I want to be remembered for alot of things but it’ll probably be Bad Dublin Hash and Any Bread that does it. Hey, fuck it, it’s all good!

I love this comic too. It appeared in the last Shiznit and it was the runaway smash of that issue. What a little cutie. I’m using him again in forthcoming issues. Can’t resuse the gag so he’ll be starring in:

-Judge Bwed
-Hunt for Bwed October
-Bwed Poets Society
-Night of the living Bwed

If you can think of anymore gags send em on. I’ve also thought that it’d make a funny comic of me just trying to figure out how to reuse that little scamp. The title ‘Bwed Poets Society’ is probably as funny any comic I’d do of it.Y’knizzle?

Amperduke news this week.

Here’s a snip from The Eclectic Micks Swap Thing pic. Was banged out while waiting for Amperduke to burn to a cd (becasue I’ve changed printers) and talking to Yvonne on the phone. Sorry hun! Hey it’s the same as aimlessly doodling while you’re talking to somebody innit?

Ah…..Swamp Thing, remember that film? I’m man enough to admit it now that some parts sort of scared me. Then there was the animated show and toys. What was that about? Sort of like Toxic Crusaders being a spin off of Toxic Avenger and bearing no resembelance to the source. BUT scoff as I may, the TMNT cartoon which I grew up on and craved was just a hack job of an independant comic.

Anyway, about being scared while watching Swamp Thing, there was a part where a baddie turns into a snivelling little rodent thing and it just freaked me out. At least I didn’t shit my bags like Poncho when he saw Slimer in Ghostbusters.

This has been bubbling for a while now with around 12,000 emails a day from the lads. There is now an elite group of Irish comic artists and we’re calling ourselves The Eclectic Micks. Thompson thought of the name I believe and it’s really growing on me. The plan is to release a sketchbook this year. Each artist picks a character for each artist to draw, I got Swamp Thing, Captain America, Dredd, Thor and I forget the other ones.

So here’s the roll call:

PJ Holden
Dec Shalvey
Will Sliney
Stephen Mooney
Nick Roche (Sorry Nick, couldn’t find your folio site!)
Stephen Thompson
Me

It’s just great finally having pals who do the same thing. Not that I ever talk to them or anything, it’s like having a frozen sliced pan in the freezer, just knowing it’s there makes me feel better. Nah, the boys are really making waves. Nick has done Transformers and Doctor Who, Mooney has done CSI, Angel and The Mummy, Thompson is working on Star Trek and has done a bunch books in the US, Will and Dec are working on loads of shit, a graphic novel each for Classical Comics and my main man PJ is knocking out non stop artwork for 2000AD
and Fearless for Image.

It’s mad though, I still don’t know anything about comics, what’s popular and who’s doing what but the lads know everything. EVERYTHING. It’s a new year resolution to read more comics. I read and HATED the new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book though.

I think we’re keeping all our sketches secret till the book is out so go suck a wang.

So according to Matt Vinyl, the Shiznit made an appearance in RTE’s new sit com The Roaring Twenties last week. Haven’t seen it and am reserving judgement. I’d be excited if not for two things, 1) I don’t make anything from it as sales don’t increase on a free comic thats out of print and 2) I’ve been here before.

A few years ago I was approached by an art director from RTE asking for clearance to use MBLEH in their new contempory and relevant drama series. I of course was flattered, agreed and talked it up in my circles. This programme turned out to be the Big Bow Wow and it was a steaming pile of gick. So bad in fact that RTE actually rescheduled it to run twice weekly so they could wash their hands of it. It was awful. It cost 2 fokkin million to produce too.

So why is everything Irish just shit? Naked Camera can be funny, Podge and Rodge are okay and The Blizzard of Odd was outstanding but nearly every RTE production sucks a camel’s dick. I know the writers have the best intentions but how can they miss the mark repeatedly? I thought that comedy series STEW was spot on though. That girl is deadly and genuinely funny in all the sketches.

Well there was another good show called Custers Last Stand Up which was really good where the kids actually used real accents. Sweet suffering fuck I can’t stand or comprehend what goes on in these people’s heads.

The fake Dublin accents in The Commitments and The Family, etc are insulting. It’s a hard one to peg though, one side you have the affected Dublin 4 accent with all the soft ’s’ nonsense, in the middle you have real people and then there’s Damien Dempsey. What part of Dublin is that clown from?

Fuck everyone.

Wham! Back in Dublin, Sorry Dec, it was an intensive ActionScript thing I couldn’t go nuts with the ol’ pints. Up to my fucking eyeballs, Amperduke is in an envelope ready to be sent off to the printers and I need to organise the launch and exhiibtion thing in The Shaw quickly because I booked a holiday for Feb 16th and will not be able enjoy myself if I havent got The Duke in shops before I leave.

Here’s some more cute cards I made over xmas

A card from Brownie, my mate’s dog

And yes, that is a card to my cat. Commence the slagging……now.

Just realised that the Flickr images dont get scaled down to fit in Internet Explorer and it bumps the right hand menu off. Everyone using IE get that? Firefox all the way lads.

Insect,not incest.

Over in Scotland on a training course so I’ll keep it brief. Here’s some new bits from a new Twisted Tales. It’s the kind of story that I just want to read. Insects.
I love them. It’s my porn.

Lovely.

I had to buy a Secret Santa present for somebody in work and I was aimlessly drifting around HMV looking for a dvd for them when I saw Freaked. I hadn’t seen it in years and it would no doubt be appreciated by whoever recieved it and then I could borrow it off them.

I love this flick. I used to be big into special effects and would pull my pud to Fangoria and The Dark Side. All the stills I saw from it just looked nutty. I remember renting it out around 1997 and keeping it for weeks, it blew me away and it still annoys me when people haven’t even heard of it. This is the problem with Freaked, it’s a classic film, recieving praise from the press but completely dumped on by the studio and not distributed/written off by them. It also suffered the typical creative meddling but it’s remarkable that they even let it be made.

Stuey Gluck in a funny but no effects sequence

The direction, production values and gags are top class. Alex Winter from Bill and Ted wrote, directed and stars as the lead in it. It also has Bob Goldthwait, Mr T, Brooke Shields, Randy Quaid and an uncredited role by Keanu Reeves. It’s mad, they’ve re-released it on DVD with loads of extras but they’ve completely repackaged it, moving away from the nutty effects which are the soul of the film and instead just making it look tame and sedate.

Here’s the trailer but it makes it look SHIT!!!

So buy the film or illegally download it. Just watch it. Can’t recommend this enough. You’ll never get to see a pair of Rastafarian Eyeballs run around and shoot machine guns if you dont.

First post of 2008 and already it’s a gay one. Made a caricature for my fwends Susie and Kevin’s wedding, they got married over Christmas. I fucked up him because I was certain the photo was wrong and I met him once so I went off the wacky energetic buzz I got from him. Ho-hum, still learning. Got the bride bang on and thats all that matters innit?

I’m practicing caricatures once a week now so I can go live on Crete and draw big fat heads from Liverpool again and again as I slowly wither into a twisted brown heap.

I got the finished art mounted on a standing A2 board for everyone to sign. Cheapest wedding pressie ever!

Loads more goodness to be announced soon.