Comics at the Dundee Literary Festival!

DCCS is very proud to be part of this year’s Dundee Literary Festival. The festival is an annual event run by Literary Dundee, a University of Dundee-led cultural organisation which celebrates readers and writers, and brings the best writers in the world to the City of Discovery. This year the Festival will be running from the 19^th to the 23^rd of October, with additional events taking place on Saturday 24^th September and Friday 25^th November. There are many comics events scheduled, from masterclass workshops with renowned artists to discussions with up and coming graphic novelists. There is also a chance to add to our Giant Comics Jam which will be running throughout the festival. We are super excited about all these events. See you there!

Here is a schedule of the Comics events – more information and booking details can be found on the Literary Dundee website!

Thursday 20^th October:

Comics Masterclass with Ian Kennedy (live drawing demonstration by comics legend Ian Kennedy)

Saturday 22^nd October:

50 Years of Comics: Morris Heggie (bringing The Broons, Dennis the Menace and Oor Wullie to life)
New Kids on the Block: Neil Slorance & Maria Stoian (the power of graphic storytelling)
Create a Comic Workshop with Jim Glen (especially for ages 6 to 10)
Big Braw Birthday Tea Dance: The Broons and Oor Wullie at 80 (Part of Luminate: Scotland’s creative ageing festival)
Comics Masterclass with Ian Kennedy (live drawing demonstration by comics legend Ian Kennedy)
Launch: The Drouth – the Scottish Literary Journal are publishing a special comics edition guest edited by DCCS Coordinator Damon Herd

Sunday 23^rd October:

Family Workshop: Tales O’ Our Town (in partnership with University of Dundee’s Museum services & Verdant Works)
Ex Libris Book Fair (featuring work by young DCCS Comics Clubbers!)

Workshops with Dragon Matrix artist Hari Conner

Coming up next week we have an exciting new project; a two-week workshop masterclass with comics artist Hari Conner.

Our workshop with Hari will be for 14-17 year olds and will take the slot of our Wednesday Comics Club – 4.30 to 6.30pm here in DCCS – on the 14th and 21st of September. At these events, our Comics Clubbers (and any other interested young people) will be able to learn from Hari and work with her to create their own characters or comics inspired by Dragon Matrix – a new augmented reality theatre adventure taking place in Monikie Country Park next month. As normal, the workshops are completely free with all materials provided – just bring yourself, your friends and some creative ideas!

Hari has recently been working on an interactive companion comic that will go hand in hand with Dragon Matrix. From the 5th to the 31st of October, the forest will be home to a computer generated dream world, with talking, magical creatures that will help you on your quest to find six missing dragon stones. The adventure will be enhanced by the Dragon Matrix app, and promises to be a fantastical experience!

– Caitlin Mitchell

DM Comic 2016 p1-1 — The front cover of Hari’s comic for the *Dragon Matrix* event

Caitlin’s Intern Web Comic Episode 5 (and a wee cheerio!)

Here is the final instalment of our collaborative web comic, produced by the incredibly talented Rebecca Horner!

Well, that’s my two week internship here at DCCS over! The time has flown by and it’s been an amazing experience. Over the past two weeks I’ve been introduced to the world of comics and in particular the busy world of Dundee Comics Creative Space. Thank you to everyone who has allowed me the chance to interview you, and especially thanks to the DCCS team and artists for never saying no to a photo shoot! I’ve worked with Rebecca Horner, an amazing artist, to produce this collaborative web comic detailing my time here – thanks Rebecca for never complaining about my lack of artistic input! I’ve also had the chance to sit in on some of the workshops that go on here at the Space – both the after school Comics Clubs with young people, and the workshops that are happening in partnership with a group from Advocating Together; the finished product of this project will be a comic about tackling disability hate crime, and I can’t wait to see it! No two workshops are ever the same and I’ve had the chance to see just how incredibly creative the Comics Clubbers are, and to enjoy some classic cheese jokes (what’s the best cheese to hide a small horse with? Mascarpone!). I’ve learnt some valuable life lessons from Damon – mainly to always always keep note of your passwords, and that a Snickers a day is a necessity – but I’ve also learnt about graphic design, and our finished products were the DCCS posters and leaflets that are now distributed throughout the libraries and community centres of Dundee! Keep an eye out for them folks! Anyway, I’ve really enjoyed my time here so thank you for having me – but you’re not escaping me and my incessant posting that easily! I’ll be back in the Space regularly to keep up to date with what’s happening and hopefully to keep broadcasting information about DCCS over social media. But for now, Caitlin Mitchell, signing out!

