Five-barred Gate
It's approaching the end of the year. A time to reflect and each consult our personal Ws and Ls columns. As a 'content creator' it's easy to mistake production for creation. As long as I indiscriminately spray exploitable 'intellectual property' all over the shop I can feel as though I have justified my existence on this planet for the past 365 days.
At one point in my life I considered a day concluded without two finished pages of comic art to show for it a day wasted. The conflict between quality and quantity is always a concern in a medium that constantly demands one's labour. I eventually wised up, but the thrill of mentally tallying five-barred gates has not loosed its grip on me entirely.
I still enjoy making lists for the satisfaction of ticking off each item in turn. Some of us are closer to enlightenment than others. I refer to the eternal wisdom of Toad and Frog by Arnold Lobel:
Here's my list for 2022.
I'll gloss over the fact that this book is over a decade old and celebrate that it's back in print from Image comics in a gorgeous hardback edition. A fairytale of love and art in the City of Light drawn by Simon Gane. It's wonderful to have it back on the shelves. Having work go out of print is always sad for an author. Work you cherish slips out of sight and into the Veil of Tears that is eBay and the murky secondary market. I think this story has a timeless quality that I hope will be rediscovered by new readers.
If you've read any of my recent newsletters then you may well be sick of me banging on about this book. It is new and not new. I think I first sent Simon an early draft back in 2016. A labour of love, years in the making that time, supply chain issues and the super-human amount of effort Simon put into single-handedly drawing, lettering and colouring it, couldn't keep from going out into the world. It's out now from Image comics and will hopefully remain in print for years to come.
It's really good. I hope you'll pick up a copy.
Not to fulminate on my Ls, but I did have a hiatus on the newsletter front for a couple of months this year. I offer no excuses except that I had a lot on my plate. Mostly...
PUNYCORN
I spent much of this year working on my 220 page middle-grade funny fantasy graphic novel which is due out in the Fall of 2023 from Clarion books. Unicorns, allergic dragons, magic swords and the Gauntlets of Ultimate Victory will decide the fate of the land of Carbuncle.
Can't wait for it to be out.
In the mean time I have to do it all over again (but even better) in Punycorn book 2 throughout 2023.
It was a delight to creep out from underneath my rock to rub shoulders with my fellow cartoonists, first in Mantua and then at the Lakes International Comic Festival. I am always anxious about any sort of public appearance, but once I overcome my shyness I really enjoy it.
In the neither W nor L column I will put finishing the script and thumbnails for a sister book to The Book Tour. I haven't started drawing it yet, but I have the foundations in place.
The Book Tour was translated into German as my tireless French publisher continues to launch Fretwell around the globe on his eternal quest to sign a single copy of Without K.
A couple of studios were interested in the media rights to the book and I sold the option on my odd little existential black comedy, thanks in large part to the efforts of my wonderful agent. Thank you, Janna!
I posted a one-page comic on my patreon every Thursday this year. That's another 52 pages of comics (as long as I don't get run over by a bus between now and New Year) to add to the tally.
I continued my run of reading a book a week in 2022. More than that, in fact. And I posted a book review every Sunday at my Patreon. You can see an incomplete list (no out of print books or French language comics, unfortunately) here.
So. Much. Content. And I wish I had done more. Be still, my over-achieving brain.
Thank you to Simon for being the best collaborator I could ever wish for. Thank you if you bought any of our books this year, individually or together. Thank you if you left a positive review online for any of the books. Thank you if you supported my Patreon and, last but not least, thank you for reading this newsletter.
Heading into 2023 let's all aspire to celebrate our Ws, no matter how small, and not dwell too much on the Ls. Follow Toad's example.
Waking up is the first W of the day.
See you in 2023.