Collateral Dommage

2008-05-27T16:13:00.003Z

I'm Moving! After a good year and half on blogger, I'm moving my blog, comics and illustration updates to my new website at www.archcomix.com, so update your favourites and checkout my new stuff. Here's a taster - an excerpt from my latest comic about Burger King's exploitation of Central American workers in Florida's tomato fields.

2008-05-20T19:47:00.003Z

Secrets and Lies

Here's the awesome, 5-colour screenprinted cover of the latest comics anthology to come out of WRJ, spearheaded by Cat Garza. My latest piece, "What a Whopper" is featured, chronicling the exploitation of central american tomato pickers by Burger King USA. I'll be posting up an excerpt of it on my new website, which is what I'm currently working on, when it launches next week.

2008-05-19T22:25:00.002Z

The Dirty Dozen
The class of 2007/8 outside CCS, proudly led by none other than Jason Lutes.

2008-05-17T23:16:00.002Z

Now then, now then

Click here for a link to one of the latest books I've illustrated, Liverpool Limericks, by Jerry Markison. It's been reviewed well by the Liverpool Echo, excerpts of which you can read here and here. Get your copies now!

2008-05-06T16:20:00.001Z

Fast Approaching the Deadline

End of the school year at the Center for Cartoon Studies is Thursday, and I've got a world of pain to successfully traverse to get my project in by then, hence the relative lack of postings of late.

Try this trailer on for size instead: it's a documentary on the school that'll give all you folks not luck enough to make it to this corner of the world a sneak peek at what life is actually like here.

2008-05-02T19:33:00.002Z

Hula Experiment
Pitch for a Hawaiian Dance Evening at a local arts centre in Hanover. And those things in front of the dancers at the bottom are coconuts before you ask.

For all you fans of US politics, try this delightful little test from MoveOn.org and see if you can tell Bush from McCain

2008-04-30T15:59:00.002Z

Machine Guns
Yet more behind the scenes sketchbook action now, with some pics from a recent visit to the Precision Museum in cosy old Windsor, VT. Turns out this quaint little sleepy town was at the heart of the US's arms manufacturing way back when and produced the majority of arms during the War of Independence. The top pic is of a heavy lathe that made exact copies of any shape out of another material: in this case, a gun stock.

2008-04-29T17:51:00.002Z

The Ladies of White River
Voila the last in the series of life class sketches, featuring the female contigent from our 2007/8 class. L-R: Liza, Lucy and Kubby.

2008-04-28T20:07:00.003Z

White River Sketches
For those of you who have heard me mention some of the 2007/8 cohort at CCS, here is a cartoony identity parade from sketches done at a recent life class.

Clockwise from the top left: Jeff, Steve, Sango and Jonathan. PS All of them were 5 mins long.

Second page: Sam being balletic, and Mark and his splendid afro (artistic license inc.)

2008-04-25T15:40:00.002Z

Join The Other Side!

We need to get 150 people to 'join' The Other Side website at http://www.theothersidemag.co.uk/ by Wednesday.

You just register with webjam at the otherside site above, fill in a few details, then click on 'join us'. It takes two minutes. Support your self-publishing comrades and sign up now!

As a treat, here's my latest illo for the said mag, featuring an interview with Osama Bin Laden.

2008-04-23T14:44:00.003Z

Sound Effect Challenge
Can you decode the activity being performed on the sketchbook here only by its sound effects? We weren't allowed to use any of the traditional 'kaboom' 'koff' 'splat' sfx either. I'll post the answer tomorrow.

2008-04-22T03:53:00.005Z

Workshops, Washes and the Other Side
It's been all go since the last post. I gave a workshop on how to create comics at the Howe Library on Thurs, which went brilliantly: see here for the pics of rapt young minds being expanded.

I know how much y'all crave the odd bit of sketchbook sniffery too, so I've scanned in the results from a recent life class where we were experimenting with watercolours. Fun.

Last but not least, the latest edition of The Other Side mag is out now! Click here to read it online . And go to p.4/5 for a certain archburgerian artwork the regular browsers of this blog will recognise.

