Month: December 2024

2024 As was

Ah man, I started the year with the best of intentions, but have really lost track of everything I did! (just like last year, and the previous year and pretty much every year)

Let’s see, some stuff I know for a fact:

Finished Drawing Dark Pyramid for Madcave Studios – 5 issue mini, but I THINK issue 1 I finished in 2023. But that’s 88 pages. (Plus four covers, I think! so 92)

Wrote an Old Dog six pager for Declan Shalvey,did roughs for that which was then finished by John McCrea

Drew Devlin Waugh episodes 2-6 at 12 pages each that’s another 60 pages.

For John McCrea, I roughed Hookjaw (14 pages)

For Mad Cave a new project (issue 1 finished just before xmas) that’s 20 pages.

A dredd strip – two parts – that’s 12.

For DC I drew Sgt Rock – 6 pages.

For Battle Action I drew Major Eazy – that’s uhm… 14.

Drew a couple of episodes of Gums, and some other strip work for dear, departed Monster Fun, just as I was gaining steam there. That’s about six pages? (though usually pencils and inks and colours)

Oh, did I do Jarro (son of Starro!) this year too? Four pages, DC comics? 4

Also did roughs for a 12 page John McCrea short, that was fun.

And I wished it into existence, an EC Comics gig! – 10 pages.

DC Comics, First Watch – 10 pages (that seems like lot of DC stuff this year? maybe some happened last year?)

So ignoring the stuff that was roughs for McCrea and other odds and ends of completed work that I know I did but can’t quite remember what it was … that’s about 220 pages of work this year, which both seems like a lot and probably wasn’t enough. BUT – checking back, I worked out I’d drawn around 224 pages LAST year too, so this seems to be my sweet spot.

Next year, well, I’ve work lined up, but the delight is always in finding new unexpected things to do.

I will try and keep a better track though! I’m happy I got to write something (that was well received) but I need to push writing more if I want to do more writing (obviously)

Also, I went back to acting and did a decent amount of running – so getting slightly fitter. That will have to continue, as I’ve no intention of dying just yet!

Next year, I dunno, I guess I’ve got to find 220 pages of work to draw (currently lined up – about 100 or so…)

I’m gonna do more auditions the local am dram do three plays a year, and I’d like to get involved in each of them in some way (if not on stage then back stage and if not backstage just helping out), and I’m going to get involved in the improv scene in NI – I recognise this is a real marmite proposition for some people, but actually, it’s something I think I’ll really enjoy (unless I don’t, in which case… well, back to the drawing board, right?)

It’s the birthday blog post!

Cartoon drawing of me, saying "It's not the age - it's the mileage. Though there has been a lot of mileage too..."

Hope you had a good Christmas, mine involved a lot of driving and eating and cooking and eating and some sleeping. Pretty pretty good. The main event, for me, was the receipt of the fantastically large Extremity Signature Edition by Daniel Warren Johnson, this baby will get poured over when John McCrea next visits…

I’m 55 today. I’ve been blogging on this here internet since 1999. Over 35 years of nonsense. It turns out, a lot of drivel used in some small part of help LLMs churn out ever more drivel.

How’d this year go for you? The two significant things for me, was finally completing the couch to 5k thing and then doing sundry park runs. My running is still a stop start affair with spaces of walking (not always, I’d managed to get to a point where I could do a 32minute 5k but you miss a week and it’s a bit of a hard reset).

Plan in the coming year is to get more consistent with the running and bring that time down.

The other significant thing was a return to acting – I’ve had an off again/on again relationship with performing from a young age, acting in primary school (being told to audition for a professional play, bottling it through nerves) acting in secondary then putting it away until uni (at age 23) and doing a bunch of plays (getting nominated for an Irish Student Drama award for Best Supporting Actor) and then giving it up altogether around age 27, then coming back to it in 2016 age 46. Did a few plays, really enjoyed it, but events over took and covid and then coming back to it this year. I felt differently about it. I’m more prepared to embrace it and dive headlong in to it. I feel about it, much the way I felt about drawing comics when I was in my twenties. I loved my day job, but drawing was great fun to do and allowed a recharge. Then when drawing became my day job, there was nothing to let met recharge.

I think if I spend the next 20 years doing. bit of acting, having fun on stage, that’s not a bad way to think about the future.

Plus, to be honest, I have been feeling … burnt out a bit with drawing. A slow dawning realisation that I will never be doing anything other than drawing at a table (and as much as I love that, the thoughts of doing nothing but that until you die lingers like a prison sentence) so having – as my mate Jim often says “a third space” – somewhere that isn’t home and isn’t work, but is just for me, that has really helped.

Forward in the year, more auditions (no guarantee I’ll get any part, but even if I don’t I’ll volunteer in some way, having been away from the local am dram and come back to it, the welcome back has been lovely) but ALSO, starting in January I’ll be doing an Improv comedy class. And I’m sort of determined to make something happen there. I don’t know what, I don’t know how, and it will never rise above hobby, but I want to do something.

I’ve spent 20 years of my life working in IT, and drawing, then 20 years just drawing, and the next 20 I’d like to spend it drawing and doing fun stuff on stage with people.

Downing tools… til after Christmas…

Have a great one, I’ll be back with a count of presents, a birthday blog and I think some new year’s resolution. I don’t want to preempt what I’d like to say as we roll from the old year into the new, but there’s things I’m optimistic about outside of work, and that’s fired me up a bit about work too. Turns out if you do something other than the one job all the time then you can get a bit of a renewed lease on that work.

Thanks for sticking with me, if you’re on the blog ever. Let’s see if I can get a bit more life into this place next year, eh.

In Print In December 2024

I haven’t been great at keeping people up to date about what’s happening in print, let’s try and do better next year!

2000AD Judge Dredd Megazine issue 474 “Devlin Waugh: Two Months Off Part 2” Things get weird for Devlin and chums. Written by Ales Kote.

Monster Fun issue 26 FINAL ISSUE. Bit sad about this one, the final issue of Monster Fun, it had a good run (longer run than the issue numbers describe as originally it was only once every two months). I draw Gums, Draw with ‘Andi and a Prankenstien strip in this one.

And finally… coming in the new year (February!)

Battle Action issue 7 Major Eazy, written by Rob Williams.