Thought Bubble Festival

A quick heads-up to anyone going to be at Thought Bubble in Harrogate this weekend that I will be there in the DSTLRY Hall at table D19. I'll have copies on my latest Diary Comic collection, DOUBLE SUMMER, and my new History Comic from First:Second, THE PROHIBITION ERA, plus all my usual nonsense - original art, sketches, self-published comics and all that malarkey. Hope to see some of you there!

London Film & Comic Con Sketches

Some drawings I did behind a table over the weekend for the entertainment of strangers. 

 

 

Sketches from London Comic Con Spring 2022

 Some of the better sketches from the weekend.

Macc-POW!

Tomorrow, June 22nd, I will be attending Macc-POW! in Macclesfield! I will be selling books and comics, flogging original art pages and sketching like a bastard (see below for the sort of thing you can expect). Do hope some of you can make it.

2019 Convention Schedule!

It's my great privilege to be attending Wellington's ComicFest 2019 this coming weekend! Incredibly, it will be the first convention I attend in New Zealand EVER, despite having grown up there (they weren't a thing in my day). Big thanks to the festival for inviting me and to Creative NZ for covering the cost. I'll be doing some panel discussion things, doing a presentation where I'll be wanging on at tedious length about my career, and running a workshop based around the idea of creating comics from an arbitrary set of formal constraints. Because that's how I roll.

Next up will be Macc-Pow! in Macclesfield on June 22nd, who were also kind enough to invite me, except this time no planes will be involved.

Then there's a small flurry of the things around October-November - first will be the Lakes International Comic Art Festival on October 12th-13th. I found out yesterday that my application was approved, so hooray!

Following that a few weeks later is Thought Bubble, in Harrogate this year, on November 9th-10th.

And last but not least, one that's a short bus ride from my house, so it would be daft not to go: the London Winter Comic Con at the Olympia, on November 22nd-23rd.

Given the geographical spread of this year's appearances I'd be absolutely flabbergasted if anyone managed to see me at all of them, but I very much hope some of you can be at at least one.

Ideally I want to have a new self-published comic out for the end-of-year shows, which I've managed to do three years running now (one Fred the Clown book and a couple of Zoots). Nothing even slightly ready at this point in time, though, so if I manage to pull that rabbit out of a hat it may be a delightful surprise to both of us. I'm not quite at the "better pull my finger out" stage, but teetering on the edge of thinking very hard about pulling my finger out. (Which, as we all know, is a tale as old as time itself.)

Anyway, comics!

Comicdom Con, Athens

I'm flying to Athens later today to be a part of Comicdom Con this weekend! I'm taking part in various events throughout Saturday and Sunday, including a presentation on Sunday where I'll be trying to improvise a short comic live, with suggestions from audience members. Never tried this before, so it could be a triumph or it could all end in tears. We'll see! Regardless, it should be loads of fun. Do come along if you're able. More info here.

Thought Bubble!

By the time this post rolls out, I should be well on my way to Thought Bubble in Leeds, there to spend the weekend wallowing in comicky delights. I'll have a table in New Dock Hall where I'll be flogging the new Fred the Clown book, The Iron Duchess; the collected edition of Abigail and the Snowman; and various other books, items of original art, sketches and what-have-you. It's the UK's comic event of the year – be there!

Nottingham Comic Con

I'll be attending the Nottingham Comic Con this weekend. All the usual tat will be on display, but also new for this year's show I'll have the book collection of Abigail and the Snowman as well as my latest Fred the Clown graphic novel, The Iron Duchess.

Sketching will occur.

And I'm on a panel about what it's like to work with big licenses, which I used to do quite a bit of (and I think this year's Betty Boop series probably counts, just about).

Here's an image I drew for promotional purposes for last year's show. This time around, I've contributed a one-page strip for their convention anthology, Forest Tales, so you might want to look out for that as well. It's packed with a stellar array of talented contributors – you can find out more about it here.

Lakes International Comic Art Festival!

I'm going to be at LICAF this weekend! Here are just a few of the books I will have for sale there:

ABIGAIL AND THE SNOWMAN

This is the book of the series Boom Studios published early last year, now finally collected in a single volume - the form I originally wanted for it. I'm not even sure it's in comic book stores yet, so this will be your chance not only to get it before anybody else, but to have it signed and sketched-in by the author.

BETTY BOOP #1

I only have a limited number of copies of this, written by me and drawn by the very talented Gisèle Lagacé. Grab them early!

FRED THE CLOWN in "THE IRON DUCHESS"

My latest self-published effort, 100 pages of wordless silent movie-inspired shenanigans with the Fredster.

