Tag Archives: Shameless plug

Sally Forth!

Our Dear Readers (and maybe even Patrons—past, present or future),

They say that change is as good as a holiday. Is that true? Well, we’re about to find out!

You see, we feel it’s time to refresh our Patreon page and make being a Patron even more cool and compelling! (Can it be possible?) We decided to write this post to let you know what changes you can expect to see there pretty soon.

Firstly, we will be introducing tiers of patronage. For those already paying $1 a month, there will only be a small change. Instead of the weekly update of a Trottersville comic strip, you’ll get a monthly update on our new project called Crumble Cult. We’ll call this tier Kahukura Wero, and soon you’ll know who this is.

Secondly, you’ll be enticed by the extra goodies we’ll be offering in the higher tiers (or, at least, we hope you will). We won’t tire you with the details right now. Just know that the highest tier Patrons will get five private Patreon posts per month and the occasional meow or purr on top!

Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for a slight banner change on Patreon in the coming weeks. We hope you’ll like it!

With hearts full of ever blinging gratitude,
Your Tati & Tony!

Ernest Crumb 16

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024

A Word in Your Ear

Dear Reader,

Guess what? We’ve spent the last two years writing a script that clocks in at a whopping 268 pages! What is this script for, you may be wondering? It’s for a graphic novel!

Of course, a lot has happened during those 24 months. But, for a pretty obvious reason, our work was almost stalled before we even began in February 2022. The future seemed pretty uncertain and we questioned the sanity of setting out to make comics while the world was on fire.

Nevertheless, we decided to go ahead. And we persisted. It’s a good thing we did. The war, after all, is still raging and it turns out that keeping yourself busy will help you to cope with such an unimaginable reality.

By the way, we should be clear that we haven’t written the next ‘Maus‘ or anything—although we haven’t entirely avoided the war topic either. Despite everything, we’ve tried to craft a light, humorous and hopefully hopeful story. In short, we’ve tried to stay human.

So, there will be a lot of emotions, a little sex, drugs and heavy metal. Oh, and Jesus in a bikini. (Oops! Was that a spoiler?) Anyway, we have a feeling you’ll be intrigued already!

The drawing phase of our grand project begins in earnest next month. How long will that take? Well, not as long as the scripting phase! Fingers crossed, maybe?

We also have a very ambitious plan to release this story in two languages: English and Ukrainian. We’ll even create our own original font so we won’t have to worry about the copyright lawyers breathing down our necks.

Wish us luck won’t you? Or just watch this space. More to come!

Slava Ukraini & Terra Australis,
Your Tati & Tony!

POC Triptych 1

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024

TROTTERSVILLE #1

Dear Readers, despite our decision to make 2024 the Year of Poetry on unbolt.me, it’s still essential to break the rules occasionally—especially when we’re feeling particularly naughty. Of course, we also hope to make 2024 the Year of the Graphic Novel—our fingers are firmly crossed on that one.

Anyway, how does this all relate to the silly little piggy strip you see below? It doesn’t! It’s all just stuff that we’re doing because we enjoy being creative. A poem here. A graphic novel there. A piggy strip or two. These things keep us on our toes, and will hopefully keep you engaged too, Dear Readers. We want to entertain you!

The strip below is another great opportunity for Tati to sharpen her translator claws—or, rather, dig her translator muzzle into some sweet word mud—whichever tortured metaphor works for you. We hope this little nothingness can entertain you and make you happy. And perhaps it can show you how differently language can work from one culture to another in the medium of comics. Should you find yourselves loving this effort then please consider supporting us on Patreon or Ko-fi—that would make us very happy too!

  • Today’s Outlook
  • Передбача на сьогодні

 

by TONY SINGLE & TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2024

Pigolution

Back in 2006, I began a little comic strip about anthropomorphic piggies. I was a rabid, bible-thumping christian at the time and my aim was to anger Jewish folks with a cast of unkosher characters talking about in-your-face spiritual stuff. I honestly thought that they would be incensed. Yeah! I’d show those filthy Christ killers and deniers!

Needless to say, nobody noticed (which I now realise was precisely the appropriate response). Not only did the strips I produced fail to touch on religious themes, they also proved to be quite bland and uninteresting. You could even call them ‘safe’. That’s the worst thing any cartoonist can put out into the world. And whatever the hell I was putting out there wasn’t even being done very well.

Many years later, Tati asked me how these contradictory ideas and creative approach could coexist in one head. Was I trying to fit in with my fellow believers by showing how much a ‘soldier’ for Jesus I could be? Of course, never mind that it was a Jew who began the whole christian religion in the first place, but why let piffling details like that get in the way of self-righteous bigotry? I was taking on the whole goddam heathen world with my misguided scribbles, baby!

What the actual fuck, Tony’s brain?!

Anyway, in 2019 I was no longer a christian, and Tati and I had the idea to revisit this comic strip. We would rewrite and redraw it from the ground up. And this time, it would simply be about some silly piggies living their lives in that universally awkward way that many of us around the world do, no matter our colour, race or creed. Life is messy and unscripted for all of us, and we’re all just trying to do the best we can.

You can find ‘Trottersville’ on Tapas, Webtoon, Ko-fi and our Patreon. We’d love it if you’ll maybe consider supporting us?

TV Promote 1aTV Promote 1bTV Promote 1c

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

What We Do in the Shadows

It’s a bit weird when you think about it. We’ll go absolutely wild when we’re writing different stuff, but then feel pretty numb when it comes to self-promotion. So we decided we’d be better off showing you what we’re working on at the moment—not tell.

Script Excerpt 1

Yup, that’s right! We’re working on an actual graphic novel! Exciting, wouldn’t you agree? Scripting is seventy-five percent done and we’re experimenting with different art and colouring styles, so it’s full steam ahead!

Cast 1

Of course, we will complete this epic project whether we get financial support or not, but should you decide to treat us to a cup of Ko-fi or even become our Patron then just know that we are eternally grateful to you!

Beware, Art and Neil! Tati and Tony have entered the ring!

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023