Thank you to everyone who came and saw me at Flamecon! It’s possibly my last event of the year, still waiting to hear back on a few. I’m building up the list for 2027 cons so if you’ve got a US event recommendation, please let me know!

Time finally ran out on my tech job. There’s always yearly layoffs between August and October where they get rid of a bunch of people at random to make the end of year numbers look better, and over the past four and a half years I’ve watched them fire a lot of smart people who were great at their jobs. It was depressing and demoralising and this past Wednesday it was my turn. I am officially unemployed, and officially not surprised by this.

I’ve got mixed feelings. Obviously I liked being able to pay my rent and bills without worrying, but I was miserable. My coworkers and immediate boss were great, but the company sucked. I’ve worked in tech for eleven years and I really don’t know if I want to keep doing it just to make ends meet, and browsing job listings over the last few years has shown a noticeable decline in basically everything. It’s all sick in the same way. I was planning to bridge the gap into my next career, ride the steady paycheck out for as long as I could, but ah well.

It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but excitement is flashing its fins. This is a chance and I’m going to take it. What’s next? I’m not entirely sure. I know exactly what I want, it’s time to figure out how to get it.

This month I’ve mostly been doing commission and design work that I can’t share yet. If there’s something you like seeing in these newsletters or particular questions you’d like me to answer, let me know. Any processes you’re curious about?

Beast of the Month

Sketchcards

Website Updates

Added my two new books to my online store, and the Goncharov print. I also added one risograph copy of Dear You that I found at the bottom of the box.

MICE recorded the panel I was on last year and you can watch it online. It’s about romance comics and it was a lot of fun, the first time I’d ever been on a panel.

Upcoming Shows

None confirmed at the moment.

I applied for a pro badge at NY Comic Con in October, so maybe I’ll be wandering around there.

Recommendations

Tanya Dorph-Mankey - Tanya is an awesome person and a pleasure to table next to at cons. Her in-progress graphic novel Count The Lights is set in a world I know very little about (pro wrestling) but told in such a way that I’m picking it up as I go along and understanding the scene, BUT also don’t feel like the story is pausing to explain anything. It’s very natural storytelling. The artwork is beautiful too, she gets a great organic inkwash look out of digital.

The Durutti Column - Vini Reilly just made his first album in fifteen years. I knew Vini a little when I lived in Manchester, I’d go around to his place sometimes and roll cigarettes for him because he struggled with fine motor control after having several strokes. I would not have expected to like this sort of music when I was 13 and everything had to be fast and loud.