tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37344486939939151212024-03-12T21:52:33.407-07:00The Demon TomatoAll about a comic I made.Dave Bulmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034543653023813112noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734448693993915121.post-3360106491135176812010-12-13T12:05:00.000-08:002010-12-13T12:32:19.071-08:00Christmas CardsHi! Do you like cartoon drawings of Christmas-related things? Do you know about my Snatter stories? Would you like to give Christmas cards to people that aren't obviously bought at a local shop? If you answered yes to two or more of the above, you might like some of these:<br />
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Yeah, Snatter cards! <a href="http://www.abigailryder.com/bulmer/XmasCards.jpg">YOU SHOULD CLICK THIS IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT DESIGNS THERE ARE,</a> and no that link doesn't just lead to the picture you can see right there. In fact, some of the designs you can see there aren't even on the link you're supposed to click now, but you can still have them.<br />
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All you need to do to get your hands on these amazing cards (I mean, they're not AMAZING, but they're definitely not bad cards, and that in itself is pretty amazing for cards), is you should <a href="mailto:dave@davebulmer.com">EMAIL ME BY CLICKING THIS,</a> tell me what cards you want and how many of them, and I'll tell you how much you should send me, which you'll have to do via Paypal unless you've got any other bright ideas.<br />
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For your reference though, the cards are £1.50 each. They're good though. Nice and smooth, pretty big (A5) and printed at a print shop from high-res originals, not just chucked through my Inkjet from a jpeg or something.<br />
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Quick though, not long left 'till Christmas now!<br />
<br />Dave Bulmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034543653023813112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734448693993915121.post-79061095195186211222010-10-23T04:51:00.000-07:002010-10-23T05:31:33.837-07:00Brummy Little Robot<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Geek Laureate, brandishing his copy of Demon Tomato #2.</span></div>
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After a long while locked to our desks with the drawings equivalent of an inbox stacked so high it genuinely kept spilling over, Abby and I got a chance to do something else last weekend.<br />
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The end of work on issue three being tantalisingly nigh, I'm starting to see anything that threatens to distract or prevent me from working on it as The Enemy. At the moment this includes, but is not limited to, literally everything that the world has ever contained. For that reason I was reluctant when I learned it was time to put down the pens and spend a weekend at the British International Comics Show in Birmingham, one of the larger comic conventions I tend to attend. But Abby - that is, <a href="http://abigailryder.blogspot.com/">the other Dumpy Little Robot</a> - talked me into it, and I'm very pleased she did, because I was completely wrong and it was brilliant.<br />
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It turned out to be a veritable BOX OF MATES. Lovely people were scurrying about on all sides like marching ants, but instead of carrying leaves and microchips, they were carrying friendliness, yeah? But I didn't get pictures of them all, and I bet pictures are what you want after three sraight paragraphs of nothing but words, so I'll return to the people in a bit. First, some things I can actually palpably SHOW you.<br />
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So, there we are behind the Dumpy Little Robot table. It's the first time we've had a table to ourselves at BICS, having previously shared with the <a href="http://manchestercomixcollective.com/">Manchester Comix Collective</a>, a great bunch of megadudes, some of whose comics you may well already read. This time, though, it was all-Dumpy all-day, and we'd brought along our full range of thingies. I don't have a photo of just the table with stuff on it, so just squint at it in the photo above. If it helps, this is what some of it looks like when it isn't on a table at a convention:<br />
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First off, we had both issues of the Demon Tomato stacked up in the middle, and surrounding them was a line of little cards depicting, at a sweep of the gaze, all the prints we had available in our very special laminated doodlebooks. Here at the Demon Tomato blog, we like to minimise your risk of boredom, so here are the best-recieved pictures from our selection ONLY:<br />
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Firstly a coloured sketch drawn by Abby during a week where she drew a different ninja each day. This little chap became a bit of a talking point, as lots of people stopped to loudly recognise Zool, the Ninja from the Nth Dimension. Only one or two seemed to realise he was an Amiga thing though, everyone else thought he was a Megadrive thing.<br />
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Some sweet cats from me and some sweet moves from Abby. On the left, a nice picture of cats taken from Demon Tomato #2. On the right, Garrus, from Mass Effect, doing his most funkyfresh moves.<br />
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There were lots of pictures that aren't from video games, but sometimes you have to give the internet what it wants. You might find the rest at the <a href="http://www.dumpylittlerobot.com/">Dumpy Little Gallery.</a><br />
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We also had lots of lovely badges:<br />
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Including such designs as these:<br />
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If you don't have any of these badges - particularly the CYBORG GHOST one, then important parts of your life are being denied you. Come and see us at Thought Bubble to right this terrible wrong.<br />
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As well as all that, some Christmas cards, and a dingable bell, we had Abby, whose live custom sketches were our best seller (and best thing). <a href="http://abigailryder.blogspot.com/2010/10/bics-2010.html">The story of Deadpool Riding Things is told on her blog,</a> but you may not yet have seen the epic final picture. You can see what Deadpool rode last by clicking his glum face, if you can stand it:<br />
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More of this sort of silliness to come at Thought Bubble next month.<br />
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By the way, that's the next time you can come and see us do this sort of thing. <a href="http://www.thoughtbubblefestival.com/">Thought Bubble</a> in Leeds, on Saturday the 20th of November. So, if any of this is at all to your liking, we'll see you there.<br />
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Now then! Back to those nice people. One of the key things about a good comic con is that you end up meeting plenty of top people, on either side of the table. The problem with me is that... one of the various problems with me is that I can never be made to remember anybody's name the first time I meet them, so if I haven't mentioned you here, it's probably because I forgot your <i>name</i> rather than <i>you,</i> and you should get in touch immediately to remind me.<br />
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First of all, a great big "hello again!" to our pal from the first time we attended BICS, an endlessly polite and pleasant girl operating under the name of "Noodle," who is rather important to us as she was the first child comics-reader who actually came and bought her very own Demon Tomato in person. Not only that but we've seen her and her family every year since, in which time she has grown from a tiny little girl into a towering megagiant. Well, maybe not a MEGAgiant exactly, but there's a definite height increase there. Seriously though, the whole family seems to be exactly as nice as can be, as nice as a smiling marshmallow in a wooly hat, or something. This time we met one of Noodle's older brothers for the first time, and he too was a beacon of friendliness and politeness despite being both a teenager of some description and<i> with his friends.</i> Didn't even have his parents in view at the time, so you know he wasn't just putting it on. What a lovely bunch! See you all next year!<br />
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So, here are lots more people we met, whose online things you might enjoy:<br />
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On our left (and behind us for easy nattering), Scott Stanford and Catherine Someone (I'm not sure I asked) with <a href="http://www.darkersideofoz.com/">"Dorothy - The Darker Side of Oz."</a> It's a novel, with occasional illustrations by someone with a tremendous name, something like Trumble. You should consider reading it if you like the idea of dark, twisty versions of classic Wonderland-type stories but are (like me) left cold by Tim Burton's recent offerings and are curious to see someone <i>actually</i> doing the sort of thing you imagined back when there were those rumours about Marilyn Manson as Willy Wonka. Remember that? Remember the crazy gothic-horror Chocolate Factory you imagined back then? Well, now imagine the film that you imagined actually got made, except imagine instead of a film it's a book, and instead of Willy Wonka it's Oz. Strictly not for kids, this is a version of the story more twisted even than that last analogy was. Scott and Catherine, on the other hand, don't seem to be evil or twisted at all, and are safe to approach if you see them at a convention.<br />
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To our right, Jenna Whyte and her friend Someone (this particular someone having been very understanding when I explained I can never remember anyone's name at these things, but that she should tell me anyway and I'd try very hard to remember it, which she did, and I did, and now look where it's got us.) They had a number of rather fancy prints for sale of images painted by Jenna - whether digitally or classically I don't know, you'll have to ask her when you <a href="http://jenna-whyte.deviantart.com/">click this to go and see the pictures.</a> They are of fancy ladies posed fancily - Jenna assures us that when they are joined by men, those men will be <i>massive.</i><br />
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Speaking of men, here are some. They are: in the foreground, <a href="http://www.jasoncobley.blogspot.com/">Jason Cobley</a>, he who do "Bulldog," a comic character he's kept alive and proudly indy for something like twenty blimmin' years. Can you say you've done that? If not, go and look at his website by clicking his name just there. If so, you should probably arrange some sort of battle. And in the distance, talking to me, is <a href="http://www.neillcameron.com/">Neill Cameron,</a> him of Mo-Bot High, which subscribers to the DFC will remember from its first issues. What he's talking to me about in that photo, incidentally, is the fact that Finn, his son, who sat with him for all of Sunday and inexhaustibly pitched the premise and proclaimed the brilliance of the Mo-Bot High book to all passers-by until it got to the point where Neill had in fact sold every copy he brought with him... was not, in fact, his son at all. He was a kid who'd just sort-of turned up, and started pitching and proclaiming. Finn was brills, and more can be read of his exploits <a href="http://neillcameron.blogspot.com/2010/10/neill-is-total-sell-out.html">here</a> and, presumably, elsewhere.<br />
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By the way, although he wasn't strictly a behind-tabler, the chap standing behind me in the photo with the colourful shirt on is <a href="http://twitter.com/thermobarictom">Thermobaric Tom</a>, friend to all and accidental organiser of things, who kindly drove us to Birmingham and provided Gentleman Rhymes and feed on the way. His was also the nerdy card game which I'm going to mention in a few paragraphs' time, so STAY TUNED FOR THAT!!!!!!!<br />
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Our table was one of a ring of tables, the interior of which wasn't enormous, so a lot of bustling-about was done back there and we ended up bumping into some people from the far corner.<br />
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Pictured here being slightly epic is <a href="http://twitter.com/AnouilhUK">Adam Davies,</a> a man. He was roving about the place being friendly and helpful like it was his job, which, if the "Minion" badge he was wearing was any indication, it possibly was. All encounters with Adam were the height of pleasant. I drew him, Horatio:<br />
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The person whose minion he probably was came bounding along from time to time, with the energy of a human powerball that's delighted to be talking to you. I'd met her at a previous con but not asked for her name, so imagine my surprise when it turned out to be "Loo," something I'm quite sure I've never known anyone to be called before. Imagine my "ohhh okay" when I realised it was actually "Lou,"* and that it was short for <a href="http://naniiebim.livejournal.com/">Louise Ho,</a> and so Louiseward-Ho you should go, to look at her pointy people pictures. She's got skills coming out of her skills.<br />
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* Disclaimer: For all I know, she might spell it "Loo." Don't be takin' my word for nutt'n.<br />
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Adam, incidentally, went a-minioning over at another table at one point, off to our left and a distance away. I went over and chatted to the lady at the table there with him, who turned out to be both nice and familiar, so in an effort to remember why, I picked up one of the comic anthologies from her table and dropped it on the floor. That didn't work, so I sat back down, but later on, after she'd come over and bought a badge or something, I realised why all this was so familiar. It was from a previous year's BICS, when their table was several along from ours, and I chatted to them about an anthology they had with some sort of green blob on the front. I think I bought it as well. Anyway, if you're any of the people from that table, do fill me in on your names and the names of your wares, and I'll edit them in here for massive plugz.<br />
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Next there's our old pal <a href="http://www.jessbradley.com/">Jess Bradley,</a> whose name you should click at once, because she's drawn such fun little doodly people you won't believe it. She's always a highlight, and seems generally to be at whatever cons I'm also at, so for all I know she's at <i>all</i> of them, and should be looked for in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places. She sometimes draws T-Shirts for <a href="http://www.genkigear.co.uk/">Genki Gear,</a> and why, it just so happens we were staying in the same hotel as our friend Lydia, the Genki who was present at BICS. Always go and see the Genkis when they're about. Normally when you buy T-Shirts you like, you have to get them from angry megacorporations, but with Genki you get them from dudey people who are right there, smiling at you and available for fun and sun and goodness in the jungle. Team Dumpy spent Friday night, for instance, playing that nerdy card game I mentioned before with Lydia, until it was Saturday. Friendly + Jess's designs, what the bleems else are you looking for in a T-Shirt, for heck's sake?<br />
