Countdown to Bristol Comic Expo: 3 Days to Go!
Writing these blogs over the past few days is making me even more excited about the convention this weekend. I can’t wait to talk to other creators and fans and get some of my comic books into their hands.
So far I’ve written about A4 Comics presents…, Lily and Danel Adventurers and Friends - The Pirate Adventure, Sugar Glider and Sugar Glider Stories. That’s all the comics I’ll have for sale at the weekend. But not the only things I’ll have for sale - Bristol Comic Expo 2011 will see the debut of new Sugar Glider badges and stickers!
I’ve taken the 5 new Sugar Glider badge designs and put them into packs of 4, mounted on felt with a card label over the top.
I’m hoping for two things here:
1. People won’t be upset by how the designs are grouped together (“but I wanted the yellow and pink design!”)
2. People will be willing to pay a little bit of cash for the badges because I’ve taken a bit of time (a lot of time) to come up with the design card, print them, cut them out, cut out bits of felt, staple them together and stick the badges on.
There is a second badge pack too. I say ‘pack’; it’s just one badge. But, again, mounted on felt with a bit of card stapled on the top.
This badge is big and square, and emblazoned with the logo of the Vigilance superhero squad - characters featured in Sugar Glider Stories and soon to make an appearance in Sugar Glider issue 2.
Pick up badge pack 1 for £1.50, and badge pack 2 for 75p. Or you could get both in a combo deal for only £2. But you won’t only get a saving of 25p (wow!), you’ll also get the fantastic new sticker that will come free with any of my combo deals.
And, there you go, that’s everything I’m trying to sell you at Bristol Comic Expo this year. I’ll be back tomorrow to talk about the panel I’ll be on.
Countdown to Bristol Comic Expo: 4 Days to Go!
Over the last few days I’ve been talking about A4 Comics presents…, Lily and Danel Adventurers and Friends - The Pirate Adventure, and Sugar Glider. That means I have only one more of my comics to talk about, Sugar Glider Stories.
A spin-off from Sugar Glider and intended to act as a stopgap between issue 1 and 2, Sugar Glider Stories adds context to Susie Sullivan’s world by delving into the lives of the main title’s supporting cast.
Sugar Glider Stories is 10 strips written by me and Gary (7 and 3, respectively) and drawn by titans of the UK indie and small press comic scene - plus a few pin-ups too.
Here’s what the reviewers said:
“Sugar Glider Stories can take its place alongside the best small press comic I have ever read as every bit its equal.” - ComicBuzz.com
And…
“Some big league comic book creators do not even have this talent” - GeekSyndicate.co.uk
This is the best comic I’ve released so far - I’m very happy with the stories I scraped together and I was even happier with the beautiful artwork from all the contributors. Indeed, I was even happy with my own artwork! That’s never happened before.
Speaking of contributors, I’ll be sharing a table with one of them - Martin Eden. Plus, Graham Pearce (who provided the back cover) and Matthew Craig will have tables selling their own wonderful comics.
Pick up Sugar Glider Stories for £3 at the Expo or for £5 when bought with issue one of Sugar Glider. And as it’s a combo - you’ll also get a free sticker!
I’ve blogged about the comic extensively so you can go back and find out more if you’re not already convinced.
Countdown to Bristol Comic Expo: 5 Days to Go!
I’m not very happy with the writing in the blogs over the last few days. I’m out of practice and rushing them to make sure they go up. Hopefully, today I’ll write something where the article/essay is as good as the subject of it.
I’ve already blogged about A4 Comics presents… and Lily and Danel: Adventurers and Friends - The Pirate Adventure (damn, I love that long title!), today I’ll be writing about Sugar Glider issue 1.
Sugar Glider was created with Gary Bainbridge around the time of Thought Bubble ’09 and finally launched at Thought Bubble ’10. Without a doubt, this is the most successful thing I’ve ever done (comics, music and films). The first printing of 100 sold out within 4 or 5 months and has received 8 reviews, which have ranged from good/promising to excellent.
Hoping to capture what we loved about superhero comics as young readers, Sugar Glider is an all-ages coming-of-age story packed full of adventure and a good helping of teenage angst.
Or as the reviewers put it:
“A fantastic debut issue of a new all-ages superhero.” - HyperGeek.ca
And…
“Truly the best small press comic I have ever read.” - GeekSyndicate.co.uk
This will be the convention debut of Sugar Glider’s second printing. The new printing looks so gorgeous that I feel sorry for the 100 people who have copies of the first printing.
