Five page preview. Last issue out next week. Wednesday in the US, Thursday in the UK. Features back-up strips from Becky Cloonan, Nikki Cook, Andy Bloor and Sean Azzopardi. Going out with a party of an issue, frankly. Hope you enjoy it.

The release date, I’m told, is the 10th of February.

Sorry for the delay. It will almost certainly be worth it.

Crikey. We forgot to mention on the site that the new issue of Phonogram came out this week. You can get it from any shop which has copies of. And they should! They totally should. There’s a five page preview here and there’s been a mass of reviews. For example…

Comics Daily: “Phonogram remains about as essential a purchase as any comic gets at the moment.”
IGN: “This is easily the best book I’ve read all week.”
CBR: “This is what we like to call “Proper Comics.” You just couldn’t do it in any other medium.”
Comics Should Be Good: “Awesome as usual”
The Buy Pile: “Great work here.”

In other news, Kieron’s off answering questions at Warren Ellis’ Whitechapel this week. Go ask him any old nonsense.

Yes, that time has come again. After the previously detailed delay-for-pulping, Phonogram should be available in the US today (And the UK Tomorrow). The first five pages are available to read here, though spoilers from the off, and there’s been a selection of reviews already. Do they like it?

Comics Daily: “We’re past the point with Phonogram where it can really be judged by any sort of normal critical standard.”
James Hunt, Comic Book Resources: “Issue #5 of “Phonogram” might be the most challenging comic I’ve ever read, and in case there’s any doubt, that’s a good thing.”
Scott Cederlund, PopSyndicate: “This a nearly perfect comic book.”

Yes, it appears they do. Though I wish they’d come out and say it instead of using such mealy-mouthed language.

(We’re totally due for a critical backlash, I suspect. Bring it!)

One of the darker, more character-study issues, I think. Hope you enjoy it as much as it can be enjoyed.

Crikey! How frustrating. As reported on the electric internet that the new issue issue of Phonogram is going to have its entire run pulped. Why? Because due to mysterious powers beyond our ken, the bar-code was messed up on it. What makes it more frustrating is that a whole load of comic shops don’t even use the bar-codes. Man!

On the bright side, it should be in the shops next week. Sorry about the delay. It’s enormously annoying for everyone - especially after the six-week delay after handing the book to Image due to a Production Bottleneck, without even getting onto the perennial dragging of the series - but we’re really close now. PG2.6 should hopefully lob off to Image later in the day, so… well, let’s not jinx it, eh?

However, the PR efforts strike! There’s been a few reviews. Here’s Comic Book Resources and here’s Comics Daily’s. Oh, and for those who want to tease themselves, there’s a five-page preview which you can see here. Though there’s spoilers right from the off, and I’d wait.

But I am ludicrously precious over Phonogram. Like, no shit, yeah?

However, the previously arranged launch party will still happen, not least because S.W.O.R.D. 1 is out, which Jamie also has a story in. It’s at the Prince Arthur near Euston in London from - ooh - 7:30 or so. Facebook details here. Come join us! We’re very friendly.

Oh - I mentioned issue 6. Well, since we’ve never shown it, here’s the cover. Ta-dah!

Thought it’ll be worthwhile doing a post about the cons we’re planning on going to in the next few months or so. In case you have a calender and plan that far in advance. I’m not sure we do.

FIRST UP! THE MCM EXPO THIS WEEKEND (24th-25th OCTOBER).

We’ll be sharing a table in the Comic Village - which brings to mind the Prisoner, for me. God knows what would happen if we tried to escape. Maybe an enormous spherical Emma Vicelli would come to biff us? - and will be involved with some various silliness too. Scanning down the list of comics people there this year - not least Avatar coming over from the states - it’s increasingly showing how MCM is growing as an actual functional comics con. Of course it has all the Sci-fi TV folk too. Who will we assault in the green room this time? Stay tuned.

