Oh Brother, My Sister

Forgot to post about it here when this went up a few weeks back, but I recently illustrated a comic for James Sturm's 12 Panel Pitch series on Slate.com.

It was a surprisingly fun piece to work on, and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Story by Josh Melrod, art and layouts by yours truly. Click the image above to read it.

Darcy Cheyne Comics GIVEAWAY!

Alright guys, the holidays are here, and I've decided to try something kind of new. See, the first print run of Darcy Cheyne: Part One contained some noticeable fading on some pages when I first had them printed back in September. I contacted the printer shortly thereafter and got them to send me a new batch, but that still resulted in me having a small pile of old books with minor imperfections on them.

So! I figured since it is indeed the season of giving, and I've got to do something with these misprinted books, I've decided to hold a...

And that's all there is to it! Just say something nice about Darcy with a link to the site and let me know about it, and you get a free book! No need to worry about shipping costs or anything like that. Offer valid while supplies last! Take advantage while you can! And happy holidays!

November News

Just a quick update on some things that I've been up to this past month.

1) New Shop!

I opened up a new online shop! You can check it out over here. I've got copies of the first print collection of Darcy Cheyne Werewolf Hunter, my angsty teenage comic Rage Forever, and some other stuff too! So give it a look, and maybe even consider buying something if you feel like it! It's a pretty cool way to help support me if you like the stuff I do. And try to keep an eye on that space in general, as my hope is to continue to add new stuff to it over time.

2) Comic Reviews!

Comic reviewer Rob Clough put up a pretty cool review of some of my recent work on his blog recently, as part of his month-long "30 Days of CCS" series. Rob has some really nice things to say in the review, and I am incredibly grateful for him taking the time to write it all down.

3) Edwitch Archive Back Online!

And finally, I spent a couple days a few weeks back putting the archive for my old webcomic, Edwitch, back online. You can now read the whole thing online here, from now on hopefully through to eternity. I've written about Edwitch on this blog before, and a lot of the stuff I wrote then still rings true. Some parts of it feel a bit hard to look at now, but I do like the idea of keeping it online for posterity's sake. At the very least I think it's neat to be able to look back on as a form of context for the stuff I'm producing now. So I'm glad it's back online for that.

Halloween 2013

 Ooh Halloween! Best of all the holidays! Y'all know how much I enjoy posting spooky drawings around this time of the year. So here's a quick sketch in honour of the season. Hope everyone gets a chance to dress up or watch a scary movie!

Just don't eat any candy that's been opened! And look both ways before you cross the street! And if you see a mysterious figure - perhaps a woman? perhaps not - emerging from the darkness, cloaked in odd tattered robes. Beckoning towards you with large bony fingers, like twigs, like a spider's legs, curling upwards with promises of sugar and toys. Her eyes cool and glassy, her mouth twisted in a crooked, hungry grin... If you see such a figure: run! RUN! For she is not what she seems...

Canzine 2013

Hey guys! Gonna be tabling at Canzine from 1pm to 7pm this Sunday! I'm gonna have all my recent comics, as well as an actual zine or two made special for the occasion. Should be fun times!

Darcy-Cheyne.com

Hey Josh! What've you been up to since getting back from SPX? Oh, I don't know. Just a little thing called...

That's right! Darcy Cheyne: Werewolf Hunter now has its own website! It is now officially a thing! It's been awhile since the last time I was actively updating and maintaining a webcomic, and the prospect is kind of both exciting and terrifying. But mostly exciting! Because I've been working on this story for awhile now, and I think it's gonna be really good! So please check out the website. New pages will be up every Tuesday and Thursday from now into the foreseeable future, so feel free to check it regularly. I think it's gonna be a pretty fun ride!

Post-SPX

 

So SPX happened, and it was a real fun time! Much was learned about comics, about ourselves, about the nature of FRIENDSHIP... And if you have any doubts, just look upon this picture of myself with my lovely tablemates, Chris and Marta. Revel in the friendship just streaming out of this sucker!