I’m very proud of this comic, it has set my mind ablaze with ideas and possibilities - I could write Sugar Glider and Sugar Glider-related comics all-day everyday. Here’s a thought - somebody pay me to do that please!
Make sure to pick up a copy of Sugar Glider from me at the convention for just £3. Or £5 if you get it with the subject of tomorrow’s blog.
Countdown to Bristol Comic Expo: 6 Days to Go!
Aha! I’ve managed to get online in order to post a second Bristol Comic Expo blog! As I said yesterday, I’ll be talking about each of the things I’ll be selling at the show and the other fun things to look out for too.
Today: the most fun, cheapest and worst-selling comic I have published so far.
On the way home from Thought Bubble ‘09, Lily finally relented and agreed to draw a comic strip for me. A week or so later I had arrived at the idea, Lily and Danel: Adventurers.
Over a few months we put together 12 pages of this all-ages webcomic before giving up. Lily had a lot of university work and we were making the North East Geek Feast podcast. You can read the webcomic here.
We decided to resurrect Lily and Danel for this comic, which debuted at Thought Bubble last year. Although I was incredibly proud of Lily’s artwork and my work in it to, the comic didn’t sell very well at all.
The 8-page main strip follows Lily and Danel and their dog, Monty, as they find and follow a treasure map.
But it wouldn’t be an adventure if things went as simple as that!
We meet a number of characters and visit a range of locations along the way, and see Lily and Danel go through testing, funny and scary times!
As well as the main strip, the comic also includes a pull-out colour poster with fun puzzles on the reverse side. One thing I always hated as a kid was a great poster in a comic but then not being able to put it on my wall because it would ruin the comic!
Making the puzzles was a great experience too - there’s a wordsearch and a spot the difference. Perhaps the strangest spot-the-difference ever.
Even though I loved making those quizzes and the main strip, I’m probably most happy with the two back-up strips.
The first back-up, Marlon the Cheeky Chimp, was a silly story Lily told me one night when I couldn’t get to sleep. Sounds daft, right? But I have a real problem sleeping and these little stories really send me off.
Anyway, Lily told me this story and then I streamlined it into a one-page script and I think it’s great!
The second back-up strip and the back cover of the book, Bye, Bye, Dragonfly, is the saddest kids comic I could come up with.
Wholly based upon the catchy title (that’s how I always did it when I wrote pop songs), this is a nice little story with some great art from Lily and colours I was very proud of.
Colouring isn’t something I think I’m very good at, but the colours we used on this strip work exactly as intended.
Lily and Danel: Adventurers and Friends - The Pirate Adventure will be available at the Bristol Comic Expo for £2. Perfect for young children and adults looking for a nice little adventure story.
Countdown to Bristol Comic Expo: 1 Week to Go!
It’s been a long time since I’ve managed to finish a blog. Indeed, I’ve been writing this one for two days now - so even the title has had to be redrafted.
I will be in the city of Bristol for the second time, attending the Bristol Comic Expo for the second time, and exhibiting at the expo for the first time - although, I will be exhibiting at a convention for a second time.
I’m hoping that I’ll have enough time over the next week to post a few blogs about what I’ll have on sale at my stall and other good things to look out for. Today, I’ll start by showcasing the first comic I put together: A4 Comics presents…
A4 is a flip-book all-ages anthology where one side features the 19 page Barry Boyd The Badger Boy story I wrote and drew (with help from Lily), and the other side features 6 great strips.
Barry Boyd The Badger Boy was never meant to be in this comic. I was meant to write a story called Justin Time about a time-travelling schoolboy and Jack Fallows was meant to draw it. But for a number of reasons that never happened.
Instead, I created the character Barry Boyd, a were-badger on the run from a shady government agency and unable to trust the people around him.
I had originally intended to use a character I created years ago called Panda Man but wanted to do something very British and have a very fierce character. A panda just wouldn’t work. Badger Boy would.
The art in this comic isn’t that great but all 20 pages were completed within about two weeks and I hadn’t drawn a comic for about 7 or 8 years.
The main thing you should read this comic for is the villain. I almost don’t want it to give it away. Snake Hips is a half-man, half-snake, disco-obsessed shady government agent. Very proud of that one.
Meanwhile, on the other side of A4, strips from 1 page in length to 5 pages devoted to female characters …
Trainee Space Chef was written by the mysterious Quinston Q. Blowfish and drawn by the brilliant Martin Newman (not that Quinston isn’t brilliant, himself).
The longest strip on this side of the book, Trainee Space Chef is a space-opera, pirate-filled big bag of food fun!
This was my favourite strip to work on as Quinston was very happy to collaborate and discuss even the smallest details - not that I really came up with any ideas for the strip.
