I'm Bringing Carrots Back

While I take a break from the ball-crushing schedule of updating The Astonishing Adventures of Lord Likely, I have begun work on a couple of new and newish projects.

The first is TOP SECRET and cannot be revealed yet, lest I jinx the whole enterprise and ruin it for ever. Not that I'm superstitious or anything. (Anyone have any four-leaf clovers or rabbit's feet on them?)

The other is the return of my other, more family-friendly creation, The Carrotty Kid.


I stopped updating The Carrotty Kid's site earlier this year, largely because I began to think that maybe I was actually no good at this cartooning lark, despite having doodled and scribbled for most of my life.

However, I still draw the odd picture for Lord Likely's site, which I've enjoyed doing, and thanks to my recent assignment of drawing comic strips for the vue cinemas newsletter, I've suddenly felt a resurgence of confidence in my (admittedly limited) abilities. Especially when I submitted the last vue comic, which I was particularly proud of, and which I've reproduced here for you to look at with your eyes:

Haha! Oh, Batman!

As well as rediscovering my artistic mojo (as it were), I've been reading a fair few webcomics which have all inspired me to pick up my pens again. Stuff like the ever-excellent Dinoballs, Jamie Smart's new venture Whubble and the legendary Beaver and Steve have all given me the cartooning itch, which I am now determined to scratch. Scratch hard until it BLEEDS.

Thus inspired and full of fire, I've decided that I am going to relaunch The Carrotty Kid's website next month. I love the little vegetable vigilante, as he was a creation I came up with as a kid and has been my most successful idea yet, earning me some paid work from the UK's finest animation studio, Cosgrove Hall Films, which in turn led to CK becoming the star of his own three-minute pilot episode which would have led to a full series, if only Children's ITV hadn't imploded in on itself. The swines.

The new-look Carrotty Kid will be a bit different from before. I'm going to re-jig the character's design slightly, and I'm going to change the site's format a bit to prevent me (and the readers) from getting bored. Hopefully the end result will be one-hundred percent excellent, and nought percent rubbish.

Of course, with me going back to cartooning, my other ventures may have to suffer slightly. Lord Likely will be dropping to a twice-weekly update schedule (from his current three posts a week), and my spoof showbiz site gaup may well be killed off altogether, unless anyone reading wants to pick up the baton and run with it.

So there you go. Get ready for the return of everyone's favourite kung-fu carrot, coming to a monitor screen near you in June 2008. Go and visit the website now to see a bit of teaser art, and an exciting countdown clock, counting down the days until CK's rebirth.

It's so exciting, you might just PEE.

In other news, please welcome back Mike Whaite to the internet. Mike was the guy responsible for pretty much all the animation in The Carrotty Kid's pilot episode (which you should go and watch and remark on how excellent it is, by the way) and a guy with whom I seemed to click instantly. He's ridiculously talented and excellent, so check out his wondrous portfolio here and fab little website Popmash. He good.

And finally, keep checking Lord Likely's site, to read some truly excellent guest posts from some fine guest writers. Everyone's done a tip-top job thus far, and I thank you all from the bottom of my trousers. Thank you.

Right. That's it for now. I've got vegetables to draw. Tara!

- Fanton.

The Dork Knight

Surely I should be past getting ridiculously excited by the prospect of seeing a movie about a man dressing up like a giant bat and flapping across a city, fighting gaily-coloured hoodlums?

Surely, as I near thirty years old, my inner child should have grown up, shined his shoes, got a job and settled down?

But no. My inner child resolutely refuses to mature, and continues to bounce around with undiminished glee whenever a new superhero movie is on the horizon, an act which plays havoc with my kidneys, let me tell you.

And so, I brace myself for another internal jamboree as the first official poster is unleashed for next year's The Dark Knight, the sequel to 2005's rather excellent Batman Begins. This time around, the vermin-inspired vigilante (Christian Bale) does battle with his most notorious nemesis, The Joker, played by Heath Ledger.


I really enjoyed Batman Begins, which did an excellent job of salvaging the franchise after Joel Schumacher tried to torpedo it to gaudy smithereens with the neon-clad campfest that was Batman and Robin. From what we've been allowed to see of Begins' follow up, it seems director Christopher Nolan and his team are determined to keep the quality high, with the Joker looking especially excellent, and suitably psychotic. With the unveiling of the first poster for the film, my excitement levels have reached a ludicrous and almost embarrassing high, proving that I still have some way to go before I can be classed as an adult in any way, shape or form.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go. My inner child wants ice cream.

- Fanton.