Craig-Collins

Annotated Weekender 3rd Birthday Jam!

2012-02-23T03:19:00.000-08:00

In celebration of the Annotated Weekender's third birthday, talented humourist and all round good egg Joe List has invited all and sundry to contribute with some Guardian-mangling of their own..

Clickee here to see contributions by the powerfully talented likes of Craig Conlan and John Allison!

And once again, here's one of my efforts stinking up the place. I attempted a theme this time, blackened dooming it up while attempting to ape this classic cover.

Bat Hulk Recommends...

2011-12-21T14:59:00.000-08:00

With 2011 finally being battered into submission by the hungry young fighter that is 2012, I've been asked for some picks of the year by Graphic Eye. Here they be!

Among them you'll find the excellent Calamity of Challenge by Matthew Allison, who upon request for "one of your weird Batmans" produced this brutal little treat for me:

SMAAAAASH!

Zorgo Returns!

2011-12-03T13:20:00.001-08:00

After a long hiatus spent hiding in a nebula... Omniscient Zorgo returns! And this time with the comedic strong arm talents of artist Curt Sibling!

And while we're here, let's bust out that 80's Saturday Morning Cartoon Theme Tune again!

Omniscient Zorgo Theme Tune - CCollins / GLees by CraigCollins

And while we're burning state fairs to the ground... what of that theme tune and its mysterious genesis? Little is known beyond it being the result of a one-off collaboration with weepy noisenik LAN Formatique, but here we can see a rare and truly Kvlt glimpse of the recording session, retrieved from the very bowels of the archives!

Fenriz and Nocturno Culto at work in the world famous Livingstone Lounge Recording Studios, Spring 2008.

"The Quiet Burden" on Top Shelf 2.0!

2011-11-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

I'm very pleased to say me and Iain Laurie's "The Quiet Burden" has been featured on Top Shelf's online comics hub Top Shelf 2.0.

Hot dang, there we are right there! Needless to say it's fantastic to be up there amongst such excellent and talented company such as Jeff Lemire, Box Brown, Noah Van Sciver and too many more to mention...

Thanks indeed to Leigh Walton for having us over!

Roachwell in Comic Heroes

2011-10-31T16:24:00.000-07:00

If Roachwell in a magazine with Spider-Man on the cover suggests you're finally getting the crossover you dreamed of, well you'll just have to placate yourself with this next best thing...

However, Roachwell did get a rather good wee review as part of a small press round-up in Comic Heroes #9, which is a real life tangible magazine you can find on the actual shelves of Tesco and such. According to the good folks at Comic Heroes Roachwell is "...refreshingly weird, effortlessly funny and at times just plain psychotic..." and "Funny, frightening and a world unto itself..."

It's not online, so you'll just have to take my goddamn word for it. Thanks indeed to Rob Power for both the review and extending support to small press comic creators at wide!

February 2012 Update Excitement : Screw my "goddamn word for it", here it is online now!

A Strange Kids Halloween!

2011-10-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

I was delighted to receive my contributor copy of the Strange Kids Club Halloween Special, as you can see by beaming grin pictured below!

It was fantastic to collaborate with the powerfully talented German Orozco! It's a great anthology full of raucous Halloween fun, with some fantastic contributions by the likes of Aaron Klopp, Christine Larsen and Glen Brogan with an amazing cover by David Hartman. It's also had a salvo of positive reviewage, and you can get it here!

Get on it, you flesh-eating ghouls!

The Magic Of The Serengeti

2011-09-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

Me and my wee girl were playing around with her set of stamps, and this resulted:

If you were really pedantic you would point out that there's an obvious mistake here, as Lionesses do the majority of the hunting. Well I don't have a Lioness stamp, do I? WHY DON'T YOU FUCKING MAKE ME ONE THEN!?

Food Glorious Food

2011-09-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

There's been far to much gorging on the empty calories self-promotion around here of late. So let's fill out bellies with some nutritious comics, with art duties by fat-spattered masterchef Iain Laurie. Click to embiggen!

A tasty and satisfying meal or a boak-inducing bowl of slurry? You decide!

A Bloodbath of Hideous Self-Promotion

2011-08-30T01:03:00.000-07:00

It's a fearsome feast of raw reviewage here of late, with a cool wee review from The List coming in that declares Roachwell "...does run the gamut from laugh-out loud funny to quite disturbing to totally incomprehensible, which may just be an achievement in itself". Thanks!

Here's us stinking up the place next to 'The Wire' writer George Pelecanos. Sorry George!

