You don't want to get to close to that man's razor

Hi Guys,

We've made a little info comic about conspiracy theories and rational thinking. We're going to working on more of these info-comics in the future so keep your eyes peeled.

Cheers

Rik and Jordan

Coming soon!

Hi guys,

we've been away for a while working on a bunch of things that hopefully you'll all get to see in the next few weeks. We've been working alongside Psychologist/Magician Richard Wiseman ( learn more about this excellent chap here.)

We're also putting a bunch of stuff together for the Creators for Creators grant that will allow us to take some time off work to dedicate ourselves to working on Escape. Fingers crossed this will come through and you'll be able  to pick a copy up in a year or so.

I (Rik) have been writing some articles about comics and pop culture that are floating around the ether and JC has been working on some excellent posters for various factions. I'll get him to throw some stuff up on here as soon as possible.

The whole team is going on holiday to Dublin for a weekend so no doubt a slew of new project will spill out of that.

Catch you later guys.

Ril

Where the heck are us guys?

Ahoy-hoy,

So you might have noticed that we have updated in sometime. Don't worry we are not dead. We've been working on a bunch of projects that we can't tell you about right now other than to say they're fun, informative and have been an incredible challenge. Because this is all commissioned work we're keeping it on the down-low as not to get in trouble, but if you like magic tricks, scepticism and puns (and lets face it if you like our work, you do) stay tuned.

In other news, JC is currently undertaking his masters in science communication and has been making all sorts of fun posters and mini comics about all sorts of science things. Space mostly I think. Furthermore all this futurism has inspired the Luddite to get on twitter and share his thoughts with the world. If that seems like your bag you can follow him here.

As for myself I've been working on a number of short stories that are driving me insane. I'm finding prose to be way harder than comics. Comics are an artform of necessity and (lack of ) space, what appears on the page, for the large part, has to be useful to the story or character. I guess the same is true with prose only without the space constraints one can't separate the necessary from the sufficient quite as easily. Any way for more of that, I'm slowly leaking these stories out here.

Also I'm applying for the DC Writer's Workshop, it's a long shot but you never know, this time next year the first part of my great Wonder Woman story could be hitting stores, or alternatively it could be hitting this blog if I don't get it.

Together we're working on our application for the Creators for Creators Grant, this is an amazing opportunity that would allow us to make comics full time for a year. At the moment we're stuck between with what we'd like to do for the grant though. Do we submit Escape, take a hit on it's expected page rate and finally get our brain child out into the world or do we come in with a fresh idea, something that is more appealing to publishers? Decisions, decisions.


Anyway, that's all for now.

Rik

Dr Who One-Page-What-If-Christmas-Special

Yo.

So I (Rik) watched this series of Dr Who and was left a little wanting. I love Capaldi and think he's got some potential to bring some gravity to the character but I really didn't care for Clara. More and more I find that I am watching a children's show, not that there's anything wrong with that but it means my expectations of Who isn't meeting up with the reality.  Having said that. {SPOILERS} when Clara got Raven'd, not only was I thinking "at last" but also we got see a little bit of the Doctor's dark side and that's something I always find richer that silly hats and talking to babies. Anyway The Doctor gets all pissy and goes a bit season 3 Malcolm Tucker.  Immediately I wrote the following piece. Consider this an extra scene after the Raven episode and the last 2 episodes of the season being very different.

 I did think as the season came to a close that they might have gone this way but they didn't for obvious reasons. Anyway enjoy.

Click to embiggen.

There you are.

There was a bunch of fun thing that happened whilst making this comic.
1) It's a miracle it got made with it being xmas, both of us being super busy with work and in JC's case becoming a master of science.

2) JC has never watched Who so had no idea what was happening, but after he read the script he said that he felt the gravity (semi pun intended) of the piece. That's rewarding to hear as a writer.

