Bristol Comic Creators

Well, it's been an outrageously busy beginning to March and I get the strong feeling that it's only going to get busier! Which is... much more preferable to sitting and not doing anything. Or standing. That's ultra frustrating.

So here is Blam proper. We've got an event and a page thus far, and hopefully soon there'll be some collaboration and activity. At the very least there will be cider. I've been flyering this weekend around Bristol-town hitting all the comic shops like a pro with a flier that I've only just noticed is largely misspelled. Like a pro. At the very least we may encourage pity. PITY THAT MAY TURN TO JOY.

I also had an exhibition on the other weekend, at the wonderful Eclective art show. The curries were glorious, the cider bar was scrumpified and there was a plentiful supply of curious digital sideshow displays. I'm yet to actually track down a picture of my art room (still haven't got a phone that can take pictures... sigh) but rest assured it did exist and it was fabulous. Muchos gracias to those who purchased prints off me and bought copies of Dr WTF 2011 (there are still approximately TWELVE PHYSICAL COPIES of last year's issue left - if you want one give us a shout!). I've been assured there'll be more in the future and I'll let ye know in advance because it was a bloody smashing evening.

Two more rock shows I've done in the last fortnight. Slightly silly they be, and chock-a-bloc with bloomin' good music if I do say so myself. Give 'em a listen why don't you? Humour an extremely foolish-looking human.

Another thing that bizarrely happened was a folk metal/chap hop mash-up of legendary proportions. Northern Oak perform with Professor Elemental. What an evening that was - ! The Elemental comic will be in your eyes and mind incredibly soon. And thou shalt be bothered.

Additionally - Three of Northern Oak and myself guested on m'lasses' wondrous Sheffield uni radio show Soon I Will Be Invincible and above is the RECORDED PROOF. Including Northern Oak songs, a Professor Elemental ditty and a bit of awesome awesome awesomely awesome Gilmore Trail.

Finally... another thing that happened, and a contributing factor as to why I didn't write my blog last week is that Jean Giraud, the legendary Moebius, died. I literally found I couldn't write a single thing. Now a week or so has gone by and things have eased a little, but he was such a profound influence, such a constant presence that I still find it really hard to put into words what it was exactly he meant to me. Nich Angell says much that I can't in a recent blog of his, and the tributes pouring in from the greatest modern comic artists there are say a lot for his influence. It was astronomical. Safe to say, when I got onto a bus recently and saw an issue of the Metro open on a minuscule story that read "comic fans devastated at loss of Moebius" I became horribly sad. As if his reach was that limited. His appeal that small. If a great artist is defined by the breadth of people they influence, then Moebius is the greatest. To belittle it to one spectrum is to belittle the decades of pure vision that man poured into the world. It's now our bewildering task to try and absorb it. A good place to start is the amazing Moebius tumblr that's currently doing a massive year-by-year career retrospective.

Art

This is the beginning of the end for Jamella and Marmalad - as well as the reappearance of the sinistery-appendaged Jammy Dodger. Who, amusingly, keeps getting Jasmine and I retweeted by the Jammy Dodger twitter bot. What extra audience that gains us I'm really not sure.

Another page of Flaubert - things trotting ever-onward toward a sinister event... and yes that is a chant from Bednobs and Broomsticks. I heartily encourage all complaints to be directed towards the glorious face of Jazz.

So, here's a teaser panel from my strip that's in the current issue of 2000ad fanzine Zarjaz... oooh! 'Ow thrilling. More details of which can be found here - I'll be behind the stand (as well as my own) at the Hi-Ex convention and, as per usual, you can buy it from all good cons!

Here's a birthday image I did for one of my favourite artists in 2000ad history, Simon Fraser. A thoroughly awesome chap who was the first I gingerly got a sketch from at the Bristol Comic Con '01 - I also asked him whether Nikolai Dante's face was in any way inspired by Toshiro Mifune, the legendary Japanese actor. He said YES. So, he was the basis for this drawing here. That and the fact that I haven't drawn Nikolai Dante since... well, probably since 2001.

