And we’re off! Welcome to the very first of the guest strips.

Our very first here comes to us from Box Brown, father of Bellen! (some of you might recall that I did a guest comic for Bellen! very recently. S’pretty good – go read it).

So this is what KinokoFry might look like if it were syndicated in a newspaper! I’m so glad Box showed me, because it will never, ever happen. :| So he’s allowing me to live this small dream.

And this is one of my favourite things about Box’s comics. Each strip has a unique style in terms of layout, palette, use of textures (and he makes copious use of texture. I am always inspired to use texture when I read Bellen! and then I forget when I think about the effort and difficulty of learning a new thing). Each one uses graphic design in a different way, often homages to particular artists or styles of an era. I mean, look at these.

That’s all Bellen! How he does it, I shall probably never know and on top of that, he produces books and paintings and more books and I don’t know where he finds the time. He must be one of those… “efficient time users“, or perhaps a… “driven artist“.

God. How does he live with himself?

So go and read Bellen! Go and read lots of it because there IS lots of it (in the 600s!) and apart from being often cute/depressing/joyful/bleak/honest insights into life, it is a visual delight. I love watching Box experiment.

Oh, and this is one of my favourite Bellen!s. That’s right. Bellen!s.

THANKYOU, BOX BROWN! (I wonder who will be next?)

Other news: Now, with EVERY donation, big or small, you will receive the new 45-page PDF booklet, “My Sketchbook”

Holy christ, 45 pages!

It is literally one of my sketchbooks scanned and compiled into handy PDF format so you can all laugh at how awful my scribbles and sketches are, wonder at what the hell my incomprehensible notes are, see some comics in their raw format, and feel good about yourself because you will look at this and go, “Pff. I could do that”.

If you’d like to feel that good, all you gotta do is make a donation!