My kitten tried to kill my stuffed tribble. My roommate remarked that my tribble killing cat would make a great Klingon pet… and she’s right.

Imagine a Klingon ship having a cat that protects them from tribbles & vermin. They have to get the cat from a shelter run by humans and they’re like “This is the honorable Mr. Chonks”.

“Yes, our ship also has an earth feline. Her name is Carrot and she fights like a warrior.”

There’s absolutely a Klingon out there who lost an eye to a feral cat that he then adopted.

Klingons who go “pspspspsps” to get the Ship Cat to come hang out during break.

Orange Ship Cat that gets lost in the jeffires tubes and Klingon whose sole job is to go fetch the orange cat. He acts like he hates his job but he actually really adores his feline co-worker so much.

Klingon that always hands things to the Ship Cat so it can sniff it.

Klingon that intentionally grabs boxes to enrich Ship Cat’s little life. Sometimes they get multiple boxes and the crew bets on which box will be deemed “best box” by their fluffy little warrior.

Klingon that starts his work shift saying “Qapla'!” to Ship Cat who meows in return.

Newly Minted Ship Kitten climbing up to a Klingon Captain’s shoulder with her tiny needle claws while said Captain is attempting to be intimidating on the viewscreen.

Klingon who gets a head bunt from Ship Cat and gives it a head bunt back.

Announcing the theme for Terry Pratchett Day 2024: START IN THE WRONG PLACE.

You'll hear people say time and time again that you can start anywhere with Terry Pratchett's work, but don't start in the right place*, so let's truly embrace the joy and chaos to be found in the many routes through Discworld and beyond.

We will be making Sunday 28th April, Sir Terry Pratchett's birthday, one brimming with bookish delight, celebrating the many ways we love and travel through his work, and we're inviting you to join us.

Follow along with The Terry Pratchett Estate to stay up to date. We will be sharing more ahead of the weekend on how to get involved.

*A lot of people say the right place is anything but the right place, which in turn, may make it an equally wrong place...

if you've ever used the London Underground you might have noticed that it often gets uncomfortably hot. the reason for this is actually that its builders dug too greedily & too deep and as a result the trains are very close to the fires of hell. hope that helps.

SANDMAN. Brush and ink.

Cain and Abel. From SANDMAN and HOUSE OF MYSTERY. Brush and ink.

Heres the thing you gotta understand about statistics. 

“Increases your chances by 80%” does not mean “there is now an 80% chance”. 

If your chances were previously 10%, your chances are now 18%, not 90%. 

if your chances were roughly 1%, they’re now just slightly less than 2%. 

thats how that works. 

I love ur Lois so much!!! Lois has always reminded me of my mom and so seeing your version of Lois, one that faces similar uphill battle when it comes to work and how you can start sanding yourself down to try and get further, is amazing and touching. Can't wait to see more of this Lois, especially as she works up the ranks!

Thank you! I think that part of Lois (becoming less of yourself in order to move ahead in an industry, especially as a woman [of color]) is so underappreciated and should be explored way more.

PSA: Don't use Open Office

I keep seeing people recommending Open Office as an alternative to Word, and uh... look, it is, technically, an open source alternative to Word. And it can do a lot of what Word can, genuinely! But it is also an abandoned project that hasn't been updated in nine years, and there's an active fork of it which is still receiving updates, and that fork is called LibreOffice, and it's fantastic.

Seriously, if you think that your choices are either "grit your teeth and pay Microsoft for a subscription" or "support free software but have a kind of subpar office suite experience", I guarantee that it's because you're working with outdated information, or outdated software. Most people I know who have used the latest version of LibreOffice prefer it to Word. I even know a handful of people who prefer it to Scrivener.

Open Office was the original project, and so it has the most name recognition, and as far as I can tell, that's really the only reason people are still recommending it. It's kind of like if people were saying "hey, the iPhone 14 isn't your only smart phone option!" but then were only ever recommending the Samsung Galaxy S5 as an alternative. LibreOffice is literally a version of the same exact program as Open Office that's just newer and better – please don't get locked into using a worse tool just because the updated version of the program has a different name!

Shazam #03 (2023)

Art by Chris Samnee

Step into the unsettling world of Oscar Wilde's Salomé as Lucy Eaton sits down with acclaimed author and visionary storyteller, Neil Gaiman (write of The Sandman, Good Omens and Coraline). Gaiman shares his insights and reflections on this iconic piece of literature, as he dissects the influence of Wilde's lesser known work. He offers a unique perspective on the enduring significance of this raw and impactful piece by delving into the play’s history and his own personal relationship with it, reading it for the first time age 13. As well as discussing the play, Neil breaks down the joys of seeing his own stories adapted into stage and screen and why theatre has a special place in his heart. Hear Me Out is hosted by Lucy Eaton, a theatre producer and West End / screen actress best known for her role as Lucy in hit BBC comedy ‘Staged’. Other episodes of Hear Me Out include Adrian Lester, Mark Gatiss, Patsy Ferran and Toby Stephens.

Won't Back Down OGN by Trina Robbins, Marguerite Sauvage, Gene Ha, Stephanie Cooke, Yanick Paquette, Joëlle Jones, Jill Thompson, Dave McCaig, Amy Chase and many more. Out in January 2024.

"In 1973, the Supreme Court gave women the right to make decisions over the care of their own bodies. A mere fifty years later, a rogue Supreme Court has taken that right away. Today, over 32 states have banned or severely restricted abortion. Featuring the work of over 30 artists, writers, inkers, and colorists, Won't Back Down is an important anthology that celebrates women who fight for justice-for anyone interested in women's rights, free speech, or simply great comics. Profits go to Planned Parenthood."

Death of the Endless. Brush and ink with metallic ink.

I used to use real gold ink for these pictures, but I'm finding this fake brass ink is actually brighter and a more attractive gold than the real thing.

Honestly, I'm not trying to get out of the cost of the gold. The powdered gold or shell gold I sometimes use isn't as expensive as you might think. But I like the thick quality of this ink and the bright way it scans and shines. It sits on the black ink better, too.

A WonderCon commission.

I make art about grief again

Hi Neil. You often have words of hope and consolation for your young fans, and I hope you have some for me, even though I am no longer young. I’m almost 50, and I’ve loved your work since 1994. In the past 5 years, my mother, father, one brother and my beloved boss have died. I’m working full time and have a tween child, and sometimes the combination of grief and the need to be present for my husband, son and work are overwhelming. Does it get better, or is this my future for the next 20 to 40 years? It’s very hard right now.

It gets better. Then sometimes it gets worse again.

Right now when things get weird and stressful (and they do) I concentrate on the bits that I enjoy, the moments I appreciate, and remembering and reaching out to friends.

Ok now do NYT columnists

Roxie’s Raiders was unique in Jack Kirby's Ruby-Spears output because it got so far along, almost to comic book form with Steve Gerber! Most of Kirby’s work for Ruby-Spears stopped at pencil stage, because that’s what he did best. If the concept looked promising, like Roxie, another (nameless) artist at Ruby-Spears would finish the work.

In the bookstore we’d call block books “chewables” - you didn’t always catch the toddler who was let loose in time, and you just hoped they were returnable if damaged.

Adventures in Librarian-ing

A conversation I had to have today:

Me: Kiddo, one of your classmates said you were biting your library book. We don't put library books in our mouth, okay?

Kiddo: *looking surprised at the rule* Oh, okay!