Things took an unexpected turn the other week when a sketch I drew of Masterchef finalist and awesome chef Andrew Kojima printed off one of my pictures and put it on his wall! Woop. I recommend trying some of his recipes out as the glorious Jasmine did and they were damned tasty. I particularly recommend Black Olive Tart with Rosemary Ice Cream - as that was responsible for much hearty consumption.

There's nowt much to say for Dr Wtf - as it's mainly been prepped for printing. The next fortnight will yield a great deal of news though - as the 2012 issue will go on sale at Hi-Ex and the TRUE NATURE of what will happen to it next year will be revealed in all it's psychedelic splendour. How extremely very exciting. Mainly for me. The contributors got their copies and I would like to take my cyber hat off to every single one of them, they've been bloody brilliant and made me the happiest sod in all of ciderville. Come see me at the Bristol Comic meets or the cons and you will get the longest most awkward hug it's possible for me to give in public.

No takers? Well, we'll just stick to comics then!

See you after Inverness ;)

O

Latter February

HOWDY FOLKS


Goshdurnit I'm a cowboy this weekend. Not sure why, I just be. I mean - am. ANYWAY. On wivvit - !

The Social Smokers, a group I designed a CHAPPING PIG for, are live on Facebook and Twitter. So if you're looking to talk BBQ with some Grillstock competitors then you won't be disappointed. I didn't do the writing on this actually, just the piggie - those were done by Bristol designerman Simon Tandy.

This. This a drawing sent to me by the glorious Matt Soffe - who is doing a PORTRAIT A DAY for the next year - ! Contact him if you want to buy one and I promise you won't be disappointed - they're bloody beautiful. This here is clearly Toshiro Mifune the legendary Japanese actor who is legendary.

That also happened in the last week. Not even sure I remember why exactly now, because being tweet-kissed by a bald grocerjudge is so intoxicating it's removed part of my mind. It was arguably more rewarding to get Ice-cream making advice by Andrew Kojima.

This is a teaser for my upcoming Dredd strip in Zarjaz that was used as a header on my Down the Tubes interview thing about 2000ad's 35th birthday. Highly scary - other contributors included Alan Grant, Conor Boyle, Jim Campbell, Richmond Clements, Boo Cook, Alwyn Talbot, John Higgins, Dave Bishop, Dave Taylor etc etc etc :S Lovely that Mr John Freeman allowed talentless underlings like myself in there :O

Owen in Rock 2012 - 90s I by Owen In Rock on Mixcloud

Owen in Rock 2012 - Now I by Owen In Rock on Mixcloud

Those are me latest rock shows. You can also read up on the tracks on this here blog. However the whole format is changing for the second sixties show. Because for one I'll be talking. I'm up for suggestions and requests and things. Really I'm just doing it for a lark, but if there's anything I can be usefully doing with the format you just let me know. I mean, I've long wanted to do like a small press comics podcast but I'm nowhere near as knowledgeable as some chaps. If you do want an insightful and HIGHLY PLEASANT small press comics podcast you can't do better than Stacey Whittle and Lee Grice's Small Press Big Mouth. Which is bloody good.

A final thing I recommend are the two blogs of m'lass - her first is in reviews (read the comment it's actually hilarious) and her second is in outrage (seriously, check out Sky's sinister targeting strategies in there).

ARTWORK

Parts eleven and twelve of the Jamslug saga - which is drawing to a close very soon - what will be the fate of our sweetspread-themed duo? New stories every Monday on Crazy Fox Machine!

The drinking game begins in earnest in Flaubert - BUT WHERE WILL IT LEAD. See all pages to date here - and rest assured, things are going to get a lot more sinister....

