off life issue1

8/12/2019 Off Life Issue1

1/32

OCT/NOV

2012

ISSUE#1

FEATURING AN

INTERVIEW WITH

TOM GAULD ANDCOMIC ART FROM

THE BEST INDIE

TALENT AROUND

FREE


2/32


3/32

Welcome to Issue One of OFF LIFE magazine, the UKs only street

press comic anthology.

What does that mean? Well, that well be collecting stories from

todays best indie comic talent, compiling their stories in a

bi-monthly magazine and then leaving them around bars, coffeehouses, shops and galleries for good people like you to pick up

free of charge.

Some of you may be new to comics. To you, I hope that

OFF LIFE will be a stepping stone to all the works of genius that

exist out there in four-colour print. Because, sure, Spider-Man is

fun and Wolverine is tough, but at their best comics can be every

bit as adult, serious and culturally incisive as any novel or theatre

production. And at a time like this, with the UK so nipple-deep in

struggle, bold voices in every medium should be given the chance

to shine. Yes, even comic creators!Finally, Id like to thank all who helped this issue reach the

surface. To the designers, contributors, friends and those whove

spread the word of our very existence... nice one!

Now, why on Gods shit-strewn Earth are you still reading this

waffle? There are comics to read. Get to it!

DANIEL HUMPHRY

Editor, OFF LIFE

COMICS

Pages 2 27

TOM GAULD

Page 13

YOU HAVE BEEN READING

Page 28

EDITOR

Daniel Humphry

ART DIRECTOR

Steve Leard

COVER ART

Sean Wars

wwrrssddrrwwss.co.uk

DESIGN

wearerandl.co.uk

ADVISOR

Luke Harvey

OFFLIFE.CO.UK

[email protected]

@OFFLIFE_COMIC

1

...

This magazine has been partly funded through crowd sourcing. Wed like

to thank the following donators: Derek Hamilton, Pete Ashton, David

Panaho, Matthew Smith, Paul HMD, Phlebas, Jamie Smart, Sarah Casey,

Tim Parker, Lauren Carnall, Tim Harries, David OConnell, Marion

Cromb, Calum Johnston, Stuart Perrins, Lucy Rice, Mark Allen, Nick

Burton, Monkleus, Dean Simmons, Andy Oliver, Steph Miller, Emma

Mould and Joe Stone.


4/32

2


5/32

3


6/32

4


7/32

5


8/32

6


9/32

7


10/32

8


11/32

9


12/32

10


13/32

11


14/32


15/32

Hi Tom, how are you?

Very well, thank you.

Youve been published as a cartoonist for over ten

years now, what first drew you to comics?

Ive been drawing constantly since I was tiny and

loved the picture books read to me as a child by

Maurice Sendak, Janet and Allan Ahlberg, etc so it

just seemed natural to me to like comics when I was old

enough to read them. My first love was the Asterix

books then I got into Tintin and moved onto Battle

a war based comic for boys and then 2000 AD.When I left school, I knew I wanted to draw for a

living and went on to study illustration at Edinburgh

College of Art. I was still interested in comics, reading

Eightball and the Acme Novelty Library and would

play around with short narratives, but it wasnt until

I was at the Royal College of Art that I started to find

my feet with storytelling.

While still studying you kick-started your comics

career in small press and self-publishing. What doyou think you gained from this?

When Simone Lia and I self-published our first

comic in 2001 [as Cabanon Press] there were not many

other ways of getting a book out there. There are many

more comic publishers out there and more who might

publish shorter work by a new artist Nobrow and

Blank Slate spring to mind.

However, I still think that self-publishing can do

some things better than proper publishing: you get a

level of control, freedom and intimacy with your readerwhich is much harder to find elsewhere. Id definitely

advise trying it; I learned a lot of things self-publishing

which have helped in proper publishing.

Have you seen the comic industry change much in

the 12 years youve been published?

Its definitely changed and definitely for the

FOR OVER TEN YEARS TOM GAULD HAS BEEN TAKING HIS

DISTINCT COMIC ART TO THE WORLD. WHETHER IN THE FORM OFBEST-SELLING GRAPHIC NOVEL GOLIATH OR AS A CARTOONIST FOR

THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER, TOMS WRY INSIGHTS AND SIDEWAYS

GLANCES HAVE OPENED COMICS TO A CROSS-OVER AUDIENCE AND

PUSHED PEOPLES PERCEPTIONS OF WHAT COMICS CAN BE.

OFF LIFE CAUGHT UP WITH TOM TO ASK WHAT COMICS MEAN TO HIM.

