Anthology Update & Thought Bubble 2013

Welcome to 2014 everybody!

Long time no see.  It's been a whirlwind over at Water Closet headquarters!  Last time we saw you we had just gone to print with our mighty anthology and were about to head off to Thought Bubble.  We got the chance to meet some of our fine contributors while we were there and give them some copies of the book, still warm from the printing machine. They were only delivered (by hand!) to us that morning by the omnipotent Stuart Gould, and nothing compares to that feeling when we first opened the first box and laid eyes on the beauts.  It was a treat to share that with many of you, and get such positive feedback from passers by.

Sitting directly to our left was Adam & Hillary Steel, the fine folks from Darkmook Paper Miniatures.  Adam was kind enough to do a Gentrified version of his insanely fun tabletop combat game for the back of the book (pictured below sans Were-Hyenas, of which there are 4).  For those of you awaiting the board on which to play, hold on to your butts because it will soon be available right here for free download.  You can print it out, cut out your paper figurines and have a ball. 



Get out of my kitchen!

Weren't at Thought Bubble, you say? Where can you get your hands on a copy of The Irregulars, you ask?  Well, despite selling well at the convention, we still had too many books to be able to transport them back to Bristol, so at the moment our stock is in the capable hands of the Travelling Man comic shop in Leeds.  From there they will be distributed to the other Travelling Man shops (Manchester, Newcastle, York) and back down to us.  Once that happens we will finally be able to ship out copies to all the very patient individuals who lent us their talents for the book, and to those interested in buying online.

So watch this space and we'll let you know when we have our books back and ready to go!  In the meantime, go read some comics and them make some comcis.  I leave you with a comission I did of a battle damaged Gent...

Peace,

Jordan 

"Irregulars" - The Ladies & Gentlemen Anthology

The Water Closet Press is very pleased to announce that our very first anthology has been finished and sent off to press.  Featuring the work of some 28 contributors and 20-something stories, it's coming in at a whopping 136 pages.

We will be launching the book at this year's Thought Bubble in under a fortnight's time. Pop by our table and pick one up, then walk around the convention in hunt of signatures from all other contributors in attendance. Collect five, meet us at the after party and we'll get you a pint. Probably.

The Irregulars be also available at any subsequent conventions that we attend (TBA), online through UKcomics, and on the shelves of select comic book retailers (TBA).

See you in the funny books folks.

Love,
Rik and Jordan

Bear Pit Cover Art and The Bristol Comic & Zine Fair 2013

Greetings, frequenters of the Water Closet (by the way: eat some fibre).

I'm happy to have my artwork feature on the cover of the upcoming Bear Pit Zine #7, focused around the theme of Time. BPZ #7 will be available at the Bristol Comic & Zine Fair (continue reading below for deets), and on the Bear Pit website after that.

  Old tree, old man, old paper: the "deep time" that nature operates on is something that oak trees are far more familiar with than wee creatures like us. And stuff like that.

I forgot to post my contribution to the last issue (#6 if you're counting along), Flight, which I adapted from an unpublished comic I made a while ago about Carl Sagan.  I've been unable to display it anywhere else due to copyright reasons - a shame because I was quite proud of it - but this version gave me the chance to showcase it, albeit in a re-worked and re-imagined form.

The folks behind Bear Pit Zines are also the masterminds of The Bristol Comic & Zine Fair which is returning for its third year on Saturday 5th October. This time 'round it has expanded from the basement of Cafe Kino (its past home) to the glorious studio space of The Station. 

Water Closet Press will be 1 of the 40 exhibitors at the event (as well as the afterparty following the Fair, and probably the pre-party on Friday), so if you are in or around Bristol that weekend, be sure to come on down to see some fantastic creators and celebrate the world of independent publishing with us.  

End transmission,
Jordan

London MCM / Anthology Announcement

We regret to inform you that, due to a massive oversight on our part, Water Closet Press will unfortunately not be able to attend the upcoming London MCM Expo in October.  

While this is indeed terribly sorrowful news and Rik and I are both crestfallen, it does mean that having our Ladies & Gentlemen Anthology ready in time for the convention is a bit pointless. And that means that the 1st October deadline is also moot.  So, if you are currently working on your story -- ink stains on your cuffs, 3 inches of cigarette ash piling at your feet, black rings around your eyes and 7 gallons of black coffee in your bladder -- lift up your weary heads.  Cast your eyes on the calendar and behold:

THE NEW DEADLINE FOR ANTHOLOGY SUBMISSIONS IS THE 1ST OF NOVEMBER 2013.

Just in time for a Thought Bubble launch. If you were wanting to contribute before but didn't have enough time, now is the perfect chance to hop on board (click here for submission details).  Hopefully we can use this opportunity to re-double our efforts and get even more fantastic creators involved and make this collection even stronger than it already is.

Apologies again to all our current contributors who have carefully budgeted their schedules, or if you were hoping to see us (or the anthology) in October.  But we assure you that there will be no such proverbial ball-dropping with Thought Bubble, that most sacred of conventions.

And may God have mercy on our souls,
Rik & Jordan

Ladies & Gentlemen Anthology Preview

Oh hello,

By this time next month, all the artwork for our upcoming Ladies & Gentlemen anthology will be in the capable hands of Mr. Stuart Gould of UKComics, diligently being bound together in what is shaping up to be one heckuva book.  We thought we would give you but a glimpse of some of the splendorous comic-ry that has been trickling into the Water Closet Press inbox.  

Check out the websites and so forth of the contributors pictured above:

Jamie Lewis

Petri Hannini

Alfie Gallagher

Chris Mole & Brendan Purchase

Tony LaVella & Rafael Desquitado Jr.

Tony LaVella & Pyrink

Luke Halsall & Gavin Pollack

Biz Stringer Horne

Marco Brunello

Pete Taylor

And we have other confirmed stories and images not yet gazed upon, including but not limited to:

Dino Caruso & Dario Garofalo

Matthew Duncan

Chris Redfern & Darren Mullen

Sarah Rowles

Wait till you see the whole thing!  What a joy it is to see so much talent all joining hands and frolicking about in the blossoming fields of small press. And playing jumprope, perhaps.

Release Date and Convention Schedule:

The Ladies & Gentlemen Anthology (title to be announced) will be available at the LONDON MCM EXPO on 26-27th October.* Before that we will also be at the BRISTOL COMIC & ZINE FAIR on the 5th October (but without the anthology), and then in Leeds at THOUGHT BUBBLE on the 23rd-24th November (with the anthology, hooray).  Hope to see you at one/all of those  *(EDIT: We will no longer be attending MCM and will be launching the anthology at Thought Bubble instead).

Signing off,
Jordan