NEW COMIC IN A MINUTE, BUT FIRST
I’m going to Armenia in a week for a couple of weeks, so if you live in Yerevan or Dilijan (or know someone there), do let me know! I’ll be teaching comics to kids at Tumo, and if you are interested in coming to Armenia and doing the same thing—now or whenever—feel free to reach out. The pomegranate soup they have in every other restaurant is absolutely smashing. Actually, I still haven’t seen the Color of Pomegranates, somehow, but probably will before I go. The director has a wild house/museum not far from where I’m staying. Nice mountains, too.
OR “ALL THE LIVING” IN ENGLISH
The book I’ve been working on for the last ~4 years is off to print! It will be out in French on January 20th, my third and final book with Dargaud. I’ll be in Angoulême for the festival, signing it for all my 12 fans (at least that was the attendance last time). No word on an English version so far, but unlike Duchamp, this book is pretty light on words, and I don’t really care if it gets de-translated, or not.
ALSO
My My Jeopardy won 2nd place at Supernova, one of the very few festivals that accepted it. First time I got anything from my animation work (except for lower back pain). I have tons of ideas for new films, but it’s hard to carve out time for that, what with work and comics, and the occasional living.
ALSO ALSO
And if you’re interested in doing animation yourself, I can’t recommend enough this youtube series by my friend and sometime collaborator Alex Grigg. It’s concise, informative, and beautifully produced. And now, new comic. You might want to click & zoom, sorry:
ALSO ALSO ALSO
I must plug Enchanted Lion’s kickstarter campaign for their new series of adult picture books. They are one of the best American publishers right now, putting out gorgeous and weird stuff, including all my favorite European artists that most US publishers consider to be too challenging for their idiot children. I’m currently illustrating a classic Italian novella for them, more on that eventually.
REGARDING THE HEADER
Adam Curtis’s latest series is great. It’s all about Russia in the 80s-90s, unsurprisingly his most depressing film so far. Apparently, the footage was so devastating that he decided not to put any narration/music on top, which is a respectful decision. It’s not as dreamy as his previous works, but I’m glad he made it—so few people in the West know what people of my generation went through. Here’s a link to a YouTube playlist (so far still up), if you can’t use the BBC iPlayer. And for something more cheerful, more comics:
AND THEN WHAT?
There are four more pages! And you thought it’s just a single-page thing about a monkey with a drum. Ha! The full thing will be included in an anthology, published by Neoglyphic Media in Spring 2023. It’s a bit of a departure for me—finally allowing myself to have fun with story and form in a longer piece. The plan is to make a few more short-ish stories like this, while I plan out bigger things.