War of the Worlds on Sale at the Pop Up Comic Shop

A warning, some of the contents of this post may not be suitable for those with a heart condition or under a certain age!

When I initially came up with the idea of splitting the group into teams to tackle some of the classics stories of world literature, Little did I envisage this carnage I'm about to publicise on this Blog. The 3 ladies involved in this venture went above and beyond what was expected and took the H.G.Wells classic and turned it upside down. Drawing on their observation powers, they dissected the world in which they lived and produced characters that epitomises the anti hero to them .
I dint want to say anymore, but in the opening statement I warned you.

Here is the edited down version of the teams adverts for their comic books. Not safe for Children

I offer up to the general public The W@R 0f 7he W0RLD5
Chapter 1 Talula Burtram
Chapter 2 Verity Hall
Chapter 3 Millie Harrop

https://vimeo.com/67729693

Pop Up Comic Book Shop

With the degree show fast approaching for 3rd Year Students. With Cartoon and Comic Arts only being 2 years old we've not got a degree show as such... But instead we are working along the Universities Fringe Show and have started to put together a Pop Up Comic Book Shop that will be open from 6pm Friday 7th June till the 12th June. The aim once again is to get the students to sell their work, this time to a home grown audience and over the next few days I'll be attempting to do a quick introduction to the material and the artists who have contributed to the stall.  

Jack Baker working on Stanley Staffordshire (aka Captain Staffs) New costume design as a homage to Batman!

Initial ideas for the walls around the pop up comic book shop.Students came in and drew their characters from the comics that they will be selling at the stall.

Many Thanks to the Technical staff who helped to put the shop together. Stu Porter inspired and Mark the new member to the faculty excellent team added the know how to put it together.

Here Ryan Moss and Becci Such work on the front of the shop.  

Tom Stephens was given the job to do the front of the shop

Verity Hall brings to Life the bigger that Life hero of War of the World comic Lance. A comic book not for the faint hearted.

Hectic Times for Cartoon & Comic Arts

I cant believe its been so long since I've posted anything on line with the blog. Many apologise but you'll be getting a few updates in the coming months about why and also what we've been doing.... and what we are going do!

The first thing to report that we've got a new member of staff starting in September. After advertising it for a week we were quite literally inundated with applications. I had the very hard job to whittle the 19 applicants down to a few to interview. The job caused interest in other areas of the media as well. I received a phone call from the Birmingham Post to ask about the job and said it was one of the most unusual ones they had seen. 

Another job we had involved turning around work for "The Big Issue" in less than 24 hours for a Dustin Hoffman illustration to accompany the interview. Lex Harford's image won in the end But there were some very good ones produced. 

Alice Urbino

Alice Urbino

Becci Such

Becci Such

Claire Smith

Claire Smith

Claire Smith

Claire Smith

Lex Harford

Lex Harford

Lex Harford

Lex Harford

Lex Harford

Verity Hall

Verity Hall

Verity Hall

 
  

London Super Comic Con

We came, we saw, we conquered!

Well its been a few weeks since the London Super Comic Con. I've been flu-ed up to the eye balls, but it is time to report back on what happened and if we were successful. 
The aim was to go to London to see if we could sell Comics. Having received a grant from the University to pay for the table etc, the aim was to recoup the money for the table. We brought an expensive one compared to the Artist tables which sat at £50. Having a publishers table at £150, we set our sights quiet high to try and recoup that amount of money!!

The trip down was exciting as we took a wooden cut out of the awards Mascot Stanley. It caused a moment of interest on the tube down to the Excel Centre

The stand 

was set up in the exhibition centre and it is fair to say we were quite happy.

 

Jack went missing so I had to take a picture of him on his own.... when he finally returned!
With our goal being £150 to clear the costs of the table I'm happy to write that we sold more than £160 worth of comics and we made a slight profit (From the table not counting printing costs) The biggest seller was the Anthology "Hitchcock" which was also the most expensive comic retailing at £5 a copy. We sold out of them. But we have more than enough other copies to be sold at the Pop Up Comic Shop as part of the End of Year Degree show. I'll also be doing a second run of the "Hitchcock Anthology" and there will be new work on sale as well. This year the students are also producing a promotional animation of their comic to make people aware of it and get the word out there! So stay tuned!

Getting Ready

Getting Ready. 

A check list for our London Trip 

New Art

So we are well on our way prepping for the London Super Comic Con. I thought it would be a great idea to take our Mascot for the award Stanley Staffordshire to the event!!! Then I thought ...How the hell are we going get him there. Anyway, Alice is back and she volunteered to give Stanley a splash of paint and he's looking good!

I also got the artist together for a photo shoot with their work, so if you've ever wanted to know what a bunch (Is that the right term, a panel, a gag, a page!!) of Cartoonist looks like, well feast your eyes on this bunch!

As ever we are adding things to the selection of work that we are taking to Comic Con. Claire Smith has started her own website iworkwithcats.com and is planning on promoting both herself and the website at the event. Its a must for people who like cats...... Or think that people who like cats are a bit weird!

Esme Baran has produced her long sought after project, "Mischief and Marauder!" a tale based on her trip to London in the 1st Semester in the First year of her studies at Staffs Uni. Well Done Esme! Actually joking apart it is a good read and it is well produced!

Staffs Uni London Super Comic Con

Staffs Uni  London Super Comic Con

Claire Smith is an up and coming comic artist who has branced out into the world of web comics as well. Iworkwithcats.com shows this young artist work and sense of humour off to its full potential.

 Claire worked on her comic novel for Love or Money at Staffordshire University and it demonstrates that love can be found anywhere.

 Set during the Victorian ages, it tells a story of how a young thief helps a couple to come together.

Staffs Uni London Super Comic Con

Staffs Uni London Super Comic Con

Nigel Morey or Cheshire Morey is a young and up and coming artist from the Isle of Wight. With a love of steam punk and the slight macabre, this is a story to send shivers down your spine. 

Cheshire Morey has a love of musicals and the comic "Monster Nature" opens up with the theatre company just finishing of their recital of a Gilbert and Sullivan play, The story is based around a young lad who has a desire to become the best reporter he can.

Unfortunately due to a working accident when he was very young, he lost both his legs and now thanks to his adopted father type figure, manages to get around using artificial implants. The story takes our young hero to discover what is happening to all the people who are disappearing in the smog. 

 Cheshire Morey "Monster Nature" is available at the London Super Comic Con 2013