AARGH hello internet. I’ve often wondered why I seem driven to bash out tens of thousands (literally) of pages of comics in one vast cohesive multiverse-style sex romp ultra-fiasco that all interlinks, and … other people don’t seem to do that. Do they? I’ve looked into it, and there don’t seem to be many [sex or otherwise] comic creators who make such a volume of it-all-ties-together-like-some-ridiculous-library-of-mayhem work. With a mostly-consistent set of values underpinning everything?! Hrmm.
(Full disclosure: I’m the same human individual responsible since Nemesis … even Liz Truss. Yep, it’s all been me, obviously. Ah that reminds me I really need to do the last Bubble..)
And then I got diagnosed with a [bunch of] certain neurotype[s] which apparently lends itself to zoning-out of boring work, and instead LOCKS IN on groundbreaking randomness, and suddenly it all made sense. I read a thing about Barbara Cartland being ‘maybe’ autistic; Barbara who created 700+ novels. SEVEN HUNDRED FUCKING NOVELS are you kidding me?! Barbara, what the heck are you doing smashing out SEVEN HUNDRED novels?!?!?!! Barbara … a bit of a recluse despite being much-loved by many people. Barbara who died surrounded by cats and HUNDREDS of unpublished extra novels, just lying about the house … … … me.
AAaaaaaAAaaaAAAAARRGHHHHHnnnnnyway, then I wondered why I haven’t created quite so many comics this year. Possibly down to work stress, which does come and go. Possibly down to the fact my ‘specialist interests’ are many and varied (I’ve been enjoying modifying engines recently, to output more horsepower; that’s always a fun way to waste time). Possibly down to my growing understanding of the differences in my brain and the way I process the world; seriously that’s a big thing to get your head around, that. Its taken me years coming to terms with the different ways I process reality vs. how other people do it.
And we get to the point of this quick lil’ check-in: I’m learning to look after myself. For the first time properly. And that includes spending less time on things with people who don’t have my health/interests at heart (I actually ghosted a truly selfish person for the first time in my life a few weeks back! Delightful!). It includes looking after my sensory differences when I go out. It includes having boundaries and saying ‘no’ a hell of a lot more: at work, with friends, even in the mirror sometimes. I’ve even got some help and have cut my alcohol usage down by like 60% so it’s now consistently lower than it has been for *check notes* 20 years. Did you read this far? Then you’re my people. Thank you for making this ride be as enjoyable as it has been; seriously the fans who actually read stuff are why I’ve put so much effort into these things for so long. And will continue to do so, when the time is right.
Talking about next steps; there’s a couple of key comics I’d love to complete (the backyard one-off is a fun romp, and there’s the third Kinfolk that needs doing; not sure about Skybloom, that kinda works ending where it is so I may not complete that one). But I am thinking more about releasing my half-finished comics in a few batches; because there’s concepts sitting on my computer that I pondered but am never going to finish (because they didn’t ‘do it’ for me, or they didn’t tie-in very well or they’d just take too long or the technology moved on or they’re just plain illegal or whatever), but which I think should be released even semi-done, because I know people will enjoy them nonetheless.
And we don’t always need the entire story, do we? Take the fun renders on this page for example: I don’t need to spell it out, don’t need to finish everything. The story’s all there, implied, in the gaps, in the light and dark, in the ripples of the water and the subtlety of expression; the anguish and the joy, the veiled horniness and the slight disgust, the furnishings implying the era … ahhh, great fun.
