Stref’, aka Stephen White is an edinburgh based  illustrator and comic artist.  His first graphic novel ‘MILK+‘ was published in 2011 with his second book ‘Raising Amy‘ following hot on its heels at the end of the year.  To continue our investigations into the workings of local creators, we sent over some questions for Stref’ to answer…
For up to date info and an interesting insight into his artistic process please check out Stref’s blog.

What are you working on?

I have just finished drawing my latest graphic novel, ” X ” and have just had my first cartoon humour book published, ” RAISING AMY”.

Your graphic novel ‘MILK+’ used a variety of styles and settings, how important is it to your creative process that you be able to use a wide range of approaches?

I like to approach each project with a style that I feel best suits it.  I work on a wide variety of scripts and they demand very different visuals to work properly as individual projects.  Changing styles also constantly challenges me, but I realise that I have no distinguishable look to the body of my work…which could either be seen as a good or a bad thing!

You write, draw, ink, colour and letter your work- is this through necessity or do you like it that way?

It’s a bit of both…I couldn’t afford to pay someone to colour or letter for me…also I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to that stuff!

Is there any difficult stigma you have to put up with trying to make thoughtful comics in the science fiction genre?

I don’t think about that stuff…ideas come to me and I scribble them down regardless of whether people want to look at them or not…like cleaning the cobwebs out of your brain.  I switch styles as much as I switch genres-always trying to be thoughtful and funny-though not always succeeding!

What was the last comic you read and what did you think of it?

The last comic I read was CLiNT,which I enjoyed very much.

Peanuts or Calvin & Hobbes?

Calvin and Hobbes.

Hope you guys have a lovely Xmas break 2011.Love from ELCxxx.

© Magda Boreysza

Magda Boreysza is a comic artist, animator and illustrator.  She divides her time between Edinburgh, Sweden and New Orleans.  Magda’s comic series ‘Toastycats’ is soon to reach its sixth issue, for more info check out Magda’s blog and website.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m putting together the 6th issue of Toastycats, which will have more pages and more colour than previous ones. I’m also developing ideas for graphic novels. I’m generating a lot of ideas in general, and trying to organize myself so as to actually get those projects done.

Some people feel that the word ‘comics’ comes with some unfortunate stigma they would rather be without and prefer terms such as ‘sequential art’ or narrative ‘illustration’- where do you stand on that debate?

I’m often hesitant to use the word ‘comic’ when I describe what I do to people who have little contact with the form. But I’m equally uncomfortable with ‘sequential art’ or ‘narrative illustration’. Those are incredibly dry terms and make comics sound like a total drag. So I do say comics. It’s short and it has a good ring to it. We need to use the word until it looses its association with comedy and funny papers.

Do you have a specific grand plan in mind for Toastycats or do you just work on it as and when it seems appropriate?

It’s certainly something that I plan to continue for a long time, and I would like to publish it more consistently than I do now. I think that it improves with each issue. When I first started, there was no plan at all. I didn’t think that there would be more than one issue. Then I made another one, and another… with each, I’m getting a better idea of what I want to do. There’s been a lot of experimentation, and some things worked while some didn’t. I think that I painted myself into a corner, somewhat, with The Seed, because it just keeps expanding and I feel like I need to continue it in each issue, when I would actually much prefer to have all the issues be self-contained. So, I’m contemplating whether I should remove The Seed and just publish it separately as a graphic novel.

I also try to improve the print quality. I think that I’ve hit a point at which it makes more sense to have Toastycats printed lithographically, which has given the whole endeavour a real boost. At some point I might start experimenting with the form a little more. We’ll see.

What was the last comic you read and what did you think of it?

I recently read ‘Laika’ by Nick Abadzis. It’s such a well crafted story, and very moving. I was floored.

Peanuts or Calvin & Hobbes? Discuss

Both. They are both great.

It showed up in Amazon Canada, because Fumio’s publisher is in Quebec.

http://www.amazon.ca/INCROYABLE-HISTOIRE-SAUCE-SOYA-L/dp/292258593X

If you google ‘l’incroyable histoire de la sauce soya’ (the incredible tale of the soya sauce)you can see some extracts and check out the stocks in book retailers.Fumio is flattered.

Extracts link http://www.scribd.com/doc/63646412/Sauce-Soja-Extraits

If you are interested in his publisher this is their website http://www.lapasteque.com/Accueil.html

Fumio is going off to the international festival of comic books in Angouleme in Farnce again at the end of January.http://www.bdangouleme.com/

Anyone going there too, Fumio wants to catch up and he looks forwards to the update about it.

Later!

Excerpt from 'The Weather and The Weather Forecast' (c) Malcy Duff

Malcy Duff is a comix creator, artist and musician currently working from edinburgh.  We recently sent a few questions his way via email to catch up on what he is up to- enjoy!

If you want to find out more about Malcy’s past and future work please check out his blog.  His new comix ‘The Weather and The Weather Forecast’, ‘Faded Book Spine’, and ‘Writing Postcards in the Visitor Centre’ can all be obtained by emailing the contact details on his website

I have this rule where by I don’t tell anyone the project I’m working on because if I do it will never get finished, so….

