Their Comics Are Good

The Re-Emerge

| rozihath

Good afternoon all!

I’m back!

That’s right; just like Leo in The Revenant or Michael Myers in Halloween, I have returned. Though luckily for me I haven’t been mauled by a bear or shanked by a rather upset Ripley… though sometimes the morning commute sometimes feels like a combination of the two. It’s been a while since my last post, and although unintentional, sometimes life just gets in the way and something has to give. And, seeming as my blog doesn’t have a deadline attached, this is the one thing that had to go to the bottom of the pile for a while. Alas, I’m back with you for the long run with a lot of exciting news, so without further ado..

Last time I was filling you all in on my upcoming plans with Cheltenham True Believers Festival, risograph printing and writing the rest of my short stories. Well, a lot has happened since then, and in the interests of efficiency I’m going to break it down, as otherwise this will turn into a thesis-length blog which no-one will want to read. Woo, efficiency! Here it goes.

THOSE COMIC FESTIVALS:

Five-and-a-half long weeks ago was the fairly fresh-faced OK True Believers Comic Con held in my old stomping ground of Cheltenham, at the infamous Cheltenham Racecourse. It was the first con of the year and I had the pleasure of squeezing on the end of the Good Comics table with Dr Paddy Johnston and Samuel C. Williams; although it was a fairly quiet day trade-wise, it was great to have a weekend away and spend a load of time with some comics people. And.. we got to play with a risograph printer on Sunday which was pretty excellent. And when I say we, I mean Paddy and I stood watching whilst Sam and his buddy Mike did all the work. Thanks guys!

I also joined in the fun at Sheffield Zine Fest on Saturday 25th February on the Good Comics table with Paddy, because.. why not? Sheffield Zine Fest was held in the Students Union and had a really nice down-to-earth and homemade feel to the event, suiting the Good Comics releases and my kinda work a lot more to the ground than the more commercial-based events like Cheltenham True Believers and the MCM events. It was also great to hang out and push other people’s work rather than my own, and there was burritos involved which always makes for an excellent day.

Next up on the festival calendar is the eagerly awaited Leamington Comic Con, held at the Royal Spa Centre on Saturday 25th March. It’s going to be a fantastic day, and with tickets still on sale online you should definitely come hang out and say hello! I’ll have my own full table situated next to the Good Comics gentlemen, which is handy because 25th March is also the release of…

ANNOUNCING: COSMOS AND OTHER STORIES

That’s right! My comics collection I’ve been working on since November is finished and off to print, ready for launch in a week and a half. Cosmos and Other Stories is a collection of short stories exploring humanity and loneliness; packaged up into a lovely 36-page face-strokingly-soft matte laminate product of love, Cosmos tells the stories of different people dealing with the different ways we all feel lonely in this big ol’ world. The book was formally announced on the 24th February via the Good Comics press release;

Good Comics is delighted to announce that we will be publishing a new collection of short stories by award-winning cartoonist and illustrator Rozi Hathaway, winner of the Broken Frontier Breakout Talent Award for 2016 and author of The Red Road, Njálla and Ø.

Cosmos and Other Stories examines themes of loneliness and longing, with Hathaway’s uniquely expressive and dreamy paintwork taking the reader on a journey through various cities, towns, bedrooms and celestial realms. If you’ve ever been lost in a crowd, stayed up all night to talk to someone long distance, or felt the ache of an absent love, then this collection will speak to you.

Cosmos and Other Stories will debut at Leamington Comic Con on Saturday 25th March 2017, and is available to pre-order from the Good Comics online store now!

You can read the full press release here! It’s been a whirlwind four months of writing and drawing up this collection, and although I always put everything I have into my stories, this one is particularly close to my heart. Plus, Sam from Good Comics has been an excellent and supportive yet critical editor, and really pushed me to make the best work I possibly could.. So with all that in mind, I really hope it goes down well otherwise I might just crawl into bed for a while to recover. Pre-order Cosmos and Other Stories here, and even more exciting, every pre-order gets an A5 print of artwork from the book with their order.. So act quickly and get that pre-order in!

A5 Print from Cosmos & Other Stories, now for sale on Etsy.

