Coming Attractions: More Sex & Violence plus some Peculiarity

Too Much Sex & Violence #4 is heading towards completion and will hopefully be hitting the streets sometime in what we're laughably calling this "summer". To whet your appetites, here's the front and back covers... a couple of wonderful arty homages from Nige & Dave...





But that's not all... my other new comic, Department of the Peculiar, drawn by the amazing Rob Wells is also nearing completion and provisionally scheduled for release some time in August (ish). Our good friends at the Forbidden Planet Blog were kind enough to preview the first five pages yesterday... so pop over there if you want to find out more.

Too Much Sex & Violence #3 is here!

It's time to return to Fathomsby and catch up with its strange, perverted and outlandish residents. See Harry Hall wallow in drunken regret. Join Dermot and Dorothy for dinner (and orgasmatron). Find out how Wonderful scratches that lonely nights itch. Learn the secret origin of DJ Frank Epstein. Discover what sordid thoughts Kathy Marr encounters when she arrives in town. Examine a two-dicked corpse with FME Imogen Redback. And meet Julia Gore, Jasper Badtouch, Bernie Clunge, Kristoph Plott and the uptight manager of Das Uberblick Hotel. It's our most depraved issue yet...

Written by me, with art by Adrian Bamforth, Kelvin Green, Rob Wells, Stephen Prestwood, Nige Lowrey, Andrew Cheverton, Martin Eden and Chris Askham. Front cover by Martin (and everybody else!), back cover by Chev. All the rest by Davey Metcalfe-Carr.

Sadly, the rising postal cost has meant I've had to put up the price to £2.75 an issue, but hopefully that won't deter you from enjoying the unique pleasures of Fathomsby in the book Broken Frontier called "delectably macabre" and Forbidden Planet described as "a freakshow you can't take your eyes off". Don't worry, the digital download is still just an incredible 99p!

To order the new issue, click here to visit my shop. New readers can also pick up a bargain batch of the first three issues at the knockdown rate of £6.50... while stocks last!

Top Ten Sexy Songs

If you were here a couple of weeks back when I did sex, you'll understand the rules. This time it's ten great songs with 'sexy' in the title. In tribute to the second issue of Too Much Sex & Violence, out now...

10. The Beatles - Sexy Sadie

The original title was 'Maharishi', written by John after the Beatles' India experience. I don't mind including the occasional Beatles track in these lists, but I like to get them out of the way early on because they hardly need my help to sell any more records.

9. Dr. Hook - Sexy Eyes

Of course, if you're a huge Beatles fan you'll probably be horrified to see them one place below Dr. Hook, but them's the breaks. This song reminds me of that old Kenny Everett gag about "the woman in the bar who rolled her eyes at me... so I picked them up and rolled them back."

8. Art Brut - Sexy Sometimes

Eddie Argos wants to be Barry White... though he accepts his chances are slim.

I want to be played in the background,
While a couple drinks their wine.
That would be a triumph, with a voice like mine.

7. Corinne Bailey Rae - Sexyback

Yes, it's the Justin Timberlake song.

Yes, it's the version it's OK to like.

6. Little Man Tate - Sexy In Latin

A bittersweet tale of young love from Sheffield's dear departed.

5. Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing

Love the Starsky & Hutch guitar on this. It's worth tracking down Cud's version too, if you can get your ears on it.

4. Flight of the Conchords - We're Both In Love With A Sexy Lady

Bret, she was looking at me
No, she was looking at me
Bret, she was looking at me,
She had her eye on my knee
Dog, I'm sorry, she had her eye on my guns
Are you loco? She was checking out my buns
No, bro, she had an eye on me
She had an eye on me
Well, how could she have an eye on both of us?
Wait a minute, you talking about the girl with a lazy eye?
I think she might have had a slightly lazy eye

We're both in love with a sexy lady
With an eye that's lazy
The girl that's fly with a wonky eye
She's smokin' with an eye that's broken
I think it's hot
The way she looks left a lot
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

The word 'genius' cannot be used enough when talking about Flight of the Conchords.

3. Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy

For everyone who complained about the lack of Salt 'n' Pepa on the sex countdown: here, I hope you're happy now.

My actual real number 3 is...

Lily Rae & The Saturday Girls - Oh! To Be Young & Sexy

...but I couldn't find that on youtube. Still, it's as worthy of your attention as anything else here today.

2. Rod Stewart - Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?

Because...

Steady now, ladies.

1. Prince - Sexy M.F.

It's hard enough trying to search for the word 'sexy' on youtube, try searching for the full title. Then try finding a version Prince's record company haven't objected to being there in the first place. All that said, it's worth the effort for a song that was (understandably) edited to death for radio play.

See also Lovesexy, somewhat less obscene yet still impossible to find on youtube for the reasons outlined above.



So - what sexy song gets you in the mood?

Top Ten Sex Songs

In honour of the new issue of Too Much Sex & Violence (get your copy here), here's ten great songs that directly mention S-E-X in the title. Of course, there are millions of songs about doing the wild thing that don't mention the S-E-X word... but if I started sorting through all those, we'd be here forever...

And no, I didn't count 'sexy' songs. Or 'sexual' songs. Those will be on separate lists. Pay attention at the back!

10. George Michael - I Want Your Sex

I can hear you sniggering and you can stop it right now. I still maintain that 'Faith' was a great pop album, but you probably had to be there. It was also one of the first albums I bought again on CD (when I finally got a CD player), though that was a few years later. It reminds me of the first time I took a girl out on a date. Picked her up in my dad's car and drove her home afterwards. She even invited me in for a coffee. Did I get any...?

Did I heck.

9. Beck - Sexx Laws

This is basically Beck trying to be Prince, as is the whole Midnight Vultures album. Which is pretty silly. There's only one Prince. Beck is better being Beck. Still, this was a catchy enough single. I'd never seen the video before - who knew Jack Black was in it?

8. Soft Cell - Sex Dwarf

"WARNING," says the youtube poster, "this is one of the most controversial music videos ever made because it contains lots of sexual stuff."

Hmm. Looks like a very bad Little Britain sketch to me. Still, it's Marc Almond at his most extreme, and that's always worth a listen.

7. The King Blues - Sex Education

He never had a little chat with his Dad
It weren't his Mum who enlightened this lad...

It's the evil internet where kids get their sex education these days. A timely, if depressing, assessment from The (ever-excellent) King Blues.

6. T'Pau - Sex Talk

And we're back to the 80s with (as I've confessed before) one of my earliest pop star sex idols. And she even sings about Spider-Man in this song... swoon!

5. The Vaccines - Post Break-Up Sex

The track that first brought this noisy bunch of ruffians to my attention last year. Because they put "sex" in the title, obviously.

4. Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Sex & Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll

It's all his brain and body needs...

3. The Divine Comedy - Generation Sex

Generation sex
Respects
The rights
Of girls
Who want to take their clothes off
As long as we can all watch that's okay
And generation sex
Elects
The type
Of guys
You wouldn't leave your kids with
And shouts "off with their heads" if they get laid
Lovers watch their backs
As hacks
In macs
Take snaps
Through telephoto lenses
Chase Mercedes Benzes through the night
A mourning nation weeps
And wails
But keeps
The sales
Of evil tabloids healthy
The poor protect the wealthy in this world

2. James Brown - Get Up (I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine)

The original Mr. Lover Man. Shabba, my arse.

1. Pulp - Sheffield: Sex City

Which brings us to one of the most shameless pervs in rock: our Jarv. This has long been one of my favourite Pulp songs, and not just because I recognise a lot of the places he mentions. It fair drips sleazy atmosphere, it does.

Oh the things we saw:
everyone on Park Hill came in unison at four-thirteen a.m.
and the whole block fell down.
The tobacconist caught fire,
and everyone in the street died of lung cancer.
We heard groans coming from the T-reg Chevette:
You bet, you bet, yeah you bet.

And that is why I wish Jarvis Cocker would find the time to write a novel.



So those were my sex songs. Remember, sexy and sexual get their own lists. But what does it for you, baby...?

