In which Jon remembers what a blog post is and manages to find his keyboard with both hands.
Is there a limit to how many excuses the human body can endure? Does the Geneva Convention have anything to say on the matter? Maybe this is the time to sweep past indiscretions under the rug. Yes, promises were made and then reneged on. Yes, a shiny new blog was established and then woefully neglected. But I’m here now. I live. I breathe. I type. And I’m going to do better, I promise. I’m back. Forgive me?
So, after an absence measurable only in geological terms, it’s time to dust off the blogging tools and get this show back on the road.
Firstly – and, in all fairness, most importantly – Afterlife Inc. volume 3: Lifeblood is complete. I can scarcely believe it. I’m holding a physical copy as I write this and I can still hardly believe it. Having poured over every page – 128 separate images – for the better part of a year, in script, pencil and eventually final-art form, I find myself unable to view it as a finished piece of work. I’m too close. I’ve seen too much. I’m not sure it’ll ever feel “real” to me. Maybe in six months or so, when the excitement and exhaustion finally fade, I’ll be able to see it as it truly is. Lifeblood has been the defining aspect of my life for nearly twelve months. I find it hard to imagine a future where it doesn’t occupy my every waking moment.
Making Lifeblood has been an incredible experience. I’ve learned a great deal about writing long form comics; of editing and managing a project of this magnitude. It’s also the book that broke me, both physically and mentally.
Shortly after reaching my Kickstarter target, I fell ill with what I believed at the time to be an extended bout of labyrinthitis. Cue dizziness, vertigo, headaches, nausea, eye strain etc. It was also around this time that I confirmed just how much of a workaholic I am. A doctor-imposed (and Lucy-enforced) ban on screens of any kind drove me to distraction. Unless I was doing something, anything that could be classified as “work”, I felt lost. Panicked. Days spent at home on sick leave, unable to access my precious laptop, were maddening.
My health gradually improved, even if my work habits didn’t, and life returned to relatively normalcy. My attacks, now diagnosed as migraines, came and went, and I learned to live with and around them. Until this week I’d managed to go months without any incident at all. With the arrival of 150 print copies of Lifeblood, however…. Bam! Just like clockwork. Another migraine. What is it about this book? Is it my kryptonite? A spooky correlation, to be sure.
Grant Morrison often talks of his experiences in writing himself into his stories in form of the Invisibles’ King Mob. When Mob, Morrison’s physical double, was tortured at the hands of his enemies, so too did Morrison’s health suffer – to the point where he nearly died in hospital from appendicitis. I’m not suggesting a symbiotic link between the two (I’m nowhere near tipsy enough) but it’s an interesting story, nonetheless. Maybe I put so much into Lifeblood that I forgot to look after myself quite as well as I should have done. Perhaps releasing Lifeblood to the public will be the catharsis needed to finally rest my poor, battered brain.
So clearly I’ve still got a thing or two to learn about balancing work and play. But at least the pain has been worth it. I’m immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished – Ash, Nathan, Stocky et moi – in bringing Lifeblood to life. Their writer may have been crumbling around the edges, but the art team has produced some of the best work imaginable. Thank you, guys. It’s been an honour. And thank you also to my incredible Kickstarter backers. Advance copies of Lifeblood have been sent your way. The grand launch will be at Thought Bubble next week.
Speaking of Thought Bubble, only 9 days remain until the eponymous convention, and I couldn’t be more excited. Already the “party con” of the circuit – it’s generally the last show of the calendar year and people want, nay, need to let their hair down – T-Bubs holds an additional thrill this year as Nich Angell and I join forces for the first time under the banner of Big Punch Studios. We’ve collaborated before on the Heavenly Chord; numerous joint projects await. But in Big Punch we find a meeting of the minds. A shared mission or statement of intent. Nich is my Comics brother-in-arms. It’s a pleasure to join forces under a rocking logo and mutual desire to make multiverse-shattering comics.
Nich and I can be found at tables 113-114 New Dock Hall, where we’ll be launching Lifeblood along with Nich’s very own Tabby and Trout Issue 1 and Cat and Meringue 1000 Days of Adventure. Wowser! The two of us are also hosting a talk on Sunday at 2:40pm in the Speech Bubble Panel Area, Armouries Square about the Heavenly Chord and blockbuster storytelling on a small press scale. So if you’d like to come and hear us chat about our comics, storytelling and the industry in general, be sure to stop by for what promises to be a good laugh.
And, finally, I’ll also have a couple of test copies of the Book of Life ready for Thought Bubble. The Book of Life is the hardback collected edition of all three Afterlife Inc. volumes to date: an unofficial trilogy that marks three years’ worth of creative output. It’s bigger – in height, width, depth and weight – than the previous books and features a wealth of special features. Be sure to stop by the table if you’d like a sneak peak of the forthcoming release.
Thanks for the time, gang. The countdown begins!
Jon
jonlockcomics 