Matthew Sheret: Of all the publications in the world, why did you choose Paper Science as the place to publish the first of your stories?

The King of Things: I have known the editor of the aforementioned periodical for quite some time. I first met a young, fresh faced Matty Sheret on an expedition into the treacherous candy caves of Western Saccharine. I was hoping to discover evidence of the fabled Sweet Tooth Yeti, and young Matty was there to acquire all the uncut peppermint he could fit in his satchel. On our way back to base camp, Matty, with a gut full of sugar, was sick on my cape. I, being a seasoned adventurer, had packed a spare and was not perturbed. I took care of the young lad that evening and told him tales over the camp fire of treasures lost, found and forgotten. Though he was sickly, I enjoyed his company very much and am glad to say I made a friend that night.

Years later, a taller, wiser, stubblier Matt Sheret had taken up residence in our nation’s capital, running odd jobs for pirate radio stations and wealthy artisans. He sent a telegram asking me to visit him to discuss a business opportunity. As I was to visit Oxford around that time to hunt for Gargoyle droppings I obliged him and a train ride later we met in the smoky and colloquial surrounds of a Mile End “boozer”. He told me of his dreams to become a newspaper man, all pinstripes and leaky pocket pens. He had bought a decrepit printing press and saved it from demolition. His company was to be called simply ‘Words’ and he’d usher in a new age of reading to really plump up the brains of those young guns around him striding through the city with their tight trousers and hair-dos. Matt remembered my camp fire stories and asked me to write a weekly column, something about natural history and cryptozoology. I told him I’d consider his kind offer and after scouring the cobbles of Oxford for just the right kind of pebble I returned home. I declined his offer but it gave me the idea of writing my memoirs.

A couple of years on I heard again from Mr. Matthew Sheret, now a towering, beardy gentleman famed for touring the country with his vagabond caravan of writers, artists, comedians and tagalongs. His jolly vaudevillian troupe were staying near my village for some kind of pagan festival wherein they deafened cows and lived in tents without washing for as long as they could bear it. I took a stroll with my old friend through Appelhed’s Orchard one balmy afternoon. He told me how he had expanded his empire beyond the confines of journalism into pictorial storytelling, a new craze sweeping the capital’s youngsters. He was a newspaper scientist now, he told me, and his periodical contained only curiously annotated drawings. His company had expanded it’s name to ‘Words + Pictures’. It seemed like a crazy idea and by golly I liked it! I pitched him an idea, right there and then, as cider apples fell and rolled into the stream. He could serialise my memoirs in pictorial form and I would employ an artist to illustrate the artefacts, trinkets, locales and acquaintances I encountered on each adventure. We shook hands on it moments before Farmer Appelhed shooed us off his land and waded into the stream after his runaway children.

MS: How long have you and your biographer, Mister Adam Cadwell, been acquainted?

TKoT: Only I could possibly be called my biographer. The Cadwallader boy, talented with a brush though he is, serves simply as an illustrator, rendering the precise scenes and events I recount. I sought out his services days after my meeting with Mr. Sheret in the orchard. I was strolling through the town when I spotted a bright eyed but scruffy young urchin repainting a local shop sign. He had added a few charming flourishes I could tell were not part of the original sign. It was clearly thirsty work atop that creaky old ladder so I bought him a cold grape drink from the nearby tonic stand. As he took a break and slurped the purple juice, I asked him if he could paint scenes and people as well as signs. He nodded furiously and whipped out a scraggy stack of paper, folded and stapled and full of drawings of his face. At first I was disheartened but as I flicked through I could see potential and improvement. From then on he visited me a few times a week, I told him of my exciting life and he would scribble things down. A week or two later he would appear holding aloft colourful renditions of my youth and I’d pay him in that grape juice he loves so much.

MS: Did Mister Cadwell mention anything he particularly enjoyed about working in the newspaper format?

TKoT: He did! The bigger he can draw the more details he can squeeze in knowing they won’t be lost when shrank for the printed page. This enables me to fondly remember more intricate details of my travels. He also greatly enjoys colouring in, and boy, does he use all the colours.

