OFF LIFE issue four

FEATURING AN INTERVIEW WITH THREE OF THE NEW GENERATION'S BEST — GREENBERG, TEAGLE AND BERRY — PLUS COMICS FROM THE MOST EXCITING INDIE TALENT AROUND

ISSUE #4 APR / MAY 2013 FREE

COMICS

Pages 2 — 27 THE NEXT GENERATION

Page 13 YOU HAVE BEEN READING

Page 28 — EDITOR

Daniel Humphry @Daniel_Humphry ART DIRECTOR

Steve Leard @SteveLeard COPY EDITOR

Lucy Rice COVER ART

Sam Ailey deck.uk.com DESIGN

wearerandl.co.uk OFFLIFE.CO.UK INFO@OFFLIFE.CO.UK @OFFLIFE_COMIC

Like a lot of you, we got away over Easter. Thanks to a mix-up with CD duties and an archaic radio system, what that meant was seven hours in a car with little but commercial radio for company.

Presenters, seemingly jumped up on sugar and self-delusion, gushed in streams of LOLs and OMGs over the latest celebrity news. Film reviewers wheeled themselves out to fawn over franchise money-spinners, their back pockets audibly dragging under the strain of PR goodies and career promises. And the music! Every genre under the sun Auto-Tune’d and compressed into waves of synthesised nonsense in the hopes of bagging Number One and a spot on the next big mobile phone advert.

It got us to thinking: are comics the most honest art form around today? From what we’ve seen, the lack of glamour and giant advance cheques leaves comic artists free to create work they believe in. Whether that’s some humble slice-of-life or a grandiose zombie saga, the work is honest and uncompromised by whatever shiny new trend is tickling the market’s udders that week.

Perhaps that’s a naïve assessment of the comics industry, but until we see Neil Gaiman writing comic-biographies for Peter Andre, it’s one we’re willing to stick with.

Last month, we got to meet a good few of you at our first ever #QuickDrawLive at the Design Museum. We set up tables, called out themes and you speed-drew your responses along with top artists such as Dan Berry, Joe List, Kyle Platts and Lizz Lunney.

People even took part from home and had their work beamed onto big screens inside the museum. So, while we’re busy planning our next live event, we wanted to let you know that every Thursday we also run #QuickDraw on Twitter. We tweet a theme and artists have 60 minutes to draw and post their interpretations. It’s grown into a nice little community of people creating and sharing work, and we’d love you to come join us. So do! Now, on with the comics!

DANIEL HUMPHRY

Editor, OFF LIFE 1

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THE NEW GENERATION SINCE LAUNCHING LAST OCTOBER, OFF LIFE HAS BEEN PRIVILEGED TO INTERVIEW SOME OF THE MOST ESTABLISHED ARTISTS WORKING IN COMICS TODAY. TOMINE, TALBOT, GAULD – ALL CREATORS WHO HAVE HELPED PUSH AND REDEFINE THE MEDIUM THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREERS. BUT WE FIGURED IT WAS ABOUT TIME WE SPEAK TO THE NEW GENERATION OF ARTISTS WHO ARE ALREADY TAKING COMICS IN TO WHOLE NEW PASTURES. HOW HAS THE RECENT COMICS BOOM AFFECTED THEIR WORK? WHERE DO THEY SEE THE MEDIUM HEADING? AND IS NEW TALENT BEING GIVEN ENOUGH ROOM TO BREAK OUT? OFF LIFE SAT DOWN WITH THREE OF THE NEW GENERATION’S FINEST TO FIND OUT.

HANNAH BERRY’S first book, Britten And

Do you see yourselves within a certain generation of comic artists? If so, what ties you together?

Brülightly, came out through Jonathan Cape

BERRY:

Shockingly, I referred to myself as a new author in a conversation with Paul Gravett recently and he told me I wasn’t new enough to be one of them any more. Dammit, man, I’m only 30! In my head there are only two generations of comickers in the UK: new and legendary. I am still new, obviously, and among the current generation there’s a feeling that we’re all in it together – not like that feculent lie David Cameron refuses to flush – but like we’re facing an uphill struggle for recognition as a kind of united front. It’s quite nice.

TEAGLE: Things still feel like they’re in early stages for me – I’m meeting new people all the time and making connections. There seems to be an explosion of talent out there, and it feels like the medium is opening up and a lot more people are starting to 

in 2008 when she was just 25. She will be a part of the Lakes Festival this October.