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"No, Dave! Stop! I don't care about who you met!" Shush-up. Here are more:<br />
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<a href="http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/">Lew Stringer</a> popped over, which is a very agreeable thing to happen. Lew is a long-time UK Comics Guy, having kept himself ubiquitous in the world of British cartooning for almost all of my life, and whose comics I grew up on, both with and without my knowledge, depending on the title I was reading at the time. Remember Tom Thug? I knew he did that, what I didn't know until I googled just now was that he also did Pete's Pimple. By a genuine coincidence, I only just discovered some drawings of Pete that I did as a kid, along with plans for some sort of comic involving him and a few of my own characters who are due to start appearing in Demon Tomato soon. Look at this, Lew:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">My favourite bit of this plan is the part where "his nose hits the it."</span></div>
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And not long later, <a href="http://www.nigeldobbyn.com/">Nigel Dobbyn,</a> whose work appeared alongside Lew's in things I read while being only a few years older than good old Noodle, came over to see us. Nigel's a drawer and painter of pretty comics and things, and you should ask to see his sketches of aliens when you next see him, they're excellent and bulge-off into all sorts of interesting shapes. If you don't know what Nigel looks like in order to ask him this, click his name just there and you'll see a picture of his head. (It really is made of space. That helps to identify him.) A quick tip: As well as remembering his face, remember to remember whose face it is. A couple of years ago I made the mistake of remembering his face and knowing very well who Nigel Dobbyn is, but not knowing those two people were the same person, which lead to me confusedly just straight-out asking him why I knew him. I have no qualms about doing this to people in public, but you may have, so now's your chance to safeguard against it. Anyway, upon going over to Nigel's table, I learned that a girl who had come and looked at (and possibly bought, I can't remember) our badges was actually his daughter, whose name is Someone. Possibly Megan? Sorry if I got that wrong, Megan. I'm still calling you Megan in that previous sentence though even if I did, so there. And that one.<br />
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Several delegates from the land of our old pal <a href="http://ianmayor.blogspot.com/">Ian Mayor</a> were present, though not Ian himself, sadly, being busy at home with the kind of job that keeps you occupied outside hours, not to mention the kind of home-cooking that takes the whole weekend just to describe adequately. His friends made for a worthy substitute though, and while there were at least four or five of them altogether, I'm afraid I only have the names and faces of these two to present to you at present, <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/Paulxthompson">Paul</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/Britt7094">Britt,</a> pictured here in a photo pinched (like many of these) from Abby's blog, in which Britt holds up one of Abby's sketches. I didn't really keep track, but if Britt went home with this one, that means they both had one by the end of the day. I'm talking about drawings.<br />
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Now then! I'm trying to remember the weekend in order, so it is by sheer dint of chronology that we reach the marvellous Lizz Lunney and Someone Called Darren so late in this blog post. I know you've clicked a lot of things already, but for flip's sake don't rob yourself of <a href="http://www.lizzlizz.com/">a visit to Lizz's place</a>, because her comics and drawings are positively fizzy and make me do loud sounds when I read them. I don't have a link for Darren, but I'll gladly add one here if he'd like to provide one, because he was equally badical. Lizz can actually be seen inside the back cover of Demon Tomato #2, sitting with me behind our shared table a couple of BICSes ago. She now has a new dangle of hair, so the photo's out of date now, but I bet you can find it if you look through some of my older posts.<br />
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You may have noticed that I'm <i>still</i> typing. Yeah, so? It's my blog, I can do what I like.<br />
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Then there were the people who I managed to have a little word with, but not a very long one, with whom longer words will have to be had when next I see them. Geoff and Someone from <a href="http://www.fetishman.co.uk/fm/">Fetishman</a> were the focus of our brief glance into the main hall. I don't know much about these chaps but they come with a good reference and gave us a good chatting-with. Fetishman facts: Geoff pours his tea out of a magic lamp, and can tell you something quite haunting about a stage show he more than once attended. <a href="http://www.legacycomics.co.uk/">Legacy Comics</a> is a comic shop in (we think) Halifax run by a chap called Simon who has enthusiasm to spare for our silly little drawings, and this time commissioned a sketch from Abby. Sadly I don't yet know <a href="http://deconstructed-comics.blogspot.com/">Den Patrick</a>, the kid-with-a-beard, quite as well as Abby does, but he's a friend of the Dumpy. He's a professional sort of a dude who works in the editing and lettering of comics, and has a little something in the pipeline that you ought to go and check out. We were gutted that we didn't get chance to have a real chat with the <a href="http://theetheringtonbrothers.blogspot.com/">Etherington Brothers</a> until the very end, but that might be just as well, because once you're chatting to those guys you don't tend to want to stop. These chaps are so lively and friendly that it becomes a point of conversation with anyone else you meet who has talked to them. On top of that they're damn good at comics, and I don't know why you're reading this instead of their stuff right now. <a href="http://itsjustjosh.com/">Josh (just Josh)</a> was over by the window and popped over to talk a few times, bringing with him good ideas like raffles (one of which I believe Adam from earlier actually won). He had dedicated all the money he would have spent on silly frivolities at university to purchasing a great huge giant Cintiq, which he had bravely set up so that it looked out over passers-by. You couldn't miss it, it really was large and shiny. Want. Yeah, I just described this man by his most expensive posession. If that makes me shallow, then [ADD MORE SENTENCE]<br />
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We also had a nice chat about Lost with a lady called <a href="http://www.thehoudinibox.com/">Lynsey Hutchinson,</a> who looks a bit grumpy there but isn't (at least when talking about Ben from Lost). She had a folder of delights, and even though we hadn't previously met or anything, I recognised at least two pictures inside it, a Derren Brown one and another one that I can't remember now, possibly Doctor Who related, but then that's a fairly good guess at something like BICS, isn't it. And then we met two blokes from <a href="http://www.solecreator.com/">Solecreator,</a> who had invented a machine that draws on shoes. Seriously, they haven't just bought one, they actually invented it. Go to their website and they'll let you use it.<br />
