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A4 Issue Four
Posted on 28th October 2023 by pj

If you prefer you can download the pdf here.

My unending gratitude to Matt and John Yuan (deputy publishers of 1First Comics) who volunteered way back on issue 1 to proofread (off the back of a plaintive twitter plea) and ending up both being great proofreaders and even better editors - constantly encouraging and giving little notes that never alter the fabric of the story but always help.

Stories this issue:

Notifications, Memories of War, Cold Caller, The Civil War, The Monster, Sign Unseen, Ghosts.

A4 Issue Four Notes!

Gah, two stories with War in the title. So annoying. Hadn't spotted it until now, but there it is. It will be my eternal shame.

There were two things drilled in to me from English lessons in secondary school (which I did rather enjoy, I loved writing, and was told to apply for O-Levels early, so I did, and then I didn't do any work because I was fundamentally lazy - so failed it) anyway, the two things: never use the word got/gotten (I think this was my teachers personal bugbear, with teenagers writing "I got given a book then got a clip round the there and got out of there, before he got me" even I'm uncomfortable seeing the word "got" in anything I write) and never repeat a word if you can help it (obvious "I", "and" and so on are all fine). So two wars. Not good. Am annoyed. (Should point out, this is entirely a quirk of my own making!)

From hereon in there will likely be spoilers!

I had planned on a halloween all horror special - or at least as best as I'm able, but of course, I couldn't quite come up with every single story as a horror, so let's start with the least horror like story:

Notifcations

I suppose this and Ghosts share a very common through line, rejection and knowing the person who rejected you never even thinks of you. For a full exploration of this idea, watch the amazing "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind".

Memories of War

There's a lot going on in the world, and much of it can be traced back so far that you'll never find the beginning point (hello from Northern Ireland!) - and the question is, if everyone lost their memories would those wars still continue. (this story optimistically says we'd all stop, I have a horrible feeling we wouldn't)

Cold Caller

Phew! Lighter fair! Actually there's a different story that uses the same sort of idea (the no-hawkers caveat that many people have at their door) I've been sitting noodling as a short comic for a few years (how many? oh man, it's embarrassing to tell - but let's say I first thought of it pre-pandemic) it would be far too long to do as one of these stories, so this slightly different version of it popped in to my head.

I am pretty proud of that title though, it came late - after I'd written a bunch of the stories and I was thinking "gah, now i need a title" and ping! there it was!

I did want to do stuff that was just a smidge lighter than last issue, because I've been told some of this stuff is DARK. I think of it all in the abstract, words on paper rather than real monsters. But we're haunted by the real and the imaginary, I suppose.

The Civil War

I saw a writer (a good writer;   it'll be a good book) talking their new Zombie book and it got me thinking, that zombie stories tend to be the ultimate "yeah of course I was the assehole prepping for the end of the world, and look, I WAS RIGHT" and I thought "what if instead of it being zombies, it's that everyone was just really really nice to each other ... oh... those asseholes wouldn't change..."

The Monster

I'll be honest, andI bet readers can tell, I shoehorned frankenstien in too this (because I wanted monsters, dammit)

Here's my orginal story idea from the apple notes app:

He had fragmented himself, Pumping his entire written and audio corpus through AI Large Language Models, and created an army of bots, one for each of the balkanised social media platforms. And he was finally free. Free to get on with work.

Is it better? it might be.

Sight Unseen

This could be policitical satire, I suppose. In the hands of a better writer. Instead it's simply a piece of fiction.

Ghosts

Gotta be honest, I just loved the shape and sound of the story. I love that it works on a couple of levels.  It pretty much came out fully formed, and so short. Honestly this is the joy of these shorts, there's not an ounce of fat on the idea, there's no point trying to extend it, and there's a sort of poetic quality to it. Anyway, might be one of my favs.

 

Hope you enjoy it, I would love to know what you think - you can fire me off an email to pjholden at gmail dot com if you like!

