(Rich cosplaying the old Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) schtick at Hi-Ex, pic from Joe’s Flickr)
The week or so just before a convention is always a fun one for small press publisher. And by ‘fun’, I of course mean ‘Horribly stressful and not at all fun in any way.’ At FutureQuake we’re able to breathe easy at the moment, having printed up our new issues a month or so ago, but it was not without it’s stresses.

Our latest issue of Zarjaz, for example, was a themed issue, with each story being connected to another. Because of this, there was not the option of dropping in a spare strip, which is something we have done (if we are in the lucky position to have a spare strip, that is) on other occasions.

No, with the small press you have the double-edged sword of Not Paying Anyone for their work.

The good thing about this is, of course, that you don’t pay anyone for their work. The bad thing is, because you don’t pay anyone for their work, you are not really in any position to complain (too much) when they deliver later than you have asked them to.

So you’ll have your deadline looming and you’ll be waiting not very patiently by your email for those last few pages of strip to be delivered by some artist who is probably utterly oblivious to your concerns.

But that’s artists all over, isn’t it?

So this lackadaisical, indolent pencil monkey eventually delivers the pages and you spend the next couple of hours getting them lettered and onto a disc to get to your printer.

‘What’s that? Printer?’ I hear you ask, ‘I thought this was small press? Using a printer sounds a bit… professional..?’

And to that I ask the following questions. Yes? And? So? What? It ain’t a crime to make your stuff look good!

Which is in NO WAY putting down all the many guys and girls who go through the same process as those who use a fancy printers- the only difference is that they go through it the night before the con, bent over a hot printer or photocopier until 3AM and armed only with a long-arm stapler.

You can spot them by their bleary, bloodshot eyes and empty expressions, unlike those who have spent the previous night in the bar- they are know by their bleary, blo… never mind.

And at these two ends of the small press, you will find some of the very best comics you will ever read. From the professional sheen of Murky Depths to the handcrafted but no less brilliant Mothman from small press dynamo Ben Clarke, or from Paul Scott’s masterful Omnivistascope to the so-wrong-it-has-to-be-right Fetishman, I can absolutely guarantee that, pound for pound, you’ll get more entertainment and pure imagination-and love- from any of these books than from a hundred of your superhero mags.

So, if you’re one of those folks who walk past the small press tables at a convention just the little too far away to speak to, and with your eyes carefully fixed in an unfocused glaze as you stare at that magical spot a few inches above the heads of the people behind the tables (yes, we can see that you’re ignoring us deliberately), why not stop at one of the tables- any of them, and buy a small press book or two? Or three?

You will? Excellent!

Richmond Clements is a comics creator, editor, reader and co-founder and organiser of the exceptionally fine Hi-Ex Comics Con in the Scottish Highlands (which returns next spring, hurrah!). Check out some of his hard work at the FutureQuake Press table at this weekend’s Bristol Comics bash. You can also keep up with Rich via the Hi-Ex blog which, as well as giving details of the convention, regularly posts reviews of science fiction and comics titles.

(Art School Scum, one of the first of Tom’s works I became aware of and if you haven’t read it, it’s available to download from his site; art by and (c) Tom Humberstone)

MB: How did you get involved in the small press/self-publishing?

TH: I started making comics in my second year of art college when I became disillusioned with some of my peers and frustrated with the few seconds of animation I was producing each week despite extremely long hours in the studio. To me, making a comic was a wonderful exercise in instant gratification. Which, as time has gone by and I attempt more ambitious work, seems laughably naive in retrospect.

Regardless, I started photocopying these vicious little character assassinations called Art School Scum on the way into college and plastered them throughout the halls. I loved having complete control of the content from start to finish and not having to compromise at any stage due to finances or time constraints. It felt quite punk. Needing only a pen, some paper, and about 20p for the photocopier.

Every fortnight I’d cover the college walls with a new edition, targeting a different art school archetype under the alias of Ventedspleen. It was only much later – sometime late in my third year – that I even considered collecting them in a book. It was later still – maybe even a year after graduating – that a friend managed to convince me to take my comics to a comic show and attempt to sell them.

My relationship with comics and the small press continued to be an on/off hobby for a few years until about two years ago when I started to really commit to publishing regular comics and attending more shows.

MB: How do you make your living, from your art or in other ways?

