the bad seeds

when the snake & the sycophant sing
when you feel their bile in your brain
when their gravity well steals your future

their happy song
seeds your anxiety
with more anxiety

when babies become the enemies of god
when laying of hands makes more zombies
when downward dog summons demons

their pious song
seeds your anxiety
with more anxiety

when they lash the journey to your back
when the road outlasts the marathon
when you realise their song will end you

their fascist song
seeds your anxiety
with more anxiety

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024

shaggy dog poem

lame dog
he has three legs
& a smoker’s cough
but he don’t sweat it

lame dog
chases cockeyed pigeons
& sneezes at the sun
gnarly butt-wagged tail

lame dog
he don’t lick the hand
that give the medicine
‘cos he got self-respect

but lame dog
always shakes paw
even if it makes him
plop on his butt

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

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 #3

You can find TROTTERSVILLE #1 here > Ba Dum Tish!

by TONY SINGLE & TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2024

the mute observer problem

if a deaf guy falls in the forest
& no one’s around to hear it
does he make a sound

probably

he just can’t hear himself
or maybe can’t use his words
like ouch or christ

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024