Citizen Badham

Completely free of context...

2009-08-11T07:35:00.000-07:00

Wrote the first draft dialogue for a four-page, slice of life complete comic strip yesterday (nice one, Matt, that'll sell). Here it is, completely free of any context:

Uncle Jim.

Peter, lad.

Just a minute. (To self.) Now, where are you, you little bugger? How was it?

You know.

I don’t. Don’t do funerals. Don’t see the point. (To key.) Ah, there you are now.

And this?

This?

The allotment. How’s it going?

Grand. But this plot here I’ve neglected and now I’m paying for it. Digging her over and starting again, but…well, I'm not as young as I once was.

(Beat.)

You didn’t come here to talk about gardening. That bad?

Worse. The thing they wheeled him in on, it was like an old tea trolley. Even had a squeaky wheel. It was embarrassing.

You were embarrassed?

Wrong word. It was…awkward…oh, I don’t know.

And your mum?

Angry.

No change there then.

I told her about the college place.

And?

To her, I already had my chance and blew it. And now…steady job, recessional times, blah, blah, blah.

She’s got a point.

Yeah. But I keep thinking about Dad. He was always going to travel and it was always next year, and then, later, when he retired and...well, he never made retirement, did he?

(Beat.)

I miss him. I miss him already.

Me too.

(Beat.)

You don’t remember your Aunt Flo, do you?

A bit.

She was very popular. Your dad liked her. Your mum…not so much. She loved dancing. Of course, I was a bit of a wallflower. She knew that when she married me. But it was ok. Anyway, you go where the work is and I got a job down South. Flo didn’t want to move and so I got digs during the week. Then one weekend I came back…well, you know the rest. I suppose the house was very empty without me. And it felt even emptier for me once Flo had gone. The weekends...the weekends were very long. So I got the allotment.

(Beat.)

I’d give anything to have Flo back, but, you know, I wouldn’t trade this place for the world either.

Bad things happen for a reason, is that it?

I don’t know. I don’t think so. The world’s not that ordered, for a start.

(Beat.)

Things happen. That's all.

I suppose so.

(Beat.)

I should help you with this digging.

Your suit.

It’s alright…I don’t think I’ll be needing it...at least, not for a good while anyway.

You're going to have to bear with me

2009-07-23T06:05:00.000-07:00

This blog needs sorting, big style.

But we have a new baby (Edward Michael, born on the 2nd. Yes, he's lovely. Yes, I'm biased.)

And I owe many people work.

And I want to go through my archives and find every last bit of unused interview and, after seeking consent from the interviewees, throw it out to a suitable home, probably on t'interweb (Garlic bread!)

So, I probably won't be posting here for a while.

See you later this year (perhaps.)

Citizen Badham is on paternity leave...

2009-07-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

...see you all in two weeks.

100 Days, 100 Cartoonists: Day 65

2009-07-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

100 days. One cartoonist a day. People whose work you really should check out.

Taiyō Matsumoto:

100 Days, 100 Cartoonists: Day 64

2009-06-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

100 days. One cartoonist a day. People whose work you really should check out.

Phil Elliott:

100 Days, 100 Cartoonists: Day 63

2009-06-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

100 days. One cartoonist a day. People whose work you really should check out.

Philippe Druillet:

100 Days, 100 Cartoonists: Day 62

2009-06-28T05:52:00.000-07:00

100 days. One cartoonist a day. People whose work you really should check out.

Lewis Trondheim:

100 Days, 100 Cartoonists: Day 61

2009-06-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

100 days. One cartoonist a day. People whose work you really should check out.

Corey Lewis:

100 Days, 100 Cartoonists: Day 60

2009-06-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

100 days. One cartoonist a day. People whose work you really should check out.

Julia Wertz:

This is cool...

2009-06-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

Adam Cadwell guests in Marc Ellerby's diary strip Ellerbisms and draws himself...

...go check it out now.

(Above: Adam Cadwell, as depicted by Marc Ellerby.)

(Above: Adam Cadwell, as depicted by...well, by Adam Cadwell. Adam is the cartoonist behind The Everyday, one of my favourite comics.)