Oh - some stuff. Here’s the signing schedule for the comics people…

(Jamie and I, of course, will be at our table the whole time and happy to sign stuff whenever)

And here’s the comic-stage event stuff. Jamie and I will be on the WRITERS VS ARTIST showdown which promises to be hilarious and/or disastrous. And finally, here’s a map of the comic part. Jamie and I are C17. Beside Ellerby and Cadwell, so we’ll have to put up with their foul indie stink.

SECOND UP! THE COMICA COMIKET (Sunday November 8th)

Which is the day long self-publisher fare as part of this year’s splendid Comica. Full details here. Jamie will be sharing a table with Marc, and I may try and squeeze in. Otherwise, I’ll be bullying random strangers in the bar in the evening. Its’ at the ICA Theatre & Bar in the Mall in London town.

THIRD UP! THOUGHT BUBBLE! (Saturday November 21st)

We’ve ranted about Thought Bubble before. The Leeds based one-day con is our favourite UK con and is well worth the trip to go see. As a bonus, Jamie, assorted special friends and myself will be DJing at the after-party. We’ve never DJed before, but since all of Phonogram will abstractly be finished by then (i.e. Finished, but not actually in the shops), we needed an Official End Of Phonogram dancefloor, and Thought Bubble is perfect for it. If you want to come dancing, you’ll have to book your ticket ASAP. Apparently only the first 500 people get access to it, so book here. It’s at a Casino, which is a fascinating venue. At 3am, Sean Azzopardi and I came close to throwing down all our money on a number on the roulette wheel… except we realised we could just say we did it for much the same effect. And then, in the morning, we felt ashamed. About that and many things.

Actually, Sean’s doing the final B-side in Issue 7, which was inspired by the dancefloor at Thought Bubble last year. Which makes having the party agreeably cyclical, yeah?

FOURTH UP! EMERALD CITY CON (March 13th & 14th)

In Seattle. Which is apparently a splendid con, and we jumped at the chance to go. I love Seattle and Jamie’s never been, but I predict will love Seattle. More details here.

FIFTH UP! Er… I dunno. Get back to us. Maybe we’ll be staying in from then on in.

As a final note - apparently PHONOGRAM 2.5 has properly been approved at the printer now, so should be printing when a print slot appears. I’m almost nervous to ask when that’ll be in case they say February. We finished sent it off to Image over six weeks ago, so we’re entering Jack-Kirby-esque comics-will-break-your-heart-territory. As soon as I have a date, you will too.

PHONOGRAM, VOL. 2: THE SINGLES CLUB TP

Written by Kieron Gillen, art and cover by Jamie McKelvie.

The second series of Phonogram separates itself from the frenzied mob of adoring critics just long enough to transform into this handsome collected volume. Seven individual-yet-interconnected stories set in a single night in a single club, each starring a young phonomancer, each exploring a different mystery of music and magic. Includes a cover gallery and ìMaking Ofî extras. We’ve put you on the guest list. Don’t be late. This is one night you’ll never forget. Collects Phonogram: The Singles Club #1-7.

160 pages, $14.99, in stores on Dec. 16.

So that means, yes, the trade should be available for Christmas.

Probably best say a few words on the delays, since there’s some confused information out there. Issue 5 isn’t out yet. It’s not even at the printers, though hopefully will be with them imminently. It’s been held up publisher-side for a few weeks, due to reasons beyond anyone’s control. Which is annoying, but hopefully will be sorted out soon. That means issue 5 will almost certainly be in early October, with the final two issues following before the end of November. Abstractly.

That means a quite short gap between the final issue and the collection. We hope the fact we’ve actually made the final issue something rather special will help mitigate any frustrated retailers. Rather than the usual 6 pages of B-side artists, we’ve crammed in another 4 on top of that. Which means there’s 10 pages of art from Becky Cloonan, Nikki Cook, Andy Bloor and Sean Azzopardi which won’t be in the collection.

