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Almost done with 2010, everybody? Grand.


Here's a recent commissioned sketch I did - I don't do a lot of commissions because they chew into time I could be spending on, you know, meeting deadlines, but every so often I buckle and weaken. This one was of one of my very favourite sitcoms ever, Father Ted, so I couldn't resist. Having lived in the UK for close to 20 years now, there's one thing I'm very, very proud of about my adopted country, and that's the generally high quality - and often surreal, absurdist, Carrollian imaginativeness - of their comedy. Father Ted, produced for Britain's Channel 4 in the 1990s, is the best of the best in that regard. The commission also included some dialogue, but I've Photoshopped that out of this post because it's none of your business, you nosy, nosy people.

The Up! Auction

We're at that time of year when people buy presents for their nearest and dearest. In that spirit, I'd like to draw your attention to the Up! Fair Art Auction - artwork donated by friends, attendees and supporters of the Up! Fair, the cartoonists' conference held a few weeks ago in Kentucky. Proceeds from the auction will go towards setting the Fair up as a non-profit organisation, with the intention of continuing the great, community-building work started this year, so not only will you be getting a great piece of art to give to someone as a gift, you'll be contributing to a worthy cause. There's a piece pencilled by me and inked by Kevin Cross in there, and lots of other great pieces besides. End of plug!

Buy Early, Buy Often

First item: Thor the Mighty Avenger Volume 1: The God Who Fell to Earth is out this week, collecting the first four issues of the comic written by me and drawn by the phenomenal Chris Samnee. I'd just like to remind people one more time that decent sales on this item could have an effect on whether or not Chris and I will get an opportunity to finish our originally-planned 12-issue story arc (the series' cancellation seems unavoidable, but we're crossing our fingers that a final four-issue mini-series might not be out of the question), so please consider picking this up if you've been waiting for the collection. And, if you already have the individual issues (thank you!), maybe consider giving one as a gift this Christmas to someone in your life who likes a good romance story. Or a fight.

Second item: Thank you to everyone who has expressed their good wishes after last week's announcement that I'll be moving on from the Muppet Show Comic Book. I've been genuinely overwhelmed. You're the best.