TH: While I don’t tend to lose money on my comics – in fact, more often than not, I make a tiny profit – I can’t rely entirely on them to pay rent, bills and all the other necessary monthly expenses. I have a full-time graphic design job and supplement that with storyboard and illustration commissions, which often pay for print-runs and allow me to invest spare cash into my comics in a variety of ways. Currently, everything I manage to save goes into publishing Solipsistic Pop and organising related exhibitions and events.

MB: What’s the best/worst thing about the small press?

TH: I’d say the best thing about it is the very liberating aspect of complete artistic control. I can publish what I like. Be it my own work or the work of other artists I adore in Solipsistic Pop. There’s no sales team to convince, no editor, no marketing department in need of an angle or snappy soundbite. Total creative freedom.

There are so many exciting new business models opening up for small publishers too, so it’s becoming an increasingly interesting field to be working in right now. Currently, a lot of the publishing industry is up in the air and no one can be totally sure how it will all land so there’s a lot of scope to create new paradigms.

On a related note – the gestation period for a lot of books can take an extremely long time, whereas in the small press scene artists can conceive, implement and publish an idea within weeks. For example, Dan Hancox and I managed to publish the very first book about the 2008 American Presidential election (My Fellow Americans) in May 2008 – before Obama had even secured the Democratic nomination. That’s a very addictive advantage of the small press and one that will always keep me coming back.

(fear and loathing – and comics – on the campaign trail: My Fellow Americans by Dan Hancox and Tom Humberstone)

As far as the worst thing: I suppose it’s attempting to do it all. As much as I absolutely adore wearing so many hats (editor, artist, designer, art director, publisher, press officer, distributor, events co-ordinator… etc.), I think it stands to reason that there are some things I’m better at than others. Attempting to do all of this on your own can mean doing a couple of extremely important aspects of the job poorly. But I can’t afford to hire additional help. This is the one thing that could really benefit from being involved with a larger publishing house.

MB: Please tell me a little about Solipsistic Pop and what you’re trying to achieve with the anthology?

TH: Solipsistic Pop is a biannual anthology of alternative comic artists based in the UK. It was created with the intention of providing a high quality platform for those artists when, currently, there isn’t a huge infrastructure in place that supports that sort of work. While North America has Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, Top Shelf and various other great publishers – we don’t really have anything here that’s similar. Things are changing of course. There’s Blank Slate and No Brow Press. But I really wanted Solipsistic Pop to exist as a kind of aperture for people to discover brilliant UK talent in a beautiful, boutique publication that wouldn’t look amiss next to Mome, RAW or McSweeney’s on a bookshelf.

Solipsistic Pop is very much about taking the wonderful things people are doing in the small press here and then publishing it using the best possible printing methods available. Conducting experiments with inks, paper stock and pull-outs. Making the product a gorgeous, tactile artefact that shows the work in the best possible light and demands the attention of everyone with a passing interest in comic art. Doing something that makes the rest of the world sit up and take notice of the brilliant artists we have working in comics in the UK at the moment. And encouraging those artists to produce the best work they are capable of.

(cover art for Solipsistic Pop 2 by Luke Pearson)

MB: How’s successful has it been so far? Where next for Solipsistic Pop?

TH: The response to the first two volumes of Solipsistic Pop has been wonderful. We’ve been getting some great reviews and the related exhibitions and events have had enormously successful turnouts. Momentum is definitely building and I’m just about managing to break even on the whole thing. It’s a lot of hard work and a big drain on my time and finances but it’s worth it. I’m extremely proud of Solipsistic Pop and continue to be surprised at what it’s achieved already.

A third volume is due in November and I’ll also be announcing some events around that time. It’s possible Solipsistic Pop will go on hiatus after that while I take stock of what has been a success and where it’s possible to improve. The main things I really need to start considering are whether I can publish more than 500 copies of each volume and how I can solve the problem of distribution. But it’s early days and I’m very much learning as I go.

MB: You do the ‘auto-bio’ thing, amongst other things. Do you ever worry about revealing too much about yourself (or even other people)?

TH: I actually decided to take a break from auto-bio comics after completing How To Date A Girl In 10 Days, only recently returning to it when I undertook the challenge to make a comic a day for 100 days. I simply couldn’t see any other way of producing content on a daily basis without going for the illustrated journal approach. With the 100 Days comics I’ve been very careful to only put other people in there when it is light-hearted and jovial – trying my best not to put words in people’s mouths and to make it clear to friends that I’m doing it. Everyone has been completely fine with it and often enjoy making occasional cameos now and again. But that has a lot to do with making sure I’m documenting things that they’re comfortable with. If there’s ever a moment of introspection or darkness, you’ll most likely find the comic features me and me alone.

