Wonderfunders, the free Crowd Funding Platform For Comics and Sequential Art projects, has announced the impending publication of Memorial – the Great War Centenary Anthology in aid of the War Child charity.

The project, which we first reported on last year, is being published in in association with comics creator Christopher Geary.

2014 saw the arrival of a century since the start of the Great War, “The War to end all Wars”. To mark  the centenary, British small press artist Christopher Geary was moved to create an anthology of sequential stories, prose and poetry based upon the Great War.

Having previously worked on similar projects, Christopher sought support from indie creator and Wonderfunders publisher James Lynch and indie author John Parkes.

Soon after this numerous indie creators, many from the Wonderfunders team, along with creative talents from Ravenfish Studios began work. Several well respected independent writers and artists also joined the project, including renowned Commando author Ferg Handley, whose strip, “The Chances” has been drawn by South Carolina-based comic artist Tim Teague.

Others involved include writers Arthur Gibson, Jay Martin and Patrick Scattergood and artists Louis M. Slater and Dustin Pageloff, and many more.

Pencils from a page of “The Chances”, written by Ferg Handley and drawn by Tim Teague

Are there any unusual takes on Great War tales in the stories submitted so far, I asked?

“One story is particular, by Arthur Gibson, is quite far out – called “Eyes On” – with disembodied eyeballs of allies and a German soldier in the afterlife. My own entry, “Boromée”, is about a French farmer mistakenly killed on the eve of the Battle of the Somme – that story is close to completion in pencils by Paul Andrew Kemble.

“The decision to support War Child was simple,” he adds. “Given the subject matter of Memorial, the team felt it was fitting that any proceeds raised from the sale of the book go to benefit children who have been affected by war zones around the world.”

Wonderfunders is an international non-profit endeavor that seeks to provide valuable benefits to the independent comics, graphic novel, and English language manga producing community. There’s more on their aims here.

• For more information, visit the Memorial project page on the Wonderfunders web site, find the project on Facebook here – or follow its progress on Twitter @MemorialAnth

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

Categories: British Comics, downthetubes Comics News

Tags: Arthur Gibson, Christopher Geary, Comics Charity Projects, Dustin Pageloff, Ferg Handley, James Lynch, Jay Martin, John Parkes, Louis M. Slater-Dodd, Memorial – the Great War Centenary Anthology, Patrick Scattergood, Ravenfish Studios, Tim Teague, War Child, War Comics, Wonderfunders