If you’re asking me to choose one I would choose Peanuts.  I have a nostalgia for Calvin and Hobbes but only because my brother read it when we were growing up and Calvin really reminds me of him.  I never really liked it very much.  I like pictures of snow so it coaxed me in sometimes, but the snow seemed to be the only thing I could relate to.  I’m looking at the light from this computer screen light up my hands and I can see all the wrinkles, crosses, pimples, lines going through my nails, jim henson rocks, wisps… clearly, all over my hands as they age.  There are 60s compilations of Peanuts with these really clunky Ben-Day dots for shading which they themselves become characters and abstract forms in the strips.  They make it look like the book has acne.  That’s why I choose Peanuts.

Just trying to be more playful…Thanks

Things went really well overall.  We deployed our usual character creation games, but did so in a much more focused way.  After a short period we’d compare our creations and then move on to the next task, meaning we could all share our experiences, and get inspiration off of each other.

A new game we used was one introduced to me in Ivan Brunetti’s fantastic ‘Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice’ book.  The idea is that you have to draw a series of characters read out by the teacher – each one an archetype – but each drawing is only given at most 10 seconds attention.  The idea is to portray a character in as efficient a way as possible, whilst still getting across some personality.  The game was tough to say the least, especially for those of us maybe a bit more rusty at such quick drawing.  But it was fun, informative and really great practice.

We followed all this up with a wall comic.  In this case we each drew our own interpretation of a second panel to in the initial panel (in which an angry woman finds her husband drunk in the pub).  We then each had to draw a third panel in response to another person’s second panel, and so forth.  It meant that we each had a say in how each story line went, and as a whole got to see how a narrative can spiral off in interesting directions from relatively humble beginnings.

The event was great, and a real learning experience.  We clearly need to come up with more games for a 3 hour session as things lagged a bit at the end, but overall everyone seemed to have a good time.  Hopefully there will be more adult focused comics classes for us in the future!

Thanks to Porty library for being so accommodating, and to our wonderful participants!

- Fumio and Edward

It was the closing weekend of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and we arranged an afternoon of relaxed comics drawing for adults at the now sadly closed Forest Cafe.  It was a great event, with lots of interest as people passed by on a dreich Sunday, looking for something simple and fun to do on a quiet weekend day.

The atmosphere was great, with comic book movies playing on a TV in the background, people hanging around and flipping through a batch of comics we brought as inspiration, and best of all people pitching in and creating characters and telling stories with comics.

Best of all was our fantastic comics wall.  We stuck up big strips of paper on the room’s walls and had a central starting panel from which people could branch off and tell their own stories.  The thing was a huge success, and a number of weird stories emerged from the single originating panel.  These tales even intertwined at moments, making for a really special and unique group creation.  It’s a game we’ll definitely play again at one of these events.

All in all a great event.  Thanks to the folk at the Forest for having us, and to all the people who came along and made it a great day.

What kind of comics did you grow up reading?  What has most influenced your work, and what kind of work do you aspire to?


My first comic was DC Thomson’s Twinkle (“specially for little girls”), full of lovely stories about teddy bears and kittens. I then moved on to The Beano (The Bunty was way too boring), and when I discovered my local library had all the Tintin books they were all I wanted to read. And like everyone else in Scotland, The Broons and Oor Wullie annuals made an appearance every Christmas.

Although I mainly create short comic stories rather than strips, I’m influenced by Peanuts by Charles Schultz and Amy and Jordan by Mark Beyer: Schultz’s perfect simplicity and Beyer’s far from perfect attention to detail. I’m also a great admirer of Peter Bagge. A lot of my stories are influenced by wildlife, growing up and, if I’m being honest ‘The Sooty Show’- I still find a lot of things I laughed at as a kid funny today.
I guess I aspire to develop my own unique style- still working on that!

What condition do you think the UK/Scottish comics scene is in?  What would you like to see, and what can we do to take ourselves forward?


I think it’s a really exciting time to be working in comics. Comics, especially graphic novels, are getting more and more recognition as valid works or art and literature, and there’s been a huge boom in different styles and genres of comics over the past few years. I think the UK comics scene is growing into something really vibrant and innovative, I just wish we were all a little better connected, especially outside London.

But we’re getting there, and I think the more we represent ourselves as a whole, the more we will be taken seriously by people outwith the world of comics. You could call it communication, or networking, or just ‘being friends’! Glasgow is a great place to be creating comics as not only is there a small press community, a lot of professional titles are produced in Glasgow and there are quite a few shops that are very supportive of small press. I sometimes feel Glasgow is trapped in a 60s America time warp, struggling to see past superheroes and clinging on to outdated titillation, but I can’t complain too much.

Tell us about Team Girl Comic.  How did it come about, and what are you out to achieve?


