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Fish + Chocolate HARDBACK now out (mostly)!

I say mostly…! I’ve heard lots of people saying it’s in their comic shops and bookshops as of this week. I’m not 100% certain it’s shipping if you’ve pre-ordered it through Amazon, etc., yet. As far as I know, editions bought online will ship around the 22nd September.

You guys oughtta see the hardback… it’s so nice! I’ll take photos and update this entry with them when I get the time. The colours are really great – things like the desaturation processes are far more obvious and work really nicely. It’s also about 20% BIGGER than the self-published edition! I was really surprised and really happy! The size suits it nicely – it’s sort of in-between A5 and A4.

BUY THE HARDBACK BUY THE HARDBACK BUY THE HARDBACK

I am definitely going to announce what I’m currently working on as soon as I’m able… I got a bit nerdishly excited and made a new Tag for it… “TLB.” I’ll expand that when it’s announced… :3

The other thing I’m working on I’ll make a proper entry for when it’s at a better stage of production. This might not be for a while -_-; It’s slow-going, eh!

You forgot this…

Akio, in all his lilac-mulletted colour-clashing glory. Utena has been one of my favourite things since I was 15? 16? I’m not sure. At any rate, I’m pleased to see Rightstuf has re-mastered and re-released the boxsets.

I’m in a real drawing/creative slump, actually. I’ve picked up pens and put them down again and made sketches and hated them and become more angry over drawing. So, uh, I’ve not been terribly cheerful over the past couple of weeks :( Part of it has been to do with floating/waiting around in-between projects, I think… I never deal very well with this. I find I’m most creative when I’m having to be creative. If you see what I mean. The riots across England have also taken a bit of a toll, as well. Oxford was not really affected, but still… the whole situation was ghastly… and it was ghastly to hear some of the things people said about them, too.

It was great to see all the clear-up efforts from the communities affected, however. Go Riot Wombles \^_^/

Various updates

Hello! Paul and I have just returned from having a week-and-a-half break in Winchester, following the end of Freakangels. It was nice and relaxing… we got to do a lot of things that generally we are not able to do (like go outside). I actually got a small tan on my left hand. (Seriously).

I took a couple of photos with my “real” camera, which I should process at some point… in the meantime, I did take a few with my iPhone and put them through instagram, which you can see here: http://web.stagram.com/n/autojoy ^_^

I have updated the list of places which are carrying copies of Fish + Chocolate in my shop, which also includes Plan B Books in Glasgow, owned by my university mate Peter! Once again, I am very happy these shops have supported F+C, so if you’re looking to buy a copy and you’re within reach of one of these places, do consider purchasing from there ^_^

I’ve also updated the list of events I am confirmed to be at this year, on the bottom of the front page of my site :)

That’s all! I hope to provide you guys with some more news soon ^_^/

Dear Sir, Hello

Apologies for the radio silence! It’s partly due to being very busy, and partly due to not having anything I can show yet! I finished off my Nelson contribution a while back, done a few bits and peices in between (hope to be able to chat about them sometime!) and… also started a new project! Well, I started it a while back, really, but it’s rolling along properly now, especially since Freakangels is coming to a close in a matter of days! I’m having a lot of fun… I hope to be able to show stuff about it soon! (VERY SOON!)

Also! I joined Google+, you can find me here. I’ve not really had much to post on it yet, I’ve just been sharing things… but I like it quite a lot. I am happy there is an alternative to Facebook, which I’ve never really wanted to join, but felt pressured to because EVERYONE is on it and it is a good networking tool. I hope Google+ does well for itself! ^_^

Cake Trousers

Got back from a great MCM Expo on Sunday! It was very tiring, but very fun. Thank you very much to everyone who stopped by our table and chatted or bought copies of our stuff! It’s such a great event to exhibit at and/or go along to… many thanks to the organisers for a smashing MCM once again! ^_^ Paul and I have a hotel booked for October MCM as well, so should be exhibiting there too, if all goes to plan. We will also both be at Thought Bubble, 2011 B.C., and, hopefully Caption as well, in our very own Oxford. I’ll update the front page of my site with those details soon, too ^_^

Everybody has been so nice about Fish + Chocolate! Actually, to be honest it is a little overwhelming. If you know me, you know I’m a little bit insecure… so it’s simultaneously lovely and bewildering to have positive comments about my book! I know it’s terribly unprofessional to say that I’m really very insecure, but eh… it’s the truth.

By the way! You should be able to pick up copies of F+C at the following stores: Page 45 in Nottingham (from next week onwards, most likely), Red Garden Manga in Reading and all Travelling Man stores. If you can’t find the books, please ask the friendly staff ^_^ I’m very happy that these stores are supporting F+C, so if one of them is your local store, please consider purchasing from there! \^_^/

In further F+C news, Let me show you THESE…! :D

Mary & Prisca! Isn’t this just beautiful?! I’m a big fan of Sammy Borras‘ cartooning skill and her comics. I got to meet her at Bristol Comicon a couple weeks back, which was awesome. Thank you so much for this beautiful drawing, Sammy! Your cartooning looks so effortless and beautiful <3

An illustration of Maria, by Fred O’Rourke! I just love it – the soft pencil lines give the illustration a really gentle and peaceful feel. Thank you so much, Fred! Fred is on the same course I went to at university, so we’ve had a good natter about that at recent events ^_~

~*~Trivia time!~*~ The bridge in Matryoshka is based on the bridge near our flat! It’s got lots of unused rusty pipes underneath it, which at the moment houses amorous pigeons. You can hear them cooing away if you walk underneath it.

