2018 Year in Review
Well, I don’t normally do these sort of round-up end-of-year newsletter type things, but last year was a monumental one of change and it seems disingenuous not to acknowledge this.
From how 2018 started out I would have no idea where I would be at the end of it - and it started out so good, with a fantastic break in Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. I hadn’t been back since before my daughter was born in 1997. Despite stubbing my little toe and losing its nail, it was a much-needed ray of sunshine in the middle of winter.
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| "Ouch!" |
Then I ran a How Comics Work workshop at the first Brighton Arts Lab event at the Phoenix Gallery. I was expecting 10-15 people and we ended with 30-40 people and it was a great event, which also featured Ottilie Hainsworth and the current Comics Laureate, Hannah Berry.
In February I delivered a paper at Cambridge University on The Personification and Vilification of Disease in Comics, which was a great honour and lead me to doing some really interesting work with Sara Kenny (author of Surgeon X) and The Wellcome Trust over the year.
April saw the first Portsmouth Comics Convention, which was very impressive and I’ll be returning next year with the Soaring Penguin Press table (more on that later) on 4-5 May 2019.
Then in May it was announced that How Comics Work (which I co-wrote with Dave Gibbons) was nominated for an Eisner Award. For the non-comic savvy among you (why are you reading this blog?), the Eisners are the comic equivalent of the Man Booker Prize or Oscars, so I was extremely honoured. Unfortunately there was no way I could afford to attend the awards ceremony at the San Diego Comic Convention. However, a friend suggested I set up a fundraiser and incredibly, thanks to the unbelievable generosity of so many friends and strangers alike, we raised just enough to get me there. Also thanks to Stephen Robson, owner of Fanfare Ponent Mon publishing, he managed to secure amazing accommodation right by the convention centre for an unbelievable price!
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| L to R: Me, David Cumbo and Stephen Robson |
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| "Whose the leader of our gang that's great for you and me...?" |
As July came around I was invited by David Bramwell (of Catalyst Club and Odditorium fame) to talk at the Irregular Folks Festival in Oxford. I did my Superhero Sex presentation and met the lovely comedian Paul Foot (who my son and I would catch-up with later in the year after his Brighton gig at the Komedia).
July also saw me attend SDCC, where I met some old and new friends, got some work and failed to win an Eisner. However, my co-author, Dave Gibbons, was inducted into the Hall of Fame, as was my old boss Karen Berger, so that was more than compensation enough.
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| Eisner Award winners, Karen Berger and Dave Gibbons. And me. |
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| Karen Berger's Eisner Hall of Fame acceptance speech. |
| Dave Gibbons' Eisner Hall of Fame acceptance speech. |
| L to R: Rian Hughes, me and Liam Sharp with beer and ice creams! |
| A badge Denis Kitchen gave out at Bob Chapman's party on the Sunday night of SDCC! |
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| L to R: Me, Gene and Bob! One of the odder evenings of my life. |
To end on a positive note, 2019 looks like a year of huge personal and professional growth and I’m genuinely (if apprehensively) looking forward to it. It’s going to be hard and scary, but there’s no turning back now.
I hope that everyone reading this has an incredible New Year and I look forward to hearing about your successes and to supporting you however I can.
Lots of love and here’s to 2019 and new beginnings,
Tim xxx
You are so brave Tim. respect mate, I hope everything turns out and you get what you desire.
ReplyDeleteThank you. And the same for you.
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