Two Much Sex & Violence

See what I did there?

Issue #2 of my new comic TOO MUCH SEX & VIOLENCE is finally available to buy, in print and digital formats. It's written by me, with top notch artwork from Stephen Prestwood, Neil Cavenham, Dave Metcalfe-Carr, Nige Lowrey, Mark Renhard, Ryan Taylor, Rob Wells and Tony McGee - thanks, gents!

Return to the seaside town they ought to close down and catch up with dodgy Dermot Kaye, horrible Harry Hall, kinky Kathy Marr, garrulous Gary Gore and suspicious Sam Kamara. Plus, meet Frank Epstein, Becky Corvida, Piers Doughtery... and Serena, the shocking Sister of Mercy. If you dare...

Issue #2 is available for just £2.50 (print) or 99p (digital) - go here to buy it.

Thanks also to Dad Who Writes for joining the ever-growing TMSAV Reviewers club...

Now, this isn’t your Avengers-type comic. This is more Garth-Ennis -writes-Adrian-Tomine-in-Grimsby with a touch of early Ramsay Campbell. It’s funny, twisted, sharp, not a little bitter and full of tight characterisation.

Check out the full review here.

Full Cream Comicy Goodness

Like Robots? Like Vikings? Like Ninjas? Like Pirates? Then check out the new comic from my old Thoughtballoons compatriot, MK Strangeland. Robot Viking Ninja Pirates #0 is just as much fun as the title sounds and it's available now from graphic.ly for just $1 (about 60p, by my reckoning). Here's the full blurb...

Robot Viking Ninja Pirates #0 (22 Pages) – What are Robot Viking Ninja Pirates? Exactly what they sound like. Looking for an origin story? You won’t find it here. What will you find? How about a runaway dinosaur that’s part spider getting punched in the face by a robot. And best of all, you can get it all for just ONE DOLLAR!

Meanwhile, new thoughtballooner Dan Hill shared this beautifully observed tale based on the premise of what might happen if the human race suddenly discovered the ability to fly... then focused on just two characters who use their newfound powers to re-enact a terrible moment from their own tragic back story. Really nicely paced, with excellent artwork from Cale Ajioka. Click Eagles High to enjoy.

Speaking of Thoughtballoons, we're just embarking on Harry Osborn week, so get yourself over there for some Gobliny goodness. My story goes up later today (or might already be there, depending when you read this), but in the meantime check out what the other guys bring to the slightly-less-crazy-than-his-Dad Osborn lad.

And while we're on the subject of comics, yes, it's true, the wait is almost over. TOO MUCH SEX & VIOLENCE #2 will be available by the end of the week. Here's the official unveiling of the cover to whet your appetites...

Whatever you're imagining right now... believe me, it's worse. Much, much worse. Heh.

Too Much Sex & Violence Needs Your Vote!

The longlists for the Eagle Awards 2012 are being compiled - and Too Much Sex & Violence is nominated in 4 categories!

Category 1 - Favourite New Writer (me!)

Category 9 - Favourite Letterer (David Metcalfe-Carr)

Category 15 - Favourite British Comic (B&W)

Category 16 - Favourite New Comic

We've been kind of tacked onto the end of each list so you won't find us in the main alphabetical listing... but if you scroll down to the bottom, we're pretty easy to spot among the late additions.

Being realistic, I don't think we stand a chance (there's some pretty steep competition in all the categories) - but it would be nice to at least make a shortlist. So if you can spare 5 minutes, why not pop over to the voting booth and cast your votes today.

Too Much Sex & Violence #2 is coming soon... get a sneak preview here!

What's Another Year?

Sunset Over Slawit is five today, and it's been a pretty tumultuous year here at SOS-towers. This was the year I lost my job, crashed my car and fell foul of the local nutter.

On the plus side, I began training for a new profession, launched a successful comic and started a new music blog.

