dressing up, new comics, and library lobby

This morning, I was looking at photos of people's costumes from last night, and drew one of my most home-made costumes from childhood. In the UK, people mostly seem to dress up as ghosts, zombies, monsters, scary things. But in the USA, we dressed up as anything, so it's not quite so odd that I dressed up as a chicken. If you're looking for something to draw today, why not draw yourself in one of your Hallowe'en costumes? (Post a link to your picture in the comments, I'd love to see it!)



This morning I found this photo on my Facebook wall from a friend (also named Sarah) in California. She writes: My little pirate inspired by Captain Waffle. (That is a treasure map he is holding, treasure was buried in the garden). All his idea. Hurrah! If you'd like to make your own treasure map, I have a free template on my website here, and you can also find out how to draw Captain Waffle here.



And some news! Do you remember when I was drawing weekly Vern and Lettuce comic strips for The DFC comic magazine? Well, sadly, that fine publication only ran for 42 weeks before the larger publishing house pulled the plug. But The Phoenix Comic sprang up out of its ashes and now soars high with amazing comics every week. And it's about to go one issue beyond The DFC, to Issue 43, and I'm going to have a strip in it! Yay! I wrote it together with my friend (and collaborator on Oliver and the Seawigs) Philip Reeve; he drew it and inked it, and I coloured it. If you haven't subscribed yet to The Phoenix, why not consider doing it now? It's aimed at kids age 7-12, but I know just as many adult fans as kids; it's really an all-family comic. Go subscribe now! And look out tomorrow for our four-page strip in Issue 43.



Now some business. A few days ago, a bunch of librarians and fellow book creators marched with me to Parliament to fight for every school to have its own library with a trained librarian. The MPs are responding, and it would be great if you could get yours to sign Early Day Motion 647. Click on this link to see if they've already signed, and if not, could you get in touch with them? We need for them to know how important this is to us.



Here's firebrand librarian Barbara Band, who's been organising the lobby campaign!


Photo of Barbara by Candy Gourlay; photo of me by Philip Ardagh)

And one more thing! Fab Phoenix Comic contributor Jamie Smart has just created a new blog post for people who want to learn about making comics. Read his Advice for a Young Comics Artist here (and I've added it to the end of my own FAQ page, along with a few other helpful links).