If I were to list the reasons why it’s taken a loooong while for Tiny Dancing Issue 8 to appear, it would be boring. Real life, job related, boring. So please forgive me if I do not do that. Instead, I will tell you about the things that are not boring. These are the things that are in Tiny Dancing Issue 8.
Kicking off the massively unboring, we have a trio of illustrative debuts from a trio of gentlemen whose work I absolutely love. To say I’m delighted to have them all grace this issue would be a true thing.
The first of the heady trio is Rob Jones. I got in touch with Rob ages ago to see if he wanted to do something for issue 8, and he sent me his contribution back almost straight away. I’ve had it for ages, and it got to the point where it almost felt like a crime not to get it out into the world. I find it quite difficult to describe Rob’s style, in fact I’m not sure I have it in me to do it justice, and that is a very good thing indeed. Have a look at his website to see what I mean. Or don’t mean.
The next of the trio is Simon Moreton, who has contributed two pages of beautiful, individual introspection. Those who are familiar with Simon’s work, not least in his outstanding self-published series Smoo, will know exactly what he’s capable of, but Simon achieves more in two sets of four panels here than many creators achieve in pages and pages and pages and pages and pages. Smoo Issue 6 is on pre-order now, and after you buy Tiny Dancing Issue 8, you should order Smoo 6. I have.
The final of the three is Owen D. Pomery. When I asked Owen if he wanted to do something for this issue, I was maybe expecting something along the lines of his architectural work, if not his comics work. I didn’t expect what Owen sent in, and it is to my eternal joy that I didn’t. I don’t want to go into too much detail for fear of spoiling it – but you’ll see from the photo below that Owen’s maintained his amazing, intricate line style. Just not in a way I’d seen before. Monkeys. There, I said it. Owen is working on a new project at the moment, bringing to life The Megatherium Club, which is very exciting indeed, not least for the possibility of some sequentially rendered taxidermy.
But there is more new! Steve Gregory has given us a short story about butterflies, which is kind of about butterflies, but probably isn’t. It’ll make sense when you read it. Steve packs more into one idea than you’ll find in thousands of words in any newspaper, or editorial or commentary, and it’s surely time to hear more from him. And accompanying Steve’s story is a wonderfully complimentary illustration from Rebecca Strickson, which is no more amazing than we’ve come to expect from her. Take a sneaky peek below.
And to counterbalance the new, we have contributions from Tiny Dancing favourites Megan Ancliffe, who has completely sussed out the future of academic furtherance (it will be based in Tilbury, obviously), and we find out what happens when Tim Bird thinks about something really hard – this time, teeth. And to round the issue out, there’s a new short story from David White about a man called Toby Banoobe, and one or two other little bits that may or may not feature Kenny Everett.
But but but – that is not all!
To keep your Tiny Dancing Issue 8 nice and uncrumpled and clean, it comes in a super special handmade fabric pocket, complete with name tag! Rebecca Strickson is making these for us, and they’ll all be different, whether it be design, fabric, or sheer emotional content. She’s currently making them out of cotton velvet. Nice.
So, Tiny Dancing Issue 8 – 40 pages of wonderful, with a colour card cover, that handmade unique protective fabric pocket, and a guaranteed release from the drudgery of real life, all for a bargain price of £2.50! I don’t know how we do it! (I actually don’t know how we’ve done it, I’ve still got to do all the adding up).
Get it from the Avery Hill Publishing online boutique, which you can find here.
– Dave