I’m trying out Sophie Yanow’s Gentle Comics Habit - drawing a comic daily, each day adding 1 minute to my comic-making time. I failed at doing this in under a minute, even though there is almost no drawing in it. I like a daily drawing habit, but the publishing is where I really struggle. So let’s give it a go, see if it can become a routine.

Today’s comic inspired by the fairy ballad Orfeo, especially the version by Anna and Elizabeth, and all the Green Knight/Wild Hunt adjacent folk and fairy tales that take place at this time of year. It’s easy to feel like it’s already too late to make things new by January 1st, but we’re still on the doorstep of the year! And whatever you chase, you’re bound to find yourself caught up in some other (mis)adventure on the way.

This sentiment also somewhat inspired by rewatching 10 Things I Hate About You and discovering that, while no one in the film comes out morally unspoiled, I think there is a certain dignity to seeking and desiring that justifies itself, above simply waiting in the wings “not hurting anyone” (except yourself). It’s good to do things, and try to do things, I suppose.

Relatedly, a few years ago for Christmas I shoddily transliterated a Green Knight-ish tale called Sir Gawain and the Carl of Carlisle into a live reading, starring a lo-res image of Channing Tatum and a lower-res image of the Green Giant from the sweetcorn cans. It will take only one request for me to re-record this and put it on the blog, because I crack myself up.