Comps!

Posted on 23rd August 2023 by pj

I’ve had three deliveries of comps (complimentary) copies over the last week. One box every few days and it’s been fun!

First issue #2 of Knight Terrors: Harley Quinn wherein I do my best “Ok., I’m not Ben Templesmith but I’ll try” (Ben had drawn part one and I was drafted in for part two)

Next, a big ol’ box of the paper back of Soul Plumber – I’d forgotten entirely it was coming, but it was fun when it arrived.

And then, today, “Catwoman Uncovered” a collection of Catwoman covers, which I drew some images for which I assumed where for a backup article, but nope! turns out they were for a little connective tissue between pin ups, genuinaly gasped out loud to see my catwoman on page 1.

I’d forgotten how fun it was to get comps, and how quickly you feel buried by them.

Roll on the next delivery.

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A4 Issue Two!

Posted on 21st August 2023 by pj

Issue

Issue 2 of PJ Holden’s A4 – a free micro fiction ‘zine. This issue contains the stories: Death Awaits, Love at its Core, Body-Fu, Tok Tik, A Reflection of You, The Shimmering Tower and Command

Download the PDF 

A4 Issue Two

Pages: 1 2

A4 Issue 1 July 2022

Posted on 15th July 2023 by pj

Hey! Look, I did it! A proper issue 1 of my A4 ‘zine, A4!

Most of these stories were written in a flurry of activity after I’d finished the zero issue – itself more a test of concept than anything else. To my surprise we’ve had a decent number of downloads (around 400+ I say that because I only thought to add a download counter sometime after doing it, so there’s a good chance it’s closer to 500+)

Anyway, if you’re interested, here’s the download for issue 1:

A4 Issue One

Some backmatter! These are spoilers for most of the stories, so I’m going to age break for you right here and the rest is continued on the next page!

Pages: 1 2

October on the Shelf

Posted on 20th May 2023 by pj

So, looks like (somehow) I have three books all coming out in October, and they are:

Soul Plumber

Concept by MARCUS PARKS, HENRY ZEBROWSKI, and BEN KISSEL

Written by MARCUS PARKS and HENRY ZEBROWSKI

Art by JOHN McCREA and PJ HOLDEN

Cover by KYLE HOTZ

$16.99 US | 152 pages | Softcover | 6 5/8″ x 10 3/16″ |

ISBN: 978-1-77952-068-5

ON SALE: 3 Oct 2023

From the creators of The Last Podcast on the Left, exorcism just got a whole lot easier. After attending a seminar hosted in a hotel conference room by a mysterious group called the Soul Plumbers, Edgar Wiggins—disgraced former seminary student—discovers what he thinks is the secret to delivering souls from the thrall of Satan. But after stealing the blueprints and building the machine himself, out of whatever he can afford from his salary as a gas station attendant, Edgar misses the demon and instead pulls out an interdimensional alien, with dire consequences for all humankind. Get ready for things to turn bizarre, barfy, and biblical!

Collects DC Horror Presents: Soul Plumber #1-6.

A small town in the middle of Ireland, a string of unexplained deaths and a monster on the loose. Better call in the experts. 

When Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain drive into Termoncara, they discover a town with a dark past and a people haunted by their own secrets. There is a creature stalking the streets – a creature who delights in cruelty, who feeds off the little hatreds, who grows stronger with every drop of blood spilled. 

Horror and mystery collide in an original graphic novel by Derek Landy, P.J. Holden, Matt Soffe, Rob Jones and Pye Parr. 

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers 
ISBN: 9780008585785 
Number of pages: 144 
Weight: 270 g 
Dimensions: 260 x 170 x 9 mm

Due date: 12th October 2023

Fascinating Folklore: A compendium of Comics and Essays

With their combined talents, John Reppion and PJ Holden have created an astounding compendium and a unique way to learn about everything folklore from around the world!
 