Finished reading Robert Sellers & JAKe's Hellraisers. Very solid book - and the likenesses are just in-bloody-credible. This is my wonky representation of Ollie Reed - which is modelled on Jake's and doesn't work out of context. For which I apologise.

Also there's a tiny Zombo.

Also here's Brian Blessed. I rewatched Flash Gordon with the Jazzer and I must say, isn't it such a bloody good film? Completely bloody nuts. You need more shit like that around in cinemas. I was struck particularly by the psychedelic lava lamp skies and the 1930s plane-like ships that rattled about the place. Also by Brian Blessed - it doesn't get better than that man. The theme was suggest by the ever-lovin' TAB.

This be a Grant Perkins drawing m'lud, inked by the glorious Mike Bunt and coloured by me. Featured in VAMPIRES VS VIKINGS a comic that's FREE and available here.

 This is something I drew on a train and then asked the eternally amazing Jazz to write a story about. Which she duly did and it's fucking immense. I KNOW you're busy, but I really really really REALLY encourage you to read it: IT IS HERE CLICK THESE WORDS.

There. Witness that. It's a 35th anniversary comic written & drawn by (normally a writer) Dirk Van Dom and coloured & lettered by me. I love colouring stuff. It was part of a "collaboration" themed competition over at the 2000ad boards that never really properly worked out... but either way, it's in the spirit of the prog - unusual collaboration! Here's to another 35 years of the Galaxy's greatest!

Finally here is a design I did for the amazing Manuka Root, a jazzfunk style group of extreme excellence that I recommend you voyage towards and experience.

RIGHT. Dr WTF 2012 is IN THE BAG. The strips are in and we are looking at a mammoth 60-page issue of FULL COLOUR PSYCHEDELIC MAYHEM. We've got a cover by a 2000ad legend, we've got strips from my favourite people in small press and we've got a VERY well-designed credits page. It's the nicest looking thing I've ever had the privilege of sticking my face on. That's right, I've stuck a watermark of my face on every page which is intrusive unnecessary and NOT TRUE.

Here's a teaser for a one-page stunner by Oscar Maltby (last year's "Back to the Wreckage" drawn by Louis Carter) and the visionary Ghostpockets.

 ...and this another one pager by Dave Roberts (who wrote my first ever strip in Futurequake and also Hallowscream oddly) and the amazing Dave Thomson who I shared a table with at Bristol last year and am absolutely stoked to have in the comic.

It's also come to my attention that there are only NINE physical copies of Dr WTF 2011 left - and there may never be another print run - ! So do give me a shout if you want one, they're a fiver including postage and unfortunately there's no other route but to contact me directly. If you have a better suggestion for distribution I'd genuinely love to hear it because all we have atm is just "e-mail me". Which is a bit lame.

O x

February and the Dust Horse

HELLO!


Just another slightly exhaustive wee round-up of all that's going on in Oville - all wot 'appened in the end of January and at the beginning of Febree-arty.

This is the beginnings of BLAM - A Bristol-based comic creators network. Now, there is a Facebook group but unfortunately I didn't quite realise how much Dr WTF-based work I've set myself so I think I'll push back the main BLAMshove til next month...or the month after. Either way - THERE'S A LOT TO DO. Cheers to Bolt-01 for the logo - !

Owen in Rock 2012 - 80s I by Owen In Rock on Mixcloud

This is the eighties show of Owen in Rock 2012 - still no talking (but I'm working on that) so if you want to know owt about the various tracks thereon go stare at the Owen in Rock blog. What kind of music is it? Well take a look at the picture, that should say more than my feeble typing and annoying overuse of capitals EVER COULD.

THAT also happened. Hilariously. Well, I say hilarious it was actually rather tragic and means I'm stuck with a £15 thing until my contract "can upgrade" next month. What's more tragic is that the £15 thing is generally a lot more functional than that one ever was. Damned kids and their swanky cheap phones...