Well that leads on from my last comment. I’d been making small press comics for a few years before I decided to start TGC, but was feeling a little bit isolated in such a male dominated scene. I had friends and was not made to feel unwelcome, but my work just didn’t quite fit in with the other comics. At the time I felt like I was the only woman in Glasgow making comics, which of course was untrue. The initial problem was I didn’t know any female cartoonists, so I started looking to the people I did know: my friend Katie who did a few comics in art school, my cousin Emma who wrote funny stories, my friend Iona who liked to draw. And my sister Jess who was like ‘comics? Yeah, why not, I’ll give it a go!’

That’s how the whole ‘inclusivity’ aspect of TGC came about- any female of any ability is welcome to submit a comic. Very quickly word went round and some of those other Glasgow ladies making comics, like Penny Sharp and Heather Middleton came forward, as well as a whole load of other people.

Now there are more than 20 artists in the loop, ranging from pre-teens to forties, artists to engineers. In part we are out to raise the profile of female-created comics, although personally I don’t think there is much of a problem there these days, especially when it comes to small press and indie comics, it’s pretty much an equal playing field. What we really exist for is the creators, on a more personal level. From my experience I would say that women are particularly prone to being under-confident when it comes to promoting their creations, whether it’s a piece of writing, a song, a comic etc. So we wanted to create a group from which women and girls can showcase their work as part of a fun, unintimidating project, and maybe inspire a few others to give comics a go along the way.

You took part in the 24 Hour comic challenge.  How did that go? What are the challenges and benefits of such a quick turnaround?

I’ve done two 24 Hour comics now. After the first one in 2008, I said I would never do it again, but two years later I got the itch! Both times I started at 6am and worked pretty much continuously, resulting in mini graphic novels featuring my ‘artificial bear’ characters, Robot Bear and Sausage Bear.

Tiredness wasn’t so much the problem, it was the pain! By the end my right hand was trembling and I was getting shooting pains up my arm. But the results were amazing. The rules of the challenge are you can’t do any pre-preparation, so I was more or less making up the storyline as I went along. Probably not my best writing ever, but seeing what you can achieve when put under pressure is a great learning experience. It’s like when you draw a quick sketch and just can’t get it to look as good in the actual comic- sometimes the best artwork is created spontaneously.

In ‘Go Wildlife’ you mix fact and fiction to tell stories of the animal world.  You also regularly post autobiographical comics online.  Why do you think comics have such a close relationship with non-fiction?

Historically, comics have been far more associated with fiction, in particular superhero, fantasy and humour stories. I think we’re now seeing so many non-fiction comics because people are just starting to realise that comics are a medium, not a genre. Basically you can go anywhere with comics, and what I love is that there is still so much unexplored territory. There are plenty of books written about nature and wildlife, but how many comics are there?

Most of my autobiographical work is set in my teenage years- my ‘Jesty Pesty’ stories are almost all based on my experiences in high school. Comics are an ideal way to tell these stories for me as it allows me to only show the reader a ‘snapshot’. I’ve had a lot of unhappy experiences with my family that I’m nowhere near ready to share with the world, but also a lot of experiences that seemed important at the time but I can now look back and laugh at- fancying someone in school, quarrelling with my sister, those are the things I draw comics about.

I think comics are a natural way for many people to tell their story because they can show the reader what they want them to see, and express their feelings in a more subtle way- rather than telling the reader what happened to you and how you felt, you are inviting them to enter your mind and see the world from your point of view.

Tell us about something great…

Plan B Books in Glasgow is fantastic. A whole shop dedicated to all the graphic novels I love, with nice coffee and a really chilled out atmosphere. We need to support our local independent retailers more than ever.

It’s always nice to see the growing trend in academic discussion of comics.  A new generation of comic book fans is going to university, more than happy to engage with comics in all manner of ways.  These discussions help us appreciate comics in new ways, and hopefully open up new ideas and encourage new readers.  Below we have Scott Jeffrey, an academic from Stirling University who is working on a thesis about superhero comics, who is looking to talk to some comic readers as part of his research.  Please read on and, if you live in the central belt, consider helping Scott out!

Since the appearance of Superman in 1938 the DC and Marvel Universes have grown to encompass a wide range of superhuman beings. Whether through alien biology, evolutionary mutation, human-machine fusion, or radioactive spider bite, superhero comics have thrived on the notion of humans and humanoids developing fantastic powers, and the rights and responsibilities that such powers entail.

Meanwhile, for many current philosophers, the question of what it means to be human is more pressing than ever. For such authors current advances in genetic engineering, nanotechnology, robotics , neuroscience and more are leading us towards a ‘posthuman’ future: a world of beings so technologically advanced and enhanced as to no longer be recognizably human. For some this is to be embraced; for others to be avoided.

My research investigates how superhero comics have dealt with such ideas in relation  to historical theories of how the posthuman might be achieved. I am looking for comic book readers to interview about his topic, whether you are actively interested in the idea of human technological enhancement or just a fan of superhero comics generally (or both!).

For any questions or further details please contact me, Scott Jeffery, on: sjzenarchy@gmail.com
or
swj1@stir.ac.uk