scarygoround

Bag o'shells (minotaur's arse EX+ edition)

I've done a post for $3> patrons this week but that leaves the $1 contingent with nothing, so I present to you a grab bag from my sketch folder, the mysteriously named "1Misc Goog". So what do I have for you today? Gold, Jerry, gold!

During my "wilderness years" of art, between 2017 and 2020, I redrew a lot of old Scary Go Round and Bobbins pages, looking for inspiration. I was just tired. I know that now. I should have put my feet up and taken a deep breath. Anyway, here's a weird o...

Read Circus Windows pt 2 in full, now

$3-and-up subscribers, here's the second 22-page half of my new Charlotte Grote story, "Circus Windows", downloadable as a PDF.

[COVER ART: MAX SARIN]

If you prefer to read it in webcomic form, or just want to comment as the pages go up, it is still running at badmachinery.com.

Up after this is a Steeple-Lotti...

Catching up

I'm still recovering from whatever curse I put on my back, trying to catch up with the jobs I couldn't do standing up. Today: a bookplate for Wicked Things volume 1 (there is currently little prospect of a volume 2 but stranger things have happened!)

I have to decide today whether to follow Circus Windows with a straight Steeple story or the Lottie-Steeple-Shelley crossover. I have both fully b...

The Onion Dan Cinematic Universe

One of my greatest friends is the cartoonist and podcaster Dan Berry, a man of limitless energy but, given his predilection for avoidable accidents, a limited lifespan. Every night I say a prayer for Dan.

Back in 2010 Dan made a minicomic called Onion Soup, based on him live-tweeting making the titular dish in his kitchen. In recent times I, a very good friend who is certainly not annoying, have repeatedly told him he "has to" make a follow up. The nice thing about Dan is that, were he ...

SNEAK PREVIEW: Max Sarin Circus Windows pt 2 cover

I commissioned Max Sarin to do a cover for part 2 of Circus Windows and it is as good as you would expect. Your Patreon contributions made this happen - thank you!

Hourly Comics 2021

Here are all my hourly comics from Hourly Comic Day 2021 in one easy-to-parse zone. I'd not done this for a long time - 2013 I think. Can that be right? I'll try to find the old files for a follow-up post another day. 

2021-02-02 09:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Giant Days issue 50 character designs

I did most of the character designs for Giant Days. Obviously once Max Sarin got hold of them, they would be immeasurably improved, but I took pride in sitting down and working out looks and outfits. 

Issue 50, the "cricket issue" featured more than 20 new characters and multiple sporting looks, so here are a few of the designs I sent to Max. This was one of my favourite issues, for lots of reasons.

BELOW: Nina's "MERV" top is a reference to legendary Australian bowler Merv H...

Here Comes Gothy 6

Another Here Comes Gothy. This one really stretched my ability to draw a comic without pencilling it first. Also without doing any character designs. What I am saying is that this was a struggle, but I made it through. 

We must assume at this point that there will be a Here Comes Gothy 7 but when it will emerge is less clear. I drew all of these over the Christmas break to pass those sleepy days. I hope to draw some more soon.

2021-01-26 15:50:13 +0000 UTC View Post

Here Comes Gothy 5

In today's bootleg, unofficial comic, Esther forces her powerful but wayward mind into action. Will there be a sixth Here Comes Gothy episode? It's very, very hard to know.

Here Comes Gothy 4

Now, when you scrutinise this comic, I don't want you to jump to too many conclusions. Of course, if your conclusion was "this is the greatest comic I have ever read" then fair enough, I'll let you have that.

Byrne 2

To warm up after three weeks' break from the draw board, I've inked another one of John Byrne's modern pencil comics pages where he pretends it's the past, presumably so he has some new originals to sell. [Here's the previous one.] The resulting hybrid asks more questions than it answers - just as it should!

In this page, JB continues his modern "all thumbs must pop" approach while steering us...

Read Circus Windows pt 1 in full, now

As a $3-and-up subscriber, please enjoy (if you wish) the first 22-page half of my new Charlotte Grote story, "Circus Windows", downloadable as a PDF.

If you're a chronology fan, this story takes place a couple of months after Wicked Things, and two-and-a-half years after the end of Bad Machinery. If you prefer to read it in webcomic form, or just comment as the pages go up, it is ru...

Here Comes Gothy 3

A further missive from darkest Whitby. Not everyone in Whitby is a goth (apart from during Goth Weekend), though Dracula does live there I believe. 

Happy new year, Patreon subscribers! Fingers crossed for our collective 2021. I will continue to (attempt to) entertain you.

A secret

Steeple volume 2 hasn't been announced yet but it has started to show up on bookstore websites so here is the cover, by Max Sarin. The book, again from Dark Horse comics, collects the Secret Sentai and Silvery Moon stories I put on the website this year. "Christmas With Clovis" will have to wait for a third volume or perhaps guerilla publication under my own rubric. 