Strange Kids Halloween Special

2011-08-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

The awesome Strange Kids Club is preparing to set loose a second anthology from its rowdy and raucous Club House, and this time a Halloween Edition!

I'm honoured to have a three page strip in it and be collaborating with the extremely talented Mr. German Orozco, who as you can see from the page below, has a superb skill for comedic mayhem. Go check him out!

Pre-order information and all that to follow. It'll be well worth checking out going by first anthology, which was chocked full of excellent art and wacky stories with the likes of Matthew Allison, Jimmy Giegerich, Albino Raven and many more. Just look at this fabulous stuff that's going to be in by Christine Larsen. Arm the PayPal!

Interview with Creative Spotlights

2011-08-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

I did an interview with the good folks at Creative Spotlights a few months back, talking about writing comics in the small press. And here it be!

Creative Spotlights is a very cool site interviewing creative people from a vast range of different arts and musical styles and disciplines, with a great set-up that allows you to look at all the answers provided to the same question by different people.

Hopefully I give out some reasonable sounding advice and don't come across as too much of a dick. Thanks to Henry Gomez for the invitation!

Rambunctious Roachwell Reviews

2011-08-22T02:15:00.000-07:00

The train-wreck that is Roachwell comes to a shuddering halt with an agonised scream of twisting metal and a conflagration of good reviews!

Over on the Forbidden Planet Blog "It’s a clever, solid, surreal and funny comic – and at its end, it manages all four in one strip". While over at Rob Clough's High-Low, Roachwell "...is an interesting meld between Collins' absurd blackout gags and Laurie's intensely hatched and grotesque character work".

Thanks very much to FP and Rob! Now I should probably post some comics next, rather than this gratuitous self-promotional mudbath.

Don't Make Me Run - I'm Full of Geek Chocolate!

2011-08-03T05:56:00.000-07:00

Over at Geek Chocolate, Roachwell has received a beamingly positive review. It's "a body of work that will challenge you, that asks you to actively participate and, God forbid, think for yourself" and thanks to us "the comic world is a slightly scarier, weirder, stranger, but above all, better, place".

I'm flattered indeed - thanks Geeks! Read the full review here.

Meanwhile, behind the façade of this innocent-looking comics-blog... we've also had a kindly nod from the industrious Colin Bell in his 30 days of Comics over on Bloggerin' Time.

Colin describes Roachwell as "uncompromisingly surreal horror comic, which alternates between the terrifying and the hilarious" and erroneously calls us "amiable chaps". Thanks very much - though I think you meant to say "contemptible shit-heads". Read more here...

Under The Sign Of Nestlé

2011-07-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

I really dislike the current "Shreddies - Knitted by Nanas" ad campaign. I mean, look at this shit:

Happily though, through Norweigan Black Metal I have found a way to manage:

Ist Krieg!

Strange Kids Like Roachwell!

2011-07-20T03:14:00.000-07:00

There's a great wee review of Roachwell over at the always awesome Strange Kids Club, in which it's described as an "oddly intellectual narrative" and a "welcome mindf*ck from the banality of everyday life". Take that, everyday life!

You can head on over to my Esty and pick up a copy if you fancy. Many thanks to Rondal for the kind words, and go check out Strange Kids Club where there's an abundance of weird and fun things going on.

Robot Sex, Human Error

2011-07-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

It's been far to high-brow and worthy around here lately. Bring on the sweating middle-aged perverts! Click to embiggen.

That doubles up nicely as a reasonably apt description of Dave Alexander who worked his artistic magic on this one, which libidinously lumbered into Wasted #8.

Interview with Tom Neely.

2011-07-07T03:25:00.000-07:00

Over at Graphic Eye I've interviewed artist Tom Neely about his work, his new graphic novel "The Wolf" and all thing heavy fucking metal.

In addition to creating several well-received comics such as The Blot and the infamous Rollins/Danzig slash fiction Henry and Glenn Forever, Tom has worked on numerous music-related projects for the likes of The Melvins, Isis, Wolves In The Throne Room and Decibel Magazine. And he's a really nice guy. Read all about it!

All images c. Tom Neely.

My Etsy Store.

2011-07-07T02:13:00.000-07:00

That's right - my bullshit comics juggernaut now has a retail arm! You can now buy the collected volume of Roachwell, and my future self-published efforts over here - Etsy!

Vogue Condone This?

2011-07-06T03:57:00.000-07:00

I was just randomly browsing a high-end women's magazine, as you do, when I happened upon the most troubling advertisement I have ever seen. There in the classifieds among the ads for psychics and fat removal and so on was this...