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Oh, and unfortunately I don't have a name or a link for the lady who did a double-take and came skidding back to our table when she saw my print of <a href="http://buml0r.deviantart.com/#/d2zr2q7">Karl Pilkington.</a> A dedicated fellow Pilkingtonian, her collection is as big as ours, having all the old XFM shows etc. Those things really help if you've got a long drawing project on, so I <a href="http://www.pilkipedia.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page">recommend them strongly.</a> She had to whizz off before we could find out who she was, I think she was involved with the filming that was going on in the other room.<br />
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And if you've sat through all THAT, then I think you should go away at once and do something really worthwhile for an hour or so, just to make up for it. You may have noticed that I only really mentioned people, rather than events that happened during the day - that's because I sat still behind the desk all day and attended not one of the arranged activities, sorry about that. But most of the people mentioned above have things they'd like to show you, so make sure you follow the various links. The point is, we had a fantastic time, and sent more people away with our things than ever before. If you're one of those people and hadn't heard of us before now, then you're the best and I'm waving at you through the screen. Hello! Don't go away, we've got new comics coming really soon!<br />
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See you all at Thought Bubble hopefully. In closing, here's this again:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I didn't even have to really pester Mr Ross much in order to get this photo.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.abigailryder.com/bulmer/DTJR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>Dave Bulmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034543653023813112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734448693993915121.post-70872401483781770462010-10-23T03:41:00.000-07:002010-10-23T03:41:03.719-07:00Dumpy Little Demon TomatoWow! It's been a fair while hasn't it. You'd be forgiven for shaking me about and asking just who I think I am for spending so long not talking to you. But there comes a time when you realise that <i>writing</i><em> about</em> your comic is all well and good, but if there's no new issue on the horizon then you should sometimes shut up and <i>make</i> one.<br />
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So that's what I've been doing! You're looking at a harvest of newly sun-ripened Demon Tomato #3, pressed onto the purest board in all of Bristol<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">and ready for transfer to a computer, the majority of it having already been so transferred. As a result, you'll be seeing a third issue of my comic very soon, preferably in time for Thought Bubble in Leeds next month, but if this last year has been any indication of anything at all then I shouldn't make silly promises like that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The past year, in case you were bereft of anything else to wonder, has been a bit of a freefall into having to do things for us at Dumpy Little Robot. </span><span style="font-size: small;">(That's myself and Abby Ryder, in case you didn't know, now presenting ourselves at comic conventions under a name borrowed from Demon Tomato #2 - more on the subject of conventions later.) On the brief occasions when it wasn't work this year, it was other appointments with the unavoidable, and so the going has been slow on issue three. Which is to say, it's been faster than ever before, but there's been more of it, so it's been about the same. That's due to be changed when I begin issue <i>four...</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"> but that's for another update.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">For now, all you need to know is that Demon Tomato #3 is going to be pretty downright wickular, and it's going to be it fairly soon.</span>Dave Bulmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034543653023813112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734448693993915121.post-16212093103859229712009-11-23T04:06:00.000-08:002009-11-23T07:40:50.104-08:00Issue Two Premiers At Thought Bubble!Issue two is here! I'll be setting up a Paypal link for you to get a copy as soon as I can, but until then if you're in the UK then you can always email me and I'll sort one out for you.<br />
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And it arrived just in time for Thought Bubble, a great big newish but already full-scale comics convention in Leeds, at which I had a table on Saturday. Look, here's a photo of me drawing something festive and, according to one commentator after he saw the picture, "look[ing] about fourteen". You can see the new issue there in the foreground at the bottom of the picture, right next to a sneaky peak at something yet to come!<br />
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You should click all these pictures so you can see them properly. The power of Christmas compels you.<br />
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As you can see I had some prints available on the day, some of my own and some by Abby Ryder, but mostly collaborations between the two of us, and mostly taken from last year's Advent-ure Calendar. That's the thing we do in December, stories about the young Santa's early adventures, with a different illustrated episode posted every day. We're putting together a website to host previous episodes currently, so I'll show you that when it's ready.<br />
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Here I am selling something to someone. Note the actual Demon Tomato in the foreground, which one girl's instinct was to squish in her hand. Luckily she caught herself before she did it, realising it was a real tomato that I'd embellished with googly eyes and angry eyebrows, and not one of those squishy stress toys.<br />
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Readers should note that this isn't a plot spoiler, as the eyes were only an allusion to the title of the comic: in the comic, the Demon Tomato itself remains a perfectly normal tomato and is only mistaken for a demon by the alien warlords who want to attack Earth in order to destroy it.<br />
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The most popular of last year's smaller drawings seemed to be these:<br />
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</div>The PE teacher (or "games master") at Elf School, where the young Santa learned all the tricks of his trade and helped save the world from the Antisanta.<br />
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Mr Blessed, the Beard Growing teacher, whose role, like his voice, cannot be understated.<br />
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Those were the pictures of mine most chuckled at by visitors, along with Abby's excellent painting of Santa vs. King Emperor Titan, which you should click on to see all of:<br />
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You can (and should) look at more of Abby's Santa Versus illustrations <a href="http://abigailryder.blogspot.com/">on her blog.</a><br />
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Thanks to everyone who came and bought things, or just stood at the table for a natter*, and to our pals Tom & Jaime for ferrying all my boxes and equipment (and self) to Leeds, and all the genuinely really helpful staff Lisa's gathered together to run Thought Bubble. By all accounts it was a very comfortable convention to work at!<br />
