July 2023: Sunshine & Showers

Good morning, folks!

Another busy month has flown past and I find it hard to believe that we’re already into the back half of 2023 – I haven’t watched Oppenheimer yet, but I’m sure Chris Nolan has something to say about time (on the atomic level) that would explain why this year has gone both faster and slower than expected.

Anyway, let’s crack on!

The Usual

After last month’s recording adventure, I’ve spent most of my weekends this month doing music as well – a gig in Cheltenham (roughly a 3 hour drive away) was followed the next week by three gigs in 48 hours, not an experience I’d recommend! First, my ceilidh band played a wedding in a medieval tent that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Tudor times, in a field, in the middle of a huge rainstorm, to a crowd comprised partly of drunk French people; the day after that, I played two sets at an all-day doom/metal festival in Sheffield with two different bands. Le Menhir (a solo project by a good friend of mine who has occasionally recruited me and some other friends for live performances) opened the show, and later on Ba’al played what was probably one of our strongest ever sets to an absolutely packed out room – I was absolutely exhausted afterwards but it was a fantastic experience and we got some great feedback afterwards.
A very large crowd watches a band bathed in blue light on stage. Beside all that I’ve even managed to get some writing done! The wheels are starting to spin up on SENGOKU, my attempt at writing an authentic and mature samurai story which deals with themes like familial duty over personal happiness and casts a justifiably critical eye at the bushidō cult of the samurai. As anyone who knows me will know, I’ve been a huge fan of samurai stories since I was about 13 – from Kurosawa and Miike in the movies to Hiroaki Samura, Goseki Kojima/Kazuo Koike and Takehiko Inoue in manga. But I’ve been holding off on this idea until I felt I could do it justice and actually interrogate the concept, rather than just doing a “cool samurai” story riddled with inaccuracies and calling it a day.

I’ve teamed up with a fantastic artist for this story – Andrew “Monomizer” Browne, who as well as loving samurai movies as much as me (and being the only other person I’ve met to have seen Kihachi Okamoto’s “The Sword of Doom”), actually lives in Japan and speaks fluent Japanese! Here’s a test page (not from the story itself) that he’s put together as we figure out the right artistic style:
A page of comic/manga art. A confident samurai is surrounded by ruffians. Close-ups on three of them show them preparing to attack, then the samurai dramatically pushes his sword out of his scabbard with a 'CHIK' sound effect. I’m very excited to start putting this one together – expect more news as the project progresses 🙂

And lest I forget to mention other projects that are currently moving: Alaire has now finished all the inks for Brigantia #5 (the middle part of the second volume) and is cracking on with the third and final part. I was going through her thumbnails yesterday on the bus on the way to work along with the script, and I’m so overjoyed with how well she’s capturing the emotion and power of this part of the story – even just the thumbnails got me a little choked up! It’s been a very long journey but we’re approaching the end and I can’t wait to share it with the world.

The Record

• 14 pages written (SENGOKU)
• 8 pages lettered (The Phoenix)

As the above spiel probably made clear, I’ve dived into writing mode with SENGOKU – at this point the goal is to get a first draft nailed down so I can move bits around or rewrite later. I already had about 10-11 pages written so the page count is creeping up, slowly but surely!

The Tunes

Actually not that much metal on this month’s playlist! The first few tracks are all on the light end of the spectrum – I’ve had a bit of a Ghibli appreciation month, so the Totoro theme opens things up. Try not to get it stuck in your head..! Next are a few pop starlets – Taylor Swift with my personal favourite track off her re-recorded version of Speak Now (not an album I got into when it first came out – my Tay-Tay journey started with 1989) followed by the divine Lola Kirke (who I have a MASSIVE crush on) with a track off her newest album. After that we have new music from the mighty Metric – I’m looking forward to the new album! My writing soundtrack for SENGOKU has obviously skewed towards traditional Japanese music, and here’s probably the most famous piece in that repertoire – Kojo-no-Tsuki, a certified banger. After that, something completely different to kick off the brief metal portion of this month’s list – it’s a death/thrash song by a band called Pizza Death about being eaten by zombie olives. Perfect. We follow that with some more atmospheric/serious stuff – Wounds of Recollection make lush blackgaze that’s a joy to listen to, and Lowen were a particular highlight of the festival I mentioned earlier in the newsletter with their blend of middle eastern vocals and big doom riffs. Lastly, we close out the list with some more electronic sounds – Mega Drive are a pounding bridge between metal riffs and vapourwave synths, and Carbon Based Lifeforms wrap things up with some big ambient space electronica, perfect relaxation music.

The Links

We watch episodes of Somebody Feed Phil (a very good, delightfully wholesome travel/food show) with a friend every Monday night, and recently saw the episode where he visits Korea – which reminded me of the amazing Buddhist nun/best chef in the world Jeong Kwan, and that led me to this article about the restaurant she’s opened up: https://www.lottehotelmagazine.com/en/food_style_detail?no=276

Chef’s Table (the show) is almost a parody of itself (and rightfully mocked in the fantastic film The Menu, when Nicholas Hoult’s awful Tyler suggests that he has an elevated understanding of Ralph Fiennes’ Chef Julian Slowik because he’s watched his episode of Chef’s Table multiple times), but the episode about Jeong Kwan is perfect – not just because it foregrounds her philosophy over her food, but because it makes every other chef profiled in the series look like an immature, petty little child obsessed with status and “being the best”. We could all stand to be more like Jeong Kwan, quite frankly!

Thanks very much for reading this bumper-sized edition (assuming you made it this far) – next month there won’t be a newsletter, since I’ll be on holiday in Athens, eating delicious food and looking at extremely old buildings. I’m sure you’ll cope..!

Until next time, cheers!

Chris

June 30, 2023July 30, 2023

June 2023: What Day Is It?

Good morning, folks!

This month’s newsletter is a last-minute one again – I’ve been ridiculously busy this month (for reasons that will become apparent shortly) and neglected to write it until… well, right now. I’ll keep it short and sweet!

The Usual

Part of the reason for my inability to remember what day it is comes from how I’ve spent the last two weeks – I spent 11 days in a studio with my cohorts in Ba’al, recording an absolute swathe of new music that we’ve been writing over the past few years. We had 9 songs in total, roughly 90 minutes’ worth of music, and it was A LOT to get done – a little recording secret for you: you don’t just play the part once and move on, there are so many layers and alternate takes and overdubs and other bits and pieces involved in getting it absolutely spot on. It was extremely hard work (especially with driving to and from Manchester each night, roughly 3 hours of driving per day) and I basically crashed out as soon as we were finished and went to bed at 9pm last night!