Good God! Does Vogue Magazine even check these things? Do they condone this clinic, and even recommend their services!? Needless to say, I was alarmed indeed. Look closely and be morally outraged:

Perhaps in the big money world of high fashion, there's so much advertising revenue sloshing around they don't bother to track who it comes from. Shame on you, Alexandra Shulman!

Ladies - I implore you, do not call that number!

(February 2011, Spring Reptilian Fashion Overlords Special)

The Final Zurprise!

2011-06-27T05:37:00.000-07:00

With Wasted retiring from the physical world to exist solely in the ghostly realm of digital downloads from issue #8, it seemed an appropriate time to conclude the Kinder Zurprise running gag:

...and in an irrevocable ret-con-proof fashion at that. Art duties by lactating parkour-master Paul McCann. We also sneaked this one in just prior to that, because it's important to honour the dead.

These both crawled from the earth then exploded into microscopic space dust back in Wasted #8.

The Quiet Burden.

2011-06-23T01:21:00.000-07:00

This is me and Iain Laurie's contribution to New British Comics #3 from a little while back. The good folks at Geek Chocolate were kind enough to describe it as "another fine example of the sort of work you only find in left of field comics, this is as weird and as wonderful as comics get". Thanks guys! More here.

I've also composed a little soundtrack movie to accompany your reading, just scroll on down and press play for full enVenganation...

Click to embiggen and drink in all that gruesome Laurie-ness.

Hot dang, double page spread! Embiggen that shit!

Soundtrack!

It was a a genuine priviledge and a pleasure to be in New British Comics #3, a quality anthology packed to bursting with excellent contributions, and you can get it from Polygo Books or Bad press Ltd. Go to it!

Roachwell nominated for Best Comic and Best Writer.

2011-06-08T08:10:00.000-07:00

I'm very pleased to announce that Roachwell has been nominated for the Best Comic Award at the Scottish Independent Comic Book Awards, hosted at the Glasgow Comic Con on June 18th.

On top of that, to my surprise I was also nominated for the Best Writer category!

Luckily I'll be receiving a short print run of Roachwell just in time to supply to the Comic Con reading room that's set up for the week prior to the event. So now's a good time to reveal the cover, by Iain Laurie and coloured by the very talented Derek Dow. Yeech!

Needless to say it's a huge honour to be in the running, especially in this excellent company. Here's the full list:

Best Writer

Craig Collins - Roachwell / Martin Conaghan - Burke and Hare / Gill Hatcher and Adam Smith - Go Wildlife! / John Lees - The Standard / Curt Sibling - King Evil

Best Artist

James Devlin - Dark Ascension: Confession / Will Pickering - Burke and Hare / Alex Ronald - Vampire Vixens / Curt Sibling - King Evil / Stevie White - Milk+

Best Comic Book or Graphic Novel

Burke and Hare / Dougie's War / Ganjaman Presents / Go Wildlife! / King Evil / Milk+ / Roachwell / The Standard / Team Girl Comic / Wasted

Update! Roachwell, printed at last:

The Extispicist!

2011-06-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a little strip on the abuses of extispicy, with art by Space Spitfire Flight Lieutenant James Corcoran.

Click to embiggen!

I think this one will show up in Yuck! at some point, but it was high time to pull the bloodied carcass out of cryogenic storage.

A short-lived dabbling in political cartooning circa 2007...

2011-05-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

Way back in mid-2007 I thought I'd have a crack at exercising my minimal cartooning skills. It was around this time former rock star and British Prime Minister Tony Blair left office.

It was also around this time that Cadbury's, having decided that chocolate is best advertised via viral-marketing ready "entertainment pieces", ran the famed Gorilla advert which was subsequently discussed around office water-coolers and corpse filled skips all over the land.

So there's your context, and here's the cartoon I sent to Private Eye:

And here's that ad. Though personally I'd have rathered see the gorilla play this.

Sending something in to Private Eye was, of course, a million to one shot destined to fail. But it did get me this, which is kinda nice to have:

What the fuck is going on here?

2011-05-26T01:38:00.000-07:00

A wee sneaky peek from something coming up. Art duties by Ghostbustin' Iain Laurie.

Wasted #8 is Upon Us!

2011-05-24T02:01:00.000-07:00

Issue #8 of Wasted is out now from Alan Grant's Bad Press Ltd. Available in comic shops, newsagents and heather funeral pyres all over the UK and online here!

