(I stole that title from an email Phil sent me years ago.)

Yep, being made redundant on December 1st! Looking forward to it, haven't been unemployed since 1999 when I was an idle waster. Oooh that was a strange period, 2 of my mates were also jobless and we got up to some mischief. I vowed I'd never walk out of a job again after that. Ugh! just thinking about it now, shoplifting tins of Postman Pat shapes and various other humiliating things to keep going. Luckily my Landlord was cool and I had paid 2 months ahead.

6 of us are getting the boot. It's been on the cards for months and although I knew it was coming, it was still a bit of a shock. We all thought it'd be after Christmas. My boss seemed more upset than some of us, he's a decent bloke and I admire his attitude to business and life. I've learned alot from him. Fuck it, I've made provisions and really need some time off.

Some people are surprised that I still work full time, thinking that I make a living from giving away comics for free. Nah, it's a stugglin' juggling act between comics and work. For the past 6 years it’s been me worrying about time management. Time to play the Hovis music: I’m up at 6:30am in work by 8 home by 6pm, comics from 6:30 to as late as 11pm, asleep before 1am then back in work, five days a week. (Now play the violin music) then around another 8-12 hours on Sundays. All a massive strain and pain in the nuts.

A few months off is deserved. Have loads to do. Loads. Amperduke hasn't been touched in months! I've been compiling a list of all the stuff I want to get stuck in to. Tons of shit. No danger of me lounging around watching Judge Judy.

So here's to 2007, sleeping till 9am and working in my undies.
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Here's a peak at the cover for this comic. My original idea was this:



That's just a mock up but you get the idea. It's very relevant to the story but it was shot down by Rob the Bollix. He prefers to have the main chracters on the covers and I agree with him to an extent but I thought this was a better way to go.


I gave him these two thumbnail sketches. He liked the one with the castle in the background. So did I because there's less to draw.

All these sketches are done in
Painter with a Wacom tablet by the way for all you nerds.

As soon as I started drawing the real version I realised the torch just looked gay in Jack's hand. The character is actually gay in the comic but it didn't look very manly so it was scrapped.

I'm such a pro now that I always include a space for a barcode on my cover roughs. Still can't actually draw that well but look at that barcode!

Here's what I done with it lastnight. The quickest cover I've done yet, I spent around 2 months on the cover for MBLEH! issue 3. It's not finished but I can wrap it up tonight. Just some design bits and the castle to be added. It's something I always wonder, does the average person not involved in graphics recognise typefaces? There are loads of deadly typefaces but when I see them used on covers etc it annoys me. I think everybody is aware of the terrible Comic Sans.



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Bren mentioned in the comments yesterday that he saw a new doll that actually grows, checked it out and it's mad. Looks like the face/head grows too. That's crazy! There's a terrible cot death joke that I'm trying to stiffle. Couldn't find the video of it in action but check this robotic lovely.

I love the way she looks frumpy and is just a normal Japanese girl. I've seen some American ones that went the other way. Can't wait till these are affordable, I'd bring mine up to my room, get all romantic, light a candle, set up the SNES and play Mario Kart with her.


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Well it had to happen, as predicted in this comic Lego has taken to releasing playsets that have no connection to The Big L other than a few arbitrarily placed bricks so that it can still pass for Lego. I knew it, that Lego toys will soon just have a few bricks plopped on them but otherwise will just be regular toys, trading on Lego's good reputation with my generation who are now parents.

Come on! That's ridiculous. Granted it's part of the Duplo range but how far removed from the original philosophy can it get? Can it get any worse?

Evil Chinese Lego previously.

Went to see Borat last night, second film I’ve seen in the cinema this year. I used to go every week but paying to watch bad films just lost it’s appeal. From a complete nerd/writers point of view (yes I'm calling myself a writer now) it really is a remarkable film. Besides the dick and bum jokes, the trademark cringe-comedy and genius improv, the direction is unbelievable . To be able to create an engaging narrative from disparate skits while still working on several levels of comedy is amazing. Yeah of course there are loads of parts of knowingly going along with the joke from interviewees and rehearsed bits but sweet fuck it all worked. Can’t fault it all. I’m very hard to please when it comes to films, Jesus Christ, the past 4 films I’ve seen failed to tell a compelling story in over 2 hours of shite with millions of dollars and the co-operation and resources of hundreds of people. And they can’t tell a story. A start, middle and an end.

Peter Jackson, a master of the medium said recently that he’s tired of films and now instead anticipates the release of video games. I feel what he’s saying. Mark Kermode, (my hero and who actually slated Borat), constantly rants about the death of narrative cinema and not just tripe like Little Man but the bulk of modern releases. His rants are hilarious but he speaks the truth. If you haven’t heard him go for it, check it out here.

Like comics I think that films should rely less on dialogue and make the audience work for it through empathy and relating to what they’re seeing. Most films are just insulting. The trailers before Borat included Ghost Rider starring Nicolas Cage with a terrible wig and lame CGI and some other sub-LOTR Dragon film that looks completely shit.

The one thing that nagged me all the way through Borat was something I heard recently on Howard Stern about clearance, that the victim of a hoax has to agree to air the footage. I’ve heard victims of Brasseye lament that it’s their own fault because they signed the release but how does it work for things like Trigger Happy, Naked Camera etc, Ali G? It’s something I’d like to know more about. Does a signed waiver need to be filled out or just a verbal agreement? I’m sure it’s the least of his worries being sued, I reckon he’s on several hit lists.



Deadly film. It has scored high on my barometer: I will illegally download it tonight.

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