I did, however, scan the pages and letter it. And I thoroughly enjoyed that as the dialogue was so great!
This strip is a favourite of the best local radio DJ in the UK, Bob Fischer.
The next strip, Lure, is a spin-off from Paul Thompson’s Tales of the Hollow Earth comic.
An odd choice, maybe - a horror comic in an anthology aimed at girls between 10 and 14 years old - but I think Paul really pulled this off.
Tales of the Hollow Earth is one of my favourite small press comics, albeit one that I believe has yet to achieve its potential, and this strip is my favourite entry in the Hollow Earth world so far.
The artwork is beautiful and horrifying in equal measures, and in a style completely separate from everything else I see on the scene at the moment.
The page layouts for this strip are also incredibly impressive. Yes, this first page is very simple but the rest of the pages are as complex as you’d want to get in an all-ages book!
This next strip, The Dream, is the first printed work of Charlotte Mitchell - one of the girls who attended the first Jack and Daniel’s Comic Book Workshop.
This simple one page strip will hopefully be a small first step in a long and successful illustration career for Charlotte.
We had a bit of trouble getting this one finished for the comic but I’m really glad we did - I always try to help people move forward with their ambitions.
Obviously, this next strip, Sugar Glider: First Night, is incredibly important to me.
After seeing a sketch that Gary had drawn at a Paper Jam meeting, I asked him to do me a 4 page strip about this character, Sugar Glider.
He came up with this lovely, short and simple story about a teenage girl, which would eventually lead to everything we have in Sugar Glider.
I’m credited on this strip but that was just a few background ideas, editing and a bit of dialogue. This is Gary’s strip and a lovely tale about Susie Sullivan’s first night in her gliding suit.
A must-read for all fans of Sugar Glider and Sugar Glider Stories.
I’ll skip out the next strip as it’s another one page strip - a cracker, but I think that showing it would spoil it. It’s called Girl on a Spring and is by Martin Newman - the artist on Trainee Space Chef.
The last strip in the book is by two of my friends who I’ve, sadly, not had a proper conversation with in some time.
Robyn the Tomboy Wonder is fantasy food-fighting romp by Iain Milne and Faye Stacey - two people really going places.
This strip is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for when I first started looking for submissions. Plus, it’s all based on a pun! (I love puns)
So, there you go, pick up A4 Comics presents… at Bristol Comic Expo next weekend. There are only 6 copies left and I’m undecided about reprints so, you know, get it while you can!
Sugar Glider Stories interview 12: Gary Bainbridge and Daniel Clifford
It’s taken a long time to get this sorted, but here is the final Sugar Glider Stories interview. This time Gavin Jones from The Sidekick Cast has interviewed…erm…me and Gary.
I haven’t posted any blogs between this and the last one as I wanted there to be a fluid progression along all of the Sugar Glider Stories interviews. Over the next few days I’ll be starting to post regularly again.
Oh, and Sugar Glider Stories is now available to buy (details at the bottom of the post)
1. People may have heard this story before, but can you tell us what Sugar Glider is all about?
Daniel Clifford: Sugar Glider is about a Geordie girl in her late teens who can’t commit to any of the hobbies or jobs she starts. She’s tried just about everything a girl her age would have…and a lot more! She’s quit wildlife photography, fashion design, filmmaking, judo, climbing, badminton, etc and now it looks like she’s going to quit athletics too. Despite being a very gifted long-jumper.
However, there is one thing she seems pretty set on - and that’s jumping around Newcastle fighting crime as Sugar Glider.
Gary Bainbridge: The book as a whole is a modern and hopefully fresh interpretation of the superhero genre. It’s a nod to the influence of the Marvel Silver age, Ditko, Kirby et al, while also maintaining some sensibilities and DIY ethos of the British small press.
2. You’ve launched issue 1 of Sugar Glider but what made you think that you could expand on the universe so quickly with Sugar Glider Stories and that you’d have an audience for this?
DC: I suppose a few people might be asking that question, “Why not wait until the three issues of Sugar Glider are out?” I never see the point in waiting, really.
The first issue of Sugar Glider is about to get it’s second printing and people seem to be genuinely loving the comic. Not only were people more than willing to give up their free time (and comic-making time) to draw Sugar Glider Stories, there are people giving up their time to add to the Fan Art section of the Facebook page. We’ve never asked people to do this fan art and there’s no real reward for it, so I guess the character has caught people’s imaginations. That says there IS an audience to me.
