Blog Archive: September 2025

Doomzine Variations
Today is the last working day of the month, which means that the latest edition of the newsletter has been UNLEASHED!

This month's issue is PACKED with stuff, much of which revolves around the release of Data and Doctor Doom - The Zine online. If you read the newsletter and/or the main page for the zine you will see that there is a MILDLY COMPLICATED variety of versions of this available, which I would like to take the time to EXPLAIN if I may.



There are TWO (2) main complicating factors going on. The main one is that it is SUCH a colossal pain in the wotsits these days to send anything abroad from the UK that my dears I simply cannot face trying to do it. Many years ago I used to delight in bagging up piles of jiffy bags and taking them to the post office near my work, but these days there IS no such post office near my main place of work (i.e. at home) and Brexit and Trump and so forth mean it is RIDICULOUSLY expensive to send anytning anywhere, and so I have regretfully decided to limit PHYSICAL sales of the zine to the UK.

However, to avoid DENYING my non-UK chums the chance to DELIGHT in the zine, I HAVE made it available as a digital item, which you can buy via Bandcamp as part of the Like Batman But Better single. Bandcamp doesn't let you sell JUST a PDF, so I've bundled it together with the single so that, in a way, you get FREE MUSIC to go with it as well!



This leads me to the second complicating factor, which is that I do like to send FREE MUSIC to people when they buy stuff directly from me. This is because I am VERY GENEROUS and in no way because I've got cupboards full of free stuff that I need to clear out. I've been doing this for YEARS and am highly aware that long term customers will probably already have most of the stuff that I'm GENEROUSLY offloading, so this time I thought I'd give people a CHOICE! THUS if you go to the main page for the zine you'll find that there is a RANGE of options for items you can select alongside the zine, including one for people who have got quite enough of my stuff already!

I hope that all makes sense, and apologies again to all non-UK pals for not doing international sales this time. If only someone would bring Indietracks back then we could all meet up in the merch tent again!

posted 30/9/2025 by MJ Hibbett
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To The Lakes!
This weekend I was away performing Data and Doctor Doom at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. It was a) GRATE b) EXHAUSTING!

Part of the exhaustion was due to the fact that on Friday night we'd gone to Heathrow Airport so we could celebrate the arrival from New Zealand of Mr Paul Hibbett the next morning. This was BRILLIANT, but it did mean getting up at 6am and then ZOOMING off at about 9am to get my train to the NORTH.

I had been worrying about travel arrangements for WEEKS, but as it happened I got to Euston station just in time to get an earlier train, and ZOOMED up to Lancaster and then onto another train to Windermere. As I struggled aboard with all my GEAR I was delighted to discover Ms E Pemberton going in the same direction, which meant we got a chance for a CATCH-UP. I then hopped into a pre-arranged taxi and headed off to my GUEST HOUSE, which has also been pre-arranged, also by the organisers of the festival. I tell you what, it did feel a bit FANCY getting all of this stuff sorted out for me, rather than having to do it myself!

Getting there earliy meant there was time to get properly checked into the DELIGHTFUL and EXTREMELY friendly Elim Bank Guest House, do a lot of re-packing of GEAR, and the trundle into town. COR! I have never been to Lake Windermere before (I *think* I've been to the Lake District as a child, but am not entirely sure) and was STUNNED by how beautiful it is. I'm not normally one for HILLS as a concept but blimey, this looked GORGEOUS. It was also SURROUNDED by tourists, with LOADS of foreign people eating ice cream, TONNES of middle-aged British people in expensive walking shoes, and a large amount of Quite Angry-Looking HEN DOES. Also, as stated, HILLS, also LAKE.

I wandered round to the Festival Hub, collected my LANYARD, then went round to the venues area where I saw a succession of familiar faces, notably Dr H Earle (who would be introducing me later), Dr A Fitch (comics podcasting supremo) and Mr J Wills (literary agent to the great, the good, and also ME). It's always a bit* (*a lot) SCARY going to this sort of thing on your own, and so it was a huge relief to see some people I knew!

One of my (many) worries for the weekend was whether I'd have time to get my stuff set up before showtime, but luckily the event before me finished early so I could get in and get everything plugged in, tuned up and so on. Another worry was that nobody was going to come and see me, as ACTUAL GRANT MORRISON was on at the same time as me at the other end of town, so I was RELIEVED and also ASTONISHED to see people actually turning up. I was ESPECIALLY excited when I recognised the mighty Mr J Allison coming in! As long-term PALS will be aware, John designed the cover and internal images for Dinosaur Planet as well as the poster for Total hero Team, and is also one of my all-time favourite comics creators. I've been reading and loving his webcomics for DECADES, so for me it was a bit like SIR CLIVE SINCLAIR coming to see me sing a song about computers, but I managed not to faint or Get A Bit Silly, which was something of a triumph!