JACK

TEAGLE

was

one

of

the

first

contributors to Nobrow’s 17x23 series, and at 26 has already had two of his own Fight! comics printed through the same publisher.

At just 23, ISABEL GREENBERG won the 2011 Observer/Jonathan Cape Comica graphic short story prize. Her first full-length book, The Encyclopedia Of Early Earth, will be released through Jonathan Cape this autumn.

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draw comics, which is fantastic. I’m not sure what ties everything together at the moment. Maybe people just totally voicing their own opinions and thoughts?

There’s a lot of self-published work online and in print out there, and artists seem to be uninhibited by what others think, and just do what they want, so maybe there’s that.

Do you think the new generation have a good chance of helping break the mainstream, perhaps where other generations didn’t?

GREENBERG:

I think I’ve been lucky, in that I have come into comics at a time when they are becoming extremely popular. However, as to whether the ‘new generation’ have been responsible for this, I am not sure. I think that the way has been paved for us by artists like Art Spiegelman, Robert Crumb and Will Eisner. It may only be now that comics are starting to become mainstream, but I think the groundwork was done by the previous generation.

BERRY: I hope so. There seems to be some real momentum behind comics at the moment, so perhaps we’ve reached a tipping point. Comics came so close to being recognised as proper literature before – in the late 80s/early 90s – but floundered. After Watchmen and Maus the general public suddenly realised what they were missing in comics and tried to find more of the same, but unfortunately there just wasn’t enough going on to hold their interest. Now we have the big titles catching the public’s attention – The Nao Of Brown [Glyn Dillon], and Dotter Of Her Father’s Eyes [Mary and Bryan Talbot], for example – and the wealth of comics creators bubbling away under the surface.

The lure AND the hook. It’s looking good!

TEAGLE: There have been a few false starts in the UK scene, but a lot of comics I see being created now seem to be very relatable to readers. Hopefully, having a lot of people being exposed to illustration means people are more accepting of drawn imagery. The internet seems to open things up to newcomers, too. Things have come out of a closed club. I remember when I was a teenager, I didn’t know what to buy, and things felt intimidating, but now I’d like to think that attitude is starting to fade away.

 The Great Dag by Isabel Greenberg Comics seemed to become pop-culture short hand for ‘geek cool’ around the time that you were starting out in illustration. Do you think this had an impact on your style and approach to the medium?

GREENBERG:

I may be misinterpreting your definition of geek cool, but it puts me in mind of trendy hipster comics, which, in my opinion – and this is a personal taste thing, so please don’t anyone hate on me on Twitter! – is often visually amazing but not so great on the stories. I think there is a lot of brilliant stuff around at the moment, but I really like comics that have great stories as well as looking good. And, of course, I hope that my work achieves that. Saying that, I am aware that I am part of a generation of illustrator comic artists, and I did do a degree in illustration, so whatever I might think I am, no doubt my style has been influenced by the stuff I’ve seen around me.

BERRY: It honestly didn’t seem very cool, geek or otherwise, at the time I was studying! Often when 14

Thought Bubble [Leeds’ Comic Art Festival] tables sold out in an hour this year, and anyone who went to last year’s ELCAF [East London Comics and Arts Festival] had to be impressed by the amount of talent on display and how much interest there was in the event! But this is my personal experience and I know I’ve been hugely lucky.

TEAGLE: I think in times of economic crisis, people are afraid to take chances and invest in something a little different. A lot of people are doing their own thing, though, so that’s great. I just wish people could feel like they can make a living from it. It’s a bit of a mix: as the internet has everyone connected, we’re all starting to build a comics community and spread work, but job opportunities are pretty scarce.

BERRY: I wish more of us were given a break, certainly. I was pretty lucky to be published by Cape at the age I was, as there’s definitely more talent around than publishing opportunities. That’s actually shaped the scene to some extent: because most people have gotten used to the idea of creating their own opportunities to work with comics, and they’ve really run with it. Some of the biggest names of this younger generation have gotten there by self-publishing, and the comics industry is pretty unique in how self-driven and self-funded it is.

