Archive for the ‘ general ’ Category

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! ^_^

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.

Orbital Comics Exhibition 1st May – 26th May

I’m happy to announce that MCM Expo’s highly sucessful and enjoyable Comic Village will be sponsoring an exhibition of work from me & Paul at Orbital Comics! We’ll be showcasing large prints of our illustrations, comics and original linework. I’ve done a couple of new illustrations that haven’t been seen before, too. I will have copies of Fish + Chocolate available, and Paul will have his work, Signal, available as well. We’ll be bridging our work with work from Freakangels, since we both work on that together! :)

So yeah, dates! The private view evening is from 7pm-9pm on Saturday 30th April, and both Paul and I will be there. It’s a free event with drinks and nibbles, so do come along! It would be nice to see you all! If you are unable to make the evening, the exhibition is open to the public from 1st May – 29th May, and of course both Paul and I will be in the Comic Village at MCM Expo.

I keep any events I’m definitely attending up-to-date on the bottom of the front page of my site, so check them out and I hope to see you there! :)

Click to embiggen…

The DFC/The Phoenix!

*rips tape from mouth* WOOO!! I’m so excited we can talk about this now!

So. This is: DFC presents – The Phoenix. It will be very much the same familiar style and presentation of comic as before: a weekly aimed at a similar audience of 8 – 12 yrs (though as we saw last time, anyone and everyone should enjoy something inside!) It aims to launch First Quarter 2012.

DFC (David Fickling Comics) is its own company now, with its own new sparkly office. Once again we have The Lovely Ben Sharpe and The Wonderful Will Fickling at the helm. David himself is not directly involved this time. It is no longer a part of Random House and has its own funding. We had the rug ripped out from under us last time, and rest assured it will not happen again.

As a further note: The DFC Library is also a separate entity and, like The Phoenix, sits independantly. Perhaps we can consider them cousins or siblings…? ^_^

No holding page on the internets as of yet, the old DFC page redirects to David Fickling Books… but I’m sure we’ll get one soon, and will link here when we do! Any more info as and when anyone can confirm. I will post it. I’m sure I don’t need to explain how much The DFC meant to a lot of people… I *PROMISE* The Phoenix will rock you all once again!

For now, GET EXCITED FOR THE PHOENIX! And spread the word!

Please give all your support to this comic!

Finished + Chocolate

Well… that’s it! It’s done! (More or less!) I need to settle on a blurb for the back cover, and edit a couple of pages, but really they’re very minor tweaks. I finished on Friday 11th February, at 2am in the morning after an epic final battle that lasted 18 hours, in which time I ate maybe three bowls of cereal and did not go to the toilet. Paul, bless him deeply, stayed up with me until the end. By the time the last page rolled around, we played Chariots of Fire on Spotify, repeatedly, until I saved my files in PS for the last time. Then I had a vimto and gin (Ginto? Anyway, we had no tonic) and a further bowl of cereal, I cried a bit, and then went to sleep. And didn’t really move for the next 24 hours XD

Because I pulled many ridiculous days over the past few weeks, and like, I’ve not even been getting dressed, and just sitting still for hours upon hours on end, I’ve actually given myself chilblains XD Protip: wear socks and make sure you move around when completing your comics, folks.

So anyway, here’s the final cover (minus blurb):

And I thought I’d share the title plates as well for each story:

So how do I feel about it? “Fucking relieved” comes to mind. The Cherry Tree is something I’ve been working on and off with since university, which was a good few years back now… like, 2004 or so? The Piper Man is the most recent, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned somewhere before, but even that’s been sitting around, a half-finished script, some character desgns, etc., for about three or four years. Completing Matryoshka feels like I’ve exorcised something. That story has been through the wringer.

The entire book means a lot to me. I mean, really. Finishing it was extremely emotional, and if you’ve been in contact with me in the last few months or so, I’m likely to have been a bit moody… sorry about that ^^; With finishing those final pages, I feel like I have achieved one of my life’s goals, and I feel very, very lucky to have been able to do so in my twenties.

I also feel like I’ve stuck it to a few people, you know. People who have said I could never make comics for a living, that I should really think about getting a “real” job; people who have laughed in my face when I’ve told them what my passions are and what I do… and, most especially, when I was sick for several years and the doctors told me and my family I should “just give up” the idea of being an artist, as it would never likely happen because I could never lead a normal life and it would be best for me to forget about it all. So fuck you, doc! Not only did I get better, I’m doing what I always told you I would do, and what I told everyone I would do. I didn’t give in. So there!

So now! I need to do those final checks, and get this baby off to the printers. I’m as yet unsure how long it will be before I get my product, but I’m guessing it’ll be around 2 – 5 weeks from now. Fuck knows where I’m going to put 300 of these things. In the office, I guess! You guys gotta help me out by buying them all!! XD

Fish + Chocolate aside, things have actually been going quite well recently. I hope to be able to chime into this blog again soon with some nice news ^_^b And of course, details and purchasing info for the book~!

Lastly – huge, huge, HUGE, HUUUUUGE thanks to everyone who has shown me kindness and support (and given me confidence to continue instead of just collapsing into a self-loathing ball) thoughout this project. If I could try and explain how much it meant to me… but I think I’m too inadequate a writer to attempt an explanation… just thank you, thank you…

*noises*

Still wading through the mire of F&C… I’m getting there, though. Every now and then I see the faint light at the end of the tunnel, haha! I might start posting snippet-style previews… but then when I think about doing this I can never pick which bits O_O; Anyhow, you must believe me that I’ll be flapping all over the place once the book is done. (I’m looking forward to HOLDING it!)

The Graph of Love

So I’ve done a few long-term projects now, and I’ve started to notice a bit of a loose pattern forming around each project. I have no idea if anyone else goes through this (lemme know if you do – I’ll feel like less of a freakish rollercoaster of woe) but here’s my “Graph-Type Thing of Completing a Graphic Novel, shown in terms of Time Spent on the Project Vs. Emotional Output or Something” …

The blue cross is where I’m at right now. The red wiggles heading off the end of the Time Spent On Project bit is to allow for panic & self-doubt in the printing stages of the work.

So yeah. Anyway! I’ve been enjoying reading the articles on The Comics Bureau recently! Check it out – it focusses on the UK stable of creators, and asks nice questions, rather than just the ol’ “Who are your influences” type of crap.

Well, hey there, Sunshine!

I made a quick self-portait, as a very quick warm-up cartoon sketch, prompted by the self-portrait experiment thread on Sweatdrop (here).

I’ve done a few self-portaits over the years. I guess all artists do! These days I always aim to make mine amusing… my comics are not fun, usually with a high degree of misery, but I want to try and entertain somehow with my artwork, so, usually it gets taken out on self-portraits and other funny, quick drawings.

Perhaps it’s a bit cute, but oh well ^^;

I’ve been told frequently that, unless I’m interacting with someone, I tend to look furious or miserable as I stroll down the road. So, there we go. Here’s something for all those annoying fucks who feel the need to say, “Cheer up! It might never happen!” to random strangers.

I would like to point out I usually think about food when there’s nothing else to think about. That miserable face? That’s me thinking about some serious cake.