I'm Back... well "back" is perhaps a poor choice of words...

After a long and difficult recovery I'm pretty much back up to speed. I'll be starting the comic again because I missed it very much during my crappy summer, and I'm keen to get going again.

Watch this space for updates.

Px

You may have noticed there haven't been many updates. I've been ill and not really able to spend lots of time sat at the keyboard. I'll continue where I left off probably in about a week.

Thanks for sticking around. It's going to get really good very soon so please call back to see what else in on my so-called mind.

regards

Phil

PS. although it is now something I hate, sciatica will not make it into this comic. Less said about that the better.

Day 7: Lexus

Well they are!

Day 6: Newspaper Junkies

Yeah I do read newspapers but they disgust me. They have gone from being honest seekers after truth to openly and embarrassing seekers after circulation numbers. Headlines sell newspapers and in a much more competitive world where newspapers are really not needed anymore, they have to get more and more and MORE loud and titillating to keep the readers they have.

Just stop guys. It's over. Nobody cares what you think anymore.

Day 5: 24 hour coverage

I'm always reminded by TV's 24/7 news coverage of Bill Murray in the 80s Christmas comedy movie "Scrooged" when he says he want his audience to be terrified they might miss the Christmas special. You have to watch. Your life might depend on it.

Erm. You life doesn't depend on information about political posturing, and real and fake threats from without and within. Most people's lives would be exactly the same with or without up to the minute information about "current events" but we've somehow become convinced that we need it to survive.

What else do you call something you don't need which you have to ingest all the time because you've been trained to believe you need it?

Day 4: TV News

These images were actually some of the hardest I had to draw. I was so traumatized by watching this on the news, second only to perhaps the London bombings of 7/7 or the Omagh bombings... when I saw Omagh I cried, I really did. By the time 9/11 happened I'd kind of forgotten how to and it just left an empty hole in my gut. I've gotten so tired of hearing about all the bad things humans do to each other, that I decided watching TV news was not the solution. You have to change the world for the better.

There is a school of thought which says the author of rant comic should not be pointing fingers at TV News for always being about bad things. But this is art, darnit, and I got some things to say. That's my reason and I'm sticking to it.

Day 3: Celebrity Guilt

I love all these guys, they do lots of good work. But I'm simultaneously impressed and irritated by their work for charity. You worked a day for free? Aw thats great, cos your time is worth so much more than mine. And you already have all the money someone would want to last them a lifetime, so it's not like you're out of pocket, dude.

Oh and can you sign it, "To Phil, Love Sting." Thanks man.