Crowdfunding Spotlight: Witchmaze by Simon Jacob

By John Freeman on February 25, 2026 • ( 0 )

2000AD artist Simon Jacob is currently running a Kickstarter for a collected edition of Witchmaze, a comic fantasy set in an alternative medieval world where magic is commonplace and conflict is everywhere.

Featuring both art and writing by Simon, Witchmaze tells the story of the eponymous Wizard of Witchmaze, and his efforts to free himself from his ties to the High King imposed as punishment for previous crimes (possibly debatable) and misdemeanors (definitely abundant).

While Mervyn is scurrilous, self-absorbed and self-obsessed, he has rare, innate talent as a magician which the High King attempts to exploit but which also attracts the attentions of darker, more sinister hidden powers which seek to manipulate him to their own nefarious ends.

Needless to say, the art looks absolutely fantastic, and this project is well worth your time checking it out. The campaign has already hit goal, the planned book collecting the art from all four issues of the creator owned Witchmaze, originally produced in a US style comic, now in a larger perfect bound magazine format, approximately 144
pages, full colour artwork.

Simon is working with the team at The77 Publishing on fulfilment of this book.

Based in Scotland, Simon Jacob is a British comics artist best known for his work in UK comics during the 1980s and 1990s, particularly for the long running anthology comic 2000AD. He has a distinctive, highly detailed style and in recent years, after working outside the field for many years, he’s returned to comics with creator-owned projects.

Simon first came to wider attention in the mid-1980s, drawing pages for Marvel UK’s Secret Wars comic, as the uncredited “Secret Artist” on a running gag strip created with caricaturist Richard Green. This lead to becoming a regular artist for 2000AD, where his name became more familiar to British comics readers. He drew several strips, including the Strontium Dog spin off “Tales from the Doghouse”, the darkly satirical future shock of “Dead Meat”, and the fan favourite demon hunting robot series “Armoured Gideon”, the latter since been collected digitally by Rebellion and in print as part of the 2000AD Ultimate Collection by Hachette.

After a period working outside of comics, Simon has now returned full time to his first love of visual storytelling. Tonally, a lot of his best known work mixes horror, science fiction/fantasy and dark humour, whether in the surreal demon dimension of “Armoured Gideon” or the exaggerated near future satire of “Dead Meat”.

*Covers for Cosmic Detective Agency by Simon Jacob*

More recent work, such as his creator owned Cosmic Detective Agency, leans into future noir with a playful, slightly absurd edge.

Witchmaze returns to themes and characters which first appeared way back in the 1980s. Jacob writes, draws and letters it himself, returning to full sequential art on his own terms.

• Check out Witchmaze right here on Kickstarter

• Simon Jacob is online on Deviant Art

About the Author
Latest Posts

John Freeman

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.