3) It's all upside and crazy. Those of you who follow our work, both of you, know that we like to play with panel layout. I had this idea that if you could traverse a small astral body you can physically take a character from looking up at something, in this case a planet, to looking down at something. Hey presto, a visual metaphor. Comics don't use these enough despite the visual nature of comics. Anywho that got us talking about the layout and we decided that it would be fun to make the comic rotate. I was worried how that would translate to digital viewing but the results speak for themselves. There's something sinister about an upside down character, facing away from the reader and threatening a planet. It's not a traditional panel but it's a fun little experiment.

We're getting together in the new year to discuss what we want to do going forward. We're both pretty busy, JC in particular as he is creating comics to teach people science, and these one page comics are fun and quick to do so you might be seeing a whole lot more of them.

Merry Christmas and to all a Good Night.

Rik and JC

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

Little Story and Open Submissions

Hey,

How is it going? We kinda have a treat you. You know that strip from the Thought Bubble Anthology by Image Comics we've been harping on about? Well, here is the story that inspired it. It basically grew out of our ongoing debate about Superman, specifically the latest Supes film. I won't say who thinks what, who is incorrect about the nature of Superman or why Jordan is a fat do-do head, but what I will say is that we both agree that there are two Supermans (Supermen?). One is the Man of Steel - he's grey, punches things, has angsty foibles and he's boring. The other is the man of Tomorrow - he's primary colours and always does what is right and inspiring. He represents the best of humanity's aspirations, an icon of hope. This story is about the latter.

It was difficult making this story into a comic. I had written it as a kind of exercise. I wanted to look at constructing a some superhero prose. I didn't mind the result and let Jordan have a peek. He liked it, thankfully, but it still didn't lend itself to one page of comics. So we had to cut out a few of the nods and winks to the reader, a lot of the references disappeared but he managed to hold onto the essence of the story. What's great about comics is the "show don't tell" aspect. This meant that we could cut out a whole bunch of my clumsy, cack-handed words and put in a whole bunch of Jordan's clumsy, cack-handed art (I'm just kidding, it's beautiful, wait till you see it.) We did also lose a character in the translation, he isn't a vital one but he was missed. I kinda want to do the missing scene as a strip and footnote the comic but it's off to the printers now. Never mind. Anyway, hope this whets your whistle. Stick around after the story because I have something to ask you...

Man Will Fly
by Rik Worth

I first saw him when I was 13. Pa didn’t like me playing with the two boys from the Jewish family who ran the convenience store, but I’d heard stories from the other kids about their spaceman. I didn’t pay it no heed until I saw him. I’d been flying for a year and was destined to follow in Pa’s footsteps. Pa had been ill so I took over dusting the Doherty’s fields. As I was banking to return home I caught a glimpse of him in the distance. He was springing through the air, across whole fields.  I scrambled to get myself turned around, to find out whatever it was that could throw itself through the air like that, but that fixed wing had no chance of keeping up with him.  I didn’t really believe what I saw, who would?

Next time I saw him I was in something with a bit more speed. I’d managed to get myself signed up. Those two Jewish boys had run off to Europe to fight a war and I found myself with the RAF.  I was barely seventeen, but my flying was good enough to get that overlooked. He showed up again. Said this fighting had gone on too long, it was time to make himself known.  My corps had been given the job of flying with him into battle. He looked at me before we set off, don’t think he remembered me at the time, he thanked us for looking after. Imagine that. Mortar shell bounced off this guy’s chest, like they came from a peashooter and we were looking after him. When we set out he flew ahead of us. Some of the older guys in the corps thought he dressed something stupid; bright primary colours like something from a circus. I was still a kid so I thought it was amazing. Still do. He stood out in that grey and brown sky. With one word he stopped the shooting.  Us, them, the world watched him. Not in fear, but in awe. Strikes me now that this was what made him an alien, he could of got in there and tore tanks apart with his hands but he didn’t, he didn’t want to fight. He didn’t want us to fight and that was it. We didn’t fight anymore.