Chris playing his guitar in a recording studio

That said, the songs are sounding fantastic and I’m very happy with them so far – we’ve got some extra bits and pieces to do, and then they’ll need to be mixed and finessed to get the balance right, but I can’t wait to share them with the world!

On the comics side of things, I’ve been keeping busy as well – a couple of projects have started to take their first tentative steps, I’ve found a fantastic artist to collaborate with on one of my biggest and most ambitious stories, and pages are still rolling in at a fair clip for Brigantia Vol. 2 from the prodigiously talented Alaire. The first part of that volume has also now been coloured by the wonderful Rebecca Nalty, and it’s looking incredible!

Veteris stares down at Anna, who looks up at him defiantly.

At some point I’m going to drop one of these plates but hopefully not for a little while yet…

The Record

8 pages lettered – 4 for the Phoenix, 4 for Fractured Realms

Mostly lettering this month, I haven’t had the time to write anything (due to the reasons above) but that should hopefully change as the year progresses – nothing like getting one big project out of the door to light a fire under you!

The Tunes..?

In a first for this newsletter, I actually haven’t put together a playlist for this month – my listening was basically just Ba’al demos on repeat to get them lodged into my brain, and then relaxing ambient/electronica after each day of recording as a wind-down from all the crushingly heavy metal riffs we’d been recording! So I’ll just recommend one thing to you: an artist called 2 8 1 4 who does relaxing ambient cityscapes, kind of like a relaxed neon Blade Runner vibe. A bit synthwavey, very chilled, some lo-fi beats. Perfect writing/relaxing music!

The Links

This month marked the 50th anniversary of British horror classic The Wicker Man, and I particularly enjoyed this long-ish article about the soundtrack which remains unmatched: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jun/20/lusty-singalongs-and-brexit-portents-the-eternal-flame-of-the-wicker-man-soundtrack

It’s one of my favourite films and the music is very much part of that, so it was fascinating to read how appreciation for the soundtrack was part of keeping the movie in the public consciousness for long enough that it could be reappraised after a somewhat tepid debut. Worth your time!

That’s all from me for this month – hopefully next month’s newsletter will actually be written in advance? We can but hope!

All the best,

Chris

May 31, 2023

May 2023: In The Toilet

Good afternoon, folks!

It’s been what you could charitably call an “extremely busy” month over here – the day job has kicked up a notch or so, and I’m in the middle of preparing for a huge recording session with Ba’al next month so I’ve been bouncing from project to project like a pinball with anxiety. Still, it’s good to keep busy, right..?
Chris Traeger from Parks & Rec explaining his philosophy for avoiding despair

The Usual

Big news this month is that we finalised the list of stories/creators for the Secrets of the Majestic anthology that I mentioned in a previous newsletter, and we’re well into the planning stages! I’m very happy with the list of people involved – there’s a good mix of established creators and some newer up-and-coming talent, plenty of very good friends of mine, plus some names that I frankly cannot believe I get to put in the credits section 🤐

We’re planning a Kickstarter campaign for the book in the next month or two, so will do a big reveal of all the creators soon – given how niche the project is (comics about a very specific toilet beloved by Thought Bubble attendees!) we’re really going to have to hammer the pre-launch to ensure we can meet our target and get this thing made. Here’s a very sneaky peek at something I spent my bank holiday Monday putting together for it:
A spooky, glitchy video of someone walking into a very opulent bathroom...

I’m hoping KS will let me set up another campaign this soon after the Art of Professor Elemental smashed it’s way to a hugely successful conclusion (£13k raised, over double our target!) but I guess we’ll see – very glad I’ll have the capable assistance of the Prof with fulfilment for that one, doing it all on your own is somewhat stressful!

Lastly, Brigantia work continues apace – Alaire is about midway through Volume 2 now, working on issue #5 (the second volume will contain issues 4, 5 and 6) and the pages she’s turning out are absolutely phenomenal. Here’s a sneaky peek to show you what I mean, I raved about this on Twitter but I’m doing it again:
An extract from a page in Brigantia Vol. 2, showing a scroll with ancient artwork on against a more realistic background.

The Record

4 pages written for my SotM story
6 pages written for the Mad Cave Talent Search
8 pages lettered for The Phoenix

Actually did some writing this month! Obviously having a few short things to work on was helpful – I decided to have a crack at the Mad Cave Talent Search because I had an idea for a story set in the Nottingham universe, and thought it’d be worth rolling the dice. I’m not expecting anything to come of it but if nothing else it’ll be helpful to put my name on their radar! I should also have a bit more lettering to do over the coming months – both lettering my own stories and working for other people.

The Tunes

I love The Muppets unreservedly, and the new show Muppet Mayhem (which landed this month) is utterly delightful – chaotic, funny and heartfelt. So of course I had to open this month’s playlist with the Electric Mayhem’s biggest hit! From there it’s a sharp turn into atmospheric black metal land with Fires in the Distance and Non Est Deus – I’ve been listening to a lot of new music in May and these two albums stood out. Eyes of Argus have done the heaviest, sludgiest Steps cover imaginable (yes, really) and then we’re into trippy psych-doom territory with Lunar Chamber. I look forward to every new album from The Ocean (my favourite band) eagerly, and their newest doesn’t disappoint, mixing their signature proggy/heavy riffs with a lot more electronic elements to great success. From there we’re going down synthwave street with Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan (yes, that is a real band name) and their concrete 70s dystopia version of the Blade Runner soundtrack. They’re followed by some chiptune/vapourwave hip-hop courtesy of Kill Bill: The Rapper, and then a very weird (but good) track I discovered on Bandcamp – Whatitdo Archive Group essentially soundtrack movies that don’t exist, and this one sounds like it could be from an imaginary Moebius adaptation. Lastly, how about some righteous fury? Benefits are a sort of hip-hop/grind/noise/garage collective from north-east England and this song hit me like a lightning bolt, a sneering takedown of flag-waving “patriots” who are happy for the country to turn to shit as long as they can lord it over people who don’t look like them. “Wave yer fucking flag” as a snarl of absolute derision – it’s powerful stuff.

