…I love Freddy, I really do, but let’s be honest. He is an absolute, unbelievable jerk.
Okay, no lengthy rants about the comics medium this week! I just have a bit of a smattering of Exciting News Items That You Should Be Aware Of. (That’s okay, right? This is a ‘newsletter’, after all.) Anyway, let’s go full-on Bullpen Bulletins style!
ITEM! I had a fantastic time at Oxford Science Bazaar on Saturday, making comics about SCIENCE with a couple of esteemed Actual Scientists: professor of AI & Robotics Nigel Crook and parasitologist Dr Jack Sunter. It was really fun to be doing something so far outside my comfort zone, and with the Mega Robo Morality sessions with Nigel in particular I think we managed to hit a really nice balance of Fun Mega Robo Chat for any young Phoenix fans in the audience, clear and fascinating education about machine learning from Nigel, and some actual honest-to-goodness moral philosophy.
Honestly, getting a room full of kids to VIGOROUSLY DEBATE superhero robots and the trolley problem… I was just having the best time. Should… should I give up my job and retrain to become a philosophy teacher in primary schools? SURE NEILL THAT SOUNDS LIKE A COOL PLAN.
I’m thinking out loud here but genuinely it was so fun, I have half a mind to see if we can somehow invite Nigel along to PhoenixFest so we can do it all again.
Oh hey, speaking of which…
ITEM! The Phoenix Comic Fest is happening again this year! Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th April, back at the good ol’ Story Museum in Oxford! Tickets will be going on sale on the 6th of March at 10am, and this thing sold out in literally minutes last time, so make sure you’re following The Phoenix and The Story Museum on social media channels to get all the details. Oh, and! A pre-emptive notice that even if you don’t manage to get tickets, or just can’t make it along in person, there’s going to be a whole simultaneous Digital Festival with loads of cool stuff happening online that you can tune into and join in with, wherever you are! Again, details coming soon!
ITEM! As well as Phoenixfest there’s always our regular monthly Comics Club group at the Story Museum - every month, with sessions for ages 7-11 and 12+! It’s always a great time and we try to make it as new member friendly as possible, so if you have any kids who love comics and drawing and stuff, send them along!
ITEM! Do you live in Scotland? Do you find the idea of travelling all the way to Oxford for a comics event slightly unreasonable? Hey, FAIR ENOUGH. But fear not! I’m going to be doing a comics workshop at the preposterously beautiful bookshop Topping & Company in Edinburgh on Wednesday 8th March at 5:30pm! Find out all the details and book tickets on the Toppings website!
ITEM! The Story Museum’s comics exhibition KABOOM: The Art Of Creating Comics, which I helped design and curate, has been on TV again! It was featured this very week in an episode of CBBC’s Britain’s Best Young Artist, which you can watch on iPlayer! Uh, depending on your tolerance for EXCITABLE CHILDREN’S TELEVISION!
...do check out the exhibition if you can, I am very proud of it and think it is pretty fun! I believe it is staying open through Phoenix Fest in April and then will be closing, so get along while you can! BONUS TIP: The Story Museum have just started doing this very cool thing of having Pay What You Can Sundays - next one is Sunday 26 Feb, so you can visit the place and see the exhibitions for a minimum £1 per person. Tickets available on the day, on the door, subject to availability. Bargain!
Okay, thank you for reading my news and thereby helping me achieve my 2023 life goal of Insofar As Possible Staying The Hell Off Twitter! You guys are the best!