After that excitement it was time for Hattie to introduce me and then for me to LEAP into action, and I think it went pretty well. I didn't make any egregious errors, the slides were operated at peak efficiency, my voice held out, I finished in good time, and people LARFED. I even managed to sell a couple of ZINES using my new Electronic Payments Gizmo!

With that done I took my gear back to my lodgings, then headed out again for a WELL DESERVED beer. I'd been told there was a SPECIAL vegan meal waiting for me at the venue for the evening entertainments, and when it arrived I was a bit disappointed to find it was quite MEASLY. Luckily a member of staff managed to apprehend me on the way out and point out that that was just the starters! The rest of the evening consisted of some wandering around, chatting to the excellent James a bit more, and watching Kev F perform The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppets Theatre Do Shakespeare which was GRATE.

Weirdly though,the high point of the evening for me was after I'd decided to go back. The downside to staying in a B&B rather than a hotel is that there's no BAR, and I really fancied one last drink. Luckily, when I reached my guest house, I noticed a sign up the road for a pub called Beresford's and decided to investigate. It said it had an "underground bar" which turned out to be exactly that i.e. a basement. I went in to get a beer to take away and ended up having a LOVELY chat with some of the regulars, including a chap called Dean who took me through his blu-ray collection on his phone. After a long day of travel and trying to be grown-up it was brilliant to just relax in an actual PUB for a bit!

The following day saw more wandering around, a great talk by Will Potter, Philip Bond and Shelley Bond, some CHIPS, and spending CA$H in the MERCH tent. It was all rather lovely but I was DONE IN by this point so headed up my final MASSIVE HILL to the train station and the journey home. It had beem a BLOODY BRILLIANT weekend, but I was very pleased to get back to my own sofa at the end of it all!

posted 29/9/2025 by MJ Hibbett
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More Promotional Activity
The promotional campaign for Data And Doctor Doom continues relentlessly on, with all sorts of online activity emerging. I always used to think it was annoying when film stars and people off the telly moaned about having to do this, but now I am very vaguely seeing their point - although they do at least a) have someone else to sort it out for them and b) get paid for it, so on second thoughts it looks like it is ME who is the most put upon! When oh when will someone finally option "MJ Hibbett, The Admin Years" as a movie AND/OR Netflix series?

Anyway, the first of the promotional activities is an interview for Theatre and Arts Reviews about the forthcoming Lambeth Fringe show. I did this a few weeks ago and remember at the time thinking "I appear to have made my thrilling ROMP through the unified catalogue of transmedia character components sound mildly dull!" I can assure you that it is ANYTHING BUT!

The second activity is the release of yet another VIDEO, this time giving details of the shows involved in what I am calling The Autumn Tour, as it involves travelling around and is occurring over the next couple of months. You can witness it HERE:



This first of the shows mentioned is happening this very weekend, when I'm off to perform at The Lakes International Comic Art Festival in distant WINDERMERE. Then it's the aforesaid Lambeth Fringe (a rather delightful MATINEE performance), and finally a trip to Leeds in November for Thought Bubble, where I am DELIGHTED to see I am now listed in their festival programme, making me fully official!

As you may have gathered I am Quite Excited to be out on the road again, especially after a month or so doing ADMIN like this. All I need to do now is remember how the songs go!

posted 24/9/2025 by MJ Hibbett
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The Zines Are Here!
Earlier today I heard a very gentle "thud" outside our front door, followed very soon afterwards by the sound of the lift doors opening down the corridor. "That sounds like someone trying to leave a parcel as quickly and quietly as possible in order to avoid any chance of being discovered," I thought. "It must be the DPD delivery person!"

For LO! I was expecting delivery of 100 copies of Data and Doctor Doom - The Zine and that is very much what it was! I excitedly gathered in the box, opened it up, and revealed THESE wonderful research outputs:



Good eh? I have glanced through and they SEEM to be all in order, so all that remains is for me to discover AT LEAST three massive typos within 7 seconds of actually reading a real copy, as that is THE LAW even after going through them again and again at least eight times to check.

Once that's done it'll be time to get them ON SALE. The cunning plan is to have everything ready for the next issue of the newsletter, with various offers for postal copies with bonus CDs (UK types) and digital downloads with free mp3s (worldwide). I'm also going to be attempting to flog copies at the next batch of gigs too, and have got a special CARD READER to enable doing so!