The Link(s)

Like the rest of the planet (seemingly) I’ve been pouring hours into the new Legend of Zelda game, Tears of the Kingdom, since it was released. It’s an absolute masterpiece – somehow expanding on the wonderful Breath of the Wild, refining it and presenting tons of new mechanics. Most importantly, it very much feels like a game where you can solve puzzles however you want – there might be one “right” way to get past this pool of lava, but you can try a bunch of things and one of them will probably work. It’s intellectually stimulating and satisfying in a way that most games have forgotten how to be. Plus Link hums snippets of classic Zelda songs when you toss ingredients into a cooking pot and it is ADORABLE.

Anyway, here’s an interview with the developers which delves into why it’s so good: https://www.polygon.com/legend-zelda-tears-kingdom/23720150/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-abilities-eiji-aonuma-hidemaro-fujibayashi

And here’s an article about the fashion and how you can absolutely turn Link into a gender-bending twink if you want to: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-style

And that’s all from me for this month – thanks for reading and have a good rest of your week!

All the best,

Chris

February 28, 2023

February 2023: Pitter Patter

Howdy, folks!

Once again, February has careened past me in a Dodge Viper with the top down, flipping me off aggressively as it screams away into the rear-view mirror. Which is to say: compared to the inexorable length of January, I am once again bemused by how quickly this month has gone past. It’s felt like a busy one!

The Usual

Most of my “creative docket” this month has again been taken up by various bits of admin and not actual writing, which is a state of affairs that I need to try and improve on. Given the number of projects that are moving towards some state of fruition and are already written, though, it doesn’t feel as urgent – I got ahead of myself last year (and the year before that), and my logic-brain is reminding me that there’s no point having another series fully written and sitting on the backburner while I can’t guarantee the funds to make it happen. Let’s clear a few other things off the slate first!

First amongst those is a Kickstarter with my good friend Professor Elemental – over the past 10 years we’ve made a lot of comics together (over 200 pages’ worth, to be exact) and the time has come to finally put together a big artbook/collection of those stories so that they’re all accessible in one mighty hardback tome, alongside a ton of other artwork that the Prof’s mini-empire has spun off. I’ve been building the campaign page for that and we’re anticipating a launch towards the end of next month, so just a heads up that you may get additional emails from me when it goes live to encourage you to take a look! As usual there’ll be digital and physical copies available, and postage will be much more affordable within the UK (sorry, non-UK readers, but it costs an insane amount of money to post a hardback book these days..!)

Brigantia #4/Vol. 2 also continues to roll onwards, with pace – Alaire is doing a phenomenal job with the pages, and I’m very excited to share them with you all. Here’s a sneaky peek of an inked page to whet your collective whistle:

Realistically, given that I’m having to take a bit of a break from Thought Bubble this year (due to a family wedding, I’d only be able to do the Saturday, so I’ve only applied for a half table), we’ll not be able to launch it at TB this year – but I’m anticipating all the inks being finished by the end of the year, so come 2024, we can finish off Brigantia’s story (for now..!)

So, some solid progress being made on some fronts! Let’s keep it going 🙂

The Record

18 pages lettered for The Phoenix
Yet more worldbuilding doc stuff for SPACE COWBOYS

Hot on the heels of the book-length story I lettered for The Phoenix last month, I was also tasked with lettering some in-between pages to fill the gaps between that story and the other ones that will be included in the collection. This was my first real experience of a very tight deadline, and it was not a fun time at all – I worked my regular 9-5 day job, but was doing extra hours before and after work trying to get all the pages done in time while not skipping band practices. I managed it (18 pages in just over a week!) but I was absolutely shattered on the Friday after I’d turned them in and slept for about 12 hours! Hopefully it’ll be a while before something like that comes around again…

Also, the recurrence of the SPACE COWBOYS worldbuilding doc should provide some clues to what’s going on with that – I’ve found an artist for the story, and we’ll hopefully be starting work on some character designs/pitch pages next month. It’s very exciting to get to this stage on a story that’s extremely personal to me (for a variety of reasons, it’s the most emotionally-charged thing I’ve ever written) so I’ll be looking forward to sharing snippets of that as they get drawn!

The Tunes

Let’s get some music in your lugholes! An eclectic mix this month – we’re starting off with the Tallon Overworld theme from Metroid Prime, reimagined by the fantastic Metroid Metal. I’ve been pouring hours into the remastered version of Prime that just came out – it’s a phenomenal achievement, and the game looks (and plays) wonderfully. Next, and continuing the alien theme, is the opening track from the newer version of Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds. I love the original as well, but Liam Neeson is a genius casting for the Narrator and this remains a certified banger. Orphaned Land are a great prog-metal band from Israel, who’ve put out some classic albums (like Mabool, which is just fantastic). Apparently they have a large Arab fanbase, and this track in particular hammers home their message of peace between different faiths with uplifting choruses and a pristine guitar tone. I spent a day at work listening to an AFI best-of – my partner is a huge AFI fan, and they have some great songs (like this one, which doesn’t fuck around!) New discovery up next – Pyramid Mass play space infused death-doom, and I was drawn in by the Moebius vibes of the cover art for this release. This track twists and turns a few times, with some weighty riffs scattered throughout.

Black metal time? Black metal time. Skeletonwitch’s last album remains a surprising but wonderful thing – fantastic-sounding atmospheric BM with some savage riffs sitting beneath the reverby guitar tone. Next is another new discovery, Hekseblad – my best description for this is “Witcher-themed raw dungeon synth BM”. It’s a fun listen! I’ve been fiddling around with some chiptune stuff this month again (I still have dreams of putting together a solo release of chiptune stuff), so this track from Zef & Danimal Cannon was on the inspiration list for that. Big, bouncy electronic riffs that will make you bang your head – similar vibe to Master Boot Record (except this came out first!) Another new The Ocean track next which highlights that this new album is definitely going in a more electronic direction – and I dig it. Lastly, hot off the presses is a new Svalbard track from their forthcoming album. It sounds great, but I feel like it ends too soon – give me more of those riffs please!

The Links

This isn’t a recent link, but we’ve finally started watching the most recent seasons of Letterkenny so I’m taking this opportunity to tell you that you should also watch it if you haven’t already:

https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/10/11/20909844/letterkenny-hulu-review-pitter-patter

And that’s all for this month – as ever, take care of yourselves and thanks for reading!

All the best,

Chris

January 31, 2023February 1, 2023

January 2023: All Systems Go

Hey folks,

I know we’re only one month into 2023, but it feels like half the year has flown by already – I know, I know, time is a relative concept, but I hope it calms down at some point. This will probably be a fairly busy newsletter (I’ve even got some STUFF to SHARE) so let’s crack in!

