On the Shelf is a short and sweet weekly column in which I discuss whatever I’ve been doing, creating, reading and watching. You know, the sort of thing most normal blogs have.

Today I posted my first Indie Penance in what feels like a couple of weeks… but is actually over 3 months. I’m confused as to where those months went, but if somebody finds them please return them to their rightful owner.

Seriously, though, my surprise at my own inconsistency has acted as a reminder that it’s so easy to set yourself a schedule and another thing entirely to adhere to said schedule. Work, life and sick pets all whittle away at those spare hours… Oh well, same time next fortnight month year.

Progress on new webcomic Tomorrow Will Be Worse is going well, even if my skills are evidently rusty. I work by day as a graphic designer and occasional digital artist, and my traditional illustrative skills have never been in question, but for some reason putting those elements together is more daunting than it’s ever been. Perhaps my standards as a professional have outgrown my comic creating abilities, or perhaps comic books aren’t as easy as everybody assumes, eh?

Anyway, above is a quick logo that I knocked out in 15 minutes. The first page should be up next week, which in Carlos time equates to several months.

I’m still savouring my time with Dark Horse’s Hellboy omnibuses, in this case the first collection of short stories. It’s most encouraging seeing Mike Mignola evolve alongside his characters and world, and ‘The Crooked Man’, illustrated by Heavy Metal alumni Richard Corben, is possibly the best thing of his I’ve read. In terms of tone and atmosphere it’s in a different league to most horror/supernatural comics, and Corben’s thing for drawing humans with empty, unnatural eyes and orangutan teeth is true nightmare fuel. The titular Crooked Man is far more chilling than any sequence of drawings has the right to be.

Alongside the second volume of that omnibus series I also picked up a copy of Tim Bird’s The Great North Wood. I reviewed it on Indie Penance this week but a digital review copy just wasn’t enough. It’s a magical little comic, ambitious yet slight, that I recommend to anyone wanting something unconventional. Bird’s simple, impulsive lines make comics look so easy, damn him.