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Web Finds: Essential Sequential, delivering the ABC Comics Project to long-term unemployed

By John Freeman on February 2, 2017

Essential Sequential is a not-for-profit organisation created to provide creative workshops and activities for mainstream and hard-to-reach individuals of virtually all ages and abilities – and they’re working on a number of projects in the works, including the ABC Comic Project, which helps long-term unemployed participants explore and uncover possible routes to employment or training through comic creation and solution-focused storytelling.

Created for Neighbourhoods That Work, a five-year multi-agency project in Great Yarmouth designed to improve community resilience, the ABC comic workshops demonstrate skills and techniques used by professionals to create amazing comic book stories and artwork whilst exploring the participants career and training options.

One of the pieces of art created as part of the ABC Comics Project workshops

The aims and goals of the workshop are to use storytelling and comic drawing to explore and discuss each step on their journey with the workshop leader or others in the group could help uncover possible routes to your personal goals that could go undiscovered.

The workshop leader on Essential Sequential is Stuart Paterson, who delivered his first Comic Drawing Workshop in 2014 following decades of experience as a commercial designer and Illustrator. As an avowed comic, game and movie geek Stuart uses his considerable skills and limitless enthusiasm to help groups of virtually any age and ability create stories and artwork for their own original comic strips.

Essential Sequential are also working with creative students at Great Yarmouth College to mould them into a comic publishing team that will draft, write, design and promote their own, original comic book, and Moving Ink, a National Lottery-funded year-long series of 24 creative workshops, working within flexible and accessible locations at the point of need. The project will work with a minimum of 75 young people (aged between 16 to 24 years old) identified as being at risk of or who is currently NEET and having faced specific challenges in seeking to find meaningful employment or further education and training opportunities.

• If you are interested in taking part in this project, either as an individual or as an organisation, or think your organisation could benefit from creating comics, contact project leader Stuart Paterson via the Essential Sequential web site | Facebook | Pinterest | Follow Stuart Paterson on Twitter @stoorat

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “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.