THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2024! Thought Bubble is, of course, a time for discovery and if you have yet to dive into the world of fold-out zines in Colossive Press’s Colossive Cartographies series then their table in Harrogate this November is a must-stop location. The collection is described as bringing together “cartoonists, fine artists, poets, writers and photographers to bring an unpredictable range of visual practice into a hand-folded treat.” A large proportion of it to date has included the practice of comics creators finding inventive ways to use the specific qualities of this tactile presentational format to showcase sequential art.
Colossive Cartographies #59 is a strong example of the latter with Nicola Streeten (Billy, Me & You, LDComics) giving us ‘Bottom-Up’, a very specific environmental study. It spotlights Wild Ken Hill, a project aiming to “restore nature, fight climate change, and grow healthy food across a coastal farm in West Norfolk.” You can discover more about the aims of Wild Ken Hill here on its website with ‘Bottom-Up’ acting as an introduction to its aims and ethos.
It’s a succinct comic strip that condenses the basics of the argument for regenerative farming versus traditional farming methods. The first prioritising a symbiotic approach to agriculture with the latter being ultimately destructive in its intensiveness. Streeten combines diagrammatic elements to communicate this message while using anthropomorphised bugs as narrators to give her audience an entry point. This isn’t a facile treatment of the subject, though, and the fold-out sections gives more information on the science alongside a history of Wild Ken Hill as a project.
Always unpredictable in their focus and themes the Colossive Cartographies series is an affordable entry point into the work of dozens of creatives both in and outside of the comics world.
Nicola Streeten (W/A) • Colossive Press, £2.00
Review by Andy Oliver
Colossive Press will be at Table C20b and Avery Hill Publishing at Table C21 in the Travelling Man Hall at Thought Bubble.
Thought Bubble 2024 runs from November 11th-17th with the convention weekend taking place on the 16th-17th. More details on the Thought Bubble site here.
Read all our Thought Bubble 2024 coverage so far in one place here.
Art by Rocío Arreola Mendoza