But even before Sugar Glider was released we’d planned this comic, me and Gary had decided on stories and I’d contacted a lot of the creators who ended up working on the comic. It never makes sense to me that people would wait to be told they’re allowed to do something like this or wait until some sort of ‘proper’ time. This is self-publishing - you decide that you want to do something and if you have what it takes to do it (in this case, some brilliant artists for friends and the money to print the comic) you get out there and you bloody-well do it.
Even if the book doesn’t sell it wouldn’t make it a wasted venture. It’s about achieving something. When I was in a band we decided to make an album and self-release it. We sold 10% of the copies we made. But does that matter? I released an album. This is exactly the same sort of thing.
There’s too much waiting in comics, anyway. Too much treading water. Some comics you read and you think, “They’re just waiting and waiting until they can tell the story they really want to tell.” Just do it now!
3. Gary, how did it feel having other artists (especially Daniel, of all people) take on characters that you created?
GB: Actually, it was my suggestion that Daniel and I swap roles for a couple of strips in Sugar Glider Stories. Daniel’s got a really lovely ligne-claire influence in his drawings and the strips he’s drawn for SGS really are the best drawings I’ve seen him produce. It’s all about stretching yourself. I don’t get as many opportunities to write dialogue as I used to when I exclusively made comics alone, so getting back to writing a script - especially for someone else to draw - was something that felt natural and uncomfortable at the same time and of course, you only progress when you’re out of your comfort zone.
It’s really strange at first seeing other artists, especially those you know really well, draw characters you’ve created. You notice that they see and exaggerate certain details, and in doing so, bring something of themselves to the characters. It’s like listening to a cover version. But a good cover version, one that rearranges the song so it doesn’t sound like a cover at all.
4. Daniel, I was actually pretty surprised at how good your art was. Have you ever thought about becoming an artist rather than writer? I noticed there are no legs in the story you drew, though. Was this just the way the story went or are legs/feet your artists Kryptonite?
DC: Thank you very much! I’m pleased you think that.
When I was younger, I spent all my time drawing Ben Reilly and the Scarlet Spider - copying Mark Bagley’s work in Amazing Spiderman. I definitely wanted to be an artist. Then I stopped for years and lost any ability I had and all sense of what made drawing fun for me. But I’m very pleased with the work I did on this comic - even if it is just a rip-off of Garen Ewing’s brilliant work on Rainbow Orchid.
I really enjoyed drawing these two pages but it took me forever to get done - two whole weekends - and afterwards my shoulder was completely wrecked for a week! I’m that much of a weakling! But even though I really enjoyed it, I was just thinking how much writing I could’ve been doing in the same time. That’s where my passion lies. Although I must admit that I have a story in mind for two of the Sugar Glider characters that I want to write and draw.
And, no, I don’t find legs and feet particularly hard - it’s angles, hands and backgrounds that do my head in. But when we were coming up with the ideas for this comic Gary said, “I think we should do one of the strips where I write it and you draw it.” and I said that it should be a news broadcast so I only had to draw heads. But, then, by the time I was drawing it I wanted to up my game to stand alongside all the fantastic creators on the comic.
5. We’ve hear from all the great creators previously (insert links) about how you managed to convince them to work on the book but what’s your side of the story?
DC: With most of them it really was as simple as sending an email, text or having a chat at a Paper Jam meeting - that’s because most of the people involved were already friends. The ones who weren’t from Tyneside were people I’d met at conventions or from doing a podcast. So, in that respect it was quite simple.
The only person who one of us didn’t already know was Kevin ‘Gio’ Logue - and that was all through Twitter.
I must confess that whenever I hear about an artist, I immediately look at their work and think about whether or not we could work together. I’m quite predatory like that - you have to be if you can’t draw but you want to make comics. I suppose that might sound quite cynical but it’s also about making friends with people. I mean, I couldn’t work with someone I didn’t think of as a friend.
Anyway, Stephen Downey - who is a fantastic artist himself - suggested people follow this artist from Derry called Kevin so I jumped in there and had a look at his blog, really liked what I saw and started following him. We chatted a bit and then I asked him if he wanted to get involved. Kevin was the last person approached about Sugar Glider Stories and the first person to finish off all their work.
But, aside from Kevin, it was just a case of begging some very talented friends and being very grateful for their hard work.
6. How big do you see the Sugar Glider universe becoming? Do you ever see a time when neither of you, the original creators, are involved in the development of some of these characters?
GB: I would love to see what some artists would do with the SG universe, not in a sprawling Marvel universe sort of way, but more like giving an artist or some creators a free pass to take our characters for a walk around the block. But right now I’m loving telling Susie’s story and exploring the fictionalised Newcastle in which she lives, just hinting at what’s happening elsewhere in the SGU.