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Remember to email me for your copy of issue two (it's dead good, and only a couple of quid), and stay tuned for info about the lots and lots and lots of pictures I've now got to draw very quickly over the next few weeks.<br />
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* A Snatter natter.<br />
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</a>Dave Bulmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034543653023813112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734448693993915121.post-837598111962514352009-09-08T01:21:00.002-07:002012-04-15T19:37:07.210-07:00ISSUE TWO!Yes! Great! I've finally finished every little silly bit and bob that I needed to do to get this issue right, wrapped it all up, and sent it off to the printers. Sounds easy, doesn't it, but <i>so many bits</i> and <i>so very many bobs</i> kept coming up that the whole place is swarming with them now. I've got a folder full to brimming with extra pages and things I decided ought to go in, which means that Demon Tomato #2, which was originally much shorter than the positively bumper first issue, is now exactly the same length but with <i>more</i> pages of actual comic than issue one!<br />
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I'm pretty excited about it, so to celebrate, here are three pages of it! These are consecutive pages, so it's a nice chunk out of the middle for you to sink your special reading-teeth into. You can of course click these to make them all big and readable.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SqYXPyTzauI/AAAAAAAAAD8/gHKgPo2cBes/s1600-h/DT2-08.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379012364910947042" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SqYXPyTzauI/AAAAAAAAAD8/gHKgPo2cBes/s400/DT2-08.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 283px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SqYXdUdTCII/AAAAAAAAAEE/0CMgDa4sArY/s1600-h/DT2-09.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379012597415872642" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SqYXdUdTCII/AAAAAAAAAEE/0CMgDa4sArY/s400/DT2-09.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 283px;" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SqYXzlKQ3TI/AAAAAAAAAEM/B3y8lveQyCk/s1600-h/DT2-10.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379012979856563506" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SqYXzlKQ3TI/AAAAAAAAAEM/B3y8lveQyCk/s400/DT2-10.jpg" style="display: block; height: 400px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 283px;" /></a><br />
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If you happen to have read issue one already, those pages do contain a rather big clue about how the cliffhanger is resolved, but I've shown you them anyway because the really interesting part is what happens immediately <i>after</i> it's resolved, which isn't spoiled here. The pages also give you an example of the comic's tendency to wander off and spend narrative time with previously non-speaking (or completely unmentioned) characters, which you've already seen if you've read the page where it skips off to look at what's going on in the throws of a sweet little alien war. That's a few blog posts ago, if you haven't.<br />
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So! Demon Tomato issue #2 will be available hopefully in a short few weeks, and if fate bends itself to my favour I might even have them in time for the British International Comics Show in October. If not, or even if so, there's no reason to think it won't be available at Thought Bubble in Leeds shortly afterwards.<br />
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Meanwhile, here's the cover, with colours by <a href="http://abigailryder.blogspot.com/">Abby Ryder.</a><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SqYbprh9MtI/AAAAAAAAAEU/3ZfWfDN4HZs/s1600-h/DT2-Cover-blog.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379017207814370002" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SqYbprh9MtI/AAAAAAAAAEU/3ZfWfDN4HZs/s400/DT2-Cover-blog.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 286px;" /></a><br />
That's what it looks like! Remember it! This issue's pretty good, you'll want to get this when it comes out. (Just a bit of subliminal advertising there. You probably won't even notice it.)Dave Bulmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034543653023813112noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734448693993915121.post-35533237772465275652009-06-16T13:00:00.000-07:002009-06-16T13:56:38.463-07:00A Comic Without RulesI was at Wirral Grammar School for boys today. Don't worry, I was invited. There's a class there who are working on producing their own comics, as a fun end of term project. I was asked to come and talk to the class about comics, how to reasonably go about making them, and what different sorts of comics there are.<p>This being the future, they had a laser display board that I was able to project images onto, so I blew up one of Chris Ware's incredibly complex diagram comics. He does these amazing things where there's no starting point, no end, panels and pathways knitted together in very unusual ways, and not even a correct way up. You just have to start somewhere, anywhere, and let the comic pull you along until you come out with your head spinning, but having read an extremely immersive and rich comic. The comic in question is the one that you come to about a page into (at least the paperback edition of) Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Boy on Earth, which you should all go and read if you haven't already. I'd love to post it here, but obviously it isn't mine.</p><p>I'll tell you something that is, though.</p><p>I showed them this because I'd just finished showing them something not nearly as brilliant, but conceptually related, which I'd like to show you as well. </p><p>When I was six years old, I decided I wanted to draw picture-stories. I didn't even know about comics, I just knew that a picture was like a snapshot of a story, so in theory you could tell a whole story just using pictures. But I didn't know about the rules or the traditions of comics - even the simple ones like reading from left to right - so I had to make them up.</p><p>I remember wanting to devise a layout that would let me tell a whole story on one page using loads and loads of tiny little images, but that would let the reader know at a glance who the comic was about. The idea was that if you had lots of them, and you knew which character you wanted to read about, you could easily pick the one you wanted just by flicking through them.</p><p>This is what I came up with.</p><br /><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/Sjf8taB5SkI/AAAAAAAAADs/cpzIpoZabiw/s1600-h/Omni+4+Original.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 251px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/Sjf8taB5SkI/AAAAAAAAADs/cpzIpoZabiw/s320/Omni+4+Original.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348020939537336898" /></a></p><p>Just looks like a scribbly mess - it's interesting, but it isn't actually readable. When I found this page a year or so ago I thought I'd never make sense of it. I could tell the two figures at the bottom were the two main characters (the at-a-glance filing system I was talking about), but I thought that was all I could work out. But then I noticed the page is covered in little arrows, pointing from one panel to the next. If I could work out where they all led, I might be able to read the comic!</p><p>And in the end, having made sense of it all, I drew this:</p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/Sjf_KqiICAI/AAAAAAAAAD0/e9L1lLtTAT0/s1600-h/Omni+4+Revised.