MS: After issue 7 Paper Science is going on a bit of a break for while, but if you could pick a theme for a future issue what would it be and who would draw the cover?

TKoT: My that is a humdinger! I do think I would choose the theme of Treasure. People’s minds my jump to thoughts of swarthy pirates plundering booty but may I remind them of the old adage ‘One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure!’ As for who would draw the cover, hmm? Cadwallader’s already had his turn. He giggled the whole time, let me tell you. Maybe the boy’s long lost cousin could do it, he was adrift at sea for many years but regained his memory a while back. Warwick‘s his name. I could telegram him for you, should you wish? As far as my knowledge of Matthew’s associates goes, perhaps the talents of Ms. Samantha Borras, Duchess Josceline Fenton or that clever chap Dr. Robert Ball? Or what about the rosy cheeked Daniel Berries? Oh, I don’t know. You’ve confused an old man. Are you happy now?

MS: Have you any plans to publish more graphical interpretations of your adventures?

TKoT: Why yes! The first has been very popular I’m told. I’ve been collecting forgotten antiquities and treasured items my entire life so I have hundreds of yarns to tell. Most of which are recorded in my memoirs. If the Cadwallader boy can find the time outside his lucrative sign painting business we’ll eventually have them all illustrated. I best stock up on grape juice.

MS: Have you any upcoming expeditions planned? Has Mister Cadwell spoken to you about what he will be scribbling next?

TKoT: Indeed I do, my good chap! I’m soon to set off for an auction where I have a lead on an antique set of whistles which, if my theory proves correct, may be something quite whimsical indeed. As for Cadwallader, I’ve got him working on a short tale about my One Trick Wand and I think after that I’ll recount a longer tale about a dangerous doorstop and gnomes.

Adam Cadwell frequently put his pictures on the internet, and sells some of them too. You can read The King of Things’ debut adventure in issues 4-7 of Paper Science. FPI would like to thank Matthew and the King for taking the time to discuss the Paper Science anthology work; you can read all of the special Paper Science guest interview from this week here on the blog.

Matthew Sheret: Your contribution to Paper Science’s music special is lots of fun; how did it come about?

Josceline Fenton: When I was coming up with ideas I was thinking about neighbours being annoyed by music. Then I started thinking it would be a bit irritating if you were an animal living underneath a field where a festival was being held. Originally the story was going to be about a fox, but somehow it turned into a little devil instead. I think it turned out cuter that way though, even if it’s a bit odd.

MS: Is there anything you’ve particularly enjoyed about working in the newspaper format?

JF: I really liked the way the colours turned out on newsprint, it just looks very satisfying somehow! It was a big change for me to do something that size, most of my work is very small.

MS: Hemlock has getting a lot of love from a huge variety of critics and creators lately. Are you happy with how it’s going?

JF: Very happy! I’ve had to slow it down a bit recently since I’m in the final year of my degree, but I try and get at least a page up every week. I’m really grateful that people are still reading it despite that. At the moment I’m also working on a secret project as part of my degree called “Kikimora”. It’s related to Hemlock but it’s less of a comic and more like something between an art book and a “choose your own adventure” story. I’m hoping it will be printed in time for May, but it’s going to be tight! It’s still in the planning stages.

MS: What do you think about the current crop of UK anthologies (I’m thinking of Nelson, Solipsistic Pop and ink+PAPER as well Paper Science)?

JF: I like that they’re all trying to do something very different to each other in terms of format and content. But I think it would be nice if there were more anthologies exclusively for people who are just starting out, since a lot of the anthologies you name focus on established creators. Factor Fiction’s “The Girly Comic” was where I first started out. Jay and Selina were very supportive, and that was what encouraged me to self-publish longer stories.

MS: After issue 7 Paper Science is going on a bit of a break for while, but if you could pick a theme for a future issue what would it be and who would draw the cover?

JF: Halloween special! There are a lot of people who could draw a suitably spooky cover. I’d like to see what Harvey James would come up with, I bet it would be gruesome.

