A Return

In which the author announces his return to cartooning, reports on having exhibited at a comic convention for the first time in seven years, and briefly outlines the troublesome (mis)delivery of a reprinted book

I’m Back!

Yes, yes. In the latter half of 2019, after the publication of The Many Not the Few (in print as of writing, as copies still linger with the distributor) and some subsequent tinkering with the old pages of Killjoy #2, I took an extended break from cartooning. I took a Brotberuf in the financial sector shortly before the Covid lockdowns began; after over a year of trying, I eventually managed to find more congenial employment as a video game writer and narrative designer.

Killjoy #2 Redux is here (but wasn’t at LICAF).

Earlier in 2026, I returned to part-time comic-making. The second part of ‘The Great British Summer Holiday’, the story begun in Killjoy #5, remained unfinished, and unfinished business weighs upon me. (Killjoy #6 is still a work in progress, to which I’ll return in a future post.) I’d also never released a long-promised reprint of Killjoy #2, the first run of which sold out in 2017; that had been a tricky issue with some regrettable artwork that I’d long intended to improve. I’d already done most of that rework in 2017 and 2019, but it took some time to work up the courage and conviction to get it back on the drawing board after my extended moratorium.

I’d been accepted as an exhibitor at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (LICAF) in October 2026, which I set on as the time and place to release the redux edition of Killjoy #2.

LICAF 2026

I now live in the Netherlands, so tabling at UK events requires international travel. Strangely, it didn’t occur to me quite how costly and time-consuming this would be (especially compared to such cheap and easy experiences as my jaunt to 2013’s Bristol Comic and Zine Fair), but I’m still happy with my decision to return to fayre-going at familiar events.

Day 2 at LICAF 2026, having sold out of The Many Not the Few.
Photo taken by Karin Diamond (Re-Live)

LICAF 2026 was, overall, a pleasant experience. Unfortunately I didn’t have copies of Killjoy #2 to sell (more on that below) – which cost me at least one sale from a punter who didn’t want to buy an incomplete series – but I still managed to sell some Killjoys, as well as copies of Portraits of Violence and The Many Not the Few (I sold all the copies of the latter that I brought with me). Perhaps being long away from the festival circuit has made my work fresh to some newcomers – and I was happy to make some new acquaintances. I was also happy to see a bunch of familiar faces and be welcomed back into the fold. (Steven Ingram thought I’d become one of those people who suddenly disappear from the scene, leaving their work unfinished – and I suppose I had been, temporarily.)

This was my third time tabling at LICAF. While I missed the festival’s Bowness-on-Windermere years, the Comics Market taking place at the Westmorland Campus of Kendal College (above the Westmorland Shopping Centre) instead of the old town hall made this year’s event somewhat different to my previous Kendal experiences. It’s always a fairly quiet event, especially compared to a behemoth like Thought Bubble, but the flow of visitors through the fayre-appropriate venue felt somehow more lively and consistent than the relative sedateness of the erstwhile location, as I remember it (or perhaps there were simply more visitors this year). It wasn’t more fiscally successful than my last LICAF, but I’m not complaining about my takings; as I was telling my lovely table-neighbours from Re-Live, I have a very low bar for success at cons – as long as it beats my miserable experience of selling only two copies of Killjoy #1 at the Exeter Comic Expo in 2012, one of which was to a close friend that accompanied me to the event, I don’t despair.

To my mind, LICAF is a festival first and foremost – the various events involving special guests are the protein of the programme, which I enjoyed partaking of when I previously visited as a non-exhibitor (Eddie Campbell’s 2014 talk ‘Living in a Comic’ being a particularly memorable example) – with the convention aspect being an accompaniment: integral, but secondary. Thought Bubble boasts a substantial timetable of events, of course, but its convention is a mighty thing, central to the proceedings.

Thanks to everyone that dropped by the modest stall and helped reassure me that I’m still an inveterate natterer when in proximity to my table.

The Failed Debut of Killjoy #2 Redux, or A Parcel Saga

The weekend before LICAF, I finally finished reworking Killjoy #2. This mostly consisted of little tweaks – deleting and redrawing the odd line, face, figure, or background… Only four panels were entirely removed and replaced, one of which was entirely rethought as three smaller panels. As with my redux edition of Killjoy #1, I’d planned to simply reuse the existing cover with only small textual changes, but I didn’t have access to the original computer files or the original art for the background figures, so I rescanned the main linework and recreated the cover with redrawn elements and a somewhat different approach to colouring.

Overall, Iʼm fairly content with how it all turned out; perhaps I spent a more-than-necessary amount of time and energy on it, but I finally feel the artwork is up to a standard that leaves no lingering cause for shame.

