Twitted

First things first. There's a Mugwhump update today at ACT-I-VATE - please check it out.

Done that? Grand.

So I had a drink with Faz Choudhury last week. And he made a persuasive case for Twitter, which I'd previously gone to great lengths to avoid. And I thought I'd maybe create an account and just stand at the back of the room and watch how it worked for a while... give it a fair chance, kind of thing.

What happened was more like an ambush. I mean, honestly, you people terrify me. It's overwhelming, completely overwhelming. I basically shut my computer down for the rest of the day, hardly went near the thing unless I had to. Because every time I turned it on it was just a wall of noise. How can anybody actually think in that environment? I eventually figured out how to switch off notifications when someone follows you and that calmed things down a bit. But still.

Now what?

I admit I signed up partly for cynical reasons. I have an upcoming project that I want to give every promotional opportunity possible (soon, grasshopper, soon!).

Also, I've become reeeally out-of-touch with the UK cartooning scene over the last couple of years, and I thought Twitter was probably the place to find out what's going on, what the UK conventions are now that people are most excited about, that sort of thing. (I've avoided going to any local conventions lately because I was drawing a book you couldn't actually buy in the country in which it was drawn, due to Disney regional licensing arcania - seemed a bit pointless trying to promote it).

So I'm hanging in there. For now. There are things about it that bother me (not least the word "followers", which just makes the follow-ee seem too grandiose for words - you're not friends, you're not fans, you're "followers". What?!).

Still.

I'm doing a lot of actual, physical, get-your-fingers-dirty drawing right now, so I'm not near the computer a whole lot anyway - probably a good time to acclimatise nice and slowly.

You still terrify me, though.

Party Time

Hey! Looks like the Big Illustration Party Time podcast is back! That thing's been gone a year. Welcome back, chaps. If you're not familiar with it, it's a show for freelance illustrators, cartoonists and the like, hosted by Kevin Cross and Joshua Kemble - experienced pen-wranglers who know whereof they speak.

They interviewed me way back when (such gentle hands!) and I've been a regular listener ever since - or I was until it disappeared. Nice to have something to listen to while I'm inking away on these cold, cold nights.

The Show Goes On

Aaand we're back.

The final chapter of "The Show Must Go On" is now pencilled and I'm pretty pleased with how it all hangs together, considering that I was making it all up as I went along for the first two chapters (I was working within a very loose outline, but essentially I was busking - in the grand tradition of Mugwhump the Great, come to think of it). Now I've just got to ink the darn thing.

Oh, and colour it. Did I mention we're in colour now?

Kindly Take Your Seats...

... for the return of Mugwhump the Great at ACT-I-VATE has begun! The current episode is just a little recap for you, the fun starts in earnest next week, but I'm happier than a pig in muck to have Muggsy and Billy back in my life.

Lickety-Splat!

Thought I'd tease you with some pencils for an upcoming Mugwhump installment.

(Did I mention I'm having fun with this? I'm having fun with this.)

Better By the Pound

Some of you know that, when I'm not drawing funnybooks for a long-suffering audience (that's you), I like to scan ancient, crumbling newspaper strip cuttings and share them with like-minded enthusiasts, with the intention of preserving this old, out-of-print and sometimes brilliant work for future generations before it turns completely to dust. I'm far from alone in this; there is a small, dedicated network of strip enthusiasts who are doing the same, trying to keep the great newspaper strips of the 1920s and 30s from being lost forever.

So I'd like to draw your attention to a project that one of my fellow archivists, Steve Cottle, Jr., is currently undertaking. He is attempting to buy a collection of old newspaper comics with the intention of scanning them and putting them online for readers, academics and anybody who cares about the history of the comics medium to enjoy - for free - at ilovecomixarchive.com. The collection is staggeringly huge - so large that the only estimate of its size we have is by weight (8000 lbs!) - and the current owner is looking to get rid of it by any means possible. Steve has negotiated a knock-down bargain price for this material, but even this is beyond his own private means, so he's started up a Kickstarter Project to try and raise the necessary funds to purchase, transport, scan and preserve the work. I urge you to contribute something if the history of the comics medium is something you care about. If this material is preserved, we all benefit from it.