Introducing the Team: Damon Herd

Here is the final profile we have for you this week – some (Damon) may say we have saved the best for last. Introducing DCCS Coordinator, Damon Herd!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Damon Herd, I’m 45 and I’m from Fife.

What do you do on a day to day basis?

I’m coordinator of DCCS, so that means I have day to day responsibilities for running the space – liaising with outside organisations and partners, programming workshops for our after school clubs, and arranging artists and facilitators for our studio space.

How did you get to where you are today?

I’ve always been interested in comics, as a kid I used to draw my own Danger Mouse comics with a school friend. I would go to the local library and pour over Asterix and Tintin books. Like Phil, I also used to get Rupert the Bear books at Christmas – I think that places us in a certain age group! I had my first published drawing in issue 26 The Nutty – a comic from DC Thomson – at the age of 9. When I left school I worked as a draughtsman, when you still drew with pen on boards, and then fell into Civil Engineering. It was never really what I wanted to do though, so I eventually ended up working in a record shop in London, and then got a job in the film and TV industry. That lasted until my mid-life crisis when I went back to art school in my thirties. I studied Book Arts and then later did an MA in Illustration at Edinburgh College of Art. When that finished, I was accepted to do a PhD on comics at DJCAD. It was titled Truth Games: Fact, Fiction and Performance in Autobiographical Comics and I just handed it in a couple of months ago. As my PhD was coming to an end, the job at DCCS came up so I applied. And here I am!

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I’m a practising artist, I like working in screenprint and I’ve made installations and murals in the past. I also make my own comics such as The Adventures of Ticking Boy. During my PhD I conceived DeeCAP (Dundee Comics Art Performance), which is a theatrical event where we project comics on to a screen and the authors recreate or perform their comics. I also like to ride my bike – I recently combined my love of comics and cycling by doing the whole of the Oor Wullie Bucket Trail in one day on my bike! I’m also one of the regular posters at comics blog Graphixia which has a roster of comics academics, mainly from Canada and Europe, blogging on all things comics.

What is your favourite comic of all time?

Love and Rockets is probably my all time number one favourite comic, especially the stories by Jaime Hernandez. It began in the early 80s as a slightly sci-fi inflected tale of punk living in LA, but it slowly lost the sci-fi trappings and focused on the characters, who have grown older as the comic has continued over the last 30 years. I love Jaime’s black and white drawing style, he is an artist who really knows how to use black on a page. Another favourite would be Susceptible by Geneviève Castrée, her work is really delicate and beautiful and personal, but sadly she died this year. Like Norrie, I agree that the best Batman book is Batman Year One. It’s a great combination of Frank Miller’s writing, David Mazzucchelli’s art and Richmond Lewis’s colouring.

What is the best thing about working in DCCS?

Just seeing what the kids come up with during our workshops – they are endlessly inventive, some of them are really natural instinctive cartoonists and their work is always surprising. Usually there’s a good fart joke. It’s great working with artists day to day and it’s also given me the opportunity to continue creating my own work. Everything about the Space is great!

(I think he also enjoys bossing around interns.) What are you working on at the moment?

The after school clubs have been a bit quiet over the holidays but now the schools are back hopefully it will get busy again. We’re working towards getting our Comics Clubbers to produce comics so we can sell them at the Ex Libris book fair at the Dundee Literary festival in October. In a personal capacity, I’m currently guest editing the next issue of Scottish literary journal The Drouth. It’s a comics special and it’s given me great pleasure selecting artists and writers to produce strips and articles for the issue. It should be out in October and it’s going to be great!

How can we follow you on social media?

Twitter – @tickingboy

My website – damonherd.com

Thanks Damon!

Introducing the Artists: Andy Herd

The seventh and final artist in our studio to be profiled is Andy Herd!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Andy Herd, I’m 37 and I’m from Fife but have lived in Dundee for 15 years.

What made you want to become an artist?

Well I always doodled when I was young – I’m a big doodler, I doodle at work and I doodle most places, so I guess I’ve always had something in me that wanted to draw cartoons. I did read The Beano a lot when I was young so I think that helped a lot as well.

Do you have a preferred style of art?

I work entirely digitally – I used to use Wacom tablets but now I actually draw on an iPad, which is fantastic because I can take it with me and draw everywhere. From start to finish, everything I do is on the iPad, from sketching right down to the final stuff. Having worked digitally for so long, I now find I suck at drawing with pens and paper! I really love digital drawing, I think it suits my style, which is quite cartoony and bold. I use an app called Procreate and I also use Adobe Draw, but Procreate is the main one that I use now, which is fantastic I love it.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Hmm, I like to watch horror films on Netflix, I play video games sometimes, I like to read books and I like to think about owls or shrews – they’re really fun animals – and ducks as well, big fan of ducks. My favourite book is Watership Down, it’s fantastic I love it, it’s the only book that ever made me cry.