Didn’t see him for a few years after that. He went public; the most famous face on the planet. I went secret. Flying experimental jets. That was until the day I almost died. I feel foolish now. One of the technicians was explaining how to fly this craft, and I couldn’t get past his dorky glasses. Who was this awkward lump of a man to lecture me? Like a hot shot I was up there flying around like a jackass. I was unofficially the first man to travel faster than sound. Probably the first man to explode a million dollar jet.  The engines had lit up; no doubt she was going to bite in. I pulled the ejector chord and nothing. There’s me, flying through the air, fast as anyone has ever gone, wreathed in flames, and I whisper mayday. I wanted to shout, trust me, but that amount of G force on your chest, you’re lucky you can inhale but somehow, he heard that whisper. Canopy was torn away like it was paper and he plucks me out of my seat like a doll. We watched as what remained of the ship span off into the distance and boom! I never ignored a technician after that day. Managed to thank him for looking out for me. I’m sure I caught a smirk before I passed out. When I was ready to be debriefed, that same guy in the glasses was in the room asking what went wrong. I tell him the logistics of it all, how the engine ruptures, the ejector chord, the whole thing. Only thing I really should be saying is I didn’t listen to you. Guy’s real swell about it though. Asks a bunch of questions about the alien, tells me he really must be something and don’t worry, we’ll get it next time.

Next time has been and gone as many times as I have greys on my temple. It’s been a few more years, but we’ve moving in leaps and bounds, just like when I first saw him. I’m seeing the Alien again now.  He’d been a part of the program. He flew ahead to help us arrange the landing and survival facility. Said he knew we could do it on our own and that we’d already achieved so much. He wanted to help us with this, not because he had to, not anymore, but because he was proud and he wanted to.

I’ve climbed out of the capsule and bounced over to him. He offers his hand. Through my suit I can feel the strength in it; it’s like shaking hands with steel. It’s anchoring me to the world.  He smiles. I’m certain he remembers me now. That red and blue doesn’t stand out so much against the dusty orange that surrounds us, heck, in all this white I dare say I’m standing out a little. I can see a blue twinkle in his eye. Reminds me of home from up here.

“Good work commander. Today you’ve become the first man to walk on Mars. Imagine what you’ll be tomorrow.”

Right, now that that excruciating embarrassment is over, we are looking for submissions!

You may or may not know this but we have been working on a side project called Annotations. It's an online arts magazine that will feature prose, poetry, articles and art. It'll be themed each month and then every quarter we intend to pile all the themes together and release a printed magazine.

Hopefully my little story inspired you and you'll want to join in. Our first theme is "Capture". Get all the details on submitting here.

Hope you enjoy the update and we'll see you soon.

Rik and JC

Thought Bubble Festival 2015

Ahoy!

Just a quick update to let you know that we will be at Thought Bubble again this year so if you want any commissions done, please get in touch with us.  You can let us know what you're after at thewaterclosetpress@gmail.com

We've spent most of the past year working on one huge project.  It's been up and down and has really affected our output over the course of the year. We have been making comics but we've just been keeping them under wraps as we've had our little dalliance with publishers. Alas and a-lack, through to one reason or another none of these dealings has come to bear fruit (so far), so we will be releasing more material at T-Bubz, including a brand-new strip called "Man Will Fly" which will be appearing in the TB Anthology! 

 

Here's the first panel.

 Can't wait to see you all and as always, thanks for the support!

Cheers,

Rik

A Few Annotations

Hello internet, it's been eons!

Our silence hasn't been due to a lack of comic-ing, though. On the contrary, we've had shiploads of stuff going on in the WCP... working on an ambitious new project, navigating the roller-coaster ride of a potential book deal (including a New York agent!), and starting up a writer's periodical called Annotation Magazine with Dr. Simon Hilton-Smith as editor.  Check out the spiffy website and Facebook page to learn more about that. 

And here's a wee look-see at a story we have appearing in the next Thought Bubble Anthology 2015...

That's not Superman, we swear.

Stay tuned!