Josceline can be found at her website, and you can catch up with Hemlock (which has been a fave of the blog crew) online too. Paper Science is available now. FPI would like to thank Josceline and Matthew for taking the time to share their thoughts on the anthology. You can read the other interviews in this series here; come back tomorrow for our final interview, with none other than The King of Things.

Matthew Sheret: This is your second contribution to Paper Science – what tempted you back?

David O’Connell: I love the newspaper format and would like to use for a project of my own but haven’t got around to it yet – I’m quite happy to piggy-back onto someone else’s project in the meantime. Paper Science has been a great showcase for comics: large-scale yet easy to tuck under your arm or into your bag, colourful with high-quality contributions but still with a rough and ready feel to it. Plus, I could never refuse anything to a gentleman such as Mr Sheret.

MS: Is there anything you’ve particularly enjoyed about working in the newspaper format?

DO: I like that you have to think much harder about how the finished comic will look. Newsprint isn’t so forgiving with respect to your colour choices as a higher quality paper and it adds a texture of its own that isn’t always predictable in its effects. You have to consider the craft more, but there’s still an element of guesswork to it that makes it exciting.

MS: In the last few months you started editing another anthology, ink+PAPER; what tempted you to put on the editorial hat?

DO: It looked like a fun chapeau to don. I also thought there was a place for a book where story and text were on a more equal footing with art and style, something you can read over a few cups of tea rather than something you’ve finished before the kettle’s even boiled. Another idea was to show comics as part of the wider graphic arts world, combining comics with articles on photography, design and craft, so that overall it has a feel of a zine crossed with an old-school comic annual. I was thrilled by the stories people produced for it, the way it turned out and the response it’s received so far.

MS: Do you think that the current crop of UK anthologies are doing a good job of showcasing creators, or is there more to do?

DO: They’re great books and they’re doing wonderful work. But us independent comickers live in a bit of a bubble – we all follow each other on twitter and facebook, attend the same events and read the same blogs. A new publication can seem like a huge deal to us because it’s the only thing everyone on our twitter feed is talking about, but we forget that everyone outside that small subgroup doesn’t even know it exists.

In putting together ink+PAPER I’ve been swamped with submission requests – creating a good book is relatively easy with the wealth of talent that’s out there at the moment. But getting it seen by anyone beyond your small subgroup is the hard part, and that’s where the work lies. And it’s work that is boring, repetitive, time-consuming, financially unrewarding, completely uncreative and requires personality traits with which most comickers are not naturally gifted. I’d love the hand the whole distribution thing over to somebody else – is someone out there prepared to run a small-print-run indie comic distro that deals with non-comic bookshops and outlets? Let me know.

MS: After issue 7 Paper Science is going on a bit of a break for while, but if you could pick a theme for a future issue what would it be and who would draw the cover?

DO: “Life in the gutter”. Cover by Louis Roskosch

David’s work can be found online and at a great many comic shows throughout the year. Find out more about ink+PAPER over the anthology’s website. Paper Science is available now. Tomorrow we catch up with Hemlock creator Josceline Fenton. You can follow the Paper Science 7 interviews so far here on the blog. FPI would like to thank Matthew and David for taking the time to talk us through the new issue.

Continuing our series of week-long interviews with some of the stars of the newly released Brit small press anthology Paper Science 7,(which started yesterday with Marc Ellerby’s chat) today we have Matthew Sheret talking to My Cardboard Life’s creator Philippa Rice.

Matthew Sheret: You first contributed to Paper Science back in #2, with a My Cardboard Life strip. How do you feel the anthology has evolved since between then and your piece for the Music Special (#5)?

Philippa Rice: It’s changed quite a bit since then. Introducing themes for the last three issues has been really good. When I was asked to contribute to the music issue I thought,  “but I don’t know anything about music!”. Actually it was good because I got to write something that I never would have written otherwise.

MS: Is there anything you’ve particularly enjoyed about working in the newspaper format?

PR: I liked working at that big size. You can get a lot more of a story into four pages when they’re massive.