What is your favourite comic of all time?

It would probably be The Far Side by Gary Larson, which is a selection of one panel newspaper style cartoons. I had a lot of his books when I was young, they’re so funny and so stupid. I think they influenced me a lot. They’re timeless and they have a lot of funny animals and ducks in them.

What is the best thing about working in DCCS?

Being around other people who do comics is very motivating, and having desk space is fantastic, a place to put your things and work in peace. Sometimes when I work at home there’s too many distractions, so having this desk is brilliant. Working with the kids in the workshops is great, they come up with some completely insane comics – sometimes I mentally steal ideas from them. Overall it’s a really encouraging and inspiring atmosphere.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on Episode 7 of my comic called The Cases of Detective Skip Tobey, which is going to be about pan-dimensional crime reptiles who have taken over the city. It’s online on my website, and I’m part of Treehouse Comic so all of my Skip Tobey comics are also in Treehouse.

How can we follow you on social media?

Twitter – @_pandy

Website – www.pandyland.net

Thanks Andy!

Introducing the Artists: David Robertson

Here is the next in the series of profiles of our DCCS artists – meet David Robertson!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name’s David Robertson, my age is 44 and I’m from Dundee.

What made you want to become an artist?

Well, I always liked drawing and I’ve always read comics so it was just natural to start making my own as well as reading them. I remember reading things like Hulk, Star Wars, Spider-Man, The Dandy. Up till now, comics is more what I’ve done in my spare time. I knew Damon prior to coming here so when he got the job I told him I was interested. I’ve always made comics so this is a good place to come and do it.

Do you have a preferred style of art?

I guess I’m old fashioned – pencils, paper, and ink. I do use computers and digital stuff for certain things – scanning artwork and tidying it up. But primarily I work the old fashioned way.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Apart from making comics, I listen to podcasts and also make comics podcasts. I’m just starting to get into that. I like watching telly – I like Columbo!

What is your favourite comic of all time?

That’s a difficult one. I’ll say two that my sons made – The Concorde story and The Stick Guy. My sons are 10 and 7. The Concorde Story is a factual comic about the plane. The Stick Guy is a day in the life kind of thing – a man having everyday adventures.

What is the best thing about working in DCCS?

It’s good to be involved in the Dundee comics scene, which seems to be growing all the time. That’s really good. Also when you make comics a lot, you’re kind of sat in one room for hours and days on end so it’s nice to get out the house and come and meet people with similar interests. I do enjoy doing the workshops with the kids – they have great ideas.

What are you working on at the moment?

Today I was working on a new comic, a one pager, called The Making of Space Film Episode 7, which I’m hoping will be in this magazine called Star Jaws. I was pencilling that today. Yesterday I was doing a story with my son who wanted to do another one called Shopping for Tuna. He told me what the story was, while I planned out how it would be on the page. That’s been done over the holidays and I need to draw that up now. I’ve got an ongoing web comic that I do called Bell Time which goes up at the Redbird Review website. I’ve just released my own comic called Zero Sum Bubblegum. I just make comics all the time, I never stop – so I never know what I’m working on, what’s just been finished, what’s just been accepted or rejected, what’s just been published. I do stuff for Treehouse comic regularly. I’m also collecting together my first two mini comics that I did, and putting them into a book called Berserkotron and reprinting it. I want to get that done for this year’s Thought Bubble which happens in Leeds in November.

Finally how can we follow you on social media?

Twitter – @FredEggComics

Blog – fredeggcomics.blogspot.co.uk

Website – fredeggcomics.com

Meet the Comics Clubbers Part 2!

The next Comics Clubbers to be interviewed about their time at DCCS and their love of comics were David and Mia from our Tuesday workshops!

Tell us a bit about yourselves!

D: I’m David, I’m 11 and I’m from Blairgowrie but I live in Dundee now.

M: I’m Mia, I’m 11 and I’m from Wormit.

How long have you been coming to Comics Club?

D: Since the beginning, in March! I saw about the DCCS on the news on TV. I came because I like reading comics so I wanted to have a chance to make my own.

M: I’ve been coming for a few months. My dad used to work in DC Thomson and I’m interested in comics so I came along! My dad heard about it and told me.