DC: When we were developing the comic, I was writing character bios as if this was a major franchise that could support multiple comics, animated and live action TV shows, and a whole range of action figures. Like it was Star Wars, or something.
Not that I thought that would or should happen, but I wanted to know the world I was writing in completely so that I always knew where our characters would go, what they would say and where they’ve been before this.
GB: We totally would make a needlessly massive toy line though! But we were definitely rigorous with our development of the wider world of the characters. We followed the only rule of script writing that seems to make sense to me which is, “know your universe as God knows this one”.
DC: But I can definitely see a point where a Sugar Glider mini is finished and me and Gary go off and work on characters separately and have other people on board too. I’d love to see Gary doing a one-shot or a few issues on Detective Terry Tiernan. He’s one of my favourite characters and I think that Gary could do an amazing job on Det Tiernan. And, as I said before, there’s a story in my head for Mother Goose and The Hanging Gardens of Babylon - two of the characters introduced in Sugar Glider Stories. Another character in SGS, Jackie from Jackdaw Rising, is one I could see in a live action TV spy series. Haha!
When it comes to other people working on the stories without me or Gary writing and drawing, that’s where Sugar Glider Stories issue 2 comes in - we’re inviting pitches from writers and/or artists to work on the comic and hoping to have an almost purely editorial role on that issue. So anybody looking to work on these characters or looking to work on their first comic strip should get in touch.
7. Given that you’ve said that you’re inviting pitches, is there anything or any character that you’d consider off limits? And how can people submit pitches?
DC: Any characters that we’re being deliberately cagey about are off-limits - the woman from ‘Jackdaw Rising’ and Star from ‘Fathers Day (Reprise) in Sugar Glider Stories 1. Anyone else is there to be played with. And if people are interested in working on the comic, we can always let them know what will be in store for the characters they’re interested in.
GB: I’d really like it if people were to pick a character they like the look of and ask “who’s this?” and “can I do a strip featuring them?”
There’s a load to choose from in the crowd scene on the cover, or lurking in the backgrounds of the strips in SGS 1.
DC: Getting involved is as simple as emailing me on danielmiddlej@hotmail.co.uk and I’ll forward it to Gary too.
8. I wouldn’t like to ask you to play favourites…but do you have any favourite stories in Sugar Glider Stories #1?
DC: I love every single page of the comic and think that this is one of the biggest things I’ve ever been involved it. So I have no favourites in terms of thinking that one strip works better than any other.
GB: Mine is mint.
DC: But there was one that I had more fun writing than the others and that was ‘Unbreakable’ as drawn by Martin Eden. The story required some new characters to be created, which is always a load of fun! Mother Goose and Pelican are my favourite new characters. Martin has always worked on team books so I didn’t feel bad about shoving nearly 10 characters into 4 pages. Plus, Martin’s sensibilities and art style brought out the weird in me - that story contains a prison made completely of diamond and I think it still works.
GB: I have some memorable moments in the comic, a favourite Newcastle architectural oddity by James Cornell, the vignettes by Lee Grice and Andrew Waugh, the unspoken relationships in Dan Gilmore’s strip. It all makes a rich and multi layered book that we could never had made had we worked without the vast array of talent.
DC: Like I’ve said, I love every page of Sugar Glider Stories and that’s because everyone who gave their time to work on the comic is an absolute class act who gave their all to the project.
To buy Sugar Glider Stories and other comics I’ve has a hand in, visit http://cottageindustrycomics.bigcartel.com.
To buy Sugar Glider Stories and more great comics by Gary Bainbridge (and I really suggest that you do!) visit http://gb.bigcartel.com. You can also find out more about his work at http://unterweltcomics.blogspot.com.
Gavin Jones is the co-host of The Sidekick Cast; a funny and revealing podcast about comic books. You can find articles on comic books and video games - as well as the podcast, itself - at www.sidekickcomicsuk.com. The Sidekick Cast can also be downloaded from iTunes - just search for ‘Sidekickcast’.
Sugar Glider Stories interview 11: Martin Newman and Christian Kerr
And, finally, we have reached the last of our interviews with the contributors to Sugar Glider Stories (as conducted by Gavin Jones, naturally). This time, we’re looking at the artists who worked on the longest story in the comic - Martin Newman and Christian Kerr.
Q1) Can you tell us a little about yourself and where we may have seen your artwork before?
