ISSUE 2 PREVIEW - LIONS AND RATKIN AND WERE-HYENAS, OH MY!

I don't know about you, but I like to spend a while looking at the interiors of a comic before I buy it. You can never trust those fancy covers. Well we've concocted a virtual flip-through of Curse of the Were-Hyena Part 2 to give you that luxury.  Click on the image to open it on a separate page for an up close look-see...

 

...And to think we left out some of the best bits!

LONDON MCM FANS

For all those who stopped by our table and picked up a card or a comic: Thank you, thank you, and welcome to our blog!

Be sure to click on the "Ladies & Gentlemen" tab at the top of the page to read the entire Curse of the Were-Hyena Part 1 for free. Want to find out what happens next?  Go to our "Emporium" page and we'll send you a copy of Part 2.  Already have Part 2 but want a paper copy of Part 1 to complete the set?  Go to the Emporium!

If you enjoyed the comic we'd love to know what you think. Pop on over to our facebook page and give us your thoughts (and your thumbs).

We'll try to get up some pictures (I think we only took about 2) and a report of how the convention went shortly, but until then, thanks for making our first MCM a big success!  See you at Thought Bubble.

Signing off,
Jordan 
 

KEEP CALM AND BUY A POSTER

Water Closet is pleased to present you these new poster designs to accompany the release of Issue 2.  There's one for him, for her, and for everyone in between!  They will be available at this weekend's London MCM Expo and Thought Bubble in November.  If you can't make it to either, we'll keep you "posted" as to when you can order your very own copy straight from the world wide web.  We hope you enjoy them... British and so on and so forth.

 

Available in size A4 and limited stock of A3.

NORTHERN SEQUENTAL ART COMPETITION 2012

Hey ho Ladies and Gentlemen,

As issue 2 is away to the printer and you're hungering for some Water Closet goodness, why not check out our entry over at the Thought Bubble 2012 page, all the entries can be found here.

http://thoughtbubblefestival.com/events/northern-sequential-art-competition/

There are loads of entries in our category so it's going to be tight no matter what but all the entries will be on display up in Leeds City Museum for the duration of the festival.

Head on over to the Thought Bubble page to check out our entry "Something New Everyday."
Or, just take a pa-rouse below (click on the image to magnify).

England Prevails
Rik

** UPDATE **

Well the results are in and unfortunately we didn't win the competition.  But congratulations to David Parkinson for his charming comic, "Believe in Yourself".

UPCOMING EVENTS AND OTHER UPDATES

Last week, after pulling an all-nighter-and-a-half, the artwork to Ladies & Gentlemen Issue 2 was sent off to very capable hands of Stuart Gould of UKComics.   I feel like I've been working double-shifts in this last month, coming home from work and diving straight into drawing and (with my wife having long since gone to sleep) nothing to prompt me to stop but for the stinging of my eyes. Now I can sleep easy... or rather, wake up from stressful dreams of last-minute printing problems or art mistakes that don't really make sense but nonetheless can't be solved.  At least I know this happens to the writer and not just the artist; Rich told me he had a dream where I drew all the characters as X-Men and refused to see why that was stupid.  "Ladies and Gentlex-men"??

As soon as they're printed and I receive that glorious package at my doorstep, we're going to be hitting the cons and shop stands armed with some 200+ copies of Issue 2 and another 100+ copies of Issue 1.  Kicking it off will be the London MCM Expo on October 26th, the first time Rich and I have had a table there (but the second time we will have been, after our flopped experience at the Eagles Awards this past summer).  If you haven't been before, it's an insanely busy event crammed with hordes of costumed animangalescents (and the occasional disconcerting princess something-or-other with a beer belly and 5 o'clock shadow).  This should translate into being the biggest convention for team Water Closet so far and hopefully our most successful - a good launch venue for our sequel volume.  Otherwise, it's a great place to go if not just for the people-watching and should keep us endlessly entertained as the masses flow by our table in their pan-gendered garb.

After that, of course, it's up and over to Leeds for the darling of all comic conventions, Thought Bubble, where the winners of the Northern Sequential Art Competition will be announced.  I'm rather excited about our entry, so fingers crossed.  This will be the first time I'll have to travel to get there, since I've been lucky enough to live right in Leeds for the other years Thought Bubble's been going.  The consequences of moving to the South West, I suppose... but hey there's always Bristol again this May, and then Rich will have to haul his heiny down here.