This Sunday I went to see the seminal MASTODON at Bristol's 02 Academy (nice venue shame about the inevitable £4 pints of cock). I last saw them many moons ago at the Sheffield Corporation and MET THEM beforehand at a pub. Not sure if they could have gotten away with that this time 'round as the Hatchet opposite was RAMMED TO THE GILLS. As was the gig. Mastodon were as frenetic and fabulous as they were then, playing a more varied setlist than before and were generally on TOP CRUNCHY FORM. The were supported by Red Fang, a similarly sludgy Ohiobased outfit that sounded good to my ears and were responsible for that crowd photo up there. I'm not, despite popular opinion, that craggy-haired guy on the left - I was actually lurking with milady at the bar. Unless that IS me from further in the future and I ventured back in time to see the gig again.


GENERAL ART

Here - the newest three parts of Jasmine and I's Jamslug saga. The nineteenth episode being notable (if not for "AIEEEE a being of beautiful jam" and the donut pun) for being drawn faster than I've ever drawn anything!

and here... the ninth page of Flaubert St Cloud... which has been getting some lovely commentary on the 2000ad forums. People are fearing for the goat as WELL THEY MIGHT. Or might they? Jasmine's writing (gloriously free of my tatty art) can be see on Deviantart - she's bloody amazing.

Here are some Kodama from Miyazaki's seminal "Princess Mononoke" which is an absolutely gorgeous film. They're tree spirits and the writing (translated by JAPANESE MASTER Richard Denham) is essentially, I think, the message of the film. Go on, copy and paste that into Google Translate, eh? EH?! yeahhh.

This was my version of "Sherlock" for TAB. I was going to draw Benedict Cumberbatch. I really was. But then, you see, I did not. I'm not terribly good at drawing people who are real you see. Not terribly good at all, and I do like just making armour up. Wik spikey bits.

Here's a birthday picture I drew for the undeniably lovely David Frankum (although I haven't actually met him, he could be THE WORST BASTARD but I feel it's unlikely) - wonderfully he framed it, making him twenty percent more lovely if such a thing IS EVEN FEASIBLE.

Here's another for TAB on the "X-Men" theme - I was going to draw my favourite two mutants from my Marvel-appreciation days (Colossus and Nightcrawler) but instead I didn't. This is Jazz's suggestion as she knows the X-Men well and insists this makes sense, both Thunderbird and Banshee have apparently met their ends whilst ignoring Cyclops. Luckily for them they are characters in a hugely corporate and shallow universe that will resurrect and kill characters at will in a dispassionate bid to get more readers. So if either of them actually are currently dead, you can bet it won't be long until a "universe shattering" event brings them back. ONLY TO KILL THEM AGAIN.

Here's a logo I designed for my mate Paul's band - keep your ear t'ground for those chaps because Paul's as gifted a musician as the day is unreasonably cold. Fans of gritty bluesy rock 'n' roll will NOT be disappointed. Ever.

Well. WELL WELL WELL. The deadline is up for this year's Dr WTF - we've had some bloody gorgeous entries and it's been... well it's been fucking splendid. The comic will appear at Hi-Ex convention and physical copies will be available after that - as well as at Bristol 2012, probably Birmingham, Thought Bubble etc etc. I'm LITERALLY ECSTATIC about selling it. ...and uh, ahem, finishing the lettering.

Here's a teaser for the story I drew in this year's - written by the outstanding Jonathan Whiteley (who wrote Conor Boyle's beautifully drawn "Berlin" from Dr WTF 2011). And below is a taste of Trystan Mitchell and Mike Lynch's Clerical Error. Mike Lynch wrote the strip I drew last year for Zarjaz (published this summer) and Trystan does literally everything - all teasers up to now are viewable on the Dr WTF Facebook page ;)

 - !

O

January - widely reported to be the first month of the year...

HELLO.

It's 2012, when did that happen?! I hope each and every one of you had a wondrous new year - and no one fell down a well and got trapped in a subterranean terror world full of white-eyed millipede people whose thousand scratchety legs caused multiple abrasions.

