Re-fuel

'Why is it that whenever I go home I know exactly what to do?'

I read this line in a recent issue of New York Five and couldn't get it out of my head for an hour. Recently I had been working pretty hard on just paying the bills, taking on a paid commission, which meant that my writing took a dive. Work on comics was slowing down and Easter break hit my classes at college for two weeks. In light of this I decided to take a week off and go home to my parent's house, mainly to rest. It was a good decision and, although I missed people, I got the time-out that was needed.

I've had a few fun ideas for short stories in the past weeks (not like me at all), so I read Kiss, Kiss by Roahl Dahl to remind myself how funny, scary and wonderful his stories were and inspire some of my own. After finishing The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie - which was fantastic for very different reasons - it was nice to read something shorter. After visiting a great bookshop in Carlisle I decided it was time to delve back into children's fiction again, so I bought Momo by Michael Ende (I adored the Neverending Story) and Holes by Louis Sachar which, unbelievably, I've never got round to reading.

I picked up far too many comic books from Imagination Station, and may review the more interesting ones at a later date.

I also went to Motor-Cross with my mother. Anyone who knows the first thing about me knows I didn't attend for the sport but because I wanted to take photos and find myself fascinated by the excitement of it all...that and I secretly want to be Evel Knievel...



I'm now excited about getting back to work, about creating more things, about seeing people I've missed....and I guess that was what I was missing before I left. Excitement.

Summer is my favourite time of the year. This year it hit Oxford early, and I can't wait to get back.

Saving Cinema's and other reviews

This week I found out that the cinema in my hometown is closing down after over one hundred years of showing movies to the public. I got very angry about this and wrote an article that can be found here http://talesfromtheparentsbasement.com/reviews/?p=635

In other news I have two new reviews up at Tales from the Parent's Basement.The Hellboy review is here http://talesfromtheparentsbasement.com/reviews/?p=617 and the Kull review is here http://talesfromtheparentsbasement.com/reviews/?p=628

Now to sleep.

Re-writes and Red Shoes

Been busy with novel re-reads today, in preparation for re-writing this month. It has been fun to revisit those characters and throw everything around, killing my darlings to make way for something (hopefully) better. Going to watch the Red Shoes tonight and finish Trainspotting which I have been reading to inspire a very different kind of project that will surface in the future.

If I could be anything in the world that flew/ I would be a bat and come swooping after you

Sketching Lou Reed and listening to Transformer. Finished my major writing earlier so it's nice to do something a little less cognitive. Plan on writing some brand-spanking new comic reviews for Tales From The Parent's Basement later, then rocking out with Donkey Kong and friends from work. All in all, an exemplary evening.

And tonight I wanna break my chains/Somebody break my heart/Somebody shake my brains

Been sketching Mister Miracle because I'm so into my Forth World collection right now. Never been a huge Kirby fan before, tended to find John Buscema's Silver Surfer heavier on elegance and melancholy, which is just how I like my surfer. But my girlfriend, Louise, bought me the first omnibus collection for christmas and it's just astounding. I'm glad I waited until I was old enough to appreciate it.

As I was sketching Springsteen was playing in the background, and he suggested the title lyric. I've found myself listening to him a lot lately, specifically the 1978 album Darkness On The Edge of Town (underrated after the success of Born To Run). I like its bleaker edge, and the expression of yearning to break out of whatever trap you find yourself in. Springsteen and Scott Free are singing messages into my ear. I feel hopeful and truly inspired, for the first time in ages. Bring on Darkseid, I'll whoop his big grey ass.

"Some guys they just give up living,
and start dying little by little, piece by piece.
Some guys come home from work and wash up
and go racing in the street."

Basement Updates!!

Wow. 2011 has been a busy one so far. Things are moving along nicely on 'Maker & I'. I received the first colored pages back from Matt Soffe and I have to say that man is a little bit of a genius...I love what he's pulling out of the bag and so glad he's on board with myself and Dan. Totally stoked for this book. Find Matt Soffe and Dan Duncan's sites on the right.

Also, I've become friends with the chaps at Tales From The Parent's Basement, as you probably guessed because I never shut up about them. The more I work with those guys on various things the more I want to hit a convention with them and get into misadventures. I recently told Ryan that I imagine their podcasts being somewhat like Lord of the Flies (from what I have gathered I think Cally would be the one beaten to death with a Gonch shell, and that makes me sad :(

They're awesome guys so please check out their site! Our bromance continues in my preview of Oni Press comic 'The Sixth Gun', as well as the article 'planet nerd' that was previously posted here... http://talesfromtheparentsbasement.com/reviews/?p=609