Anyway, I don't know why I'm telling you all this in advance.  We should be writing about our experiences at these things when they actually happen.  Until then, the REASON I'm typing this in the first place is to let you know that ISSUE TWO IS FINALLY DONE.  It's journey to the prin-ters is now com-pLEET.  And that in the meantime every page of ISSUE ONE IS NOW ONLINE FOR FREE in dazzling technicolour (black and white) so you can catch up.  But by no means let that stop you from buying a good ol' fashioned paper and ink copy to put on your book shelf if you like it.  We're ever so poor and hungry fellows.  I'll also add shivering.  That invokes a certain pity associated with puppies, I think.  The kinds with their little ribs showing.

Ooh ooh, and we also have a little feature on Geek Syndicate this week for their "Autumn of Indie" elevator pitch.  Kinda nifty, and I'm interested to see what other independent comics crop up there.

So come on down to London or Leeds while we're there and we'd love to chat with you and put a copy or two in your hands.  If you can't make it to either of those, I'll be going around Bristol peddling our wares at the local comic shops (Excelsior looks promising), and we are available as always at Travelling Man and OK Comics in Leeds, and on our Emporium page.

Holy smokes! Being cooped up too long has clearly heightened my rambling disposition.  Time to stretch my back, (pretend to) crack my knuckles, scrub away the ink smears and hit the open road... I'm trembling with excitement.

Signing off,

Jordan 

A VICTORIAN NOIR

Howdy all, it's that time of the month again, here comes your latest Ladies and Gentlemen Short. This one is entitled "A Victorian Noir" and features guest artist Mike Pasquale, whom the eagle eyed amongst you may remember from this post. To give you a little idea of what this story is about, it started as an exercise for myself. I wanted to be able to write a story without dialogue and, luckily, having a mute character came in handy tremendously for this. I also wanted to play around with time and tell a non-linear story. I'm still unsure as to whether or not I pulled it off (let me know what you think guys) but one thing is for certain, Mike really made the characters his own and gave us an alternative of what The Gentry looks like. The Gent in a wife-beater and jacket ready to kick arse down in panel four is my favourite. So here at last "A Victorian Noir". Enjoy.

(As ever simply click on the images to enlarge)

fin.

A COAT OF MANY COVERS

I don't always get it right the first time...  But if it all goes towards a nifty looking collage in the end, it feels slightly less like wasted time. Plus if you click to zoom in, it doubles as a free game of Spot-the-Difference (they're there, I swear)!  And if that's not worth it, I don't know what is.

What the heck I was doing: I originally imagined The Lady being made of smoke. Or something.
Abandoning that idea, I arrived at the painfully obvious solution of "normal colours."

HYENA MATRIARCH SKETCH

Ladies & Gentlemen Issue 2 is filled with more horrible hybrids than ever before, including this beautiful beasty. She's a were-hyena with attitude, a fitting foe for our feisty female to fight.  Take a sneak-peek here!

Posted with Blogsy

COVER: Curse of the Were-Hyena Issue 2

Well folks, as the impending release of Issue 2 draws nigh, team Water Closet thought we'd unveil the new cover design (excited squeal). It's uncropped and all that, but I'm sure your imaginations are more than capable of removing a few millimetres from the edges. Anyways, Ta Da!

(A note from the artist: I drew this almost entirely whilst listening to the score from Game of Thrones... daaaa dah, duh-da-daaaa daahhhh duh-da daahhhhhh!) 

Issue Two Teaser

Comic Strips

Hey chaps, just a quick update. after fiddling about with the blog it's now easier than ever to find all of the post with comic strips on. Simply click on the label at the bottom of this post labelled #Comic Strip. That should collate all our single page stories and non-Ladies and Gentlemen material. If it's just The Gentry you're after, simply click the #Ladies and Gentle label. Simples.

From the Vaults of The Water Closet

Hey there guys, whilst the wait for issue two is coming to a close ( release date October 7th) and there are a few Ladies and Gentlemen short stories on there way we found this in the dusty vaults of the Water Closet, a small story written by Rik for a now defunct project called Eden Through the Barbwire. The Brief was that the story itself could be about anything so long as it related to the title of the project. Alas the project fell through, but The WCP can now proudly present to you "The Big Push" one of the first stories ever written by Rik featuring the artwork of the brilliant Mr Harold Cupec (which you can see in a hugely blown up size by clicking and zooming on each image) whose work can be seen here. so without further adieu, enjoy.

