Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 30

Accommodating

Diplomacy

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 29

Approaching the end of Chapter 1.....

A Slight Detour

A change of pace this week- I've been drawing more single frame cartoons, which I like as a change and a way of doing something fast and letting my more random section of my mind (which is most of it) go to town after a day of being logical and organised. Hope you like it...

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 28

And Happy 2010, and all that. Hope you had a good time off, and got to experience Christmas as it was intended. It's been good to have some time off, but now it's time to shake off the cobwebs, and get back into normal life in all it's shenaniganisms. Well, on Monday anyway. Still some time to blob. Huzzah!

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 27

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 26

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 25

I didn't mention it last week, but I spruced the blog up a bit. That's more like it.

I should mention that Tom Dell'Aringa's Marooned book is taking preorders, and encourage you to go and check out his grand work. You can only order before Dec 2nd, though....

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 24

Well, exam 1 out of the way, exam 2 coming soon... but still found a bit of time for this.

A short note- I love this cartoon.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 23

I thought I'd just draw your attention to Mouse Guard- Winter 1152, a marvelous book I read on holiday last week- there seriously needs to be more comics like this- all ages adventure, epic, dark, a serious tone- absolutely wonderful.

Exam time is upon me, so updates will most likely be intermittent. Back soon!

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 22

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 21

Woohoo!

We're past the 20 episode stage!

It seems more substantial to be able to say that, that now it's passed the initial starting up stage and moving onto phase 2, growth, development, establishment- generally, it's on a roll. Woo!

And then you realise how many pages this would take up in print, but never mind. As my mum used to say, 'Slowly but surely wins the race'.

Celebrate with me now this minor achievement by going to your food cupboard and breaking into a chocolate bar (in my case a Wispa), and eat a toast to giving new ideas a chance to grow and improve, because at the end of the day, the best ideas are not developed with the thought of money in mind.

Not that I'm saying this is in those idea's hallowed company. Yet. I'm going to have a good go though.

Enough wittering.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 20

And just who are these mysterious fellows?

I recently finished reading the first story in Sean Wang's 'Runners' comic, and it's cracking stuff. It's a sci fi tale, with well developed characters, a good steady setup of the story's universe, and a lovely pay off on the action front, once you've got to know the cast. The comic timing is lovely, as is the banterous dialogue. The second story is being shown in instalments at the moment, so it's well worth the trip. It's just a shame it takes so long to craft something so good! More of this type of thing would be brilliant.

I should point out that exam time is looming for me, so Ziggy could be delayed in the near future. But not for too long. I have to get this storytelling thing out of my system some how, so it definitely won't be a long delay. In the meantime, enjoy and please pass this on to anyone you know who might like it. And drop me a line to say what you're liking. Or not. Gulp. Cheers!

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 19

And so, the story broadens... and it all begins with beans.

As do lots of things...

One thing I want to do is go back to the earlier frames and tweak them. I've been trying a looser style which was a bit different to my usual more 'flowy' approach, the problem being that I started with the 'flowy' style then switched mid-way through. And I'd like to improve earlier frames anyway. So we'll see what to do about that. At the moment, I'm just going to draw fresh episodes and get a more spiffy website up later.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 18

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 17

I liked drawing this. And I think Kra-dooomm is a good expressive word. You obviously won't win a debate with it, but it could prove a good tactic to momentarily bewilder your opponent.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 16

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 15

Managing to grab some time at the end of my holiday to put the latest episode/frame up. As a wise cartoon character once said: 'There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want'.

Picked up a book while on a trip out with Sarah and Naomi called 'Mouse Guard', which I would absolutely suggest you see. It's beautifully drawn, and a wonderfully earthy, fresh story with a LOTR vibe, the kind of story with a clear universe and clear rules, so the writer can't find a handy plot device or some magic thing which gets their heroes out of scrapes.

I naturally like the kind of story where there are a limited cast of characters and resources, power plays, a sense of being just beyond reality, a contained world with an epic edge. This is summed up for me in Simon Furman's Transformers story 'Target 2006' which I also would recommend you check out.

Anyway, Mouse Guard reminds me a bit of my favourite aspect of LOTR: Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli's plot line in The Two Towers. It's now one of the small band of favourites. See it here.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 14