Miss Angouleme 2010

Phwoarrr!















And today Sole searching got a lovely review on the Forbidden Planet Blog. Must be a good omen. Of something...?

Snow business

OK. Been an interesting few weeks, not least the inclement weather that has caused Nick to be trapped in his father's flat in Surrey for the last seven days with no interweb, a dodgy freeview box and three John Wayne movies.
Having spent a large part of the previous week with his seriously ill Dad, he went back down last Monday for 24 hours to set up care arrangements and hasn't been able to set foot outside since Tuesday. He finally managed to sort out internet access via a neighbour's wifi yesterday afternoon, so may be regaining a modicum of sanity... We are now hoping he will be able to return by Tuesday.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, Granny and Andrew had come over from France so things were pretty full on for a week around New Year. Thankfully they weren't caught up in any Eurostar stuck-in-tunnel type shenanigans on either leg of their journey.
Oh and a Happy New Year to you all.

Now must gather wits and get back to business.
Angouleme is only 17 days away! AAAARGH!!!!

Holy holidays

Crumby crimble crush

That Christmas feeling is starting to make itself felt, as festive activity steps up a gear...
Popped into the Scream gallery on Thursday to catch the Crumb show before it folded; it was fantastic to be able to examine his artworks up close and personal, without the crowds there had been at the Whitechapel back in 2005. I was both pleased and disappointed at the prices (pleased their value is being recognised, but disappointed to be so out of reach of even my wildest dreams).
Friday night saw us totally knocked out by the fancy footwork and tonsil action of the cast of Hairspray led by Phill Jupitus resplendent in petty pants and frock. Not a fan of the West End musical genre as a matter of course, I was completely bowled over by the way the John Waters film had been so perfectly adapted as a stage show. Truly uplifting fun.
And now we have a tree, so let the miracle happen...
Oh and it has. We have a place to stay in Angouleme and it's not too shabby. Nice one Sean!

Punk pub and outsider art : weekend win!

Went to Fulham today for Ned's rugby club lunch.
We spent a lovely afternoon in the Wheatsheaf on Fulham Road with excellent company and food, and to top it all the pub happens to be run by the son of old mates of Nick's from the punk days. The framed vintage posters on the walls led to conversation with the manager - turned out they were his Mum's!
Whilst on the subject of punk, Nick has handed me the next installment of the memoir, so need to get on with drawing...



If you have the chance, I heartily recommend you get over to Primrose Hill and check out the Museum of Everything. Tucked behind the Library off Regent's Park Road, enter a wonderful space filled with all sorts of strange and brilliantly mad outsider art. It's on until Dec 23rd, it's free (donations gratefully received) and it is quite extraordinary.
Meanwhile Angouleme is becoming more and more of a reality. Well obviously it IS a reality as we have booked a table and now we have train tickets and we have ALMOST got our accommodation sorted.

Thoughts on the Bubble

Leeds is definitely the best convention experience. Good size hall, good facilities, good attendance, and GREAT AFTERSHOW.
Drove down a carload of assorted comicsfolk to the sound of much hilarity. Richy K. ended up with a whole table while Sally Anne and I ended up with bigger space than we'd planned for, and the new tablecloth looked awesome: RESULT! Left it a bit late to check into our (very reasonable) hotel and got soaked walking back, hence the dodgy hair in the pic ( I know I look it, but I'd not had a drink yet, honest); also meant I managed to miss the panel game I was supposed to take part in (sorry, Ade).
Then the partying got under way. There was beer and pizza and burlesque sketching (Dan won the prize), and vodka and more beer and then there was DISCO! I'm not naming names but suffice to say that no one escaped the power of the turntable. As Sean so succinctly put it, now we've all broken the ice by exhibiting our moves, there's not much more we can do to shock.
Oh and I sold some comics, and badges too.
There's a proper review of the convention on downthetubes.com with a mention and a pic of yours truly.
Also more pics to be seen HERE. WARNING: may include dancing

Goodies for you

With Leeds Thought Bubble coming up, here are some more goodies that may be up for grabs.
Form an orderly queue.
Actually I've just discovered something I'm quite rubbish at.
This clay modelling business is HARD, man.