The Comics Cultural Impact Collective (CCIC) think you should make a community comic or zine for your next MP, even though – and perhaps because – you don’t yet know who will win the General Election.
Home-made comics, CCIC say, will clearly show MPs the power of the medium for communication, at a time when funding for the arts has been slashed.
Tory leader Rishi Sunak recently named Comics Arts courses as one of those he considered to be “Mickey Mouse” degrees, and Labour’s Thangam Debbonaire, who was their Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has previously said she remains committed to a review of Arts Council England, which funds many comic projects and supports a wide range of individual comic creators.
CCIC, a Community Interest Company that seeks to make a better cultural landscape for comics in the UK, suggest that people make their comic now, before the election, so that its messaging can be unencumbered by party politics. It should lay out the maker’s priorities for their new politician, perhaps including better funding for the Arts.
The comic itself will not be sent to the MP until September, when, CCIC says, the new intake will have found their feet and have time to read it. But in the meantime, their creators may wish to print out a few copies to hand to canvassers in return for their election leaflets.
Myfanwy Tristram, Co-Director of CCIC and a comics-maker herself, says, “One nice thing about this point in time is that there’s no certainty about who your MP will be. That makes it the ideal moment to show what matters to you, without including any party political bias or vitriol.”
CCIC are encouraging creators to share their comics online with the hashtag #comicsforMPs, and will be keeping an archive of submissions as evidence of the power of the comic arts form that will feed into their ongoing research and advocacy.
Children and adults alike are welcome to take part. Tristram continues, “The under-18s don’t have a vote, but the decisions made in this General Election will affect them for years to come – so what better way to get their voice heard than to put it all into a comic?”
• Find out more about the project at linkedin.com/pulse/send-zine-your-mp-help-them-see-what-comics-can-do-myfanwy-nixon-kpi5e | Project Details | More on “Mickey Mouse degrees”
• Comics Cultural Impact Collective website: thecomicsculturalimpactcollective.org
CCIC’s Co-Directors: Myfanwy Tristram, Zara Slattery, Karrie Fransman, Rhiannon Griffiths MBE, Hannah Berry and Sara Kenney.
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, Comic Art, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds
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