7/8/2007: Massive thanks to everyone who's enjoyed and supported Brain Fist during its 113-episode run. It was all for you, every single one of you, and I hope the series' departure will not leave too crushing a void in your Tuesday morning lives. There will be a new series replacing BF here at E-merl, but I'm still figuring out exactly what that will be. Stay tuned for breaking news as it happens.

I've been asked by some if there’ll be a book collection of Brain Fist and the answer is I hope so. There've been a few nibbles from prospective publishers and I'm currently in the process of packaging the whole thing up and sending it off to my agent to see if he can make something happen. Fingers crossed everybody.

In other business - at the beginning of the year I finished a script for an Avengers short story for Marvel Comics. I decided it was best to keep quiet on the matter at the time and it was a good job I did as the book I was writing for went and got itself cancelled before the first issue even came out. However, I still got paid for my story and it looks like the thing will eventually see print in an Avengers Special sometime around the end of this year.

The story itself is called Emperor None & The Sky Full of Moons and stars Spider-man, Wolverine, Luke Cage and a new villain of my own creation. That I got to write Peter and Logan on my first turn at bat still kind of amazes me, but there you go. I'll let you know more details on where and when you can actually read the thing as soon as I’m able too.

30/1/2007: The Last Sane Cowboy & Other Stories will be out in all good comic shops this April from AiT/Planetlar. Obviously this is a pretty massive step for me - my first big trade collection and my first book deal with a US comics publisher. I am, you understand, quite excited. Oh yes.

Head across to the Print Comics page for the full details. This being my first book through a proper publisher, it'd kind of help if it went and sold lots of copies. So if you're a fan of anything I do here, I'd urge you to go order your copy from your local comic shop as soon as possible. Also, if you know any other living-breathing organisms that read comics, see if you can get them to order a copy too. People who don't read comics? Explain to them the error of their ways and then get them to order a copy. Do you have pets? I have a strong feeling that your cat and/or dog would like you to purchase them a copy too. It also makes a great gift for random strangers on the street who you want to confuse by handing them a book containing pictures of scorpions and floating skulls.

In short; consume. Consume! CONSUME!

12/12/2006: The Nomad Church #3 is now on sale! Three issues in and I feel like I'm starting to hit my stride on the book - this one was the easiest to write so far and feels the most like a single issue of a comic (rather than being another chapter within a graphic novel, which I think #2 suffered from a bit).

Nothing else to report at the moment. Well, lots I'd like to report, but nothing I'm allowed to say anything about yet. Expect a couple of big announcements in the New Year, one of which I guarantee you won't be expecting. 2007 is currently shaping up to be a verrrry interesting year...

14/11/2006: Well, hey! Been a while since I wrote something here, hasn't it?

This post is to belatedly plug the start of my new weekly series, The Rule Of Death at Serializer. I'm writing the series and providing colouring over Douglas Noble's inimitable illustrations. It's a longish, zombie kitchen-sink western sort of a thing. I don't know exactly where we're going but I know most of the places we'll be visiting along the way. Stop by every Friday and see where we've got to, y'here?

I've also taken the opportunity of this update to tidy up around the site a bit. Fix some links; tweak some descriptions - that sort of thing. I'm starting to get a bit itchy for another site redesign, but its such a big undertaking of work that I don't expect it'll actually happen for a while yet.

Oh, and I'll mention it here so it stays visible for a while - go out and buy yourself a copy of The Mammoth Book of Best New Manga. I'm in it! Specifically, The House That Wasn't Her is in it. Plus a lot of other tasty comicy goodness. Consume!

18/7/2006: Obviously by "early May" I meant "the middle of July" because The Nomad Church #2 is now on sale here. I don't really have a decent excuse, other than to say that chapter two has been "mostly finished" for a month or more and I've already made a decent start on #3. Oh, and elsewhere on the site I’ve also updated the Illustrations page with the covers to the first two issues.

Apart from that, no other new news. Seem to have lots of projects on the go at the moment, but none that are far along enough for me to talk about without killing them via the ol' curse of undelivered pre-hype. Keep watching the weekly Brain Fist news box in the meantime - that’s where most announcements and updates get made on the site now.