You'll find all manner therein, including some by written by me: Robor Sex, Human Error with art by Dave Alexander and more Zinder Surprise had with Paul McCann!

In fact, with this being the final print issue of Wasted before it moves to online only, it seemed an appropriate time to irrevocably conclude and gloriously retire the Zinder Surprise strips, which go out with an enormous bang!

It also seems an appropriate time to salute the Wasted crew. The costs and efforts involved in keeping Wasted going and considerable indeed, and the heroic efforts of the likes of Jamie Grant and Rob Miller have kept it moving ahead in challenging times. Kudos to you, gents.

I'm pretty proud of my contributions to Wasted. I've had strips in every issue and have somehow managed to exist in the nebulous space of writing oddball humour strips that aren't strung out on drugs but sit alongside other contributions fairly comfortably, and it's been an honour to see a mag on the hallowed comic shelves of Forbidden Planet or wherever else that has some of my work in it. I

It's also through Wasted and the Hope Street Sky Dungeon that I've met many of the artists and collaborators I do a lot of comics with, and now consider to be friends. Or at least, fellow underground scumbags. Thanks you rowdy lot!

Roachwell vs. The Goon!

2011-05-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine was at Portland's Stumptown Comics Festival recently, where he met the very talented Eric Powell of The Goon fame.

While getting this smashing Goon sketch for me, he passed Eric one of my little Roachwell minicomics, which apparently Eric was already familiar with and thinks is cool. Which is pretty amazingly cool for me...!

I've been a massive fan of The Goon for years, back to when Eric self-published it under Exploding Albatross Funnybooks, and recommend it to anyone who's listening and many who are not. So getting this lovely sketch was a genuine Knife To The Eye of excitement for me. Thanks Eric!

New British Comics #3 Review...

2011-05-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

A few reviews of New British Comics #3 have rolled in, including this rather fantastic one from Geek Chocolate:

"Craig Collins and Iain Laurie take us well and truly into a nightmarish world with 'The Quiet Burden.’ Another fine example of the sort of work you only find in left of field comics, this is as weird and as wonderful as comics get.."

Which was very kind indeed. We also get condemned to an lifetime of therapy. Loads more over at Geek Chocolate!

There's also a suggestion that me and Iain Laurie and contributor David Ziggy Greene have some kind of very specific alcoholism...

Nevermind the X-Men, here's the Craig-Men!

2011-04-28T04:30:00.000-07:00

I happened upon this fun little thing, which generates unique little faces according to the name you type in.

So in a Grant Morrison / Kirk Morrsion / Gideon Starorzewski / Gideon Stargrave / King Mob reality-fiction meta-mashup fashion, I've created a team of badass badasses based on my various identities. As far as team-ups go, this one will leave the Justice League in the dust! Please welcome:

This is team leader 'Craig Collins'

And then clockwise from top-left we have: 'Classical Torturing' - my coolest name anagram, 'TK Maxx' - a pen name inadvertently thrust upon me, 'Lazlo Potemkin' - a name I use to divorce myself from my own terrible cartooning, and 'Zombie Barber' - my poorly chosen Last.fm profile name.

I haven't quite decided the sort of comics I'm going to write about these guys, but I think they'll be a Death Metal Beat Poetry Combo who get into a caper that closely mirrors the plot of Three Men and a Baby. What kind of multiple personality mayhem do you think they should get into?

Funnily enough, when you type in "Iain Laurie" it goes a bit funny and you get this troubling image:

House Of Mercy (a trilingual comic)

2011-04-27T01:12:00.000-07:00

If tri-lingual surreal horror is your thing, look no further...!

Myself and morbid art-ghoul Iain Laurie have the following strip in Belgian art and comics magazine "LAZER Artzine", which you can check out here. Being a Belgian magazine, I decided to write a story that is slightly different depending on whether you read it in English, French or Dutch.

Click to embiggen! And you really should, because this is some seriously good work by Iain...

So while we monolingual brits wail in confusion and despair, the Flemish and Walloons can most likely appreciate all dimensions while their respective flag emblems dish out some collaborative murdering.

Thanks to Sander and Audrey for their translating muscle-power, and to Chanic for having us over in Lazer. It's a great mag including some excellent weirdness from Lord Hurk and a beautiful strip by Pascal Tessier, and you should check it out. The owl gives it two hoots!

A celebrity fan!

2011-04-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

Just recently a pretty ordinary trip to B&Q became unexpectedly exciting!