[CLICK on the image to ZOOM]

Going International

Howdy folks, boy have we got some treats in store for you in the upcoming month! But for right now I can announce that through to some research the Water Closet has gone international and can now post to North America and Europe. So if you live in either of those places, head on over to the Emporium and get yourself issue one before it runs and just in time for issue two.

Rik

Holy Moly! It's a Big ol' Issue 2 Sneak Peek

 Films get the benefit of having teasers and trailers to whet people's appetite so, heck, why not do the same for a comic eh?  It is our pleasure to present to you a few images from Ladies & Gentlemen Issue 2!  They are still very much works-in-progress, but I trust they'll do the trick to show you what else we have in store in this explosive conclusion to the Curse of the Were-Hyena story arc.  So feast your eyes and spread the word...

 Issue 2 will hit the stands in time for the London MCM Expo in October, and you'll also be able to catch us the following month for the fantastic Thought Bubble in Leeds.  Something else worth mentioning is that as of September, half of team Water Closet (I, Jordan) will have headquarters in The South, so keep an eye out in all Bristol comic shops.

Signing off,
Jordan  

Secret Origins

Hey guys just a quick post here to let you know that as ever issue two is in the works. JC will be posting exclusive artwork tomorrow, but in the meantime why not check out our buddy Tony's new website Comic Boulevard. He runs a site that keeps you up to date with some funky underground web comics not to mention our modest selves. He's about to launch a new comedy series called Kid With a Cape, and in addition to this you can check out a strip he wrote whilst at university called the Magnificent Marauders. Oh and did I mention than none other than the Water Closet's very own Jordan Collver was on art duty for his first swing at comics? Sweet huh? You can see it all here.

 See you guys tomorrow for some exclusive art.

RW

Fine Gentleman Fan Art from a Fine Gentleman

Check out these drawings by Mr. Alastair Hawkes. I'm lovin' the Gent's strongman thing!

Drip-Feed #6

Anyone following the plot of Ladies & Gents Issue 1 as it unfolds online would have noticed that the blog has skipped a few weeks of page uploads. Not to worry, page 6 is now available! Now go to the L&G page and feel that pleasant release mirrored only by the sensation of relaxing a stinging bladder. And it's good timing too, because only just last weekend Richard and I were down in London for the gargantuan MCM Expo for the Eagle Awards (more on that story to come) and we managed to slip away to the very Natural History Museum depicted on this page.  So enjoy!

Until next time,
Jordan

Bristol Expo!

So, it's been a while since our last post but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. In addition to working on issue two, we attended the Bristol Comic Expo at the Brunel Old Station in Bristol (well obviously). Looking around the interweb a lot of other exhibitors didn't find it too hot, not as busy or lucrative as previous years, but since this was only the Water Closet's second convention (the first being ThoughtBubble way back in November) we had fun and thought we got a good response. Whilst nowhere near as busy as TB we got way more interest, whether that's down to the fact that we are more comfortable with the material and pitching it to strangers or the simple fact that there was a larger focus on small/British comics is beyond my deductive ability. Needless to say we enjoyed it for the most part.

I put it down to JC's anger towards all punters.

Anywho, we sold a bunch of issue and met and bunch of great people, we finally had a chat with Dan Clifford of Sugar Glider fame (mostly about the number of mistakes in our comics respectively *). We had an interview with Jimmy Aquino for the Comic News Insider podcast and loads of other people that I'll mention in the next post, when I get the plethora of business cards we collected off of JC. No doubt when the CNI podcast goes up we'll be plastering that all over the internet!

Other highlights include the appearance of one of the Water Closet's favourite creators, Paul Grist. If you haven't already checked out Jack Staff, it's excellent. Also JC got his issues of MUDMAN signed by Grist, so that good news.

As boredom started to set in a little on the Sunday afternoon we did a bit of creator to creator trade, a nice way of seeing what else is going on in the scene, and by chance it result in the Cinebook guys commisioning Jordan to do a sketch of one of their characters. It took us a while to find out the character's name but here it is in all its glory.

Turns out Papa Shababa-bubu isn't the character's name. It's Blake from "Blake & Mortimer"

So that's a little catch up on what went down. As I say when I get the appropriate materials from JC I'll link all the other excellent people we met that weekend.

Til then, as ever, see you in the funny pages.

Rik

* This was edited in order to point out that Dan Clifford is not a shit bag who bullies other creators, he likewise pointed mistakes in Sugar Glider... what he considers mistakes anyway. Creative type's you know? A piece is never finished.

