Ah, New Look

Yes i thought i'd have a bit of a facelift, so to speak. What do you think? it matches my myspace too. i am however a bit chagrined that i cant put a nice little picture as a header-i've tried loads of times but it just keeps loading forever with that irritating exclamation mark in a triangle.

Banal Pig Pics Brand New

New Banal Pig Pics from my entry to the observer jonathan cape thingy. these are three of the 20 panels of the strip, and i was pretty happy with it in the end, but the copy of it from my buttocks printer didnt do it loads of justice. edit- its come out a bit weird, but i like the composition on the cut off one- click on it for full image.

ANTSHREW- SHREWANTS!

Yes here be another in my non-regular series of photographs of dead animals. This is a shrew, being eaten by ants.
I'm currently doing my entry for the observer competition, a deluxe banal pig strip, which i wont win, but like they say, you've got to be in it to not win it!

something for the weekend

here's something i have done for a feller called pigeon dave, and he's organising an exhibition of these cards from drawing people all over the country. i'll post when they're all online.

All new! Old strips coloured in!

yes friends, another stab at the rok comics thing, another coloured strip. i'm not 100% happy with this, but it's ok- i'm getting a feel for colouring in and how it works. i've not done any jokes for ages have i? i'll think of some next time for yous'all, or if you want to get involved now, why not suggest a pun theme?.

Old Pro

On the advice of John Freeman, who runs rok comics, this Cat Dad strip is on the Pro section of the site, which means you'll have to pay for it if you want it on your mobile. But you know me friends, i'm not gonna rip you off, so here's part one in glorious banalcolour. oh yes. i'm quite enjoying colouring the old strips in. it gives the strips a new lease of life i think, but takes a bit of time.

here's another

yes, uncle ken in beatiful sepiatone. dont ask me why the second panel is orangey. please feel free to rate and download these things (they're free).

I'm on your mobiles

not my mobile, because mine's shit, but this seems like a good idea so i'm trying it. i think i'll colour in a few old strips and put them on there too. theres also a $10,000 prize for the best new one (incentive).

Post 100, 1 year on.

Yes as previously mentioned, i've racked up 100 posts in exactly 1 year, for what it's worth. As its my birthday, why dont you send me some cash, and i'll send you one or all of my comics. If there is anyone reading this who doesnt own the entire portfolio of Banal Pig Comics, here's a reminder of what's on offer:

Banal Pig 1; Feeder and Wife, Hairy Feller, Retard Dad, Incompetent Shark, Womany Man, and Banal Pig and Friends in "Gutter Stupidity" £4 inc p&p

Banal Pig 2: More Feeder and Wife, Incompetent Shark, plus the introduction of Jolly Bear, Lickle Bastard and Ugly Mind Reader, and Fez Man in "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" £4 inc p&p

Jolly Bear and Fun Coconut Summer Special: JB goes about his business in the slums of Hackney, and we meet his flatmate, Fun Coconut who is obsessed with the film Basic Instinct SOLD OUT

Banal Pig 3; More adventures from the BP Gang as the trilogy comes full circle and the prophecy is realised. With the introduction of Irate Robot, and "The Ballad of Homeless Goose" £4 inc p&p

The Banal Pig Portrait Anthology: featuring portraiture-themed work from the finest UK small pressers: hilarious, but really makes you think. £4 inc p&p

Ethel Sparrowhawk: The story of a seemingly unlucky girl who will try anything to improve her luck, a collaboration with Jemima Von Schindelberg. £4 inc p&p

Also, the excellent work by the man who puts the "ig" in Banal Pig Comics, Gareth Van Brookes.

Again, thanks to everyone whose supported me over this annus mediocris.

