15th December 2011 / Musings / The Long Haul
Sad news: Eduardo Barreto, artist extraordinaire and my collaborator on THE LONG HAUL, has passed away. He’d been ill for some time, but it’s still a shock; he was only 57.
I can’t say I knew him very well — we only met once, a year after THE LONG HAUL was published, although it was a very happy meeting that saw us both enthusing about doing a sequel. Alas, that never came to pass.
What I do know well is that Eduardo was an amazing talent, a thorough professional, and a kind, generous artist who possessed a deep love of comics. He will be missed.
1st July 2005 / Closer / F-Stop / Free Stuff / Julius / Spooked / The Long Haul
I’ve just updated the desktop wallpapers available to download from this site. There’s a new set of F-STOP wallpapers, thus:
…Which also includes a widescreen version for those of you with Cinema Displays or similar widescreen monitors. In the same spirit, I’ve also created new widescreen versions of the existing wallpapers for THE LONG HAUL, JULIUS, SPOOKED and CLOSER.
Click here for the Downloads page.
12th May 2005 / Appearances / Julius / Spooked / The Long Haul
Fancy getting your hands on some of my books cheap, and helping out a worthy charity at the same time? Of course you do, and here’s how:
I’m off to the Comic Expo in Bristol this weekend. I’ll be the one with the shaved he… No, hang on, the one wearing all bla… Never mind.
Anyway, I’ve teamed up with Ade Brown of the JUST 1 PAGE charity comic. I wasn’t able to contribute to the comic itself, but instead, if you swing by the J1P booth (also home of COMMERCIAL SUICIDE) you’ll find a selection of my graphic novels such as SPOOKED, THE LONG HAUL and JULIUS on sale for a mere five of the Queen’s pounds, with all proceeds going to Childline.
These copies will be signed, and only available at this show. So if you’ve missed a book, or want to try something of mine for the first time, here’s your chance – and all for a good cause into the bargain.
See you there.
7th April 2005 / The Long Haul
After the deluge of the last two weeks, I promised myself I wouldn’t post any more entries about reviews of THE LONG HAUL. But this is too good to pass up, given the pedigree (and, let’s face it, circulation). From the April 4 issue of Publishers Weekly:
“Ticking-clock suspense that will keep readers entranced [...] Johnston’s script is tight, with no wasted words, and Barreto’s clean Joe Kubert–inspired visual storytelling communicates like a movie on paper, making this a must for western fans.”
22nd March 2005 / The Long Haul
“The Long Haul is one of those books that’s just fun from start to finish [...] guaranteed to put a smile on your face.”
- Greg McElhatton gets a grin out of THE LONG HAUL over at iComics.com.
10th March 2005 / The Long Haul
“The creators capture the feel of the period, but they have matched it with strong storytelling that is timeless, and whether you’re a western fan or not, The Long Haul is definitely worth a look. 10/10“
- Randy Lander jumps into the fray over at The Fourth Rail.
10th March 2005 / The Long Haul
“Reads like an Old West version of Ocean’s 11, with all the style, character and flair that you could ask for.”
- Nice little capsule review of THE LONG HAUL at Aint It Cool News.
9th March 2005 / The Long Haul
“I don’t mean to oversell it, but this is the kind of old fashioned storytelling that comics today needs more of. It won’t just entertain an existing audience, but it also leaves itself open to be accepted by a whole new audience. The fact that so few comic artists today can contain themselves enough to put together a book like this is sad.”
- Augie De Blieck goes ga-ga over Eduardo’s art on THE LONG HAUL, while Don MacPherson at The Fourth Rail says:
“Johnston handles the genre incredibly well, and the historical setting adds another level of color and flair. He includes the perfect level of hiccups, a standard for the caper story, to keep things interesting and entertaining.”
For real amusement, read both reviews side-by-side while repeating “You can’t please all of the people of all of the time…”
Addendum: Another first-look review, this time from Eliot Johnson at Broken Frontier:
“What makes this book stand out, however, is the writer’s ability to truly grip the reader. With deliberate pacing, Johnston draws readers into this book”
7th March 2005 / Free Stuff / Interviews / The Long Haul
The last of the online previews for THE LONG HAUL is up at Comic Book Resources. Even if you’ve seen the other previews, you should check this one out as CBR is the only site running Chapter Four in all its glorious 28-page entirety, alongside another short interview with me. This is the last preview before the book goes on shelves this Wednesday.
Also up is another advance review, this time from Jog The Blog:
“Johnston holds up his end of the bargain; probably the key to this sort of story is the execution of the heist itself, and it’s a pretty involving one here, filled with sleeping drugs and disguises and seduction and threatening gasses and telegraph tomfoolery.”
4th March 2005 / Free Stuff / Interviews / The Long Haul
Newsarama is the next site to post a preview of THE LONG HAUL – the preview is the same as that on Pulse, but they also link to an interview with me conducted last year, when the book was originally solicited.
And there’s another advance review online today, this time by Dorian at Postmodernbarney, one of the few comics blogs I always make time for. Probably due to Dorian’s impeccable taste:
“This was a fun book, and I enjoyed it tremendously. It combines the best elements of a good crime caper story with a Garner-esque Western comedy. And the creative talent is great as well [...] A more than welcome addition to the ranks of quality Westerns.”
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