THE BAKER STREET PECULIARS #1-4

Again, very limited quantities of these. My most recent series from Boom!, drawn by the amazing Andy Hirsch.

I will also have many of my other books (all three volumes of Snarked!, The Show Must Go On, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Popeye, etc.), minicomics, original artwork, and will be drawing custom sketches for visitors throughout the weekend for a modest fee.

Last year was my first Lakes Festival and I had a great time. I'm sure this year will be no exception. Hope to see some of you there!

Crouch End Cartoon Art Festival

The world is depressing me so it's time for something lovely. To this end, may I encourage you to come along to the Crouch End Cartoon Art Festival this Saturday, where I'll be making a return to an area of London where I used to live very happily, many moons ago now. Who knows, it may be our last chance before those of us with non-British passports are all deported, so let's make the most of it before the world burns to the ground.

Iron Duchess update

Two more pages up at ZCO.MX today.

I'd also like to mention some upcoming appearances, while I've got your attention:

• The first one, this very Saturday, is at the Comica Comiket at the House of Illustration, King's Cross, London (directions here).  I'll be doing a turn as a part of the Drawing Parade at 12:30pm, otherwise I should be at my table sketching, flogging books and original art. 
• Next up will be the Doctor Who Magazine #500 Celebration at the Windsor Copthorne Hotel on 28th May. Again, I'll be sketching and doing the original artwork thing (although less of the books in this case).
• And third in a packed few weeks will be the Crouch End Comic Art Festival on June 18th at the Earl Haig Hall. I was a resident of Crouch End many years ago and I greatly enjoy my return visits. Third year running, and it gets better every year.

Hope to see you at one, some or all of them.

Iron Duchess update

More Fred the Clown hijinks at ZCO.MX today...

Also, may I draw your attention to the Lakes International Comic Art Festival this weekend, which I will be attending for the first time. I'll have a half-table in the Clock Tower and will be doing my usual selling-books-and-drawing-pictures thing. Really looking forward to it; I've heard such positive things about this show. Hope to see some of you there.

Iron Duchess update

Three pages up at ZCO.MX this week. Might be the last multi-page update for a bit, as I need to get ahead on the colouring first and I'm (happily) quite busy. I'll still be updating every Monday, though, never fear!

Couple of other things to mention: first, WHOOP! The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow won a Harvey Award this weekend for "Best Original Graphic Novel", which I really did not see coming. Thank you to all the voters who made that happen! Extremely honoured.

Second, a huge THANK YOU to everybody involved with FACTS in Ghent this past weekend - the organisers, my fellow guests and, of course, the many fans and readers who came by and were so kind and enthusiastic. I had a great time. Almost missed my train home!

FACTS!

This weekend I'll be at the FACTS Comic Convention in Ghent, Belgium. (First time there!) You know the drill by now: I'll have books and artwork, I'll be sketching, and I'm looking forward to meeting new people. Should be loads of fun. Hope to see some of you there!

Belgium!

I've had it up on the sidebar for a while now, but I can now formally announce that I'll be a guest at the FACTS Comic Convention in Ghent, Belgium on the 26th and 27th of September. More info here. Looking forward to meeting some of my European readers!

Coming up...

A couple of announcements: firstly, I'll be at the LFCC – that's the London Film and Comic Con – this weekend, from Friday through until Sunday. Hope to see some of you there.

Secondly, it appears that a book I wrote and drew (after a treatment by Jim Henson), The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow, has been nominated for four (!) Harvey Awards this year. One of the nominations is for "excellence in production", which is down to the talents of Scott Newman, but I'll happily take the rest (along with stellar colourist Ian Herring). Really surprised and delighted to get a nod.

Work In Progress

You're following The Iron Duchess on ZCO.MX, aren't you? Of course you are. Here's a panel from about two thirds of the way through, which I rattled off earlier today.

 

Other news: I'm going to be at the London Film and Comic Con on July 17th-19th. Nothing new to release, nothing big to announce – just drawing for the lovely peeples. Hope to see some of you there.

Iron Duchess Has Triplets

A three-page update this week – right here.

 
Other stuff I'd like to draw to your attention:

• I'll be talking with Dylan Horrocks at the Australia & New Zealand Festival of Literature and the Arts this Sunday at 4:30pm. Details and booking here. (Apparently, according to their website, I'm most famous for doing "The Straitjacket Fits" in Judge Dredd the Megazine a quarter of a century ago – thank you, Wikipedia, once again. You're the gift that keeps on giving.)

• And a week after that, on Saturday June 6th, I'll be at the Crouch End Cartoon Art Festival. I was at the first one, last year, and it was a lovely little show – a good crowd, great work on display, well worth coming out for. Looking forward to a similar experience this year.