Without a doubt one of the most fun podcasts I have ever had the pleasure of recording. Freddie is quite simply, not only an incredibly talented and exiting artist but one of the nicest guys in the industry.

And once we started talking about 80s kids cartoons, that was it. We had such a great time we almost forgot we were recording a podcast.

But before that we did manage to talk about his time working on Robin and the Flash for DC and of course the hit crossover events like Batman and Ninja Turtles and He-man and Thundercats,

We also touched on his new creator owned book "BeQuest" with writer Tim Seeley, which looks amazing.

The unique and compelling visual style of Kelley Jones has enthralled fans for decades on titles like Batman, Deadman and Venom. 

I am one of those fans and it was a great pleasure to have an open and honest chat with the artist about his early career, his influences and his love of film.

He also shared some surprising and sometimes extremely amusing stories with me from his experiences within the comic industry and a second chat is in the wings over on our sister live video show, THE ICE CAST LIVE as we barely scratched the surface of this man's amazing career, including what he's currently working on.

In the meantime sit back and enjoy this episode, which I have affectionately dubbed "The Comics Confessions of Kelley Jones" :-) 

We talked about an early artistic sibling rivalry, working from different types of scripts and of course his impressive back catalogue of work plus lots lots more.

From Judge Dredd to Savage and to Sniper Elite Patrick has worked on some of the galaxy's greatest comics most popular characters and stories.

We also touch on his flirtation with Marvel Comics and the idea of doing his own characters in the future.

This episode with special guest Declan Shalvey is a pretty much unedited version of the audio from our live stream from a couple of weeks before with my co-host Lucy Orchard as we talk to the artist and writer about his recent work, writing, drawing and colouring on Immortal Hulk: Flatline and also about his early career in the small press right through to his ground breaking work on Moon Knight with writer Warren Ellis.

We also touch on his most recent work on the new title Time Before Time.

My Guest on the podcast this week is Amy Chu... a writer who came to comics relatively late in life but who never the less has proven that application to her craft, hard work and dedication can help to ensure a successful career as a comics writer.

She's worked on an incredible variety of characters with Marvel, DC, Dynamite, Valiant and on a some really innovative creator owned titles with some amazing artists.

We had a lovely chat about breaking into comics as a writer and also about her recent transition to writing for Netflix in the more collaborative environment of the writers room.

I was also very happy to talk to her about coming over to see us at our next ICE convention in Birmingham., pandemic permitting of course.

I first met the legendary Iron Man artist Bob Layton when I spoke to him at a show in London after inviting him to be my guest at ICE in an email exchange.

I was a bit nervous about meeting one of my comic heroes... not something that usually get me as I have been lucky enough to meet many great comic creators over the year.

But this was the man who drew the second Marvel Comic I ever bought and who is responsible for me being an Iron Man fan since the late 70's.

I had no reason to be nervous. We instantly hit it off and Bob made me feel so at ease. Of course we he was also at great guest at the convention, giving his time so generously to every fan who approached him and to every panel he appeared on, he made sure he was the star!

So it was an absolute please to catch up with the creative powerhouse behind hundreds of great comics to chat with him on this episode about his early career and his unique experiences within the comic industry.

I am delighted to share our chat with you now, and I hope you enjoy it.

As we hit our landmark 25th episode of the ICE-CAST it was my absolute pleasure to chat with super star artist Adi Granov, the man who helped Marvel bring Iron Man to the silver screen with his incredible armour designs.

Adi has an incredible work ethic and sense of belief in his work , whilst also admiring his contemporaries, like his good friend Esad Ribic, who he rates as one of the greatest comic artists working today.

We cover a lot of ground in the episode and talk about his early career doing work for Humanoids and how Marvel head hunted him in the early 2000s.

We also go into depth about the work itself, his influences and inspirations, and how he ended up living in America as a refugee from the war in Bosnia at the age of just 16. His determination to succeed as an artist no matter what the world threw at him is truly inspiring

I could not have asked for a better 25th episode.

He sings the praise of past mentor Don Lawrence as well as his many contemporaries and we ended up talking about a wealth of artists who we have both admired over the years including Moebius, John Byrne and Frank Quitely.

He talks about the challenges of hitting deadlines whilst also wanting to produce the best possible work on every project and he also talks about the various movie projects he has been involved with.

We even come up with a great pitch idea for Rebellion during the chat, so hopefully they are listening... give Chris a call guys... it's a great idea! 

CHRIS STAROS  along with his publishing partner Brett Warnock at Top Shelf Comix, brought to us singular books that have shaped the limits of the comic artform over the years. Including Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell, Craig Thompson's Blankets and Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie's Lost Girls.

