Strange Animals / 2021 / #9: A Mid-Season Update

July 1, 2021

It’s been a few months since I was last in your inbox, but I figured I’d give you an update since just about half the year is gone. The reception to the...

Strange Animals / 2021 / #8: The Comics Creator’s Technical Handbook (Part 1)

April 9, 2021

Right. Let’s make some changes around here, shall we? I’ve always wanted to write this as a weekly newsletter, because the idea of regularity pleases me, and...

Strange Animals / 2021 / #7: Shy Hi

March 15, 2021

Hello! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? And I was doing so well too – I’d managed more or less a post every week. But then I fell ill for a bit, after which my...

Strange Animals / 2021 / #6: Senses

February 15, 2021

A sneak peek of Home Sick Pilots #5, art by Caspar Wijngaard, lettering by me. /// I have, as I declared on Twitter, decided upon two laws of horror: Horror...

Strange Animals / 2021 / #5: Could Be Better

February 8, 2021

Art by John Pearson, from “Learn to Swim”, Razorblades #3, Feb 2021. /// It’s a quick one this time. I’ve got a main essay and an update, but nothing else...

Strange Animals / 2021 / #4: Slates and Plates

February 1, 2021

Art by Martin Simmonds, from The Department of Truth #5. /// On Cal Newport’s recommendation, I’ve ordered Beginners by Tom Vanderbilt, and in the meantime,...

Strange Animals / 2021 / #3: Out in the Open

January 23, 2021

Art by Anand RK, from the upcoming Radio Apocalypse. /// I’ve been thinking of something that went missing with the evolution of pulp comics into corporate...

Strange Animals / 2021 / #2: Not at Home

January 16, 2021

Art by Martin Simmonds, from The Department of Truth #4, published December 23rd, 2020. /// I’m writing this sitting at my neighbourhood café, and I’m...

Strange Animals / 2021 / #1: The Slow Rev

January 6, 2021

Art by Caspar Wijngaard, from Home Sick Pilots #2, out next week. /// So, I’m coming into the new year having just found out that I’m diabetic, and that this...

Strange Animals 30dec2020: Live in Hope

December 30, 2020

And here we are. Final edition of the year. I’ll be honest, I’ve been trying to write this one for a week now, and it ended up much longer than I’d intended....

Strange Animals 09dec2020: Wherever You Go, There You Are

December 9, 2020

Yes, yes. I’ve been missing for a few weeks now, and I owe you Part 2 of an essay. Sorry about that. The first week or two I missed because I was writing,...

Strange Animals 09nov2020: See Me Work

November 9, 2020

Nothing important happened last week, huh. How about that? Weirdly, though, while everyone was glued to their timeline, my October social media hiatus...

Strange Animals 02nov2020: It’s Only November Again

November 2, 2020

Keeping this one short. I got back on Twitter today, and it immediately wrecked my productivity. (Just kidding. It’s been one of those weeks, and I’m...

Strange Animals 26oct2020: Feeling Blue

October 26, 2020

Last week’s main essay seems to have gone down well – it’s the second-most read edition ever, and I got what we call in the trade a crapload of new signups....

Strange Animals 21oct2020: Is It Supposed to Look Like That?

October 21, 2020

As promised, here’s the main essay from this week’s newsletter, that apparently was too long to fit in one email with all the rest of the stuff. José...

Strange Animals 19oct2020: What’s Up, Date?

October 19, 2020

Another week, right on time. I know – I’m as surprised as you. And believe it or not, I got this one done on Friday – without Twitter, I was positively...

Strange Animals 12oct2020: What’s Moore Interesting

October 12, 2020

Actually landing this a week from the previous one, as promised. It’s amazing how much extra brain space you get when you’re not working all the time and can...

Strange Animals 05oct2020: The Return (After Being Away)

October 5, 2020

It’s been a while. Well, as we’ve all been saying for the past six months – it’s a pandeeeeeemic. *waves at everything* I have my excuse. At the end of last...

Strange Animals 27jun2020: Money Matters

June 27, 2020

This time, I mainly to talk about two things about money in comics that I’ve already posted on Twitter, but that I figured could use being put down a bit...

Strange Animals 13may2020: Side-Eyes

May 13, 2020

Depending on how you count time, it’s been anything from a few days to many weeks to several aeons since we last spoke. No matter. Time is an illusion, and...

Strange Animals 24mar2020: Stuff to Read in the Lockdown

March 24, 2020

As promised, this is a bonus edition, just collating all the free comics and prose that creators have been offering for people to read while cooped up at...

Strange Animals 23mar2020: This One’s About The Thing

March 23, 2020

Hey folks! Unless something incredibly surprising happens, this is the one time I’ll talk about the time we live in specifically. As big as the thing is, it...

Strange Animals 18mar2020: Big Ideas

March 17, 2020

Hello from the end times, apparently. What about that CoVID-19, huh? Far out. At this point, life hasn’t changed much for me, because I’ve worked from home...

Strange Animals 28feb2020: Left of Reality

February 27, 2020

I’ve been gone a few weeks, plus I realised we were due a wee station ident anyway, so here we go: I’m Aditya Bidikar, and in the main, I letter comic books....

Strange Animals 28jan2020: Pause, Breathe

January 28, 2020

Short one this week, and a few days late, as you can see. I’ll be honest, I’m struggling a little at the moment. This often happens at the beginning of the...