The creative seed for Fascinating Folklore began under the popular hashtag #folklorethursday. Each week Reppion tweeted a different writing prompt on a folkloric theme that PJ would swiftly adapt into a stunning single-panel comic. What began as a creative challenge between two friends rapidly developed; Reppion expanded each of his original prompts into a rich essay corresponding to each of PJ’s stunning comics. The range of folkloric topics in the book is genuinely expansive, from Hawthorne, Blackberries, and the Willow tree to the legend of Boudica, the Wandjing spirits of Western Australia, and the Japanese ghost, Okiku!

140 pages, Hardcover

ISBN: 9781912634729

Expected publication October 24, 2023

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Scritchy Scratchy Screen

Posted on 5th March 2023 by pj

As you may or may not know, I bought a Huion Kamvas (sic) 16 graphics tablet and – for the price – it is FABULOUSLY impressive – honest. Resolution, while not 4k (it’s HD, but in a 16″ screen that’s about 140dpi) is actually pretty damn good and price wise (I got it for around £300) it is hard to beat.

Currently it’s on sale on amazon for £349 (and there’s a 15% voucher off the price too right now).

Mine is a year old. Within a very short period of time, I’d scratched the display up. At that price, it was slightly annoying but not maddening. One thing I didn’t buy with it, largely because I’d bought similair for the ipad pro and hated it, was a protective screen. BUT – I bought one recently an placed it on the screen and it’s really made a big difference, firstly the scratches (while still present and still visible) you can no longer feel – the pen just glides over them, and better – new scratches will only effect the screen protector and I can always buy a new one.

The protector I bought was this one (around £18 )

I did have a bit of a painful time getting the dirt out of it, accidentally adding more little bubbles of dirt when I tried to fix, and then I tried a different technique (I’ll not recommend it just in case it’s not great long term, but certainly short term it really helped)

I half lifted the screen protector off (half of it had lots of speckles of dirt the other half was pretty clear – all, I stress – my own fault) then sprayed lens cleaner, and wiped the dirty area with the screen protector cloths that came with the protector, then placed the screen on – which left slightly excessive bubbles of liquid under the screen, but I pressed those out to the edges (using a credit card) and it seems to have picked up all the dirt and restuck to the display perfectly well.

Next time I buy the screen protector and apply it immediately and if you’re buying the Huion I recommend you do the same.

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Bolland’s Dredd

Posted on 26th February 2023 by pj

I was an hour or so in to this when I realised I HAVE THIS BOOK and I should read it while watching the video. Recommend you do too…

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Dept of Monsterology

Posted on 20th February 2023 by pj

Way back in time (2010?), Gordon Rennie and I kicked around the idea of a book called “Monsterology” (which needed renamed cus it turned out there was already a book called Monsterology). And we ended up finding a publisher in Renegade Arts. And it was a fun book and I’d’ve loved to have done more, but the audience wasn’t there, and while it’s nice to draw a book for money it’s no fun if there’s no readers.

Anyway, I stumbled across these in my photo library and thought you might like it.

You can find the book digitally on comixology, there were two books in the series and they’re both great fun.

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Drawing the Basics

Posted on 18th February 2023 by pj

I have an immense and somewhat impressive library of “How to Draw Books” which, I’ll be honest, I’ve barely read. So I should make the effort, right?

And I am. Starting with the grandaddy of them all – How to Draw Comics The Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema – this edition is Titan, 1986 – so I’ve carried it with me a long time. It’s a slightly odd book, compared with a lot of other how to draw books. Probably down to Stan’s bombastic stylings where you might want some more thoughtful words from John Romita. And it feels dated, Marvel comics certainly don’t look like this any more (for shame!)

Anyway – heading in to the first section one and – I suspect because I’m older, and I’ve read a bunch of how to draw things, I’m seeing things in the art that aren’t at all explained by Stan but are pretty fundamental concepts. Take the first real how-to-section where Stan is talking about building objects and making them solid from simple geometric shapes.