In all seriousness though, it really was an enjoyable show. Both the first print collection of Darcy Cheyne: Werewolf Hunter and my angsty teen comic Rage Forever made their debut and - with the exception of one minor snafu on the part of the print-on-demand company used for Darcy - I'm pretty pleased with how both books turned out. It was also really great catching up with some old friends and making some new ones as well, and just seeing folks and talking comics all weekend long. Comics, you guys! What's not to like? WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE??

In non-SPX news: a Spanish-language comic I did as part of a collaboration with the University of Iowa International Writing Program a few months back, El Equilibrista, is now online. Story by Angel Franco, art and layout by yours truly. The comic was partially inspired by the final performance of famous tightrope walker Karl Wallenda in San Juan. It's in Spanish of course, but as someone who does not speak the language, I think it still reads pretty well. You can also see some of the other comics done as part of this project over here.

SPX this Weekend!

Hey all! I'm gonna be at SPX in Bethesda, Maryland this weekend, on September 14th and 15th! I'll be selling copies of my newest book, "Rage Forever," which is about angry teenagers. I'll also be selling a small number of copies of part one of "Darcy Cheyne, Werewolf Hunter," the ongoing comic I've been posting on my tumblr as of late.

You'll be able to find me at table N6, along with my buddies Chris and Marta. Please stop by if you get the chance!

You've Got A Lot of Blogs to Check Out

Hey! So remember that super secret extra special comics project I teased around New Years? Well I'm starting to post it on my tumblr! New pages are going to be going up there every Tuesday and Thursday from now until the far distant future! I'll of course keep updating stuff on this here blog as the project continues to develop, but ya know, you can just start following my tumblr if you wanna see the good stuff as it's coming out. And oh, there is indeed some good stuff a-coming.

Also! While your checking out things on tumblr, why don't you check out my good buddy Nick Patten's new blog too! Nick's one of my favourite dudes, and he tends to pump out some pretty slick looking stuff. Also! You should check out some of the cool stuff my buddy Keith Jones has been putting up on his tumblr lately as well! He's been posting huge chunks of the current book he's working on, and it's looking goddamn beautiful! So yeah, remember to check those out too!

Cartoon College

Hey, so remember that documentary that I'm in, and that I did some illustration work for a little over a year ago? Well that documentary has now been released! It's available for streaming/VOD through iTunes, or you can pre-order the DVD through the website. It's a documentary full of awesome people, some of whom are pretty dear to my heart, and serves as a snapshot of a fairly important time in a bunch of our lives. It also features, like, 80 straight minutes of people talking about comics. WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?

 

Also, in honour of this sucker coming out, I'm going to spend the next couple weeks posting the chapter illustrations I did for the film on my tumblr. The first one's already up, so go check it out!

Goblin Adventurer!

So I recently updated the template for my pdf portfolio that I occasionally send to potential clients when I'm trying to get freelance work. The previous template was okay, but it was a little old, and didn't have any GOBLIN ADVENTURERS in it. Thankfully, that problem has now been rectified.





Oh Goblin Adventurer. Your treasure horde may be largely composed of human skeletal remains, but your smile is still the greatest treasure of all.

Skeletons Forever!

Hey all! I've got a comic up as part of Trubble Club's Infinite Corpse project! I think the Infinite Corpse might be one of my favourite comic things to come out of the internet ever, and I am extremely grateful to have been allowed to be a part of it.

Sketch Sketch Sketch

Pot of Gold!

Just a quick update. But here's a poster I helped design for a friend's roller derby team's St. Patty's Day dance party/fundraiser. Which is this Saturday! You can find out more about it on their facebook page. Looks like it's gonna be a pretty cool shindig. Also, apparently there will be arm wrestling? How awesome is that!

Tumblarrrrrrrr!

So after a bit of an unofficial hiatus, I've decided to start making an effort to start uploading things to my Tumblr again. Mostly sketches, some of which won't be showing up here. So, ya know, feel free to start following if you are the sort of person who likes following other people's tumbles. Tumbleers? Tumblrars? Micro-blogging.

(Though of course, feel free to continue checking this here blog as well. I'm likely going to start doing a fair bit of cross-posting between the two spaces, but this blog is the only place you'll be able to get some of those sweet sweet words to go along with the pictures. And words accompanying pictures is what it's all about!)