Nice One Laters

Yours Truly

Stevo xxx

Small press

i was round my old pal gareth man man brookes' house this weekend and he was showing me some of the small press he'd picked up from gosh! comics. it's good to see theres a wide ranges of styles and some are undeniably arty-farty, which i suppose you either subscribe to or you dont, and they must appeal more to artists than comics buyers. This is fair enough, and there is definitely room for all that stuff, particularly when its high quality, but what did make me raise my eyebrows was the price of some of these things. pricing is very difficult, but it's kind of taken for granted that all the time you've spent creating this stuff is never going to be compensated, so £5 for a few sheets of A4 does seem pretty steep. i try to base my price on the printing cost alone, and even then i cant compete with the big published comics (obviously) but i always try to be good value, and want to make something that i'd buy.
this kind of leads onto another point about the small press scene today, the fact that there is your also-rans, the weak home published stuff, and the fantagraphics/top shelf stuff and there's the middle ground, high quality small press stuff which is too small scale to go into diamond (the major comics distribution catalogue) and as a result will always struggle to be seen by its potential audience. obviously the web has helped this immensely- i cant imagine how difficult it was before to sell more than 10 comics- but i've got it at the back of my mind that there's an untapped potential thing that could unify and promote all the excellent small press creators there is out there.
a uk small press version of diamond sent out to all the shops in the uk who stock small press comics so they could contact the makers diractly, or at least have a previous knowledge of the comics when approached would be a good idea i think, and if it was put together by the makers themselves it would mean no-one else would take a slice of the pie.
good idea, this sort of thing takes time and effort that i havent got after working all the time and actually making comics... any volunteers?

Bristol Expo

Its all over and its been a great weekend i reckon. We all sold well- pictured is our display, Man Man and Bingo Bonanza on the left; Gareth had a new comic, Mediocralypse, which is more in the style of the "bastard teachers" strip in the BP Portrait Anthology, with more funny drawings and little stories about wanking with grandads and that.
My stuffs in the middle, including the new comic Ethel Sparrowhawk which sold well and has had a lot of good words said about it, and it seems the things we wanted to achieve with it have come across. I'm gonna put the first 6 pages on the myspace at some point today, so please check it out if you havent seen it.
On the right is Oliver East's Trains Are... Mint including an exclusive with the first few copies of Trains Are Mint number 3, which i read last night and is as brilliant as the other two in the trilogy, so check them out if you havent seen them already.

Also pictured are Oli East (beardy, red check shirt) and Gareth (Charles Hawtrey) who were sharing the spoils.

I think there are a few reasons why we did much better- we had much more choice of stock this year, 17 different titles to choose from, and from my own point of view it is nice to have something a bit less vulgar than the Banal Pigs (i.e. Ethel Sparrowhawk) which broadens the appeal a bit i think. Not that there's anything wrong with calling your dad a cunt, pissing on old mens heads, and anthropomorphic geese sucking men off for crack is there?
Secondly, we've got a bit more of a reputation now, we've been around for a couple of years, and also as Bristol's my home town i've actually got some mates here now.

I picked up some good stuff by the looks of it, which i may review or mention later, and we drank with the good old Monkeys Might Puke boys, and i would advise you to follow the link and watch the short films, especially "When a man loves a Chicken", which is genius.

See you later

Well the say hello thing didnt really work did it? i knew it wouldnt.

According to my scientific analysis the comic Ethel Sparrowhawk is 43% finished. Unfortunately, all the pages that are print ready so far are not really suitable as previews so you, the eager consumer will have to wait a few days. I'm off work now til next tuesday, and it's my birthday on monday so get your presents in the post before 12 today if you havent already. Anyway this holiday is all about binge eating drinking and drawing. Binge!

The pic is Dignity and Impudence that i was on about before, and i'll post some pictures of my new character, Popexe, and his arch-nemesis Fat Martin someday soon.

p.s. i've got broadband now, it's all gravy!

Hello Bloggery!

There was a thing in the paper (guardian) today about blogging, and the fact that there’s no real point to it, and the majority of people’s blogs dry up after about 3 months. Although there is no particular structure to this‘un, that is, it’s not a diary or review site or webcomic specifically, it does have a function for me. Obviously, it’s a kind of advert for the comics, and once I write something down it kind of commits me to doing it (although looking back at a few things I have changed my mind on minicomics and that).