14/3/2006: The first issue of my new series, The Nomad Church, is now available for purchase. For those keeping score, this is the "original graphic novel" project I was dancing around naming back at the end of last year.

I eventually decided that, since the story would break down into single-issue length chapters, I might as well bring these out separately as they were complete. This way I get something new to show off each time I do a convention and those that can't wait can get an advance taste of what I'm up to. Expect issue two to hit sometime in early May.

17/11/2005: So, is he Just Another Guy With A Planet For A Head? One way to find out for sure would be to purchase a copy of my brand new Unfolded Earth mini-comic from the Print Comics page. Or alternatively you could buy a copy from me in person at the Brighton Comics Expo.

Either way, it definitely looks like there’s some purchasing involved in your immediate future. Thank goodness for capitalism, eh?

1/11/2005: The Book of Merl is now complete! Huzzah and sing hosannas and choirs of angels etcetera, etcetera! Thanks to all those that provided support and inspiration during the creation of what will one day surely be looked back upon as one of The Great Works of Man.

Anyway, I'm off to sleep for a month and catch up on some sanity. I hereby entrust Merlism to the hands of its many new followers. Try not to break anything too badly, okay? And no starting any religious wars, either. I'll never hear the end of it if there are wars.

1/10/2005: I've been wanting to start my own religion for a few years now, but I figured I should probably wait until I've really got the time to sit down and figure out the whole thing properly. Then last month I had a revelation something along the lines of "nah, fuck it" and decided to take October to just get on with it and see what happens. I hope you'll all be keeping an eye on my progress throughout the month, if only to see how many times I end up falling flat on my face.

Those of you with access to the virtual world of Second Life (free to use for a week, so why not try it?) can also check out the progress of Merlism in glorious 3D. Ian Shanahan has kindly invited E-merl.com to spend a month in residency at his virtual abode, The Black Library. Follow the link for full details on how to get started with Second Life, and then how to go about finding the library once you're inside.

See you all at the Altar of Merl, my brethren.

2/8/2005: And we're back! The E-merl 2005 Summer Tour (San Diego, New York, Oxford) has concluded. And a merry, drunken, chilled-out time was had by all. Well, was had by me, anyway. Although I'm pretty sure most of the other folk I bumped into on my travels were enjoying themselves too.

Quick San Diego shouts to The Modern Tales Crew, The Isotope Posse, The AIT Junta and the dispossessed members of The Tranquillity Base Collective. Even faster New York shouts to Marvel Comics, The House of Barber and my drinking buddies in Pantheon NY. And faster yet Oxford shouts to every single person I met at Caption. Plus quick waves to the various unaligned individuals and new friends of the last few weeks who made for a truly fun and laid-back summer tour.

11/7/2005: The House That Wasn't Her is now safely off to the printers. Check out some preview pages here and the front cover over here. People attending Comic Con International in San Diego will be able to pick up a copy from the Modern Tales booth (#1334). The rest of you will have to wait a couple of weeks, till after I return from the US.

I'll be drifting around a bit at the con this year, but if you want to find me the Modern Tales booth is probably your best bet. After San Diego I'll be heading across to New York for a week, so if any of my NY friends are reading this and want to hook up, drop me an e-mail. Scary stalker types need not apply.

8/7/2005: Clickwheel Update - as of today the full release version of the Clickwheel application is now available for download. Mac users go grab yourselves a copy, and the rest of you keep an eye on their site for news of the PC version.

Oh, and stay tuned for another an announcement in the next few days about where you’ll be able to find me and my new mini-comic at San Diego.

24/6/2005: Well this is a surprise, isn't it? I've wanted to redesign the site for a while but other jobs kept taking priority. That was until last weekend when I suddenly realised that Brain Fist was going to poke the redesign right back to the top of my list.

