Marc Ellerby

I drew this in late 2006, but I think it eventually came out around February 2007. It was to tie in with an exhibition of the same name that my friend John was putting on in Brick Lane - I thought the show was great, mainly because old friends were reunited and as a force we kicked some arty arse. Dev from Lightspeed Champion stopped by. I stressed out thinking that I was a massive failure and I'm pretty sure my ex girlfriend Sarah came too and I freaked out about that too.

Anyway, this comic is about an other ex girlfriend of mine, Holly. You can explore this journal for embarrassing, lovey dovey, angsty entries about her but I really wouldn't if I were you. I thought for a long time that I only really made decent work when it was about or for her. That she somehow had this control over my artist abilities, that everything I created, I wanted to make for her approval. It was a weird time, like she broke up with me before I started this and it was obvious to everyone that she had treated me wrong and I couldn't let go but for me I still saw so much in her. I'm much wiser now though (well...maybe not wiser)

I really like this comic, it's a bit flat in places and maybe doesn't hit the right notes, but I still think it holds it's own a year on. I made it into a mini comic and it's sold out now (there might be a few copies at Dave's Comics in Brighton...) so I present to you the first mini I ever made and sold in it's entirety. A couple of hundred are out there in the world and I hope everyone enjoyed them.

Lemme know what you think and feel free to spread this link around.

Enjoy!

( Click to read )

I've restocked most of the items from my webstore, though be quick because numbers are limited. The biggest addition is probably Love The Way You Love Volumes 3 - 5. Wow, the cursed issue (3) finally makes an appearance 11 months after coming out. Don't start me off :)




So yeah, Polar Opposites are back in stock and I've lowered the price for Venal Muse (also back in stock). I've sold out of LTWYL 1 and the Belle and Sebastian GN. Not sure what I'll do about LTWYL #1, it does seem to sell the most at conventions so I *might* get it back in stock. Stay tuned! Mike Carey brought one of the last B&S's so blame him if you wanted one...

Click!

( San Diego Goodness! )

I'll be at the Oni Booth (#1834) for the duration of S.D so if you want any of these fine products, stop by and pester my face. I'll be putting these up on my site after S.D so I guess if you did want a Polar Opposite mini, a Venal Muse or a button (badge) set then you can always let me know...

I bought some proper books with y'know WORDS AND EVERYTHING to entertain me for the bastard flight (30 hours there and back...that's like a day!!!)



I did buy that Kurt Vonnegut for the cover though...shutup it sounds okay...shutup!

So I forgot about this, but I sent off a couple of copies of The Venal Muse to some people behind Cult Fiction, which is a touring comic exhibition set up by the Southbank Centre and the Arts Council. Along side exhibited artwork by Robert Crumb, Melinda Gebbie, Joe Sacco and others (the David Shrigley and Yoshitomo Nara collaboration sounds wicked!) there's a selection of UK based mini comics and though and behold, mine got in! It was open submission and I'm not sure if they turned any away, but yeah, that's quite cool?

The tour calls at...

4 May - 1 Jul 2007
New Art Gallery, Walsall

14 Jul – 16 Sep 2007
Nottingham Castle, Nottingham (woah, it's an actual CASTLE!)

27 Sep – 11 Nov 2007
Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds

17 Nov 2007–13 Jan 2008
Aberystwyth Art Gallery, Aberystwyth

19 Jan – 8 Mar 2008
Tullie House, Carlisle

Anyway, I forgot about this until Paul Gravett emailed me to tell me he saw it in there. Which was jolly nice of him. Paul Gravett is awesome and you should check out his books maybe?

Oh and if you're in Leeds or Nottingham and stop by the show and go "wow, I want this now" you can buy it from OK Comics, in Leeds and Page 45 in Nottingham. Hurrah.

To carry on from the pervious entry, here's a review of Venal Muse from Stephen Holland over at Page 45 (it references the review that goes above it, in case you're wondering...)

****

Venal Muse (£4-50, self-published) by Marc Ellerby. No such short-comings here, in a home-grown outing that takes the same themes as the above - ex-girlfriend as a muse - on a more mischievous journey, as Marc Ellerby, a host whose company you'll really enjoy, meditates on his own inspiration in an account of his on/off long-distance then close-at-home relationship with a girl called Holly. The presentation, to camera, is like a jaunty, music-loving Scott McCloud, walking and talking his way through his own story with a disarming acknowledgement that it's a personal tale, but one which I suspect you'll find much in common with ("I made her cards. Mix CDs. Comics. You know, the usual."). The last thing Marc could ever be is pompous, or even pretentious - you'll see what I mean in the last line in this passage:
"We travelled to see one another as often as we could. But soon the distance became too much.
"Our love, though in hindsight never went out, was soon replaced with spite. [On the phone: "No! I didn't mean it like that!"] And so we broke up.
"It was a joint decision. But such is the way these things go... after a few weeks I wanted her back.
"She, however, found someone else.
"My ship had truly bloody sailed."
There's the occasional dash of the emblematic too, like the panel shortly afterwards in which he shows himself bearing a placard in public that says "Dumped". "Spare a hug?" he begs a complete stranger in glasses and a suit, who retorts, "Don't touch me."

****

Page 45, folks.

If any of you live in Nottingham or Newcastle, you can now find a copy of The Venal Muse at Page 45 in Nottingham and The Travelling Man in Newcastle. They're going for £4.50 a copy (of course for an extra £1.50 you can buy it off me and get a free Eyesore 2 zine and Earsore CD and postage is included!) and I'm sure you can buy a copy online from them if you currently mail order from them.

Of course, support your local retailer and Page 45 have been nice about me in the past (well, my solo projects at least) and TM's small press section looks set to include a lot of fried gold.

Still trying with some other stores across the land. Gosh in London, Ok Comics! in Leeds, Dave's Comics in Brighton etc. I'll keep you all updated with that.

This is the finished, printed version of The Venal Muse book. Nice isn't it. Click the cut for some more snaps.

( i found fresh footprints in abandoned pathways )

I'll have some to sell soon in case anyone's interested. Phew, this took ages to do, cheesecake and mint flavoured Baileys is my reward!

( rub a balloon, touch my hair, pull a jumper over my head )

Flickr as you'd imagine.

Sadly my lens on my Pentax 35mm SLR is screwing up and the focus sorta gets stuck. I refuse to get rid of it and spend a near fortune on a new DSLR, so I'm sticking with it for the time being. Might have to splash out on a new lens though, sigh.