2008-04-14T02:02:00.009Z

Bird Brained
Last week saw a CCS contigent visit the Vermont Institute of Natural Science to gawk at some birds whilst they flapped, vomited and shat their way through our visit. Voila my sketches from the 15 or so minutes we had with each of our winged subjects. Bear in mind most of our avian amigos were more skittish than a speed freak being electroshocked. We did learn that Owls are mostly just feathers, that even vultures will turn their noses up at especially putrid meat (plus they can live well into their thirties) and that birds exposed to too much human contact can actually convince themselves that they are human. Called 'imprinting' apparently. So now you know.

In other news, the Olympic torch blazed a symbolic trail for freedom and democracy in London, Paris and San Francisco ...by being driven through protesting crowds in a riot van accompanied by hordes of armed police officers. Kudos to the chap in London who missed it by a few inches with his fire extinguisher. And free tibet!!

2008-04-09T21:40:00.003Z

Beckett
Lifted from me sketchbook after our caricature class, where I chose the shammy leathered-faced playwright as my target.

This just in: my Shakespearean caricature (see a few posts ago) won the cartoon face-off versus other doodles of the great Bard, and will be featured around the campus of Riverdale High in NYC. Thanks go to Brenda Bowen for the opportunity.

2008-04-06T20:36:00.003Z

Take Me Out to the Gun Show
All based on 100% bonafide stuff overheard and seen at a gun show across the border in New Hampshire. Turns out all you need for an uzi round here is some phone bills. Go figure, as they say.

2008-04-04T17:26:00.003Z

Think Like A Cow

Recent illo for Lancaster Farming Magazine for an article based on bovine ability to decide how to optimize grazing time and plan their day. And there was I thinking they just chew and have their udders yanked all day long.

2008-04-03T04:20:00.002Z

Y'Bard
No, it's not a Jacobean bartender's response to a surly playwright, it's a promo poster for a book fair, big willy style.

More caricatures coming up tomorrow too.

2008-03-31T20:38:00.005Z

Boris Vs Ken
Spot illustration for The Other Side magazine, which should be hitting the grim streets of London sometime this week. And it's free! Plug plug. Read the online version here. A much-needed antidote to the celebrity porn and nonspecific horror that's vomited daily onto commuters' eyeballs by the Metro/London Lite poop mill.

2008-03-27T03:57:00.003Z

Back from Spring Break
Bright-eyed and bushy tailed from a fleeting visit to my love in San Francisco, so you'll have to excuse the recent radio silence. Here's a recent life class doodle, and that Steve Bissette inked version of my flea splash page (see below if you don't know what I'm on about) is due imminently. Hold thy horses.

Also got a treat for you in the form of a strip on a recent visit to a local gun show, so keep those mince pies peeled.

2008-03-13T09:46:00.003Z

Parts of the Process (Part II)

Voila the inked version. You'll have to hold on for a week before Bissette's version is available to compare though.

2008-03-12T21:25:00.003Z

Preliminary Plague Pencils
For those of you who I curious about the process behind producing finished cartoon artwork, I thought i'd include a before/after post about the various stages I go through for each page of a graphic novel story.

First up are the pencils - I usually work loosely in hard (3H-ish) 0.5 mechanical pencil, putting in finer detail with a 0.3 lead.

This is from a class exercise we just did on splash pages, where we were given an hour to come up with something from scratch. Bit of a tall order, but I'm happy with what I came up with.

As a spring break treat, the legendary Steve Bissette will be inking over the top of them to show us how it's done. I'll post my inked version tomorrow and we'll be able to compare our different styles.

2008-03-12T04:11:00.002Z

Dancing the Tyburn Jig
Here's a first draft of a sequence from a story I'm working on involving the plague of London. It features in the first chapter and involves the popular site for public hangings, the tyburn tree (now the shopping mecca known as Marble Arch, one end of Oxford St, not to mention the hallowed place of speaker's corner - i'll let you rue that historical irony).

The two main characters are barber surgeons, discussing the relative merits of hanging criminals who have been selected to be used as specimens for dissection by the society of Barber Surgeons. They were alloted 4 bodies a year from the Tyburn tree.

2008-03-10T22:24:00.003Z

The Last Page of City of Laughter
This won't make a great deal of sense to first-timers here, who (welcome, by the way) should scroll down 8 or so pages for the start of this here little short story. To the rest of yuz, voila - the denouement:

2008-03-09T16:30:00.003Z

City of Laughter - the penultimate page

2008-03-09T06:26:00.002Z

If you're a first-timer, scroll down for the start of the story. Otherwise, enjoy the next installment.

