The SEQUENT’ULL Interviews: Colossive Press

By downthetubes Guests on July 21, 2024 • ( 1 )

Ahead of the free SEQUENT’ULL Comic Art Festival taking place in Hull on Saturday 31st August 2024, organiser and fellow creative Sean Azzopardi chats with guests at the event, continuing with the team from Colossive Press…

The SEQUENT’ULL Interviews: Colossive Press

Could you talk a little about yourself and your work?

We’re a very small press, based in Penge, South London. It’s just the two of us – Tom and Jane – overseen by our feline CEOs, Gertie and Gracie. Our publications include the ever-expanding Colossive Cartographies series, plus comics and zines about ghosts, grief, graffiti, graphic medicine, football, cats, Croydon Spaceport and lots more made-up nonsense.

What are you currently working on?

Jane: Our Colossive Cartographies collection is never-ending. Sorry, I mean ‘ongoing’. Back in 2020, Tom came up with the idea for a collaborative series, based on the Turkish map fold. It’s an A4 sheet that folds up into an A6 cover then pops open rather pleasingly – as you know, Sean, because your brilliant cartography is No. 2 in the series.

As I write, we’ve just launched No. 57 – but I’m sure there’ll be one or two more before the end of August.

We’ve worked with some amazing creators and absolutely love seeing what people come up with. Four years on, I’ve finally mastered the Turkish map fold so can help Tom with all the folding and sticking. Other than that, I always have about 10 zine ideas on the go – some of which even come to fruition!

Tom: Something we’re very excited about is Book Three of Fractures by A Wolfgang Crowe. Beyond the raw power of his story – about the aftermath of a violent homophobic attack – Wolf has got an incredible imaginative grasp of the possibilities of comics. The way he uses page design to juggle time and space and reflect his characters’ states of mind is amazing.

Personally, I’ve recently started using the facilities at the wonderful London Centre for Book Arts, so I’m hoping to do some experimental short-run stuff using riso, letterpress etc, along with some clothbound ‘de luxe’ cartographies.

Why comics? What are the core reasons for working with this medium?

Tom: It really is the most amazingly versatile art form, ranging from abstract to representational and from verbal to ‘silent’ as needed. Every creator brings their own unique fingerprint to their work. I was lucky enough to get into comics in the mid-1980s, at a time when creators in the mainstream and the small press/indie scene were blowing the bloody doors off and drawing new maps of the stories comics could tell and how they could be told. You could walk into a newsagent and find showcases like Escape, Heartbreak Hotel and Deadline on the shelf next to iD, Blitz and The Face. Fortunately, there’s still no shortage of new voices looking for ways to push the medium.

Jane: A lot of what we do ourselves is ‘comics-adjacent’ – text-only or photo zines – largely because neither of us can draw very well! But we really enjoy collaborating with artists, and we’d love to publish more comics in future. There’s more than one way to tell a story. What matters is that you tell it.

So much creative time is absorbed by engaging with social media, conventions and other publicity tasks. While necessary to a degree, is it worth it?

Jane: I’ve got into the habit of posting on Instagram most days, and always check out other creators’ accounts. But trying to outwit social media algorithms can be very frustrating – and quite baffling sometimes. One of our most popular posts was a picture of a suitcase on a station platform when we were on the way to a zine fair. I mean, what’s that all about? Really, though, if something feels like a chore or starts getting you down, it’s not worth doing.

Tom: Jane’s right – the vagaries of the algorithms can leave you wondering why you bother, but of course you have to keep trying to reach people by whatever means are open to you.

We really enjoy tabling at comic and zine fairs – the combination of catching up with old friends, discovering new creators and introducing our work (and small-press publishing in general) to people who might just have wandered in off the street. We like putting together our newsletter – it gives us a chance to connect with ‘our people’ in a more relaxed way that actually sounds like us!

With social media looking like it’s in its death-throes, newsletters are suddenly the future again!

Do you feel connected to a comics scene in anyway?

Tom: I don’t know about being part of a ‘scene’, but we’ve been lucky enough to make a lot of good friends – both readers and fellow creators – through what we do with Colossive. There has always been a real sense of community in the comics/small press/DIY culture world – that’s why heroes like Sean take on the task of organising events like Sequent’ull. And let’s not forget the magic of the ‘communal table’, where you can just turn up with whatever you’ve produced and get it in front of an audience.

Could you recommend some current creators for that are making good stuff?

Jane: How long have you got? There are so many amazing creators doing important work – including everyone at Sequent’ull and all our Colossive Cartographers and Cartographers-to-be, of course.

Just to pick one, though, Hayley Gullen is a very talented writer and cartoonist who’s working on a graphic memoir about her experience of breast cancer under 40. It’s very much her story – but it’s told with such wit, insight and honesty. Everyone should read it.

Tom: Oof, probably too many to mention! J Webster Sharp has been mesmerising readers with herhaunting work for a while, and has her debut graphic novel coming out from Avery Hill later in the year – she’s a superstar in the making.

Mereida Fajardo is a frighteningly talented artist, who does amazing things with print formats that show just what a wonderfully versatile thing comics can be.

And it’s been great to see Ed Pinsent back on the scene. He was one of the driving forces behind the thriving UK small press scene in the 1980s, and it’s been a real thrill to publish a couple of Colossive Cartographies by him. And don’t forget Wolf and Fractures!

Have you visited Hull before?

Tom: Yes, although it was nearly 40 years ago and I was bladdered for much of the trip (visiting a mate at the university), so I’m looking forward to getting a slightly clearer picture this time round!

Jane: No – but better late than never, eh? As well as seeing everyone at Sequent’ull, I’m looking forward to searching out some of Hull’s street art. And going to the pub. Obviously.

• Check out Colossive Press at colossive.com

• SEQUENT’ULL Comic Art Festival 2024
11.00am – 6.00pm Saturday 31st August 2024 | Free Entry
Jubilee Central, 62 King Edward Street, Hull HU1 3SQ
• Facebook Event Page

Independent comic artists and publishers, selling comics graphic novels and prints.

Exhibitors Include: Breakdown Press, Colossive Press, Footprints Workers CoOp, Michelle Freeman, Sarah Gordon, Gareth Hopkins, Jake Machen, Shane Melisse, Douglas Noble, Alex Potts, Scarborough Zine Library, Mark Stafford, Lucy Sullivan, James Webster Sharp, Dan White and Lilly Williams