MS: You also wrote a story, illustrated by Luke Pearson, for #4. Was the creative process much different to how you usually work?

PR: I’d never written anything for someone else to draw before. I just approached it in the same way as if I was going to draw it myself and sent Luke a rough draft of the comic scanned out of my sketchbook. We both made changes to it after that but really the process was just the same but shared between two people; I just didn’t have to do the time-consuming drawing bit.

MS: Between collections like Solipsistic Pop and ink+PAPER to projects like Nelson, anthologies seem to be thriving. As a creator, what’s your take on them?

PR: Well I don’t know if Nelson is an anthology really because it’s not really separate pieces of individual work. It’s more like an exquisite corpse or human centipede. The other three are all quite different from each other. I’m glad I got to be in all of them.

One of the things that makes Paper Science special is that in each issue there are comparatively few artists featured so you get to notice them a bit more.

MS: After the new issues Paper Science is going on a bit of a break for while, but if you could pick a theme for a future issue what would it be and who would draw the cover?

PR: The theme should be scary stories and you should get a real ghost to draw the cover!

Philippa’s wonderfully unusual series My Cardboard Life is updated every weekday, and you can see more of her work at her (new) website. Paper Science is available now. Stay tuned for the next in this series of interviews with contributors to the new issue tomorrow with David O’Connell; you can read the previous interview in the series with Marc Ellerby here. FPI would like to thank Philippa and Matt for taking the time to share their thoughts on the new issue.

Issue 7 of comics anthology Paper Science (one of the gems of the excellentBrit small press anthology comics we’ve been enjoying in recent years) is out today, and to mark the occasion we’ve got interviews with some of the series stars all this week as Paper Science’s Head Boffin Matthew Sheret talks to some of the contributors. First up it’s Chloe Noonan creator Marc Ellerby, who contributes ‘The Minke Whale’, written by Meryl Trussler.

Matthew Sheret: You contributed to the very first issue of Paper Science; how has it changed in the intervening time?

Marc Ellerby: Well there’s more than one comic now so, y’know, quite a bit. Before planning my strip in the newest issue I went back and looked over the older issues just to see how many panels I could get away with in such a tight space and I was amazed that there was like one comic in the first issue and it was [Adam] Cadwell’s. It was more interview and prose based, which I’m glad you broke away from.

MS: Is there anything you’ve particularly enjoyed about working in the newspaper format?

ME: The size! With PS 7 it was great; even though I only had 2 pages to work with I could still fit 4 pages worth of comics in the layout. You can really slow the reading process down and tell quite a dense story in the size available and that’s how I approached both our PS7 story and my PS5 strip. The PS7 story has, what, 40-50 panels over a double page spread… I consciously wanted the layout to look unlike the other strips in the anthology so far.

Also, this might bore some people, but newspaper printing isn’t the same as using a traditional press. So often the colours you have on screen is different to what is printed; the paper almost sucks the boldness out from it and it handles shades of some colours differently to others (it doesn’t seem to like blue very much). It was one of the few projects where I really had to think with the colour, not get too snazzy, and yet still be interesting with my palette. I think Cadwell’s colours on the King of Things have been gooooooooorgeous! But then it is Cadwell and he does have the magical Photoshop skills.

MS: What was it like working with writer Meryl Trussler for your Paper Science 7 story?

ME: Wonderful! I’ve known Meryl for years and I’ve followed her writing for just as long (she wrote a great piece about webcomics for Plan B magazine don’t you know) and it’s her style of writing that I love – that it seems so familiar and quirky without being obnoxious and I thought that we would be a good fit. She came along to that London Small Press Expo thing last year. I casually asked her if she would write me a comic and she said yes.

I gotta say that I’m probably not the best person to work with as Meryl was like “what do you want to draw?” and my reply was “I dunno SHRUG”. All I knew is that I wanted a quick break from drawing monster hunters. I love the comic we did though and hope we can do something else down the line.

Plus she is hella into The Muppets, so y’know…

MS: What do you think about the current crop of UK anthologies?