I was delighted to get Max to draw the cover. They've done a magnificent job.

I think it's out in July next ye...

Here Comes Gothy 2

As this benighted year sputters out, another Esther comic for you, with a sighting of your friend and mine, Susan Ptolemy.

Will there be a third Here Comes Gothy strip? It's a difficult question to answer and only patience will get us there.

Here Comes Gothy 1

Giant Days is over. It is never coming back. But in the shadowy, paywalled world of Patreon, in the Cattywampus Cinematic Universe powered by Pure Fishman Energy, there is HERE COMES GOTHY.

Will there be an episode 2? Only TIME will tell.

Vape Escape Christmas Catalogue 2020

Produced in collaboration with "vape imagineer" Laura Snapes (thank you), here is this year's Vape Escape Christmas catalogue. 

Hard at it

Sorry for the lack of fun posts over the last week or so, I’m working hard to get the first part of the new Charlotte story done before taking a Christmas break for a few weeks. I intend to release the whole 22-page "issue" onto Patreon on Jan 4th. But I’ve been drawing like a fiend since February and it’s time for a break - in photos, my eyes look like two swirling voids! Only five pages to dr...

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLLLLLL

Here's why you signed up for this Patreon, all the Giant Days spin-offs you can handle.

Somefield guest spot

11+ years ago, I did a guest page for a Somefield book by Barnaby Ward, a very talented illustrator and cartoonist who lives in the West Indies. I found it the other day when looking for a page to rework for the Youtube stream. i think the strip was called "Merrick's" or "Merricks" but it was a long time ago. I do still like the first panel.

In return, Barnaby did this beautiful draw...

Advent value stamps (early attempts)

I had an idea to make a sort of Scary Go Round advent calendar. My initial attempts to do the drawings for it didn’t work in any form that I could actually present, though they were fun drawings so I present those abortive efforts here. This is not a heavy duty project.

Chappy and Dr Dan Petrescu did not make the eventual cut. 

"My Week"

I've been working on a new two-part Charlotte Grote story, "Circus Windows". It's not a strict continuation of Wicked Things - I'm hopeful that I will get the chance to tell more of that story, so I need to leave certain plot threads open to be picked up later. Just as Lottie has been sent back to the webcomic hinterland, she's also back in Tackleford, at square one, and has to pick things up from there. It's a metaphor, yeah? Don't worry, I can stitch these things together j...

MYSTERY CHLOE NOONAN COMICS

Following what I can only describe as a grievous falling out with Mr Marc Ellerby over my (supposedly low) placement of Jeff Rosenstock's "No Dream" in my 2020 top 40 albums, he has left me with no choice but to reveal these unofficial "Chloe Noonan" comics which I got from a trusted source. Lord Beef will return in CHLOE NOONAN: ULTIMATE BEEF!

Be warned: frightening scenes of mild monster nudity follow.

...

Cattywampus 13: the end (for now)

Will Des live or die? What sort of chowder will he make? How has this taken six months to resolve? Find out below!

I can't tell you if Cattywampus will ever return but if there is justice in our world, there will be more Patreon bonus comics in some form, soon.

Check out previous Cattywampus inst...

Cattywampus 12

I sense that the tale of the Bosun is drawing to a close. Will Des make it out of 2020 alive?

Check out previous Cattywampus instalments!

Read STEEPLE: CHRISTMAS WITH CLOVIS in full now!

$3-and-up subscribers can read Steeple: Christmas With Clovis in full now as a downloadable PDF. I'm putting this out a few days early to stave off any tense, nervous headaches you may be suffering. "YOUR WELLCOME" &c.

I think Christmas With Clovis is the best-drawn comic I've ever made, and I've tried to give it a little of the Giant Days "hang-out" feel that pe...

Circus Windows cover

It's been a stressful day for fans of the freedom eagle so here's a super sneak preview of something upcoming in early 2021.

Circus Windows (2021)

The last issue of Wicked Things is out tomorrow. I hope Max and I will be able to reunite to continue the story but it could be a little while. But for Charlotte Grote fans, there will be a new story in early 2021, Circus Windows, a 44-page reunion with Mildred from Bad Machinery. Not 100% sure where/when it'll be running but writing is underway and I'll start drawing it soon. 

2020-11-03 20:59:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Steeple Gameboy game sprites

A tiny post today, but I think, still fun. 

I made these in Asesprite, I hadn't done any pixel art for... I can't remember! Twenty years?

Cattywampus 11

Today's Cattywampus is free-to-air, and I am only sorry that Des appears in but one panel, being hypothetically murdered/maimed. 

I don't pencil these, I just draw them straight out with a custom Clip Studio pen I made that lets you draw very thin and thick lines, or shade large areas if you tip the pen - a sort of digital version of those Kuretake disposable fude pens. It's an ...