Ahem. Talented people. Come play with us.

Last weekend - our feet clad in Converse, clutching a small bundle of printed flyers - we made our way to Vancouver's Heritage Hall on Main Street for Comix & Stories. This intimate gathering of local artists and writers seemed the ideal spot to spread the word about DYWTKIB and our new comic, PLAY.

We circled the room, approaching the approachable and gawking in pleasure at the indie comic delights the good folks of BC spend their spare time making (along with adorable pins, prints, and the cutest little Fimo hearts complete with arteries and smiling faces). It was an inspiring sight - warm (sometimes shy) faces sat behind fold-out tables decorated with everything from the cutesy and curious to sinister and explicit. One very friendly dude tried to sell us his first porn movie, which sat proudly next to his growing collection of meticulously drawn erotic comics.

It was inspiring to say the least.

Here are a few of the Comix & Stories peeps whose work made me feel the warm and fuzzies:

http://thejackbracken.com/works/
http://ideatopaperstudios.deviantart.com/
http://www.tiny-vices.com/
http://purplecomics.com/
http://bigfatmind.com/shop/

We picked up a few things including Jack Bracken and Reid Psaltis' delightful new comic The Malaise Trap. (See image above)

When everyone is already producing so many wonderful things, for the sheer love of it, it would make sense that they would want to donate a little of that creative time to the production of a charity project like this, so we asked away and came away feeling positive. But it's one thing to nod your head and show interest; it takes real commitment, passion, and dedication to see that interest through to some beautiful words and pictures on a page for us. So to everyone who has already agreed to be a part of the comic, we thank you, and to all those lovely folk at Comix & stories, and everyone else still deciding - what are you waiting for? Come play with us!

Er what's play?

So what is play?

Thats the question striking anyone who wants to contribute, myself included.

I'm not sure yet if I will write or draw something myself yet, as opposed to just persuading other people to do it, but I have been trying to think of what I might do.

These days play for me is sitting in front of a screen twiddling my thumbs, or going outside and kicking a ball, throwing a frisbee. In some ways its not all that different from what I did 15 years ago, but go back a few years further say 20 years ago and it seems a lot more "adult".

What was it about losing myself in my imagination that was so easy and fun, maybe the fact that it was easy.



These days I have more "responsibilities" to myself and others that detract from making play easy. I'm going to need to forget about a few of them to remember what play was all about if Im going to create something.

P.S

Sorry its seemed slow, been on a bit of an end of summer holiday.

Stage 1 - Recruit

The first stage of doing this is like any project, getting people to help. So far we've had some success with persuading people. But we are still a way off how many we would like.

So we've been doing some posters, some ads, some schmoozing and some talking. We might not know everyone to talk to but we are getting there.

Here is a handy poster that, if you know somewhere good, you can put up.



Any comments/suggestions/headhunting assignments welcome.