ME: I haven’t read Nelson (controversial, I know) or ink+PAPER yet. If I wasn’t in Paper Science it would still be one of my favourite anthologies because it’s full of the type of comics I love to read. It embraces POP comics in a way that’s largely ignored by the UK industry and that’s why I’m really sad to see it going on a break, Matt. Like really sad! In a scene built on the idea that “Highbrow is the Only Way” Paper Science stuck out.

I really like the Songbird anthology for the same reasons. Don’t get me wrong I like a bit of navel gazing as much as the next tote-bag carrying indie comic fan, but comics can be funny or entertaining and still be full of heart. Just because it’s fun doesn’t mean it has any less worth. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again ‘pop isn’t a dirty word’ and you really took note of that. Who else is going to fly the flag for these type of comics?

MS: Well, as you said, Paper Science is going on a bit of a break for while… but if you could pick a theme for a future issue what would it be and who would draw the cover?

ME: History would be good wouldn’t it? Will Kirkby should draw the cover as he is AMAZING!

You can see more of Marc’s work at his website, and stay up to date with what he’s had for breakfast over on Twitter. Paper Science is available now.

Come back tomorrow for an interview with My Cardboard Life creator Philippa Rice. FPI would like to thank Matt and Marc for taking the time to share their thoughts on the new work.

Panel Borders: Habbibi Blankets, Sunday 29th January on Resonance FM, podcast after transmission on Panel Borders

Concluding our month of shows looking at biography and autobiography in comics, Alex Fitch talks to the multiple award winning (and Grammy nominated) cartoonist Craig Thompson about his epic new graphic novel Habibi (My beloved). Alex and Craig discuss the 672 page book’s reworking of themes from One Thousand and One Nights, mixing in modern concerns about gender politics and pollution in the Middle East and how his previous autobiographical works Blankets and Carnet de Voyage, with their themes of sexual awakening, religion and travelogue, led to his latest work.

Book List: Children’s book illustration, Tuesday 31st January at 8pm on Resonance FM, podcast on Panel Borders afterwards

In an hour long show about children’s book illustration, Alex Fitch talks to three generations of illustrators: David McKee, creator of Mr Benn, King Rollo and Elmer the Patchwork Elephant; Dave McKean, artist of of young adult books by David Almond, graphic novels and picture books by Neil Gaiman and Richard Dawkins’ first science book for children The Magic of Reality; and Jim Kay, illustrator of Patrick Ness’ A Monster Calls and Toby Forward’s Flaxfield Quartet of novels about dragons.

Also includes an extract from Dave McKean’s presentation of his work from The Magic of Reality at the book launch in Foyles, September 2011.

Recent podcasts:

Panel Borders: Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes

Continuing our month of shows about biography and autobiography, guest presenter Nicola Streeten interviews Bryan and Mary Talbot about their forthcoming graphic novel, Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes, which contrasts two coming of age narratives: Lucia, daughter of James Joyce, and author Mary Talbot, daughter of the Joycean scholar James S Atherton. (Recorded and edited by Alex Fitch)

Laydeez do podcasts – Judith Vanistendael: Dance by the light of the moon

In a Q and A recorded at Bar Music Hall in East London as part of Comica Festival, 2010, Paul Gravett talks to Flemish cartoonist Judith Vanistendael about her semi-autobiographical graphic novel Dance by the light of the moon, published in the UK by Self Made Hero. (Recorded and edited by Alex Fitch, introduced by Sarah Lightman)

“TOM SPURGEON: One thing that intrigues me about your comics-reading past is that you claim to have been a British comics-only kind of kid. How do you think you’re a different artist for having that specific reading experience? Do you still value anything you learned from reading Battle and 2000 AD?

TOM GAULD: It’s true that I never got into mainstream American comics as a kid, but I did read Asterix and Tintin a lot. Our local paper started running The Far Side and I loved that and [Gary] Larson inspired me a great deal.

But to answer your question, I think maybe the science fiction and black humour of 2000 AD fed into my work.
Probably more importantly Battle led me into reading 2000 AD which led me into reading Deadline which got me interested in alternative comics generally.

