Comics From Oxford (Part 1)

It's three weeks since I drove down to Oxford for my first ever Caption and I've only just got around to reviewing some of the excellent small press comics I picked up there. Where does the time go?

Andrew Cheverton's Pictures Made Of Light is a gorgeous little comic featuring some of Chev's best art to date (typically of comic book artists, Chev tells me he "can't bear to look at it it") on an enigmatic adaptation of a prose story he originally wrote for Elephant Words.

I've read this comic three times now and each time it reveals new layers of interpretation. Chev tells me he expects it'll infuriate many readers who will "throw it away and never buy anything I make again". Now how's that for a challenge?

Pictures Made Of Light is available to buy now (£2 including p&p) from The Angry Candy Store.

Crisp Biscuit Comics #1 collects a bunch of hilarious full colour 1-page strips from Rob Wells's Crisp Biscuit Blog. These include the time-wasting adventures of Jack Bowser, star of TV's 'Twenty Bore'; political satire featuring the alien takeover plans of D'Avid C'Ameron; movie spoofs like The Green C**k Ring and X-Men: Standard Parcels... and more. You could read them at Rob's blog... or you could pay him £2.50 and get a lovely paper copy sent to your home for you to love and cherish forever. I'd recommend the latter - because who wants to read comics on a computer?

Blood Magic is a gripping tale of witchcraft, family ties and sacrifice by Karen Rubins, produced as part of her Comics Artist residency at the Victoria & Albert Museum. And you can get a FREE copy (subject to availability) over at Karen's website... all you have to do is send her 50p for p&p. Bargain!

Sean Azzopardi's Nine Months Of Beige is another collection of sharp, funny, honest and touching musings from one of my favourite autobiographical comic creators. As always with Sean's comics, I found myself nodding my head in sympathy and agreement throughout. You can't put a price on that kind of creativity... but if you did, it'd be a well-spent £2.50 (plus postage) from Sean's shop.

More reviews of Comics From Caption to follow... as soon as I've read them.

My First Caption

Big thanks to Jay and Selina (and the rest of the Committee) for making my first Caption such an enjoyable experience. It was great - and somewhat surreal - to meet so many people I've known for so many years (via the interweb) in the flesh... for the first time ever. I wish I'd attended more of the panels, but there were just so many "old friends" to talk to instead. Next time, I promise to ignore you all and just go watch the panelists.

At least I managed to make it along to our own Comics - On The Ration panel...

(Paul Rainey, Rob Wells, me and Steve Miller - together at last! Photo courtesy of Terry Wiley.)

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.

I Am All Over The Web...

...when I'm not here, that is.

I've just dug out and dusted off the first issue of The Jock (Ultimate 21st Century version) and posted it over on my writing blog. If you want to read a comic about a desperate band of freedom fighters struggling to save the world from an evil radio corporation... go here now.

Meanwhile, over at thoughtballoons, we're hip deep in Invincible week. I wasn't too keen on my own strip, a snarky dig at Robert Kirkman's propensity for over-egging the exposition, but it's gone down surprisingly well with the other tb-ers. Personally, I preferred last week's J. Jonah Jameson strip (but then, he was my choice).

And I'm still reviewing cheap comics over at Comics - On The Ration. Just survived Frank Miller and Jim Lee's All Star Batman & Robin. It made me feel goddamned grubby... but that's not necessarily a bad thing.


But... I don't just lead a virtual life. I can now officially announce a rare public appearance. Rob and Paul have asked me to join them on their Comics - On The Ration panel at this year's Caption Comics Convention in Oxford. I've been invited along to Caption by a variety of people over the years and I've always managed to find a decent excuse... but this year, the guys caught me on the hop. They know I don't have anything else to do with my time now I'm no longer counted among the gainfully employed. So they've tricked me into attending. Let me know if you're going along too, so I be sure to keep out of your way. (I suppose I better tell Jay.)