Thought it was about time I checked in here, i know some people check the site and for that i am incredibly humbled!

Firstly, Happy Christmas! I hope you have a bloody stonking one.

Secondly, yes I do still very much want to see Skull through. This christmas picture is the first time I’ve properly drawn him in over a year probably, and wow it felt fun. Like slipping on an old pair of blood-filled shoes. Corporate Skull (like ‘Bear’ before it) was something I created partly as a break from the family-friendly work I do. It was my release. And the last year or two all I have done is family-friendly work, which I love don’t get me wrong, but I’ve missed the release of working on something grubbier like Skull.

I had planned to start work on issue 8 over Christmas. Book myself two weeks off, I thought, get it written and a chunk of it drawn up. Then in Autumn, I got commissioned to do two new children’s books by March 2015. Which, as an illustrator, isn’t something you can turn down, and the books are based on one of my ideas I’ve long been dying to work on, so unfortunately it all shunted Skull to the side.

And around that there’s… well, I guess I sound like I’m defending myself, which I shouldn’t do. My point is Skull has always been a side-project, and recently there’s just been no room. If I could make it pay, then it could be more priority. I considered Patreon or Kickstarter, but with the new VAT rules coming in on digital work, that puts paid to those ideas. Personally I’d prefer to find a publisher, make these actual books, have actual deadlines to sweat towards. I wonder if I’d be better off spending spare time working on that than issue 8, if it meant a future for the comic as a whole.

So, anyway, that’s where I’m at. Still keen. Still waiting for a chance. Thank you, if you’ve stuck with me this long, it is very appreciated despite my long silences. Do keep checking in now and then, one day I’m going to post up the ‘issue 8 coming soon’ and I can’t tell you how excited I’ll be about that.

So, have a great Christmas, and hopefully see you in the new year!

Jx