True Believers 2014

Greetings, true believers!

For the first time ever, The Water Closet is going to appear at TRUE BELIEVERS COMIC FESTIVAL 2014 in Cheltenham...  Well, I say The Water Closet, but it's just going to be me (Jordan), as I live in Bristol which is much, much closer to Cheltenham than Leeds is, where Sir Richard dwells these days (the chump).  Ah well, who needs writers at the table anyways, amirite?  I'll be fine on my own.  Probably better, actually.

Sob.

Details of the convention (which is TOMORROW) are here:  oktruebelievers.com

Antholo-Gee Whizz!

It seems 2014 is the Year of the Anthology for the Water Closet.  Here are some comics collections we have been involved in recently, alongside a cavalcade of esteemed creators.

THOUGHT BUBBLE ANTHOLOGY 2014

"Space Hype!" written and coloured by Biz Stringer-Horne.  I was honoured to be asked to take part in this year's Thought Bubble Anthology from Image Comics.  All proceeds go to Bernardo's, so get yourself a copy and help out some kids!

 Get it here: http://thoughtbubblefestival.com/anthology-2014/


TO ARMS!

"The Accidental Propagandist" written by our very own Rik Worth.  This is a wonderful collection of "alternative" stories in honour of the centenary of the First World War this November.  It was put together by Karim Iskander Flint and Matthew Duncan of Limehouse Comics.  The keen-eyed may recognise Matt from his "Cabaret Vincente" story in our Irregulars anthology!



Get it here: http://www.limehousecomics.com/books/


THE PSYCHEDELIC JOURNAL OF TIME TRAVEL #4

"The Ghost of Montague Hall" written by Chris Denton.  This was my debut appearance in this crackin' digest, masterminded by the eminent Owen Watts.  I shall return to the Journal, and bring Richard with me!

 

Get it here: http://thepsychedelicjournal.blogspot.co.uk/


The Psychedelic Journal and Limehouse Comics be at Thought Bubble this year as well, and the TB Anthology will be going around, so you can always pick up your copies in person!

That's it for now,
Jordan

Pen Heaven Interview: Making It as An Author

Hey gang,

The fine folks from the Pen Heaven blog asked us to share some wisdom about what it takes to "make it" as a writer.  Why they thought of us is somewhat of a mystery, but go check out the article to glean some sound advice from some of the other featured authors, and otherwise to witness this scholarly image of Richard wearing what I can only assume are somebody else's glasses.

http://www.penheaven.co.uk/blog/making-it-as-an-author/



I agree with everything Richard said, and would basically repeat the sentiment that the most important thing to do if you want to "make it" is to just make it.  Whether it's a comic, a painting, or a knitted jumper, if what you're doing is coming from an internal impetus to create something you would want to read/look at/wear, then you're already on your way. You just need to sit down and do it. If you end up with a finished product you are happy with, then you've already accomplished your goal.  If you're not happy with it, try again until you are. And hopefully other people will start to notice.

Peace,
Jordan

Gentzilla

Richard and I had a blast at the London MCM this past weekend.  Here is something I did to keep my hands from idleness over the two days...

The text is taken from a print by artist Dowaito and master calligrapher Tanaka Shinko and means "counter poison with poison" or "fight fire with fire".  There is currently no known reason as to why The Gent would ever be so huge.

Oh and also, check out what the stupendous Pete Taylor of the Swansea Comics Collective bequeathed to us at the Bristol Expo a few weeks ago!

The Gentry a la Pete Taylor

Well, that's all for now. We'll try and give a more detailed report of our past two cons in the near future, but you know what we're like.