(a page from How To Date a Girl in 10 Days by and (c) Tom Humberstone)

The only time this hasn’t been the case was with How To Date A Girl In 10 Days, which was about a relationship that didn’t last more than a fortnight. We didn’t stay friends and when I decided to make a comic about it (which was much less about the relationship itself and much more about being a directionless twenty-something and learning to get beyond my inability to date), I was careful to change names and hide identities. I didn’t have permission to make that comic and so was very careful to make sure that I remained the butt of any jokes. The comic actually gives you little about the relationship or the girl in question. If I was vague at points – to ensure I didn’t share something that the other person wouldn’t want shared – I made sure there was a point I was attempting to communicate. Looking back on it now I think I was generally successful, but I probably wouldn’t attempt that comic now. I think it’s an incredibly delicate line. And too easy to cross.

In terms of sharing too much of myself – that’s not something I worry about at all. I’m happy to do that. Writing Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Crohns Disease was a real eye-opener and let me exorcise a lot of demons about having Crohns. Somehow, writing and drawing about embarrassing moments is quite cathartic and allows me to own them. Additionally, for every personal moment I choose to share with my readers, there are another twenty that I’ve chosen not to. So I never worry about giving too much away.

(a page from Tom’s very honest, touching and sometimes darkly funny 24 hour comic about living with an illness: Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Crohns Disease, by and (c) Tom Humbsertone)

MB: Is the small press a stepping stone for you to get pro’ work or an end in itself?

TH: I’m not entirely sure my work would lend itself well to ‘pro’ work. But it’s not something I’d dismiss – being paid to draw comics is obviously something of a dream. It would have to be the right project though and it certainly hasn’t been the plan behind getting involved in the small press. If anything, it would be nice to get to a point where a slightly larger company helped out with Solipsistic Pop and took care of some of the distribution and marketing side of things but that’s certainly something I couldn’t envisage happening for some time – and wouldn’t want to – I think I enjoy being the over-zealous one-man-band too much.

It would be fantastic if I could make my living out of comics, as it would obviously allow me the time to draw more of them. But similarly, if I never make any money from comics, I’ll continue to draw them.

MB: What’s your involvement in cs?

TH: We Are Words + Pictures is a collective of talented artists and writers who are all, in some way or another, involved in comics. Matthew Sheret and Julia Scheele created it and it predominantly focuses on organising comic-related events, taking comics to comedy nights where there is potential crossover appeal or to music festivals like Latitude. The idea being that by taking comics outside of the conventions and traditional places you might find them, you can increase interest in the medium and the small press scene.

(the We Are Words + Pictures mob go off to the Latitude Festival, art by and (c) Tom Humbsertone)

I’ve been helping out with We Are Words + Pictures as much as I can – designing flyers and brochures and helping to run Drop In + Draw workshops. It’s a fantastic collective doing exciting things and wonderfully ties in with a lot of what Solipsistic Pop is trying to achieve too. It’s no coincidence that Matthew and I co-wrote the comic manifesto that opens Solipsistic Pop 1. We have a lot of similar feelings about the UK comics scene and I look forward to helping out with We Are Words + Pictures whenever I can.

FPI would like to thank Tom and Matt for their time and thoughts; you can follow Tom via his site here and Matthew’s blog is here. Richard reviewed the first two volumes of Solipsistic Pop here on the blog; you can read Richard’s reviews of  volume one here and volume two here. Solipsistic Pop Volume 3 should be launched this November and of course we’ll bring you more on that nearer the time.

By Andrew Cheverton and Tim Keable

Angry Candy

I’d managed to miss Andrew Cheverton and Tim Keable’s West series when it was published as a black and white small press mini. But if I hadn’t known of it’s small press origins, there’s absolutely no way I’d have realised it from this very impressive, very professional looking hardcover.

But a good looking package means nothing unless the inside bears up – and with this Morricone, Leone, Eastwood inspired Western tale, Cheverton and Keable have delivered the goods.

