Sugar Glider Stories interview 1: Graham Pearce


In the first of a series of interviews promoting Sugar Glider Stories and the creators who are contributing to the comic, Gavin ‘Bones’ Jones asks Graham Pearce how he came to work on the book and what the process was like.

Graham Pearce is the creative force behind the satirical-action-comedy indie comic book SGT MIKE BATTLE: THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO! Since 2001 Graham has self-published 16 issues of SMB:GAH, has recently collected the first 7 issues into a 300 page trade paperback collection and is nowhere near running out of ideas for future Sgt Mike Battle storylines. Graham lives in the North West, has no identifiable accent, has won The Weakest Link and is going to get his mid-life crisis out of the way in his early 30s by cycling across France this summer!

Q1) How did Daniel and Gary convince you to get involved with an anthology based around a very new and Northern superheroine?

 I was blackmailed. I foolishly lent Daniel Clifford some extremely rare and precious Action Force videotapes and he refused to hand them back until I drew something for Sugar Glider Stories.

 Q2) Which story are you handling on the book? Is this something you chose or was it assigned to you?

I’ve done the back cover of the book and it’s great because I get the most exposure for the least amount of work. I’m quite a lazy artist and always try to get away with drawing as little as possible for maximum effect. I’m always setting my stories in the desert or the middle of nowhere to avoid drawing backgrounds and once set a fight scene in a sauna so I could draw steam clouds for 2 pages.

Doing the back cover also means that I get some help from the SMB:GAH cover colourist, Jim Cameron. Jim’s excellent colouring skills always make my average artwork look even better!

Q3) How did you find working on a character and story that was completely of someone else’s devising?

Daniel kept telling me to draw Sugar Glider’s boobs smaller, which goes against everything I stand for as a comic book artist.

Q4) Have you been able to see the other artists’ work on the book?  Did this make you raise your game?

I haven’t seen anyone else’s work but I think I’ve still drawn Sugar Glider with the largest boobs!

Details on how to buy Sgt Mike Battle can be found at the SGT MIKE BATTLE Fan Club group on Facebook, where you can also contact and become friends with Mike Battle, himself. For more information on Sgt Mike Battle, visit Graham’s website www.sgtmikebattle.co.uk.

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’.