Comics

Oscillating Brow Comics



Here's the official list of my comics that were printed and maybe even sold (and MIGHT just still be available):


Loneliness And Ping Pong (12hr comic)
A monster just wants to play some ping pong.

Tales of Extraordinariness #1: The Investigatist
He investigates things.

Tales of Extraordinariness #2: So Much For The Noughties
The future was not quite what was suggested.

Tales of Extraordinariness #3: Stupid Action Comic
Really really stupid action.

Tales of Extraordinariness #4: The Investigatist Returns
Investigating an even tougher case.

Tales of Extraordinariness #5: Muffins
A comic about comics or a demon about muffins or both.

Tales of Extraordinariness #6: Blah, Blah, Something, Democracy.
Vaguely political, vaguely satirical, more than vaguely stupid.

CAT (24hr comic)
About a cat and things that rhyme with cat.

The Device (24hr comic)
A journey across time and space and destiny.



Paper Jam Comics Collective's ...And That Anthologies

I'm the longest serving member (along with founder Jack) of the Paper Jam Comics Collective, blighting the meetings since the very first meeting, back in January 2007.

There's been Oscillating Brow work in every one of the Paper Jam Comic Collective's '...And That' anthologies, and to be honest, I've been pretty happy with all of it. The specific pieces are:

Square Versus Circle Versus The Free Anthology in ...And That. The first anthology the group made, before the group even officially named itself (in fact there was great discussion about the anthology title too - and if and where it should feature an elipsis). It was made for and given away on Free Comic Book Day in May 2007. I did a little one-page strip about two bickering (and easy-to-draw) shapes that I'd intended to act as an introduction for an ongoing comic. Subsequently, I didn't actually make the comic and some dude made a webcomic based on a similar idea called 'Circle Versus Square'. That started in 2008 so I was definitely first (and for a while the whole And That anthology was up online to prove it), but, to be fair, that guy did two hundred comics and I did two. Speaking of which...

Square versus Circle Versus Halloween in Halloween ...And That. My Square and Circle characters reappeared to be spooky at you in a Halloween-themed collection. WooooOOOOOooooOOOOooooo etc.

Craig Screwdriver Bear Scoop in 24 Minutes ...And That. This anthology was based around a perennial favourite activity of the group, a variation on '24 hour comics' - doing comics in, yes, 24 minutes, mostly one page, with the theme set by everyone writing a word or phrase on little bits of paper then drawing two at random. All the comics in it were the product of one hectic evening's activity. My comic was the result of trying to be a clever-clogs and include TWO two-word themes: 'Craig' and 'screwdriver' and 'bear' and 'scoop'. It felt like a showdown of sorts. Anyway, this was the first ...And That to be launched with a party (bands, cake, and comics goodness).

Daisy and Toothbrush in You Will Have To Wait ...And That. This anthology had a rather obtuse theme, based on odd objects and the phrase 'you will have to wait', but a nice collection, in which I did two stories, (both rather bleak as it happened). Another tremendous launch party occurred for this one.

Great Mind in Robots ...And That. This book is considered by some to mark the start of 'Volume 2' of the anthologies. An influx of new creators, loads of pages, a larger-than-A5 square format (hand cut!), our biggest launch event to date (held at the Star and Shadow Cinema). My story featured robots and hats, two of my favourite things to draw.

Dinosaur Nigel in Space Monkey. This is still technically an ...And That but the phrase only appears at the end of a crazily long subtitle. This was a deliberate choice to give the book a slightly different feel as it was the first PJCC anthology aimed at kids. My story featured Dinosaur Nigel - who is a dinosaur. People seemed to quite like it, which was nice as it's one of my own favourites too. Read it online here.

De/Re-Recontextualisation in Art ...And That. This was put together to tie into an exhibition/event by Empty Shop Gallery in Durham, and is probably the best of the ...And Thats. I was moderately happy with my piece, a vague riposte to the frequent incidents (particularly a couple of recent ones) where untalented gallery artists were ripping off comic artists. Read it online here.

For The Record in History ...And That. History, what's that all about, eh? I tried to answer that question in one page about the beginning of recorded history as part of another bumper A4 colour-cover anthology (with some cracking stuff in, covering the entirety of human history - possibly with some gaps). Read it online here.

Mezcal in Alcohol ...And That. Of all the anthology stories, I probably put the most artistic effort into this quite (thematically) dark piece I did for the booze-themed anthology. The anthology again was printed with a colour cover but we went back to A5 format for cost-effectiveness - it was originally planned as a 'quick' anthology but due to a very lax organisational period through late 2011 and 2012, it took a year to get printed; despite that, it was worth the wait and showcases a real variety of takes on the theme. Read it online here.