2008-03-07T15:35:00.002Z

Next page o' City of Laughter.

2008-03-06T13:53:00.002Z

Page 4 of 'City of Laughter'
Scroll down for the start.

2008-03-05T16:55:00.002Z

City of Laughter, p.3
Scroll down for the start.

2008-03-04T14:10:00.002Z

City of Laugter P.2
Scroll down for the start.

2008-03-03T23:07:00.004Z

City of Laughter
Voila an exercise in creative constraint - we were given a random book (in my case, a National Geographic from 1945) and told to flip to 3 random pages in it. Take those three references and make a coherent strip out of them. In a week. Mine were:

1.City of Laughter (1st had to be the title)
2. A monstrous furnace
3. Silk-swathed luxury amongst the ruins.

Simple, right?

I'll post a new page up each day for the next week or so. Everything's done in brush and ink.

2008-03-02T04:26:00.002Z

Waterloo
My second illo for the aforementioned history book (see previous post), this time featuring a discofied Napoleon, displaying a sizeable bit of guntage. Enjoy.

2008-02-28T22:45:00.005Z

Ra-ra-rasputin
Here's what I came up with to accompany a new book project being touted by the mighty tv producer-cum-historian Pete Walter. S'all about bringing history to life without inducing a boredom-infused coma, relishing the bizarre lives of some our cherished (or infamous) icons. My main inspiration was Boney M's Ra-Ra-Rasputin for this, as the more perceptive amongst you might guess. Couple that with his oft-told refusal to cark it and his penchant for seducing anything with a pulse and you have the well-rounded sociopath we all know and love.

If there are any publishers out there, get in touch and I'll pass the manuscript along.

2008-02-25T21:03:00.002Z

Drawn From Life

Joe Sacco meets Gerald Durrell in my first forray into comics journalism. Only instead of braving a bullet-strewn West Bank, I was faced down by a herd of hungry heifers. It's featuring in this week's edition of Lancaster Farming, one of the biggest agri-business journals in the US, apparently.Click here to visit their site.

2008-02-10T19:51:00.001Z

Ok, so I've been a little lax with the posting of late, mainly due to being back into the breach at CCS. Behold! A poster for my work in progress graphic novel on the Great Plague of London (marvel at its inappropriate Epithet). Click on it for a larger version. And yes, I did indeed redraw a 17th century map of london. Squint and you can see some of the bloody rafters.

I've been working on some illustrations for a scouse limerick book, soon to be yanked to the presses by Beauclair books, which I'll stick up here soon by way of a premature valentine treat.

2008-01-15T23:52:00.001Z

Comics at Stanford
I'm in sunny San Fran visiting Jodie at the mo', and in between venturing into the city (Alcatraz tour, taxidermists/Dave Eggers's HQ in Mission being the highlights) I got invited to sit it on the university's creative (graphic novel) writing class last night. Visit their homepage here. Not before introducing myself to the prof and sitting down in the wrong class, I might add (who'd have thought it was so easy to sneak into Advanced Neuroscience?). So a big hello to any of the graphic novel class reading this and see above for my autobio cartoon homework, which should be more legible when you click on it. It's from a photo, so bare with me til I scan it in properly next week.

2008-01-12T03:59:00.001Z

2008-01-02T17:26:00.001Z

Schism in the Community
Illustration for an article on the denominational divisions within the UK Jewish Community

2008-01-01T21:50:00.001Z

The final page! Page 10 of 10. A new year's pressie to you all.

2007-12-31T18:17:00.001Z

Happy New Year!
The penultimate page of 10. As exciting as NYE 2007 I'll bet.

2007-12-30T18:02:00.000Z

2007-12-27T00:47:00.001Z

page 7 of 10 (scroll down for the start)

2007-12-26T12:20:00.001Z

page 6 o' 10 - you know the drill: scroll down for the start.