I'm (so far!) dead chuffed with how these have turned out, and look forward to using them to inflict even MORE of my comics THORTS on an unwitting world!

posted 17/9/2025 by MJ Hibbett
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Like Batman But Better
Today I am highly delighted to unleash a brand new SINGLE on the universe, allied to a brand new VIDEO!

Both items are for the song Like Batman But Better, taken from the show Data and Doctor Doom. The song itself is available on Spotify (and most other similar providers) and the VIDEO is available BELOW:



To be perfectly honest with you, gentle reader, the whole point of doing this is to try and whip up a frenzy of publicity for the next batch of shows, especially the one in Brixton next month, so I'll be banging on about all of this over the next few days on social media.

Having said that, I'll also be unleashing a BANDCAMP version of the single in a couple of weeks that'll have a B-SIDE (of The Where, What, How And Whom Of Doctor Doom), tied into the release of Data and Doctor Doom - The Zine, but there'll be more to come on that as we get closer to the end of the month. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the video and as ever any plugs, posts, mentions of whatnots are very much appreciated!

posted 16/9/2025 by MJ Hibbett
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Independent Podcast Awards Shortlist
As anybody who knows me will be well aware, I care little for the tawdry baubles of acclaim what garland a career in showbusiness. Awards and the like are of little concern to me, and that is entirely because of my lofty principles and definitely not because nobody ever gives me any.

However it is always nice for one's colleagues to be recognised in such a fashion and so it is in this spirit that I mention that The Funny Comics Fan Club, the podcast that myself and Mr J Dredge do, has been shortlisted for The Independent Podcast Awards! We have been shortlisted for our theme tune in the 'Best Jingle' section, which is rather wonderful, not least because apparently they're going to be playing the jingles throughout the awards ceremony at Kings Place next month.

Yes all right I admit it, I am dead excited about the whole thing and would love it if we won. I'm not sure if we're going to be able to actually GO to the event or anything, but it's a lovely thing to have as we prepare to unleash season THREE on a waiting world in the new future. "Award Nominated" has a lovely RING to it for the press releases!

posted 12/9/2025 by MJ Hibbett
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The Future Of Retail
You find me today mildly POLEAXED by RETAIL EFFICIENCY, for LO! I have been making administrative moves on a whole HEAP of forthcoming commercial ventures.

The main part of all this is the forthcoming release of Data and Doctor Doom - The Zine which I have just this very day sent off to the printers. It's a 32 page booklet PACKED with articles and also ILLUSTRATIONS by me about issues pertaining to Data and Doctor Doom, including explanations of how it came to be, how it works, and various Artistic Decisions what I took. The idea is that this is some MERCH which I can sell on my forthcoming trips to The Lakes International Comic Art Festival and Leeds for people who want to know MORE about what it's all about.



"Hang on there Hibbett", you may think, "this is all well and good, but how do you expect to conduct these transactions? The world has changed since last you had Physical Product for sale, it's not all used fivers now you know!" This is an excellent point and one I have grappled with by getting myself one of those CARD READER thingies. It arrived yesterday and I've just been setting it up - after years of seeing people on market stalls looking TERRIFIED every time you try to use one I now understand exactly they you feel, having sat looking at mine in FEAR and AWE.

"All right," you may continue, "but what of those of us who can't make it to such glamorous places as Leeds and/or The Lake District? How may we purchase this intriguing yet (I assume) reasonably priced artefact?" This too is all in order - INDEED I have made multiple provisions for purchase to hopefully cater to all needs!

Firstly, later this month there'll be a new page on the shop where UK residents can order a physical copy of the zine, along with a range of FREE GIFTS. I usually send out free stuff with orders, mostly because of my extreme generosity but also in an ongoing bid to free up some cupboard space, so thought it might be nice to offer a CHOICE of items people can go for this time. I don't know what these will be yet as I've not ventured into the cupboard for a while, but there will be several different CDs available, including an option to not have any if you've already got them all!

You will note that I say "UK residents" above - the actions of various World Leaders over the past few years have meant that it's ridiculously expensive and complicated to send things abroad from here now and, to be quite honest, I can't be doing with the hassle. HOWEVER! There is a DIGITAL option which will be available, tied in with YET ANOTHER product coming your way soon.