Issue 1 Drip-Feed #1

Word on the street is that if you wander over to the Ladies & Gentlemen page, there's another tantalising page from Issue 1.  If you haven't read it yet, today's your lucky day; if you have, go on and have another look for old time's sake.

That's it for this week. If you're too impatient to follow along with the class and wait until the next page upload, why not just skip ahead and buy the whole darn-tootin' issue on the Emporium page? And of course, if you have yet to vote for the Eagle Award Huntsman's Challenge we've been nominated for, please go here and check out both contestants... then vote for The Land of All Sorts (wink).

Eagle Award Nominees

Morning all. Some of you may be disappointed that there was no Teaser Tuesday this week. For that we can only apologise and instead bring you some good news. Jordan is currently on vacation with his new in-laws but on his return shall be commencing the art work for Ladies & Gentlemen Issue 2.

Another bit of outstanding news is that the Water Closet are now EAGLE NOMINATED creators in "The Huntsman's Challenge," The Eagle Awards' New Talent Competition. We were ranked first and second for story and art respectively for our short story The Land of All Sorts!

It's now down to you guys to help us go over the edge and send us to the MCM Eagles Award Ceremony in May. You can read both the nominees here (or read ours by clicking on the image above) and cast your votes... don't forget to verify by email. This would really mean so much to us and we can't thank you all enough for your support. Fingers crossed!

Furthermore, up until the release of issue 2 we will be releasing a new page of issue 1 each week meaning that issue 1 will become completely free to read online! Wowzers!

All the Best

Rik



**UPDATE**


Sadly, despite being one of the contestants to actually bother showing up, we didn't win the contest. But congrats to Alex Wilson from the US who managed to clinch it (check him out at alexwilson.com/comics/). Aside from our woefully broken hearts, we did have an otherwise great weekend in London drawing barnyard animals in undergarments for Tony Lee (who was lucky enough to win an award for his work writing for Dr. Who), and it was nifty seeing our story printed in the back of the MCM Expo programme. Next time, Gadget! Next time...

...(although there will be no next time seeing as it was announced that the Eagle Awards are now defunct).

"Ladies Night"

Much like the characters themselves, this Lady featurette is a companion to The Gent’s, picking up where the other left off. He's not The Gentleman without his Lady, and she'd finish his sentences... if he ever started any. I can only hope to one day achieve such a beautiful knife-to-the-back-of-an-assailant's-neck relationship with my new darling lady wife.

Now that the artwork phase of Ladies & Gentlemen Issue 2 is officially underway, this will be the last of the character shorts for the time being. But don't worry -- we'll still be updating the blog with news and will drip feed you with weekly page doses of Issue 1 (for those of who you who still have yet to get your own copy)!

Enjoy!
-J.C.

"Ever The Gent"

In exactly 4 days time I will be a wedman, and tonight is my bachelor party.  Accordingly, it’s a Gentleman featurette this week, in a dynamic episode I imagine will be much like this evening’s proceedings. Minus the sexual harassment, ideally. Now, witness our heavyweight hero enforcing the Gentleman’s Code of Conduct on the murky streets of Londontown…

(click on the image to enlarge)

Sorry Guys, Just fan art.

Due to a mix up here in the Water Closet headquarters (its genuinely just a toilet) there wont be a one page story this week ( "BOOO! HISSS!") and i haven't received anymore fanart. However all is not lost! i myself am a fan of the comic and had free time this afternoon so i've worked on a little image. Hope you guys like it, its got a teaser to issue 2 in it.

 I should point out that first, i suck at art and secondly the one pagers will return next week with " EVER THE GENT".... a whole new Ladies and Gentlemen Adventure.

Rik

More Fan Art

Hey Guys, here is another piece of fan art from my buddy Mike Pasquale, he is currently working on his own project call Jacob Saint. Info for which can be found here . and if you like that y'alll should follow him on twitter on @MikePasquale. His piece is the Moth and boy howdy did he make him look creepy!

Personally i love the creepy full mask. As ever if you have any fan art just let us know by finding us on twitter on on our facebook group http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ladies-and-Gentlemen/302970856398746

England Prevails.


Rik

"A Hex on Both Your Houses"

Well, it's that time again: Teaser Tuesday... hey there's 10 minutes to spare until Wednesday, it still counts. This week features The Amazing Hex Vincente in another Ladies & Gentlemen featurette. Stay tuned for more fan art, and the release of The Gent's short feature next time.  Enjoy, fine readers.

(click on the image to enlarge)

First Fan Art....wowzers!