Stump in Newcastle Stories ...And That. It was tough trying to find some middle-ground between anecdote and history lesson when working with the theme 'Newcastle upon Tyne'. In the end I opted for something that objectively juxtaposed personal recollections with tangentially-related historical notes; probably simultaneously my most wordy and most abstract And That piece to date. The anthology was launched in collaboration with the Holy Biscuit gallery's 'Urban Fictions' exhibition and the Late Shows. Read it online here.

Tastes in Food ...And That. Rather than trying to do a story about a specific foodstuff, this little strip looks at how our taste in both food and life-experiences change as we age, though maybe not as much as we sometimes like to think. Read it online here.

Oscillating Brow Like Beer in Happy ...And That. A couple of pages about probably the only thing I like as much as comics; appearing in PJCC's smallest format (A6) anthology to date, an attempt to go back to a DIY 'just draw it and print it' ethos, but still containing loads of nice stuff about things that people like / that they're fans of / that make them happy.

Making Things With Paper Clips and Self-Made in Making ...And That. Paper clips are mint. All things that are made are made by someone. I covered both these high-brow concept in two little comics in the 'making stuff' themed anthology - made for (and launched at) Maker Faire 2016.

The Really Really Long Journey in Amazing Adventure Comics Machine ...And That. Wizards on an adventure mean one thing: an epic journey; but isn't that going to get boring quickly? Two pages in Paper Jam's first full colour anthology (and their second aimed at younger readers).

Bad Decisions Cat in Bad Decisions ...And That. I make bad decisions all the time, so this was easy, I just made a bad decision to do a comic about a cat that wants ice-cream who makes a bad decision. Gets a bit meta.

Numpty Cactus in Weird Romance ...And That (2018). Romance is pretty weird isn't it? And if it's not complicated enough, this little comic looks at it via a cactus - who is a numpty.

Flopsie's Food in Super Spooky Scary Stories ...And That (2018). Science gone mad! A rabbit gone very weird! A morality tale featuring blue fizzy pop and nanobots.

Standard Creative Procedure in Super Spooky Scary Stories ...And That (2018). Feeling responsible for trying to gently guide a non-hierarchical DIY creative group is true horror.

Sick Of Here in You Need A Holiday ...And That (2019). Everyone needs a break sometimes, but the hardest thing to get away from is oneself.

Been Down in The Sea ...And That (2023) [plus a page in the Under The Restless Sea promo zine (2022)]. Fathom McGee? Fathom McGee! Things are sort of back to normal? Fathom McGee!


Asteroid Belter
Awesome Paper Jam-ish people organised this 10,000-copy comic funded by Newcastle University for British Science Festival 2013, aimed at explaining science to kids. I did a few bits and bobs for it, most notably a one-page story called Astoundishing Science - a story confronting 'science is bonkers' cliches (on which comics ace Paul Thompson kindly did compositing, colouring and lettering for me), and Science Courier Conundrum  - an ingenious topological puzzle which Paul and I made together. You can read the whole thing right now, here.


Radio On
I did a short comic, What You Need, about the recuperative benefits of rock music for the second issue of this excellent music-themed anthology, see more blah (and my musical recommendations associated with the comic) here.

Miscellaneous
There was an unofficial Paper Jam comic, sort of untitled, sort of called Beard-Growing Octopus, mainly consisting of 24-minute comics themed around octopodes and beard-growing, printed in small numbers, to which I contributed a story (also sort of untitled, sort of called Beard-Growing Octopus).

I feature moderately regularly on Paper Jam's sporadic webcomicblog Paper Jams. Click here to see most of my stuff there.

This is Jaaaaaaaaam Hot - a jam comics collection from the first Canny Comic Con, compiled by me, featured some of my own inexpert panels amongst the madness.

During the PJCC takeover of it, I did a comic for Tumble And Fall - a webcomic (now defunct) that featured a guy who appeared in all kinds of situations and, er, well, tumbled and fell.


Gallery Appearances

I exhibited at the PJCC exhibition at Made In Newcastle art/craft pop-up shop. My piece was called The Present and the Future then the Past and the Present. It very cleverly analysed the extraordinary way that comics work and/or was ironically pretentious silliness. I claim both.

I exhibited at Newcastle City Library as part of the Asteroid Belter launch event during the British Science Festival 2013.

I exhibited at Creative Up North in autumn 2015 as part of the Invisible Beasts exhibition (which examined themes of monsters and the monstrous), a series of somewhat daft collage pieces on the theme of Chimeras.

I exhibited at The Exchange in February 2018, as part A Hidden Cartography, the follow up to Invisible Beasts, (still about monsters but this time more focused on the places we associate with the monstrous). My series of pieces, Things In Little Squares, were collage and mixed media, playing with maps.
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