Strange Animals 18jan2020: Playing Against Type

January 18, 2020

This is now three whole newsletters actually sent weekly. Fingers crossed the streak continues. It would genuinely be a delight for me if I managed to send a...

Strange Animals 10jan2020: The Captain Lazypants Newsletter

January 10, 2020

Eleven days into the year and I’m already behind by two weeks. How’s your year going? Hello. Current Reading: Star.Ships: A Prehistory of the Spirits –...

Strange Animals 04jan2020: Looking Forward, It’s a Whole Thing

January 4, 2020

2019 has ended, 2020 has begun. It doesn’t particularly look like the world is getting better anytime soon, but the other option is to turn back time, and...

Strange Animals 30dec2019: 10 Things I Loved in 2019 – Part 2

December 30, 2019

I’m writing this from Kolkata airport, on my way back home to Pune. I just landed here from Hanoi, and essentially plan on sleeping the whole day tomorrow...

Strange Animals 26dec2019: 10 Things I Loved in 2019 – Part 1

December 26, 2019

This is one of the two final newsletters I’ll be sending this year. We’ll be back to regular programming in the new year, and I’ll do a year’s round-up in...

Strange Animals 12nov2019: Post-Bubble

November 12, 2019

Hello from the UK! I’m writing this just after ThoughtBubble, sitting in Ram V.’s studio, while he works on a new super-secret script in the next room. I...

Strange Animals 28oct2019: Cases

October 28, 2019

We’re officially on Substack now – the sign-up form on my website’s been updated and everything. I’m sending a final blast through MailChimp for anyone whose...

Strange Animals 13sep2019: Scribbles on Screen

September 13, 2019

It’s been about a month since I last wrote you, and in the meantime, I’ve collected a pretty large bunch of new subscribers (Hello there!) when a tweet of...

Strange Animals 09aug2019: Complicators

August 9, 2019

Hi! I’m writing to you after close to a month, having made my peace with the fact that this is now an irregular newsletter. There’ll likely be one or more...

Strange Animals 10jul2019: Ideals

July 10, 2019

Back after a few weeks’ break. Some weeks, there are so many things happening that one or two things have to fall by the wayside. This time, that was the...

Strange Animals 10jun2019: Organising Principle

June 10, 2019

I just wrapped up a very satisfying week in terms of how I spent my time. I managed to keep work to eight hours or a little less every day, and I spent a lot...

Strange Animals 02jun2019: Follow-Through

June 2, 2019

That’s five months down, and unlike last year, I seem to be (mostly?) on top of my goals for the year. It’s still difficult to switch perspectives between...

Strange Animals 25may2019: Like the Bald Kid Said, There Is No Throne

May 25, 2019

Something else this week. It’s well and good to write a 1500-word essay every week, but sometimes you have thoughts that don’t need the length, and, I dunno,...

Strange Animals 17may2019: Life Is the Burning

May 17, 2019

Back after two skip weeks and change. It felt like a lot, and there was some guilt involved, but I needed the break. I thoroughly enjoy writing these, and...

Strange Animals 22apr2019: Writing for Writing

April 22, 2019

It’s Sunday evening as I write this, and I’ve been back home nearly a week, and am in the process of easing myself back into work mode. Still not full-time –...

Strange Animals 15apr2019: Words Count

April 15, 2019

Another week of travel with very little work, which I’m happy about. When I travel, I feel like I have permission to not work, because being outside my home...

Strange Animals 06apr2019: Short Trips

April 6, 2019

Writing this while travelling, so it’ll probably be shorter than usual. That’s the intention, but who knows with these things. Writing has a strange...

Strange Animals 19mar2019: Free the North, Save the World

March 19, 2019

Looking at the date up there, that’s almost a quarter of the year done, and I’m still settling into the rhythms of working less. As I’ve mentioned before,...

Strange Animals 10mar2019: The Wine-Dark Sea

March 10, 2019

It’s been a couple of weeks since I wrote to you. I was in a minor motorbike accident in which I injured my right arm, so it was difficult to type for a...

Strange Animals 17feb2019: Only It’s Got Pictures

February 17, 2019

A bit scattered this week. I’m finally back in my own house and slowly getting back in tune with things, but it’s Sunday, and Sunday’s always weird, because...

Strange Animals 10feb2019: Concept/Character

February 10, 2019

I’ve missed a couple of these—one because I was on break for a friend’s wedding, and the other because I was working overtime so that I could go on another...

Strange Animals 19jan2019: Read Through for Profundity

January 19, 2019

Hello subscribers old and new. Last week’s newsletter seems to have struck a chord—I got quite a few responses on the lettering exercise saying that it...

Strange Animals 11jan2019: Someone’s Gonna Miss Their Bus

January 11, 2019

I got a few rather heartwarming replies on the last newsletters, so it’s pretty clear that I have the best readers. Here’s the second one just under the...

Strange Animals 04jan2019: Begin As You Mean to Go On

January 4, 2019

Here we are on fourth day of the new year. I thought I’d send this out on the first day of the year, but come on, after the [insert level of debauchery here]...

Strange Animals 11dec2018: Time Has No Meaning

December 11, 2018

It’s been a while since I sent one of these. In fact, the draft of this in my Ulysses* was titled 26sep2018, when I started writing it on the banks of the...