is offering to throw in the final issue of Season One for free (while stocks last). Give it a go!
01/09/07... O Men 2.5 is on sale now!!! It's the special Anthology issue written and drawn by Martin Eden, with special guest art by Roger Mason, Graham Pearce, Oli Smith, Grant Springford, Gary Simpson, Sina Shamsavari, Sean Azzopardi, Kelvin Green and Andrew James! You can get it for £1.50 if you order it direct from the website.
09/08/07... Good news and Bad news...
First the good news - a great review of O Men 2.4 here...
As for the bad news - sadly Martin has been struck down with a bug and won't be able to launch the special Anthology issue at Caption this weekend. He is absolutely gutted but it can't be helped, unfortunately. So it's all done and will be available very, very soon - it will be worth the wait!
28/07/07... Issue 2.5 is on target for an August release! This is the special Anthology
issue, featuring the talents of 9 other indie comic creators. Martin will be supplying some little teasers over the coming weeks - so watch for them!
28/07/07... Book One of Season Two is now available! Collecting the first three issues of Season Two, the trade paperback costs £5 from the website! The collection sees the only surviving
member of the original team trying to create a new O Men group and running into old and new faces...
24/06/07... O Men 2.4 is now available to buy. Kicking off the three-part 'Team-Building' story arc, The O Men decide to take the fight directly to the terrorist group The Vultures - but things don't quite go to plan... The issue normally costs £2, but if you buy it from the website it's just £1.50!
24/06/07... O Men 2.3 has been reviewed in the new issue of Comics International:
As a new set of O Men head into action, we see what Molly Valentine's been up to in the intervening 12 months. Martin Eden's grasp of characterisation puts his professional peers to shame, and here he combines it with a clever plot structure and strong artwork that makes inspired use of the contrast between purely hand-drawn and digitally enhanced styles. 9 out of 10
20/04/07... Check out a review of O Men 2.3 here:
http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/reviews/117684695486692.htm
14/04/07...Here is the cover to O Men 2.4 which will hopefully be out in June.

14/04/07... Here are a few more details on O Men 2.5, the Anthology issue!
To make up for the O Men Anthology One-shot which died last year, Issue 2.5 will be a very special issue indeed. It will be the origin issue of one of the new characters (and believe me, it takes a whole issue to tell it) and parts of the issue will be illustrated by other members of the small press community (and some friends I've thrown in too!).
The line-up consists of:
Graham Pearce (Sgt Mike Battle, www.sgtmikebattle.co.uk)
Oli Smith (who created one of Comics International's #1 Comics of 2006 - www.idlechild.co.uk)
Grant Springford (Pest Control)
Gary Simpson (a horror and short story writer who has had his work published in 2000AD and who is one of my favourite people)
Sean Azzopardi (Eight Hour Shift, www.phatcatz.com)
Sina Shamsavari (http://www.boycrazyboy.com)
Kelvin Green (who has had a huge impact on The O Men and wrote and drew an Arachnid story for the dead Anthology - Read it here!
Andrew James (I sit next to Andrew at work, www.dubious-tales.com)
If I can organise it, the issue may also have a Star Guest cover!
All being well, the issue will be launched at Caption in August. All not being well, it'll be out at the Brum con in October.
I still need to get two of the scripts sorted so don't panic, guys!
02/04/07... Notes for issue 2.3 now uploaded to the notes page.
01/04/07... Issue 2.3 of The O Men is out now! Check out the order page for details! Tbe issue is called 'Getting Back Together' and sees Grace and Stuart reunited - at last! Or are they...
07/02/07... New review of O Men 2.1 here:
http://www.bugpowder.com/trs2/
And to save you clicking on the link, here’s the review itself:
I missed out on the Eagle-nominated original run of this "supersoap", so it's a great compliment to Martin Eden's storytelling that he manages both to bring the reader back up to speed and to re-establish the main (surviving) characters in just 30 pages.
Initially planned as a complementary brace of season-openers, Eden ended up conflating both ideas into a fast-forward summary of Kelly's attempts to resurrect the O Men following the cataclysmic events which closed issue #1.26 two years ago.
Eden's a stronger writer than he is an artist, but he keeps the action flowing and the pages turning, no easy task when you regularly have to cram more than a half-dozen protagonists into frame (this may account for the couple of odd tributes to Kirby's Fantastic Four heyday at the halfway point).
Comics International has apparently dubbed this relaunch "triumphant", and whilst I wouldn't go quite that far, it's certainly a refreshingly assured series and one which I full intend to keep a closer eye in the future.
22/01/07...Voting has started for the Eagle Awards the comics equivalent of the Oscars! If you fancy voting for The O Men in the Favourite Black and White Comic Book category (or in any other category) please feel free to vote for me (O Men is already listed as an option, which is nice)! The winners will be announced at the Eagle Award ceremony at the Bristol Comics Con in May. A full list of categories and nominees can be found here: http://www.eagleawards.co.uk/nominate.asp
06/18/07... O Men is mentioned as one of the best comics of 2006 by reviewer Kelvin
Green. Check out the article here:
http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/soapbox/116718473280697.htm
And here's the specific mention...
Step forward and take a bow Nextwave, Invincible, Annihilation, Jack Staff, Best New Manga, The O Men, 2000AD and Fell. You're all fine examples of the kind of fun and interesting comics that got us involved in this medium in the first place. And you're all selling far less than Fanboy Action Figure Smackdown (or Civil War, as Marvel doggedly continue to call it).
16/12/06... Issue 2.2 is out now, and you can find the issue notes in the Notes
section!
25/11/06... Issue 2.2 will be out in December. In the meantime, here's a teaser. Click the image to enlarge.