Ah yes. Brain Fist. Brain Fist is a big deal for me on a couple of fronts. Firstly, it's an ongoing weekly series running right here on the front page of E-merl. As you can tell from the look of the place, I've really had to rethink the design and purpose of the site to take this into account. This is something of an ongoing process, so you can probably expect further little mutations to occur over the course of the next few months.

The second thing that makes Brain Fist a big deal - the thing that really changes the whole game for me as a creator - is that I'm getting paid to create it. The good folk at Clickwheel are paying me a decent professional wage to broadcast each episode of the series on their new iPod Photo podcasting software. They've really put together a cool selection of webcomic creators for their launch, so I heartily recommend anybody with the right equipment (an iPod Photo and a Mac - PC version to follow soon) to give the Clickwheel software a try.

So... yeah. I guess I'm a professional cartoonist now. And okay, I know it may not last. The comics business is an up-and-down kind of a beast and there's never that much guarantee that what's true today will still be true tomorrow. But right this very now? I'm a professional cartoonist. And I can't tell you how good that feels.

3/6/2005: The Tarquin Engine is done! Rejoice! Weep! Sing Hosannas! Or, you know, just buy a copy and be done with it.

I've not got much time to spare for this news post and there are several things to cover, so lets be quick about it shall we?

Bad news: My planned trip to MOCCA in New York has been scrubbed due to my inability to secure a table at the show. Good news: I'm going to be at Comic Con International in San Diego instead! Tranquillity Base rides again!

More good news: Here's a brand new cover illustration to accompany a big ol' interview I did for this month's Sequential Tart. And - for anyone who wonders what I sound like when my voice isn't typed into a screen - you can also check out my very first radio interview here.

Yet more good new: Bristol was once again a blast. No time for hyperlinked hellos, but here's a quick 'hi' to all the usual suspects and a special 'hello' to the newer, more unusual ones. Hi! Hello!

And now back to work.

8/5/2005: So... I kind of won this little award thing. And I'm now officially King Of The World. No, really. King Of The World. That's my job now.

A massive thank you to James, Kirsten and the whole Isotope crew for showing me a great time while I was in San Francisco. Also a big hello to everyone who I met at the Isotope party and during APE itself. Far too many new friends for me to name in one post, but special shouts must go out to Patrick, Jen, Kip and Bill for putting up with me before I became King Of The World. Now everyone has to put up with me, as My Word Is Law. Yay!

The Last Sane Cowboy is now going back for it's second printing and I've taken the opportunity to design a new cover for the book. I've also uploaded a few more preview pages to give potential customers more of a feel for the story. And if that isn't enough to convince you, how about this rather complimentary review? Or this one? Or this? Yes, I'm showing off. King Of The World, remember?

Okay, okay, enough crowing - on to new business. Icarus Creeps returns this week for a second outing into hallucinatory neurosis. I spent a day completely rewriting the scaling and scrolling code that powers the Tarquin Engine and you can see the results in Icarus. I've also gone back and added the new code to 24:Three - compare the scaling and scrolling on those two to Externality. Much better, no?

Out in the real world, the E-merl 2005 Summer Tour starts in May with the Bristol Comics Expo on the 14th. I'll be hanging out somewhere near The Commercial Suicide table, for which I've created a charming six-page short story entitled The Exploded Cat. Highbrow stuff, I assure you.

Somehow while still at Bristol I'm going to try and do a phone interview for Texas based Fanboy Radio on the 15th. I'm still trying to figure out how to get around the time zone differences involved, but keep an eye on their website for the full details.

After Bristol I'll be taking a quick jaunt across the pond to New York in June for MOCCA, where I should (fingers crossed) have my own table. Then it's back to Oxford at the end of July for a return trip to Caption where I'll hopefully (fingers crossed again) be debuting a new mini-comic. If any of you are anywhere near the appropriate city at the appropriate time, do come along and say hi.

20/3/2005: A big hello to everyone I met and hung out with at the UK Web and Mini Comics Thing! So that's hello to... *deep breath* Douglas Noble, Paul Fryer, The Bunnies, John Allison, Erika Moen, Dan Hartwell, David Baillie, Mardou, The Rubins, Barry Renshaw, Shane Chebsey, Patrick Findlay, Pete Ashton, Andy Bleck, John Anderson, Eddie Bowley, Weebl, Aaron Murphy and a cast of thousands! Apologies to anyone missing from the above name check. I must confess to getting rather drunk after the convention and will as such blame any oversights on that.

