The Cosmic Detective Agency #2 is coming soon from 2000AD and SHIFT contributor Simon Jacob, #1 released last year, and both will be on sale at this year’s Thought Bubble Comic Convention.
Writer and artist Simon Jacob is probably best known for his work for 2000AD in the 1990s, particularly “Dead Meat“, “Tales from the Doghouse”, a Strontium Dog spinoff, and “Armoured Gideon”.
Older downthetubes readers may also know him as the artist who, early in his career, along with caricaturist Richard Green, were the real faces behind “Secret Artist” saga, which ran in Marvel’s Secret Wars comic in the 1980s, written by Ian Rimmer.
Alongside creating art, Simon’s other passion in life is music and guitars and, after getting the opportunity to work for Fender Guitars which he took, he never looked back.
Although he continued freelancing with art, doing some comics and children’s books, guitars have been his main focus for many years, but recently he’s returned to sequential art, with Cosmic Detective Agency his latest project, named for the eponymous Jimmy Cosmic.
In the first story of what, hopefully, will be many, a future retro private detective investigating a femme fatale pursued by bounty hunters finds a link to the disappearance of his partner…
“I’d say it’s somewhere between Raymond Chandler and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” Simon tells us, asked about the project’s origins.
“My list of possible projects involved a future/retro noir setting,” he continues. ” “Originally, it was going to be a version of Homer’s Odyssey, set against an urban gang war. Happily I didn’t go down that route – Odysseus is very well served by various story tellers at the moment – there must something in the air! I doubt if I could have added much to the mix.
Thought Bubble attendees will be able to pick up copies of Cosmic Detective Agency #1, and #2, hot off the press, at the event, direct from Simon.
“These two issues act as an introduction to the universe of the Cosmic Detective Agency, its setting, some characters and a bit of world building,” Simon explains. “Set on one of nine moons orbiting a lifeless planet, we find The Agency depleted of personnel and barely ticking over, when a new client sets events in motion to be navigated by our hero, private detective Joseph Bavarion, a man who make things happen. He just doesn’t know how or why.
“The first two issues comprise a pretty much self-contained story but set up a broader, stranger tale of science vs magic, the malevolent NeuroSys® corporation vs a mysterious pan-dimensional magical entity!
“Warning: There may be allegory!”
The Thought Bubble Comic Convention (15th – 16th November 2025) in Harrogate offers the biggest congregation of comic creators in the whole UK. This year’s exhibitors are comic writers, comic artists, zine makers, publishers, retailers and everything in between.
Simon will also be selling some of his incredible prints at the event.
Head downthetubes for…
You can also find Simon’s recent work in titles such as Church of Hell Volumes 1 & 2, Edge of Extinction available from Beserker Art, and “The Girl of their Dreams”, which featured in Shift Volume Two – Issue 9, copies still available here.
Armoured Gideon by John Tomlinson and Simon Jacob have been collected in a digital-only graphic novel by Rebellion, a fan favourite strip that led Rebellion’s digital editions in 2021.
Armoured Gideon is a demon-slaying robot who only says one word… ‘Annihilate!’ His task? To protect our world from the demonic threat of a parallel dimension known as ‘The Edge’…
Simon Jacob: Web Links and Interviews
• Simon Jacob is on DeviantArt
• Follow Simon Jacob on Instagram | X
• Simon Jacobs interviewed – The 2000 AD Thrill-Cast Lockdown Tapes (2021)
• The Hindsight Hut: Artist Simon Jacob on “Armoured Gideon” and 2000AD (2022)
• SHIFT: An Interview with Simon Jacob (2022)
• Heroes of 2000AD No. 90: Simon Jacob
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events
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