 

I quite literally have just finished up the book, with the files being sent off to Rich at Comic Printing UK on Monday night before I crawled into bed. Tuesday evening was (am) spent writing this gem of blogging genius for you, so I am finally going to celebrate finishing this book by drinking a large glass of wine and collapsing in a corner (I’m lying, I started the wine before I even started typing. YOLO!). I will be back in the normal swing of things next week with the pre-con post about Leamington and everything it has to offer, so keep an eye out for that! And until next time.. have a good week all, and thanks for being patient!

 

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Short Days, Short Stories

| rozihath

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen!

So, another week has passed and I’m bordering on just about being over my post-Thought Bubble blues. In fairness, it was one of the best weekends of my comic creating existence so I think I’m allowed to mope around for a little longer. But I should probably look at cheering up sometime soon, y’know, for sanity’s sake. I have, however, been a busy little worker bee up here and have plenty of things to catch you all up on, so put your feet up and carry on reading..

In some cheerful news, Ø has been reviewed! Big thanks to Andy Oliver at Broken Frontier for saying some really nice things about my work – as always – with the highlight of the review being the opening statement: “You would think – given that she was one of our inaugural Broken Frontier ‘Six Small Press Creators to Watch’ – that Rozi Hathaway would have made life easier for me with the name of her new comic. The work in question is called, simply, Ø. A title which made it less than easy to give a shout-out to when I was asked to point out a Thought Bubble debut comic by one of our ‘Six to Watch’ artists on the ‘Gosh! Comics Best Thing I Read this Year’ panel in Leeds last weekend.”

Whoops. Sorry Andy! Read the full review here or click the picture below!

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Ø has been getting some great feedback so far, and I’m so thankful to everyone picking up a copy online! Don’t forget it’s still available over on Etsy, and as we’re getting to that time of year.. *whispers* this and Sneaky Business Vol. 2 would make excellent stocking fillers!

In some other equally cheerful and very awesome news.. I am very excited to announce that the charming gentlemen trio of Good Comics will be publishing my next book! I’m not going to let on too much (you all know by now that I enjoy my shroud of secrecy and sneaky peeks all too much), but it will be a collection of short stories and it’ll be coming out around Springtime.. Ish. I don’t like to leave you all completely hanging in suspense, so here’s a couple of things I’ve been working on towards the final collection, with more to come in the next month or so. It’s definitely going to be a challenge, but I’m really excited on what I have so far, and I can’t wait to work with the guys, push my work to the next level and make something marvellous. Here’s a peek!

Good Comics already have a really impressive repertoire of work by the founders themselves Samuel C. Williams (At War with Yourself published by Singing Dragon), Paddy Johnston (Long Divisions, Ballgame) and Pete Hindle (Really Pricey Jumpers) as well as a handful of other titles, given they’ve only really been established for the past year. Recent releases have included the highly regarded diary comics collection Every Life I Ever Lived: Volume One by Robin William Scott, Tales From the Nonniverse #1 by Faye Spencer and Chickenboy by James Howard, as well as their regular zine Dead Singer’s Society (featuring both my Muddy Waters illustration and Nina Simone comic). So yes, they’re rather cool aren’t they?

Thankfully they took pity on me and decided to publish my next comic, so it’s all thoughts to paper right now whilst I build up a collection of short, heartfelt and moving stories that sit together both as a continual narrative and their own standalone tales. So, watch this space!

Finally, in a far less thought-provoking and intense venture, for the past few weeks I’ve started taking on the weekly set Twitter challenge of the Colour Collective! Rebecca Bagley first brought this to my attention when I was swooning at her work on Twitter and Instagram, and after talking to her about it at Bristol Comic & Zine Fair I decided it was in my best interests to give it a whirl myself! Just to draw something, anything as long as it’s with a specific colour has definitely been a challenge (with some of them being far better than other week’s attempts..), but it’s good to get the ol’ brain working on something that isn’t a comic. Here they are, the good and the bad! Keep up with the #colour_collective hashtag on Twitter to see everyone’s amazing work, and see mine posted both there and on my Facebook page every Friday evening.

Anyway, that’s about it for now. I shall be back as ever next week with more gossip, so keep your eyes out for that. Until then, have a good week everyone and send me warming and healthy thoughts if you have a moment; the autumn/winter cold has finally arrived.. Peace out.

 

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