2007-12-24T10:49:00.001Z

page 5 of 10

2007-12-24T00:37:00.000Z

Page 4 of 10 - scroll down for the start

2007-12-20T21:12:00.000Z

page 3 of 10 (scroll down for the start)

2007-12-18T21:06:00.001Z

Page 2

2007-12-16T17:03:00.001Z

Inside Hotel Chier
I've just finished my section of the epic soon-to-be-released Hotel Chier anthology, which features four interwoven stories all set in the eponymous hotel. Here's page one of ten. 48 page printed versions will be available for the purchasing in early 2008.

2007-11-27T04:46:00.000Z

Missed Connections

Julia Wertz of Fart Party fame is in the final stages of putting together an anthology based on comic adaptations of 'missed connection' ads found on craigslist. To the uninitiated, these are basically the last-ditch efforts of lovestruck men and women who have spied someone who's caught their fancy and reckon they're likely to be reunited with em by professing their love indiscriminiately on the interweb. Makes for some poignant reading indeed.

2007-11-15T22:18:00.000Z

A postcard from Smallville
First part of a short story based on an unremarkable night in Hicksville. Or so I thought...This one's for you Bub.

2007-11-01T03:51:00.001Z

Happy Halloween!
A little halloween beastie for yuz - created from passing around animal picture books around and having to draw a new extremity from each book every 10 mins. I think mine would be scarier if I hadn't got a fish for my torso. Still, he can walk on his head if need be. Talk about small mercies.

2007-10-30T18:05:00.000Z

Tortoise Vs. Hare

Aesop's fable meets Dr Strangelove meets Milton Caniff. Kinda.

Click here to view the strip as an all-new cinematic slideshow (Part 1)

Click here for the dramatic denouement (Part 2)

2007-10-24T04:44:00.001Z

Terror at the Junction
A little skit featuring my home away from home and some zombies - to be continued!

2007-10-22T07:07:00.000Z

24 hour party people. Last night/this morning I had the dubious privilege of joining fellow masochists in the 24 hour comics challenge, aiming to produce an entire 24 page comic in 24 hours with no prior preparation. You can see the resulting masterpiece here. Notice the effects of sleep deprivation around page 19.

2007-10-19T21:05:00.001Z

Sketchbook doodle. Random scrawlings with my brushpen on a newly-acquired bookywook.

Don't forget to check out my new flickr account above (www.flickr.com/photos/archtoons) for a more viewer-friendly chance to peruse my strips.

2007-10-18T02:25:00.001Z

Part the fourth. The final instalment of 'They Won't Learn.' Scroll down for the beginning.

2007-10-16T22:49:00.001Z

Page 3 - 'They Won't Learn'. Scroll down to get to the start of the story.

2007-10-16T02:30:00.000Z

Collateral Dommage Issue 1 Out Now!
My latest mini-comic is available now, for the bargain price of £1 or $2. Many thanks to all who traded it at SPX for their own stuff if that's the reason why you've crash landed on this here blog - scroll down for past work. To all newbies, the rest of the strip will be tantalizingly uploaded over the next few days, so be sure to come back to read the rest of this short story.

2007-10-06T21:17:00.001Z

Robotman meets White River
(With apologies to Jim Reddick)

2007-10-06T05:37:00.000Z

2007-10-05T05:54:00.001Z

2007-10-03T23:35:00.000Z

Bernard T. Rex A snippet from the children's book I'm working on about a vegan Tyrannosaurus. In this scene Bernard is perfecting his angry look a la Taxi Driver.

2007-09-30T23:54:00.000Z

Just the two of us...
Pure pop art passion

2007-09-30T23:49:00.001Z

She's My Laaaaaady
A pixelated tribute to the wonder that is my glorious girlfriend.

2007-09-29T19:06:00.001Z

Boom boom...

2007-09-29T19:02:00.000Z

A brace of gag cartoons. Click on the image for a larger version.

2007-09-29T18:59:00.001Z

Sketches from an american hinterland

2007-07-10T13:31:00.001Z

The Men Who Brought Disco Lights

2007-07-10T00:06:00.000Z

Batteries Not Included
If we can all turn our washing machines to 30, switch off all lights and join a car pool, then maybe we can offset some of the tons o' carbon generated by most of the pop world glitterati jetting in to play Wembley. Maybe. Good gig though.

2007-07-09T10:17:00.001Z

July 6th: The Beast With the Two Backs

2007-07-05T23:17:00.001Z

Misanthrope, moi?

