Okay, so the past couple of weeks, I've been newly energised with creative energy after a long slump, thanks to a couple of recent developments, so I thought I'd drop a quick line on here to commemorate the occasion.

Okay... what's first... OH! Finished drafting a new comic, which is gonna be full colour and everything. It's gonna take me well out of my comfort zone, drawing-wise, and it's gonna take a lot of concentration to pull off.

The thing is about comix, I find, is that you can NOT half-ass it. You gotta go and stick with it, and keep doing it. Any person who's not 100% committed to making something will be weeded out, because this is a learning process, and actually creating a comic all by yourself is a shitload of hard work.

This can be heartbreaking, because you can labour throughout a comic, really be pleased as you're doing it, then step back and realise you've made a crucial error and you've fucked it up, meaning a lot of work and time has gone away. This is how it is, get up, dust off your arse, pick the gravel out of your kneecaps and do it again.

Soapbox rantage aside, I feel like I've levelled up recently doing this.

Recently, I've realised that it's great to have your heroes, but you should look at their stuff to get juiced up and maaaaybe to compare quality like "have I done all I can to this?", but that can only go so far.

You shouldn't side-by-side your work with even your biggest hero, because the thing is, you'll never match because you are you and your hero is your hero. Two different people.

I used to do this ALL the time, and I realised that I never liked the stuff I drew while constantly comparing to say, or half as much as I like the stuff I draw when I'm by myself at a cafe without a computer or packed into a room full of friends who are all watching UFC.

Just the other day, I realised that it's great to look to your heroes for inspiration, but it's REALLY great to look to your heroes' heroes. I've been doing that recently, and it's hugely invigorating and inspiring, and what's more, I find it somehow makes me go more in my own direction and do my own shit than if I just look to the nonetheless awesome artists of this generation.

Jack Kirby, Ralph Bakshi, Herge, Vaughn Bode. There is a reason why these dudes inspire such awe in the professionals of today.

Anyway, I gotta jet. There's a free showing of Princess Mononoke in town today, and I ain't about to miss that!

PEEEEEAAAACCCEEE