It took 2 years to make our graphic novel and it’s publishing in 3 months. Pre-orders determine how a book will do, so we’re a little bit nervous as this is an important book for us. Wilomina: The Land of Dreams and Nightmares out Aug 13 @scholasticuk.bsky.social Pre-order: linktr.ee/wilomina

あけおめ

Drawing monsters in our Wilomina graphic novel.

Inking Wilomina.

Over David Attenborough’s lifetime the natural world has become ever more eroded. On his 100th birthday let’s use #KidsBooksFriday to celebrate children’s books that carry on his environmental legacy, help us delight in nature and encourage us to protect its future. #KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit

Inking Wilomina

Inking Wilomina.

Star Wars isn’t a day.

How could I even forget Columbo! The best!

Name your top 15 TV shows ever, gut instincts only Twin Peaks Starsky & Hutch The Avengers The Persuaders Charlie’s Angels Stranger Things Wednesday 6 Million Dollar Man Little House in the Prairie The Simpsons Rockford Files Les Brigades du Tigre Rémi sans Famille animé Poirot The Killing original

Comics CAN do a job to encourage reluctant readers Some comics do that Some comics don’t and have no intention of trying A problem with saying "Comics are…” is that focuses on the products and what they attempt to do The form and the language is to broad for a binary definition of what they do

We keep coming back to Witches of Brooklyn by @esofii.bsky.social This one is a Spell of a Time! Such fun positive vibes. #KidsGN📚💬 #KidLitUK #graphicnovels #comics

The quest to identify a mystery comic strip published in a 1977 British girls comic clipped by @scottedelman.bsky.social continues, now updated with other suggestions made by, among others, @davidwynne.bsky.social @paulcornell.bsky.social & @kimota.bsky.social - downthetubes.net/a-british-ro...

I switched from inking digitally to inking on paper for our Wilomina graphic novel because I find that computer inking makes my line look too sterile, polished and perfect, and I want to keep the organic feel, personality and flaws of my inked lines.

It's happening! I have a launch event for my debut fantasy novel! July 7th, 7pm, Waterstones Sauchiehall Street (Glasgow). Please do join if you can, and any shares are much appreciated! Tickets can be booked here: www.waterstones.com/events/an-ev...

—We come in peace from the third planet. Would you take us to your leader? Edwin Morgan’s #sciencefiction poem “The First Men on Mercury” in comic strip form, by the amazing @metaphrog.bsky.social #poem #poetry #scifi 5/14 Download it free here: metaphrog.com/the-first-me...

Push the boat out, compañeros, push the boat out, whatever the sea… —Edwin Morgan, “At Eighty”: a poem written for his own 80th birthday Edwin Morgan (1920–2010) was born #OTD, 27 April – a 🎂 🧵 #poem #poetry 1/14 www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/eighty-0/

Witches house in the woods. From our graphic novel Wilomina: The Land of Dreams and Nightmares. Link in bio #comics #KidLitUK

A witches house in the woods for Wilomina. Link in bio.

On this note, imo, people generally read speech bubbles first in a comic - sometimes not paying much attention to the images, or at least not at first. There's no need for an SFX ring here as what is conveyed is the busy conversation, one guy not paying attention to the phone ringing.

Case in point - my thread here bsky.app/profile/nsou...

Comics are cool and comics are weird :) Even the seemingly simplest comics present narrative in ways startlingly complex ways when you look closely. Comics rock!

In tandem with the point on comics not being storyboards, they aren't story pitches/proof of concepts for a movie of tv show. Comics are their own medium and shouldn't be taken as anything else. Good thread btw

Incredibly complicated, but appears simple when done well. Good lettering, for example, is basically invisible. It's almost heard more than seen. There are artists who perform miracles with bare minimum of lines. Writers who tell a story in 50 words that other would struggle to tell with 1000.

7. Comics is the best!

6. A Language. The way information is shared between images and text and reader is a unique communication. Comics is a Language. A comic is where the Language is used to make a thing but not always in the form of sequential narrative or a page

🧵 What comics aren't Vs What comics are #KidLitUK #Comics Comics aren't: 1. For reluctant readers: To say this belittles them. OK, some are, but not all of them. You wouldn't say all books are for reluctant readers, would you? Only some of them. Could a reluctant reader read Chris Ware?

Inking Wilomina: The Land of Dreams and Nightmares. Link in bio.

Had fun reading Secret Agent Nessie by @garychud.bsky.social & @laurahowell.bsky.social . A gang of seagulls terrorise Loch Ness! It’s to Nessie and his team to stort it out. @florisbooks.bsky.social #KidsGN📚💬 #KidLitUK

Congratulations to Jamie Hernandez and Trung Le Nguyen, who both picked up awards at last week's Los Angeles Times Book Prizes.

Help! Does anyone know of a trustworthy free pdf maker (that does not steal your data)? We need to create a multi-page pdf by combining 100 different jpg files into a single pdf. We've run out of our Acrobat Pro free trial.

I’m hoping #Bluesky will be in more robust health for this today. 🤞 It’s been a bit of a week, made brighter with pockets of immense kindness. So for #KidsBooksFriday this week, I thought we could celebrate books that highlight the importance of kindness. #KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit #Kindness

Pencils from our Wilomina graphic novel

It’s finally arrived! After 2 years of work, we’re seeing our actual graphic novel for the first time. Happy to report that it’s passing the sniff test (we love the smell of fresh ink). Wilomina: The Land of Dreams and Nightmares is out Aug 13th. @scholasticuk.bsky.social #KidLitUK

THIS IS TODAY! 10AM! Let’s draw some ridiculous nonsense together 💖

Novels are just comics as made by people too lazy to draw the pictures.

For #KidsBooksFriday this week I wanted to highlight books that are perfect for the chronically underserved 12-14 age group. What great books would you encourage kids to seek out at this age? #KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit

Pencils from our Wilomina graphic novel.

Unbelievable. Reading the comments in this article, someone got a record 26 scam emails in one day. WTF

Currently reading The Restaurant at the Edge of the World, a graphic novel by @olliegerlach.bsky.social & @kelsijosilva.bsky.social . There’s magic, elves and a cooking contest. #KidsGN📚💬 #KidLitUK @faberbooks.bsky.social

Charity shop find!

BARAD DÛR

So it's a comic about a kid with an imaginary lion as a friend? The comic:

We should all take a moment to note that today is International Beaver Day.

My 8-year-old son, speaking with more wisdom than he knows: "Sometimes it's not just a cliffhanger for the reader, sometimes it's a cliffhanger for the author, too!"

Pencils/inks for Wilomina.

I have no idea when the Criminal TV show is coming out, and even if I did I wouldn’t tell you. It’ll be announced officially some day, so don’t bother asking me before then.

Missed this post before cos too much work on. We're both full time making comics, and are managing by having different streams of income (advance/royalties/author visits/grants/commissions). It's precarious and uncertain. We have low expenditure, no kids, no car. Crossing fingers we keep managing.

I feel like I should share this. My revenue this year before deductibles was CAD 17k, which is under half of the "dignity" income for someone living alone in Montreal. I usually hover between 20k and 25k. I've been a full time freelancer and comic artist since 2012.