I pulled my first all-nighter for many years, sending the artwork to the printers with a couple of days’ buffer for production or delivery setbacks. Unfortunately, the courier failed to deliver the parcel to the LICAF venue on Thursday, then misdelivered it on Friday – as I later learnt, to a campus of Kendal College that was closed on the weekend. So I arrived at LICAF on Saturday morning with the parcel nowhere to be found. I must offer my gratitude to LICAF’s Chris Medcalf for going above and beyond in his (unfortunately fruitless) attempts to recover the absent box o’ books.

The errant parcel, safely misdelivered & sitting on its side.

Tangled threads of communication between me, the printers, the couriers, the LICAF team, and the Kendal College staff finally led to the parcel being located and ultimately forwarded (by a different delivery company) to a family member for safekeeping until Thought Bubble. Just minutes before writing these words, I had a video call with my sister (ta, Lucy) confirming that they arrived at hers in a saleable condition. Rejoice! Although vestiges of disappointment remain, I can at least rest somewhat easily in the knowledge that I don’t need to order yet another reprint for TB2026.

And Other Things

And now, on to (hopefully) completing Killjoy #6 in time for Thought Bubble! See you there, perhaps?

In other news, I’ve set up a new Instagram account, @rb.comix, dedicated solely to my comics work. I decided it was time to finally bifurcate my cartooning and personal posting, which were mingled rather awkwardly in the past. Follow me, yer sods.

(Also, I’ve removed all the PayPal payment buttons from the Shop for now. I’m still deciding how to proceed with e-commerce. If you want to order any comics from me, drop me a line via email or Instagram DM.)

An Autumn Triad

I had a great time at the Warsaw Independent Bookfair this past weekend—it was probably my favourite of the non-comics-specific shows at which I've exhibited over the years. It was my first time tabling copies of The Many Not the Few, which seemed to go over well. (I've finally added the book to my Shop—I'll be dispatching orders from the end of the month.) Thanks to everyone who stopped by—you were some very cool people.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Robert Brown (@pygmyking) on Sep 7, 2019 at 2:14am PDT

My next show will be the International Festival of Comics & Games (MFKiG) in Łódź, which will be taking place on 27–29 September. I've visited the event once as a punter, and enjoyed it—so I'm looking forward to exhibiting there for the first time. (I still haven't explored the city very much, and the comics festival coincides with the city's Light Move Festival, so I'm hoping to make a little holiday of it, too.)

© International Festival of Comics and Games

And then, to round off a trio of Central European shows, I'll be exhibiting at the FRAME Festival in Prague (2–3 November). I've not been to the festival before, so I'm curious to find out what it's like—and it's always nice to be in the Czech capital. (I guess I've had a break from UK shows this year—but I'll probably be about for one or two in 2020. We'll see.)

© No Ordinary Heroes / Centrala

In other news, I'm in the process of finally finishing up the second edition of Killjoy #2—which I started working on way back in the summer of 2017 (but set aside to make The Many Not the Few). I've ended up making more amendments to the artwork than I originally intended—hence the continued delay in its release—but I think it's looking a lot better for it. I'll also be adding an additional story, 'The Tooth Fairy & Me'. I'm hoping to have copies with me in Łódź—and in Prague, too.

Late Spring; Launching

Hello again! I'm delighted to announce the release, this week, of The Many Not the Few: An Illustrated History of Britain Shaped by the People, a new history comic written by Sean Michael Wilson and drawn by yours truly, with a foreword by Jeremy Corbyn. It's an episodic history of people's uprisings and labour movements in Britain from the fourteenth century to the present day, across ten chapters and five-score pages of comics.

On Monday 29th May, we had a lovely launch for the book at the UK Houses of Parliament (!!), during a birthday bash celebrating the 120th anniversary of the founding of the General Federation of Trade Unions (co-publishers, alongside New Internationalist, under their Workable Books imprint). There were some excellent talks on the history of GFTU, and a special appearance by Corbyn, who have a rousing speech – and bought four copies of the book!

Too eager to pose.
Photo by Corinne Pearlman (Myriad)

He thought the Brexit talks were as tedious as it gets... and then he met me.
Photo by Corinne Pearlman (Myriad)

This project has been in development since late 2016, and it's occupied a lot of my time and attention for these last couple-and-a-bit years (hence my online quietude). So, after such a long gestation, I'm excited for you all to see it. I'll be offering (signed/sketched-in) copies for sale soon enough, but if you're eager to buy it now, you can get it from online shops such as New Internationalist's Ethical Shop and Hive.co.uk, or hop on down to your friendly neighbourhood comic shop, like Page 45. Watch this space for news about an ebook edition.

(I'll also be offering original art sales in due course. Feel free to get in touch with enquiries and/or to bagsy any pages you particularly like.)

Page one – and so, it begins...