As a second point, I’d like to stress the importance of pre-ordering. I explain pre-ordering a bit here, but basically it involves going into your comic shop and asking them to get a copy of the trade for you. They’ll alter their orders appropriately, and image will print more and - basically - we’ll all get paid. Frankly, if the orders of the first issue were in level with the actual initial demand… well, Jamie wouldn’t have had to stop working and we’d have had a good chance of getting this all wrapped up back in Summer instead of stretching into this long autumn.

Anyway - that’s the overview of the situation right now. Just all FYI. Any changes, and we’ll make appropriate announcements. Sorry for the hassle. This is frustrating for everyone.

The trade cover. Click for large.

The saga of Phonogram’s splendid T-shirt fail of San Diego 2009 is over. You can now order the new Phonogram T-shirts from Khepri. They look like this…

A mere twenty dollars each, plus postage. Fine for the yanks. To actually get to the UK, that’s actually fifteen dollars. Oof. But…

1) With the exchange rate, it’s actually about what you’ll be paying for a T-shirt at a gig. As in, between fifteen and twenty quid or so.
2) You can apparently order 4 shirts and get the same postage, so if you know other Phonofans who want one, you can band together.

Of course, Khepri also stocks lost of other splendid stuff at cheap rates which you could order as well. Hell, pick up everything Jamie’s done.

Anyway - 150 in existence, go gets.

In other news, Jamie did something which you may be interested in. He’s cut up the first four issues of Phonogram and arranged them in chronological order on his wall. It looks like this…

Which is quite the picture of a nervous breakdown in progress. It isn’t quite perfect, but it’s as close as you can get without actually cutting the pages into individual panels. Since each story is a single subjective story, there’s some bendy time-isms. You’ll notice one page has been cut in two - it’s where there’s a particularly deceptive long jump. Another one Jamie could have done, but wasn’t as essentially is Penny sitting at the end of the corridor to the toilets, which lasts ten minutes or so. And pretty much every time someone goes on the dancefloor, they stay for more than one song.

The reason Jamie’s done this is so he can trace people in the background, and work out which of the crowd is where at any particular point. He’s as mad as I am.

A few other pieces of news related to Phonogram. Various of the B-side artists have exciting new comics periodicals for you to buy. Leigh Gallagher, who you’ll know from Kid-with-knife’s telling of Rue Britannia in Issue 3, has a trade of his 2000 AD series Defoe: 1666 available. Renaissance zombie action, basically, and totally glorious. Emma Viceli, who you’ll know from her Indie-Dave Wuthering Heights loveliness in issue 2 has done a Manga Shakespeare version of Measure for Measure, which you can get here. And finally, Marc Ellerby - of the Seth Bingo/Silent Girl wedding disco in issue 1 - has both successfully aged another year and got his minicomics back in stock. Well done he.

Hello again. We come with news. Good news.

1) The fourth issue of The Singles Club should be out next week. A preview will be going up this weekend somewhere. It features major spoilers immediately. You may want to read the issue in one go to get the most of it, but that’d involve dodging phonoconversation too.

2) We’re off to San Diego Comicon, which is next week from Wednesday night to Sunday. For most of the time you’ll find us at the Image booth (#2729). As well as issue 4 and the 2nd printing of Rue Britannia, there are CON EXCLUSIVES!!!(!!!)

Firstly, we’ve got a Phonogram T-shirt for sale. It looks like this:

Available in many sizes. Come get ‘em sharpish. They will be twenty of your American dollars.

Secondly, there’s the Phonogram Fanzine, featuring a cast of literally some as compiled by Phonofriend Matthew Sheret. It looks like this…

And is limited to 200 copies. May actually be some manner of offer if you buy a mass of stuff you get a free zine, but we’ll sort that out when we get there. And it’s Matt’s call anyway, as it’s his zine.

In short: we’re going to San Diego and we’re going to cause trouble. Come say hello.