Top Shelf copulated the careers of artist and writers like Nate Powell, Jeff Lemire and Jeffrey Brown, to name just a few and since becom8ng part of IDW a few years ago continue to publish ground-breaking Graphic Novels.

Surrogates, which was adapted into a move starring Brice Willis, used to be one of my top selling books back when I distributed for the industry and I am delighted to share our conversation with you today, which includes probably one of my favourite Alan Moore anecdotes ever! Not to be missed!

Finally! The ICE-CAST returns for 2021. And for the first podcast of the new year I am delighted to welcome writer of comics, film and games MIKE GARLEY.

We have a good old chat about his most well known titles like the Kill Screen and Samurai Slasher as well as new and upcoming work in film and games.

We also get into conversation about the difficulties that independent creators are facing right now with the current suspension of comic conventions, which is where many people sell their work.

We do end on a positive note I promise :-)

To celebrate the New Year with all of our listeners, this week I have decided to treat you to a sample of the ICE-CAST Live shows we do on social media and You tube.

In this episode, originally broadcast in November 2020, my co-host, Olly MacNamee and I had the pleasure of talking to legendary X-men and New Warriors writer Fabian Niceiza.

We talked about the co creation of Deadpool and of course about his new book X-Men Legends, which is out now, plus lots lots more, form the very beginnings of his career, to his latest work back at Marvel.

The chat has made a bumper episode running to nearly an hour and a half and I am delighted to share it with you today.

If you enjoyed this show, please do tune in to our live shows on Youtube, Twitch and Facebook Live every Thursday at 8pm GMT and Friday at 9pm.

The content, just like the podcast, is all free and we bring you guests from all areas fo comics, from the most obscure indie creators to the biggest names at Marvel and DC and everything in between.

A HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR 2021 TO ALL OF OUR LISTENERS :-)

For our special 20th episode I chat with Actor, Singer, writer and of course Comic Artist, Jessica Martin.

We go into some detail about how she got into acting, working on shows like Spitting Image and Doctor Who and how her childhood love of comics eventually returned and became another career path.

Not only do we discuss the wonderful books she has created in the last few years, but we are also treated to a sneak peak at the new projects she is currently working on.

(Photo taken at ICE Margate - courtesy of Leonard Sultana)

This week on the ICE-CAST I take a trip back to the mysterious times of the early noughties when my guest EMMA VIECELI was an emerging comic creator and also a TV Presenter.

But since then she has established herself as a respected professional artist and writer with her work on top titles like Supergirl, Alex Ryder and Young Avengers. 

She is also the co creator of the web comic "Breaks" and writer on the Titan Comic hits series "Life Is Strange".

We had great fun catching up and reminiscing and talking about her incredibly diverse career.

This week I was delighted to read that my good friend and master cartoonist Paul B Rainey was the winner of this year’s Observer Jonathan Cape Comica Graphic Short Story Prize.

So I thought I would drop him a line to see if it had gone to his head and changed him yet ;-)

To my surprise I found he was still the same good old Paul I know... moaning about not selling enough comics and making me laugh out loud while doing so. 

Somehow Paul's work is both steeped in pop culture, while remaining quintessentially British in it's flavour and it's humour. He is a unique voice in British comics and our chat we look back over a 30 year career that includes original indy titles such as The Book Of Lists and There's no Time Like The Present

We discuss everything from how to find your audience as a self publisher to the Americanisation of Coronation Street and  - of course - how it feels to win the coveted prize.

This week on the ICE-CAST I talk to cartoonist and events organiser Marc Jackson about the high and lows of being a self employed self publisher, working for the Beano, imposter syndrome and the challenges of putting on a comic convention.

You remember those right? ;-)

We also have an in depth chat about character creation and drawing inspiration for comics from other media like film and TV.

This week I catch up with two of my favourite people -not just in the world of Indy Comics-  but in the whole wide world! 

Damian & Helena Edwardson have been friends of mine since we attended art college together in Wrexham way back in the mid 90s and they have both been amazing artists since I knew them.

But now they have also made their mark on the world of comics here in the UK with two great books and their regular, and welcome, presence at comic conventions as exhibiting artists ART9TWO across the country, including ICE of course.

We had a great time catching up... and, as it may be apparent on this episode, we sometimes forgot we were being recorded and it was just like old times.

Check out both of there work on their website here: www.artninetwo.com

Truly one of the most prolific writers in comics, not to mention over 50 prose novels under his belt, a chat with Dan Abnett is a true walk through the history of various well known sci fi and fantasy universes. 

