December 16, 2025 – Fantoons!

Fantoons ©

I can’t think of many bands that have a coloring book, but my beloved Marillion are one of them! I first bought this off the band’s website. It was made by the wonderful artists at Fantoons Animation Studios. I first came to know about them through the artwork they produced for Rush, complete with the band’s seal of approval. This Marillion coloring book had been sitting unused in my possession for some time, so I decided to finally dive into it and fill in some spaces. I picked up my first brand new box of Crayons in years. Not as swanky as the 64-packs we kids took great pride in having during my school years, but it was kind of cool to have a fresh box of Crayons. Pictured above is one page I colored in this afternoon. Be nice. I have very limited visual artistic ability. The whole book is a sweet and very cute tribute to the band’s albums and songs.

I was lucky enough to meet David Calcano, co-founder of Fantoons, in spring 2024 at the Los Angeles Festival of Books. I went to the festival as a last-minute decision and had no idea Fantoons would be there. What caught my eye and motivated me to approach their booth was the display of Rush books and art and, ultimately, the Marillion coloring book. David and I had a good chat about Rush and Marillion, each of us expressing our love of both bands. He was thrilled when I showed him photos of me with Marillion (minus Pete Trewavas) on Cruise to the Edge just a few months earlier and marveled at how a young person like myself was interested in these bands, a familiar observation made by others over the years. He was even gracious enough to pose for a photo at his booth. Before I left, I bought a second Marillion coloring book as well as an enamel coffee mug featuring a Fantoons recreation of Rush’s album Signals. I use that mug sparingly, but I do keep it stored with my collection of coffee mugs in my kitchen. 🙂