Enter the Mollusc Dimension at Cartoon County!

By John Freeman on February 9, 2025 • ( 1 )

Brighton’s Cartoon County hosts “The Mollusc Dimension at Cartoon County” on Monday 24th February, with prolific zinester and musician The Mollusc Dimension, author of the comic book memoir The Weird and Wonderful Surviveries of Squid Horse, in conversation with Resonance FM’s Alex Fitch.

*TMD at Common Press Bookshop, at the launch of “The Weird & Wonderful Surviveries of Squid Horse” in October 2024. Photo: JY Mak*

The Mollusc Dimension (he/him), aka TMD, is a multidisciplinary, project-based artist creating quirky own voice and socio-cultural comment – motivated by community, connection and transformation. He is British-born Chinese, trans-masculine, non binary, queer, bisexual, neurodivergent and disabled.

His debut comic memoir The Weird & Wonderful Surviveries of Squid Horse (exploring mental health, grief and growing up in the 1980s, ‘90s and beyond) was published in 2024, supported by Arts Council England. His musical comedy show Asians Have Feelings Too (also ACE-funded) took place at Rich Mix in London and the music video won the “Favourite Award” from the Trans Pride Brighton Film Event.

His work has been published by Aghh! Zine, BESEA.N, Bluebird Anthology, Ink Sweat & Tears, Snowflake magazine and others, and he’s performed for Bitten Peach UK, ESEA Sisters (Southbank Centre), Quiplash (Mighty Hoopla), Moonfest (Trinity Centre, Bristol), Trans Pride Brighton (Brighton Dome) and many more.

Drawn to the feminist DIY art scene in the early 2000s, The Mollusc Dimension has self-published 20+ zines and tabled at fairs since 2011, including Thought Bubble, Helsinki Comics Fest, ESEA Gather ’N’ Grow and ESEA Cultural Festival. The Mollusc Dimension has given talks for Queer China UK and LDComics and run drawing/creative workshops for Bi Poets Online, EVR ESEA, Queer Neurodivergent Writers Group, The Queery and many others.

The Weird and Wonderful Surviveries of Squid Horse By The Mollusc Dimension

Squid Horse includes 37 short ‘demi-autobiographical’ tales which relate the author’s experience of growing up as a trans creator of East Asian ancestry, experiencing racism and transphobia, while finding an escape in art and music.
The author has had over twenty zines published, had work included in various collections and also won an award at the Brighton Trans Pride Film Festival for the music video Asians Have Feelings Too.

Alex Fitch will be chatting to TMD about influences in the comic, how it relates to a parallel career in music, and what projects are coming next.

Cartoon County is a Brightion-based community for everyone who makes or enjoys comics, cartoons and graphic story-telling. Every month, they invite a comic-maker to join them and talk about their work with host Alex Fitch. These interviews are recorded and subsequently broadcast on Resonance FM’s Panel Borders, of which Alex is also the presenter.

• Brighten’s Cartoon County hosts “The Mollusc Dimension at Cartoon County” 7.30pm Monday 24th February (doors open at 6.30pm, Q&A at 7.30pm), The Walrus, 10 Ship Street, Brighton BN1 1AD and online via Zoom from 7.30

You only need to register here for free through EventBrite if you are attending online; otherwise the Cartoon County team look forward to welcoming you in person at The Walrus

• The Mollusc Dimension is online at themolluscdimension.com

• The Weird and Wonderful Surviveries of Squid Horse is available from Argonaut Books (Edinburgh), The Common Press (East London), Gay’s The Word (Central London), Juniper by the Sea (online + pop-up), The Queery (Brighton) and Writing our Legacy

Cartoon County meetings are held on the last Monday of the month (exceptions occasionally apply, so check their Facebook page before setting out). See here for details about Cartoon County’s next guest. There is usually no need to register, except on rare occasions when their guest is so popular that they risk exceeding the capacity of the room – they will always announce this on Facebook, Twitter and Eventbrite beforehand

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as 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.