12/11/06... The Anthology section is now complete.
21/06/06... Other updates: Martin's remarks about the covers used for the collected editions can be found in the Notes section. There's a special offer on back issues in the Orders section. Another new section 'Other' is currently under construction - watch for an announcement.
21/10/06... Check out the new O Men website! Thanks to webmaster Dave Green for putting the new look together for me! We have also added a new collection - 'Anthology' - which will display pages from 2005’s abandoned O Men Anthology! I’m still piecing together a few final things, but there is quite a lot of material on there already.
16/09/06... New Interview with martin.
12/09/06...O MEN UPDATE!
Just a quick message about the upcoming second issue of The O Men. It's coming along slowly but very surely and I want to get the issue out by Christmas at the very latest. It's a lot of hard work though! Anyway, in the meantime, here's the cover...

Hope you all like it. I wanted to go for something different and striking (and something that wouldn't use up too much printer ink lol). I'll try and update the site a bit more regularly from now on with previews and stuff!

02/07/06... Great review of O Men 2.1 in the latest Comics International!
The O Men (v2) 1
Kelly recruits a new O Men team, but it's perhaps not for the best. The
superb superhero drama returns with the usual amazing writing and a number
of subtle but effective improvements in the visuals. A triumphant return.
(KG) 9
29/05/06... 'Notes for Issue 2.1 can now be found
in the Notes section.'
17/05/06...A very nice review of O Men 2.1 is here
09/05/06... Issue 2.1, the extra-sized first issue of season two is now on sale for £2!

07/05/06... Collections eight and nine now available on the order page.

New
14/03/06... I came across this interesting thingy on the interweb. It's a review of a
recent Small Press Convention, but it also contains some drawings and
cartoons of The O Men by the blog's writer! Was surprised and interested to
see it and thought you guys might like to see it too... There's some
Anathema images from Issue 11 and a Miss Scarlet image from Issue 9.
http://andyluke.livejournal.com/65545.html#cutid1

08/02/06... "You've probably never heard of superhero comic The O Men..."
Thus begins an article in Judge Dredd Megazine #242. Worth a punt for Martin's artwork and comments.

19/11/05... Sneak Preview! The proposed cover for issue one of season two of The O Men.

19/10/05... Martin has contributed to a new horror anthology called Dead by Dawn which is due out at halloween. Below is a panel from Martin's "Nine to Five" story.

23/08/05... New interview with Martin. News on season two!
23/08/05...Martin now has a Paypal account for O Men orders
28/07/05...Great feature about The O Men, including lengthy analysis of Issue 24 here
26/06/05... Great review of O Men #27 in the new Comics International
The O Men 27
And so Martin Eden's grand superhero soap opera comes to a climax that is
easily far more exciting, entertaining, poignant and meaningful than any of
the 'big' events forced upon us by major publishing companies. This is how
Avengers Disassembled should have read.
9 out of 10
06/06/05... A comic book shop owner (he runs Thunder Road Comics in Enniskillen) who I
met at the Bristol comics con asked me to do a pic for him that he could
display in his shop. I did it yesterday evening and I really liked it, so I
thought I'd pop it on the website. I might do a series of promo images of
the whole gang, in fact. Click thumbnail for full-size.

25/02/05... Great review of Issue 26 in the new Comics International:
Miss Scarlet exacts her revenge on the Vicious Circle. In this stupendous issue, Eden manages to weave a compelling character examination into a violent, Kill Bill-style action-fest. Wonderful imagery and amazing writing combine here for a thrilling read. Absolutely essential reading.
9 out of 10.
24/02/05... Check it out - the cover of the final issue of The O Men (volume one)!!!

11/02/05... Martin's prepared notes to accompany issue 26.
07/02/05... There's some free desktop wallpaper for download in the gallery. Will be adding more soon.
06/02/05... I'm gradually tidying up the scans in the gallery. Now I know what I'm doing re image optimization, some of the earlier scans now look quite good. Also, you might want to have a look at the comix.org.uk fora. Just click on the comix.org.uk link and you'll se there's already some discussion about The O Men. A big welcome, by the way, to everybody who's found this site since we became a part of that noble operation.