Hopefully everyone who's scrolled far enough to reach this news post has already noticed I've got a new print book for sale. The Girl Who Talked is now available for purchase in The Shop. Go on, buy yourself a copy. You know you want to.

In other news, The Nile Journals are now into their final story arc. Who lives? Who dies? Who gets confused by the whole process? Tune in to Serializer.net every Monday to find out.

27/2/2005: Is it two months into 2005 already? Where does the year go? Anyway, despite the lack of new content on the site, I've been nice and busy behind the scenes. Currently I'm working on finishing a new print book in time for The UK Web and Mini Comix Thing.

I'll post more info on the book once I've figured out for definite as to what I'm going to call it. But be sure to come along to The Thing if you want to be among the first to get your hands on a copy.

In the meantime, how about some new hypercomic content to tide you over? This weekend I took another stab at the 24 Hour Comic challenge and the result is an odd little thing I ended up calling 24:Three. The story makes use of what I think is a pretty much complete version of the Tarquin Engine. Keep your eyes peeled for further news on the Tarquin front in the coming months.

1/11/2005: Whoa! Been a long time between updates, hasn't it? But at last I have returned! And with my return comes the brand new palate-cleanser of a hypercomic that I like to call The Formalist. It's a weird little summer-brain-dump of a thing, but I hope you enjoy it none the less.

The Last Sane Cowboy has been selling well so far, so thanks to everyone who's bought a copy. Thanks also to all the nice folk I met over the summer in San Diego, Oxford and London. We'll make a small press comic creator out of me yet...

20/7/2004: It's that time of year again - San Diego or bust. This year I've got the good fortune to be sharing a booth with Scott McCloud, Jen Manley Lee, Patrick Farley and Tracy White. Come stop by at Tranquility Base and say hi (full directions available here).

And while you're saying hi, why not pick up a copy of my brand-spanking-new print comic, The Last Sane Cowboy? It's another weird little tale from the Unfolded Earth, complete with talking horses, surreal gunplay and lost goldfish. Get it quick, before it combusts under the weight of it's own oddness.

Oh, and hey - I've been nominated again in this year's Web Cartoonist Choice Awards. Stiff competition as usual, so I don't really expect to win anything. But the extra site traffic sure is nice.

5/5/2004: Externality is finally finished! I can't believe it ended up running for more than half a year. Where does the time go?

23/4/2004: Happy St George's Day, everyone! Of course, St George's Day wouldn't be St George's Day without the now annual British Webcomic Piss-Up. Check out my contribution to this year's festivities and then get yourself over to the BWPU master list to see who else is taking part.

And once you're done with that lot, you might want to hop across to The Morning Improv to see what Scott McCloud's been getting up to with a certain little engine called Tarquin...

24/3/2004: Hello to all the new people I met at The Webcomix Thing on Saturday and a big thank you to everyone who purchased a comic. Special mentions should go to my after-show drinking buddies Paul, David and Ed. Go check out there respective sites and tell them I sent you.

This update - as well as the usual helping of Externality - I've also added two new items for sale in The Shop and one brand-spanking-new Illustration. I was planning on reworking the Links page a bit too, but I didn't quite have the time. Hopefully get round to that on the next update.

17/3/2004: Calling all Londoners! This Saturday I'll be running a table at The UK Webcomix Thing in Stepney. Come say hello! And bring some spending money while you're at it.

29/2/2004: When Comics Go Wrong. Me sleepy. Me not try another 24-Hour Comic again any time soon. Me go bed now. Night-night.

04/2/2004: After much procrastination on my part, The Illustrated Bastard is at last available for purchase. Go buy yourself a copy while stocks last.

07/1/2004: A Happy New Year to one and all! The Grand E-merl Christmas Tour (New York, Framlingham, York) has at last come to an end. So now it's back to the grindstone for another fun year of lecturing and webcomic tom-frippery.