There I was heading into the gardening section for some grass seed, when I realised that the usual point of sale promotional stuff was not so usual at all...

That's right! None other than Alan Fucking Titchmarsh likes my comics, and aggressively so at that! Britain's green-fingered guru of the garden, going off-topic on his B&Q promotional platform to support indie and underground comics - well, I was blown away and completely flattered. Though I don't know if I can really claim any credit for this...

Who knew we had so much in common?

Metal Forever Forever Metal, Alan Titchmarsh.

Kinder Zurprise

2011-04-08T06:45:00.000-07:00

Like chocolate? Like toys? Like the kids to be quiet for just ten goddamn minutes? Then Kinder Surprise is the treat for you! Unless you're an American, in which case this won't mean anything to you and you can blame the FDA for that.

Kinder Zurprise, in which eggs are opened and drama ensues, has featured in every issue of Wasted so far and features fabulous art by the talented and moustachioed Paul McCann! However, as Rob Granito would say "All good things must come to an end..." and so with Wasted #8 which is due out in May, we'll be wrapping it up in style...

Here's some of my favourites...

Here's Yuck! in your eye!

2011-03-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

Like a hot jet of fluid from an unsightly wound, Milk Shadow Books' Yuck! #4 has spurted itself upon an unsuspecting world! Therein you'll find a wee strip from the archives by me and Edinburgh Ne'er-do-well Iain Laurie.

You can get it from Bad Press Ltd. or from Milk Shadow Books if you're an antipodean killer dingo.

You'll find some cool stuff in there by the likes of Anton Emdin plus superb cover and interiors by Jacek Zabawa. Be warned though, this is comics for underground scumbags by underground scumbags, and not for the faint at heart! Just look what it did to my lizard...

Thanks to Thomas Gabriel Warrior - thankyou for the words, Tom.

New British Comics #3

2011-03-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

New British Comics #3 is out now! There's a contribution from myself and self-styled 'Bat-Bastard' Iain Laurie therein, and here's a look at the first page.

But if that's not enough for you slavering ghouls, I've even created a little soundtrack for you to go along with the strip. See below!

It's available from the Bad Press Ltd. store and very soon from the Polygo Books site.

The Quiet Burden page 1. Click to embiggen!

Soundtrack!

It's a particularly strong outing this time round from editor Karol Wisniewski, with some excellent strips by the likes of Dan White, WJC, David Ziggy Greene, Rob Miller and Wilbur Dawburn. Plus check out this awesome and lovely cover by Lawrence Elwick.

風船に描かれたマンガ「金を出せ！出さないと刺すぞ・・・」

2011-03-03T13:29:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I don't know either.

You might recall a few posts back I did this fairly ridiculous little comic on a balloon. To my complete astonishment, some people went nuts over it, leaving all manner of lovely comments. Then it got sucked up by these other image sites, and then most bizarrely of all wound up here...

http://naglly.com/archives/2011/02/ballon-comic.php

Where as you can see, some kind individual has translated it into Japanses kanji! Well, it's not every day some random translates your comic into another language. So I felt honour-bound to reletter the original strip. And here you go....

Thank you. Or: ありがとうございます!

Hive 5 Is Upon Us!

2011-03-01T14:53:00.000-08:00

Indeed - Hive 5 is upon us!

Another edition of the top quality indie comics anthology from Jordan Shiveley's Grimalkin Press is out soon and is available to pre-order here!

And you'd do well to pre-order it too, you filthy dogs! Not just because there's some Roachwell therein - but because with contributors including Joe Decie, Lord Hurk, Chris Mostyn, Box Brown, David Ziggy Greene, Andrew Waugh, Jess Smart Smiley and many more, it promises to be a veritable Royal Rumble of comics ruckus wrapped in a lovely screenprint cover. So get to it!

OooooOOOOooooH!

UuuuUUUuuurrRRGggh!

Annotated Weekender

2011-02-22T01:52:00.000-08:00

In celebration of the Annotated Weekender's second birthday, fantastic cartoonist and all-round good-guy Joe List invited people to contribute with Guardian-defacing doodles of their own.

Clickee here to see contributions by properly awesome artists like Simon Gurr and Phillipa Rice.

And here's my effort, stinking up the place...

Thanks to Joe for having me over to his house, especially in such ridiculously talented company!

You'll Kill Us All!

2011-02-19T13:56:00.000-08:00

Is this a bit clever - or just a bit shite? Only in your heart can you decide...

And here's what became of the doomed pair. What an ignominious end...

