"My Week"

I've been working on a new two-part Charlotte Grote story, "Circus Windows". It's not a strict continuation of Wicked Things - I'm hopeful that I will get the chance to tell more of that story, so I need to leave certain plot threads open to be picked up later. Just as Lottie has been sent back to the webcomic hinterland, she's also back in Tackleford, at square one, and has to pick things up from there. It's a metaphor, yeah? Don't worry, I can stitch these things together just fine. I grew up with the UK Transformers comics where they'd stick UK-originated stories in between the US reprints and make it all work. Cut and shuts are in my blood. Don't look at me like that!

There's a certain amount of mental gymnastics required to reactivate a part of the Scary Go Round Cinematic Universe (official name). I don't want to bring the old Bad Machinery back, I don't have any ideas in my head for what most of the old characters are doing besides Lottie and Claire. Fortunately Mildred has remained in development for something new and so I could still hear her voice quite clearly, had worked out what she looks like slightly older than we left her, and was able to press her into action. I think you'll like this story, it's coming out quite well.

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A year ago this week, I started to think about a Steeple/Charlotte/Shelley crossover. When I thought it up, I'd not done enough Steeple for it to take a crossover; the five issues I made for Dark Horse hadn't established the characters or the world strongly enough. It would simply have cheapened something new. But having drawn 110 more pages of Steeple, and the 13 Cattywampus comics this year, comics which I believe have stress-tested the health of Tredregyn's reality to its absolute limit, I feel confident in making this thing. My inspiration is, of course, "Magnum On Ice", the crossover of Magnum PI and Murder She Wrote.

I started to break it down as more Cattywampus, but it was not robust enough to withstand Desmond Fishman, so he has been fired. My hope is to publish it in late spring, around the time of the release of the Wicked Things collection, and it should lead into a third "season" of Steeple comics, though I fear that may be a prognostication too far. I could have succumbed to the pox by then or become a gentleman farmer.

I'll keep you posted on this deeply personal and exciting work between now and then -- for now here are some early sketches to tantalise and confuse.

So that was my week. I also did a drawing stream that lasted 2.5 hours, about which I can remember almost nothing. I know I drew the flying sausage from the Grange Hill opening titles several times while recreating the theme tune's "bada-ba-boww" sting. It was fun but very hard on the mind. I deleted it from Youtube immediately, obviously (obviously). I'm sure I'll do another one in the next few weeks that I can regret anew. 

A very good day to you.