Justice is a deluxe collection of the five issues and those spaghetti Western influences are immediately obvious. Jerusalem West, mysterious loner, of uncertain past, arrives in the town of Dakota in 1878. He may not be looking for trouble, but  as we’re going to find out, trouble (and gunplay) always seems to be not too far behind.

(Jerusalem West rides into town in Cheverton and Keable’s Justice series)

For a perfect summary, here’s Cheverton’s description of his series:

“A name heard in stories, breathed in whispers. In some tales, he’s a lawman who stands for what’s right and fair. In others, he’s a killer – bent on revenge.

Yet more tell of a man wronged by evil and denied his true love, or a brave Union soldier and a true friend. Some say he fought ancient spirits and killed dead men, shot down the righteous and stood alongside the underdog. Some claim to have killed him, or lost loved ones to his gun.

His name, though, all men can agree on. Told around campfires in the cold prairie night, in the candlelit backrooms of low-rent saloons. His name was Jerusalem West and these are his stories.”

How’s that for tantalising? There’s an awful lot to enjoy here, with Cheverton’s lone gunman tales starting out simple but soon develop into something different and far more interesting.

Not that the spaghetti Western fare of opener Population 489 and second tale; Texas Drama aren’t enjoyable. Texas Drama is a perfectly constructed, minimalist thing  as West rolls into town with a body to bury but, in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, finds himself facing down a gang of killers who believe he’s the bounty hunter the town’s hired.

(Keable’s artwork shifting into more angular territory, but still wonderfully exciting storytelling in West’s adventures)

The heart and soul of the book comes with the third chapter; Justice, where the spaghetti Western transforms, quite brilliantly, into a very low key ghost story. It’s obvious Cheverton has plans aplenty for West, and isn’t afraid to take it into unusual territory. Although that’s not to say he’s incapable of a mis-step, as the final story – High Moon – just failed to end the series on the high I was hoping for, never really living up to the promise of prior chapters.

Keable’s art is a major draw to the series as well, although it’s very much a schizophrenic thing – starting out with a classical, very traditional Western look, almost looking like something I’d seen years prior in Lt. Blueberry but quickly shifting into something far more interesting, angular and sparse, there’s even a touch of Steve Parkhouse in the panels.

Initially I thought this was merely Keable’s art evolving as he found a style he felt comfortable with. But he makes a return to the classical look with the final story, so I can only surmise it’s a deliberate choice on his part. Personally I find far more appeal in his harsher, angular look, but throughout the book, the art works very well indeed.

(“Every God damn thing’s gotta be done the hard way”. So true, so true. From West: Justice by Cheverton and Keable)

I’m very, very impressed with West; the story is a good mix of classic Western and something more intriguing. Cheverton’s pacing and dialogue is almost spot on throughout and Keable’s artwork looks good, no matter what the style he uses.

West – Book One: Justice is available now from The Angry Candy Store. There’s a new West mini-series from Cheverton and Keable; Distance, which takes us further back in Jerusalem West’s history, to the American Civil War, to dark memories of his past and to bloody revenge. More on that when I see it, but I’m already looking forward to it.

(For more West, and to see an entire strip, there’s West: Believers, the strip that inspired Cheverton and Keable to develop the series, complete and online.)

by Rob Jackson

Self Published

Rob’s changed his usual A5 format to a near US comic sized 32 page self-contained full story. It’s a nice format, still handy, but the increased size of the pages gives Rob more space to work with and allows him to get the entire story in without overwhelming panels with expositionary dialogue – useful to get all the epic Goblin-Human battle scenes in as well!

The story is a medieval fairy tale-esque thing with the Goblins on one side and humans on the other. And caught right in the middle is Count Brandade, just returned from 5 years of waging war at the King’s side. All he wants now he’s home is to return to the bosom of his family, see his daughters married off and arrange the marriage of his only son; Englebert to the daughter of a war colleague Count Nantes.

(Page 1 sets the tone of this mediaeval romp quite nicely – “They’re probably all worshipping a magic pig”.)

But in the intervening years strange things have been occurring in the forests surrounding his lands, and his son has fallen in love with a fair maiden who lives in a mysterious hall deep in the woods. On meeting the girl, Count Brandade is impressed and agrres to the match once he meets the girl’s father. Unfortunately for our Count, the girl’s father happens to be the Goblin King, away on Goblin business and the Count finds that the Goblin wine he’s had when meeting his son’s fiancée goes right to his head.

