Irvin Kershner, RIP

For those who don't know, Irvin Kershner was the director of one of the greatest films of all time. Here's one of my favourite scenes (although, God knows, it's bloody hard to choose one)...

Leslie Nielsen, RIP

Too many great videos to share, but here's a couple from the only cop show I'd ever rate higher than The Wire...

Nowhere Near Here

Nowhere Near Here from Pahnl Whatnow on Vimeo.

Was wondering what that noise outside was...

So you want to write a novel...

Printer vs Cat - Translated

RIP, Ingrid Pitt

Popping My Con Cherry...

So, that was Thought Bubble 2010, then.

I'll be honest here and say that I've tended to avoid cons for a number of reasons (mainly financial and my on and off relationship with comics in general), but with me gradually making in-roads into the world, I thought it was past time to get off my arse and actually make the effort to get to at least one con. Seeing as Leeds is only about an hour and a half by train, I decided to go for Thought Bubble.

First off, I have to say big, big thanks to Stacey Whittle and Alexi Conman for letting me tag along with them - even though I proved to be the worst "tagging along person" EVAR. Problems with the tickets at the train station meant that myself and my friend missed getting the train with Stacey and Alex, and had to make our own way down, running the risk of getting lost in Leeds.

One we got there, I did have a mini-geekout when I saw Bryan Talbot having a quick cigarette outside, although I didn't go up to him and gush about my love of his work on Nemesis The Warlock way back when. Inside, though, the place was packed to the gills, and I found myself wondering what I'd let myself in for...

A wander around the hall had me pretty much going "Ooo, there's Jamie McKelvie/John Romita Jr/Emma Vieceli/Kieron Gillen/Bryan Talbot/Richard Starkings/Paul Cornell/Doug Braithwaite/etc.", but - I admit - I was too scared to go up and talk to them. But the thing that really surprised me was the cross section of people there. Maybe I've been too sucked into that whole "comics are for geeks" thing that seems to permeate people's perceptions, but I was genuinely surprised at the gender balance. But, hey, the more people that read comics the better, right?

I finally managed to meet the FutureQuake team in the flesh, and editor extraordinaire Bolt-01 gave me these:


They're prints of the covers from Something Wicked and FutureQuake, where the art was based on strips that I'd written. Something Wicked #2 by Julia Bax was based on Gifts by myself and Dunk Nimmo, while FutureQuake #9 (art by Ed Traquino) was based on Mindfields by me and Bryan Coyle. You can read both strips here. Unfortunately, though, it seems I missed meeting Dunk Nimmo, which was a bit of a shame. Maybe next time, Dunk!

I also managed to catch up with Dave and Colin of Accent UK and had a wee chat about Chosen, and I managed to grab a wee chat with Andy Bloor to talk over a potential new project (but more on that later), and got me some signed copies of The Wolfmen books:


Also managed to chat to Steve Tanner of Time Bomb Comics fame and have a quick look at The Sleepless Phoenix anthology. Also managed to grab a quick natter with Stephen Downey, but I missed catching up with Dan Hill and a whole bunch of others, which is all kinds of disappointing. Maybe next time.

All in all, I enjoyed the day, but if I'm being honest, I wasn't sure what I wanted to get out of it. Was I going down there to pitch? To seek advice from pros? To just talk to people I've worked with? I don't know. I wasn't prepared enough for it, I think. I waffled at the people I met, largely out of sheer nervousness (it's so much easier to hide behind an e-mail address and a Twitter account), and, looking back at it, I really should've relaxed more. It's a lesson learned, though.

My biggest regret of the day, though? Not being That Guy and asking the Stormtrooper that was doing the rounds a question he would've been tired of being asked: "Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?"

Zombies In Retroland

Small Press Big Mouth Episode #26

I just want to say a huge, huge thanks to Stacey and Lee at Small Press Big Mouth for the shout out for Babble on the latest podcast, as well as a couple of other projects I've got going on (and, Stacey, if you're reading this the art for the Zarjaz/Dogbreath crossover Death To The Future was by Dunk Nimmo!).

If you want to listen to episode 26, head over to the Geek Syndicate website, and be sure to check out the Small Press Big Mouth blog!

Ro-Jaws watches "2 Girls, 1 Cup"

Image shamelessly nicked borrowed from Bryan Coyle's blog.

Why I Love Working With Bryan Coyle #498

Oh, come on! Who wouldn't love working with someone who draws Rogue Trooper disco dancing?!

The Right To Arm Bears...

I've rather shamelessly nicked this from Bryan Coyle's blog, because, well, it's Judge Dredd riding on the back of Shako! What more reason do you need?!

I am now more convinced than ever that I need to try and write a Dredd strip for Bryan to draw...

Masterchef 2010 Final - What you DIDN'T see...

Hitchcock's prequel to The Birds...

MASSIVE Babble Spoiler...

Yeah, we're not afraid to deal with some fucking weighty concepts...

New Month, New Start

So, this is November, then.

After a tumultuous few months both personally and what I laughingly refer to as "professionally", it looks like the dust has finally settled, and I'm looking down the barrel of a whole new beginning. And that all starts today.

From a personal point of view, a lot's happened recently that's left me wondering about life and what the fuck it's all about. I've had to face up to some harsh realities, and it's changed me on a personal level, but for the better. Or I hope, at least. Time will tell on that front, I suppose.

As for the writery stuff... Since Insomnia Publications fell apart, things have been strange, but in a good way. I've managed to finish Chosen for Accent UK (more on who's going to be the artist later), land several scripts with Zarjaz - including the ridiculously fun to work on Death To The Future, and the chance to do something with the ABC Warriors - and got to work with a whole bunch of insanely talented artists. I'm working on something with Valia Kapadai, I've finally managed to do something with The Mighty Kev Levell (which is actually his full name, you know), and there's a another project with my friend and long time collaborator Bryan Coyle on the back-burner. I've also succumbed to the lure of copywriting for a friend (I've resisted getting into this for a long time, but I had to cave eventually I suppose). And then, of course, there's Babble, and the recent move to Com.X. It genuinely feels like a new beginning for me.

So, as the first step in this new start, I've resolved to put the whole Insomnia debacle behind me.

This post is the final word I'll say on the subject. For PR purposes with Babble, I'm sure it'll come up and that's fine; I'll talk about it in relation to that. But from a personal point of view, I'm washing my hands of the whole thing. For me, it's over and done with, and, frankly, I've come out of it far better off than I ever thought I would - I mean, let's be honest here: Com.X are everything Insomnia weren't.

As I said, the experience underlined several things I've always known about the comic industry, especially at that level, and not all of it was pretty. I have very strong views on everything around the situation, but it won't do anyone any good to air them in public. So, I'm turning my back on everything to do with Insomnia Publications - except for the friends and contacts I've made through it, of course - and looking forward to whatever's coming along the road next.

There's a big world out there, ready and waiting for me to come and meet it.

Let's see what happens...