I love seeing artist’s workspaces, so following Jesse’s lead, here’s mine. It’s in the corner of a large-ish room which is part of a studio I share with seven other artists (comic artists, illustrators, painters, animators, a photographer who mysteriously hasn’t moved in yet). I used to draw at home, but I have to say sharing a space is one of the best things I’ve ever done… Having colleagues is pretty wonderful. This would be my desk, bird’s eye view, standing on Sandra’s chair:

Line art…

And some oddly soft-looking plants which are almost my favourite thing from chapter 6 of Graylight, which I just finished (the chapter, not the whole thing).

also, happy christmas/chanuka/thing!

xoxo

“Captivating, compelling material. Do yourself a favor and get caught up. NOCTURNAL CONSPIRACIES is another strong effort by a gifted talent. ”

Nocturnal Conspiracies as reviewed by Marc Mason on ComicsWorthReading.com

It’s a centuries-old island port blessed with several deep-water channels. Mombasa, in southern Kenya, is the country’s second largest city with a population of 700,000 — and the economic engine not only for Kenya, but for many of the less-developed countries in the region.

And it’s the furthest outpost in the war against piracy. Somalia, and that country’s thousands of high-tech pirates, lie just a few hundred miles north of Mombasa. The Kenyan port is the last stop for many ships that run the Somali gauntlet from south to north, aiming for the Red Sea and Europe. Ships coming north to south, having successfully evaded pirates, lay over in Mombasa to resupply or drop off cargo. And even ships that don’t make it at first — those that are seized by pirates wielding AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades — eventually come to Mombasa after their owners pay million-dollar ransoms.

Mombasa itself is safe from pirates: the distance is too great, and the Kenyan navy is out in force. But Mombasa-based shippers, mariners, shipping agents and myriad others who depend on regional sea trade have suffered greatly from the steady rise in Somali piracy in the last decade. Habib Hakem operates a deep-sea fishing company whose boats can range as far as the Somali border. But piracy has put a dent in his trade. Last year he had 60 clients. This year, just 15. He pins the decline on fishermen’s fear of kidnapping.

And as pirates become more sophisticated, and bolder, the effects of their banditry radiate outward, from Somali waters, to Mombasa, and beyond. With as many as 100 ships attacked this year, and scores seized, insurance rates for commercial vessels passing through the Gulf of Aden have spiked, driving up the costs of seaborne goods. Already, many shipping lines have balked at the higher rates, and the dangers, and have begun sending ships the long way around Africa, avoiding the Gulf of Aden entirely. But that means more time at sea, more fuel burned, and again, higher prices. Any way you slice it, piracy is slowly having a global effect.

But the world finally has woken up to the pirate menace, and help is on the way. Around 30 warships from more than a dozen nations have converged on the Gulf of Aden to combat piracy. Some stop in Mombasa to resupply or to escort U.N. food ships to Somalia. Mombasa’s shippers welcome the armed presence. “We are very pleased,” says Frederick Wahutu, director of the Kenya Ships Agents Association.

I’m in Mombasa for the month of December to cover piracy. Read the whole series here.

(Photo: me)

From the coming Little Nothings collection of Trondheim’s comics blog.

Little Nothings comics blog

Here’s the latest in our running comics blog by Trondheim Little Nothings. We’ve got the 2nd volume announced for January and have been running excerpts since end of October.

So here are some rough cover sketches from my sketchbook. Hopefully, next week I’ll put up a finished pencil version. I’d like to get as many Turkmen symbols as possible onto the cover. The moon and five stars. The five headed eagle. Watermelons. Carpet patterns. Camels. Some good Turkmen hats. Maybe a view of the skyline of Ashgabat with the Arch of Neutrality (a 90 meter tall construction with a 10m tall golden Turkmenbashy on the top) prominently displayed. Maybe some military vehicles. Maybe some Zorastrian ruins. It’ll be a little crowded, but it’ll work out.

And all of you should check out my blog (jesselonergan.blogspot.com). It’s got a whole bunch of non-Turkmenistan stuff.

This morning’s Wall Street Journal has a comics article presenting the work of David B on the occasion of our publication of his 2nd book to come over the Atlantic after the very successful Epileptic.

Entitled “Night Visions, A French Artist Aims to Stretch the Boundaries of Cartooning”, the article presents our brand new Nocturnal Conspiracies by David B, now available at stores everywhere.

NBM has enjoyed an exceptional end of year with the media with Moresukine in the New York Times Book Review last weekend, New York Magazine declaring Metronome a top ten graphic novel, Publishers Weekly putting Rick Geary’s The Lindbergh Child amongst top GNs of the year along with School Library Journal including Geary’s entire Treasury of Murder series in no less than 2 lists of the best for young adults.

Note from publisher Terry Nantier: THIS is OUR answer to the recession! We’re givin’ the finger to it! (Hey nothing wrong with a little hubris here and there, no?)

Note from Terry:

We have some real goodies coming up in the next couple months with Trondheim in the forefront on them: His next volume of his comics blog Little Nothings for January and also the next Dungeon Zenith which we’d been waiting to get back to and now features an artist (Boulet) besides Sfar and Trondheim writing. You might know Zenith is the main subseries in this purposefully sprawling humorful epic. Check out our listings in Coming Up.

BUT, you know what excites me most? First Time from our Eurotica imprint. It marks a return for Eurotica to its roots, those of Crepax and Story of O and Manara: erotic comic art, very horny but also very intelligently written and real. A series of short stories all written by a woman, and all about a first time sexual experience. Best of all, Dave McKean does one, his first time doing erotic! When I was presented this book, I just pounced on it. It’s beautiful, sassy, can be loved by women and men and maybe best… women and men together… Cuddle with your significant other this Xmas next to the fireplace and enjoy together… Go to the Eurotica link on the left of our home page and you’ll see a button for it. Don’t want to link straight from here to be safe.

Terry Nantier