There's a link on the right-hand side of the blog - look, just over there! - which will explain all the details. (Or just click here if you're reading this in an RSS feed or something.) Thanks for your consideration.

The All-New, Minty-Fresh Hotel Fred

Couple of things.

First, you may notice that we've done some spring-cleaning here at the Hotel Fred - well overdue. I've long wanted to squish the blog and the comics site together; I was maintaining them separately was because I couldn't work out how to get a blog feed onto the site where I was storing the comic files. It finally occurred to me that I could approach the problem from the other direction and tweak the HTML on the blog to incorporate the comic strip feed function, so at last it's working the way I'd always intended. (Or it will when the strip starts up again.)

If you've got your bookmarks set to the old WebComicsNation page, please reset them to go to www.hotelfred.com from here on in. I'll still be using WebComicsNation to store the files and do the automatic updates and syndicating and all that other technical stuff I can't work out how to do on my own, but I won't be updating the homepage from this point onwards.

I said a couple of things, didn't I? Yes I did. So: second thing - I believe the most recent Muppet Show Comic Book collection, Muppet Mash, is now available. Why not buy one for the glove-puppet obsessive in your life?

That is all.

The Return

Mugwhumpery

After a quiet few weeks, I finally have a bit of news to report. Firstly, I am now working on the final chapter of Mugwhump the Great - the web strip on ACT-I-VATE that those of you with long memories may remember. I've got one more chapter to go, and I'm scripting it at the moment; negotiations are under way for a print collection once it's done. But more about that another day. For now, rest assured - it's coming.

Secondly, I may have a small Jim Henson-related project coming up. I'm waiting for a yea or nay on something, then I'll be able to spill a few more beans. Meanwhile, enjoy the suspense.

Lastly, I'm working on a brand-new mini-comic for the first time in YONKS - and it feels great! I've had a fun time working for the Diamond crowd over the past couple of years, but it feels nice to be doing a proper comic again. Here's the cover.


That's all the news I can share right now. I wish I could tell you more, but then I would have to kill you with my bare hands.

Rattle Do Nicely

I found these sketches rattling around my hard drive. I thought I'd share that rattle with you.

2011, You're A Sweet Young Thing

I'm on the home stretch of my final Muppet Show issue now. About one-third of the way through inking... so I guess it's time to think about what's next. (A bit of thinking out loud, really, so don't feel obliged to read through the whole thing - if you get something out of what follows, great, but this one's really for me, not for you so much.)

If we're talking about resolutions, and I guess I am, I'm resolved not to take on quite the workload I had in 2010. I never really got a chance to come up for air all year, and I need to keep a bit of flexibility in my schedule this year. So there's that.

I'm also quite keen to make time to work on my own stuff - as rewarding as this year has been in many ways, I've been concentrating almost exclusively on properties owned by Disney in one way or another, and that doesn't really do it for me as a long-term creative journey. "A refreshing detour" is how I've been thinking of it. More power to those creators who can find fulfilment working on a dead man's ideas for the bulk of their careers, I'm not judging them - but I'm not one of them.

Over the last few weeks a few people have expressed interest in having me do work for them post-Muppets and post-Thor, which is great. I'm leaning heavily towards the idea that the work-for-hire side of things should concentrate exclusively on scripting, keeping my drawing time for myself alone, for working on things I own - keeping that side of things pure, at least in terms of comics (illustration work might be another matter). If that's economically sustainable, of course. I do have a family to support, so that's always going to be a consideration.

So - what? Right now I don't know what I'll be doing this year at all. Various approaches are all at the "let's see if we can work something out" stage - for all I know, everything might fall through. The only things I know for sure I'll definitely be working on in 2011 are finishing the Muppet Show comic (counting the days!), doing a short piece for an anthology that I've committed to, and creating at least one mini-comic (that's a proper New Year's resolution, that one).

Oh, and finishing Mugwhump the Great. That will happen.

2011 - a year of infinite possibilities and uncertain terror. Works for me.

Gowaaan gowan gowan gowan gowan

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.

Goodbye Mister Henson

I've got some things going on right now. Not very fun things that most grown-ups have to deal with at some point in their lives. This is probably not the place to discuss the details, but it's certainly the place to address the fallout, so...

