Hello, Tumblr. It’s been a while. I don’t know if anyone still follows me but, if you do, I imagine it’s because you like the scripted audio comedy I produce such as John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme, or Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully. Maybe you enjoyed Audible’s reboot of Green Wing, Green Wing: Resuscitated? I produced that, too
Anyway, if you like scripted audio comedy and think there should be more of it in the world, here’s a link you might find interesting:
If you – yes YOU – wish to inject your midwinter with a little of that Cape Evans 1911 energy, why not inflict it on others with some cards from my shop? I am hitting the big red PRINT button on the morning of 15 October, so please get your orders in if you want to be included.
Missed Christmas or Hanukkah or Diwali or Yule or Kwanzaa or whatever your favourite “It’s Dark” party is? Live in the Southern Hemisphere and want to mark the winter solstice with a little Edwardian cheer? No problem, as long as it’s winter you can send these cards!
There is also MERCH!
Sales support digitisation of the archives at the Scott Polar Research Institute! Truly noble and a benefit to humanity!
And if you’d like to throw in a copy of my well-reviewed and award-nominated book (Eisner and Ignatz, if you’re wondering, yeah that’s right) then you can find out how/where to get it on its official website, or else just walk into your nearest bookshop and ask! Commerce FTW!
If you – yes YOU – wish to inject your midwinter with a little of that Cape Evans 1911 energy, why not inflict it on others with some cards from my shop? I am hitting the big red PRINT button on the morning of 15 October, so please get your orders in if you want to be included.
Missed Christmas or Hanukkah or Diwali or Yule or Kwanzaa or whatever your favourite “It’s Dark” party is? Live in the Southern Hemisphere and want to mark the winter solstice with a little Edwardian cheer? No problem, as long as it’s winter you can send these cards!
There is also MERCH!
Sales support digitisation of the archives at the Scott Polar Research Institute! Truly noble and a benefit to humanity!
And if you’d like to throw in a copy of my well-reviewed and award-nominated book (Eisner and Ignatz, if you’re wondering, yeah that’s right) then you can find out how/where to get it on its official website, or else just walk into your nearest bookshop and ask! Commerce FTW!
Get your midwinter cards and Centenary merch at the shop!
The link preview image is out of date! See the shop itself!
Shop things! Things of the shop!
A5 cards with these majestic images and free envelopes:
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I order these from the printer next Wednesday so tell me how many you want before then, please, or you may miss out!
Also, more pictures of pins!
On account of mysterious reasons no one can fathom, there are no P.O. Evans pins, but a double crop of Wilsons. Anyway, proclaim your blorbo to the world (subtly; they’re only an inch wide) unless your blorbo is Taff in which case, I dunno, find out what happened to his pins. It is a mystery.
Proceeds from pins and mugs go into a fun to help digitise stuff in the SPRI archives! Proceeds from cards go towards my heating bill this winter! Both noble causes, although one may have greater benefit to the world in the long run …
Get your midwinter cards and Centenary merch at the shop!
The link preview image is out of date! See the shop itself!
Shop things! Things of the shop!
A5 cards with these majestic images and free envelopes:
ALT
ALT
ALT
I order these from the printer next Wednesday so tell me how many you want before then, please, or you may miss out!
Also, more pictures of pins!
On account of mysterious reasons no one can fathom, there are no P.O. Evans pins, but a double crop of Wilsons. Anyway, proclaim your blorbo to the world (subtly; they’re only an inch wide) unless your blorbo is Taff in which case, I dunno, find out what happened to his pins. It is a mystery.
Proceeds from pins and mugs go into a fun to help digitise stuff in the SPRI archives! Proceeds from cards go towards my heating bill this winter! Both noble causes, although one may have greater benefit to the world in the long run …
Hey Tumblr! The Polar Museum (SPRI, Cambridge) is going to have one of my pictures in the shop for Christmas, as a 1000-piece puzzle! But they don’t know how many to get made. So I, privileged with more of an online following than them, thought I’d test the mood of the public. Click through above to have your say! (it’s a free and public post)
THIRTY-TWO MEN WENT TO MOW, WENT TO MOW A MEADOW ….
Now you have it stuck in your head. You’re welcome.
It gets better: I started listening to Cabin Pressure because Matt Green was in it, who played Cherry in the radio dramatisation. (He’s Kieran in “Helsinki”.) Only then did I find out it was written by John Finnemore, whose name I associated with Mitchell & Webb and all the best monologues on the Now Show. It just happened to be the week “Helsinki” aired when I looked up his name in the old Radio iPlayer. Who knows what might have happened otherwise!
