What was your first video game?
And how many times since you first played it has someone said “Those can’t be good for you”?
The new comic anthology Video Games For Good, curated by Claire Hubbard, sets out to counter that comment.
Claire Hubbard told downthetubes, “Video Games For Good was partially inspired by a consistent apprehension to talk about a hobby that I’ve enjoyed for most of my life – playing video games. In the past, when asked what I did at the weekend, I would usually make something up, because if I told the truth – that I was playing video games – I would be met with blank stares or criticism (one such response I can recall: “Isn’t that just something that teenage boys do?”)
“The more I thought about it, the more I realised games meant so much more to me than a casual time-passing hobby. Games have formed the basis of so many of my happy childhood memories, and throughout my life I have met and bonded with many new friends (including many of the book’s contributors) through our shared interest.”
“In short, I genuinely feel that I owe a great deal to video games, and I wanted to create something that would help convince others of their worth. Inspired by Zac Gorman’s nostalgic Magical Game Time and the collaborative fan zines Kirby Dream Zine by Ashley Davis and Fez Zine by Kevin Jay Stanton, I discussed it with a couple of artist friends who responded positively and had similar experiences and that’s when I came to the conclusion that this was a project worth pursuing!”
Claire then used social media to open the idea to a wider audience and “the response was great – artists were reminiscing about time spent exploring and appreciating expertly crafted virtual worlds, bonding with siblings and making friends, just as I had. I felt connected to these like-minded people through our shared experiences, and validated in shouting even louder about gaming as a respectable and worthwhile pursuit.”
Pulling the anthology together took several years and it was eventually funded via Kickstarter where it achieved twice its funding goal.
There are sixteen contributors in total, mostly comic artists and illustrators, providing a selection of mainly short autobiographical strips with a few full page pin-ups and they also get to explain the background for their pieces in a biography section at the back of the book.
The creators included in Video Games For Good are –
Claire goes on to tell us, “It’s a charity project, with most of the profits going to Edinburgh Sick Kids Friends Foundation (chosen because of its links to the inspirational Sick Kids Save Point, a fundraising gaming marathon). Recently we were able to make our first donation of £213, and hope to raise much more in the future. The artists were kind enough to donate their time and talents to enable us to raise as much money as possible, but are given the option to buy copies at a reduced cost to sell on and make a bit of money back.”
Video Games For Good is a 40 page, A5, full colour comic and is sold online on BigCartel and Etsy as well as various Comic Cons.
Upcoming cons that Claire will be exhibiting at include Glasgow Comic Con at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Saturday 1 July 2017 and Thought Bubble in Leeds on the weekend of 23/24 September 2017.
There are more details of all Claire’s work at her website Emseeitch.
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