Martin Newman: Boring, bald, middle-aged, drone who creates comics as part of my secret double life. I’ve done a couple of 24 Hour Comics Challenges (Evolution and Beep, Giga) and devised the Tyneside zombie comic sort-of-anthology, Food for the Dead. I’ve also contributed to the Paper Jam Comics Collectives’ …and that anthologies.
Christian Kerr: I mainly write about comics, rather than make them. Although, I used to draw a lot as a kid, inspired mainly by British comics artists from 2000ad who were making a splash over the pond in the 80s. Since becoming a member of the Paper Jam Comics Collective, I have resurrected the dead artist’s hand only to discover that I was much better at it when I was thirteen! Oh well, I still enjoyed doing a piece for PJCC’s History…and that anthology, which Andy Waugh ‘remixed’ into a full colour cover.
Q2) How did Daniel and Gary convince you to get involved with an anthology based around a very new and Northern superheroine?
MN: Daniel asked me to pencil a story with Christian inking it. The same thing worked well on Food for the Dead so I said yes. And Northern superheroines are ace.
CK: What happened was…Daniel asked me if I would be up for working with Martin again, I’d really enjoyed inking his work on Food for the Dead and felt that there was an interesting tension/dynamic between our very different styles, so I said ‘Yeah, if Martin’s up for it.’ Daniel then went to Martin and said ‘Christian said you’d pencil a story in the upcoming Sugar Glider anthology.’ So Martin couldn’t refuse, really. Got a good business head that Daniel. Hard-nosed.
I heard that’s how they used to treat the old-timers in the Bullpen at Marvel. Stan would just say ‘You’re on the next issue of Micronauts, motherfucker, or I’ll shoot your fucking cock off.’ Or words to that effect. That’s Daniel’s approach. Uncompromising. He’s got a hook hand, you know.
Q3) Which story are you handling on the book? Is this something you chose or was it assigned to you?
MN: Daniel asked me to pencil the ‘Father’s Day’ story. He assigned me the story. I thought this was OK until I read the other interviews and realised that everyone else was allowed to choose theirs. I got the longest one with no superheroes in. But I enjoyed doing it nonetheless.
CK: It’s the one where everyone’s sat round a table, chatting. You know, family drama, interpersonal conflict, nuanced storytelling, complex facial expressions and no superhero action whatsoever.
I had to embed hidden messages in the visual fabric of the piece to keep myself amused. If you read the strip backwards, the Devil materialises out your arsehole and eats your cat. See above for the answer to the second part of the question.
Q4) How did you find working on a character and story that was completely of someone else’s devising?
MN: It was surprisingly difficult. I prefer to draw a more cartoony, less realistic style. I usually choose characters that are easy to draw. But now it’s been done I appreciate the finished work.
CK: It’s quite fun. You’ve got less of a personal investment, I suppose, so you don’t get precious. If you fuck up, it’s someone else’s problem. This is incredibly liberating for someone who actively looks for reasons not to give a hoot.
Q5) Have you been able to see the other artists’ work on the book? Did this make you raise your game?
MN: I’ve seen work by the other Paper Jammers and Graeme Pearce. I wanted to try to do something equal to their work.
CK: I haven’t seen any of the other work. Oh, maybe I glimpsed some at the last PJCC meeting. It was pretty fucking awesome. I try not to notice what the others are doing too much because they’re so good and I think my stuff pales, to be honest. Luckily, Martin has a great eye for layouts and his character work is so strong that I can basically pin his pages to the wall and throw fine liners at them like darts and it comes out looking ok.
For more information on Martin and to read his comics visit http://martinnewmancomics.blogspot.com/, you can also follow him on Twitter @mncuttlefish.
For more info on Christian and to read his blog, visit www.miraclemouth.tumblr.com.
To find out about Food for the Dead go to http://projectz-outbreak.blogspot.com. You can buy the comic in the city of Newcastle in Travelling Man and Made in Newcastle.
Gavin Jones is the co-host of The Sidekick Cast; a funny and revealing podcast about comic books. You can find articles on comic books and video games - as well as the podcast, itself - at www.sidekickcomicsuk.com. The Sidekick Cast can also be downloaded from iTunes - just search for ‘Sidekickcast’.
Sugar Glider Stories interview 10: Ian Mayor
I mentioned in a previous post that the creators contributing a pin-up to Sugar Glider Stories had all been revealed and interviewed. Then me and Gary decided that we should replace a page of his artwork with the a pin-up drawn by one of our friends from the Paper Jam Comics Collective, Ian Mayor.
So, here’s Ian’s answers to the questions provided by Gavin Jones.
Q1) Can you tell us a little about yourself and where we may have seen your artwork before?
