Crikey. I think I’ve got this wrestled down.

TEAM PHONOGRAM SAN DIEGO SCHEDULE

Basically, Jamie and I are going to be at the Image booth (#2729) for the whole four-and-a-half days. Come along, get stuff off us. We’ll have all our trades and a few (mainly girl-sized) T-shirts. We’ll see if we can dig out some single issues to take with us, but they’re short in supply.

At other times during the day, we will be on these panels and/or proper signings at assorted other places we detail below. During the evenings, we will be drinking, as is our wont.

WEDNESDAY

7pm-8pm: CBGB Signing with beautiful Sam Humphries and Kieron Gillen. BOOM! Studios Booth #2743

THURSDAY:

4pm-5pm: Marvel Signing (Booth #2329) for Gillen.

5pm-6pm: SFX Best of British Panel. Let me quote from the information online…

SFX presents The British Invasion— Five top UK writers from the worlds of TV, comics, books, and movies discuss what makes modern British SF unique. Dan Abnett (Ultramarines), China Miéville (Perdido Street Station), Paul Cornell (Doctor Who), Kieron Gillen (Thor), Pat Mills (2000 AD), and Toby Whithouse (BBC’s Being Human creator) talk to SFX magazine’s Dave Bradley in this panel and Q&A session. Room 5AB

Some more details here.

FRIDAY

10-11pm:
Kieron’s going to be on the X-men panel. Let’s quote from the information that’s been released…

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Following SECOND COMING, Marvel’s merry mutants are unable to catch a quick breather. As CURSE OF THE MUTANTS begins, there’s no telling what the vampires have in store for the X-Men…or is there? You’ve got questions & these people have answers! Vice President, Executive Editor Axel Alonso is joined by a host of creators to lay out what’s going on with the X-Men. Panelists include Matt Fraction (UNCANNY X-MEN), Victor Gischler (X-MEN), Marjorie Liu (DARK WOLVERINE), Daniel Way (DEADPOOL), Editor Nick Lowe and more for this all-new, all-DEADLY panel! Room 6DE

1pm-2pm: Jamie will be signing at the Ifanboy/Graphic.ly booth (#2229). Handy location info here.

SATURDAY

4pm-5pm: Kieron will be signing at the Ifanboy/Graphic.ly booth (#2229). Handy location info here.

SUNDAY

1pm-2pm: Marvel Signing (Booth #2329) for Gillen.

MONDAY

12-1pm: Too late, you fools. We’ve gone home.

******

They’ll be a few other times when either one or the other will be off having a meeting (which is slang for or “passing urine”. Or, alternatively, actually having a meeting.) And Kieron apologises in advance if he’s met you before, as he will inevitably not remember your name because he’s got the world’s worst memory for faces. And names. Jamie will though. Jamie’s good like that.

Will this be a funtime! This will be a funtime.

At last.

Here’s the whole first chapter of the comic. Please link as widely as you wish. Penny needs her audience. Each page shows individually, and you simply click to advance.

What’s the Singles Club? Is it any good? Well, here’s what we put together for the blurb…

Has a song ever changed your life?

Did you ever wonder how?

Kieron Gillen (Thor, S.W.O.R.D.) and Jamie McKelvie (Suburban Glamour, Siege: Loki) return to their critically acclaimed urban fantasy, where every song is a spell and every gig a chance for magical misadventure. The Single Club describes one night at a club and traces seven individual-yet-interconnected stories of an evening gone right and wrong.

It’s a night you’ll never forget.

Phonogram: The Singles Club collects all seven of the Singles Club stories, plus a new glossary, covers gallery and copious “Making Of…” material.

“Ambitious and beautiful, Phonogram is a magnificent piece of work. File it next to your favourite albums. ” - Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, Freakangels, RED)

“Every issue of Phonogram feels like a lovingly crafted mixtape from a best friend. What could possibly be better than that?” - Eddie Argos (Art Brut)

“This is my favorite comic. ” - Matt Fraction (Casanova, The Invincible Iron Man)

“My Desert Island Comic. Music to my eyes.” - Gareth Campesinos! (Los Campesinos!)

“This is the beauty of Phonogram: that it can illuminate that power that music has over all of us” - Gavin Lees, The Comic Journal.

“It should already be clear by now, but let’s get the formalities out of the way: this series of Phonogram is nothing short of brilliant.” - James Hunt, Comic Book Resources

“Phonogram is great comics… there’s nothing else like it.” - Kyle Garret, Comics Bulletin

And here’s four more we wanted on the back cover, but didn’t have room for…

“Just when I think I can’t love this comic any more, Gillen and McKelvie set out to prove me wrong.”- Sarah Jaffe, Newsarama

“We’re past the point with Phonogram where it can really be judged by any sort of normal critical standard.” - Seb Patrick, Comics Daily

“Image isn’t putting out a more consistently awesome series.” - Jesse Schedeen, IGN

“This comic is a holy book, a magical thing offering redemption and the tools to unbury meaning from the poorest of territories.” - Bobsy, Mindless Ones

If you want to buy, it’s available from your local comic shop from today if you’re in the US or tomorrow if you’re in the UK. Due to the comic slipping, it’s currently not available to order from Amazon, but there’s other fine online retailers willing to take your money. If you’re in the US, you can order from Khepri or you can get it from Midtown. If you’re in the UK, try Forbidden Planet or dropping a mail to Page 45.

As almost certainly the whole comic universe will know by now, it’s been a battle getting to this, but it’s something Jamie and I are ridiculously proud of. To be momentarily melodramatic, it’s the single best thing I’ve ever been involved with and if I died tomorrow, I’d be fine with it. I got the chance to do this.

Thanks to everyone. It’s been fun. And hell. But also fun.

We may have mentioned we’re attending the Emerald City Comic Con this weekend (March 13th/14th). This is still partially true. Not mostly true, but 50% true. The Kieron-we half of us is going. The Jamie-we half of us is having to stay home and work.

Sniff!

Anyway, come and say Hi to Kieron, as he’ll have the first copies of the Singles Club trade for sale.

Also, the following week, if you’re in London, you’re welcome to the Phonogram Launch party. Well, we say “Launch party”. It’s more we’re piling into the corner of the ever-splendid Black Plastic club night at Barden’s Boudior.

It will be fun. Come and so goodbye to this most misbegotten son.

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.