Signing off,

Jordan

THE IRREGULARS IS HERE

Good afternoon Ladies, Gentlemen and everything betwixt,

After a monumental wait due to a shipping error we finally have The Irregulars! For those that don't know Irregulars is our huge anthology book featuring a huge number of creators of huge talent! Just how huge and how talented you ask? Here are the contributors:

Tony La Vella, Rafael Desquitado Jr., Pete Taylor, Lisa Harrison and Matt Watson, Petri Hanninen, Robert Levebvre and Kierston Vendekraats, Chris Redfern and Darren Mullen, Sarah Rowles, Nick Soucek, Matt Duncan, Biz Stringer-Horne, Paul Bradford, Chris Mole and Brendan Purchase and Ben Wilsonham, Mike Pasquale, Dave Evans, Luke Halsall and Gavin Pollock and Andrew Scaife, Jamie Lewis, Alfie Gallagher, Marco Brunello, James Story, Pyrink and of course Richard Worth and Jordan Collver.

The Book itself comes in at a wow-hopping 130+ pages and needless to say we're  proud as any parents could be of this baby. With a mixture of black and white comics, colour comics, prose, poems, tabletop games and a foreward by none other than Master Stuart Gould of UKcomics, we don't mind saying that its a good looking little chap. Head over to the Emporium to pick up your copy.

For those of you that haven't read Ladies & Gentlemen yet, you need not fear; not only can you read the first issue entirely for free over on the Ladies and Gentlemen tab (at the top of the page) or if you're feeling saucy, you want to pick up the first two issues head over to the Emporium Tab. But failing even that, the book itself is full of stand alone adventures and a jumping on point in for new readers

This is just the cover, it's as pretty on the inside and after all that's what's really important.

In other sadder news, Ladies & Gentlemen will be taking a short hiatus. But belay your cries and fears, the Water Closet Press is a strong as ever an we will continue to create comics till our last days. The hiatus is a tactical decision on our part. We are currently working on a graphic novel that will have a lot of the same themes and ideas as L&G but will be much larger in scope. Cutting awayL&G is our way of getting the best out of both projects. We didn't want to split our time between the two in such a way as to thematically bankrupt the larger book or to draw attention and effort  away from the Gentry, who have been very good to us.  Having said that, this is by no means the end of the Gentry but merely a temporary departure. We have much more in store for them.  Furthermore, with the success of The Irregulars at conventions we have been talking about putting together another anthology in the hopes that more people with get to play around in our universe and we can keep the adventures of the team going in a smaller format. 

Other than that, stay tuned for more stories coming your way. We've been talking about sci-fi a lot lately.... Just sayin'.

Old Man Blacksad

I participated in a study at the University of Bristol last month and drew this little doodle in the questionnaire booklet. I wasn't asked to draw a picture, but I saw a guy with a copy of Blacksad while I waited in the foyer and couldn't help myself.

 

"I'm too old for this shit"...

 

It's my interpretation of an ostensibly retired John Blacksad in the 80s, roped into yet another PI case too intriguing to pass up.  I would normally cast a be-goateed Idris Elba as John, but in this case it's gotta be Sir Danny Glover.

 

 

Peace,

JC

Alan Moore versus The Small Press.

Good day Chaps,

This is post is going to very different from our usual posts. Normally we let you know what we're up to, whats coming out and where we are going to be. But we're going to try something we wouldn't normally do, at least via our professional blog, and that's voice our opinions - a pain we would normally subject you to via social media feeds. Today however, we stumbled across something of interest to us here at the WCP: Alan Moore's "final" interview.

If you have the time you can read it here. It's typically Moorean, a long-winded yet fantastically constructed piece in defense of his short films and more visually controversial characters. Eventually it ends up as an attack on journalist Laura Sneddon and comics creator Grant Morrison. We don't really want to get into that. There are a lot of race politics, complexities and interpretation involved, hence we want to shy away from those for sake of brevity and fear of the inevitable misunderstanding and insanity that lives on the internet. Likewise we're avoiding the latter (largely) on the grounds that it appears to be a personal bugbear for Moore. We don't even want to address Moore's ongoing claim that characters created for children (only part true), decades ago (except for the new ones) are somehow an unhealthy obsession for so-called grown ups in modern days (because obviously no creators have expanded on the themes or ideas for a medium that has grown up with its audience).