The Usual

I always find that January turns into a month of calendar juggling, where I try and get some things in place for later in the year (not least so I have something to look forward to). And this year promises to be a big one in that regard – we’re in the middle of redecorating a large chunk of our house (because I finally ran out of patience with the horrible textured wallpaper), I’ve finally booked in some sessions to get the Japanese half-sleeve tattoo on my left arm done (I’ve had the right one since 2017 and the left is intended to be a companion piece to that) and we might even try and squeeze in a holiday.

On the creative front… hoo boy. Brigantia Vol. 2 is well and truly underway (and here’s a sneaky peek at our boy Veteris, from the prodigiously talented hands of Alaire):

I’m going to be running at least two crowdfunders this year (for a Prof Elemental collection and a collection of my oceanic sci-fi/horror Hadopelagic, with Neil McClements), with two more potentially in the running depending on how everything shakes out (Secrets of the Majestic, and Brigantia Vol. 2 depending on how quickly Alaire gets through the pages) – four campaigns might be a bit bloody much though, so I’m going to have to decide whether any of those can be pushed back to 2024.

What could this be about….? 👀

I’ve got a pitch floating around out there which I want to try and get picked up, and have just teamed up with an artist for another pitch which I’m very excited about.

And on top of all that, my band Ba’al have booked ourselves two weeks of studio time in the summer to record both a new album and a new EP, because we wrote far too much music (roughly 90 mins or so) and need to split it into two releases!

It’s a pretty daunting list, but I’ll put one foot in front of the other and get as many things ticked off as I can. Here’s hoping December’s round-up is a full one..!

The Record

26 pages lettered for The Phoenix
1-page anthology submission plotted
Worldbuilding and references for SPACE COWBOYS

Lettered a small book-length story for The Phoenix this month, which was v. cool and a nice little challenge. Definitely the most pages I’ve ever lettered over a couple of weeks, and I’d love to do more to really get my hand in!

That aside, as a consequence of the previous section (getting all my ducks in a row) I haven’t properly written anything all month. I don’t see a lot of value in scripting something that I won’t feasibly be able to get moving on for a long while – because by the time it’s the next project up, I’ll probably want to rewrite whole swathes of it. That stance will probably change as the year progresses because I have a few things outlined and ready to work on, I just need to get myself in the right mindset and find a balance (between day job, band practices, existing projects and just trying to have an evening to relax now and then..!)

The Tunes

Back to your regularly-scheduled “here’s what Chris is listening to” programming this month. First up, my favourite band The Ocean are back with this teaser for their upcoming new album – and they definitely have strong feelings about the current intellectual climate, going by the lyrics. After that, we take a trip through some vaporwave/cybernetic landscapes with new music from Boucle Infinie, Isaac Soto and Martin Ahm Nielsen/Code Elektro – close your eyes and let the digital wave wash over you. A brief orchestral break is courtesy of Aaron Grubb’s lovely rendition of Gerudo Valley (from the Zelda series), and then we’re into heavier(ish) climes, starting with Foo Fighters – I recommended Sonic Highways (both the TV show and the album) to someone this month and it reminded me how much I enjoy those songs, particularly this one with it’s orchestral vibe towards the end. The new Ahab album came out of nowhere (for me) but it’s excellent, funeral doom from under the sea. It’s followed by the excellent SONJA – trad heavy metal with a fierce as fuck trans frontwoman and great vocal lines. The last two tracks take us into more upbeat territory – Babymetal remain one of the most enjoyable bands in my rotation, and this song just slaps. Watch a live video for the full effect! And lastly, my favourite Ayreon album got remixed & remastered last year, so here’s a banger from the back end of the double album – a cosmic flight through space that laments the plight of our doomed world. Cheerful!

The Links

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/enys-men-folk-horror-b2258886.html

It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I absolutely adore folk horror – it’s right in the sweet spot of what I love about the horror genre, and can run the gamut from shlocky 70s classics like The Blood on Satan’s Claw to “elevated”, “arthouse” fare like Midsommar. I’m extremely curious about watching Enys Men at some point, and this feature both stokes that curiosity and provides some good context for the folk horror “boom” we’re seeing at the moment. Plus, it’s a little quicker than watching all 3 and a quarter hours of Kier-La Janisse’s (excellent) documentary “Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched“, which is truly exhaustive in scope..!

I have a folk horror story idea kicking around (because of course I do, so does everyone), but because of how much the genre resonates with me, I’m very conscious of the need to do it “properly”. I don’t want to just shit out something packed with cheap scares and call it a day! The result is more reading and watching (research, rather) until I feel like I’ve got a good enough background to do my own twist on the genre. Watch this space..!

That’s all for this month – thanks for reading this far if you made it. We’re through the longest month of the year! Imbolc is round the corner and it can only get brighter from here on out, so take care of yourselves and find things to look forward to.

Cheers,

Chris

December 31, 2022

December 2022: That Was The Year That Was

Hey folks,

As per usual, this month’s newsletter will be a little different as I attempt to encapsulate my 2022 in numbers and lists and general screaming into the void. Strap in!

The Usual

I understand why the end of the year lends itself to being a time of introspection and reflection – there’s a sense of finality, a feeling of turning towards pastures new (even if those pastures are, in reality, the same pastures you’ve been grazing from for the past 12 months but with a slightly different sign on the fence). It’s nice to look back at what I managed to get done this year (a fair bit, all things considered!) But I’m making a conscious effort this year to avoid thinking about what I hope to achieve next year.

The truth of it, as laid bare by the last few years, is that we can’t predict anything with certainty and making resolutions (in my mind) is just a pathway to disappointment. I know what I’d like to achieve, but so much of it is out of my control that it’s not worth getting worked up about it – I’ll just deal with the things I can control, and leave the rest to the tender mercies of fate!

