Comics Youth CIC and Comics Youth SCIO have announced that Mollie Ray has been appointed as the UK’s inaugural Young Comics Laureate – a ground-breaking national role designed to champion comics for young people of all ages.
Mollie will be officially unveiled as Young Comics Laureate later today, Friday 26th September 2025, at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival in Bowness-on-Windermere, following a youth-led process co-designed with the Comics Youth Development Board and a national public vote that drew over 600 participants. This makes the Laureate not only a cultural milestone but also a powerful statement about young people shaping their own future in the arts.
The new role complements the existing UK Comics Laureate, launched by LICAF in 2015 and currently held by Bobby Joseph, extending its impact by giving younger generations a platform to advocate for the power of comics in culture, education, and social change.
This pioneering initiative is made possible thanks to the support of the Charlie Adlard Foundation — founded by Charlie Adlard, acclaimed artist of The Walking Dead. His commitment to empowering the next generation of comics creators and readers ensures the Laureate is a paid, 12-month role with national reach.
Mollie Ray, from Lancashire, is an acclaimed comics artist whose debut graphic novel Giant (Faber & Faber, 2024) tells the story of a family navigating a teenage boy’s cancer diagnosis — a wordless, emotionally charged work inspired by her younger brother’s illness.
Beyond her own practice, Mollie has led workshops in schools, SEN settings, care systems, and refugee communities, and collaborated internationally, including in Palestine, to help young people tell their stories through comics.
A Laureate for Young People
As Laureate, Mollie will:
• Champion comics as tools for creativity and resilience — showing how they help young people process experiences and imagine new futures.
• Bring comics into classrooms and communities — ensuring access regardless of background or circumstance.
• Celebrate youth voices — spotlighting the role of young people as storytellers, truth-tellers, and cultural changemakers.
Mollie said: “Creating Giant was incredibly healing for me. Through this role, I want to share that power — showing how making comics can help young people process their own experiences, spark creativity, and connect with others. ”
Youth Power in Action
The youth-led design and public vote behind the Laureate make it unique among cultural appointments. By entrusting young people to create, shortlist, and select the role’s first holder, Comics Youth has ensured the Laureate reflects their needs and priorities.
“This is history in the making,” said Rhiannon Mair Griffiths MBE, Co-Founder of Comics Youth. “Young people have designed the role, voted for their Laureate, and chosen Mollie to represent them nationally. With more than 600 votes, the message is loud and clear: young people want comics at the heart of culture, and they want their stories heard.”
“Since 2015, the adult Comics Laureate has promoted the power of comics nationally — with Bobby Joseph currently leading that charge,” added Julie Tait, Festival Director of LICAF. “Mollie’s appointment as the first Young Comics Laureate is the perfect complement, ensuring the future of comics is shaped by young people themselves.”
Founded in 2015, Comics Youth CIC is a creative social enterprise supporting marginalised children and young people aged 8–25 to improve mental health, amplify their voices, and drive social change through comics. Its charitable arm, Comics Youth SCIO, was established in 2021 in Dundee. Together, they have supported over 5,000 young people across the UK.
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival returns to Bowness-on-Windermere this weekend – Friday 26th – Sunday 28th September 2025.
• Comics Youth is online at comicsyouth.co.uk | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Instagram |
• Mollie Ray is online at mollieray.co.uk
• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is online at: www.comicartfestival.com | BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Little LICAF on Facebook | Little LICAF on Instagram
• Tickets for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2025 are on sale here
• For more on the Lakes International Comic Art Festival’s Comic Development Work please visit Comics Can Change the World at comicscanchangetheworld.com | Follow Comics4Change on BlueSky
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
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.
Categories: British Comics, Comic Art, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events
Original “Lord Snooty” art by Dudley Watkins offered at auction 
Lakes Festival announces further guests, including Martin Rowson, Bryan and Mary Talbot 
2000AD Ian Richardson signing announced 
Comics, Creativity and Hastings Comic Con with Russell Mark Olson, Karrie Fransman and Ant Williams
Leave a Reply