May 2013
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Please help out Pioneer's Press: A PERSONAL PLEA
Pioneer’s Press is a publishing house, distro, farming concern and enterprise based entirely on some pretty good ethical starting points. They’re trying to live differently and make things pay in a way that is meaningful in what we can all agree is a pretty manic and difficult world.
They were established very recently in the shadow of some very difficult personal, political and...
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'Holiday' zine gets reviewed by Richard Bruton
My new zine got reviewed by Richard Bruton over at the Forbidden Planet International blog. He writes:
“Moreton’s lines get fewer yet his ideas seem limitless. Perhaps the fewer lines are what does it; you look at a page, your eyes flow easily and smoothly over the image, guided skillfully and precisely by Moreton’s hand, and then your mind takes over, automatically filling in the gaps,...
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Words of Wisdom?
Here are a few things I think I’ve worked out from doing comics so far. They’re not rules or anything, but just stuff I’ve come to recognise as lessons for myself. Perhaps they’ll resonate with you, too.
1) Be OK with getting lost
I always had an idea of where I was going, an ambition or goals of sorts, but I never really ended up where I thought I would. I’ve realised it’s just stumbling,...
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I’m making all my out of print comics available...
Partly because it’s free comic book day, and partly in celebration of 5 years of SMOO Comics, my entire out-of-print catalogue is now available for free as a pdf download.
I think my comics have changed a great deal in the last five years - stylistically, aesthetically etc. Thematically, though, I think they haven’t changed that much - I think I’m still preoccupied with the same...
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A potted history of SMOO Comics, pt. 2
In celebration of five years since I published the first SMOO Comic, I’ve been doing a potted history of how things came to be. This is part 2.
Ch ch ch changes.
2011
Start 2011 wanting to do something different with my comics. Start work on the Escapologist as an experiment in drawing differently.
Parents prepare to move away from Marlow. Reflecting on teenage years becomes focus of SMOO...
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A potted history of SMOO Comics, pt 1.
This May sees the fifth anniversary of SMOO Comics #1, which debuted in May 2008. To mark the occasion, I’ve got a few blog posts coming up reflecting on making zines and drawing boxes. The first two comprise a little potted history of making comics. So without further ado, here is the first part.
Prologue
2007
visit Travelling Man on Park St, Bristol. First trip to a comic shop in a while.
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April 2013
14 posts
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THIS IS THE NEWS: April
As Spring struggles to spring forth here in mediocrely-weathered Bristol, I’m happy to say there have been plenty of comics things happening.
Very imminent releases
My new book, Grand Gestures, will debut at TCAF. It’s available to pre-order now from Retrofit Comics. I’ll have copies soon, so you’ll be able to buy directly from me as well. It’s 44 pages long and is a silent story about falling...
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Jason Martin writes about SMOO
Jason Martin wrote about my comics for his Zine Club! Jason’s one of my favourite cartoonists, about whom I’ve written before. He scored an Ignatz nomination last year for a story he wrote, illustrated by Jesse Reklaw, in the last issue of Papercutter (which Jason wrote all of). If you do follow the link below, make sure you check out his work too!
Jason on SMOO Comics
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March 2013
11 posts
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I'm fundraising to go to SPX!
It’s official! I’m going to be at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland in September. I’ll be sharing a table with Warren Craghead and I’m very excited, and very lucky. Making comics isn’t my day job, but it means everything to me to be making them. Getting the opportunity to do things like traverse the ocean to SPX is a great privilege. I’m fundraising to...
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Comics and Educational Research
jarodrosello:
I just finished turning in my comprehensive exam papers to my doctoral committee. In two weeks I’ll have an oral defense/exam meeting to discuss these papers. Hopefully I’ll pass the exam and move on to my dissertation. I’ve been creating a space for me in my department to do arts-based educational research, specifically, making comics as my research. These three papers offer...
February 2013
17 posts
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Better, Drawn needs YOU
In July 2011, I started a blog called Better, Drawn:
Better, drawn is a place for people to share stories about long-term mental and physical illnesses, told in the form of short comics. The site is a way for people to write and draw about their experiences that might otherwise be difficult to talk about openly. In fact, we think that sometimes things can be said better when they’re drawn.
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SMOO Comics gets a write-up from Graphixia.ca
Over on Graphixia, Peter Wilkins writes about my comics. He does so in a thoughtful way that seems to capture what I’m trying to do with them, and is more than a little humbling. Peter writes:
“Moreton’s drawings are about getting as much information and affect into as few lines as possible. It would not only be a cliche but incorrect to say that we “fill in the rest” with our...
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SMOO #6 gets a write-up on The Comics Journal
Wow. Smoo #6 gets a write-up on The Comics Journal, thanks to Rob Clough. First time ever on TCJ!
Read it here.
If you like what you read, why not take a look at some of my comics, and consider browsing my online shop. You might like to buy something, or, alternatively, explore some of the distros and shops that carry SMOO and the rest of their amazing stock.
THIS IS THE NEWS: February
January’s been rough, but things are looking up… Retrofit: I’m hard at work on my book for Box Brown’s Retrofit imprint. It’s going to be called Grand Gestures. It’s about a man who is sad and what happens the moments before you are forced to take ownership of that sadness and make something better from what you have. It’ll be about 36 pages long....
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Distro news: Pioneers Press
You can now pick up SMOOs #4 and #5 from Pioneers Press. The newly-named distro was formed when long-running zine distro Microcosm split into two separate entities. There’s some back story to that process, but I’m terribly pleased to have ended up on Pioneers’ roster. Check out my zines here.
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