With all that said, I am very proud at managing to get Brigantia Vol. 1 out in the wild this year – it’s been a long time coming (never let anyone tell you that it’s easy to release a self-published independent comics series..!) but I’m very chuffed with how it looks and hopeful that I can shove it into more people’s hands next year. Obligatory shill (if you’d like a copy): https://chrismole.bigcartel.com/product/brigantia-vol-1

Anyway, without further ado, here’s…

The Record

Pages written: 71 (2021 total: 113)
Pages lettered: 78 (2021 total: 33)
Anthology pitches outlined/submitted: 3

It’s a little wild to me that my lettering output this year actually surpassed my writing – but it makes sense, I’ve been getting a steady stream of pages from The Phoenix all year and due to lettering a few anthology stories (Big Hype, Sharp Wit & The Company of Women) that I also wrote I can see why that total has crept up. Long may it continue! I’m hopeful that some of those pages will see the light next year, but we’ll find out – I imagine that a chunk of my January is going to be spent sending emails and figuring out what to do about the various projects on the list. Now that I’ve finished the actual writing on SPACE COWBOYS I need to start contacting artists and figure out which script to tackle next…

The Tunes

It’s a “best of 2022” playlist! These are all tracks that came out this year and have been solidly in my rotation – and it’s very much a playlist of two halves, with a bunch of pop/disco/electronica bangers from Florence + The Machine, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, The Midnight and Metric at the start before we get into the heavy shit with Zeal & Ardor, Ibaraki, Asunojokei, Wormrot and Chat Pile (which wins the award for “most unsettling song I heard this year by a country mile”). Fill yer boots!

2022’s Top 5 Things

I stole this idea from someone on Twitter, because I like it – here’s my list of top 5 things from this year! Could be a comic, a movie, an album or just a particular experience. In ascending order:

5. Wonder Woman: Dead Earth (comic) – I know this came out in 2020/2021 but I’m absolutely terrible at keeping up with comics (there are still plenty from this year which I have on my pile but haven’t read yet). I picked the collected hardcover up from OK Comics this summer and devoured it – Daniel Warren Johnson’s artwork is absolutely wild and the story manages to walk the fine line between apocalyptic dystopia and the kind of hope and emotion that I expect from Wonder Woman. It’s truly a unique book – I can’t imagine any other writer/artist doing something like this, let alone doing it this well. Highly recommended!

4. Andor (TV series) – I’ve been a Star Wars nerd for many years now, since I grew up wearing out my parents’ VHS copies of the Original Trilogy, and my relationship to that universe has evolved and changed over time. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from Andor, but I was blown away – it’s a powerful, maturely-written and acted series with a laser-focused central thesis (to wit: give the fascists and inch and they’ll take a mile, and the only solution is to simply refuse to give in and to fight at every step) and plenty of emotional depth. Plus, it looks phenomenal, both in the cinematography and the set design. I’m excited to see where they go with season 2!

3. Florence + The Machine – Dance Fever (album) – This will be surprising to absolutely nobody. I’ve loved F+TM since 2018’s High As Hope, and (appropriately) my hopes were high for this – so I’m very pleased to report that they were utterly smashed. It’s a very different-sounding record (with more of a disco groove to it) but it works perfectly – vocally, Florence has rarely sounded better and there’s a real sense of unhinged, almost pagan celebration to some of the tracks on this release. It’s an outpouring of love for the concept of music and dance, and it’s been my absolute no.1 listen this year.

2. Everything Everywhere All At Once (movie) – Reams of words have already been written about this movie, and I just want to add to the chorus. I’m so glad I took myself out on a cinema trip to see it, because I was blown away – it’s a feast of imagination and inventiveness anchored by incredible performances from Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu. It’s wild, heart-rending, hilarious and poignant all at the same time. I mean, the title is extremely apt – it’s everything, everywhere, all at once!

1. Visiting Naples – it’s been a good few years since I went on an actual holiday, due to a combination of the global pandemic (obviously) and quite frankly being unable to afford one. This year we finally managed to tick something off the bucket list, and went to Naples in Italy for a short break. I ate pizza for about 75% of my meals and gawked at incredible churches and statues in the city museum – it was divine. But my highlight of the trip was standing in the centre of Pompeii, gazing out at incredibly preserved buildings from almost 2000 years ago and feeling the absolute weight of history around me. I wasn’t sure what to expect before we went, but there were streets, and pavements, and crossing points – if you squint and concentrate a little, the crowds of tourists easily become toga-clad Roman citizens going about their lives. It’s a singularly unique and amazing experience to be able to reach back through time like that and it left me feeling both humbled and emotionally fulfilled.

And that’s it from me for this year! Thanks (as ever) for reading – I appreciate being able to splurge my words into your inboxes once a month. If you’re doing anything to celebrate the closing of 2022’s chapter in the heavy, heavy book of history, have a great time – if (like me) you’ll just be at home relaxing then I hope it’s a very chill evening.

See you in 2023!

All the best,

Chris

November 30, 2022

November 2022: Stratospheric

Hey, folks!

I suspect this month’s newsletter is going to turn into a long one, given that it’s been a busy month, so apologies for that in advance – strap in, let’s get to it!

The Usual

Let’s do a Thought Bubble recap, shall we? This month saw me yet again in attendance at (in my opinion) the UK’s premier comic convention, Thought Bubble in Harrogate. As with every year, it was a delight to see so many pals that I spend a lot of time chatting to/interacting with online in person, and I managed to squeeze in enough socialising to keep me going for at least the next 6 months. Some highlights of the weekend:

Initiating several people into the Cult of the Majestic Toilets (and deciding, perhaps against my better judgement, to try and put together a toilet anthology for next year’s convention…)
Meeting Gail Simone, who I’m pleased to confirm is not a bear and is in fact a lovely human being
Drinks and good times with the Dangerous Nights crew
Making more money than I ever have at TB before, to the extent that I covered my hotel and table fees and got into (whisper it) actual profit! …profit which I then promptly spent on buying stuff from other tables. Oh well!