What are you working on at the moment?

M: Pugtato Time! It’s basically about a pug who is a potato, and her adventures. It’s for the fair at the Literary festival in October.

D: The fruit family – so far I’ve got Banana Steven, he’s the first in the family.

14012524_897043147107176_1318157450_o — A sample from the first chapter of Mia’s *Pugtato Time*

What are your favourite comics?

M: I like The Beano because it’s funny.

D: Deadpool because I watched the movie and liked it.

What’s the best thing about coming to the DCCS?

D: Drawing lots of fun comics! And getting to make your own.

M: I just like comics!

David R small — An excerpt from *Tim’s Great Adventures* by David

What else do you like doing apart from Comics Club?

D: I go to Scouts, there’s not a comics badge in Scouts yet but there should be!

M: I do Scouts and swimming.

What would you say about Comics Club to people who might want to come?

M: You can express your feelings by drawing them!

D: It’s really good! Damon and the artists help with your ideas and also Damon’s funny.

Finally, what’s your favourite joke?

D: What’s a cat’s favourite colour? Purrrple!

M: What did the doughnut say to the person? Doughnut eat me! I made that one up.

Thanks guys!

Introducing the Artists: Andrew Strachan

The next artist to be profiled by Caitlin Mitchell is the newest member of the DCCS studio; meet Andrew Strachan!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name’s Andrew Strachan, I’m 55 and I’m from Edinburgh originally but lived in Dundee for 20 years – I now stay in Newport.

What made you want to become an artist?

That’s a really good question. I suppose it comes from being influenced by comics at a young age – my first aspiration was actually to be a comic book artist, but everybody said that was daft so I kind of got deflected. That’s why I’m here at 55 coming back to comics after doing other art related things – I’ve worked as a graphic designer, an illustrator, and a character designer. I also spent a few years in the games industry, which was a lot of fun.

Do you have a preferred style of art?

I like to use both digital and traditional methods – I suppose I’m focused on old school just now, as I’m getting into the art of inking. Also I don’t have the budget for technology like Cintiq tablets – that’s a wee bit in the future for me. I do use digital Photoshop a lot – I use blue line pencils and scan things in, and when the work’s scanned in I can do a bit of editing – not too much hopefully.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Reading, which has also been caught up in my focus on comics – I’m reading science fiction books that might be an influence for me at the moment. I like to keep fit by going running, and like a lot of people I enjoy watching movies and that sort of thing – my favourite movie is American Beauty because the themes touch on me, being of an older generation, and I slightly identify with the main character. It’s not your run of the mill plot but it appeals to me quite a lot. My favourite animation might be The Jungle Book – I like the old classics.

What is your favourite comic of all time?

I’d probably have to say 2000AD – I like it because it’s one of the only surviving British comics. I read it for a while as a kid but it got put aside. Then when I started thinking about comics again, I looked back into it and started reading it again. I suppose it’s because I like the writing of the comics and the diversity of the scripts.

What are you most looking forward to about working in the DCCS?

I’ve got a wee studio of my own at the moment but I’m looking forward to working not just on my own but in a more social studio environment, where you can see what other artists are doing too. It will be good to meet and make connections with other people.

What are you working on at the moment?

At this moment I’m working on a sample script for 2000AD – I’m illustrating this and am looking to send it within the next three or four weeks, when 2000AD have an open submissions period. One of my ambitions is to be published but this is more if you send it in and they like it, they might do a Future Shock strip or something.

How can we follow you on social media?

I’ve actually almost actively avoided social media in the last few years because it uses up a lot of time and all of my time is spent drawing or reading at the moment – but sometime soon I will start it up!

I do have a blog of my caricatures –http://caricaturesbyandy.blogspot.co.uk/

Also some of my work for 2000AD is online –https://www.behance.net/AndyComics

14002532_893209354157222_130174058_o

Introducing the Artists: Ashling Larkin

A new week, a new artist profile – meet Ashling Larkin!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name’s Ashling Larkin, I’m 22 years old and I’m from Eastbourne in England.

What made you want to become an artist?

Well, I’ve read comics since I was a kid, and I was also fascinated with the art of animation. So it was a mix of reading these Brazilian comics (“Monica & Friends”) and also seeing some behind the scenes footage of how they made Snow White that kind of did it for me.

Do you have a preferred style of art?

I really enjoy drawing traditionally, because it lets me draw in lots of detail. The best way to describe my art style is probably as a mix between anime and Disney.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Mostly reading comics of course, catching up on my TV shows and cartoons, and socialising – I think I’m an extrovert. My favourite cartoon show at the moment is Steven Universe and my favourite TV show is The Mindy Project.

