Last month, Hope and Mal were in town and we went out for coffee and talked about comics (and lots of other stuff) for hours. I was really inspired by how disciplined they were. They were “on vacation” but still knocking out an inked page a day – and they have a very clear daily, monthly, and yearly goals.

Now, I realize they’re working for real publishers in the real world and I’m working for… my web-site. But I don’t make that distinction when I’m doing the strip, so I don’t see why I should do that with my schedule.

Anyway, all this to say, I haven’t posted any strips recently because I’ve been working and re-working a beat-sheet for a complete Ojingogo graphic novel and breaking down a realistic schedule to get it finished. I’m very excited with what I have so far. I’m trying to incorporate important story beats, but only as a guide. So that when I’m executing the strips I will have the freedom to continue to have lots of fun with them.

In other news:

The annual Expozine gala is coming up next week, on Wednesday, March 7. Ojingogo is shortlisted for Best English comic along with some of my friends and their truly great comics.

Best English Comic

• Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
• Ojingogo (#2) by Matthew Forsythe
• Revolver 2 by Salgood Sam with Jim Munroe
• Screwed Ball by Bill Charbonneau
• I Found It in My Urethra! by Robin Bougie

I really love the whole Expozine project – and I think the organizers are doing something truly worthwhile; so it’s a real honour to be a part of that community.

Related stuff:

• Expozine 2006 Round-up
• Ojingogo wins an Expozine Award

Here’s an illustration I did for Kayak a few months ago. The illustration was for an article about Lord Franklin’s failed search for an arctic passage. The more I read about the story, the more fascinated I became.

1845. Franklin’s ships, The Erebus and The Terror (who get’s on an arctic-bound ship called The Terror?), became lodged in the ice and therefore trapped. He and his crew attempted the 500 mile trek to the nearest settlement. Despite dozens of searches (some of which continue to this day), neither the ships nor the bodies of the crew were ever recovered. Though travelers to the area, still discover objects and trinkets that belonged to the crew.

Anyway, the more I read on the subject, the more I realized Franklin, himself was an egotistical idiot. He was a prick who didn’t care about his crew and was content to put their lives at risk for personal gain and glory. Sadly, only his name remains in the history books – not those of his crew. To me, their story is much more interesting.