Elf Blood

I’ve been digitally leafing through my folders full of old comics and whatnot, from way back when. I’m talking 2009 way back when, before I did proper anatomy, before I’d really honed my skills, before I really knew how to write a story. Most of the stuff I’m finding is nice from a nostalgia point of view, but is utterly cringeworthy in terms of quality. And yes, I’m even including early Elf Blood in that category!

And then, there is NeonPOP!

NeonPOP! was, once upon a time, an idea for a news and culture magazine I tried to piece together at university. It never really took off as a concept, but I did manage to spin it into a weekly comic! It started out as a full page of comic art, but when I switched to doing Elf Blood twice a week I had to change the format to a single-panel gag because of time concerns. Eventually, when I moved down to Manchester and started working full-time, I had to give it up, again due to time concerns.

Reading NeonPOP! was pretty awesome, actually. Even though I say it myself, it was genuinely quite funny and entertaining! I’m by no means a master of satire; the point was that modern news and culture is so ridiculous, all you really need to do is present it with the right attitude and the laughs would write themselves. What I’d love to do, if moving up to Glasgow frees up some of my time, is to devote a little time to doing the single-panel NeonPOP! comics again. This is a tumultuous era in terms of politics and culture, and I think the time is right to revive NeonPOP!

So, I’ll see how things go! I know for a fact that my journey time is going to be slashed by about half an hour each way – That’s an hour a day I’ll get back. Plus, being in the same city as some of my favourite folks in the whole world will do my motivation and energy a whole heap of good, I reckon!

Stay tuned! In the meantime, packing continues steadily and the flat is now FILLED with friggin boxes. Hurray for clutter/fire risks!

See you all on Monday for the start of the final block of Elf Blood: The Child!

M.