International Komiksiarz

This past weekend, I exhibited at the Warsaw Comic-Con – apparently the first event of its kind in the city. It was a new experience for me, too: the first time I'd tabled outside the UK, and my first broad fan convention. (I've preferred to exhibit at shows centred on comics or publishing back in the old country.) I'd also never exhibited at an event longer than a weekend, so I expected a four-dayer to be rather grueling – but the duration turned out to be perfectly fine. I met some cool folks and sent out a bunch of comics into the hands and homes of a new crowd of readers. Thanks to everyone that dropped by, bought books, and talked with me (despite my lamentable lack of Polish).

A post shared by Robert Brown (@pygmyking) on Jun 3, 2017 at 2:16am PDT

Being a new show, the organisers wanted to try to be everything to everybody, hosting a wide range of exhibits and events relating to comics, games, manga/anime, cult film & television, spec-fic, general pop culture fandom, &c. My little table was nearby a small group of other (larger) comics-related stands, and areas dedicated to relevant workshops and signings, but some people I spoke to had hoped to find more stuff related to independent comics creators – the fundamental aspect of comics culture that was rather under-represented there. On Sunday evening, one of the organisers told me that they want to make the show more about comics in the future – so we can hope that they will build upon the experience of running a solid fan show and provide more for readers seeking comics next time.

(The convention was also twinned with a videogames event, Good Game, that took place in the next building; visitor passes provided entrance to both events. I didn't check out this section – I felt I'd already had my fill of digital gaming events after attending the previous weekend's excellent Pixel Heaven show, and Warsaw Games Week back last October – but I enjoyed the tabletop gaming stalls in the Comic-Con building.)

A post shared by Isa Belinda (@mechabotica) on May 31, 2017 at 12:38pm PDT

Infinite thanks to Iza Ś. for keeping me company for the whole show, and helping me in countless ways (including sharing the burden of wrapping krówki – see above – which was her idea, as an edible 'business card' and a little giveaway for passing guests).

The Emojification of Culture

During the weekend-before-last, I exhibited at the convention of the Thought Bubble Festival 2016. It was my fourth time at the show, and the third year in a row I'd chosen to be in the Marquee. I keep choosing this venue because it's the 'special' structure erected for the festival, with an atmosphere nicely balanced between the bustling enormity of New Dock (wherein I've never tabled) and the vague marginality I felt in the Royal Armouries when I took a table there way back in 2011. The weekend started a little haltingly with an unusually slow Saturday (for me), but picked up for a comparatively successful Sunday. (It's usually the other way round, but I think this new way is preferable - it beats the dratted Sunday blues.)

Photo courtesy of Michael Lomon

I rather forgot how freezing a tent can be in late Autumn - my feet felt near-frostbitten in my boots by the end of each day - but I had another great weekend, as one expects of the UK's best comics convention. I was allocated a table with Michael Lomon, who proved to be a great table-mate; I haven't got round to reading through my Thought Bubble acquisitions yet, but from a purely superficial assessment, his new webcomic The Palace of Tears is looking lovely.

My next convention will be Robot Con in Sheffield, at the Millenium Gallery on 25th March 2017. I know a couple of people who exhibited at the 2016 show, and it seems to be an interesting new event. Hopefully I'll be seeing you there - with copies of Killjoy #6, which will contain the second part of 'The Great British Summer Holiday'!

I also took part in the academic conference that precedes the convention, Comics Forum. I was there for the Friday, presenting my short talk ('Docu-Comics: An Artist's Perspective') about educational comics & my contribution to Portraits of Violence during the final panel. It was my first ever time at an academic conference, and my first solo presentation since secondary school (I only gave one group presentation during my first year of university - hurrah for arts degrees!). Although I felt very nervous, and fumbled and quavered my way through twenty minutes of blathering, I received some positive feedback & met some swell people. I really enjoyed the other talks - it was an interesting day. I also brought a bunch of copies of Portraits of Violence to the convention, and it caught a lot of people's curiosity. I sold out of my few copies and had to grab a couple more from cool co-contributor Yen Quach, who was also exhibiting in the Marquee (thanks, Yen!).

Fun fact: the hand-drawn elements of the logo were daubed with a discarded toothbrush.

And, also, a small announcement: from today, I'm embarking on a project called EMOJICA, in which I plan to publish a drawing inspired by an emoji (based upon randomised selections from the Unicode standard) on a daily basis. The idea first came to me shortly after Oxford Dictionaries' announcement that their 'Word of the Year' for 2015 was, for the first time, an emoji - namely 'Crying with Laughter'. A number of months later, I decided to launch the project today, the first anniversary of the aforementioned announcement. I'd be grateful if you'd check out the website, and follow/like the various social media accounts (Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook). The first one of my 971 selections that I picked 'out of the hat' (or, more accurately, was provided algorithmically by way of a Google Sheets formula) is only a little premature in its seasonal relevance: emoji number 183 in Unicode 9, 'Santa Claus' (U+1F385).

SANTA CLAUS (U+1F385) 0001 #emoji

A photo posted by EMOJICA (@emojica_) on Nov 16, 2016 at 8:37am PST