So it’s not so much a pipeline as a circle, maybe?
Are you an American who has been hoping to get the shiny and beautifully produced hardcover of Worst Journey Vol.1 for a mere $14(before shipping)? Or are you anyone in the world who would like to download a fully-zoomable PDF to enjoy on the electronic reader of your choice? Then get down to the Iron Circus store, because I’ve only gone and got an Eisner nomination, and there’s a sale on nominated books.
The Eisner Awards are tonight, Pacific Time. Will I wake up in the UK tomorrow morning to have an Eisner-winning book on my hands? No – some of the other nominees are French. But it’s nice to be considered their peer for a little while at least.
To celebrate the 115th anniversary of the Terra Nova sailing from Cardiff, Worst Journey Vol.1 is 30% off in the Iron Circus store on Sunday 15 June 2025!
This INCLUDES the e-book, so if you’re a non-US person who balks at shipping costs, get your fully zoomable virtual copy while the US dollar is low and the PDF is only $6.67.
Hey hey, it’s my book birthday in the States! If you are Stateside, you can finally pick up your very own copy of this, with all the new and improvements of the last two years!
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Look at that! How cool is that! Don’t you want one? You can get one for under $20 from Bookshop.org! (Other retailers are available; I will let you do your own search.)
Maybe pick one up for your local library as well!
EISNER NOMINATION!
Not even a year old and already nominated for a big prize! Worst Journey Vol.1 is one of five books nominated for Best Adaptation From Another Medium. If you’re an Eisner voter and you’re leaving your ballot until the last minute (deadline is tonight!) then please consider casting a vote in my direction?
And to everyone else – thank you for your interest and enthusiasm on the long, long road to getting this published!
Back in 2011, the animation department at Disney wanted to put out an anthology of comics, like the story department’s Torch Tiger and Rocket Johnson. To make a long story short … it kind of fell apart. Well, completely fell apart. I was one of the few who actually got my comic finished, and I sat on it for a while hoping things would get sorted out, but the ashes are cold now, so here it is.
The original anthology was intended to have a little flipbook in the outside corners, so if you’re wondering why the text or composition is a little off, that is why.
Everyone’s got lingering congestion this year, so as someone who’s no stranger to phlegm, and inherited the folk wisdom of a stage actress (the show must go on!) I share with you my recipe for making things better:
2L water
the juice and rind of one lemon (just dump the juiced rinds in, don’t zest them, you maniac)
a small thumb of fresh ginger, sliced in coins
about a dozen cloves, some star anise, peppercorns, and maybe whole cinnamon or allspice or whatever else you like, in a tea ball (except the cinnamon if it doesn’t fit, obvs)
good dollop of honey, to taste
Bring the water to a boil then dump in all the stuff. Keep it hot but not boiling – a slow cooker is good for this. Keep this pot on a low heat all day and serve yourself a mug every so often, adding water as necessary. At some point you will need to add a new lemon and some more honey, but the spices can generally carry over two pots if you’re drinking it regularly.
The acid helps clear the gunk, ginger is good for the circulation, and clove/aniseed/pepper have some sort of decongestant/soothing properties. Honey is both nice and antiseptic, and apparently is a cough suppressant as well? Anyway, I just got over another run of Covid and this was wasn’t 100% effective but it worked better than phenylephrine.
I’m giving a talk this week about using my Adventure Cartoonist powers for evil good by learning everything I possibly can about kelp farming over the last few months. Join me Wednesday, April 9th at 9am Pacific for a talk on Illustrating Aquaculture! Whether you’re a science communicator, a visual artist looking for to expand your job opportunities, or just wanna hear about AQUATIC MYSTERIES, there will be something for you.
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Evening repost! Come hear me info dump (in a fun way) about aquaculture and comics and the ocean.
Words cannot rise to describing how satisfying this was to make.
World Radio Day is 13 February, so to stand up for the wealth of quality audio drama on the BBC, which is continuing to cut its drama department, I’m reposting drawings that have been inspired by BBC radio productions … or in this case, incorporating a bit of one.
I’m a fan of BBC radio drama, but nothing at all can compare to the effect Radio 4’s 2008 adaptation of The Worst Journey in the World had on me. It’s my life now.
The Museum of Classical Archaeology had a Drink and Draw night where we had a small glass of cheap wine and went around sketching their plaster casts of ancient statues. You know, like proper art students used to do.