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/Sjf_KqiICAI/AAAAAAAAAD0/e9L1lLtTAT0/s400/Omni+4+Revised.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348023641206949890" /></a></p><p>You can click that to see the full-size giant new version of the comic. A completely re-drawn version of the exact same comic, but this time easy to read, easy to see, and with easy-to-follow arrows pointing the way. Feel free to compare the two and satisfy yourself that I haven't cheated by changing the story, this is a 100% faithful remake of an epic infant-school opus. I think you'll enjoy it, if rambling stories about nothing by a six year old are the sort of thing you like. And if they're not, what's wrong with you?</p><p>If anyone who was actually present in the class is reading this, and I didn't have time to answer your questions, either leave a comment here, or if you'd prefer to email me then my address is in my profile. Dr Warren has it as well though, so if you'd rather ask her to send something on to me I'm sure she'll be happy to.</p><p>Thanks for listening, chaps!</p><p>Oh, and I did find that video in the end, with the pig and the wolf guy and all the photos. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmkLlVzUBn4">It's here.</a></p>Dave Bulmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034543653023813112noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734448693993915121.post-67977060931681519762009-03-29T17:31:00.001-07:002009-03-29T18:15:39.883-07:00Issue two character previews<p>Continuing the Bits Of Issue Two theme, here are a handful of drawings taken from the pages of Demon Tomato #2. I didn't want to ruin the story (having done a fine job of that in the comic itself, arf arf), so here they are removed from their dialogue and existing just as little colourful pixies in the blog-o-sky. Colourful being an important word, because they've been coloured specially for presentation here. Well, and <a href="http://buml0r.deviantart.com/art/Little-Demon-Tomato-People-117525247">there.</a></p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SdAcLjSakzI/AAAAAAAAADE/Zbd07MoOLCY/s1600-h/Demon+Tomato+Issue+2+Preview+Characters+-+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 328px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SdAcLjSakzI/AAAAAAAAADE/Zbd07MoOLCY/s400/Demon+Tomato+Issue+2+Preview+Characters+-+1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318782144701174578" /></a><br /></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SdAcEWeZa0I/AAAAAAAAAC8/223szZX-xOQ/s1600-h/Demon+Tomato+Issue+2+Preview+Characters+-+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 344px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SdAcEWeZa0I/AAAAAAAAAC8/223szZX-xOQ/s400/Demon+Tomato+Issue+2+Preview+Characters+-+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318782021002685250" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SdAb8RBoI3I/AAAAAAAAAC0/BxZytDF9V4A/s1600-h/Demon+Tomato+Issue+2+Preview+Characters+-+3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SdAb8RBoI3I/AAAAAAAAAC0/BxZytDF9V4A/s400/Demon+Tomato+Issue+2+Preview+Characters+-+3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318781882100884338" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SdAbg9AognI/AAAAAAAAACs/Zb0o3AC33hE/s1600-h/Demon+Tomato+Issue+2+Preview+Characters+-+4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 356px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SdAbg9AognI/AAAAAAAAACs/Zb0o3AC33hE/s400/Demon+Tomato+Issue+2+Preview+Characters+-+4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318781412871537266" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SdAbcStSqII/AAAAAAAAACk/D0s2K87ddaU/s1600-h/Demon+Tomato+Issue+2+Preview+Characters+-+5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 252px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SdAbcStSqII/AAAAAAAAACk/D0s2K87ddaU/s400/Demon+Tomato+Issue+2+Preview+Characters+-+5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318781332796647554" /></a>Dave Bulmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034543653023813112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734448693993915121.post-87552186406574359872009-03-27T12:13:00.001-07:002009-03-27T12:43:10.349-07:00Another issue? Really?<p>First of all, here are cats. <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/Sc0m-jrgd0I/AAAAAAAAABc/bR4Gz7jYRAo/s1600-h/MothersDayCats.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317949591165892418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 342px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/Sc0m-jrgd0I/AAAAAAAAABc/bR4Gz7jYRAo/s400/MothersDayCats.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></p><p>They're from the second issue of The Demon Tomato, which is getting finished off right now, ready for print some time very soon. They were coloured especially to be turned into a mothers' day card, on the basis that they're cuddly without being horrendous, so here they are presented in full living colour. The second issue is slightly slow going, because I'm still entangled in a lengthy battle with a malfunctioning computer, but the actual drawing and inking is going very well.<br /></p><p>"But!" You say, if you've read the comic, and if you haven't you can pretend to have by nodding and pretending you said "But! I very plainly saw at the end of the first issue several drawings from the second. What's the story, is it done or isn't it?"</p><p>Well, it is, and in fact it already was when I printed issue one. But there have been problems with it, one of them being that it didn't have the right number of pages to make up the numbers you need to print something. To that end I've been drawing some new pages, telling some bits of story that I should've told in the first place anyway.</p><p>And here is one such page, this is the latest new page for issue two, presented here in full because I don't think it's got any particular story spoilers in it.</p><p>Enjoy! And click on it to enjoy it bigger, big enough to read.</p><p></p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/Sc0qoe73CiI/AAAAAAAAABs/Ld01aQqXvZo/s1600-h/DT2-Alcove.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317953609981692450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 283px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/Sc0qoe73CiI/AAAAAAAAABs/Ld01aQqXvZo/s400/DT2-Alcove.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></p>There! If you did enjoy, read the rest of the comic when it comes out. Meanwhile the first issue is <a href="http://snipurl.com/3fm2h">still available, hint hint.</a> <p>If you live in Manchester like I do, you can find the comic on sale in two places without having to wait for it to arrive in the post. Travelling Man, that nice comic shop in the Northern Quarter (over the zebra crossing between Forbidden Planet and Affleck's), and Sandbar, which is a pub just near the Man Met art building on Oxford Road. Which, if you've never looked at the writing on it, is the one that's got a little park in front of it where the fruit cart is. You know the place. Cross the road and head up the road you can head up and it's on the left. Yeah, there. No, on the - yeah.</p>Dave Bulmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034543653023813112noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734448693993915121.post-17272907144984559382008-12-28T03:46:00.000-08:002008-12-28T18:05:12.451-08:00Christmas!Keen-eyed, dull-lifed people will be readily aware that I haven't updated this blog since October. Now, I know what you're thinking, you're thinking that's because I'm very lazy aren't you? But no! Emphatically and pleadingly no. I've been fairly prolific in November and really prolific in December, because I have been doing this:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SVgN-XzpGiI/AAAAAAAAABM/bHfUM_CaUBc/s1600-h/Snatavity-blog.jpg"><br /><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SVgN-XzpGiI/AAAAAAAAABM/bHfUM_CaUBc/s400/Snatavity-blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284989527912946210" /></a><br /> <br />Advent-ure Calendar 2008!