I can't possibly be the first person to draw a comic on a balloon. And it is kind of shite. But what you gonna do? Thanks to Sarah Connor for the borrowed dialogue.

The Yoke Of Our Own Wrong Doing

2011-02-17T01:59:00.000-08:00

Here's 'The Yoke of Our Own Wrongdoing' by me and Amazing Power-Weirdo Nulsh. Yeah, we're literate! Click to expand - ouch!

This gruesome gaggery brutally extended Wasted #7 just a wee while back.

What the fuck is going on here?

2011-02-11T06:10:00.000-08:00

A sneaky peek for peeky sneaks. Seriously though...?

Wasted #7 Is Upon Us!

2011-02-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

Issue #7 of Wasted is out now from Alan Grant's Bad Press Ltd. Available in comic shops, newsagents and irradiated bomb craters all over the UK and online here!

You'll find all sorts of sordid sorcrery therein, including some by written by me: The Yoke of Our Own Wrong-Doing with the mighty Nulsh, a fistful of strips with art by devious Dave Alexander and there's more Zinder Surprises to be had with pernicious Paul McCann!

Here's a wee preview:

And this issue's cover is a bombastically sexy Nazi-Undead-Fetish sexbomb by Alex Ronald from the 'Vampire Vixens of the Wermacht' strip contained therein. Yowza!

Zorgo on The Supervillain!

2011-02-05T13:48:00.000-08:00

One of my Omniscient Zorgo comics is guest spotting over at The Supervillain!

It's a great pleasure to be a part of the Supervillainy, please head on over there to see some fun and fabulous comics by some very talented guys.

Obscuro Roachwello Promoto

2011-01-13T14:50:00.000-08:00

Roachwell minicomics are winging their way around the world, with an accompanying letter in one of five languages... click to view in embiggened pentalinguivision!

A huge thanks to my bilingual buddies Audrey, Katja, Sander and Karol!

Sound And Fury

2010-11-29T14:47:00.000-08:00

Heavy Metal vs. The Internet. With art duties by barbaric art-strongman Jacek Zabawa.

Thanks Jacek! This one crashed into Wasted #6 like a hammered guitar tech. Available now!

See everything by me and Jacek here.

Your Eyes Will Stud My Crown!

2010-11-14T15:54:00.000-08:00

It will not surprise you to learn that tabloid photostories are dramatically improved by replacing the dialogue with metal lyrics:

On an aside note, the lettering on these photostories is mind-bogglingly bad. Jim Campell would have a heart attack!

And while we're here, why the hell not...

Time Marches On...

2010-11-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

So I turned thirty recently, making me a grim-n'-grizzled veteran of, well, not very much. However, I do have a bunch of fantastic cards and such made by some of my artist friends to show you! Click to embiggenify.

This one's an Iain Laurie special request by the Hope Street Studios gang, with colours by chromatic conjurer Derek Dow. Thanks to all in Hope Towers!

Birthday wishes from Rob Miller's Big Moff with a fantastic gate-fold design, unfolded for your benefit here. A sufficiently massive turd for such a momentous age:

You might recognise this guy from a few posts back, but we're not talking about him yet. Art by Iain Laurie.

And a wee present from the superbly skilled Robert Thomson.

Needless to say I was most chuffed with all of the above - thanks all!

Wasted #6 Is Upon Us!

2010-11-10T12:42:00.000-08:00

Issue #6 of Wasted is out now from Alan Grant's Bad Press Ltd. Available in comic shops, newsagents and skull-shaped mountaintops all over the UK and online here!

You'll find all manner of mucky mayhem therein, including some by written by me: Sound and Fury with Jacek Zabawa, Omniscient Zorgo with art by James Corcoran and there's yet more Zinder Surprises to be had with Paul McCann.

Here's a wee preview:

Wasted #6 Cover by the wonderfully talented industry veteran Cam Kennedy.

Spectrum is Red (and Sore)

2010-11-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

Ooyah! Click to embiggen if you feel compelled to do so. This one was in Wasted #4 a wee while back with sterling art duties by diabolical Dave Alexander...

See everything by me and Dave here!

Franchise Goblin!

2010-10-28T03:44:00.000-07:00

The power behind franchise fever and Hollywood movie machinery revealed! The dialogue here is a bit small so I'm afraid you must force yourself to embiggen.

This is one from way back when by myself and raging comics murk-moster Curt Sibling which found its way into a Khaki Shorts a while back.

See more collaborations between me and Curt here!

More Cosmic Contempt with Omniscient Zorgo!

