It contains the full 50 page comic plus two short post-script comics that have only been seen here on my blog.

Here’s what a couple of people said about How to Date when it came out:

“I’m a 33 year old man in a stable relationship and am about as sensitive as an extra-safe condom. How To Date A Girl In 10 days reminds me of when I wasn’t – when fear of boys with guitars, of meta, of balloons, of everything filled my life and made it worth living – or, at least, made it the life I was living and I knew damn well I didn’t have (or want) a choice. It’s full of blessed friends who know nothing, blessed friends who are righter than you’ll ever be and blessed, blessed London. It’s funny and true and necessary.”
- Kieron Gillen (Phonogram)

“Touching, awkward, funny, a beautifully drawn slice of real life.”
- Leah Moore (Wild Girl, Doctor Who)

UPDATE: The first print-run of How To Date is now sold out but there’s a digital eBook edition now available (with both postscript comics) to buy here.

If you’d like to buy the comic and read the final pages please click here or visit Gosh! or Orbital Comics.

There will be a couple of fun “postscript” comics to supplement the ending of the book which will be internet only exclusives so keep your eye out for those…

That’s right, I’ve sent the files off to the printer and I should have the books back within a week. Before I go to TCAF with the collected How to Date a Girl in 10 Days and Everything You Never wanted To Know About Crohns Disease, I want to have a small London-based book launch (considering what How to Date is about). Orbital Comics have kindly obliged:

Book launch

Friday May 1st from 7.30pm

@ Orbital Comics, 8 Great Newport Street, London WC2H 7JA (gmap)

With music, drink, original artwork in the gallery, and a chance to get your copy signed.

Print out the flyer (above) to ensure entry on the night.

“I’m a 33 year old man in a stable relationship and am about as sensitive as an extra-safe condom. How To Date A Girl In 10 days reminds me of when I wasn’t – when fear of boys with guitars, of meta, of balloons, of everything filled my life and made it worth living – or, at least, made it the life I was living and I knew damn well I didn’t have (or want) a choice. It’s full of blessed friends who know nothing, blessed friends who are righter than you’ll ever be and blessed, blessed London. It’s funny and true and necessary.”
- Kieron Gillen (Phonogram)

“Touching, awkward, funny, a beautifully drawn slice of real life.”
- Leah Moore (Wild Girl, Doctor Who)

Also available on the night: the printed edition of Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Crohns Disease

“I thought it captured perfectly that discomfort/fear/anxiety that you have in the back of your mind in social situations”
- Jeffrey Brown (Unlikely, Little Things)

“This is a truly great comic and a real achievement”
- Paul Gravett (Graphic Novels: Stories to Change Your Life)

For those outside London or unable to come, the books will be available to buy at TCAF and then from my website (which will undergo a redesign) upon my return. I’ll also be announcing a couple of new projects around this time.

The third issue is all plotted out and planned, with notes, dialogue and page layouts scribbled in various notebooks. So the first stage of tackling each page involves a quick thumbnail drawing to work out pacing, beats and basic composition:

Then, I’ll draw a rough version of the page in pencils, with basic shading and lettering:

At which point I can start inking, lettering and putting simple shading washes in. I started cross-hatching any shading with issue 1 but have since made a decision to experiment with this. In issue 2 I relied on scratching Letratone into the pages, with Issue 3 I’m trying a mix of grey brush pens, Letratone, and a little computer interference. Here is what I have by the time I scan the page in:

And here’s the final image:

The rest of the issue will follow soon. Would be good to find out what people think of the new look. Hopefully it remains consistent with the previous issues of How to Date but also shows an aesthetic progression…