And another thing...

Look! Look at this!

Yeah! That's right! It's a Peanuts collection. I recently planted myself, like some gruesome vegetable, at my sister's and read this for a couple of days. Peanuts shouldn't need any introduction of course; everyone knows about it and it's characters, right?

No?! Some of you out there are shaking your heads, or looking a little sheepish. Okay, so there was this young cartoonist called Charles M. Schulz who decided to create this world (alomst solely) inhabited by a cast of small children and a dog named Snoopy, and so, Peanuts was born! Okay, so I may have missed a few steps, and left out any 'struggle to become a famous comic strip artist/writer' bits, but that's because we all know of course (or should know) that Mr. Schulz did make it, in a big way.

Anyway, the picture above is a shot of the first collection. That's right, the first proper Peanuts daily and sunday strips. In this collection you'll find over 300 pages of hundreds of shorts, all realized, written and drawn by Charles Schulz. Plus a sizeable essay on Schulz, an epic interview with Schulz himself and an introduction. It's a great collection too. Right from the off that gentle, Schulz-brand humour shines through; whether it be delivered through slapstick, a running gag or some quick, quirky, meaningful monologue delivered by Charlie Brown, one of his friends, or even his best pal Snoopy.

It's nice to see the characters at their origin; Charlie, Lucy, Violet, Shermy, Patty, Linus (before his comfort blanket!) and Shroeder are all slowly introduced to us. Shroeder, is probably easily the character who evolves the most through the progressing strips. And, before you know it, he discovers his love of Beethoven and his attachment to his toy piano.

Of all of the characters that first appear here, in this collection, Lucy has to be my favourite. Her wide-eye, almost vacant stare, and her dopey grin are instantly appealing. She seems to defy the laws of gravity and physics now and then too; it's almost as if, because she isn't aware of them, they do not work for her. In one strip Charlie Brown watches her bounce a ball, and stares on in disbelief when, after she walks off to get lunch, it continues to bounce in place on it's own.

I wish my childhood had been like Charlie Brown's, maybe then I wouldn't be wearing this fetching straight-jacket/rubber nappy combo, and typing this with my feet...

So Farewell Then, Peter-Maggs...

Peter-Maggs, stalwart secretary of the Swansea Comics Collective is today Plymouth-bound. Off to finally learn 'how to draw proper'.

Peter-Maggs, we salute you.
Goodbye, good luck... and good riddance!!

Happy First Birthday SCC!

Hey, whodathunkit? One Year later and still going strong, scripts written, pages drawn and strips completed. And fours days of Workshops at Swansea Museum, we didn't see that coming...

In celebration, I have updated the blog style and changed the header to showcase some of the artwork from our museum panels.

Happy Birthday Us, here's to the next year...

SCC Comic Workshops - The Wall Comic

Here's the last bit of stuff from our 'Creating Comics' workshops at Swansea Museum, The Wall Comic.

We started with one panel stuck to the wall at one end of the room. The story was developed and continued by members and visitors one panel at a time. By the end of the workshops we had nearly covered the length of the wall with forty panels.

Enjoy...

A Comic by James, 4 ½

James is one of the youngest SCC Sidekicks and also one of the fastest. On the very first day of the 'Creating Comics' workshops at Swansea Museum, powered by a diet of crayons and a love for Rob, he wrote a short comic story which was then passed onto to different members in turn to illustrate. The completed story and his script is presented here for the first time...










Well done, James.

Evening Post article for the SCC

As you probably will have guessed from the previous posts, the SCC have been recently holding informal comic workshops at Swansea Museum. On the 3rd September in Swansea's local paper the Evening Post an article was devoted to what we did in the museum. Fear not if you missed out on getting a copy of the paper, for the article as well as the adjoining video, which details what we are doing, how we got started and our aims for the future, is available below and on the This is South Wales website.

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/news/City-goes-comic-mad/article-1309363-detail/article.html

Hope you all enjoy ^_^

SCC Comic Workshops - Day 4 Sketches

Here's the last lot of SCC sketches taken from the Idea Machine on Saturday 29th August at Swansea Museum plus a few strips and pics from visitors that were missed from previous posts.




















Stay Tuned, a couple more things still to come...

Something you should all read...

First off, I really enjoyed the workshop. It was... an experience. Roll on the next one!

I picked this up the other day...

Calvin and Hobbes: Revenge of the Baby-sat (and other stories)

Written and Illustrated by Bill Watterson

If you've never heard of Calvin and Hobbes *gasp*! Calvin is an extremely mischievous six year old with a stuffed tiger called Hobbes. Hobbes seems come alive when no one else is about, and he and Calvin get into all sorts of trouble. Calvin is the best (and worst) kind of devil-child. He seems to strive to be both obnoxious and wicked. His plans and daydreams are often wanton but highly imaginative. He's the kind of kid you don't want to cross, but secretly wish you had.

Hobbes is often at his side, and seems to be an extension of Calvin's personality while still seeming to be a seperate entity. Hobbes sometimes seems to be Calvin's conscience, while other times goads him into commiting the crime. He is both the devil and the little angel sitting on Calvin's shoulder.

Bill Watterson is a great comic strip artist; not only has he created the perfect devil-child and companion combo, but through-out the pages of this collection he also shows how much of a talented artist he is with the occassional detour from his usual cartoon format, and into a more realistic comic-book style.

One of my favourite strips is a variation on one where Hobbes pounces on Calvin as he walks through the front door. In this strip; Calvin sneaks in through the window to try and trick Hobbes. I'd spoil it by describing it to you all here, so instead, pick it up!