“Everybody Has a Tale to Tell…”: An Exploration of the Unfulfilled ‘Tales from the Quarantine’ Kickstarter, Part 1 – Contributors Talk About the Impact on Them

It’s one of the most notorious as yet unfulfilled crowdfunding campaigns in comics history and yet the saga of Tales from the Quarantine drags on and on. Conceived by organiser Frazer Brown of Red Cabin Comics, the anthology was first mooted in the darkest days of early lockdown and fostered a real sense of community as creators from the small press scene through to writers and artists who have worked for the biggest names in comics publishing (Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Rachael Stott, Charlie Adlard, Jim Zub)  came together to tell their stories framed around the pandemic and their experiences of it.

It should have been something extra special. It should have been something magical. It should have been an enduring social record in comics form of those dark days.

Despite the hard work and commitment of so many it has been none of those things.

Fully funded in 2020 the Tales from the Quarantine print anthology is still missing in action despite multiple promises that the book has shipped (specifically in December 2022 and July 2023) and with questions still surrounding what happened to the proceeds of this charity book that vastly exceeded its crowdfunding target, bringing in £37,185. A digital copy has been sent out, although with many criticisms regarding its quality and accuracy.

Today at BF we begin a multi-part series on this project which, all these years on, has still not materialised in its print anthology form. We asked for perspectives from contributors, backers and those who went to great lengths to support those affected. In our first edition contributors to the book talk about how its non-appearance has affected them. A special shout-out for Comic Printing UK (henceforth referred to as CPUK) whose activism has ensured this issue has never left the comics community spotlight. For a full order of events check out Feff Silvers’ excellent timeline here.

As the book’s tagline states “Everybody has a tale to tell…”

Oh, Frazer, don’t they just…

Dan Whitehead (Hex Loader, Ella Upgraded): Like a lot of contributors, I was really excited by the prospect of being in Tales from the Quarantine. I’d teamed up with Steve Pugh (below), something I’d been hoping to do for ages so a bit of a dream come true in that regard, and I think my page is one of the best things I’ve ever written. That excitement and pride soon withered as the excuses piled up, and then turned to anger once Frazer Brown began openly lying about the full 200-page book being printed and mailed out in December 2022. My page is out there, at least, kind of. I shared it on Twitter, and it’s one of the ones in the “floppy” 32pp single issue that actually was printed and sent out (though how many people actually ordered that is open to debate) so I did better than most.

Now I just feel silly for not checking FB’s credentials more closely, for not following my gut, but it was such a weird time, it was only one page and a lot of use just trusted that it would be fine. I’m now only contributing to anthologies from people/publishers I know and trust. I’ve also not backed a Kickstarter since, and won’t be using it for any of my books in the future either. The fault is entirely with Frazer Brown, but Kickstarter as a platform has made it clear they have no interest in taking action against campaign owners, even when they’re in clear violation of their own T&Cs.

Lucy Sullivan (Barking, Black Hammer): It was a damaging situation for our individual reputations. The way the project was marketed suggested we were all complicit in its concept and production rather than, the reality, that we all gave our time and expertise for free in aid of charity. The only recourse was to publicly state this. Of course that put me on the blocked list, off the contributors’ emails and potentially amongst those threatened with police investigation. It was really quite stressful.

Gustaffo Vargas (Altiplano, Marvel’s Voices: X-Men): I was incredibly excited to collaborate on this anthology since the beginning. An opportunity to work with great pal and comic writer Matt Hardy, and a unique chance to have my art next to many comic legends. This has turned into a constant disappointment whenever I see that this book will probably never see the light.

As comic creators, the decline of social media, AIs and NFTs shaking the landscape, are making it very hard to reach an audience and show our work. As creators, we’re in need, more than ever of spaces to show our work. If I was a couple of years earlier in my comics career, I can imagine how much more disappointed and frustrated I would have been, feeling the impact of a lost opportunity to show my work.

Christian Carnouche (The Resurrected, Murky Waters): I was ecstatic when the story I wrote had been accepted into TFTQ as it was to be my first anthology at the time. I was even told that my story was so good that it might feature on the first page. I was involved in all the promotion and loads of family and friends, including my wife, backed the Kickstarter. I started to be concerned though when I did not see any art, while other contributors did, so I was not completely shocked when my wife finally received the PDF and my story was not in it. I was though quite hurt, and embarrassed that people I loved had backed it just to support me. Sadly, this happened to quite a few other creators.

