Everything in order

There's a fellow and a man I'd like to bring to your attention. His name is Edward Francis Loverock Babb, my first solid memory of him is his loud assertion, in the corner of the art room, that Episode II of the Star Wars prequels would feature a clone army made entirely from Darth Mauls. "How else do you think the Clone Wars got started?" he said, when I asked him how he knew this. The man had a point.

Anyway! We're all grown up, are a bit wiser in the ways of Star Wars and Ed's got a website now and I'd like to point this website out to the three or four of you who have actually found this part of the site. You see, this Saturday, Ed's having a big old cake sale with all of his artwork and I think you should go if you find yourself in Cape Town on the 24th of this very month of January. Actually, come to think of it, even if you're not in Cape Town you can buy prints directly from his site, so there's really no way you can lose on this one.

So browse till it hurts and pick out the most scrumptious flake of art you see and then make it become part of you. You'll find that the more of Ed's art you add to your bodyself, the more attractive and interesting you will appear to those to whom you wish to love. I have tried this and it has worked.

Here's Ed's favourite:

EDWARD BABB, everybody.

Sincerely,
Tom McNally

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OH, AND PEE ESS,

I should point out that Ed drew the very first comic I wrote that saw print in an actual publication. I won't show you that one, because it is too embarrassing, but as luck would have it he also drew the very second comic I wrote that saw print in an actual publication and you will find it below. It is hopelessly complicated - intended, as tends to be the way, to be JUST ONE PIECE of a SIXTY-ISSUE MEGA-EPIC LIKE THE KIND VERTIGO DO. The mega-epic starred me and Ed and our friends and we had super-powers, but it was dark and awesome. It was set in the future and corporations ran the government! We were adorable and you should have gotten to know us back then.

This particular comic, 'The Misunderstood Adventures Of Edbot & Roz,' features a robot, who has Ed's brain, and another robot, who also has Ed's brain. One is a giant war-machine and the other is a mute cleaning droid. The original Ed has kicked them out of the house, so now they are a comedy duo and then some kids gets killed.

Hey guys, I did this! It will be the backing for the next six months of Shark Of Wisdom. I think it is funny, don't you?

I must nod to this handy receipt maker for an authentic-looking heading. Thanks, website!

My brother got kidnapped in Cambodia yesterday. I can't wait for him to update his blog with the whole story.

I'll have some comics for you, the internet, next time. There will be horses.

Sincerely,
Tom McNally

The second issue of Hedgemony Comics goes to print tomorrow. Well, whenever I finish it actually. I have to finish it by the time the print shop closes on Friday as to have them for Obzfest on Saturday. I've sat around doing nothing all day as I've had a crippling sense of something or other. I still have a good ten hours work to do, so I might just work through the night. Anyway, wish me luck. And if you happen to pass through Cape Town, South Africa this weekend, pop in to Obzfest and buy some ridiculously good stuff (from me).

This is the cover. It'll probably be different by the time I print it, but you know, this is how it goes.

(Did you know that if you clicked it and it became big.)

- Sebastianastianastian

If you are in Cape Town (South Africa) next week, (improbable, considering our webstats) you should come check out the Semiotic Cohesion stall at Obzfest. This is the quick poster thing I drew up for the event.

_SEBASTIANX

Too late Sebastian! Too late for this cat.

I do not make any presumptions upon you, gentle reader, so let's pretend that you aren't acutely and painfully aware of the new art I made for the 'daily' Shark Of Wisdom homily. Normally I wouldn't trouble our lovely readers with the minutia of its creation, but that is probably what this COMICS & ART blog is all about.

The day of the three hundrenth Shark Of Wisdom card was looming, so I took my first pass at it in the usual way - standing behind the counter in an off-licence during a period when there weren't too many drunks about. If any customers come in while I am doing this, I show them what I am doing and they ask me why I like sharks so much. People ask me this a lot. It's a fair question.

The concept, you see, was that there was this presumably Neolithic family hanging out around a fire and they see Shark Of Wisdom streaking through the sky for some reason and he merrily doles out the good stuff while he falls through the atmosphere.

"Hey! Looks pretty nice," I thought to myself. "There can be colours and everything. But jeez, that looks like it will be a lot of hard work to get right. Why not do something simpler? Like expand on this sketch I'm working on in another part of the drawing pad? It looks so much easier." The hypothetical rest of me to whom I was addressing this question agreed.

Oh yes, much easier. Big shapes, clear lines, I could make most of it dark and cop out on the colours. Also, hey, this one is a lot funnier. Look at that martini glass. That's hilarious.

Then a secret, latent desire to try and replicate the style of an Albrecht Dürer woodcut took hold of me. This has been happening every so often since high school. Normally I am able to withstand the urges but this time my flesh was the picture of weakness. "Won't take a jiffy in Photoshop," I reasoned, poorly.

And so, with a ruler, my Wacom, the entire series of Transformers: Animated playing in the background and a curse in my heart, I Dürered that sketch up so hard it didn't even see it coming.

Then, last night, I awoke in a cold sweat realised that I needed to blacken that smoke up a bit. Smoke is black. Everyone knows that. So I abandoned the warm bed of my sweetheart and ran back to my lair to spend all afternoon ruling line after line to the tune of Neil Shubin's 'Your Inner Fish,' to some degree of success, maybe.

So there we have it. Now you know why the Shark Of Wisdoms have been coming late this week. Too many lines.

Sincerely,
Tom McNally

P.S There's a new chapter of The Saga Of The European King lying around half-written. That's late too. I will prove I am not lying: