News Archives

Marmaduke lives... on the Internet!

Hello folks! Well, I say folks but I've been away so long I would be surprised if there was a single person that checks this any more so this is more of a post for the archives in case I ever get any readers back ;)

I once said, a very long time ago, that I would post my first creation 'Marmaduke the Marmoset' on the site in it's entirety. Well I'm finally here to make good on that promise as I present to you Marmaduke! This is just a test I drew of the characters before I started on the strip proper. If only I took so much care over drawing the strips as I did over this! Unfortunately to keep the date as correct as I can remember these strips will not be appearing on the front page as only the most recent strip (by date) is displayed there. And so I'll be posting these in the news weekly, or bi-weekly depending on my mood so check back regularly or sign up for the newsletter so you don't miss it. I'll also be posting a running commentary in the comments underneath the strip for those interested!

Now... news. Good news in fact! I've just started a new job at a Web Design company in Bedford which I'm enjoying so far. I won't say which one in case any creepy stalkers wanted to find me (Ha! As if!). It's well run and everyone uses a Mac, which brings me on to my next news: I have just invested in a new Mac. It's lovely and runs like a dream. It also runs Windows but there's not a lot I need to run on Windows apart from a couple of games, namely Half Life 2 and the Sam and Max Episodes. The rest of my gaming takes place on my Wii and my DS. Ahh... so many games so little time!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy Marmaduke. Hopefully next week there will actually be a strip!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas one and all. I hope you have a great day, eat lots of lovely rich food and get all the presents you want.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Yep, wii've got a Wii and it's super fabulous. I don't have a lot to say on the matter as I probably can't utter much in the way of useful information about it that you haven't heard already. The thing has received so much positive press it's unbelieveable and it's the fastest selling console ever in the UK.

There's a reasone for this.

Wii is a lot of fun. So much fun that it probably ought to be rationed and handed out in small doses. There's no point trying to describe it. You have to try it. If you know someone with one or you have a local game store with a kiosk, give it a shot. Wii Sports which comes with it is fantastic and I wouldn't be 100% surprised if some people bought the machine just for that. You could play it forever and it wouldn't get old.

Which kind of brings me to the fact that this is something that can be enjoyed by anyone, old or young. Wii sports brings together video game sports and real-life actions into an amazing experience that anyone who has played the sport can relate to. I don't know why it's so hard for some people to get into games that they can't relate to - it's like reading a fantasy novel or something. Maybe it's patience. Whatever it is, Wii Sports bridges that gap and maybe will help former non-gamers to try out new experiences. We'll see I guess.

In the mean time, I'll go and have a few more matches of tennis.

Oh and if anyone reading wants to add me to their Wii Friends list the number you need is: 2223-1918-5544-3548. Don't forget to get in touch with me telling me your number as well so I can add you!

I had a lot to talk about...

...but now I come to talk about it I can't remember so much as I'm sure there was.

First, I wanted to mention that in case you haven't read about it already, Scott Kurtz over at PvP has boarded the animation train. He's partnered up with Blind Ferret, the same guys that deal with the Ctrl+Alt+Del animation. The latter was OK but it kind of ended there. Quite entertaining but the jokes were a bit thin on the ground. Comparing it to something completely unfair like the Simpsons, I'd say it had approximately 15% of the funny on a minute for minute basis. This worried me initially but then I watched the trailer on the PvP: The Series Site and it looks to be very very nice.

Apparently it's traditionally animated and Scott has been involved from the start. I know he wouldn't have it any other way. Needless to say I have signed up for a years subscription (pre-order before the end of the year and receive a 1/3 discount) and so will be able to report further in February when it lands. I'm looking forward to this. Mr Kurtz: congratulations, you are living the dream! You have my respect, admiration and envy.

While on the topic of Scott Kurtz, I bought a book which he recommended a little while ago, called The Makeshift Miracle. It was a web comic which I confess I never read but I thrououghly enjoyed reading in book format. Quite a fantastic story and artwork which, while consistantly very good, you can see the evolution in the Artist, Jim Zubkavich's style and talent. I'd definitely recommend this one. Looking at the site, it looks like I'm within the first 80 to be shipped... exciting!

Also recommended to me a little while ago, quite possibly also by Scott Kurtz (he's so influential) was an artist called Gene Yang. I ordered three books from Amazon: American Born Chinese, Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks, and Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order. The first hasn't shipped yet but I'm holding out hope that it comes soon. The second two came at the same time which is good because they come one after the other. Very fun comics, and the artwork is very nice. Simple clean lines but detailed and pleasing to look at. Both stories involve a mysterious organisation called the San Peligran order, which I probably shouldn't say too much about in case I spoil the story for you but both are very enjoyable and leave you feeling pretty good about things. Recommended!