Waking up in a clearing one month later (that Goblin wine is very strong stuff) just after his son’s marriage he realises that strange magics are at work and sets about raising a militia to see off the demons and witchcraft he imagines have caused all this.

From here on in it turns into a spectacular and very funny comedy of errors. Count Brandade meets the Goblin King, realises his son is very happy and is convinced that having a Goblin side to the family could have it’s benefits ….”As you’re in our family now, we’ll help your crops to grow and all your plans to work….“. It all seems perfect and everything is working out just fine.

But like any good comedy of errors things don’t go to plan. First a Goblin hunter turns up, Count Brandade desperately tries to cover, fails miserably and from here things just get wonderfully silly, with the King arriving to reward him for his wartime efforts, the Goblins and humans going to war and Count Brandade caught right in the middle. There’s fighting, massed ranks of armies squaring off, fantastical creatures and poor Brandade doing his best to keep his head down and avoid trouble…..

Just like every other comic of Robs this isn’t some highly polished thing and many will find it too rough and ready for their tastes, but the story and the comedy within are well worth seeking out. I’ve deliberately scanned in some of the great comedy moments but there’s an awful lot of them in Goblin Hall, together with some very nice storytelling and a most satisfying story.

Goblin Hall is available from Rob’s website for £3.

“I somehow managed to miss the DFC Panel, which was a shame. However, I did hear Paul Cornell‘s talk and got to see Sarah McIntyre interview Darryl Cunningham. Also, on the Sunday, there was the opportunity to see Sydney Padua interviewed and watch a ‘Comics as Mind Control’ panel…

Paul Cornell was fantastic. As he commented towards the beginning of his talk, ‘Last week I was on a panel in San Diego speaking in front of 1700 people, this week…Oxford and this.’ About 25/30 people turned up to hear him speak, but he still gave us his best, despite jet-lag, with a quick update on what he’s currently working on and some interesting insider tips on writing television, comics and prose.

The Darryl Cunningham interview was equally enjoyable. Not only is Darryl a great cartoonist, but the insight he gave into mental health issues and his experiences of working in a healthcare setting were fascinating. Sarah McIntyre is a very good interviewer as well and she put both Darryl and the audience at ease very quickly, soliciting questions from us during rather than at the end of the interview (it’s a technique that is a bit risky, but worked in this case).”

(portraits of some of the comics folk at Caption by and (c) Sarah McIntyre; in her spare time Sarah makes Wanted posters for Old West re-enactment societies)

If any of the rest of you have posted up Caption reports and pics then please do send us the links and we’ll try and group them all together on here in one post.

(a brace of Alice at R’lyeh by and (c) Murray Ewing)

It’s quite honest stuff and I’m sure many of our friends in the vibrant small press scene in many countries will recognise and empathise with Murray on many points, while to complete newbies contemplating making that first mini comics or booklet there’s some valuable experiences to learn from here; part one is here and part two here.

by David O’Connell

Self Published

This little A6 sized, 12 page mini comic was going to get a little mention at the end of the Tozo review, but it’s so brilliant that I couldn’t resist giving it a mini review of it’s very own.

Right from the first page it had me laughing:

(Yoda – in drag, or Coo-eee! I still don’t know which one is funnier, but they both had me spluttering into my drink. From David O’Connell’s Queen Mum Adventures Volume 1)

That should give you an idea of where O’Connel’s going with this one. The silliness and sedition goes on and on through the all too quickly finished mini. G&Ts, betting, old Scot’s Guard leather boys (“How nice, I can tell you’re a guardsman by the shine on that leather!“), gimps pulling the old dear back home up the Mall in a wheelie bin, QEII and Phillip aghast, giant corgis and more G&T. So much to love. So much to get O’Connell thrown in the tower.

(The Queen Mum delivered back to Clarence House by gimp-drawn wheelie bin, but of course. From David O’Connell’s Queen Mum Adventures Volume 1)

You can read it here, but trust me, this is one of those delightful objects you really need to hold in your hands and settle back for a great chuckle.

Pick it up from David O’onnell’s website (£3.50 for this and the second one – “The Green Lady Mystery”) before he gets picked up by Special Branch. My copy of the second is winging it’s way to me already and I’m really looking forward to it – G&T at the ready. And now a final word from her ex-maj:

by Simon M.