13


16/32

AD AD

14


17/32

better. I think were in a real golden age for alternative

comics, both in Britain and in the world generally.

It seems we have more good artists, publishers, outletsand enthusiastic readers than 12 years ago.

My only concern is that I think there is sometimes

a feeling in publishing that working on anything other

than a graphic novel is a complete waste of time.

I realise this is mainly because they sell the best and

have an air of seriousness about them, but I think many

artists and particularly new ones benefit from

working in shorter/different forms.

What does being a cartoonist mean to you?I aim to entertain people. I think my general

worldview comes across in the work but I dont start

out with things I want to say to my readers, I mainly

want to tell an interesting story. My cartoons can often

be quite melancholy or dark-humoured, but I would

never make anything really nasty or completely bleak

and without heart: there are enough bad things in the

world already.

Many people will recognise your work from theGuardian. What do you think cartoonists can bring to

news issues that perhaps other mediums don't?

Cartooning can bring a certain lightness to serious

things. In my work for the Guardian I am often given a

highbrow, serious theme and if I treated it in a serious,

highbrow way it wouldnt be interesting. So I treat it in

a light-hearted, silly way and the disconnect between

the two is what makes it interesting to me, anyway!

Do you manage to keep up with UK comics? If so,who have you been reading recently and who is

impressing you?

Yes, I go to Gosh! Comics in Soho most weeks and

get new stuff there. Ive really enjoyed Jon McNaughts

work with Nobrow and Im really looking forward to

his third book [Dockwood].

Finally, where do you see comics moving in the near

future and what advice would you give to creators

starting out today?Obviously, things are going to change because

of digital technology, but Im not sure itll be a

simple swap-over from reading paper comics to reading

exactly the same things on iPads and Kindles.

I downloaded some comics onto my iPad and realised

afterwards that I would have rather read them all

on paper.

I love books so I hope that they continue to be a

viable thing to make, and Im quite optimistic that they

will be for the forseeable future. I have a hope for booksgenerally that cheap digital editions will hurt the

publishers of badly made, ugly books and encourage

the sales of beautifully designed, well-made books.

All the technological innovations, Kickstarter

schemes and marketing strategies in the world wont

make up for an uninteresting idea or a badly told

story they might make money, but wont make good

art so you just need to get on with making good

things and then learning from those things to make

better things!

Thanks Tom.

Thank you!

15

YOU CAN SEE TOMS WORK AT

TOMGAULD.COM

.. .


18/32


19/32

AS

PIRATIONS

BYCOMIC-ISHwww.comic-ish.com

17


20/32

18


21/32

19


22/32

20


23/32

21


24/32

22


25/32

23


26/32

24


27/32

25


28/32

26


29/32

27


30/32

YOU HAVE BEEN READING

SARI HODIRKERCOMIC-ISH.COM

PAGE 17

PHILLIP MARSDEN

PHILLIPMARSDEN.COM

PAGE 20

SIMON MORETON

SMOO.TUMBLR.COM

PAGE 22

LEWIS FARROW

@LEWISFARROW

PAGE 24

SILENT PAIGE

SILENTPAIGE.WORDPRESS.COM

PAGE 25

MURRAY SOMERVILLEMURRAYSOMERVILLE.COM

PAGE 26

SEAN AZZOPARDI

SEAN-AZZOPARDI.COM

PAGE 27

EMIX REGULUSORIGAMISHIP.BLOGSPOT.CO.UK

PAGE 2

DANIEL HUMPHRY / WILL ELLIOT

@DANIEL_HUMPHRY / @WFHIT

PAGE 3

TIM BIRD

TIMOTHYBIRD.CO.UK

PAGE 4

NEILL CAMERON

NEILLCAMERON.COM

PAGE 6

LIZZ LUNNEY

LIZZLIZZ.COM

PAGE 7

ROB DAVISDINLOS.BLOGSPOT.CO.UK

PAGE 8

TOM GAULD

TOMGAULD.COM

PAGE 13

28


31/32

WOULD YOUR COMPANY

BENEFIT FROM THOUSANDS OF

RAMPAGING NEW COMICS FANS

EYEBALLING YOUR WARES?

THEN GET IN CONTACT WITH

OFF LIFE ABOUT ADVERTISING

OPPORTUNITIES AND HELP US

BRING FREE COMICS TO THE UK!

OFFLIFE.CO.UK

EMAIL: [email protected]


32/32

@OFFLIFE_COMIC

OFFLIFE

off life issue1

Documents