2010-10-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

Woe betide those under the Judgement of Omniscient Zorgo...!

This one featured in Wasted #5, with art duties by small and not-so-small press dynamo Rob Miller!

Veal?!?

2010-10-08T05:17:00.000-07:00

Fine dining and moral quandries...:

Superb art duties by comics-ghoul Jacek Zabawa. Go check out more of his weird and wonderful work!

George Lucas 2040

2010-10-04T00:41:00.000-07:00

In approximately thirty years George Lucas will be racked with dementia... The dialogue is a little bit little so click to embiggen to AT-AT size.

This is actually the first bit of collaboration between myself and the super-industrious Curt Sibling,
making it a some 4 years old and festooned with cobwebs.

(See all work by me and Curt Sibling here)

Clive Barker's Permanent Marker

2010-09-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

Click to summon a PVC-clad large version. We have such sights to show yoooouuu....!

Every now and then there's something so ridiculously stupid that I can't possibly ask someone else to draw it, and as a result you're exposed to the agonising experience of observing something I drew myself. Here's an example of such a thing from a few years back, that I tidied up a bit since.

Or alternatively, similar satire done considerably better.

Omniscient Zorgo!

2010-09-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

More callous cosmic cackles with the Omniscient One... click to invoke the embiggened version.

Art duties by London via Paisley scribbler James Corcoran. When not orbiting the moon in a fabulously retro 50's space module, James can be found drawing comics about orbiting the moon in a fabulously retro 50's space module. Check out his stuff!

In the Viz!

2010-09-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'm very pleased to say there's a wee strip by myself and Dave Alexander in this month's Viz!

We're in October's issue 199 just at the bottom of the Letterbocks. Obviously I can't stick it up here, but here's a postage-stamp sized sneaky peek:

Thanks to Dave for his sterling work on Viz efforts both past and future!

The Illogical Adventures of OCTOSPOCK!

2010-08-27T02:40:00.000-07:00

It took a fair bit of doing, but after some very tense negotiations I managed to convince the ghost of Gene Roddenberry to allow this to be published. Click the image to beam up the embiggened version!

A 12 issue maxi-series starting this Autum. Covers by Curt Sibling, interior art by Lazlo Potemkin.

Fear not, loyal Star Trek fans, it's not slash fiction. Though it is in places outrageously pornographic.

Don Thy Pimp Helm

2010-08-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

Flee! Run for your lives, as I unleash a howling monsoon of shameless self-promotion!

Gavin Lees of The Comics Journal has profiled Glasgow's Hope Street Studios in this short documentary, wherein you can see interviews with the myriad hideous villains who frequent the studios (including, erm, me...)

Hope Street Studios Profile from Gavin Lees on Vimeo.

You can also see Hope Street's Frank Quitely hard at work and Jamie Grant talk on the craft of comics.

And there's a series of ongoing Q+A's with Wasted alumni talking about the mag, you can see mine here.

Also, something is coming... something is coming...

Omniscient Zorgo - Eyes On The Prize!

2010-08-24T02:59:00.000-07:00

Another dose of intergalactic contempt from Omniscient Zorgo! Art by Iain Laurie with colours by Derek Dow.

Once more here's that Omniscient Zorgo Saturday morning cartoon theme tune by the normally otherwise sombre electro-noisester LAN Formatique. Turn it up!

Omniscient Zorgo Theme Tune - CCollins / GLees by CraigCollins

This one was originally featured in Wasted #3 and is roughly set in Stockholm City Hall.

No One Could Resist My Incendiary Riffs...

2010-08-05T15:27:00.000-07:00

An absurdist cautionary tale on the dangers of Guitar Hero which was in Wasted #4 a few months back. Art by Dave Alexander.

It was later pointed out to me that South Park had already done this joke. What can ya do?

Wasted #5 Is Upon Us!

2010-08-05T14:16:00.000-07:00

Issue #5 of Wasted is out now from Alan Grant's Bad Press Ltd. Available in comic shops, newsagents and fight-pits all over the UK and online here!

You'll find all manner of brash and bawdy thrills and spills therein, including some by written by me: Omniscient Zorgo with art by Rob Miller and Zinder Surprise with Paul McCann. You'll also find me in the guise of Dr. Hemp on a couple of letters - one Kafka gag deserves another.

Thanks also to Cheryl Cole for making my malaria gag unexpectedly topical. Here's a preview!