From Marvel, to DC Comics, to Warhammer and Valiant Comics, not to mention his huge contribution to 2000ad and the Judge Dredd Megazine if you love comics, chances are you have enjoyed Dan's work at some point.

This episode of the ICE-CAST we enjoyed a fun and relaxed chat about as many of these universes as possible, and still only scratched the surface of this amazing writer's career.

Many subjects are covered including dangerous stunts that sub editors have to do, to the importance of Red Wine in an interview. And of course working with legendary creators like Pat Mills, John Wagner and Alan Moore.

And of course we talk about some of the amazing artists who worked on 2000ad during those golden years and beyond.

Obviously we only skim the surface in this 1 hour of chat, so be sure to order your copy of Steve's book: "Mighty One: My Life Inside The Nerve Centre" for all the juicy details!

Is this the new British renaissance in comics??

In an effort to find out this week Shane does his best to get a word in edgeways with the mighty Ben Cullis, the main man behind the exciting new British Comics Anthology The 77, which has been a huge success on Kickstarter, featuring some of the most sought after creators in British indy comics today.

This is a really in depth and fun chat about the highs and lows of publishing in todays comics market with some great insights into the editorial process and news about some of the new projects in the wings.

Ben and his team have worked incredibly hard to get this comic book into the eager hands of fans across the globe, and we find out how it was done during this lively chat.

This week Shane speaks to an artist and writer who has not only drawn comics professionally for over 3 decades for publishers like 2000ad and Marvel but he has also organised comic conventions, brought the magic of comics to thousands of school children through his Masterclasses and brought laughter to even more people through his popular stand up comedy and TV work. 

Kev F Sutherland is now bringing us brand new original, self published comic books, which give a surprising 1970s spin to those age old Shakespeare plays we all know and love.

From Transformers to Doctor Who, from the Uncanny X-Men to The Flash, Mike Collins has drawn them all.

He is also an accomplished writer and story boarder and in this weeks ICE-CAST we also go behind the scenes at the BBC as Mike reveals how some of the most memorable moments from Doctor Who might never have happened if not for his willingness to put Peter Capaldi in danger on set! (We joke of course) :-)

It's delves deep into his career and includes some very frank and candid details of his experiences in the industry and how he feels about the future of comics. This episode is not for the faint hearted.

You have been warned! 

It also delves deeply into his working methods and Shane and Jimmy talk about his most notable works including Wool and Goldtiger and look forward to the latest Hope chapter in 2000ad. 

Judge Dredd and Rok Of The Reds artist DAN CORNWELL shares his story of success with us and we delve into his influences and ambitions and look back with nostalgia into the early 90's small press scene.

Dan also talks about working with the Legendary writers John Wagner and Alan Grant hot of the heels of yet another successful Kickstarter for the Rok The God Trade Paperback, which is out now.

He's worked for all the biggest publishers and on all of the iconic characters from both Marvel and DC as well as his own co creation with Dave Hine the brilliant Strom Dogs that was published through Image.

He was also instrumental in the revival of Valiant Comics. In this episode he talks about how he broke into comics in the eighties and how his style has developed over the years.

This is one not to be missed!

There will also be a bonus Facebook-live stream on Sunday 20th September in addition to the bonus Sunday creator interview that you will be able to watch on the ICE Facebook page.

But first up we are delighted to welcome the amazing BPRD and Punisher artist Laurence Campbell to The ICE-CAST.

In this illuminating chat Shane talks to the artist about his working methods in great detail and about how he broke into the comic industry. 

Laurence also talks about his most recent work with new publisher AWA and his 7 years at Dark Horse Comics working in the Hellboy Universe or the "Mignolaverse" as it is know by fans.

Few artists alive today are able to convey action and power in their storytelling in quite the way Ron Frenz does.

Shane and Ron talk about the great Marvel comics of the Silver Age, about working on the first appearance of the black costume for Spider-man, a classic 7 year run on Thor and how the artist ended up being the designer of a new Superman, amongst many other things.

Art work by Ron Frenz and Paul Smith

Check out the current home of Ron's work here: www.sitcomics.net 

Thanks to artist Phase Chan for sponsoring this episode. 

Check out her work now on Intagram.

This is a great in depth chat about art, comics History and the wonders of Spannish comic art, plus lots lots more.

This week Shane chats with acclaimed artist & writer and the current Comics Laureate HANNAH BERRY. The conversation includes a look at the results of her recent Comics Creator Survey, uncovering the truth about what comic artists are earning and the challenges today's industry faces. 

Not to be missed!

This episode of the ICE-CAST was brought to you in association with writer Alistair Wilkinson.

Tony is Publisher of such iconic creators as Alan Moore, Eddie Campbell, Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton and Hunt Emerson to name but a few.