SCC Floor Plan

Here's the floor plan for Sunderland Comic Con, with some helpful scribblings so you can find Andy on the Saturday and me on the Sunday. Table 31 is the place to be, so come and say hello. 

Sunderland Comic Con

I'll be making an appearance at Sunderland Comic Con on Sunday 22nd February. I'll have all the usual comics and print and I'll also be doing drawings of anything you fancy. If you pop down on the Saturday, you'll have the pleasure of buying comics from the absurdly talented Andrew Waugh.

More details can be found here.

#JeSuisCharlie

This is about a month late in appearing online. I initially tweeted this panel by panel and I only recently got round to putting it together as one page.

Thought Bubble 2014

I'll be appearing at Thought Bubble in Leeds once again. The convention this year is held on the 15th and 16th November and I'll be propping up the table in the New Dock Hall with my esteemed colleague, Andrew Waugh.

I'll have the usual stuff; Nightbus, Sugar Glider and a few odds and ends. Maybe even a few prints. Maybe. See you there.

Nightbus Review at FPI

Richard Bruton of Forbidden Planet International Blog has only gone and reviewed Nightbus! Not just the new one but the whole series. Mint. Here's a couple of quotes, firstly on issues one and two.

"The story and art in those first couple issues are snappy, jumpy things, script and storytelling fast and interesting, designed to impress in a quick hit."

That kind of hits the nail on the head with what we were going for, telling the beginning and middle, or maybe just the middle of stories and letting the reader fill in the blanks. On to issue three,

"Bainbridge had a lot more to do here, both scripting the story and delivering more pages of art, and it definitely shows in the storytelling, as this finale is something far more satisfying, something whole, something with a definitive ending."

Richard picks up on a lot of subtleties of the series and as you'd expect from something I started while I was at university, there are faults here. Nightbus isn't perfect, because it's conventional in unexpected ways and unconventional in unexpected ways. But perhaps that's why I've revisited it.

You can read the full review here and buy digital or phyical copies of Nightbus here.

A Bit of a Review of the Year 2012

I know it's late, but I don't want to get into the habit of just missing out the even numbered years. Nevertheless, let's look back at 2012, the Year I promised would be the Year of the Trilogy. Which it wasn't. But it was too.

I started off with the foolhardy notion that I could draw something everyday and blog about on a weekly basis. I did a total of nineteen Draw Everyday posts. Which is pitiful. I reckon I might give it another go. The pressure of having to blog something was a good motivator, but also a hinderance, in that I got hung up with having something ready for public consumption. Bottom line is, people are glad to see anything, and with Twitter and Instagram, those are probably the best places for such updates.

While I was waiting for the Sugar Glider 3 script from Daniel, I went to see The Artist at the cinema. There's a scene within a scene where one of the characters reminded me of Don Quixote from Sugar Glider 2, and after looking at the film's poster, an idea was set in motion that resulted in the most popular post of 2012 on the blog, and also the idea of promoting the free web serialisation of Sugar Glider with DVD box-esque posters. We quickly decided to do posters for the main title based on some of our favourite independent films, some of which related to the content and themes of the books. Then we thought it would be hilarious to parody more schmaltzy, sentimental romantic comedies for the two Sugar Glider Stories books to reflect their ensemble cast.

In February, there was still no sign of the SG3 script, but this little lady made an appearance, courtesy of Laura Swaddle.

March was spent mostly building up for the fourth Leeds Alt Comics Fair which took place in April. It's consistently one of the best comics events I've attended. I had time to work on a small mini comic called Column, about my thoughts on public art. I was going to do a larger and longer version if there was any interest, but I think it served more as an incentive or reward for people buying more than one comic. Here's my poster again, I was dead chuffed with it.

The merry merry month of May is home to my birthday, so not a lot of comics work going on there. However, I did find time to work on Nightbus 3, which at this point was pretty much simply called Nightbus. The lack of numeration was a conscious decision to not put off people who may think they were missing out on one and two, but simultaneously, could have been confused as an issue one. Comics, eh? Interestingly, a few people have said that it works as a starting point as well as an ending. I'm pleased to have created something that ends, not on a bang, but a full stop and an ellipsis.

In August, I went to the City of Lights to be proper romantic on mine and my wife's second anniversary (naturally), track down some BDs (success), capture a giant Totoro (he escaped), visit the Robert Crumb Retrospective (extensive) and cross the canal Saint-Martin and la Seine a few times (#riverfans). I adore Paris and love that they take comics seriously there, without question, clarification or defensiveness. I got the new Lewis Trondheim book for Christmas. It is an absolute joy. I'm going to write a comic in French. It'll be mint.

About a week later, I was at the Carlisle Megacon, another small to medium event that was lots of fun to attend. Sales weren't great, but I think this is the first of its kind in the area, so hopefully word of mouth will ensure a greater footfall next year.

Nightbus launched online in October, in time for Thought Bubble and the Canny Comic Con. It's been met with positive reviews and good sales so far. I'm really pleased with the book and the series as a whole. You can see a great leap forward from the first 'snapshot' to this one. I feel that my writing, really came into its own here, both in terms of visual storytelling, dialogue and story. It's something I've been looking forward to getting back to for so long. Leaving a trilogy unfinished is poor form, so I was glad to get back to those characters even if it was just to give them the send off they deserved.

What's new for 2013? Well SG3 is on its way, I can't guarantee a specific launch date, but you'll find out soon enough. And after I finish the second of my two trilogies? I plan to take a little break from comics. I'll concentrate on learning a few new tricks in Photoshop and Illustrator and maybe just drawing. I have plans to work with Daniel on something soon though, so don't get too upset.

I'll take this opportunity to say a massive cheers me dears to everyone who's helped to make 2012 a superawesome year, and will hopefully be there to make 2013 even better.

Coming in 2013

So, some of you will have seen this image today, especially if you've read Daniel's round up of the year on the Forbidden Planet International Blog. So I thought I'd show you too.

In the gap between SG2 and 3, I started doing a few film poster mash ups, starting with this one for SG2 and then this one for SG1. Daniel and I talked about SG3 and what we'd use as a starting point. Like all the best ideas, this one fell into place rather smoothly. Anyway, feel free to start guessing how the Sugar Glider Saga will end.

Keep checking back here for updates. I may post a few preview pages if you're lucky.

Canny Comic Con 2012

That's right folks, I'll be at the Canny Comic Con this Saturday at the City Library.

Last year's event was great fun and it's always a pleasure selling Sugar Glider in her home town. You can pick up the tales of the Tyne Titan and have a chat with me and Daniel about SG3. Sadly, you'll have to wait until 2013 to get your mitts on that one.

In other Sugar Glider news, we sold the final copies of SG1 at Thought Bubble, so the only places you can read it now are on the black market or in digital form. You can buy a PDF version of Susie Sullivan's first vigilante stint at my Comicsy site and Daniel's Big Cartel. The digital comics are £1.50 each.

I'll also be doing a talk/lecture/rant/Q&A about comics and location, but you'll have to keep checking the CCC blog for more info.

See you on Saturday.