Because that would be shit.

In no particular order here are some things that have happened this month thus far -

I got a new laptop. It's made everything basically much quicker and small things I never realised I missed (have buttons on the keyboard, being able to use the CD drive, not having it overheat every hour) came flurrying back into my life like a load of cotton bears.

I bought back Owen in Rock - which I did on the radio in Sheffield and Glastonbury in the distant past - it goes up once a week on Mixcloud and there's an accompanying blog that you can follow. There's no talking and no time travel shenanigans but it is a dissection of the music I listen to and bloody love - so go and give it at least a quarter of your ear - ! Also each decade I've superimposed myself onto an album cover, because I'm avoiding doing more important things and I expect I've got some sort of problem.

The quite extraordinary Neil McClements overjoyed the hell out of me by randomly drawing Gastleas; a character from Crabcake. Neil seems to have more talent and time in his little finger than I have in my entire body - he's drawn what will surely be one of the MANY HIGHLIGHTS of Dr WTF (see the Dr WTF Corner) and after this, he's on my fictional Christmas card list which is fictional. He's got the seal of approval to say the least, and I hesitate to remind him that the sealife centre will probably want it back.

I saw two things quite recently - one of which was the The Artist a wonderful silent film that is not-nearly-as-niche as I assumed it was and is winning all sorts of awards left-right-and-centre. Brilliantly deserved and quite preposterously beautiful. With John Goodman. What more do want? TALKING?!

Secondly - I went to watch The Fallen Apples in the depths of Bristol the last weekend and I recommend seeing them if you spot 'em in your corner of the universe. It's furious rural folk at it's most danceable and even without the considerable amount of scrump I would be spellbound with joy.

ART

Bit more Jamella for y'all. Written - of course - by the mysterious (I've not seen her face ever and we've been going out for like, seven billion years, what's the DEAL with that) Jasmine Woods  

Also - Flaubert page 8 - the writing on the paper at the top there is from the original layout page by the enigmatic Jasmine. So it's her writing - so SHE loves Flaubert. The final three panels are a little rushed - I hope it's not obvious but now I've said it you'll look at it and go "oh yeah it IS rushed" and you'll hate it forever.

Here's a page sampler of my colouring for Steve & Chris Denton's Massacre for Boys comic - I've since got rid of the annoying glowy-light effect on panels 2 & 3 - I'm building up a colour portfolio and it was amazing working on Steve's lines as he himself is an absolutely dynamite colourizerist (that's the word I've been assured). See the original story and investigate more on the Massacre for Boys blog - !

I did this for the Weekly Themed Art Blog - it was a theme I chose because Ronald Searle died recently and his artwork was a staple of my childhood - we had absolutely tons of his stuff around the house. Lots of cats. Cats in tiny stilettos. Dancing they tended to be. Brilliant and very visionary artist. This cat is drinking champagne as he loved it - "I love to drink it - the bubbles give you ideas"

A fantastic couple of weeks for Dr WTF - the deadline is rushing forward and we've got thirty or so finished pages - ! FEAST YOUR FACE on our latest clutch of teasers...

This one from the amazing (and aforementioned) Neil McClements - a breathtakingly drawn story - written by Chris Cronin who wrote the one I drew for Dr WTF 2011. So he's definitely gone up in the world since then! 

Here's one for a short story by Gavin Mitchell - winner of the 2000ad Dragon's Den competition at Thought Bubble and SHIT HOT ARTIST extraordinare!

David Broughton - ! Adam Page - !!! A tale I'm extremely pleased with, David was the last artist in and one of the first to finish and therefore he deserves THE BIGGEST MEDAL THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO GIVE ANYONE. However I cannot find nor afford such an item. So he will just have to accept my eternal thanks - !

Cheers for reading any-the-how and I will see you soooooOOO (oo) n

O