Chris Mole (Brigantia): I definitely feel burned by the TFTQ situation, as a contributor – I was excited to be involved, I felt that it’d be great for my portfolio and profile to be in a book with so many other high-profile creators and that’s obviously not happened.

Adam Bagley: Tales from the Quarantine (TFTQ) came at a time when many people were at a low point. What was proposed offered creatives the chance to come together to do some good during the pandemic, and because a few well-knowns were onboard early on, this gave a sense of assurance, meaning many forwent preliminary checks on Frazer Brown and Red Cabin Comics.

Blindsided by the charity aspect and potential of being part of something special in terms of comics, I agreed to contribute three pages to the project along with an illustration for a panel jam, even postponing paid work to ensure I met the initial deadline. I became concerned when this deadline was extended, then again and again and again, and public assurances made by Red Cabin Comics saying the book was finished didn’t tally with information I’d received from Frazer via email.

Alarm bells started to ring for me when I gave a radio interview on BBC Radio WM to promote TFTQ but Frazer let slip he hadn’t listened to it and gave the impression he wasn’t likely to either, and he later failed to capitalise on articles reporting on my involvement in the regional press, which made me feel anxious and frustrated.

Eli, Shroompunk Studios: I am a newcomer to the comics scene, and when I saw TFTQ being advertised, it felt like a perfect opportunity to both help people and maybe get a comic out there. I tentatively approached Frazer, not sure if I was good enough for inclusion, but he invited me—then ghosted me for months. I was left begging for inclusion, given poor instruction, and given barely any time to complete a page. Then, well, everything happened as we all know.

Then in 2021, while still trying to build my career, I became physically disabled, with doctors declaring in early 2022 that I would never draw again. I spent months watching Frazer repeatedly string people along about TFTQ while stewing in regret that I’d felt so close to getting something out there within the comics scene, only to be scammed and then lose the ability to try again. After many months of struggle, I was able to draw again, but with the knowledge now that my limitation will keep me from ever breaking into the comics scene because I could no longer keep up as a professional comic artist.

Barrie D. Hardwick: Tales from the Quarantine was going to be my little ‘Hey! I’m here!’ moment. A mini step-up in the indie scene and a chance to be published alongside some very cool and talented people, some of whom were my creative heroes. It was supposed to be a one-page showcase so others could see my work, get a sense of what I can do and, for those who liked it, perhaps collaborate in future. All while raising money for charity and working with Dom Pagano and Rob Jones (I’m still immensely proud of our page and continue to be in awe of both of them).

It’s important to say that I didn’t expect fireworks or flowers, I didn’t expect Eric Stephenson to be knocking my door down or anything. I just wanted to feel included – and that’s how Frazer made me feel. That’s probably the cruelest thing. It meant so much to me, sad to say now. It represented my meagre hopes and aspirations. That’s why I clung to naive and disillusioned hope for so long. Hence the intense Twitter thread I posted in response to CPUK’s tweets and an early email to Frazer offering my support. My following emails haven’t been so friendly.

The realisation was sobering. With each passing update the truth became clearer and clearer. It dealt a hefty blow to my confidence as a creator, as a contributor, as a backer, and as a human being who trusted and believed too easily. It’s been deflating. And I’ve been a ‘lucky’ one. I got to see my work printed in the ‘floppy’ version of TFTQ and even received a physical copy of it in the post. Many, many others haven’t even had that. I take comfort from the genuine, amazing people who have offered support and kind words. Creators continue to stick together. People like Matt Hardy, Rob Jones, Dan Whitehead, Colin Maxwell, Liam Hill, and many others.

Thought Bubble 2023 felt like a cleansing, of sorts. I met and talked to a ton of wonderful creators and comics folks and lovely humans who offered encouragement and didn’t judge me harshly for my early naivety. This gives me hope that perhaps there is a small corner of the comics indie scene for me to inhabit and continue to create work in. We can begin to re-inflate! There’s hope once more and a defiance to not let this thing hover over the UK comics scene. For me, and I’m sure for a lot of others, being given an opportunity to speak via Broken Frontier has helped a lot with this. So, thank you, Andy.

(Also I’d like to point out, at this point, I’d happily follow CPUK into war.)