Astute readers will have noticed that Externality has now shifted to a regular Wednesday schedule. Updating every-other-day-or-so-maybe just wasn't working for me. Lets try it this way for a bit and see what happens, shall we?

2/12/2003: Externality still hasn’t stopped. Although my generally over-busy workload has slowed it down a little. Keep watching those skies...

Oh and hey, remember that PayPal button? You do? Then why not give it a little click. 'Tis The Season and all that.

14/10/2003: Because the Nile Journals weren't leaving me quite sleep deprived enough, I thought I'd better start another new ongoing series right here at E-merl. No sense in me actually having enough time to both work and sleep, now is there?

Accordingly, Externality begins here. It will continue to begin until it is finished. At which point it will probably stop. I think. Maybe.

Lord I'm tired.

22/09/2003: E-merl.com now has custom error messages. Go on; try to find something that isn't there. I dare you!

Meanwhile, the Nile Journals are still going strong at Serializer. At the moment they're on a slight departure from the usual format, as we follow Nile & Co through the events of one particularly bad Tuesday. At long last, the much sought after fusion of journal comic and metafictional horror/action movie has become a reality.

Remember this? For some ungodly reason the Filthy Monkey I did back in March for Die Puny Humans has suddenly started doing the rounds of a whole gaggle of blogs. Considering I spent all of five minutes making the thing and never once considered it worthy of promotion anywhere else, I find this a little odd. Still. I guess that's the Internet for you.

22/08/2003: Chris Ware at E-merl? Chris 'ACME Novelty Library' Ware? Surely not!

But yes, it's true! Ware is just one of eighteen cartoonists who collaborated on this monster of a hypercomic. Special thanks go to Tom Gauld for planning the original wall-based version of the comic and to Paul Gravett for getting me involved with the project in the first place.

11/08/2003: And we're back. San Diego was once again a great success. Hello to all the folk I met out there this year and a big thank you to everyone who purchased a copy of The Illustrated Bastard. An even bigger thank you to John & Alison for putting up with me for a whole week. I owe you guys some serious vodka.

Right. Who wants a little webcomic action?

First, get yourself over to Serializer.net for this week's instalment of my brand new webcomic serial, The Nile Journals. It's Mr. Nile's very own journal comic and I promise that it'll be quite unlike like anything you've seen before.

When you're done with there, hop across to Modern Tales and check out my guest turn on Vicious Souvenirs. This tale of British super-spy Garamond Bold took me a staggering nine months to see through from start to finish. James Bond eat your heart out.

And - apart from a little tweaking of the links page - that's it for this update. Apologies to anyone that I currently owe e-mail. I'm almost all caught up after San Diego and the ICA, but there's still a little way for me to go.

14/07/2003: Webcomica went off without a hitch and a great time was had by all. Much thanks to all the folk who attended. Hopefully this might become something of an annual event, so lets all keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

But no time to rest on my laurels. That's right, it's Comic-Con International time once more. This year I'll be out in San Diego selling my first fully-fledged printed comicbook, Mr. Nile: The Illustrated Bastard. Read all about it in this natty press release. Then click yourself over to The Shop for a sneak preview of the book's cover.

The book will eventually also be offered for sale from this very website. More details to follow on that front once I'm back from America.

Unfortunately, the new webcomic content I promised in the last news update has been delayed due to work on the Nile book. Keep your eyes peeled though. Really have got some very cool new projects hovering just over the horizon...

23/06/2003: A webcomic exhibition? At the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London? What kind of crazy fool would they get to organise something like that?

Oh. Er, yeah. Guess that would be me. If you're in London between the 25th of June and the 5th of July then get yourself over to the ICA to check out Webcomica. And hey, if you're in London on the 25th itself, why not come along at 7pm and hear me give a talk about the show?

No new work on the site just yet, but plenty of exciting stuff due to debut in early July. Want a teaser? Okay, here’s one panel to keep you interested. More details to follow soon.