My name’s Ian Mayor, I’m a professional games designer, writer and very occasional artist based in Newcastle.
Other than a couple of PaperJam Comics Collective anthologies you’re very unlikely to have seen my artwork but my writing’s been published in a couple of places and appeared in a couple of videogames. If you pick up Driver: San Francisco later this year you’ll hear a little dialogue I wrote and a lot of dialogue I edited, implemented or otherwise messed with.
The trailer for Driver is here, if you’re interested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPM_HOGnK0o
Q2) How did Daniel and Gary convince you to get involved with an anthology based around a very new and Northern superheroine?
I’ve known Gary and Daniel for a while now through the PJCC and have followed the development of the book from Gary’s first sketch, through Daniel’s initial story concept and beyond.
Sugar Glider belongs to a tradition of superheroes that I particularly like; the teenage hero, the ‘super adventure’ as coming of age metaphor. From Spiderman, to Buffy, Batgirl to Static I’ve always had a soft spot for them.
Also, the fact it’s set locally is a big plus, I’m not a Newcastle native but I’ve lived here for a few years and really like the place.
Q3) Which story are you handling on the book? Is this something you chose or was it assigned to you?
I’m not handling any story, I’ve done a pin-up, which frankly, represents the sum of my artistic powers. I really started doing it as a piece of Fan-Art which Daniel and Gary liked and asked if they could put it in the anthology.
As I’ve got nothing else really to say about that I want to take this space to dedicate my small contribution to comicbook and animation writer Dwayne McDuffie who tragically died last week. I started buying American comics in the early 90’s and looking at Dwayne’s work in the Milestone Imprint he co-founded is one of my formative ‘comics reading’ experiences.
A real talent and a nice guy, too, by all accounts. A real loss.
Q4) How did you find working on a character and story that was completely of someone else’s devising?
I’m used to drawing characters of other’s devising as given a piece of paper, a pencil and five minutes the chances of me doodling Batman, Daredevil or ‘The Alien’ are pretty high. That said, Sugar Glider was a bit different.
I saw Gary’s Sugar Glider design before I knew anything else about the character and it struck me as being strong, dynamic and clean. She’s got a distinctive silhouette, great graphic markings and these underarm wing-things that (despite being a real cock to draw) mean you can really emphasise movement. It is something of a blinder.
I wanted to do justice to the design, to the interesting, well-rounded character that Daniel’s developing and her environment. I hope I have.
Q5) Have you been able to see the other artists’ work on the book? Did this make you raise your game?
I know many of the contributing artists work, though I’ve seen very little of the actual anthology art. There’s a lot of talent here so I know the book will ‘look’ aces.
I’m very interested to see how Daniel’s writing and the character of Susie Sullivan gets filtered through a few different styles, see if the voice changes at all. Beginning something is hard, striking the balance between exposition and drama when you’re creating a world is a bit of a tightrope, and so far, Daniel’s done a great job.
For my own part, I think I’ve done a good job and hope people enjoy the image.
For more information on Ian, visit www.ianmayor.com or contact him on Twitter @IanMayor.
Gavin Jones is the co-host of The Sidekick Cast; a funny and revealing podcast about comic books. You can find articles on comic books and video games - as well as the podcast, itself - at www.sidekickcomicsuk.com. The Sidekick Cast can also be downloaded from iTunes - just search for ‘Sidekickcast’.
Sugar Glider Stories interview 9: Lee Grice
Looking back through these interviews, it becomes clear that the contributors to Sugar Glider Stories can be split neatly into two categories - veterans on the UK small press scene, and newcomers launching themselves onto that scene (you can decide for yourself where Andy Waugh goes).
Today’s interviewee is a trickier one to categorise, though. At the time of writing, Sugar Glider Stories will be the first published work of Lee Grice (in print, at least). But he’s also a relative veteran on the small press scene in terms of hosting the influential Small Press Big Mouth podcast since 2009. The questions, as ever, were provided by Gavin Jones.
Q1) Can you tell us a little about yourself and where we may have seen your artwork before?
Alright, my name’s Lee Grice and I co-host the almost legendary Small Press Big Mouth podcast. I’m pretty much unpublished, though I do have a panel in Jamie Smart’s wonderful Find Chaffy webcomic and I designed the logo for the Dissecting Worlds podcast. You may also have seen my fan art on the Moonfreight 3 webcomic website or on the Everything Comes Back To 2000AD blog. Hopefully, there will be a lot more of my artwork out there to be seen soon.
Q2) How did Daniel and Gary convince you to get involved with an anthology based around a very new and Northern superheroine?