Hey guys, as promised here is some fan art. This piece is by my good buddy and childhood friend Steven Douras. You can find his work here and here . He pretty much knocked this bad boy out of the ball the ball park. Hope you guys like it as much as we do. Hopefully more soon!

                                     Click on the image and ZOOM in to view in FULL SIZE!

Sweet!

See you all in the funny pages.

Rik

Sleight of Hand....

 Hey guys, welcome back to teaser Tuesday. This week we have the first ever Ladies and Gentlemen Story (before we even called it that) and what is essentially the creation of Hex as an older version of himself.  For those of you who visited us at Thought Bubble you may have already seen it. It was originally published in an anthology call The Sorry Entertainer by Simon Moreton , a fellow small press creator and wearer of a fantastic beard. The paper was pretty successful and we even got a couple of mentions in some shining reviews. Check them out here

http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2011/the-sorry-entertainer/

http://thingsinpanels.co.uk/

http://highlowcomics.blogspot.com/2011/09/small-press-anthologies-three-2-candy.html

Now enough shameless self promotion. Here's the story. The concept for the story is a playing card so its meant to be read in rotation. I've post it twice, once right ways up and the other wrong ways down so you dont have to strain your neck trying to read the second half. Sorry bout that guys. But here at the Water Closet we love physical comics, trust us it really works if you're holding a real copy.

Click on the image and ZOOM in to view in FULL SIZE!

And here it is upside down so you can read the second half:

Stay tuned because next weeks One page story is another Hex one. See you in the funny books.

Rik

"A Moth to The Flame"

Why hello folks. Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for but just didn't know it: The very first of 5 (or so) Ladies & Gentlement character featurettes that will be exclusively appearing right here every fortnight! We hope they will whet your appetites in the interim while we're hard at work on Issue 2. And of course, if you like what you see be sure to pop over to our fantastical Emporium page and get your very own copy of Issue 1.



Signing off,
Jordan   

Happy St. Valentine's Day, Ladies and Gentlemen

So there it is guys our valentines gift to you lot, hope you guys had a nice day. Next week Jordan and I will begin the thumbnails of issue 2. It's our favourite part of comics creation because it when we get a chance to be truely collaborative. Jordan also said he was excited about the script which means I must be doing something right. 

See you in the funny pages.

in the gutters but looking at the stars....

Hey Ladies and Gents, another post for you all here. Firstly some business, We sold out in Travelling Man Leeds and OK Comics., we are in the process of arranging some restocking but til then you can always order online from our emporium. JC (who coincidentally got engaged over Christmas, hoorah!) is working on our exclusive online one page stories whilst as of today I have finished the script for issue two.

To wet your beaks for that, we also featured in this little documentary about comics creation that some of our friends made as a third year project. Check it out here!


We've been given so much support from friends and family and would like to give a huge thank you to each and everyone of you. I hope you enjoy Ladies and Gentlemen as much as we enjoy creating it. See you in the funny pages folks.

Rik

Happy New Year!!!

Happy new year all! it's been a while since we updated but here a quick look at what we have going down. Jordan is in the process of returning from Canada as I write this. I'm writing because honestly I'm slacking somewhat. I've spent this week writing the roughest possible draft for Ladies and Gentlemen issue two. It basically has the events of each page listed with the number  and construction of panels with very basic dialogue. The following week will be spent getting this down into a digital copy, redrafting and then showing it to Jordan. In the meantime you can expect some of the following things from us;

1. A bi weekly strip. These will be one page stories that'll tell tales from around the world of L&G in the run up to the release of issue 2
2. More blogging, hopefully about upcoming projects and conventions we'll be attending.
3. Not dinosaur mafia. Alas I started doing drawings for a comic that i came up with whilst incredibly ill call Dinosaur Mafia ( its full title is Dinosaur Mafia: The Unlikely Love Story Betwixt a Small African Boy and a Root Vegetable.). I did these drawings to entertain Jordan and admittedly there was a couple of days when I had intentions to go forth into the world with my nonsensical doodles but after drafting a page I realised just how terrible and inconsistent I am and thus have decided to throw the idea away, or a least store it til I find an artist willing to do the art work or Jordan gets 100 people to say they want to see it.
4. I've started research for a big project, i don't want to give the game away right now and thus far its something i'm doing to entertain myself but if it is allowed to see the light of day i'll let you chaps know.

Anyways, that's all I got for now. In the meantime I'll be working on getting the T-Shirt available to buy online and finally getting round to writing something in the bio pages.

Rik