I Know The Way Out

Just a very quick newsletter to let you all know that my latest poetry comic with Chrissy Williams is now back from the printers and available to buy from my online shop!

"Part of the magic of these poetry comics is the way the poetry and the imagery work off one another - they play as a team, neither directly illustrating what the other is depicting. There's a friction between them, and out of that friction a third signal emerges which feels fresh and autonomous and true." - Mark Waldron

I love making these poetry comics with Chrissy. It's the time I really get to follow my aesthetic and artistic instincts entirely, let loose, and experiment. I feel like I'm incrementally getting better at it with each comic we make. That runs in parallel, I think, with me feeling increasingly comfortable with risograph printing and discovering how to get the best results from that.

One of the things I adore about riso-printing is the unexpected results. Sometimes, with large blocks of colour, you get something called "tiding", which creates this sort of watercolour stain where the ink collects. As you can see on the cover, this created a gorgeous night-sky effect along the top that I couldn't have planned for but completely love.

I Know The Way Out is a collection of three comics (First of Many, Static, and I want To Run Away To The Woods) that form sort of a trilogy. A beginning, middle and end. First of Many was originally made for StAnza - the poetry festival in St Andrews. Static was a comic we published online in a completely different format. I Want To Run Away To The Woods is all new and has always been, to me, the natural conclusion of this set of poetry comics. All three poems have been reworked, recoloured and edited to cohesively work together in this four-colour (black, blue, aqua and fluo pink) collection.

The essential comics site Broken Frontier was kind enough to review an advance copy of the book here. Andy Oliver said of the comics in the collection:

"Each embodies a kind of melancholy existentialism; reflections on the world around us that feel oddly both universal and yet specific [...] What makes this so re-readable is that the juxtaposition of poetry and accompanying art feels often simultaneously incongruous and entirely appropriate."

You can buy the book from my online store now!

Copies will be posted today or, more likely, next week when I'm back from Thought Bubble where the book is making its official debut! Come and find me in Comixology Hall at table C36 if you're attending.

Chrissy will be in the same hall at table B3 if you'd like to get us both to sign/draw in your copy of Way Out:

I am feeling increasingly anxious about Thought Bubble, having not tabled there properly for about ten years. I hope I see some of you there. Maybe you can give me a reassuring pat on the back.

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who contacted me about what prints they'd like to buy after my call-out in the last newsletter. I've riso-printed a selection of the more popular choices which you can also pick up from me at Thought Bubble or from my online shop now!