I know I say this every year, but comics people are the best people, and it’s a mantra that’s proven true every time. It’s truly a vibrant, welcoming, creative environment, and as is always the case I came home buzzing with the desire to make more comics! I don’t have space to shout out everyone who made it an incredible weekend, but you know who you are and I appreciate the heck out of each one of you 😤🖤

Since I finished sending out all of the Kickstarter packages (except for the three people who haven’t completed their surveys yet) in the first week of November, Thought Bubble also saw the official debut of Brigantia Volume 1 and it was extremely gratifying being able to show it off to people. Now that I’m out of the fulfilment woods I’ve taken a step back and can appreciate how much work we’ve put into it – I think the book looks beautiful, and I’m very proud of it. I’ve been reaching out to various comic shops (so I believe it’s now available in Gosh! Comics down in London, Travelling Man in various branches, and Destination Venus in Harrogate) – plus I’ve added the book to my online store and Comixology, so it’s officially available to the general public! If you’d like a copy (or you’re after gift ideas), it’ll be posted out in plenty of time for Christmas: https://chrismole.bigcartel.com/product/brigantia-vol-1

The Record

Even though I haven’t sat down and actually scripted many pages this month, it’s felt extremely busy! Part of that is lettering work, part of it is trying to get ducks in a row for some other projects. Anyway, here’s the count:

8 pages outlined for The Black Rubric II
Prose piece written for a one/two-pager
Initial notes/plans/ideas for ‘Secrets of the Majestic’ (the aforementioned “toilet anthology”)
8 pages lettered for The Phoenix
3 pages lettered for Sharp Wit & The Company of Women

Phew! The lettering workload is likely to continue into next month as I need to finish the pages for “Let Justice Be My Axe“, and I’ve also agreed to letter some anthology stories for my good friend Owen Watts. Space Cowboys #4 and #5 have also gone off to my mighty editor Claire Napier – the last two issues of the story, so once those come back with notes on I can tweak them accordingly and we can start actively hunting for an artist (and try to come up with a proper title for it..!)

On top of that, one of the bands I’m in (Ba’al) have now finished writing new material – we’ve got 9 new songs, most of them epic-length ones, and the next step is to tweak/refine them and figure out any extra bits we want to add in. It’s a very different creative process to writing music or comics solo, but just as satisfying – especially when just throwing riff ideas around in the room results in an extremely heavy/catchy/atmospheric song!

Lastly, it doesn’t count as comics work, but I’ve done a load of wallpaper stripping this month and I’m getting ever closer to being able to bring in a professional to replaster/redecorate the spare room and the stairs. The tyrannical reign of the awful, textured, 80s wallpaper which fills most of the rooms in my house is almost at an end!

The Tunes

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ABZZgvR7xZRrKa88nVk6C?si=5a8c0b12f2f048df
This month’s playlist runs the gamut from “tracks which link to stuff I did” to “heavy shit I’ve been enjoying”. We start things off with a blast from the past – the World Map theme from the phenomenal Final Fantasy Tactics by Masaharu Iwata. I was struck by the sudden urge to play this game again, and overjoyed to find that my tablet will run the Android version – it remains wonderfully written and fun. Next up is a track from the recent re-release of the Dredd soundtrack, remixed by Mogwai – I went over to Leeds the night before Thought Bubble to get my hands on the vinyl for this and it was very worth it, since I got to hang out with pals Rik Worth and Alfie Gallagher and watch Jock live-paint an amazing Dredd piece! Continuing the “comics” theme, here’s a heavy metal version of the famous Batman theme by Powerglove – the tragic news of Kevin Conroy’s passing hit while we were socialising at TB, and I think my Christmas break will be spent binging the animated series in tribute. Public Service Broadcasting are up next – I go back to this album a lot (and have put this song in playlists before) but it’s just so, so good! One more nerd song before we get to the heavy shit – Steel & Silver by Visigoth is based on the Witcher and has a very catchy power metal chorus which WILL get stuck in your head. Next up are a couple of big atmospheric black metal tracks I’ve been exposed to this month – An Abstract Illusion with a monolithic song, then the phenomenal Molten Gold by Toadeater. Weird band name, incredible album! Next is a classic Borknagar song – again, I’ve been listening to them a lot this month just because they’re great and fill me full of nostalgia for my college days. Penultimately we have a track by Brazilian prog-black-metal band Papangu recommended by my pal Adam who was an excellent table assistant at Thought Bubble, and rounding things off is a new MASTER BOOT RECORD track which showcases their unique blend of chiptune and heavy riffs.

#WiegrafWasRight

The Links

I know that Twitter is on fire and slowly sinking beneath the waves thanks to a certain edgelord techbro, but here’s something delightful for you to get your teeth into – artist pal Jordan Collver, going through his process for researching and producing scientifically-rigorous comics which play with the form (and look beautiful, to boot!): https://twitter.com/JordanCollver/status/1597605358817931265?t=LRtnSYM-neP50WufEJ-rcw&s=19

And that’s all for this month! Thanks for sticking with me, and I hope you have a lovely December – next month’s update will probably take the form of a yearly round-up with some recs for various things I’ve enjoyed this year and you may have missed.

All the best!

Chris

October 31, 2022November 14, 2022

October 2022: All Aboard

Howdy, folks!

It’s been a busy old month, so without further ado:

The Usual

It’s funny how having a project unfinished makes you feel like you’re in a kind of suspended animation – it’s tough to allocate brain space to anything else because you have that lurking, lingering spectre of “you need to finish this first” squatting up there. With that said, earlier this month I finally got the (beautiful) printed copies delivered for Brigantia Vol. 1, and as of this going out, I’ve made a start on the postage! Overseas postage is going to be a nightmare because since I ran the campaign, costs have increased exponentially and the UK government decided it would be a great idea to force small creatives like me to jump through a million flaming hoops in order to post things outside the UK… but I’m committed to getting these packages out as swiftly as possible, because I’m very aware of how delayed they are. And once that’s done, maybe I can clear brain space for something else… right?

Next month also sees me stalking the halls of my favourite comic convention, Thought Bubble in Harrogate! It’s always a fantastic weekend of meeting up with comics friends I don’t see that often, and I’m hoping it’ll be a good year with Brig Vol. 1 finished and ready to go. Even planning ways to dress up the table so it’s a bit more visually appealing..!

You’ll find me in Comixology Hall at table 136 (handy map below):

I’ll have prints from the campaign with me, and several of the artists who drew those prints (Chris Wildgoose and Will Kirkby) will be tabling so you can pop over to their tables afterwards and get them scribbled on if you fancy – Harriet will also be at the con so if you have a Kickstarter copy of Vol. 1 that you want signing, don’t hesitate to bring it along!

The Record

As a consequence of being very depressed and sad after last month’s news, and the business of Kickstarter fulfilment/playing gigs/etc, I’ve written a grand total of zero pages this month. And that’s okay, because I’ve got a lot on my plate and I need to clear some of it off before I can prioritise anything!

I did, however, get up early on a Sunday morning and spend several hours recording/mixing a little piece of music for an upcoming Kickstarter campaign being run by my good friend Alfie Gallagher. You’ll find out more about that soon, but I had a lot of fun doing it (and I think I absolutely nailed the brief!)