Self Published

Not a comic for those wanting something fast paced and action packed, or indeed those wanting a story, since Smoo is a collection of short, introspective pieces by the artist where nothing much happens and the dialogue is all through think pieces from the artist’s head.

In Smoo #2, Simon M gets a haircut, goes walking, goes thinking, reflects on his place in the world, remembers a tale of a cat and a vole and the need to put the vole out of it’s misery once the cat had had it’s way, then spends some time on a sofa fretting about an argument with a loved one.

And that’s about it. Nothing monumental, no plot to speak of, just ideas, moments, thoughts on paper. But the important thing is that they’re good thoughts, interesting thoughts, all contributing to the cumulative mood of the piece.

I first saw Simon M’s work in Rob Jackson’s recent Gin Palace anthology, where he has a slight “man tries to get served in a bar” strip that was enough to get me to seek out more based purely on the strength of his art, specifically the interesting layouts he adopted. But one page into Smoo, right there on the inside front cover and I think I may have made a mistake, since the strip is a mess of bad layout, starting mid right of the page and then rolling anti-clockwise to tell the story. No, no, no.

Thankfully, that’s an aberration and everything after that merely reinforces the promise I saw in the Gin Palace strip. The art’s spot on from there on in, full of detail but playful, with panels that flow very nicely in unusual ways across the pages. It’s light, open panel style, short on blacks is very much in the style of Adam Cadwell and Marc Ellerby (certainly no bad thing). And there’s some delicious turns of phrase throughout Smoo, as Simon drifts and thinks and contemplates his way through the pages giving the whole comic a reflective, near dreamlike state.

The book ends with Schrodinger, just 4 pages and 5 panels long, but the perfect distillation of everything I enjoyed about Smoo; very understated art, yet full of interesting visual effects and important/inconsequential extras, and a relaxed internal monologue as Simon contemplates the morning after the unresolved arguament the night before in the moments before his girlfriend wakes up.

Smoo # 2 is the only thing Simon M has in print right now and the two issues of Smoo so far have taken a few years to put out. Jobs, real life and everything else gets in the way of course, but something this impressive really needs to be on a more regular schedule. Smoo#2 is available from Simon M – get in touch through his website.

Matthew Badham, features writer at Judge Dredd Megazine, and contributor to this blog, has been in touch regarding a project that he needs some help with, particularly those readers who also make their own comics. Over to Matthew:

“I’m writing a 4000 word piece about the British indie/small press comics scene. I’m going to be using my contacts book to gather primary research material in the form of quotes from indie comics peeps. However, any indie/small press comics types who want to be proactive and get in touch with me via mattbadham(at)hotmail.com to chat about the scene are more than welcome to do so.

I can’t promise that I’ll have space to mention every comic creator I speak to, but I will try and mention as many as I can (and hopefully get them some publicity). “

by Andrew Waugh

Self published

Here’s a little something that should warm the cockles of anyone who’s a fan of things like Mark Ellerby’s Ellerbisms or Adam Cadwell’s The Everyday. Yes, Coupledom by Andrew Waugh is yet another autobiog strip with pretty pictures, cartoony style and a focus on the daily life and relationship of the cartoonist in his late 20s.

It’s full of all the stuff you may expect; snapshots of a relationship, the little moments in every day that mean so little but, when counted up, form most of what makes us ourselves. Whether it’s pulling stupid faces, vegging out in front of the tele, random meaningless couple conversations, bad moods or the fun of the shared trump, Waugh covers it all in a series of six panel pages, full of an attractive, very clean, cutesy cartooning. There’s even a little sex thrown in (but all for the sake of a gag).

Criticisms of the style say there’s not really much going on. Just random couple stuff. All over far too quickly. Nothing substantial going on. But that’s rather missing the point I think. The joy of comics like this is the celebration of the moment, the simple pleasure in the everyday nothingness. And all that’s here in Coupledom.

It may not last that long and it wont change your life. But that’s not what Waugh was aiming for. I think he’d be happy if it occupied your time for a few minutes, made your day a little brighter and put a smile on your face as you recognise some of the moments here as small reflections of your own life. And that’s what I got out of Coupledom. I hope Waugh’s happy enough with that.

Here’s a little sampling of the book, done as a promo image taking odd panels from various strips:

And here’s a page in full:

Andrew Waugh’s work is available through his ETSY store and be sure to look at his blog – This Means Waugh.

Richard Bruton.