From Superheroes to Heroes

Last weekend, Sally Anne and I (wo)manned our table at MCM, having decided to brave the event again. It was not as gruelling as the last time – no drummers or sweltering heat – but still pretty exhausting. We had a great neighbour in the lovely Howard Hardiman, and there was a fair amount of space behind the stalls so it was not as uncomfortable an experience as previously. Check out Sally Anne's blog for more extensive coverage and Sean Azzopardi's for many more photos, but here is our table. And my favourite cosplayer with the bestest costume of the whole weekend... Wednesday evening was mucho fun: I got to (sort of) meet the incredibly amazing Jaime Hernandez at Gosh – well, stand quite close and sketch him anyhoo... and followed that high with winning a prize in the Comica Social Club raffle! Result!

Springing back into action

OK. I'm back. First more Angouleme report: before it all evaporates, I will mention some more highlights. Comes, master of black and white compositions and tales of witchcraft in rural Ardennes, was celebrated with an exhibition and saluted with a standing ovation at the closing ceremony. But as I check the Angouleme website for a link to his artwork, I find that we have just lost another great. There was a fascinating lecture from Jean Pierre Dionnet about mysterious italian fumetto artist Devi, a chance to catch Vuillemin in the flesh being quizzed about press cartooning , lovely nibbles and drinks at the opening of Brecht Evens'La Boite a Gand exhibition, and much hilarity at the polling booth when exercising our right to vote. Disappointments included the Spirou documentary and the Uderzo exhibition ( not enough original artwork among the blow-ups of pages and giant fibreglass models). And I never found my sketchbook. However I will move on. And draw more sketches. Like this. I will be appearing at Comiket next month, and have applied for table space at MCM London, along with my good friends The Dessinators.

It's a paper and it's a comic

Hey everybody, rejoice!
Your new favourite comic newspaper is ready, featuring contributions from Sean Azzopardi, Tom Humberstone, Kristyna Baczynski, myself and many more. Click here for details.
Paper Science 6 will be on sale at MCM Expo this weekend and is available from the Words and Pictures website as of now.
Or you can wait a few weeks and pick up your copy at Comica in London or Leeds Thought Bubble.

Boys at school

Finally sent off my contribution to Whores of Mensa 5, Ellen Lindner, Jeremy Dennis and Mardou's rocking journal of ladies' cartoon art .


This one is the Party Issue so you can guess the theme of my strip.

This weekend is MCM expo. I will not be attending this time, but the line up of top creators looks to be as sparkling as ever.
Schmurgen Jonerhaffs is rumoured to be making an appearance...

Cos I'm worth it

Well, that was different. I felt decidedly underdressed as an uninterrupted flow of ninjas, monsters and nymphets filed past my table. The beating drums and inane singing made my head throb as I sweltered in the heat generated by thousands of bodies encased in lycra, fake fur, pvc and cardboard. And that was before downing the five cocktails – electric lemonade administered a much needed shock to revive the system after two days of being ignored by the manga buying fraternity.

Highlights of the weekend, pub with fellow small pressers not included, were the visit from Annie and Joe (who enlightened us philistines on some of the costumes on display), purchasing a gorgeous little watercolour from Gary Northfield, and a rare appearance by the elusive Schmurgen Jonerhaffs, promoting his new material. Check out more PICS HERE

The bastards are on their way

Finally got word of imminent arrival of printed comics! In time for MCM at the weekend, yippee!
My printer is playing up as usual. Does it to me before every convention, probably nerves. I'm getting quite excited as I'm gearing up for a run of events over the next month starting this Saturday, and taking in Handmade and Bound on November 1st, Comiket on November 8th and Leeds on November 21st.
Printer don't fail me now!

Epic soundtracks

Despite the distractions of the last couple of weeks, I'm back in harness on the Members epic tale, slowly growing, page by page...
London Expo is looming and Leeds will soon be upon us, so the printer will be put through its paces over the next few days.


Meanwhile other projects are bubbling under.

Bassic instincts

Was taken to Shepherd's Bush Empire last night by my lovely Lucy to see Alela Diane perform. Though they played and sang beautifully and the sound was great, the totally static nature of the performance meant that the experience didn't add much to the pleasure of listening to her albums. Only the presence of her rhythm section, notably the crutch thrusting antics of Tom Bevitori on bass, for some of the show added a compelling visual element and humour to the proceedings. Wonderful how nappy changing and spoon feeding goo eventually grows into mother-daughter bonding over a pint of Guinness...
I have my space booked at London MCM Expo next month thanks to Richy Tempolush's organisation, yippee!