Check It Out

 Ah, the Tyne & Wear Metro! Light rail service of dreams! Iconic! And those unheralded heroes of the service, the 'checkies'! (etymology: Customer Service Advisors who check tickets) 

Finally, their stories are told in comic form!

Some People Call Us Checkies is a comic by Michael Duckett, with colouring/lettering/compiling/editing/wrangling by Britt Coxon. It blends stories from the staff in their own words with illustrations of the Metro service - the stations, the trains, the passengers and staff, along with the local geography and landmarks that the Metro services passes near. It's a lovely publication that mixes authentic personal reflection on an oft-underappreciated public role and some lovely, characterful art. More info here.

It features a few guest illustrations from various excellent local artists, plus a daft puzzle, based on station name anagrams, by Alexi (with colouring/lettering/layout by Britt). The brief was to provide something fun for kids, and while Alexi feels the illustrations and tone are suitable, the puzzle itself is a TOUGH CHALLENGE, only for the truest Metro enthusiast.

There's no specific way to get the comic from Nexus - they're distributing it internally and with school visits and suchlike, but you should be able to get a copy from Mike or Alexi if you're interested (drop Alexi a line by all means and he'll get one to you).

The Guide to The Guide

Having previously contributed to the 2021 jam, Alexi decided to take part in One-Page RPG Jam 2022. This time the theme was 'exploration'.

Alexi's entry The Guide is another little narrative game that eschews dice-rolling and stats and focuses on the nuances of presenting information and trying to surreptitiously communicate to certain people without everyone realising what's going on. Download it free from Alexi's itch.io pages.

Creatives Creating Comics In The UK

It was a little over a year ago that the UK comics scene lost one of its great unsung heroes, Dave Evans. The encouragement that he provided to so many aspiring writers and artists was immense, and he left a huge gap in the UK comic-making environment. Whilst Dave could never be replaced, the Discord server 'Comic Creatives UK' - started in January 2022, inspired by Dave's ethos - has proven a really supportive new place for UK comic creators to chat, support each other and share tips. Now, thanks to the efforts of CCUK moderators/editors Owen Watts and Lady Geoffery, there's a fantastic anthology made by the creators from the Discord! And you can read it free!

(cover by Winston Chan)

Alexi scripted two stories in this fine publication: 'Another Mystery Solved' is a daft Sherlock Holmes spoof, art by Craig Munro...

and 'Rules As Written' is a D&D-inspired horror tale, with art by HesitantDoodle and Orphicdusk...

Alexi was delighted to work with such talented artists - and those collaborations only occurred thanks to the existence of the Discord and the community that has developed there. There's a load of tremendous comic stories in the anthology, so why wait - go and check it out now! Read it on Tapas, Webtoons or download as PDF from Itch.io

FURTHERMORE, if you're into making comics, and particularly if you're based in the UK, then do check out the CCUK community - it's friendly and supportive and they're already starting to plan the next anthology, so get involved!

                                                                      ... 

In other news, Alexi was delighted to get his grubby mitts on 'tarot puzzletale' The Light In The Mist by Rita 'PostCurious' Orlov and Jack Fallows - a unique narrative puzzle experience based around an ingenious tarot deck. Alexi had provided some playtesting and (a very small amount of) narrative/structure input during the development of this incredible project, and seeing the finished thing, looking so cool and full of amazing puzzles was a delight. The kickstarter has finished, but if you like puzzles, you may still be able to get a copy of this wonder from the link above.