Space Year 2010

Happy New Year my friends! The magical mystery tour that was 2009 is over, it was quite a year for me, hope it was for you too.

I start 2010 at a huge turning point in my life. In a few months I will be a father. Jo and our son are my whole world and I love them so very much. But there is still room in that world for comics!

The Spine Chillers occupied most of my creative output last year, and I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who has been reading it and has supported me. I love doing Spine Chillers and we've got huge plans for Year 2, including a collected edition full of surprises and new lovely things. Keep watching the pies!

Which brings me to my other comics. I've decided that with my main project being a webcomic, and with a baby on the way and me not going to many conventions in the near future, I won't be publishing any more comics for the foreseeable future.

Stop crying! What I intend to do is publish everything online from now on, with my eventual goal to collect them all in a book, similar format to Jeffrey Brown's Clumsy. God I love that book. I'll still be making the odd small, imperfectly formed bit of daftness here and there to give away, like the forthcoming Stringer Bell At The Earths Core. But Mike Neville, Lenny Biscuits, Griefbringer, Tab Monkey, Frankenstein and Onions, Professor Cosmonaut and Waxy the Elephant Detective and all the rest, they live online now. And one day in The Magic Beans Book.

I also intend to actually update my website! So I'll keep you informed of what I'm up to, when there's a new story up on my Comicspace page, and when I have a story appearing in another title, like that time I totally forgot to tell you about my Judge Dredd story in Zarjaz 8!

And as for everyone's favourite Fortean Diagnosis Murder fan, he's coming! The Mysterious Affair At Mothman's is on it's way soon.

As a great philosopher once said- Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. This is a momentous year for me, but I intend 2010 to be my most productive year yet.

pip pip,

Ben

And Then This Stuff Happened...

Well boys and girls, you've probably noticed that Mothman has yet to return... He will though, I promise you.
I haven't been slacking off like, I've got a story called Punchasaurus! in the fabulous kid-friendly anthology Space Monkey, the latest offering from the Paper Jam Comics Collective.
And the first volume of the collected Spine Chillers is imminent, watch this space for details!
But mostly I've been working on a special, limited edition, one of a kind masterpiece with my beautiful girlfriend Jo. In your Earth language- We're having a baby!!!
So don't expect to see me at many conventions next year kids, I'm busy :)
Ben

John Keel 1930-2009

I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of writer and UFOlogist John Keel recently. He is probably best known for his book The Mothman Prophecies, and for coining the term Men In Black. But his greatest contribution to science and culture was his rejection of the Extraterrestrial hypothesis of UFOs in his landmark books UFOs-Operation Trojan Horse, Our Haunted Planet, and Strange Creatures From Time and Space, which was the first of his books that I read.
I've been interested in UFOs and Fortean weirdness all my life, since my 8 year old mind was blown by the TV series Arthur C Clarke's Mysterious World. Throughout my teens and into my early twenties I read all kinds of crazy books about UFOs, and believed some even crazier things. (and met some even crazier people, but that's another story!)
But it was reading John's books, and his remarkable but simple hypothesis that changed all that. The correlation between UFOs and other weird phenomena throughout human history is so bleeding obvious when you really look at it. The only difference is the cultural filter that each phenomenon is viewed through. The world is a strange place, and there are countless things about it we don't know.
You don't get to say this about many people in your life, but John Keel changed the way I think about the world.

RIP

PS Mothman About The House wouldn't exist without him. "It doesn't exist now!" I hear you cry, but don't worry it's on it's way...

Mothballs

Now my new site is up and running, it's time to announce the semi-triumphant return of Mothman!

Starting next week is the new series The Mysterious Affair at Mothman's. There's been a murder!

And later in the year, Mothman faces his greatest challenge when he goes to war. Moths of Glory- it won't be over by Christmas!

Lots of Mothy goodness coming up, but in the meantime don't forget there is a new episode of The Spine Chillers every friday, and check out the new Paper Jams blog where you can read some 24 minute comic strips by members of the Paper Jam Comics Collective, my strip PIE! CHART! is up there now.

Welcome To Magic Beans!

Hello!
After a few months concentrating on The Spine Chillers webcomic, I've been neglecting my poor old blog. Well not any more! It's all change here at Chateau Beans. I'm now here on blogger.com, so check here now instead of my old site, and if you could update any links you have I'd appreciate it!
Stay tuned in the next few days for lots of news about what's coming up, and as always, thanks for reading!

Ben

Spine Chillers Episodes 2 and 3

A double helping of Spine Chillers for you this week you lucky people!

http://renegadeartsentertainment.com/spinechillers/comic/

The Spine Chillers

The mysterious project I have been working on since Hi-Ex can be revealed at last!

The Spine Chillers is a new weekly comic strip for Renegade Arts Entertainment, the first episode is up now, and a new episode will follow every friday. Hope you like it!

http://renegadeartsentertainment.com/spinechillers/comic/