SPURGEON: You’ve said that you discovered you could actually do comics and cartoons for a living while in art school; do you remember how you figured that out, and what the effect of suddenly having that possibility open up for you was like?

GAULD: Before I went to art school (Edinburgh College of Art) I thought I’d have to do something like graphic design to earn a living, but when I got there I tried the illustration course (in the first year you did a bit of everything) and realised if I did that I could just draw all the time. That really appealed to me, there were/are aspects of design, painting and making things that I liked but it was drawing that I really loved. At Edinburgh I was mainly doing illustrations but towards the end I started making more narrative work then sort of ran out of time to do what I wanted, so I applied to study for two more years at The Royal College of Art in London. That’s when I really got into making comics, the course was really open and I had lots of time to do my own thing, my tutors and fellow students were really encouraging. I also met Simone Lia there and we made our first comic (called First).”

Panel Borders: Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes, Thursday 22nd January at 8pm on Resonance FM, podcast on Panel Borders after transmission

Continuing our month of shows about biography and autobiography, guest presenter Nicola Streeten interviews Bryan and Mary Talbot about their forthcoming graphic novel, Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes, which contrasts two coming of age narratives: Lucia, daughter of James Joyce, and author Mary Talbot, daughter of the Joycean scholar James S Atherton. (Recorded and edited by Alex Fitch). You can also read a Director’s Commentary guest post with Mary and Bryan talking us through some of Dotter here on the blog.

(Lucia Joyce in the sanatorium, words by Mary Talbot, art by Bryan Talbot, published Jonathan Cape)

Laydeez do podcasts – Judith Vanistendael: Dance by the light of the moon

In a Q and A recorded at Bar Music Hall in East London as part of Comica Festival, 2010, Paul Gravett talks to Flemish cartoonist Judith Vanistendael about her semi-autobiographical graphic novel Dance by the light of the moon, published in the UK by Self Made Hero. (Recorded and edited by Alex Fitch, introduced by Sarah Lightman). Judith has a new book just out in Belgium and France this month and due out in English from SelfMadeHero this April, When David Lost His Voice.

Recent podcasts:

Panel Borders: Collier’s War

Continuing our month of shows on biography and autobiography, Alex Fitch talks to Canadian cartoonist David Collier about his work, from his Collier’s self published comics to graphic novels such as Chimo released by Drawn and Quarterly. Alex and David also talk about the latter’s experiences serving in the army and getting advice from Robert Crumb. (Recorded live in front of an audience at the Imperial War Museum, London).

Panel Borders: Animating Tatsumi

Starting a month of shows on biography and autobiography, Alex Fitch and Dickon Harris interview comic creator turned animator Eric Khoo who’s directed a portmanteau film called Tatsumi (released 13/01/12), based on the work of mangaka Yoshihiro Tatsumi, including five of his gekiga short stories with bookends adapting his autobiography A Drifting Life. You can read a Director’s Commentary with Eric talking us through some of the film here on the blog.

“Matt: It seems to me that a lot of your work focuses on societies in transition, be it northern European communities responding to Christianity or the fragile peace of demilitarized New York. The Massive continues this theme. What interests you about these stories?

Brian: I think the point of change is ripe material for any writer, and at any scale. I think I first figured that out with my Demo series in 2003, which, put briefly, was about these troubled people at a crossroads, faced with decisions that would radically alter their lives depending on which way they went. Those were smaller scale stories to be sure, but the same idea applies no matter how big you get. In Northlanders, as you reference, that series was set, deliberately, at a time of huge change, an entire way of life turning over, and there is no end to the stories you can set there.

That’s sort of the technical reason, the pragmatic benefit as a writer looking for great material. Personally, I like to create situations where I can put my characters through hell, where they are forced to examine who they are and why they do what they do, and how those actions can affect others. I like hard time and tragedies and stories of struggle. And specifically with The Massive, the near-future enviro-disaster world hits on a lot of stuff that’s been on my mind for a couple years, themes of austerity and scarcity of food and societal breakdown and the health of the oceans.”