It's been gig month for me - I've been to see the Scissor Sisters and George Michael within 4 days of each other... I'm not sure it could get much camper! Scissor Sisters was a fun gig with them performing a slew of hits from their first and second album. I still maintain their firat album is noticably superior, but watching them live was a treat - quite the performance artists. They had an amazing morphing set which changed every couple of songs revealing something new. Supporting was Lily Allen who wasn't as bad as I thought she would be.

George Michael was something special. What a voice! We were sitting at the back but the whole gig was seated which was a pleasant and refreshing change. No support act and seats - how civilised! He performed for 160 minutes and played hits from his Wham! days as well as his solo work. The stage was like a video screen waterfall - it started from the top and curved round onto the stage floor and then off the front into the audience. Very swish! The band was distributed on the 3 tier platforms either side of the screen. It was quite impressive while being quite reserved at the same time. The sound levels were perfect and so you could hear it all perfectly which was good because when you've got a voice like that you don't want it distorted with bass and speakers cranked beyond their natural limit. Some songs were literally just him sitting on the stage singing but it didn't matter because it was rather mesmerising. It was a great gig and I'm very glad I went, especially as he says it's his last tour ever. We'll see if he sticks to that but let's just say if he decides to tour again I'll be there in a flash.

Wow I think I got through it all (and remembered it in the process)... now for a bit of comic news. Maybe I should have mentioned this first but you've got to get what's on your mind out first!

I shall start drawing the 'toons again, but I'm not sure when yet. Or what, even. I have lots of ideas going round my head and it's driving me nuts that I can't just sit down and draw it all but sadly I have a lot of other commitments which prevent me from doing so. One of the things that's on my mind is my other strips. I have started a lot of strips and a lot are kind of unfinished. Bob's Your Uncle is stuck in the middle of a storyline and so is Pirates!, albeit a shorter one. Marmaduke has a huge back catalogue which isn't online and Cyber Pub was so short lived I can't help thinking I'm missing a trick somewhere. Add to that the fact that I have a full length graphic novel idea bouncing around in my head...

So I'm going to tie off a couple of loose ends first. I'll finish off any story lines I'm in the middle of and scan / upload any strips missing from the online archive. Then I think I'll feel better about deciding what to do next.

Watch this space...

Comics popping up like zombies!

Good news! Although you won't be able to get your Pirates! fix at least for a little while, two other web comics which had stopped for a while have sprung back to life.

Wigu is back, hopefully to stay. Wigu, for those who don't know it, is a delightfully innocent ongoing story about a young boy and his adventures. Regular characters include his Mum, Dad and Sister. Also Topato Potato and Sheriff Pony, two characters from a very popular kids TV show 'Magical Adventures In Space', feature heavily as they have a lot of influence in the descisions Wigu makes. There's a lot of archive to go through to set aside some time!

Also making a return is Martin's Misdirection, a strip about a struggling magician and his overly cocky rabbit, who can talk. Artwork is lovely, but you'd expect so as James Burks who is the man behind it used to work at Disney with titles such as The Emperor's New Groove in his portfolio. Go and give it a go - you might just like it!

I'm going to see the Scissor Sisters tomorrow with Roz and a couple of friends at Wembley Arena which should be a blast... better download all the photos from my camera from The Feeling gig we went to the other day to make room! It seems like I'm going to a lot of gigs recently but that's probably just how the tour dates pan out. It's fun but for some reason thinking about the journey there and the crowds makes me a bit aprehensive each time. Am I getting old? It doesn't matter though because every time it ends up being excellent.

Not sure why but the sound at gigs often seems to be a bit off. Either the distortion is terrible or the levels are off. The only gig that got it perfect was the Robbie Williams gig back in September. That was excellent, and the perfect sound levels just made the whole experience stand out as the best I've been to. I don't know if the smaller events we've been to recently suffer from bad acoustics and reverb from small rooms or just bad sound technicians. I bought a cool live recording of the gig we attended when we went to The Feeling and the levels were perfect on that which led me to believe that it was just the speaker setup in the Corn Exchange. Bizarre! Maybe the future of live music is for everyone to listen with headphones! Maybe not...

Well, Happy Thanksgiving to any American readers and stay tuned... the toons will return eventually.