City of Laughter - the penultimate page

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

Next page o' City of Laughter.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

page 7 of 10 (scroll down for the start)

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

page 5 of 10

Page 4 of 10 - scroll down for the start

page 3 of 10 (scroll down for the start)

Page 2

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Robotman meets White River
(With apologies to Jim Reddick)

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.

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

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

Boom boom...

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

Sketches from an american hinterland