2007-07-05T10:40:00.001Z

Captain's Log
No, it's not the product of Bluebeard dropping the kids off at the pool, it's a daily chronicle of life in the big urban cesspool that is Londinium. Sort of Samuel Pepys meets Gary Baseman.

2007-06-22T18:03:00.001Z

Judgement Day for the NHS
So here's a second attempt at the same cartoon about the still-born young doctors initiative that Patricia Screwit has let slip through her bloody midwife fingers and splat on the floor.

Not know what I'm on about? Then click ere and prepare not to get seriously ill around August.

2007-06-19T22:48:00.001Z

What's Up, Doc?
Patricia Hewitt survives a vote of no confidence, despite clinging for dear life onto a moribund NHS whilst being frantically grasped at by Junior Doctors.

For those of you interested in the prints below btw, my email is archburger@gmail.com.

2007-06-19T00:08:00.001Z

Roll up, roll up, get your pop art 'ere
Limited edition canvases of the following pics, plus more on the way - ideal for bday presents, early christmas, forgotten father's day, barmitzvah or happy post-op celebrations.

All canvii are A2 and look spiffing.

2007-06-16T18:18:00.001Z

A Visit to the Library - Part the Third

2007-06-13T18:05:00.001Z

"No Fire Without Smoke"
part II.

See below for part I in this carcinogenic cartooning caboodle.

And whilst you're at, check out my spiffing page at The Crap Public Schools Association.

Your over-zealous public school education depends on it. It's the least you could do to celebrate a didactic decade of open access gym showers, estuary accents and biscuit games.

2007-06-13T09:13:00.001Z

A visit to the library - part deux.
(see below for the start)

2007-06-08T11:47:00.001Z

Welcome, Swines!
Public school greetings and a flick of a wet gym towel to new visitors to this page if you've been directed from the Crap Public Schools Association or anything else Swine-related. Scroll down and soak up the rich cartoony aromas.

To the rest of you hoi polloi, behold the first instalment of a strip based around the antics of the boys and teachers at Swinesend: Britain's Greatest Public School. If you're not familiar with it already, then QUICK! make haste to the link on the right and purchase a copy of the luxurious tome (illustrated by yours truly) forthwith. Failure to do so will spell detention and possibly one on one time with Mr Gropeworthy after school.

2007-06-08T09:20:00.001Z

The Freelance Files 1: A visit to the library

2007-06-06T12:02:00.001Z

The Jumble Strip
Not to be confused with the Rumble Strips. And so out of the primordial creative ooze a -barely- coherent narrative takes its first tentative steps.

This one's a mix of old-school reunion, job satisfaction and finding solace in the bottom of a pint glass.

2007-06-06T10:38:00.001Z

Random Sketchings
Studies from some of my graphic novel heroes. A prize to those of you who can name them all.

It's been all a bit hectic of late what with moving flat, not having t'internet (hence the odd radio silence) and the relative meltdown of most GCSE/A-level students as exams draw nerve-bendingly closer and closer. So here's a brief selection of what I've been up to, plus the first of many sequences for a strip I'll be doing about the vagaries of freelance life in Laandaan.

2007-05-24T09:01:00.000Z

Self Portrait, take 2.
A new take on the style I mentioned yesterday.Snazzy.

2007-05-23T09:42:00.000Z

Pop Art-tastic
A happy marriage of cartoons, pop art and those zeitgeisty stencil canvases everyone's throwing on their walls these days: and even easier to recognise than my usual caricatures (i'd like to think).

2007-05-20T12:09:00.000Z

Beware the Horns of Fury
Hoxton Bar n Grill faces a musical apocalypse on Weds 30th May - an invasion by the unique musical pioneers that are 'Danny Fontaine and the Horns of Fury'. Like Gogol Bordello, only more kletzmer.
Anyhoo, I did the poster to the left so keep an eye out for it around Laaandan innit.

Check out their myspace to hear for yerselves

2007-05-15T15:47:00.000Z

A Family Affair
So I've broken into the lucrative bespoke caricature trade. All I need is a photo, a list of what your chosen giftee likes doing, and what the occasion is (bday, wedding, anniversary etc).

Here's a bday sample for an avid golfer and his famille.

Drop us a line if you'd like to order your own piece of individual burger art (tm).

