Aaand... relax.

You may notice this week that Mugwhump the Great is taking a short break. I'm planning on not making it longer than a couple of months -- I value the strip highly as my only non-corporate outlet at the moment -- but a break was necessary before I completely burn out and forget what my kids look like. Once I've caught up with my Muppets schedule a bit, I'll be jumping right back in there with both boots. In the meantime I'll continue posting new content of some description here at the Hotel Fred, even if it's just a bunch of old sketches, and continue with the weekly blog posts. Got to keep you coming back, now, don't I?

Couple of bits of news, though: first, Slave Labor is going to be publishing the third Strange Eggs anthology at long last. Chris Reilly and I did a short story in there, the title of which I'm not going to reveal as it will spoil the whole thing, but it involves a character called Hal Monty, sleazy thespian and general slimeball, who was a hoot to work on. Also, there's a short interview with me at Wonderchroma on Muppet things. End of plugorama.

Back to Indie Island

This week, the delightful Dustin Harbin followed up last year's casual invitation to attend this year's Heroes Con in June with a rather more definite and heartfelt one, so after some quick investigation of air fares I've accepted, and will be attending with bells on. Boom! Studios, the publishers of my current work on the Muppet Show comic, will be there as well, so I daresay I'll be putting some faces to names at last. I went last year and had a great time, and I'm looking forward to this one immensely.


Here's an illo I did for Nemi Magazine in Norway - the text was about a missing Munch painting which was eventually discovered in the possession of a sleeping passenger on a train. I love drawing that creepy screaming bastard.

Scrape Those Barrels!

Weary after a long week, I'm at a loss for any new and exciting things to share, so I thought I'd dig up another oldie for you. This was done for the sheer joy of it, a few months after I'd seen Chris Ware's work for the first time (as if you couldn't tell). I thought maybe I'd found a way to meld my Python influences and my comics influences into some new third thing that was neither, but at the same time both at once. In hindsight it looks like what it is, a vaguely amusing page by someone who wasn't quite sure what he was doing. Still, I remain fond.


I'll be taking a short break from Mugwhump the Great in a couple of weeks - mainly because I'm burned out from overwork and I need to get things sorted out before I jump back into it. Chapter Two will conclude soon, so that will be a good place to stop for a month or two. I'm not sure what, if anything, will appear here in its place - I'd like to do something, as long as it's really easy or already lying around. I'll put me thinkin' head on.

Cow Secrets

This past week has seen me in my bed, sweating, shivering and farting, as my body finally gives up after several months of overwork. So my schedule is one hell of a mess and I'm scrambling to catch up a little right now. Quickly, then: there's a mini-interview with me at ToughPigs.com about Muppet Show related stuff...


I can't remember what the above page was done for now - although I do have a vague memory of the title being inspired by the old "Herd of Cows" crosstalk act (you know: "Herd of cows?" "Of course I've heard of cows." "No, no, a cow herd." "What did it hear?" etc. ) This was when I was still in my "let's make up a lot of disjointed panels and hope they hang together as a story" mode as a writer, which some might argue I still am. Personally, I think I've progressed to disjointed pages now.

Sorry if your Muppet Show #1 review isn't in the sidebar of the hotelfred.com front page - I was going to link to them all, but the sheer volume of the damn things got a bit out of hand. I'll probably try to work up a review links page soon, with one elegant link in the sidebar there to keep it tidy. Or I might just leave things the way they are and go back to bed, sweating, shivering and farting my way to a better tomorrow.