For LO! Later this month I shall be releasing a NEW SINGLE and VIDEO based on the song "Like Batman But Better"! The initial idea of this was as a way to promote the forthcoming run of shows, especially the Lambeth Fringe one in October as I need to sell some tickets for it, but it's also now cunningly wrapped up in the ZINE sales. For LO! (again) although the Spotify version of the single will just be that one song, the BANDCAMP version will feature a b-side ("The Where, What, How And Whom Of Doctor Doom") AND a free download of the zine! There'll also be a Bandcamp option where UK people can buy the zine THERE and get the single thrown in too, so hopefully that'll keep EVERYONE happy!

Phew! It's all quite a lot of COMMERICAL ACTIVITY as you can see, thus hopefully explaining the aforementioned POLEAXED nature of my being. I'm planning to UNLEASH it all on the last working day of the month, so if you haven't already do please sign up for the newsletter to find out when it's all ready to go!

posted 11/9/2025 by MJ Hibbett
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Zine Machine
For the past few weeks I have been toiling away at making a ZINE for the next batch of Data and Doctor Doom shows.

There are mulitple THORTS behind this, the first one being that I'm off to play a couple of festivals soon and so I thought it'd be nice to have some MERCH to sell. Long experience has shown me that there's no point at all in trying to flog MERCH at Fringe gigs, as people usually rush off as soon as your show's finished to see something else, but that people DO sometimes want to buy stuff at festivals. My initial idea was to try and record all the songs for a CD, but to be perfectly honest I could not be arsed so to do. Also, I have another IDEA for what to do next with the songs and indeed the talking which I'd rather do instead, more news of which ANON!

Another driver was the fact that I recently attended a comics conference and caused a minor FURORE by suggesting people stop moaning and just got on and DID some stuff without waiting around for permission from somebody else. Obviously once I'd said this people asked what *I* was going to do, so I had to come up with something! My initial idea was to do an ACADEMIC ZINE but, as with the previous idea of recording a whole album, 2 seconds thinking told me that this would be a LOT of work, so instead I decided to just do a zine myself about the show. To be more precise, I thought it'd be good to have something that EXPLAINED some of the ideas that I didn't have time to go into AND/OR went into some of the issues that have been raised by DOING the show.

This all led onto the THIRD motivation for doing it, which was that it was Actually Quite Good Fun. Writing the various articles was all right, but the FUN has arisen mostly from the decision to ILLUSTRATE it with some of my own DRAWINGS. Last year I created a comic strip poster for work which was a) FUN b) a LOT of work, so I thought I would try and focus on the former aspect rather than the latter and do some spot illustrations. This has been LOVELY, and I'm now thoroughly enjoying tinkering around with the layout to make it all look ACE.

The PLAN is to get these finished in the next week or so, so that I've got time to get them printed ready for my appearance at The Lakes International Comic Art Festival at the end of the month, but I'm also planning to make it available to buy online. I'm THINKING of doing various options, including a PDF version for non-UK people (now that various TWITS have made it expensive and difficult to send things abroad), but I'll see how it all goes. Either way, there should be an announcement in the next issue of the newsletter, and possibly more discussion of PRINTING efforts here! THRILLZ!!

posted 5/9/2025 by MJ Hibbett
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Two (2) New Songs
As anyone what is following me on the socials will be aware, I have spent much of this year re-posting and commenting on some of my old blogs from the space year 2003. This has been a DELIGHT for me as I have been reminded of all sorts of LARKS, but it has also shown me that I have fallen behind in some of the Old Ways Of Blogging.

Primarily it has shown me that I used, long ago, to get all excited about having written a new song and dash to Blogger (for such it was back then) to tell people about it. I don't really do that anymore, in part because my songwriting has slowed down massively since then, but as I've written a couple of new songs this week I thought I would have a go at speaking about them.

The first of these is Time Wasters Need Not Apply which, as the accompanying song notes say, came as a result of REFLECTING on a) the lovely gig me and Chris did in Brighton and b) Alan Jenkins' amazing book How To Be In A Pop Group. Basically, I wanted to write another story song, and Alan's book reminded me of being in bands in Leicester in the early 90s, where you'd sometimes meet people who were always going to form AMAZING bands but never did. It is, I think, a bit of a WEEPY, and so I am looking forward to getting it out into the world and seeing if I'm right.

The second song is called Goodness Knows I've Been Good and is very much in the rich vein of Me Attempting And Failing To Do A Country And Western Song. I don't think this one is quite as likely to cause mass outpourings of EMOTIONS, but it is VERY catchy and I have been singing it around the flat all week!

I've know idea when or indeed IF these songs will get out into the live environment, let alone recorded, but it's lovely to have my brain working in this way again, and I have high hopes for MORE SONGS soon-ish! Also, this is a reminder to me in the futuristic year of 2047 to do some more too!

posted 4/9/2025 by MJ Hibbett
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