About admin

I am a journalistic writer for UK-based animation magazine Cereal:Geek, and a budding writer of children's fiction, and comic books. I am married to Leanne Hannah, pop-art and comic book illustrator http://www.leannehannah.com

Heart-Wired Debut

It’s here! Heart-Wired has landed! This is the long awaited project from myself, Rod Hannah, and Leanne Hannah my talented illustrator wife.

heartwired_homepage banner_lr

“Plenty of teenagers would kill for a chance to leave Earth behind and journey to Mars. But for Cal, that situation is pretty much reversed. One of only seven people ever born on the Red Planet, Cal dreams of returning to the homeland of his parents where, despite its many flaws, he can be free to live life his way. But Cal’s plan of getting back to Earth may have to be put on hold, as an unknown presence threatens the very existence of the boy, his family and everyone who now calls Mars their home.”

This project began as a novel I had been developing for over a year alongside many others. Science and science-fiction has always been one of my most enduring interests, especially trying to see the future in full knowledge I will never experience much of what we hope lies in store in the centuries to come.

When the opportunity to pitch something to Webtoon first arose, Leanne and I had an urban fantasy in mind. Our first pitch, and manga-style, received mixed feedback, so I decided to simply turn to Heart-Wired and adapt it into a graphic novel / webcomic. Leanne turned to her more American-Animation art style, which she has always been so good at and really fitted the project. Fortunately, Webtoon loved both the art and the idea, and away we went to start bringing the characters, world, and story to life visually.

ch04pg07c-smallMy initial motivation to write the story was to address an important question about Mars colonization that is so often overlooked by fanatical enthusiasm; that is the notion that the first generation colonists are on Mars because they chose to be there, they had the drive and willpower, along with the physical hardships of being pioneers on a world largely toxic to human life. So why do we never have a conversation about what it would be like for most, if not all, of the second generation who are born on Mars and expected to grow up there and continue the legacy of colonization? In exploring this question, many other ideas evolved and the story began to take on a life of its own… through the characters– chief among them, Cal Mills, our protagonist.

I hope you will be curious enough to try out Hard-Wired and allow us to be a slow-burn, gentle build up into a story with great scope and plenty of heart… organic or synthetic. We won’t discriminate!

Please check out WebToon, where you get to experience Heart-Wired and Blue Milk Special, and other webcomics in vertical format.

New Sci-Fi Webcomic

Well, I haven’t been great at keeping you all up-to-date on the latest projects over the last year. Part of that comes down to being under a cone of silence until the launch of our new wbecomic, slated for June, 2018. Leanne and I have been working on it for the last 12 months. It is our biggest project to date and quite ambitious!

cal pinup_colorsWithout giving away too much, I can say that the project will be 26 chapters (issues) for the first volume, and is in the Hard Sci-fi genre. That means less fantasy, and more grounded science. As always, expect some good human drama, romance, and some thought provoking questions, such as the consequences of off-world colonization and how that effects the second generation. Most importantly for our sci-fi setting on Mars, we consider the health impact on our teen protagonist and how it effects his love life.

Expect some promotional art from WebToons soon. In the meantime, please check out WebToons , where you get to experience Blue Milk Special, and other webcomics in novel vertical format that looks great on your phone and computer. With comedy I find the punchline panels work so much better, and you get to see larger panels!

There are hundreds of other classy and hilarious webcomics you can discover at WebToons, along with a vibrant community of readers to interact with. As mentioned above, WebToons works on your web browser or your smart phone App and allows you to read a wide range of webcomics by both amateur and professional creators alike.

Look for more updates in April on our new sci-fi project. Until then, stay peachy!

Masters of the Universe Mini Comic Collection

Leanne and I were hard at work in early 2015 for Dark Horse comics on the hardcover He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Minicomic Collection
which was released on November 5, 2015.

For anyone who grew up with the Masters of the Universe toys, this is a great coffee table book collecting all the mini-comics that came packaged with every action figure. Not only is it a complete set of all the Masters of the Universe comics, but it also includes She-Ra: Princess of Power, and the New Adventures of He-Man comics that followed. Leanne and I individually scanned nearly every page from original copies, then we spent hours on every issue retouching the art, and entirely re-lettering every word balloon. It was a monumental scale project and you can read about our experiences, and those of the others involved in the making of this book by going to the interviews here, and part 2 here.

We felt very privileged to be involved in this project and do our part to preserve a piece of childhood for so many people.

The restoration team was made up of the husband and wife duo Rod and Leanne Hannah, plus Jon Kallis, Rachel Crockett as well as Val Staples. When it came to the work, Rod Hannah revealed, “This was a huge project. It involved scanning every page from all the minicomics, repairing damage, sharpening up the images, eliminating the print showing through from the opposite pages, and restoring the word balloons. In some cases, small segments of artwork had to be recreated where the glue had stuck pages together. Comparing multiple copies of each minicomic and trying to find pieces that made perfect art was near impossible. A lot of time went into getting this book ready, but everyone who was involved was a fan and we all knew what we were doing was for the preservation of our childhoods and a piece of pop culture history.”

Leanne Hannah went on to say, “I put in a lot of long, long hours on scanning and restoration solidly over the course of a few months. Some of the work could be insanely challenging depending on the quality of the comics themselves and how much work was involved in repairing damaged pages and art, but it was fun at the same time and in the end it really paid off. A lot went into making sure that the art and color in the digital files matched what readers saw on the original printed pages to give fans the best experience possible.”

Read the full behind the scenes interviews here, and part 2 here.

Hickory Hippo and the Snow Mystery


Hickory Hippo: The children’s storybook that Leanne and I have been working on is now available! It’s the first book in the ongoing adventures of a little hippo who finds adventure helping others– from walking talking snowmen, to the cats of Catlantis!

If you have placed an order, or are interested in a cute gift item for any kids in your family or life, then please check it out and spread the word.

And please, like our Hickory Hippo page on Facebook, and Hickory Hippo on Twitter.

hippoHickory Hippo is available for immediate purchase and shipping. See our website for details. Also, if you purchase from Amazon.com then please write us a kind review.