Arthur Machen: The Accidental Propagandist

I want to be a Machen man!

 Hello again,

     We'd like to share something we did last year for the To Arms! comic anthology commemorating the 100th anniversary of the First World War.  It's a great collection if you can get your hands on it (available from Limehouse Comics and from Gosh! comic shop in London).

Our particular comic centres on the true story of esteemed Welsh fantasy author Arthur Machen, and how one of his short stories, "The Angels of Mons" was adopted as a piece of rallying wartime misinformation.  You can read more about Machen here (Guardian article) and here (The Quietus feature).  He's a pretty fascinating guy, largely lost to history.

We're not entirely sure why it's taken us until now to upload it, but here it is...

 

Man Will Fly

Hello fellow humans,

We were honoured to be included in this year's charity Thought Bubble Anthology alongside some fantastic creators.  Here is the one-page story we contributed (featuring definitely Not-Superman and Not-Chris Hadfield)...  

It is meant to portray the character as an embodiment of human aspiration, hope, optimism, the Spirit of Progess - you know, all those old-fashioned notions - and was written as a kind of antidote to what Richard describes as the growing "Man of Steel vs Man of Tomorrow" dichotomy.

Here's what The Big Comic Page had to say about the comic:

"Providing an impressively poignant perspective on an invulnerable “Superman”-esque character, this feels like a complete, self-contained story of man’s curious relationship with this hero, and features some wonderfully sepia-tinged artwork from Collver."

Head on over to their website to see what they thought of all the other fantastic stories in the Anthology, and we hope you enjoyed our latest creation.

Until Tomorrow,
Jordan & Rik

Post Thought Bubble Post: Convention Sketches

Hello one and all,

Well, that's a wrap on another great year at Thought Bubble.  Besides the river flooding over into the streets, the weekend in Leeds went off without a hitch (except for the fact that Jordan's pens were perpetually drying up).  Thank you to everyone who stopped by the table to look at our stuff.  It's always a pleasure talking to readers and fellow comics creators.  Here is some photographic evidence of what went on at our table...

It's us!

Daredevil vs Punisher

Batman: good thing he remembered his cagoule

Bojack: the man who is also a horse

Another satisfied customer of Jeff Goldblum

The mighty (and obscure) Klamos. I ran out of space in his speech bubble...

The mid-con party was a blast too.  Hip-hop legend DMC made a guest appearance, for example.  A big shout out to all the organisers and volunteers who made the weekend possible.  Hooray for Britain's best large-scale convention.

That's all for now.  Until next year!

Keep on truckin'
WCP

Houdini & Doyle: A Certain Symmetry

Hi everyone,

We are pleased to present a mini-comic about the unlikely friendship and rivalry between Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  This is a kind of proof-of-concept piece for a much larger project we have in the works called Escape! which will elaborate on the same story, themes, and ideas found here.  Although this also stands on its own.  It has been featured on Bleeding Cool, and you can have a gander below (click on each image to enlarge)...

If you'd like to see more pages like this (like... several dozen more) then please consider supporting Water Closet Press on our brand new Patreon page and help us make this comic a reality!

Thanks for reading,
Jordan & Rik

Fun fact: This comic is itself symmetrical....

Thought Bubble Approaches

Hello dear readers,

We are delighted to have a table at this year's glorious Thought Bubble comic festival in Leeds (14-15 November).  It will be our 5th appearance!  We'll be stationed at Table 84 in New Dock Hall alongside artiste-extraordinare...

 

Come say hello to us at Table 84

Look for our brand spankin' new dynamic-duo banner design.  You will then be able use this as a guide to help you recognise us in a crowd.  It will also help that we will be sitting right in front of it, perhaps even wearing the clothes depicted, in the same pose.

We will have copies of the Thought Bubble Anthology on sale (featuring yours truly), along with some new and previously-unpublished material...

To be unmasked at the convention!

And of course Issue 1 and 2, The Irregulars, and all things Ladies & Gentlemen you know and love.  I'll also be keeping myself busy by taking commissions throughout the weekend, so if you want something drawn, come and chat with me.  Hope to see all y'all there, y'all.

Y'all,
Jordan