That last one seems a pretty crazy thing to do as the blogosphere itself continues to shrink (we said goodbye to RB and Dan this year, among others) and my own available blogging time decreases (it's amazing how much more free time there was in the day when I had a full time job). But The Mixtape Lives On is a fast-fix for my blogging cravings and I've always preferred writing about music to just about any other subject. Makes you wonder whether this blog will see a sixth birthday... I guess only time will tell. With the exception of Steve, I doubt anybody would really miss it.

Yay! Happy blogbirthday, me! Anyone for cake?

Even More Sex & Violence

Many thanks to Andy Oliver over at Broken Frontier for helping promote my new comic, TOO MUCH SEX & VIOLENCE. I've never been interviewed before... it makes me feel like a proper writer - at last!

Read the Broken Frontier interview here.

Meanwhile, feedback and reviews on the first issue continue to pour in... here's another selection of opinions...

"If you are a fan of League of Gentlemen, then Too Much Sex & Violence is the comic for you. A gloriously depraved and quirky selection of vignettes all settled around the 'not so quiet' seaside town of Fathomsby. Rol Hirst writes and corrals the assorted artists together to make this one of the more interesting reads this year."

(Gary Erskine: artist, Hellblazer, The Filth, Dan Dare.)

"Reminds me of Gary Spencer Millidge's Strangehaven on a bad drug trip! If you like the dark humour of the League of Gentlemen then you'll like this comic!" (Selina Lock: writer/editor, The Girly Comic.)

"Hail to Fathomsby!" (James Lindsay: writer, filmmaker, A Pessimist Darkly.)

"...superbly paced and dramatically rendered... you can never have to much of a good thing, and Too Much Sex & Violence is a very good thing." (Dan Powell: award-winning writer.:)

"...delectably macabre..." Andy Oliver: writer/editor, Broken Frontier.

"...beautifully overdone stuff." Al Ewing: writer, Travelling Man.

"There are some great lines in it too... It made me chuckle anyway." Michael Barnes aka El Blondino, artist.

And if you missed the first batch of reviews, click here.

If you've not yet got enough Sex & Violence in your life... get yourself a copy today.

Too Much Sex & Violence... It's A Hit!

Welcome to the northern seaside town of Fathomsby; home to retired super-heroes, monster DJs, mutant prostitutes, pier-owning gangsters, disgruntled policemen and a woman who knows exactly what you're thinking about, whenever you're thinking about...S-E-X.

The reviews are in and the first issue of my new comic, TOO MUCH SEX & VIOLENCE, is a hit! Not an unqualified hit, but I expected a few rough waters because of the comic's ever-changing roster of artists, its at-times dubious subject matter, and the fact that first issues (story set-ups) are a notoriously difficult sell. Still, I think enough people are intrigued by #1 to come back for #2... and that's where we really blow the doors off.

Here's some of the comments I've had so far...

"This may be a freakshow, but it’s a freakshow you can’t take your eyes off... one of those first issues of a series that you finish and immediately want to reread, just to make sure you got everything." (Richard Bruton: writer, Forbidden Planet International.)

"A most enjoyable read... reminded me of Worthing, nicely weird and gripping."

(Glyn Dillon: artist, Deadline; Shade, The Changing Man)

"I quickly forgot I was reading a comic. I was simply reading something well written and expertly put together - there's a lot of talent contained within these 28 pages."

(Martin Pond: writer, Dark Steps)

"...a really engaging and unusual first issue..." (Nicolas Papaconstantinou: writer, Monkey On My Back)

"...extreme shocking for shocks sake is not the purpose of this book but there is at least one eyeball shooting out of its socket to keep it interesting." (Lee Sargent: artist, Quit Your Day Job)

TOO MUCH SEX & VIOLENCE #1 is available to buy for just £2.50 (printed) or £0.99 (pdf download) from this place here. Go buy it now. Or tell your friends to. Then write about it all over the interweb. Go on, I insist.

My Week On The Web

My new comic Too Much Sex & Violence #1 is out now. I'll be giving it an official launch here on SOS soon, but if you'd like to pick up a copy before then, go here now.

Over on The Mixtape Lives On this week, I finished up my list of songs about mixtapes. I'll be counting down the top ten here shortly. I also discovered an excellent new record by Cosmo Jarvis, unearthed a free download EP from LaFaro, The Plea and Ash, and dedicated a song to my right hand man, Davey Metcalfe.