(Cover by Neil Beattie)

Seamus Heaney's Heinous Penis

2010-07-26T05:54:00.000-07:00

One from the archives, art by Iain Laurie. The rich and profound poetry of Seamus Heaney collides with a heavily laboured cock-pun.

Click to ~~engorge~~ embiggen!

Roachwell vs. Indie Anthologies

2010-07-21T06:52:00.000-07:00

A few different strips from our recently concluded dark comedy webcomic Roachwell (by myself and Iain Laurie) have popped up in some great wee indie comics anthologies, seen here being read by our lodgers.

Hive 4 is a beautifully presented book put together by J.M Shiveley of Grimalkin Press with all sorts of excellent contributors including Lord Hurk, Jess Smart Smiley and Malachi Ward. There's also the most superb Misfits knitting gag known to man.

Yuck! 3 is a great little underground comic full to bursting with casual violence, beastly mating rituals, bodily secretions and shocking ghoul-porn, with by amoral gaggery by David Degrand and excellent interiors by Jacek Zabawa. There's also The Lonely Ballad of Pistol Nipples in there, by myself and the erstwhile Robert Thomson. Not for the faint-hearted!

So yeah, go look at them with your eyeballs.

Lifestyle advice

2010-07-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

Pondering the big questions with the Alpha Course. One from way back when.

Cilla Black's Back, Sack and Crack

2010-07-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

A wee celebration of British national treasure Cilla Black, with art by Dave Alexander. Click to embiggen!

It may not surprise you to know that this grubby little number was a submission to Viz. Or that it was rejected...!

Omniscient Zorgo!

2010-07-06T12:08:00.001-07:00

Omniscient Zorgo - Cosmic Bastard. Art by Iain Laurie with colours by Derek Dow. Click to embiggen!

Oh, and awesome Saturday morning cartoon theme tune by noisome electrogloom outfit LAN Formatique. Click play and turn it up!

Omniscient Zorgo Theme Tune - CCollins / GLees by CraigCollins

This was originally in Wasted #2 and again was roughly set on Edinburgh's North Bridge.

The Amazing Cider Man

2010-06-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

Traveling down the well-worn trail of superhero parody with The Amazing Cider Man, a booze-addled tramp who believes he is Peter Parker.

Pencils by Curt Sibling, inks by Iain Laurie. This was featured in Wasted #3 but the Scottish dialogue was stripped out to broaden the appeal so here it is in the original braw Scots.

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Super observant Edinburgh residents might notice this roughly takes place on the North and South Bridges...

Ants In The Pants of The Pirates of Penzance...

2010-06-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

Based on the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera. Come on, you know how it goes...!

Art by dastardly Dave Alexander. Click to embiggen!

Abu Hamza vs. Gregor Samsa

2010-06-09T06:56:00.000-07:00

Here's the cover of my upcoming six issue series "Abu Hamza vs. Gregor Samsa".

Religious extremism and existential anguish - it's two great tastes that taste great together! Superb cover art by Curt Sibling, with interior art by Lazlo Potemkin.

The Lonely Ballad of Pistol Nipples.

2010-05-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

Life was tough in the old west. Superb art by Robert Thomson, shonky lettering by yours truly.

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Tourette's Banshee

2010-05-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

In old Scots and Irish mythology, the Banshee (or bean shìth) would appear at night before your death....

Art by Iain Laurie.

Hello...

2010-05-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

So this here's my blog, where you can follow my adventures on the stormy seas of Indie Comics. I suppose I should introduce myself...

I'm a small press comic writer from Glasgow. I write a fair variety of different stuff and send it off to comics anthologies, as you do. I've been a regular contributor to Alan Grant's brash n' bawdy Wasted, where you can find Zinder Surprise, Omniscient Zorgo, Cider Man and other assorted mayhem...

I've been lucky enough to have some stuff in Mykl Sivak's fantastic Nib-Lit, even sharing page space with Tony Millionaire, and Glasgow's longest running anthology Khaki Shorts...

But so far I'm probably better known for Roachwell, a dark comedy webcomic with art by Iain Laurie. It's just reached its tear-jerking conclusion. Roachwell has skulked about a few indie anthologies such as Hive, Yuck! and New British Comics where it was also translated into Polish. I'm pleased to say Roachwell's had even some good press from The Comics Journal and The List.

Lastly I'll just take the opportunity to thank the good folks behind the anthologies my strips have been in, and many excellent artists I've been lucky enough to collaborate with. They're a frighteningly talented bunch of villains with a wide variety of styles, so see the links over there on the right for more of their work.

So, yeah. Thanks for coming by, have a look about!