2007-05-10T23:17:00.000Z

Old Street, circa 6pm of a Friday.

The 6am follow-up will follow shortly...

2007-05-09T15:17:00.000Z

There's nothing quite like drawing a cartoon of the Blair fan spinning inexorably into the future in the exact same week he announces his stepping down from power. Cue 'my part in his downfall' Milligan-esque mutterings.

If you'd like to put forward a new poop to hit the blairfan, send your fecund fecal-based foibles my way.

In other news, this is quite the most depressing clip I've seen for a while. It'd be funny if it was from Chris Morris's twisted mind. As opposed to being true.

2007-04-29T22:11:00.000Z

Morir, page uno.
Here's the start of a graphic novel adaptation I'm working on of an obscure Catalan play called 'Morir' by Sergei Belbel. That's 'dying' in english translation. So nice and upbeat.

I'm also really into Hogarth at the moment after just catching the exhibition of his at Tate Britain (finishing today) which was awesome. Can't believe he was working on that stuff 300 years ago. I'll be posting up my homage to him forthwith so keep those mince pies peeled.

2007-04-20T14:28:00.000Z

A 200 pounder with cheese.
A little mirthsome Friday pm fare for you all.

Not quite as mirthsome as the prospect of Bob Hoskins mouthing Jamie T's latest single, Sheila, in this music video, but getting there. The homeless man's 'buh' expression made me chuckle so watch out for that.

2007-04-20T00:07:00.000Z

See you later, elevator
New Arctics album's out in but a matter o' days now and I can tell yuz that it's a belter. Their mooted departure into dub-electrocrunk was but a rumour, so naysayers beware. This here's dedicated to that black/yellow kill bill-esque colour scheme of the first single, 'Brianstorm'.

2007-04-16T18:40:00.000Z

Part IV: Finally finished!
Full colour now, with blends and a few tweaks here and there.

Phew. I'm going for a lie-down.

2007-04-14T12:19:00.000Z

2007-04-14T09:37:00.000Z

Step 3 - Base Colour and Flesh Tones

2007-04-13T22:10:00.000Z

Me plus one (scanner). Which is what today's image comes courtesy of.
Talkabout a learning curve. Also reminds me of the mindbogglingly good funk covers album that Mark Ronson's unleashed on the world this week, featuring a splendid horn turn on Kasabian's LSF. Listen to it on his myspace here. And tell im i sent yuh.

As for the latest stage of the tennis pic, keep those eyes peeled - it may surface later on tonight or in the wee hours of tomozo matin.

2007-04-12T18:51:00.000Z

Step 2 - Inking.
Few minor alterations to the original sketch too, with pockets of black added to fill in the lines.

Can you guess what it is yet?

Oh and yet another Archburgerian creation hits amazon - my jacket for Penguin's new Alistair Cooke paperback is online - click here to see it

2007-04-12T18:48:00.000Z

Grassgut!
Or at least that's what 'ey up' in Austrian sounded like to me.

Apologies for the radio silence, I'm now back from me hols and have a special treat for you - a behind the scenes peek at how i put my pics together. Firstly, step 1 - pencils.

2007-04-04T18:07:00.000Z

Crisis? What crisis?
Like an eerie Iranian version of 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!', our team of plucky seamen have finally been handed back by the Iranian authorities.

Surely down to all those government press statements in which Mssrs Blair and Beckett cowed the kidnappers by expressing their 'concern', 'worry' and 'alarm'. Fighting talk indeed.

2007-04-02T15:33:00.000Z

Anyone for Tennis?
The caricatured carnage continues in glorious technicolour. I've been inundated with answers to the previous entries, so don't be shy - post on my blog if you think you know who it is. Right answer wins a grand prize.

PLUS my book, SWINESEND - Britain's Greatest Public School was published yesterday! So get out there and take advantage of Amazon's mega 40% discount on it now!! Click here for the Amazon page. For every book bought, a poverty-stricken child in the third world is given a hamburger.

2007-03-27T09:41:00.000Z

Shooting the Messenger
My take on Putin's efforts to keeping dissidents in line
in mother Russia.

2007-03-26T20:27:00.000Z

And a second helping of dessert. The sandy saga concludes. With a little bit of je ne sais pour soi.