Matt Ferguson’s cover for the book

Jack Lothian, contributor alongside Sha Nazir (BHP Comics): We’d submitted a strip called ‘Eclipse’ which was a cut-down version of a graphic novel idea we’d been kicking around. I used to work for the NHS in a hospital in Edinburgh so it’s still something that feels quite close to home. Like a lot of people, Frazer’s behaviour raised a few red flags but it wasn’t until March of 2023 when it became clear that he’d lied about sending out ‘almost 160’ paperbacks in December 2022 that it became an issue for us. We did try and contact to him to offer some help and advice but he never responded, later on he claimed that all emails sent to customer service had been caught up in his spam filter which was now fixed.

It was’t until he said he’d sent out all paperbacks abroad in July 2023 that we decided to take some action — I live abroad and by August 2023 it was clear he’d lied again about sending the books. At this point we both doubted that the books actually existed. Frazer was still ignoring all emails but Sha managed to get him into a WhatsApp group chat at the end of September 2023 where we asked to be removed from the book and I also expressed concerns about how the project seemed to be a vehicle for his self-promotion and nothing else.

He said he could remove us from future digital editions but couldn’t remove us from the physical copy of the book as copies had been already sent out last December 2022 (these were the 160 odd copies of the paperback he claimed to send out but none ever arrived.) He claimed not to have seen any previous correspondence because of his spam filter (again). He also said he wasn’t willing to discuss it over WhatsApp but we could continue the conversation over email and gave us an email address to use. He then blocked us on WhatsApp and hasn’t responded to any further correspondence via email. We don’t believe the book has been printed and we definitely don’t believe it was printed and sent out December 2022, just as it wasn’t sent out in July 2023.

In November 2023, with Frazer still not responding to any emails, I took an unprecedented step and got the lawyers at my agency involved. I’ve been lucky enough to work as a writer in film and TV for around 25 years now, I’ve had the same agent and agency for 25 years — Curtis Brown — but I’ve never had to use their legal department before. However we wanted to make sure that Frazer wasn’t able to print the books at a later date and claim they were printed before we asked for the removal of our strip. We never signed any contracts with him — he had said back in July 2021 that he’d send out IP and Creative Waivers but he never actually got around to doing it. So, long story short, we’ve made it very clear that he has zero right to our work. He hasn’t responded to the agency legal department.

I also got in touch with the NHS concerning Frazer’s claims that they had passed all correspondence concerning the project onto him. They replied: We are in correspondence with Frazer about the Tales from Quarantine fundraiser. Please be assured that any concerns raised to NHS Charities Together are not shared outside of our organisation. For me, it’s the charity aspect of it that’s the most galling part — he uses it as a shield and acts like any questioning of the project is an attempt to derail a noble charity endeavour.

Like a lot of people, I’m sympathetic to the difficulties of publishing something. If he had held his hands up and said he’d just got in over his head, it’d be fine. People would chip in and help. At this stage I’d rather he cancelled the project and donated the money to charity. The rest of us would have a whip-round and cover the costs to print and send the books to backers who had been left high and dry. It’s only a book and I’d much rather if it was completed and the charity side of it was fulfilled, even if it left some of us out of pocket. I suspect that Frazer wouldn’t like that as I’m not sure the book was ever the point of this. The offer has been made to him before. Maybe it got caught up in his ever-growing spam filter..?

Guy Lambinon: As a contributor, after this failure, I have some reticence to participate to others’ projects. The projects from unknown or young creators are the first impacted.

Joonatan Itkonen: It left me extremely anxious and uncertain of myself. As an autistic person, it’s already tough enough to be online and try to network that way. So having a project like this be my first one ever left me nervous to approach any other projects for some time. I was terrified to speak out, as the presentation (at the time) looked professional. When things began to unravel, and I spoke up, I saw that Frazer’s friends online in my neck of the woods all unfollowed me and cut me off from the network. It left me feeling lost and – pardon the French – shitty for months. Thinking that I’d done something wrong, or that I’d betrayed my friends, who had pledged to the Kickstarter, by dragging them along into this.

Grainne McEntee (Cor!! and Buster, Tammy & Jinty): It was such a bold and beautiful concept. To see it laid to waste was beyond disappointing. Brown’s behaviour goes beyond the pale, an abuse of good people who wanted nothing more then to share a part of themselves in a time when we were cruelly severed from one another. I admit it kind of took the wind out of my creative sails for a time and while I don’t think it will have any lasting damage on what is for the most part a sharing and caring creative community, I live in hope that he will be held to account for his abuse of trust.

Top banner art from the cover by Rachael Stott.

Article compiled by Andy Oliver