No, as small press creators we want to address a brief passage that  Moore has more or less said before in other words, which is essentially that all comics now suck and almost everyone in them suck.

"While he [Morrison} is clearly not the only reason why I have come to feel actual revulsion for the greater part of today’s comic world, he has probably done more than any other single individual to foul its atmosphere and make it unbreathable with his ongoing reeking incontinence – and that, believe me, is in a field where he has enjoyed a great deal of vigorous competition. There are perhaps a dozen or so people in the industry that I respect immensely and with whom I am delighted to both work and remain in contact, but the rest of it is a comic world that I don’t wish to take any part in; a world of fleeting minor celebrities who have managed to make this magnificent medium into a source of lucrative commercial product that is socially acceptable to the point of being neutered, or else into style accessories by which otherwise socially cautious and conventional people and publishers perhaps hope to foster an air of edgy modernity."

There are various other instances of Moore saying such things. Creators lack originality, the modern comics world is no different from the world of mobsters and porn merchants that started it, so on and so forth. To be sure the comics industry hasn't kept quiet about this. One of our favourite writers Jason Aaron (Scalped) literally said that Moore should go fuck himself.

But here in the small press world we don't get much media coverage other than when one of us "breaks through" so we don't really get to have our say. We wouldn't presume to speak for everyone but there is something we would like to say in defense of the medium at our level.

Let me say off the bat that we are huge Moore fans, our own book has been described as feeling like The League (somewhat of a mixed complement) and the Gent was even birthed as drunken parody of Rorschach. Moore is a fantastic writer and helped to shape a medium we have grown up in. He is like The Beatles of comics - like him or not his work is hugely influential and he frequently say statements as inflammatory as "bigger than Jesus".

But here's the thing: he is also a man out of time. His rise to fame in comics occurred in a much different world than our own. Not just in terms of the economy, or politics, or any of those social structures. We mean purely in the medium of comics. I choose "medium" over "world" as to differentiate the "form" over the "culture/society".  Moore's claims that comics are now socially neutered is silly and uniformed.

To briefly frame this arguement in terms of Moore's own history, he came to true fame in the Modern Age of comics. His own Watchmen and The Dark Knight by the equally brilliant but outdated Frank Millar marked the spiritual coming about of a era of challenging comics, outside the standard action fantasy adventure of the mainstream. They were comics that audience were hungry for and they revolutionised our medium. 

With this in mind, Moore still attacks the comic industry saying there's nothing of quality nor art nor medium-expanding substance. I don't want to defend the mainstream too much, they have their own defendants. I don't even want to defend the independents (the artistry of Craig Thompson or Canales and Guarnido is self evident). I want to defend us here in the Small Press. We personally have been guilty, as I'm sure you have, of a sort of self-deprecating modesty. We aren't comic creators, we just make comics sometimes. We're not in the industry, we just pour time, money and effort into a vibrant market. 

This image is from the internet. If it's yours, please let us know.

But we are. We might not make a hell of a lot of money but between us all we create a hell of a lot of comics. We create a lot of comics we're proud of, a lot of comics that impress one another, a lot of comics that force us to want to better and make better creations. We might be the lowest rung of the ladder, but we're still part of the industry. The world Moore grew up in had no zines, a mentally un-challenging mainstream and far fewer people striving for their creations to be seen. At the risk of glorifying our roles or promoting a sickening and un-British sense of pride, we (and here I mean us all) are the future of comics... and Alan Moore is wrong about us. We live in a world where mainstream comics include the likes of Moore's work and many more that have just as much, if not more, artistic value. We have hundred of outputs for creators that a substantially more impressive that the old zines as well as more zines than ever and thousands of would-be creators. Here in the small press we don't get paid a fantastic amount of money, or any at all in most cases. We'd be lying if we said we wouldn't like our comics to be noticed by someone who gain us a little respect and pay us for making comics, but above all don't we just want to make comics? Not only that, don't we want to make good comics? Don't we see one another's work and recognise those that are exceptional and rave to our friends about them? Is every new issue an excuse to reassess our techniques, our forms and learn our craft? Don't we have messages and causes we want to champion? I know that's the way it is here at the Water Closet.  We didn't accidentally make a comic that (hopefully) felt like a silver age comic or penny dreadful. We did that deliberately. We didn't accidentally pick that art style and review it over each issue and story. We purposely are trying to get better. We read, we've assimilated, we've innovated, we've added, we've taken away. We've learned.  We want to make better art.