05/02/05... Great review here http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/reviews/110752157764433.htm
26/01/05... The penultimate issue of Volume One, Issue 26, is now available! Includes
free poster! Martin has already made a start on the double-sized final issue
of the first volume, and it should be ready by Comics 2005 (May) at the very
latest!

18/01/05... Sorry about the change of home for the website. It came as much as a surprise to Martin and I as it did to everyone else! Hope you can learn to live with the advertisements.
10/12/04... Martin has prepared note on O Men 25 here.
19/11/04... Just to let you know - the film 'And Then There Were None' is on BBC2 on Saturday 20 November in the afternoon. The original novel by Agatha Christie plays a big part in the 'Malice' storyline, so I thought it might be of interest to O Men readers. It's a cool film!
17/11/04... Check out this review of O Men 25
11/11/04... Issue 25 now available.

25/10/04... Martin is moving!!! Don't use the Tooting address any more!!! He is now in Upper Norwood in London - check out the ordering page for the full address...
25/10/04... Martin attended the Comics Winterfest on 23 October - and thanks to everyone who popped along to say hello! Next time, Martin might try to get organised enough to announce this in advance...
25/10/04... Book Seven of The O Men (collecting Issues 19-21) is now available! Check out the ordering page for more details.
25/10/04... Issue 25 is now available! Martin will send the issue out to subscribers as soon as possible - although he is moving house first, so please bear with him!! Copies will also be available in Gosh Comics soon.
12/10/04... Exclusive new interview with martin here.
02/10/04... Collection number 7 will be on sale at the end of the month. Click here to see the cover in detail.
18/09/04... The website has had an overhaul. I've tried to make it easier to find the content. Let me know what you think. Mail webmaster Dave. Let me know if you find any broken links or if you have any ideas for improvements. Cheers.
20/08/2004... Check out an exclusive O Men feature on the BBC Cult website
16/08/04... The Anthology will now be appearing in 2005, not in October 2004 as originally planned. Various reasons for this, but most of the contributors are relieved that the deadline has gone back!!
16/08/04... More preview art - this time for the 'Blackie Goes to the Cinema' story.
This one's written by Martin and drawn by the hugely talented John Paul
Howard.

18/07/04... First up, exclusive preview pages from the upcoming O Men Anthology. This is from Gary Simpson and Sean Azzopardi's flashback Anathema (and Doctor O) story. Included is 1 unfinished page and two sketches.

18/07/04... Also included is a picture of Martin at Comics 2004 in Bristol - He's on the
right, and Pest Control's Grant Springfield is on the left.

22/06/04... EXCITING NEWS!

COMING IN OCTOBER 2004: 'STORIES OF O: AN O MEN ANTHOLOGY'

52 PAGES OF STORIES SET IN THE O-VERSE - WRITTEN AND DRAWN BY VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE UK SELF-PUBLISHING COMMUNITY!

THE LINE-UP:
O Men cast cover – Gary Spencer Millidge (Strangehaven - www.millidge.com)
Pathe story – Written by Nick Jones, drawn by Garen Ewing ('Rainbow Orchid', www.rainboworchid.co.uk)
Seraph pin-up – Drawn by Tim Doe
Frenzy story – Written by Leon, drawn by Barry Renshaw (www.enginecomics.co.uk)
Anathema story – Written by Gary Simpson, drawn by Sean Azzopardi ('Grey Sky', www.phatcatz.org.uk)
UK Ultra Knights pin-up (TBC) – Drawn by David Baillie ('Awkward Fascination', www.davidbaillie.net)
Blackie story – Written by Martin Eden, drawn by John Paul Howard
Vicious Circle story – Written and drawn by Mardou ('Stiro', 'Manhole', www.stiroville.com)
Arachnid story – Written and drawn by Kelvin Green ('The Girly Comic')
Snow Leopard story – Written and drawn by Marcus Scudamore (my mate!)
Molly Valentine pin-up (TBC) – Drawn by Sarwat Chadda
O Men story – Written by Martin Eden and drawn by Grant Springford (Pest Control)
Miss Scarlet pin-up – Drawn by Roger Mason ('The Mice')
STAY TUNED FOR MORE DETAILS AND EXCLUSIVE PREVIEWS!!!!!!

15/06/04... Great review here.
01/06/04... Messages from Martin:
1st item:
There's a great review of the new issue - issue 24 - here:
http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/reviews/108569827773032.htm
Apologies to Craig at the excellent Silver Bullet Comic Books website (www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com) for getting their name wrong on the cover - d'oh.
2nd item:
Just a quick note to say that Comics 2004 was fantastic - I had a really cool time - thanks for everyone who popped along to the stand to say hello, and thanks to everyone who invested in a copy of The O Men. It was lovely to meet up with old acquaintances, to put some faces to familiar names - such as Sam, Nick, Craig and loads of others - and it was great to meet some really nice new people too. Things like this make the hard work all worthwhile. Roll on Comics 2005! (Or, hopefully, I'll see you all at Caption in August!)