There was also a thing about a blogger’s code of conduct, where you shouldn’t slander people, or say things you wouldn’t say to someone’s face but that missed the point a bit doesn’t it? Us computer friends don’t say anything to people’s faces, socially inept as we obviously are, and writing down so it gets read by three people is somehow harder than just thinking it or something. Finally, on this somewhat ponderous and rambling post, it says comment posters shouldn’t be anonymous which is fair do’s, so if you’re reading this and I don’t know who you are, say hello! and tell us all where you come from, it’ll be exciting, plus it’ll give me a better idea who’s reading this so I don’t offend you, you set of bastards.

Also, I’m thinking of doing a little project based on the excellent painting “Dignity and Impudence” by Edwin Landseer (google it) where I expand upon the lives of the charming odd couple of dogs depicted, one’s dignified, one’s impudent- with hilarious consequences! Probably!

Don’t forget, say hello!

Sour Grapes

As you, dear reader, may or may not be aware, i put myself forward for the eagle awards in the category of best british comic black and white or something. anyway, i'm not too bothered that i didnt get shortlisted, as it was more to be there or thereabouts as part of my awareness campaign. however, i am extremely chagrined at the fact that tales from the flat got shortlisted- it was actually the fact that they were in there that made me get involved- i thought if that bag of spanners is on there, my quality publication surely deserves a crack. i dont really understand the small press scene. there's some many pairs of buttocks masquerading as comics out there, which i think even to the untrained eye are self indulgent tripe, tales from the flat very much included, which seem to do well and be popular. horses for courses i suppose, for every arsehole who's a dickhead, theres a shit comic for you, for every conoisseur of excellence, theres a banal pig.
there. i've published my thoughts. let my sour motherfucking grapes dissipate into the etherel world wide web...

p.s. vote for the eagle awards, my recommendation would be vented spleen, anything but tales from the fucking flat please.

cameras knackered

the attached photos are taken with our camera. as you can see, its chinned. stil it wasnt bad- julie found it on the bus about 4 years ago in south kensington and weve had a lot of use out of it. ever since its been broken i cant go five paces without spotting a so-called kodak moment, like on the way to work where someones painted CLAMPING CLAMPING all over everywhere, along with baby writing saying "You will be clamping", and there were some ducks and stuff. cops with cameras on tonight. gravy!

Selling,Watchmen,Drawing

A few things i feel inclined to document today. Gareth (Man Man) Van Brookes tells me that Gosh! in London have sold out of Banal Pig 3's and are happy to take some more.This is good news as last time i sold all but one of BP's 1 & 2 which meant they wouldnt take any more. They're also taking some anthologies so if you're a smoke dweller pop down and check it out.

In other news, i read Alan Moore's Watchmen this week, which i found to be excellent. As i have mentioned in previous posts i am naive to the conventional comics world (dc and marvel et al) and before i actually started making comics i had read very little and this being oft-mentioned i thought i should read it. It was a christmas present from my sister which arrived on Monday (yeah, cheers sis). What i like about Moore's writing (and i think the same is true of HG Wells) is that he assumes the reader is intelligent and there is no flab explaining to idiots whats going on. very anti-hollywood, no easy answers, everything isnt black and white. the drawings are great as well.

I'm also cracking on with Ethel Sparrowhawk, and have started inking some bits (although its not all pencilled yet), so hopefully there will be a few glimpses of finished pages soon. i think im alright for time, ive got about 6 weeks, 10 days of which i'm off work for, but i'm doing this victorian horror story, plus Jolly Bear and Fun Coconut Summer Special number 2 is roughed out, and all being well will also be ready for Brizzle, as we moronic west country folk call it. This features another excellent verse by Gareth and is as dark as a piece of ebony in sunglasses drinking a pint of guiness at midnight.

Take care, love you, bye x

Exclusive! New Banal Pig, Mothercrushers!

This is a new strip that i've done for the web and mini comix thing anthology, the theme is "important stuff".

we put our new washing machine in today, and went out on its first wash. when we got back it had moved 6 inches, ripped the lino and scraped the wall. dagnabbit!