I've chosen to step down from the Muppet Show Comic Book. The story I'm currently drawing, "The Four Seasons," will be held back a few months, to be released next year sometime; Boom! Studios have been super-helpful and supportive at what is turning out to be a difficult time for me, and I thank them for that from the bottom of my heart. I thank them for a lot of stuff, actually. It's been an amazing couple of years. I hope to be working with them again when things have settled down.

Though probably not on the Muppets. Thing is, I was ready to move on - this personal situation made me jump when I did, but I was looking for an appropriate time to jump anyway. I feel like I've done about as much as I can with the Muppet characters - really, I'd rather move on while it's still fun than carry on grinding away long past the point where I'm enjoying it.

As I say, I'm not quite gone yet - "The Four Seasons" is supposed to appear some time next year, and I'm still working on that until the end of 2010, albeit not as quickly as I normally would. But eagle-eyed Muppet-watchers will probably have noticed by now that The Muppet Show Comic Book didn't come out this month, and I felt some kind of explanation was in order. So now you know what's going on. My particular and heartfelt thanks to all the readers out there for your amazing support over the book's run. Hearing from you, meeting you at shows, has been an absolute highlight of my time with the Muppets.

More on Thor

Bit of an update on Thor stuff. Firstly, can I just say the last 48 hours or so have been insane? In a good way, I mean. I'm blown away by the affection for our little funnybook that appears to exist out there. So thank you, thank you, thank you. And you. And you.

There's an interview with me about the whole business, and Thor: TMA in general, over at iFanboy right now.

There's a "Save Thor the Mighty Avenger" Facebook page.

And Chris Samnee has quite sensibly pointed out over on his blog that the best, most useful, most productive thing you can do if you want to see the story continue is to buy the darn thing. If you've been waiting for the collection, please consider pre-ordering it. If you know somebody else who might like it, why not get one for them as a Christmas present. And there's three more issues to go before the doors close - your comic shop is waiting to take your money. Marvel is, after all, a business, and that's the sort of thing that can make a difference.

Again - thank you, everyone. You've made an old man very happy.

Thor the Cancelled Avenger

It's been officially announced now, apparently, so I can mention here at last that Thor: The Mighty Avenger has been cancelled - issue #8 will be the last one. Thanks to everyone who bought the book - it's been such a great experience working with Chris Samnee on this thing; his artwork consistently exceeded my expectations. He and colourist Matt Wilson made that book the best-looking one on the stands.

Chris and I were four issues shy of wrapping up the mega-subplot we'd been setting up since issue #1 - if we'd reached issue #12 a lot of questions would have been answered and the series would have been tied up with a nice little bow - so if you're Twitter-enabled and you'd like Marvel to publish those last four issues at some stage, let them know.

Update: Some commentary from around the internet...

iFanboy: A Note for my Boyfriend Thor
The Comics Reporter
Newsarama
Digital Spy
Bleeding Cool
Comics Alliance
Robot 6/CBR

And perhaps most intriguingly...

Malinky!

I recently had the pleasure of doing a pin-up for the phenomenal Sonny Liew to go in his Malinky Robot collection, the English language edition of which will be out soon from Image Comics (though it's been out elsewhere in the world for a while). We worked together on a Spider-Man backup a couple of years back, and I was blown away by how much he brought to the story. It was a great privilege to be invited to contribute something to his own project.

I thought I was out...

This week, I thought I'd share a spot illustration I did recently for Doctor Who Magazine - it's for their soap-opera-themed issue, #427, out later this month. They're taking advantage of the fact that I used to do these kinds of illustrations for Inside Soap magazine and DWM, y'see... anyway, it was nice to be back in the saddle again, however briefly. That's the thing about Doctor Who... it's a bit like the mafia. You think you're out, but they pull you back in...

Comica Comiket

People around the London area might like to know that I'll be making an appearance at this Sunday's Comica Comiket, sketching and signing along with a number of other fine cartoonists, among them Charlie Adlard, Darryl Cunningham, Hunt Emerson, Garen Ewing, Paul Grist, Ellen Lindner, Gary Northfield, Woodrow Phoenix and the legendary Ed Pinsent. So that's a hell of a line-up. We'll all be there from noon till 5pm - details below.