Gay Smells and Sleepytime Prawns

Terrible Father double feature

Roman Muradov

Aug 01, 2025

∙ Paid

A TIME TO PRAWN

First, here’s a direct sequel to the very first Terrible Father strip.

INSTANT INTERMISSION

I recently decided to finally deactivate instagram—might crawl back for a week or so to promote a book, or during travels, but I want to stay off it for the time being. I did it before for long stretches by simply deleting the app, but then people would keep DM’ing me, and I’d miss all that… Allegedly, you can just disable the thing, and come back whenever, but you can also download all your content to dropbox or whatnot, which is probably a good thing to do regardless (that applies to other platforms, including this one).

If you’re new to this newsletter, these days I send just one per month, and it’s a nice medium-size package that you can comfortably consume during your morning commute and/or defecation. The posts alternate between serialized stories, but also include standalone stuff, like last month’s deranged Resident Evil 4 fan-art (I finished the remake, and it’s great, though the final boss is once again a letdown).

Dogs and Daughters

Roman Muradov

July 1, 2025

From now on, I’ll be alternating between Foghorn-centric and Terrible-Father-centric posts, but first, a couple of drawings from my recent travels to Germany, and some fan-service.

Read full story

And while this newsletter is paywalled, the main stuff will always remain free. The paywall is there for those who want to support me, and to keep the slightly wilder stuff away from the general public. That said, if you want to get behind the wall, but don’t feel like paying at the moment for whatever reason, feel free to reach out, and I can give you a year of complimentary subscription (because I’m a good man).

I’ve been doing this newsletter for years, and at this point I really don’t care about ‘making it’ on Substack, and I’d much rather put out the sort of monthly digital zine that I myself would want to receive, instead of spamming clickbaitey essays and hot take Notes in hopes of earning that bestseller badge. There’s also a ‘friend’ referral pyramid scheme that grants you free subscriptions:

Refer a friend

ROMAN RECOMMENDS

The Retirement Party by Teddy Goldenberg

I’ve been a fan of Teddy’s ever since I read City Crime Comics, but this one is on a different plane—an instant classic in my opinion, and the best thing I read since Schrauwen’s Sunday (I’ve written about his work many times in this newsletter, and the latest book is incredible). Subtle, funny, and completely unique, with a remarkable dance sequence in the middle. Also published in French by Fidele, with a fancier design and production.

AGONY NUNCLE

Do you admire Terrible Father’s life choices as much as you should? Do you wish you had a character like that in your life, advising you on your decisions?

Well, for the time being, you can ask Terrible Father for advice, agony-aunt style, and maybe your troubles will inspire one of the future strips. Just go to my temporary site, and scroll to the bottom for the form. And hurry, before I design a proper one!

Also, you can own Father in print now, presented in a pocket-size A6 booklet. The first run is sold out, but I’m ordering a reprint, buy one here. If you’re waiting for yours, sorry for the delay!

HIGH AND LOW IN MIND

On the podcast front, I started adding videos and remastering (as much as possible) the first episodes of Two Librans, so you can now watch us talk, because that’s what kids do these days, apparently… except you can’t see us. Instead, I put together a hypnotic video collage that you can probably get nicely drunk and/or high to. Subscribe, smash the likes, etc.

This is a very niche podcast that is actually (according to several listeners) much more entertaining than its tagline would suggest, so we’d appreciate the word of your mouths. The first 3 episodes are us learning on the job, but it gets much better as we develop our abilities to talk, edit, and mix, and harass each other.

And for brand new content, check out the latest episode, in which me and Tom discuss, among other things, Patti Smith’s N-word bypass! Yes, she did drop it, and how… It’s also our first live episode, so excuse the sounds of adoring crowds.