28/04/2003: Quick update to let you know that Kicking Hitler To Death came out at Modern Tales Longplay today. John did a great job of adapting this story in Flash - you should definitely go subscribe to Modern Tales so that you can check it out for yourself. And I'm not just saying that because I want to get paid.

Honest.

11/04/2003: Welcome to E-merl Version 4.0! Pull up a mouse and take yourself a good look around the site's new layout. Like it? Then tell me. Don't like it? Hell, tell me that too. And especially tell me if you've spotted an error or mistake that needs fixing - websites don't proof read themselves, y'know.

Hey, remember that weekly project I mentioned last month? Well, seems I spoke too soon because the idea I had died a death. However, from its ashes rose this month's new hypercomic, Icarus Creeps. So all's well that ends well.

In other news, check out Rich Johnston's Lying In The Gutters column for a picture of my fingers holding one of Grant Morrison's chips. Ah, fame at last. Thanks to Andrew and Alasdair from Ninth Art for letting me kip on their sofa. And go read Kieron Gillen's work blog. Because he's a nice bloke.

17/03/2003: Hey, look, I've been interviewed.

Judging by all the nice e-mails, Mr. Nile's Experiment went down well. Glad you all enjoyed yourselves. My sanity is now back to more manageable levels but unfortunately there'll be no new comic this month, as I'm busy working on a big site re-design and a hush-hush new weekly project. All will be revealed in April.

01/02/2003: So, 2003 then, yeah? Been a while between updates, for which I apologise. Too much marking to do at University with the end of one semester and the start of another. But to make it up to you all I've got something special in mind. I've decided, at great personal expense to my own mental health, to publish one new strip a day for every day in February.

What? You want more? Okay, just to make it interesting, how about I give a fictional character full control over the creation of each strip? Yeah, I thought that'd get your attention. Now point your browser in the direction of The Mr. Nile Experiment and watch my sanity unravel.

01/12/2002: Still busy. Moved house a couple of weeks ago and that's thrown my normal schedule right out the window. My net access is also a bit patchy as a result, so don't be surprised if I take longer than usual to reply to e-mail.

Despite the chaos of the recent move I somehow found time to produce a 24-Hour Comic last weekend. It's a weird little tale that became progressively nastier as the hours went by. It's also (somewhat worryingly) based in part on real life events. Overall, I think I'm quite pleased with it.

Not much else to say for this update. Oh yeah, there are a handful of new sites in the links section. But that's your lot.

22/10/2002: Yeah, I've been busy. Busy as a busy thing who's busy being busy. Biz. Zee. Already overburdened with the start of the new term at Hertfordshire, I foolishly decided to spend five days in Rome at the beginning of October. All sorts of cultural and drunken fun was had. Took lots of photos too, so be on the look out for a Roman themed webcomic somewhere down the line.

In other news, I've been into London for a couple of comic related events at the ICA and the French Institute. Spent both occasions hanging out with my new drinking buddy and fellow webcomic creator, John Barber. If you haven't already checked out John's site, do so now. Quality stuff.

And somewhere In between London, Rome, teaching and drinking, I've also been slowly working towards the completion of Brain Slide. I'm very pleased to say that I've now finally finished the fucker and will hopefully never have to look at its code again. Let us know what you think of it, yeah?

19/8/2002: San Diego was a blast. It's taken me this long to recover and get my act together enough to sort out an update. Big thanks to everyone I met at the Con for making my first trip to the US such a huge, overwhelming success. You guys rule!

Those who missed their chance to pick up a copy of I Bleed Scorpions need not fear - I've uploaded a web remix of the story here. The print version went down well with just about everyone and I don't think it's lost too much in the translation.

That's just about it for this update. Oh, I've reworked the links section a bit as well. There's a whole heap of new webcomic links there that are worth checking out. So... yeah, I think that's me done for this month. Happy trails.

30/7/2002: Tomorrow morning I'm due to hop on a jet plane and begin my quest for fame and fortune in the Americas. That's right, Comic-Con International is beckoning and this year I'm actually going to go up to it and see what it wants. Aiding me in my quest will be the exclusive convention edition of I Bleed Scorpions, which you can read all about in this yummy press release. See you in San Diego!

