We’ve always been huge fans of the WIP Comics anthologies here at BF and this year’s offering is no exception. With another intriguing physical format and some of the most inventive minds in UK indie comics it’s bound to be another winner. Just check out the preview art in the press release below and don’t forget to back it on Kicksterter here.
TALL TALES & SHORT STORIES – NEW WIP ANTHOLOGIES
Tall Tales and Short Stories are the TWO new anthologies from WIP Comics, live right now on Kickstarter.
After successfully funding our previous anthology, Change, on Kickstarter, we’re back again for a second year. Thanks to the ever-increasing membership of our burgeoning community, this year we’ve split the anthology into two complementary volumes. Featuring a combined total of over 70 talented creators, each of the books contains more than 90 pages of wonderful original comics.
Art by Mike Armstrong
The themes for the books are ‘Tall’ and ‘Short’ respectively, but each creator was invited to use the themes as a jumping off point to make whatever sort of comic they want using any style, genre or approach. The result is a brilliant mix of stories about everything from aquatic cryptids to giraffes, Canadian pasta witches to Andre the Giant, exaggerated autobiographies to 80s action movie spoofs. There is truly something for everyone.
Art by Ria Grix
To add an extra connection to the titular themes, the spine of each book is on the shorter side, so Tall Tales opens up vertically into an extra-tall portrait tome while Short Stories becomes a super-wide landscape volume.
Art by Joshua Knowles
The 70 creators involved are the most varied and diverse yet, with a mix of seasoned pros, familiar faces and fresh new talent who are seeing their work in print for the very first time. Expect to see work from Abi Wye, Alba Ceide, Andrew Attwell, Becky Appleyard, Benjamin Nunn, Christopher Hazeldine, Ed Firth, Ellenor Mererid, Emily Maher, Hanna Gwynn, Jess Hannar, Joe Stone, Joshua Knowles, KitsuneArt, Kry Garcia, Mike Armstrong, The Mollusc Dimension, Nick Bryan, Phng Keng Boon (Trish), Ria Grix, Sofia Bouqdir, Stefan Alexander, and Zubair M Chaudhry to name but a few.
Art by Judy Powell
We’re well on the way to having all the art finished and hitting all of our deadlines, but we’ve headed back to Kickstarter to help with the printing, production and distribution. There are some great tiers and extras backers can choose from, including digital versions of all the previous WIP anthologies for a super low price, hand-drawn sketch cards by our contributing artists, and the chance to have yourself drawn into one of the comics.
ABOUT WIP COMICS
WIP stands for ‘Work in Progress’, and we’re a friendly community of comic creators who meet up every month to share what we’re currently working on and offer each other feedback, advice and support. It’s a place where writers and artists can bounce ideas off others who are in the same position as them, share any tips they’ve learnt, and generally talk about the craft of making comics and telling stories.
Art by KitsuneArt
We’re based in London, but have members and contributors from all across the UK and a few from various other countries around the world. Anyone is welcome to join the meetups and everyone is treated the same, no matter how experienced they are or what sort of comics they make. We have members ranging from total first-timers to established pros with published graphic novels, and people who make everything from speculative fiction to deeply personal autobiographical work.
Art by Becky Appleyard
The group has produced an annual anthology for the last six years, setting the theme in January and then giving everyone who wants to participate around six months to produce a 1-4 page comic. We share our progress at our monthly meet-ups over that time, bouncing ideas around and giving feedback to help make everyone’s comics as good as they possibly can be. The books have grown to become a familiar and much-loved sight in the UK small press scene, and have become a great way to discover the next generation of comic-making talent.