The Tunes

CM: Oct 2022 – playlist by Chris Mole | Spotify

Chris Mole · Playlist · 10 songs

We’re kicking things off this month with a Halloween-related track – the theme from Prince of Darkness, by horror maestro John Carpenter. I’m a big fan of his music (especially his “Lost Themes” albums) and he’s in fine form here. Taking a sudden left turn, we’re into post-black metal country with Aquilus – these guys traverse a lot of ground in one song, but never lose sight of how to craft a vast atmosphere in the process. Oceans of Slumber were a revelation when I saw them at Damnation Festival a few years ago, and they’ve gone full ‘Southern Gothic’ on their new album, capped off by this phenomenal cover of old-time classic ‘House of the Rising Sun’. Cammie Gilbert is an extremely good vocalist! Speaking of good vocalists, Devin Townsend is back with new music – I couldn’t get into his last release, the extremely experimental The Puzzle, but this is definitely more my speed, starting as it does almost chiptune/videogame-like before climbing into something bigger. Ayreon (from the mind of the mad hippie Arjen Lucassen) are one of my favourite bands, so I was delighted to see the announcement that one of their best albums is getting the full remix/remaster treatment – these songs are like a warm hug for me, and I can’t wait to hear them sounding even better and polished up. Brutus are a new discovery – I saw people on Twitter talking about their new album and decided to check it out. I’m very into it – it reminds me of bands like Ithaca, with huge sludgy riffs overlaid by a female vocalist with great range. Recommended! Borknagar are another old-time favourite, and I’ve had this track off their last album stuck in my head for the past few weeks – it’s an ode to nature and the northern landscapes from one of metal’s finest vocalists (ICS Vortex), and it’s extremely catchy to boot! New Taylor Swift was obviously going to be on this list because I’m very predictable – the new album hasn’t grabbed me as instantly as Folklore/Evermore did, but it feels like it’ll be a sneaky grower. I’ll report back next month..! Sometimes I like listening to choral music to calm myself down or while I’m writing, and Miserere Mei, Deus is truly beautiful – lush harmonies and an overwhelming sense of peace. It also flows thematically into the next track, which is what I would consider the modern pinnacle of music & worship – Florence + The Machine, live in New York, pouring her heart into an absolute disco banger. One day I’ll sell a kidney for Florence tickets, and then I’ll try not to have a spiritual/emotional breakdown at her in public and look like a complete weirdo..!

I’ll call it there for this time – next month will probably consist mostly of a Thought Bubble recap (once I’ve recovered from the convention hangover…)

Thanks for reading, and enjoy what remains of your Samhain!

All the best,

Chris

September 30, 2022

September 2022: Cherish Every Moment

Hey folks,

I had a whole bunch of stuff I wanted to write about in this month’s newsletter (what with taking last month off for an actual holiday), but then a thing happened, and as a result I’m afraid this is going to be a rather sombre edition:

This is (was) my beautiful Rottweiler rescue princess, Tia. Due to old age (she was pushing 12/13) and the rapid onset of kidney failure, we had to make the gut-wrenchingly difficult and awful decision to have her put to sleep yesterday.

Right now I’m still firmly in the denial stage – I keep expecting to see her in one of her spots (curled up on a bed in my studio or at the bottom of the stairs) or hear her pitter-pattering around the house. It doesn’t feel real that she’s not here any more.

It’s going to take a while before I can think about her without crying – the way she used to bounce up and down in excitement about going out for WALKIES, the Paddington hard stare she’d give us every time we ordered pizza to try and guilt us into giving her a slice, how she’d roll on her back and be the silliest, most lovable creature alive. The world is a darker, colder place for her absence.

If you have a pet of your own, please give them a big hug and cherish every moment you have with them. You never get enough.

The Usual

I’ll keep the rest of this short because I have an (emotional) dehydration headache – big news this month is that I had a story announced in a new anthology which is currently funding on Kickstarter. The anthology is called Sharp Wit & The Company of Women, it’s being run by the wonderful Extra Pages Press and the premise can be boiled down to: SWORD LADIES from LGBTQIA+ creators. My story is with the phenomenally talented Lauren Knight and coloured by the wonderful JP Jordan, and here’s some more about it:

It’s 6 pages long and intended for anyone who likes a) tattooed guitar girls, b) heavy metal or c) misogynists getting their shit ruined. And if you don’t like any of those things, why are you even reading this newsletter??

You can back the campaign at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/capnbiggles/sharp-wit-and-the-company-of-women – we’re currently just over 50% funded with 27 days remaining, so plenty of time to hit that target (and maybe some stretch goals)!

The Record

6-page story for Sharp Wit & The Company of Women written
Print prep work for Brigantia Vol. 1
1 page of lettering/skills hub for The Phoenix
4 pages lettered

The anthology story came together remarkably quickly (the only editorial note I received on my first draft was a “Hell yeah” about one of the more dramatic pages) so most of my time has been taken up getting Brigantia Vol. 1 ready for printing. At time of writing, I’ve received the prints and bookplates from the wonderful Comic Printing UK and I believe the book itself is currently in the printing forge being created! It won’t be long now…

The Tunes

Predominantly heavy stuff on this month’s playlist – we’re kicking things off with Wormrot, a grind act from Singapore. 1 minutes and 15 seconds of fury, doesn’t fuck around. Nice. Next is Chat Pile – there are some truly haunting tracks on this release (in particular the last one, grimace_smoking_weed.jpeg) but this track turns a baleful eye on how broken our society is and pummels you with it. Heaviest song I’ve heard this year. Blackbraid is an atmospheric black metal project from an indigenous American musician – I always appreciate people bringing their culture into a genre and it’s even better when the music is this good. Couple of tracks from Japan next – BAND-MAID are a very recent discovery and truly the most insane, Japanese thing you can picture. Basically, they’re a group of cutesy girls who dress up like anime maids, but play heavy rock/metal with some excellent riffs? Similar vibes to Babymetal, except they play the instruments themselves. Wild. They’re followed by Asunojokei, who put out this very unique Japanese spin on atmospheric black metal which I’ve listened to a few times already. Tribulation, one of my favourite bands, are up next with a new track, and they’re followed by a complete 180 turn into classic crooning with Bobby Darin and Beyond the Sea. I binged season 3 of Marvellous Mrs. Maisel earlier in the month – it remains truly fantastic, and also got this track stuck in my head. Faith No More are next with Midlife Crisis – we watched a Youtube video where a classically-trained singer analyses rock/metal vocals and she didn’t know what to make of Mike Patton on this song, hence it’s inclusion here. Falkenbach are a band I’ve liked for a very long time – big, atmospheric synth-metal with similar vibes to Bathory and Summoning, this album soundtracked a very scenic drive I took over to the other side of the country a few weeks ago to buy a new guitar off a private seller. Lastly, we have Cluster, described by Matt Berry (of What We Do in the Shadows and Toast of London fame) as “early electronic nightmares” – I couldn’t not listen to it with a review like that, and I’m pleased to report that he was 100% accurate. It’s also the perfect soundtrack to a horror story I’ve been dabbling with so… thanks, Matt!