1/7/2002: The climactic chapter of Inanimate Monkey Adventures is finally upon us! Guest starring the one, the only, God! Yes, that's right, it's Inanimate Monkey versus The Almighty in a no holds barred fight to the bitter end. Guess who wins?

Meanwhile, on the news front, it looks like I'm going to be attending the San Diego Comic Convention in August. Hopefully I'll finally be able to put a few faces to all these electronic names. One guy I know I'll be meeting up with is my old pal Fred, who'll be showing his new short film at the Con. I promised him a plug for the trailer, so here it is. Go follow the link and start your brain salivating. There'll be more news on what I'll be up to in San Diego nearer the time.

This update also bids a fond farewell to E-merl.com's old guest book and welcomes in its stead a spiffy new bulletin board. Big thanks go to Joey Manley for making that change possible. Please help justify the new place's existence by dropping over and leaving your thoughts on... well, whatever comes to mind really.

What else is there to say? Oh yeah, please give me money. Just click on the PayPal button. I have a plane ticket to America to afford, you know. Those things don't come cheap.

24/6/2002: Someone is destined to betray Inanimate Monkey in this week's shocking instalment. But who? Could it be the steadfast Button? Surely not!

17/6/2002: Inanimate Monkey reaches the midpoint of his amazing unmoving journey towards enlightenment. Rejoice!

10/6/2002: Can anything you've experienced to date possibly prepare you for part two of Inanimate Monkey Adventures? Er… yes. Probably..

3/6/2002: Today sees the start of E-merl.com's first weekly webcomic serial. Inanimate Monkey Adventures is scheduled to run for five weeks, with a new chapter appearing every Monday. Who knows where this strange adventure will lead us? Well, okay, I do. But the rest of you are just going to have to find out one Monday at a time.

16/5/2002: Far too many good things have happened to E-merl.com in the last month. I'm going to need to pull off a serious amount of good deeds in order to balance the karma on this lot. So, where to start?

Okay, lets talk about Scott McCloud. Scott is a wonderful man who I now owe lots of vodka. Not only did he add me to his list of Top Ten Webcomics, he then went about plugging Doodleflak all over the web. But he didn't stop there. Oh no, Scott went one better. He went and plugged Doodleflak on the American TV show, Screen Savers. The hits, man. You should have seen the number of hits that came in as a result. It was glorious.

Doodleflak. Sweet, innocent Doodleflak. I never could have imagined how big a positive a response this would get. Thank you one and all. As far as I can tell at the moment, it looks like it probably was the first real zooming webcomic. Although I've since been fortunate enough to see a glimpse of the one Scott's been working on, which I guarantee will blow the 'Flak out of the water when it's done.

What else? I guess I should quickly mention that Sixgun has been selected for inclusion into Rhizome's Artbase. Honour, prestige and hearty slaps on the back all round. I also recently received the first donation in the newly launched Buy Merlin A Drink campaign. If anyone else wants to show appreciation for my work by helping to get me drunk, just click on that attractive looking donate button on your left.

Damn, I've said far too much already and yet I haven't even mentioned my new flash based webcomic, Dismember. Oh well, guess you'll just have to work out the deep hidden meaning behind that one for yourselves.

9/4/2002: This update brings the joy that is Doodleflak to the world. Scott McCloud proposed the idea for a zooming comic in Reinventing Comics back in 2000, but I don't think I've seen anyone else take up the challenge yet. Anyone want to correct me on this?

6/3/2002: Introducing E-merl.com Version 3.0! That's right, I've gone and totally redesigned the site. Again! Take a look around and let me know what you think. This update also features the release of a brand new webcomic and the long awaited collection of a favourite hyperfiction from last year.

3/1/2002: And a Merry New Year to all my readers! Or is it viewers? One can never be sure with the Internet. At any rate, here's a little update to ring in 2002. I've got two new works to draw to your attention - one each in terms of comics and covers. Why not read one and view the other? That way everyone's happy.