I used to be very arty but fell away from it completely about 10 years ago. I recently discovered my old portfolio and sketchbooks and uploaded a bunch of this old art to Facebook and Twitter. Daniel saw it, liked it and said “You MUST draw something for me what I wrote!” Or words to that effect.
Q3) Which story are you handling on the book? Is this something you chose or was it assigned to you?
I’m drawing ‘Father’s Day (Reprise)’, which is a very short, silent vignette - a quiet, character-based interlude. Perfect for me, actually. I asked for it - I’m not at all confident in my drawing & storytelling skills so when Daniel asked if I wanted to contribute to the anthology I said “Yeah. Cool. What’s the shortest story you got?” “One page.” “I’ll take it!” He sent me the outline and, being the awkward git that I am, I immediately asked “Can I make it 2 pages instead?”
Q4) How did you find working on a character and story that was completely of someone else’s devising?
No problem at all. Most of what little work I’ve done has been other people’s characters. There’s still been a quite a bit for me to design myself - sets & extras - so it been a good exercise in both regards.
Q5) Have you been able to see the other artists’ work on the book? Did this make you raise your game?
No, I haven’t seen any of the other art and I don’t really want to. I already know some of the artists involved so I know what company I’ll be amongst. I’m very aware that as the new boy the pressure’s on me to keep up and not let the side down. My intention is to produce the best two pages in the book because my fear is that when it comes out it’ll all look professional and polished apart from “that God-awful two-pager by Grice!”
For more information on Lee and to keep up to date with his podcast, visit smallpressbigmouth.blogspot.com or contact Lee on Twitter @lovelylee_g.
Gavin Jones is the co-host of The Sidekick Cast; a funny and revealing podcast about comic books. You can find articles on comic books and video games - as well as the podcast, itself - at www.sidekickcomicsuk.com. The Sidekick Cast can also be downloaded from iTunes - just search for ‘Sidekickcast’.
Sugar Glider Stories interview 8: Simon Cavanagh
These interviews are slowing down now - only two more after today’s. Then it’ll be either one with me and Gary or one interview each. But my good friend Gavin Jones won’t even be writing the questions for us until we’ve posted the first ten interviews.
I suppose the first spurt of interviews came about because those contributors were working on 1 or 2 pages for the books, while the ones coming out now are for creators working on 4 pagers. 8 pagers sometimes! Today’s interviewee is Simon Cavanagh; talking about the 4 page strip he has contributed to Sugar Glider Stories.
Q1) Can you tell us a little about yourself and where we may have seen your artwork before?
While I do like to maintain an air of mystique, I suppose I can divulge some titbits in the name of art. I’m fairly new to the comic book scene, and while I don’t have any of my own stuff out there (yet!), I’ve contributed a few pieces to Paper Jam Comics Collective …and that anthologies and Martin Newman’s Food for the Dead.
Q2) How did Daniel and Gary convince you to get involved with an anthology based around a very new and Northern superheroine?
Admittedly, it was solely Daniel who convinced me. Either that or Gary’s methods are so subtle and ninja-like that I haven’t even realised. Daniel had discussed the Sugar Glider plan with me in the past and I was very excited by it. So when he offered me the chance to do a piece for Sugar Glider Stories I didn’t need much convincing at all…honest!
Q3) Which story are you handling on the book? Is this something you chose or was it assigned to you?
I picked the ‘Jackdaw Rising’ story. Mainly because I was really drawn to the character’s back-story. That and the fact I got to draw a feisty female in her PJs in an action-packed fight sequence.
Q4) How did you find working on a character and story that was completely of someone else’s devising?
It was definitely an educational experience. I had a few sketches from Gary of the character for reference, but the challenge comes from portraying an accurate representation while putting my own spin on her. Hopefully, I’ve captured the essence of the character and made sure she remains recognisable.
Q5) Have you been able to see the other artists’ work on the book? Did this make you raise your game?
Absolutely. As soon as Daniel mentioned the names of several of the other artists featured in the book I had to go and have a ned around the internet to see what I was up against. I mean, er…what other people were bringing to the table.
To answer the question, yes, it really did make me raise my game because there are some amazing artists contributing to this.
As Simon is a touch removed from modern society, the only way to find out more about him and the comics he has worked on is to ask me or to pop into Hebburn Library in South Tyneside, where he works.
Gavin Jones is the co-host of The Sidekick Cast; a funny and revealing podcast about comic books. You can find articles on comic books and video games - as well as the podcast, itself - at www.sidekickcomicsuk.com. The Sidekick Cast can also be downloaded from iTunes - just search for ‘Sidekickcast’.