What is your favourite comic of all time?

Well I have a favourite artist, and pretty much anything he makes is gold for me – Bryan Lee O’Malley. But my number one comic by him is Lost at Sea because it’s so emotional and it’s similar to the way I tell stories, so I guess it’s one of my influences. I love all of his work though.

What is the best thing about working in DCCS?

It’s really really great to have a dedicated space that is just for working and creating – I’ve noticed that my productivity has gotten way way higher since I’ve been here. Also the workshops are really fun and interesting, and it’s great to get a fresh perspective from the kids we work with.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m finishing up the last chapter for my comic Fundee, and I’m also in the middle of writing The Enchanted Book – it was my fourth year [of university] film which I’m currently transferring into comic form. Those are my big projects at the moment, along with the odd commission here and there.

How can we follow you on social media?

Facebook – Ashling Larkin – Art & Illustration

Instagram – @ashlingdraws

Tumblr – ashlingtumbls.tumblr.com

Twitter – @ashlingtweets

Introducing the Team: Dr Chris Murray

The second member of the DCCS team we have profiled is Operations Director Dr Chris Murray – here is his interview with Caitlin Mitchell!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Dr Chris Murray, I’m from Dundee, and I’m 41.

What do you do on a day to day basis?

I’m a senior lecturer of Comic Studies at the University of Dundee. I teach at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. My role at DCCS is the Operations Director – I have overall responsibility for the Space.

How did you get to where you are today? (Note to readers – better get comfortable!)

I’ve been reading comics my whole life, my first memory is of reading comics which my mum bought me from when I was about 3. There’s a funny story about my entrance into the world of comics – my uncle was lorry driver and he used to go to a pub in the Hilltown, where there was a guy who had his comics delivered to the pub so his wife wouldn’t find out he read them. The guy would turn up, sit with a pint and read his comics then give them to my uncle Dougie for him to pass on to me to read! I have no idea who this mysterious benefactor was but thanks to him and his grumpy wife, I was reading a lot of comics when I was young.

I did think about drawing and going to art school but I was never good enough so went the other way and did an English degree. I felt the comics I was reading were as good and as worth studying as those I was reading on my course, so wondered why we couldn’t study them. I found my supervisors were very supportive of this and had no objection to comics. I went on to do a PhD on comics and the relationship between propaganda and comics during World War 2. Over the course of doing that, I did teaching in the English department and at Duncan of Jordanstone. I also started to teach film studies.

I got a full time job as a lecturer after my PhD and I thought I want to teach a module on my specialist subject – British comics – it was well received with lots of students so I made the case to the uni to start a comics Masters project. They took a bit of convincing but after we got good numbers they were sold on it. From there, it was about making the right connections, like with Phil from the art college, and everything started to take off, and we later launched the Scottish Centre for Comics Studies. The origins of DCCS are in Dundee’s bid to be the City of Culture a few years back, for which we sought funding, and the comic school was part of that idea. The funders were keen on this and we were put in touch with The Rank Foundation. We were delighted when our bid was successful! It’s been up and running for a year now and things are going well.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

One of the thing I’ve been doing recently is combining creative work with research. I’ve started drawing again, doing thumbnails for comics I’ve been writing – I find doing comic strips and drawing thumbnails very relaxing. I also love handing it over to an artist who can draw properly, who bring them back completed. That’s an important part of what we do at Dundee – the critical and theoretical on one hand, and the practical on the other.

What is your favourite comic of all time?

I’d have to say The Invisibles, I have to say that because that’s where my tattoo comes from. I’m very interested in British independent comics from the 1950s, and also 2000AD – gotta love 2000AD. I should say in particular obviously Dredd, but also Zenith is one of my all time favourite things.

What is the best thing about working in DCCS?

The opportunities to be working with all the talented people in the studio, and also to see how enthusiastic the kids who come into the workshops are. Lots of them pick it up intuitively and it is really fun to see.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’ve got a book on The British Superhero which I’ve just finished. I’m working on the Being Human festival which is in November of this year, the theme is HG Wells and there’s several lectures and talks I’ll be doing. I’m also working on a collaborative project about organ donation, to raise awareness about the issues surrounding that. My next research work is going to be on the relationship between the British pop art movement of the 1950s and British comics round about the same time.

How can we follow you on social media?

I’m not really on social media but other people run the accounts for projects I’m in charge of.

Twitter – the DCCS page (@dccs) and the Scottish Centre for Comic Studies page (@comicstudies)

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