<br /><br />This is a thing that I do each year at the SA forums, the premise of which is a bit complicated but goes something like: I play an exciteable, illiterate child, who wants to help out those who don't have an advent calendar by sharing his. His turns out to be magic or silly in some way, everyone ends up sucked into the ancient adventures of Santa during his early life, and fun times, or at least times, are had. All of this is presented in the form of several posts to a thread, at least one per day, in which the child talks the readers through what today's door (or "dore") looks like, and what chocolate is in it. But with time travel and characters from Christmas films.<br /><br />This year, the whole process has been exhausting! I did start early, just like I promised myself I would, but there's just something about a deadline, isn't there. Until December actually began, I was drawing bits of it here and there, not really getting very much done. Just like last year, it was only when I found myself actually having to do it, really <i>having </i>to do it right now otherwise it wouldn't get done, that I started to really do it. Unlike last year, the workload was something like a a hundred billion times more, because I decided to use proper, (arguably) full-quality illustrations instead of the crude MSPaints of previous years. If I was going to spend December whacking together a lot of drawings, I reasoned, I'd better make them good enough to put in the portfolio afterwards.<br /><br />Abby liked the idea, and agreed to help. In the end she did what she has described as "some," and I'd insist was at least as much work as I contributed.<br /><br />In short, the day after Boxing Day was a huge relief, and although I've already ended up doing a new job for someone, it's still a huge relief to have this big project out of the way. When every day's the big deadline, it can get overwhelming.<br /><br />I'll be posting some more of the drawings we produced for it on this here blog soon, but if you can bear to read something badly spelled (don't worry, it's deliberate!), then you can find the whole story <a href="http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3022176">RIGHT HERE!</a><br /><br /><br />So, soon I'll have the opportunity to get back to work on the Demon Tomato. Issue two is finished in all but reality, so it won't be long before I'll be able to stitch the thing together and start selling it alongside issue one. Although the print run is fresh and shiny, the actual original pages of the comic are starting decidedly to yellow and curl, and those are the ones that survived that time I left them next to an open window in a storm. So it'll be a quite exciting prospect to actually have a second issue done now that I'm a grownup and can produce these things a lot faster - and that of course will open the door to printing issues three and four, which are new, just about fully pencilled, and dangerously close to being fairly goodish.<br /><br />What I'm saying is this: if you liked the Advent-ure Calendar, please try reading my comic. It's quite nice, it displays some potential, and it is available precisely <a href="http://snipurl.com/3fm2h">HERE.</a>Dave Bulmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034543653023813112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734448693993915121.post-29010698534571033792008-10-05T16:46:00.000-07:002008-10-05T18:00:33.273-07:00Demon Tomato in BirminghamI spent this weekend at the Birmingham comic con, where people dynamically woosh around and look all futuristic and exciting, like this:<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SOlVUqcR-AI/AAAAAAAAAA0/2ErjBDHAfXo/s1600-h/Dynamic.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SOlVUqcR-AI/AAAAAAAAAA0/2ErjBDHAfXo/s400/Dynamic.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253824253783046146" /></a><br /><br />Actually, they don't! They look normal - but that's what they look like if you accidentally have your camera on the wrong setting all weekend! But blurry or not, that's where we were, selling copies of the Demon Tomato to unsuspecting passers-by, as part of the Manchester Comix Collective table.<br /><br />Here I am at our table, along with Lizz Lunney. I hadn't met her before, but when I was reading through her comics I giggled so much she thought I was making fun of the customers or something. Not pictured, Adam Cadwell and Chris Doherty, who were both there and had comics on sale (also brilliant - an autobiographical comic-strip and a high-school murder-mystery B-movie homage story (did I get that right Adam?) respectively), they just weren't actually sitting there at that moment, and Abby Ryder, who was drawing sketches of superheroes for people and taking pictures of us.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SOlX7w6IqcI/AAAAAAAAAA8/-_lFZX9Qbv4/s1600-h/MCCTable.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SOlX7w6IqcI/AAAAAAAAAA8/-_lFZX9Qbv4/s400/MCCTable.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253827124557031874" /></a><br /><br />Our favourite customer of the day was this young lady, but we forgot to ask what her name was, so I can't thank her properly yet. (Sorry!)<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SOldfc2XTlI/AAAAAAAAABE/spw4qkL0JEo/s1600-h/BestCustomer.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SOldfc2XTlI/AAAAAAAAABE/spw4qkL0JEo/s400/BestCustomer.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253833235205934674" /></a><br /><br />She came and spoke with us for a while about how she hadn't been interested in comics until recently, when she'd seen some of her brothers' comics and thought they looked pretty good. Then she went looking round the whole con, and eventually brought her family back to us to pick up a Demon Tomato. Now she's got her own comic and doesn't have to peer over her brothers' shoulders any more.<br /><br />You never know, she might think it's really rubbish - but she didn't seem the shy type. I'm hoping if there's anything she doesn't like about the comic, she'll march over and tell me what it is, and help me make the next ones better.<br /><br />So, thanks to everyone who stopped by our table and bought a copy of the comic, and of course to everyone who bought other Manchester Comix Collective things as well. The aim is to get as many people looking at our work as we can.<br /><br />The rest of you can read the comic by following the link in the previous post, below this one...Dave Bulmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034543653023813112noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734448693993915121.post-47696354772951404812008-10-02T16:15:00.001-07:002012-04-15T19:39:54.605-07:00Demon Tomato: YOU CAN READ IT NOW.<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SOVpJpJVeMI/AAAAAAAAAAU/EHq-aGjyWgg/s1600-h/IbbleObble.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252720154782300354" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SOVpJpJVeMI/AAAAAAAAAAU/EHq-aGjyWgg/s400/IbbleObble.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><span style="font-size: 85%;">Yes! It's the moment you've all remembered happening! (I know you haven't been waiting for it, because I know nobody reads this blog yet, but one day someone might, and then they'll remember this happening!)