The Links

Just one link in here this month, an interesting longer read about visual effects and the way that the film & TV industry has completely and utterly fucked them: https://defector.com/inside-hollywoods-visual-effects-crisis/

The next time you find yourself tempted to complain/laugh about the CGI on a particular show or film – spare a thought for the poor bastard who’s had to spend hours upon hours working on it, only for a fickle director to ask them to scrap it completely and do something different in a quarter of the time with a sixth of the budget..!

That’s all from me this month – take care of yourselves, cuddle your pets, and have a good weekend.

All the best,

Chris

July 31, 2022

July 2022: Hottest on Record

Hey folks – July is over, and with it one of the fastest (and hottest) months I remember in a while. Some nice bits of progress this month, scattered in with everything else – let’s get into it!

The Usual

After last month’s “no pages, only V I B E S” situation, I have managed some more productivity this month. Chief amongst those is managing to secure a (truly fantastic) colourist for the next three issues/second volume of BRIGANTIA, which means that the creative team is set, apart from a letterer:

Line art: Alaire Racicot
Colours: Rebecca Nalty
Editor: Claire Napier

We’ve got less than a handful of pages left to go for issue #3, and Hass has been keeping right on track with the lettering despite a brief bout of COVID, so I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to get it off to CPUK in the first half of August and I’ll have plenty of time to check the proof before we do the full run. And then we can dive headfirst into issues #4-6! I’m very excited to see how this absolutely killer team interprets the script, which has already been polished and primped by the wonderful Claire.

The Record

4 pages written (SPACE COWBOYS)
17 pages outlined (BLACK RUBRIC II: BACK II BLACK)
4 pages lettered
2 pages of secret design work

Definitely a healthier-looking section this month! I finally found the energy and words to finish off the last issue of SPACE COWBOYS; now I just need to put issues #4 and #5 for that in front of Claire and start thinking about who could draw it. I’ve also made solid progress outlining the BLACK RUBRIC sequel – I wanted to make sure I could build on the first one and have something to say as well as continuing to take the piss out of the black metal scene, and I think I’ve come up with a hook that makes it worth writing. Aiming for something around 50-60 pages long, so double the length of the last one, but we’ll see how it goes!

The Tunes

This month’s list follows a bit of a bell curve; we’re starting off with some weird experimental ambient courtesy of SUGAI KEN, a Japanese artist I read a fascinating interview with this month. This isn’t my usual sort of thing but it’s a good soundscape to write to! Next up is JAMBINAI, who make instrumental post-rock with lots of interesting sounds and big crescendoes – definitely check out the rest of their material. They’re followed by the start of our climb into “heavy shit” territory, with a new track from one of my favourite bands, Tribulation – this yet again showcases their brand of “harsh vocals/bouncy as shit riffs” and I love it. They’re followed by Uneven Structure from France, with some huge, atmospheric prog-djent – I got into this album before I knew what djent was or cared about it, so I don’t really consider them under that label. Next up is VLTIMAS, a blackened death supergroup made up of members of Morbid Angel, Cryptopsy and Mayhem – my band played a support slot for them this month which was a fun time! They’re followed by Watain with a classic (and cheesy-named) slice of black metal – I don’t have a specific playlist for writing The Black Rubric, but I like to throw on the most OTT Satanic shit I can find to get myself in the mood. Cellar Darling have a bit of a silly name, but they’re formed of members of Eluveitie (one of few very good folk metal bands) and I found them interesting – there’s a lot going on here but it all works. Gilmore Trail are local to Sheffield and friends of mine – their album launch was this month which featured a live performance of this monolithic track. Most oppressively hot gig I’ve ever been to but a good experience nevertheless! At the bottom end of the bell curve, we’re closing out with a couple of electronica/pop songs – new material from The Midnight who are always a delight, with almost frustratingly catchy vocal hooks, and a new track from Metric which is equally earworm-y and will get stuck in your head.

The Links

Not a particularly long read this month, but I want to use it as a springboard to rant a little: https://www.indiewire.com/2022/07/stranger-things-subtitles-trolling-1234740521/

As somebody who’s half-deaf, I rely heavily on subtitles when I’m watching/playing things at home – to the extent that if a show or movie doesn’t have subtitles as an option, I will struggle to follow what’s going on and will probably just decide not to watch it. This line in the article particularly hit home for me:

“What I’ve noticed quite a lot online are people who don’t really understand the subtitles are for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. I’ve seen a lot of, ‘Why are the subtitles so overly descriptive? We don’t need these.’ And I know you don’t, but you weren’t the main audience for subtitles from the start.”

I honestly love this whole approach – subtitles shouldn’t just be a boring, passionless thing added to a show to ensure that you get the bare minimum of information required to understand it, they should absolutely try to bring you into the world of whatever you’re watching. Obviously there are certain occasions where you’ll just need to indicate what’s being said (quickfire dialogue scenes, etc) but when you have the opportunity to communicate the emotion or feeling that everything audible in the show (like music, foley and other sound effects, tone of voice) is working towards – do that, every damn time. Don’t deprive deaf or hard-of-hearing people of the same overall aesthetic enjoyment that you get from it.

There’s a crossover here with comics lettering, I feel – very basic comics lettering will absolutely communicate the information that you require to understand the comic, in that there will be words and you’ll grasp what the story is as a result of them. But if you can, why not fancy it up a little? Have the lettering work in tandem with the rest of the story to really communicate unease, or joy, or whatever else. If you’re not giving it some zazz, what’s the point?

Anyway, that’s all from me. Have a great August – I’m finally going on holiday (for the first time in about 4 years) at the very end of next month, so I’ll be giving the monthly update a miss while I cram every slice of pizza and every cannoli that exists in Naples into my gaping maw. Molto bene!

All the best,
Chris