9/11/2001: Bored? Why not vex you head against the new addition to the Imagery section? Or chortle at the casual brutality of the new arrival in the Comics department? Perhaps what you really need is a visit to CBR for the latest instalment of Sixgun? E-merl.com - for all your entertainment needs.

22/10/2001: Just a quick update to fix a few faults in the JavaScript that displays the date at the top of each page.

18/10/2001: Well, well, well. Hasn't it been a long old while between updates, then? Since we last spoke in June I've moved house, finished my masters degree and started work part-time as a university lecturer (no, I didn't see that last one coming either). On top of all that I've somehow found the time to visit a bunch of new sites, collaborate with writer Dan Curtis Johnson and complete a major new hypercomic opus. Honestly, the amount of things I do just to keep you lot amused...

5/6/2001: What aren't you looking at? In a cunning move I've decided to replace making sense with making cheese and mango chutney sandwiches. So far this is a tactic that has paid off immensely, although the jar of chutney is now on the half empty side of full. The latest update sees one new piece each being added to the Hyperfiction, Covers, Comics and Links sections. Excuse me if I don't stop to chat but there's bread that needs buttering.

20/4/2001: Bold new colour scheme but the same great taste! No, your eyes do not deceive you; E-merl.com has indeed gone from orange to purple. What can I say? It was time for a change is all. Backing up our regal new hues we have new works in the realms of Imagery, Animation, Hyperfiction and Words. In addition, the Feedback page is back on its legs with a brand new guest book feature. Why not pop over there and tell me what you think of the new paint job?

1/3/2001: Same great taste but half the calories! Yes, E-merl.com has just completed it's move to a bigger, better and faster webserver. Which means I've been running around like a mad thing, tweaking various bits of the site to get them comfortable in their new home. But what's that I hear? You don't care to know of my tweaking? You just want content? Well, this update brings a brand new webcomic, two new covers and two new hyperfictions. I spoil you people, I really do.

10/1/2001: First update of the New Year and look! Yes! Things are changing! The bloated Oddities page has now been split into the aptly named Hyperfiction and Comics sections (check out the latter for a new webcomic). The Writings section has also been renamed to Words because I ran out of space in the menu frame. What? Still not enough for you? Well then go look at the new works in Imagery and Covers. Happy new millennium!

11/12/2000: Welcome to the totally redesigned www.e-merl.com. Take a look around and see how wonderful it has all become. Specifically, you might want to check out the Oddities section where I've added several new pieces. Oh, and if anyone spots any errors, please drop me an e-mail. I can't fix it if I don't know it's broken.

15/9/2000: This is just a quick little update to the links page (removed all the broken links and added several new ones). Any links that lead off the site now open a new window. Also added a bookmark icon that IE5+ users will be able to see if they re-bookmark the site. Cute, ain't it?

12/9/2000: It's been a rather busy summer, all told. There's quite a bit that needs doing to the site but for the moment you'll just have to make do with some new additions to Imagery and Covers. Enjoy!

30/6/2000: A few little tweaks to the site, including the removal of the counter (because the stupid thing kept resetting itself) and the reintroduction of some missing web rings. This update also sees the addition of one new cover design and the long awaited debut of the finished Neverend animation.

19/5/2000: Time for a long overdue update, I think. Been too busy finishing my degree to worry about anything else for a little while, but now things are finally starting to calm down. Hence, I've had the time to update the Covers, Oddities and Links sections. Expect several more new pieces of work to follow over the course of the next few weeks.

15/3/2000: The grand opening of e-merl.com to the public. Take a good look around and let me know what you think. If you're already familiar with this site's predecessor, Triple Distilled, then I'd like to draw your attention to the new work I've added to the Animation, Covers and Writings sections.

13/3/2000: The site is up and ready for debugging. If you're reading this then you're either looking at the archive or are one of the elite few chosen to help me make sure everything at e-merl.com is working properly before I go public. Please take a look around the site and see if you can spot anything that isn't working. Keep an eye open for any spelling errors and formatting problems that I might have missed. Your help is much appreciated.

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