 Fight2! by Jack Teagle, published by Nobrow

I answered a brief with a comic I was met with a mix of politeness and pity, so in the end I just stopped bringing my work to crits and stayed at home grumbling. I was a terrible art student, bumbling along under my own steam. The whole frustrating experience certainly sharpened my resolve to make my way in comics, though, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

People in their twenties have had a pretty rough time of the recession, but there is a lot of criticism that in no art form (music, film, etc) is that generation taking a stand. Do you think comics have that potential?

GREENBERG:

I guess I would probably agree with that. I don’t know why as a generation we aren’t more angry. I think with my own work, I like writing about things that are as far from everyday life as possible. I find it very hard to write about what is going on around me, partly because I worry that I am not informed enough to make that kind of work. But comics are a great medium for putting across ideas and definitely have that potential. In fact, I’m kind of surprised there aren’t more comics taking a stand! Saying that, there are lots of autobiographical / semi-autobiographical comics around that deal with the issues that many people in their twenties have. So, even if it is indirectly, I guess these issues are being addressed. 

Do you feel that your generation of comic artists are being given their fair shot? Is there enough opportunity and talent out there?

GREENBERG:

My personal experience is yes; I definitely do. There are more publishers than ever putting out brilliant comics: Cape, SelfMadeHero, Nobrow, and even more literary publishers are starting to print graphic novels. I think it’s great and that the small press scene is also benefiting massively from this.

There are new conventions popping up all the time and interest in the existing ones is increasing rapidly.

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 Old Lady Vengeance by Hannah Berry

– it seems that there are so many bande dessinée publishers that self-publishing is only done by total outsiders. I mean, I wish there were more graphic novels published in the UK, but the self-publishing scene is pulsing with creativity and spontaneity and absolute freedom, and I’d hate for it to be marginalised in the same way. We’d lose a hugely vibrant aspect of the comics family.

GREENBERG: Comics are now seen as a totally legitimate way to tell stories of any kind, which is great.

Graphic novels are reviewed by national newspapers, win literary prizes and are sold in mainstream bookshops. I think that however visual trends move and change, comics as a medium are here to stay. It’s a very exciting time.

As someone young in their career, where do you see comics heading in the near future?

TEAGLE: I hope because of the rise of social media, and the ease of online self-publishing, people will continue to discover comics and things they like, instead of having the much more basic options of entertainment given to them through television. I don’t watch TV any more, but I read a lot more comics, and try to support as many self-publishers as I can.

BERRY: I used to want the UK comics scene to be as huge and established as it is in France, but I’ve gone off that idea slightly since going to the Angoulême [International Comics] Festival. There was a guy who was part of a self-publishing collective who was handing out books on the street and asking for money

TO VIEW MORE OF THE ARTISTS’ WORK, PLEASE VISIT:

HANNAH BERRY

HANNAHBERRY.CO.UK

JACK TEAGLE

JACKTEAGLE.TUMBLR.COM

ISABEL GREENBERG

ISABELNECESSARY.COM

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— YOU HAVE BEEN READING — ADA JUSIC LETTERS FROM DAD @ADAJUSICILLUSTR PAGE 2

INTERVIEW HANNAH BERRY JACK TEAGLE ISABEL GREENBERG PAGE 13

DANIEL HUMPHRY @DANIEL_HUMPHRY WILL ELLIOT @WILLUSTRATES ASSUMPTIONS PAGE 4

OLIVER EAST ROLLING STOCK @OLIVEREAST PAGE 18

STEPHEN ONG THE SECRET DIARY OF A HIGH RISE @STEPHEN_ONG PAGE 5

WARWICK JOHNSONCADWELL THE UNVISIBLE MAN @WARWICKJC PAGE 20

SEAN AZZOPARDI FOUL @SEANAZZ PAGE 6

ALEX NORRIS THE BLOT DORRISMCCOMICS.COM PAGE 21

PAUL WILLIAMS HOW THE INTERNET RUINED YOUR LIFE @PAULWILLIAMSART PAGE 8

EMILIA MCKENZIE THE MYTH OF SISPYHUS @ORIGAMISHIP PAGE 22

PHILLIP MARSDEN HIPSTER HAIRDO! @PHILMARSDEN PAGE 9

DAN BERRY THROW YOUR KEYS AWAY @THINGSBYDAN PAGE 24

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CM CARTER COMPANY CAR @C_M_CARTER PAGE 10

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