Elsewhere on the web...

The Poet-Laura-eate went slamming in Cheltenham...

Shocked at the news that the next series of Doctor Who won't start till Autumn 2012, TimeWarden considers chucking out his telly...

Kippers was annoyed that nobody laughed at his twitter jokes (I did).

The Weekly Themed Art Blog boldly went where no artists have gone before (well, apart from the ones who have)...

Swiss Toni took on the latest trends in women's footwear (brave man)...

There was a nasty knife accident in Kelloggsville (not for the squeamish)....

...and this week's thoughtballoons choice (from Max) was Static Shock. Read my 1 page story here.

That was my week on the web... how was yours?

My Week On The Web

The Mixtape Lives On... with new music from Fountains of Wayne, a free download of an entire Nirvana tribute album, plus loads more songs about mixtapes from The Cardigans, Tift Merritt, The Pooh Sticks and The Mamas & The Papas. I also dedicated a song to Steve from Bloggertropolis... from another hard luck Steven. (Congrats also to Steve on his first paying gig... which he used to talk about penises.)

Over at thoughtballoons it was Jimmy Olsen week, as suggested by Grant. You can read my one-page post-no-more-Crisis story right here.

I feel bad that I've not had any time to review any Comics On The Ration lately... but Rob keeps on fighting the good fight. Read what he thought about Jonah Hex: The Six Gun War here.

Elsewhere...

Brian Bolland joins the blogosphere...

Adam began a countdown of 31 of his favourite songs...

Rob began betting on the X-Factor... (I hate the X-Factor, but I like Rob)...

Martin took to the radio to promote his book...

The excitement continued in Thunder Brother: Soap Division as Sally and Jake arrive in Westenders...

Lee looked at the treatment of women in the new look DC Comics...

And Tom discovered this excellent trailer for the maddest Batman flick yet...



And finally... Too Much Sex & Violence #1 is coming. A little later than scheduled, but all good things etc. Watch this space.

The Word Wrestler Cometh

For anyone who's wondering what I've been up to since my redundancy, or about my plans for the future, here's the answer...

I've become the world's first official Word Wrestler! A freelance copywriter. A self-employed copywriter, proofreader and social networking expert. My business is very much in its infancy and I'm sure to make mistakes so I'd appreciate all the feedback I can get. If you have time to take a look at my copywriting website and want to offer any helpful, constructive advice then either leave a comment here (I've disabled comments on the site itself) or send me an email. It's a scary step, but also a very exciting one, and I'm determined to find my way in this brave new world.

In other news, I'll be appearing live this weekend along with Paul Rainey, Rob Wells and Steve Miller at the Comics - On The Ration panel at this year's Caption Comics Festival in Oxford. The C-OTR panel is on Sunday afternoon but I'll be there most of the weekend, with copies of PJANG for sale and free Too Much Sex & Violence postcards for anyone who wants one. If you're coming along, do pop over and introduce yourself. I'll be modelling some of the outfits from my recent What I'm Wearing Today post, so you shouldn't be able to miss me.

Too Much Sex & Violence

Too Much Sex & Violence (TMSAV) is my new comic, scheduled to debut this September. I'm very excited about it - not just because I think it's the best comic I've ever written, but also because I've managed to persuade / bribe / coax / cajole / blackmail / force at gunpoint so many fine artists (some I've never worked with before, some I've not worked with in a long, long time) into drawing it for me. The book is a continuing series set in the northern seaside town of Fathomsby, featuring an outlandish cast that includes dapper gangsters, depressed detectives, paranormal prostitutes, monster DJs, retired superheroes, psychics who know all your most sordid fantasies, nuns with very sharp teeth... lashings of sex and violence. Because these things sell comics. And because I think I can make them interesting... beyond just cheap titillation. We'll see.

To find out more, and discover the stellar array of talent that has agreed to draw this book, click here. Then ask yourself this...

Can you ever really have TOO MUCH Sex & Violence?