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">The Demon Tomato is finally on sale, and it's in all sorts of places should you wish to read it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">You can get it at:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Travelling Man, a chain comic shop that's all about being bright, airy and family-friendly as opposed to dark and dungeonesque. There are a few of these shops dotted about, but Demon Tomato is currently stocked in the Manchester and Newcastle branches. If you're actually bothered enough to do this, you can also ask the staff to call the Manchester branch, who will happily send them a copy for you. They're really pleasant, try it. Even if you don't want the comic you should try it, just so you can see how nice they all are. Plus you should read the comic.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">The other place you will find Demon Tomato is the <a href="http://www.thecomicsshow.co.uk/">Birmingham International Comics Show!</a> It is happening on Saturday and Sunday at something called the "Think Tank". You'll know it because it's a great huge building somewhere near the train station with "THINK TANK" written on it, and lots of people in Decepticon T-Shirts walking to and fro around the perimeter. In fact, if you spot any obvious geek parties anywhere in Birmingham, follow them, you'll end up there. I have done this before, it works.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">You'll find this comic on the <a href="http://manchestercomixcollective.ning.com/">Manchester Comix Collective</a> table.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Now, assuming I'm right about having no readers (and why should I have, I don't know how to get any and so haven't done it), you won't be reading this until the con has finished anyway. So that's an opportunity missed. But there's still that web link and the Travelling Man shops.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">This is what the comic looks like:</span><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SOVp7bnclaI/AAAAAAAAAAk/03wXZLQ2iiA/s1600-h/Demon_Tomato___Cover_by_Buml0r.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252721010143958434" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SOVp7bnclaI/AAAAAAAAAAk/03wXZLQ2iiA/s400/Demon_Tomato___Cover_by_Buml0r.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">So keep an eye out for that. And in the spirit of giving, here's a work-in-progress panel from issue three, which has a drawing I'm particularly fond of, a very bendy picture of the comic's main villain, Mister Cherrycrumble.</span><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SOVvRfF20wI/AAAAAAAAAAs/Msg6oBx_9-Q/s1600-h/crazybells.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252726886592074498" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SOVvRfF20wI/AAAAAAAAAAs/Msg6oBx_9-Q/s400/crazybells.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>Dave Bulmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034543653023813112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734448693993915121.post-57470685038961786812008-07-10T15:35:00.000-07:002008-12-09T11:04:47.967-08:00A Box of Comics<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/1746/boxkc0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/1746/boxkc0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">That, if you can't tell, is a box of comics. There were a hundred of them in there when the picture was taken, and if you're reading this it means, at this early stage, that you have probably read one of them.<br /><br />That's right, this is a photograph of a comic <span style="font-style: italic;">you've read, </span>back before it ever ventured inside a comic shop. There, already I've made it worth your while following that link on the back cover, haven't I? No? Well it's all I've got, you're just going to have to lower your expectations or something. Go on, lower them now, and then w</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">e can carry </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">on.<br /><br />Now you've done that, you'll be very excited to hear that those are one hundred copies of the same issue of the same comic, The Demon Tomato #1, and that I have a box full of it because I made it!<br /><br />I think it's safe to say that most people whose job it is to write or draw comics has a Pet Project, the sort of thing they think of as Their Main Thing, that we work on (or, more usually, plan to work on) between jobs. This is mine. We have to try and stop ourselves from talking about these, because we almost always end up sounding mad or delusional, talking about what sounds to everyone else like some daft old nonsense, but calling it "my <span style="font-style: italic;">real</span> stuff," or, "my <span style="font-style: italic;">personal</span> work." I've caught myself saying similar things myself, but if I ever say it to you, don't believe me. This isn't in any way real or serious, it is precisely some daft old nonsense. But I reckon there are enough people who like daft nonsense to warrant my going ahead and making it anyway.<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Yep, this box is the result of what should have been a few weeks' doodling but (as is often the way) turned out actually to require multiple years of drawing, re-drawing, re-imagining, publishing, re-imagining again, re-drawing, re-re-drawing and finally fiddling endlessly with the protoforms of ideas that eventually became The Demon Tomato. And of course, all those years and all those revisions mean I've got what amounts to a fair bit of "behind-the-scenes" gubbins to show anyone tedious enough to be interested in what goes on "behind the scenes" of a man drawing something on a bit of paper. Is that you? Is that how bored you are? Then READ ON!<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SHaR8y_FvcI/AAAAAAAAAAM/JDX50wJOqQs/s1600-h/Hold.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BRCUk-D8J4k/SHaR8y_FvcI/AAAAAAAAAAM/JDX50wJOqQs/s320/Hold.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221521291647237570" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">And look at that. This is it fresh out of the box from the printers', looking all glossy and done-up, like a proper comic or something. When your job is to draw pictures for companies - and mine is, by the way, I should have said that earlier. I draw or colour or ink things for people, often for kids' magazines like you might find on the shelf in the supermarket - you get used to seeing something you've drawn printed nicely and on professional-looking paper and so on. But when everything in it is yours, not just a few drop-in illustrations, it feels quite different to receive a boxload of it in the post. I heartily recommend it to anyone, and hopefully with future updates I can go on a bit about how to do it.<br /><br />You don't need me to, mind. It's not very tricky in this day and age, the hardest part is bothering to knock together twenty-something pages of artwork (thirty-something, in this case,) busy as we can all be. But m</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">aybe if I talk about how I did it, the next comics genius might read it and realise they could have boxes full of glossy copies of their own pet project by now. And then they'll produce lavish pages of exquisite artwork, and it will break records and we'll all love it, and mine will look like utter rubbish in comparison and then I'll probably wish I'd kept my mouth shut in the first place.<br /><br />In the meantime, here's what a hundred copies of something looks like:<br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.abigailryder.com/demontomato/DT1-100copies.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.abigailryder.com/demontomato/DT1-100copies.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span>Dave Bulmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034543653023813112noreply@blogger.com4