Kickstarterness!

Hello! I'd like to draw your attention to a couple of Kickstarter campaigns if I may. I'm tangentially involved with them both, to the extent that I've contributed some artwork to each one in some capacity. See if you find them of interest.

 

The first one is "Amiga Power: The Album with Attitude". It's a music album put together by Matthew Smith, inspired by the magazine Amiga Power (1991-1996). I had the privilege of drawing the cover. You can find out more about it here.

The second one has already smashed its funding goal in record time, but there are stretch goals aplenty, and a print by Yours Truly is one of them. It's cartoonist Nick Prolix's Slang Pictorial #4. There's ways to catch up on the entire series through the Kickstarter, which you can find here... or you can just pick up the latest issue. Nick's doing some great work here and I recommend you get on board.

Thank you for your kind attention!

Pig Iron

Another update for The Iron Duchess – right here.

I'd also like to point out a new Kickstarter for a project I'm involved with (along with over 150 other creators) – it's called The Sunday Comics, and the title probably gives you a fairly good idea of what it's about straight away. More details here. Please consider showing your support!

Nowhere Special

So - a few things.

Firstly, this weekend will see the performance of Nowhere Special at TEDxSydney by FourPlay String Quartet. This is one of my Fred the Clown stories which has been set to music (and you can read the story online here). I think it's supposed to be streamed live or something - I hope so, I'm dying to hear it - but I'm not sure where, nor am I entirely sure of the exact time. If I had to guess where you'll be able to watch it in the future, though, I'd say here would be good place to look.

Here's something of where the story came from: the splash page was inspired by a drawing by my (I think) great-grandfather on my Dad's side (if it wasn't him, it was my great-great-grandfather). All my life I kept hearing that my ancestor had been an artist - not a professional or anything, but definitely a persistent dabbler - but I never saw any of his work until this photocopy arrived in the post, thanks to my uncle, who had the original drawing. The rest of the story grew around that single image. I've worked like that on a couple of things, just building from an image and seeing where it goes, and I always like the results.

Secondly, a big thank you to everyone I bumped into at Kapow on Sunday (I wasn't there as a guest or exhibitor, but I made something of a flying visit) for their positive words about my decision re. Marvel & DC. The visit itself was, shall we say, a mixed bag - I had encouraging words with supportive people, I saw friends, and (personal highlight) I got a picture of Superman with a duck on his head; but on the other hand, I thought the event itself was ugly and stupid, and had very little to do with anything I was interested in, apart from a handful of dedicated creators and vendors who ensured that the superhero/movie franchise presence didn't dominate entirely. At one point I was trying to talk over the sound of a bloody wrestling match, for crying out loud. They had actual wrestlers in a ring, with accompanying commentary over the public address system that it was impossible to get away from without physically leaving the building. I doubt I'll be returning. Very much looking forward to some properly comic- and creator-focused shows like the Erlangen Comic Salon in Germany on June 7th-10th and HeroesCon (my favourite show!) on June 21st-23rd.

Lastly, an enormous thank you to everybody who pledged donations to Kickstart the Graphic Textbook. We hit our goal with room to spare - fantastic.My sincere appreciation for all your support. Now I just have the story to draw!

What's This? Free Comic Books?

This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day. That's right - I said Free Comic Books! To celebrate this most worthy event, I will be appearing at Gosh! Comics (in London's glittering West End) doing drawings with the kids, possibly painting in their window and other shenanigans. I'm down for their 2pm-2:30pm slot, between Louis Roskosch and Karrie Fransman, but I expect I'll hang about a bit longer, as is the way of these things. Full details here!

  

In other news, the first Snarked! collection, Forks and Hope, hit stores yesterday. It collects issues #1-4 of the series, plus the preview issue - a great way to get up to speed. Those of you who have been waiting for the collection before checking it out now have no excuse. None at all! I have spies everywhere. Amazon US link here, Amazon UK link here, or direct from Boom! Studios here.

And last but not least, the Kickstarter for The Graphic Textbook is ongoing, and needs your support! Yes, YOU! Not you at the back - oh, what the heck, yours as well. And yours. You too, madam, if you can get your hand out of that jar of pickled eggs for a moment. Go here - or just click through the card floating in the sidebar to your right. Comics in schools - what could be better?

Stuff stuff stuff!

A few things!

First, I'm delighted to report that I'll be returning to HeroesCon this June - definitely one of my favourite US shows. They've just officially announced that here.

Next, there's some more info on the very worthwhile Kickstarter fundraiser for The Graphic Textbook, which I'm contributing a story to, at Publishers Weekly. Check that out, and please, please, please consider contributing to the fundraising appeal.

And thirdly, there's a piece on IDW's new Popeye series, which I'm writing, at USA Today. There's the usual mangled quotes you get in any newspaper article - I've never yet seen one about me that's 100% accurate - but it's a pretty solid piece all the same. And I believe the book itself is out any day now! Huzzah!

The Graphic Textbook

Do you like comics? Do you wish you'd been able to read comics in school when you were a kid? Well, an outfit called Reading With Pictures is trying to make that happen. They're putting together an anthology called The Graphic Textbook that, in their words, will make you smarter! I'm contributing a story to it - a Doctor Sputnik adventure in which the eponymous Doctor, with the help of his idiot sidekick and Isaac Newton's head in a jar, explains Newton's Laws of Motion through various practical demonstrations (like a rocket launch and the occasional car crash). Such fun! The goal is not only to educate through the comics medium - a worthy goal in itself, I'm sure you'll agree - but also to encourage a comics-reading habit in the next generation of readers.

With the clear worthiness of such a project in mind, might I ask you to consider contributing something to the book's Kickstarter project, full details about which can be found here. There's a killer lineup of talent involved; I encourage you to click through and read all about it, and then perhaps make a pledge if you're so inclined. Every little helps.