So what does this mad disparate rant mean? It means that we, the Small Press, are part of the comics industry and that when Moore attacks it, he attacks us. He attacks from a position of disinterest in our willingness to learn and get better. He attacks us with a broad sweeping statement of a man who is detached from the current comics climate here in Britain and it's foolish.  It's not fair of Moore to decree that there are only a dozen or so people in the industry of any real value. We're not saying that with the conceited whine, "well he doesn't know us so how can he say that? If he did he would change his mind". We're saying it to point out Moore's own conceit, where if there aren't people he knows in the industry that he likes - in the whole goddamn world of comics - then they aren't worth knowing. That's such a rotten attitude to have, not to mention incredibly miopic. He outright rejects the existence, let alone the validity, of an entire thriving scene within the industry he's claiming omniscience of.

In an attempt to abandon a Big Bad industry he feels has wronged him and has since lost its way, Moore is inadvertently telling the Little Guys who look up to him that they're no good. That they shouldn't try because it's all garbage anyway and nobody can make it better.  Well, we're trying to.  We know there's good stuff out there, you just need to look in the right places.  It may be oversimplistic to say that he's throwing away the baby with the bathwater, but in turning his back on them, Alan Moore has turned his back on us.

So there you have it. Another voice hidden in the roar surrounding Moore. I still love the crazy ol' wizard and this post is the equivalent of turning around to Grandad and telling him that he's not allowed to say that word anymore... only Grandad is too old to care how he sounds and has stopped talking to you anyway. But that still doesn't mean we shouldn't say something.

Fully aware of the futility of opinions on the internet and knowing full well that there will be no hope of a reply I think a message should be sent to Moore. "Firstly, we in the small press don't appreciate what you're saying, and secondly (much like this post) complaining doesn't change a thing". Do something about it. If turning his back on comics is similar to Russell Brand's stance on voting, admirable in its ideology but actively impractical. If Moore wants to see a change in the industry he claims has turned its back on him, he is quite right to turn his back to them... but then he should turn to the future. 

Rather than bitch out everyone involved in comics, why not shine a light on the small press and the truly independent creators to help leave the industry better than he found it.  Moore believes in magic words but perhaps he is unaware of the magic his own name carries. What if, imagine for a second, Moore isn't the martyr he claims to be.  Hell even Jerry Siegal eventually came back to comics and forgave some of his opponents and praised the direction creators took with his characters. Siegal was screwed out of Superman for years and came back; Moore lost Watchmen. I'm not saying he shouldn't be angry, but he's certainly not alone, and everything is relative right? 

Anyway, back to the point. Imagine if rather than be the martyr, Moore was the mentor. What if Moore used his influence and experience to help actively shape a new generation of creators rather than condemn them to a perceived villainy.  To hold them up and say "Look, these people - the ones doing it for fun, to grow the medium and not their wallets - they're still doing it right. They're doing it better." Rather than strike off the comic world, why not take an interest in the comic world of tomorrow.

Perhaps there is a naivety to these words. A lack of knowledge of Moore's interaction with new creators, an entitled demand for our real life heroes to remain heroic and continue to do more for us than he already has, or a simple the selfishness on our behalf that won't let a bitter old man be a just that . We accept that, as we accept that we'll likely received accusation of self interest, if indeed we receive any feedback at all. But that doesn't mean we can't at least be hopeful. 

Your normal service will now resume.

England Prevails.

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