That’s all! \^_^/

Nelson

(Prepare for a link-peppered post…) Hooray! New book coming from Blank Slate has just been announced…! You’ll be able to pick up at this November’s Thought Bubble festival in Leeds (check out this year’s logo by Becky Cloonan, isn’t it lovely? ^^)

The book itself follows the life of a woman from her birth in 1968, to 2011. Each year is drawn by a different artist. Each artist continues the story, as it unfolds Exquisite Corpse-style. So, the book is like a comics relay race! It’s headed up by Rob Davis and Woodrow Phoenix, and Kayla Marie Hillier.

All proceeds from the book are going to Shelter, and if the above isn’t enough to convince you this is something you oughtta make room for on your shelf, check out the full list of creators…

Rob Davis, Woodrow Phoenix, Ellen Lindner, Jamie Smart, Gary Northfield, Sarah McIntyre, Suzy Varty, Sean Longcroft, Warwick Johnson-Cadwell, Luke Pearson, Paul Harrison-Davies, Katie Green, Paul Peart-Smith, Glyn Dillon, Ian Culbard, John Allison, Philip Bond, Matt (D’Israeli) Brooker, Simone Lia, Daryl Cunningham, Jonathan Edwards, Ade Salmon, Kate Charlesworth, Warren Pleece, Kristyna Baczynski, James Harvey, Rian Hughes, Sean Phillips + Pete Doree, Kate Brown, Simon Gane, Oliver East, Adam Cadwell, Faz Choudhury, Jake, Jeremy Day, Dan McDaid, Roger Langridge, Will Morris, Dave Shelton, Carol Swain, Hunt Emerson, Duncan Fegredo, Philippa Rice, Garen Ewing, Tom Humberstone, Dan Berry, Kate Evans, Laura Howell, Andi Watson and Dave Taylor.

(That list is in the order in which the artists/writers appear in the book, by the way). Honestly, this was amazing to work on and I’m really happy to have been a part of it. It’s been utterly fascinating to watch the story unfold as each artist takes the baton!

Speaking of which, I gotta finish my roughs! Nearly done! \^o^/

In defense of the Punch

Want to start off by saying that I really, really liked Sucker Punch. Everyone seems to hate it, which is a real shame. I thought it was creative, and smart, and easily my favourite film of 2011, though it be only part-way through the year. I’m looking forward to getting it on BD so I can have a few more watch-throughs… I feel like it’s one of those films you’ll get even more out of on repeated watchings! You know… I didn’t even realise the actor playing Blue was Oscar Isaac. Such a chameleon. I’ve seen him in a few things now and I think he’s absolutely the shit. Totally love him!! <3 So, Paul and I had our exhibition opening last weekend! It was really nice, thanks so much to MCM's Comic Village, Matt Sheret and Orbital Comics for setting it all up, and huge thanks to Faye Yong, Fehed Said, Emma Vieceli and Andrew Ruddick for helping us arrange and hang the show. I updated my website with some new illustrations, a couple of which were printed in *HUGE* to hang at Orbital. It was kinda cool...! Private commission of an OC, Monday. Monday is actually a ghost-girl! This was super fun to draw:

Denica & Max playing some card game in some alley-way somewhere:

Twins. Who aren’t actually twins, I imagined them as the same girl, but illustrated twice as if she had taken different paths in life… that’s sort of hard to explain… er, so mainly I refer to her as twins… ^^;

Well, that’s all! In terms of projects, I’m settling Fish + Chocolate down into its new stable with SelfMadeHero, and working on a couple of other things as well… also, I’ve decided on what I hope to be my next “big” project. I hope I can pull this one off.

Lookin’ forward to Bristol and MCM in the month of May! ^o^/~

Further F+C news…!

Some folks may well have spotted a certain yellow book in the the freshly released April edition of SelfMadeHero’s catalogue…! This is of course great news, and I’m really looking forward to seeing my flat lemony-banana-coloured babies in lovely hardback :) The edition should be available towards the end of September.

Apologies if there has been any confusion – I didn’t realise the announcement regarding the HB version was going to be so close to the release of the paperback, or I would have spoken about it alongside the release of the PB a couple of days ago. Just to confirm – I’ll be taking my paperback edition along to all conventions and events I can, and then when the PB is gone, it’s gone… ready to make way for SMH’s lovely HB-tastic treatment.

Please continue to support the book as it makes its way through the world! :)

So yeah! COMICS! We keep you on your toes.

Fish + Chocolate – now available!

My self-published book, Fish + Chocolate, is now available to purchase! It’s up in the shop section of my site.

I’m attending several events this year, so check out what I’m going to on the front page of my site, since I’ll be taking the books with me! Hope to see you there, and I hope you enjoy the book. I’m excited to put it out there in the world…! Let’s see it take its first steps! :)

If you would like to review the comic, please email me directly at extra.minty@gmail.com and I will get back to you.