Here’s John has drawn an ellipse at the end of the gun barrel, importantly he’s drawn a centre line on the ellipse that correctly matches the orientation of the ellipse – rather, as I’ve done for decades from force of habit a centre line based on a box shape. The weird thing is having a centre line that follows the ellipse you want to draw makes it much easier to free hand that ellipse. So I’ve annotated my own version of the book with those notes. It’s now a living document!

What John Romita is doing largely mirrors some solid advice I saw from Sean Gordon Murphy on drawing tyres (or really any cylindrical object)

Here’s the Sean Gordon Murphy advice (which was a nightmare to trackdown, stumbled across this on pinterest so apologies for the rubbish resolution) (If you can find the original of this advice, I’d appreciate it – I’ve never seen anything like it in any book)

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Drawing page sizes for 2000AD

Posted on 6th February 2023 by pj

Here’s how I fit comics on to A3/A4 paper – A3 paper width is 297mm. 2000AD Page Size safe width is 264mm – subtract one from the other = 33mm, divide by 2 = 16.5 and I just measure in from the edge of A3 paper by 16.5 (and then do the same for the heigh of the page)

2000AD full bleed is just a little wider than A3 paper, so I just draw to the edge of the paper, scan it in to a document I’ve set up that’s the exact size for 2000AD and then fill in the extra digitally (it’s usually pretty easy)

And because I’m lazy, now I just mark the 16.5 mm in from the edge of the paper, and using the side of the paper block as a guide I just drag my pencil down along from that side (it’s not perfect, but that’s ok) and that’s good enough to get going on pencilling.

Once I scan the pencils in I can then straighten lines up, add digital panel borders and enlarge any pencils I need. Then -if I’m inking traditionally -I’ll convert the pencils to a light cyan colour, leave the panel borders black and then print that whole page out on the reverse side of the pencilled page, so I never rub any pencils out and every page of inked art is on the back of the pencilled art.

And here’s 2000AD’s full page sizes for art Page Size: 30.2cm x 39.43cm Panel Size (or the Safe Area, in other words – that area of the page that lettering will go into) 26.44cm x 35.79 cm If you want full bleed DRAW TO THE PAGE SIZE.

(there’s a trim size too, but you don’t need to know that, either draw to the page size for art to bleed off the page or draw to the panel size to ensure it all fits on the page, that’s it…)

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Planning the week…

Posted on 4th February 2023 by pj

I know I’ll illicit very few sympathies for this, but it can be tough planning out when you’ll finish a book when you can find yourself hitting spurts of speed and equally, suddenly losing a day for family reasons can knock you off course pretty violently. It’s the driving equivalent of doing 90 in a 30 zone.

My plan is to roughly mark out days in chunks of four pages of pencils/two pages of inks. Last month the best I did was six pages of inks and seven pages of pencils in any single day, but you’d be mad to base your working life on that.

So four pencils, two inks. Two inks is a pretty average for many artists, speed wise, but I’m secretly hoping for the most part I can hit three/four pages of inks, and get to the same 40 or so pages this month as I did last month.

So, that said, my plan this weekend and week ahead is:

Saturday: 2 pages of pencils (weekends I tend to hope for any work rather than expect any – that said I’ve done one page already. so actually I might get four done)
Sunday: 2 pages pencils
Monday: 4 pages of pencils
Tuesday: 2 pages of pencils

And that will finish the pencils for this chapter of Bad Magic – then I start in to the inks, given 2 pages of inks per day, I reckon I’ll hit 21 pages on or around the 18th/19th. Then more pencils for the final chapter (again 21 pages) about a week to do those which means, even with a following wind I’ll probably only start inking on the 28th/1st so nope, not a mission of getting 40 unless 2 pages of inks per day is pessimistic!

Anyway, we’ll see.

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