LUC Christmas party

This Saturday will be the culmination of an extraordinary year for comics in London and the Camden crew along with many other creators and their friends will be exhibiting art (click for full listing), selling comics, partying and generally having a good time all day in this central location.
Come on down and start celebrating Christmas in a sequential art stylee and rub shoulders with the likes of Oli Smith, Dan Lester, Sean Azzopardi and Oliver Lambden!
They might draw a picture! And let you buy it! How cool is that?
Or you could simply have a few drinks and enjoy the scintillating company at the LONDON UNDERGROUND COMICS CHRISTMAS EVENT.

Mexican wave and suds wash the blues away

Another week of extremes. From a couple of days of pressure on the work front, to being ripped off by my dentist, to Ned landing in hospital. The midweek drama came as an utter shock, and Ned's twenty four hours on a drip have shaken up everything we believed safe.
We will be needing to take a long hard look at ourselves and probably make some changes. Thankfully we were able to bring Ned home on thursday evening.
On friday we were joined by Krissie as we set off for Brighton to enjoy a performance of Caryl Churchill's Cloud nine by the Sussex University Drama Society (SUDS) and starring among others LUCY TESCO playing a lesbian, a sexy widow and a governess (also lesbian).
Drawing a parallel between colonialism and gender and sexual oppression, the play manages to examine the issues with humour. Both direction and acting were excellent, and the laughter a welcome diversion from recent events. To be reunited as a family however briefly was a much needed bonus.
By saturday Ned was off to a poker night, and Nick and I repaired to the Roundhouse to boo and cheer along with Lucha Libre, that I would dub the most fun night out in town!
Midgets, transvestites and musclemen in tights and masks throw themselves and each other around the ring and out of it, in a hilariously exciting display, part pantomime, part acrobatics, cheered on by a taco and margarita-fuelled audience.
We were seated ringside, surrounded by little (and some not so little) boys in masks, shouting abuse and encouragement at the rudos (baddies)and tecnicos (goodies) wrestling up a sweat just a couple of feet away.
Imagine how thrilling it was to have EL MISTICO thrown over the barrier virtually into my lap, spilling my frozen margarita and landing in his lycra clad glory at my feet...

Of mice and matter

Last night we went to the Soho Revue bar to catch the splendidly tuneful and musically eclectic
Oh Atoms whose catchily poppy Sugar Mouse should be huge.
And I finally got round to reading Matter from Philip Barrett.
I swapped a couple of mine for issues 1 and 7 with him at Leeds, both very accomplished in terms of storytelling and art. Issue seven has a Daniel Clowes vibe, a kind of Twilight zone story, creepy with a twist, and brilliantly drawn.
I have now produced four canvasses for LUC's Christmas do at the Alphabet Bar.

Comica Comiket

Saturday at the ICA. What can I say? GOOD DAY. Lovely venue, fantastic tablemates and shifted some stock.
Not so good that Lucy got her phone jacked by some pikey on her way out of work, but then Nick brought her to the after show pub and a couple of G&Ts put a smile back on her face.
Managed a few sketches – a couple of which I'm quite pleased with, and picked up a handful of comics I haven't yet had a chance to look at.
Last night we went to The Soho revue bar to catch the splendidly tuneful and musically eclectic Oh Atoms whose catchily poppy Sugar Mice should be huge. And I finally got round to reading Matter from Philip Barrett. I swapped a couple of mine for issues 1 and 7 with him at Leeds, both very accomplished. Issue seven has a Daniel Clowes vibe, a kind of Twilight zone story, creepy with a twist, and brilliantly drawn.
I have now produced four canvasses for the Christmas do at the Alphabet Bar

Leeds Thought Bubble

Leeds was fun. I shared a table with Jake, Oli and Emma. On Friday night I had been to the Royal Academy with Jackie and taken in both the Byzantium and the Magritte/Braque/Giacometti shows but stayed mercifully sober as I had to be up at 6am Saturday morning. Nick was a hero and drove Richy, Dan and myself the 200 miles up North.
Didn't sell much but enjoyed the company and the atmosphere, watched the usual convention weirdos in costume waft around, and did a few swaps. I traded a copy of my new one for rather a lot of stuff from Rob Jackson including the excellent Bog Wizards, with its accompanying booklet deconstructing the ducktastic adventure, and Train to Shanghai, another warm and funny slice of Rob's travels in the far east, full of the bewildered observations of a westerner in an alien society.

We bought a Green lantern comic for Ned and after a few drinks at the Novotel with some of the gang we set off back down the M1 to London, the journey unremarkable but for a strange encounter at a motorway service station. On seeing a young woman flagging down cars, and worrying for her safety at such a late hour, we slowed down on approaching her only to be vehemently shooed away with some choice words. She wasn't hitchhiking and we were apparently obstructing business...
Oh and I didn't win the Observer competition AGAIN.
My submission is above (2 pages this year)

Titillating tomes and monkey business

Last week I was in Paris yet again, where I visited the very strange but brilliant Musee de la Nature et de la Chasse, choc full of dead things, weird installations and talking trophies. In this country there would no doubt be a bunch of animal rights protesters stationed outside.
Across the road from the hospital where I was visiting my friend, for a few euros, I picked a copy of Tijuana Bibles, a compendium of racy mini comics from the 30's and 40's. Popular characters, movie stars and cultural icons like Aunt Jemima get down and dirty in these tiny eight page porno strips.

Since my return, the Tesco household has been graced by the presence of a fellow cartoonist, currently between residences.


And, no, this is not Dan Lester waiting for his turn in the bathroom at my house but the aforementioned museum...

We're off to Leeds tomorrow, so look out for my new tome if you're there...

Publishing sensation

The complete edition of TMNTW is FINALLY ready and I am holding it in my sweaty hands.

It is already available on the LONDON UNDERGROUND COMICS stall in Camden Market, I will be at LEEDS THOUGHT BUBBLE on Saturday 15th and at the COMICA COMIKET at the ICA on the 22nd.


To purchase your very own copy CLICK HERE!!