Alex Fitch chats to Olivia Sullivan and Myfanwy Tristram about their graphic novels Oracles and Noisy Valley on the latest Panel Borders radio show this Wednesday, which feature nature as a remedy for grief, and the history of resistance in the Welsh Valleys respectively.
Also, in a Q and A recorded at Cartoon County, Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson discusses his work in satirical cartoons and poetry, as seen in such books as The Love Songs of Late Capitalism, published by Smokestack Books in 2022, and The *untsiad, published in 2024.
World Illustration Awards 2019 Shortlisted Artist Olivia Sullivan, who holds a Masters in Information Experience Design from the Royal College of Art, is an illustrator, published comic artist and experimental designer. Her practice explores graphic narratives through visual poetry and surreal stories. She gained her BA in Illustration from Camberwell College of Arts, UAL.
Oracles is her debut graphic novel, published by Avery Hill Publishing, a graphic novel journey through the wilderness to face the complications and complexities of grief and loss.
When the everyday becomes overwhelming, our protagonist begins to travel through the world to find wonder and a true escape – and to discover more about themself. As they navigate through the forest, the ocean, the desert, and the mountains in a trip of peace, turmoil and reflection, the narrator encounters mushrooms, sage creatures, whirlpools and learns more about themselves in the process. With gorgeous art and lyrical, contemplative text, this graphic novel is a passage from uncertainty to joy and understanding.
Noisy Valley, just published by SelfMadeHero, is the latest graphic novel from Myfanwy Tristram, shortlisted for the UK’s prestigious First Graphic Novel Award. It’s a love letter to a small Welsh community, and a spirited defence of the act of protest, at a time when our rights are being eroded. It reframes activism from the prevailing narrative that it is undesirable, dangerous, even illegal – and reminds us that protest can be a creative, joyful act – and a necessary counterbalance to the world’s wrongs.
Myfanwy, who will be making an appearance at Leeds LitFest on 6th June, alongside The Rickard Sisters, is a graphic novelist based in Brighton, whose work focuses on activism and social history. Her comics have been shortlisted for several awards. In 2017, Myf co-ordinated and published Draw the Line, depicting more than 100 simple actions to help change the world. Her self-published work, Running Out, was shortlisted for the 2026 Cartoonist Studio Prize for Short-form Comics.
Martin Rowson is a satirist, political cartoonist, illustrator, graphic novelist, author, performer, broadcaster and poet, His ‘visual journalism’ – “[the] scourge of the political establishment” – currently appears regularly in The Guardian, The Morning Star and Byline Times (he’s previously been published by everyone you can think of, apart from The Sun and Private Eye, and performed everywhere from India to the Edinburgh Fringe).
In 2000 he was appointed Cartoonist Laureate for London when Ken Livingstone was Mayor of the City. His books include graphic adaptations of The Waste Land, Tristram Shandy and The Communist Manifesto, as well as The *untsiad, published in 2024, an updated riff on Alexander Pope’s The Dunciad, in 2050 lines of heroic couplet. His memoir Stuff was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize.
He was awarded an honorary fellowships by Goldsmiths College in 2014 and the Zoological Society of London in 2023.
• Panel Borders: Protest Comics broadcasts at 5.00pm, Wednesday 3rd June 2026, repeat broadcast 11am, Sunday 7th June, Resonance 104.4 FM + DAB (London) / broadcast streamed at resonancefm.com / more info and podcast after broadcast at panelborders.wordpress.com
• Leeds LitFest: Placards & Panels: Graphic novels as protest 1.00pm, Saturday 6th June 2026, Hyde Park Book Club, 27-29 Headingley Lane, Headingley, Leeds LS6 1BL | Tickets Cost £8 or £10 + booking fee and are available here
(Standard tickets for this event are priced at £8, but the LitFest have also included an option to buy a £10 ticket if you would like to support Leeds Lit Fest by giving a little more)
- 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: Audio, British Comics, Comic Art, Comics, Creating Comics, Digital Media, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds, Podcasts
Leave a Reply