What an audience, all 1700 of them! Thanks to all the schools for letting me have so much fun!

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Just did an interview for BBC Radio Oxford about the sad passing of Leo Baxendale. Never let it be said that I don’t do my research.

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I had a good laugh at a new joke I squeezed into Julius Zebra book 3, then I turned around and saw this face.

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Foreign editions for Julius Zebra: Bundle With The Britons are rolling in thick and fast, along with the UK paperback edition!

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I’m enjoying some weird Icelandic Sagas. I particularly like this in-story critique of a poem.

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I hereby declare this the funniest thing I’ve ever drawn. #garysgarden @phoenixcomicuk

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Best post ever. Fact.

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Second-hand bookshops, never knowingly left empty-handed.

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Julius Zebra snapped up in Portugal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News reached me today that Julius Zebra has been picked up by Portuguese publisher Oficina Do Livro! Party time! By my reckoning that’s my 8th Foreign Edition, including U.S., Dutch, German, Chinese, Turkish, Greek and Italian (natch) editions.

What with Portugal winning the European Cup thingy, I’m not sure the poor Portuguese can take any more excitement!

“Oi mate! Forget the zebra, read Gary’s Garden!”

And talking of foreign editions, over in the Netherlands, Julius has been a particularly massive hit. I was told this week that the first book is now on it’s 3rd edition (in fact it went into reprint after only one week!). To be fair, the marketing has been stunning to say the least. Check out some of these photos! Big thanks to my publisher, Luitingh-Sijthoff (and Thille Dop!) for their spectacular efforts, now reaping the rewards. (All photos © Thille Dop and Hannerlie Modderman)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gary’s Garden Crosses The Pond!

Last week ushered in the exciting news that Gary’s Garden became my SECOND book to hit the shores of the good ol’ U.S of A (the first of course being Julius Zebra out from Candlewick in April). Gary’s Garden is published by Scholastic and is the second Phoenix collection to dip its toes into the American market, after Jamie Smart’s juggernaut of a book, Bunny Vs Monkey came out in January.

Larry ‘Ladybug’?! You crazy yanks and yer funny language!

What I’m particularly excited about is that Gary’s Garden is my first COMIC out in America and that means I get jolly mentions on websites that I admire and have been following for years (I’m a BIG fan of American comics, old and new).

Me admiring my lovely American comics.

This includes The Comics Journal, an esteemed publication which I used to devour when it was a printed magazine and is now a great online resource for news and articles on the comic form, and where this week Gary’s Garden is a Spotlight Pick! Hooray!

And I also spotted that the book got an honourable mention on Tom Spurgeon’s essential Comics Reporter news site on last week’s New And Notable Releases. Thanks Tom!

Both these mentions are greatly appreciated, but what was especially nice to see is that both sites were very aware of the Phoenix Comic, which is very encouraging. Let’s hope both Gary’s Garden and Bunny Vs Monkey do well over in America and then we can bombard them with all the OTHER delights that fill that wondrous weekly comic!

Also, excitingly, if you like reading comics on a computer or ipad, thanks to the Scholastic edition, you can now read Gary’s Garden on Comixology!

“Hahaha!! That spider said BUM!!”

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In other (completely unrelated) news, I just had one of my tweets featured on a news site!! Woohoo!! Check it out!

(Scroll down a bit, fifth tweet down.)

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/eastenders-viewers-react-sam-mitchell-8320645?

Sam Mk I and …er… Mk III

Forget comics, THIS is PROPER fame!

I would often admire from afar the likes of Jamie Smart and Andy Fanton regularly having their sharp witticisms being displayed on national news sites and cried myself to sleep, knowing that it would never happen to me.

BUT NOW IT HAS AND I AM NOW OFFICIALLY FUNNY!!!

It’s a shame it was a tweet about Eastenders, but it’s a steep learning curve and all that. Next time it will be about Jeremy Corbyn or Michael Gove and then I’ll be asked onto important TV shows to regale Andrew Marr or whoever with my ingenious observations.

Just you wait.

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