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Garrie Fletcher

~ writing and all that

Garrie Fletcher

Category Archives: Comics

Raven spreads its wings.

02 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by fletcherski in Art, Birmingham Library, Comics, comissions, Event

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Anya Jung, Art, Birmingham, Birmingham Literature Festival, birmingham uk, blog, comic book, Garrie Fletcher, work in progress, writing

By the time you read this the mighty Anya Jung will have finished her first day’s drawing of our comic strip Raven. Based in the Library of Birmingham for the duration of the Birmingham Literature Festival Anya will be on display scribbling, inking, colouring and lettering until our wonderful story is finished.

I’ve not been able to get in today -work commitments- and I’m itching to see what she’s done so far. As you can see from the rough layout below it’ll be a corker. I’ll be calling in tomorrow to see how its going and if any of my text needs revising. I’ll take some snaps while I’m there and -if I get the time- post them tomorrow.

Rough page layout from Anya.

Rough page layout from Anya.

The guys at Birmingham Literature Festival Control have set up a blog exclusively for Raven where you can see some early sketches and get a feel for where the story is heading.

The Raven blog can be found here, go on, treat yourself.

Raven: Comic Book Commission Q&A with the artists

05 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by fletcherski in Art, Comics, comissions, Q & A, Short Stories, Writing West Midlands

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Anya Jung, Art, Birmingham, Birmingham Literature Festival, comic book, Free event, Garrie Fletcher, short story, West Midlands, writing

Ripped straight from the Birmingham Literature Festival programme.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the finished thing. The Q & A should be interesting, especially if you guys turn up.

Raven: Comic Book Commission Q&A with the artists
October 8 @ 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm | Free
comicsketch

Raven is a collaboration between writer Garrie Fletcher and artist Anya Jung. Commissioned by the Birmingham Literature Festival; they will focus on the relationship between narrative and image, and the journey from snatched ideas and rough sketches to a finished product you can hold.

A modern take on an urban gothic tale, set amongst the twisted architecture of Birmingham; Raven will explore the real and the distorted in this documentation of the loss of childhood and the reclamation of hope.

Raven will be created within the Library of Birmingham throughout the ten days of the Birmingham Literature Festival. This event is the opportunity to see how Garrie and Anya are getting on with the process of collaborating and to find out more about the process of creating a comic book from scratch.

Garrie Fletcher cropped for website
Garrie Fletcher

about-portrait-newAnya Jung is an illustrator and recent graduate from University College Falmouth. She takes her inspiration from stories, myths and fairy tales as well as the world around her, often drawing on location to capture the essence of a place. She enjoys working in traditional mediums and only deploys digital tools in the final stages of the creative process to bring an image together. To see more examples of her work please visit http://www.ajungillustration.co.uk.

Garrie Fletcher likes words, big cities and avoiding Northampton. He writes short stories, novels, comics and poems. He’s a member of the Tindal Street Fiction Group and loves talking nonsense to kids. His work can be found in various anthologies, Unthology 5 being the most recent. You may even have seen his work at the cinema, if you’re not prone to blinking. https://fletchski.wordpress.com/.

This is a free event. No need to book!

Details

Date:
October 8, 2014
Time:
6:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Cost:
Free
Event Categories:
Comic book, Free, Illustration
Event Tags:
2014, fiction
Organizer

Birmingham Literature Festival
Venue

The Foyer, Library of Birmingham
Centenary Square, Broad Street Birmingham, B1 2ND
+ Google Map

Check out the original posting here for maps, art samples and a scary photo of me.

Days of the Bagnold Summer

01 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by fletcherski in Art, Comics, Costa Novel Award, writing

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Costa Novel Award, Days of the Bagnold Summer, Graphic Novel, Heavy Metal, Joff Winterhart, Teenage angst, the British Library

I bought Days of the Bagnold Summer at the British Library. We’d gone there to view the exhibition on comic books: Comics Unmasked. The exhibition was good and focused mainly on British books through the ages from Punch Magazine up to Warrior and beyond. it was great to see original pages of artwork and the typed scripts of Alan Moore and others. The exhibition is on until the 19th of August and is well worth a look if you’re heading to London. You can find out more about it here.

I think there was a reference to Days of the Bagnold Summer in the exhibition, after all, it’s the first graphic novel to be shortlisted for the Costa novel award. I bought it primarily for my wife, I’m slowly bringing her over to the dark side of story telling. She thoroughly enjoyed it.

Table.

Table.

Joff Winterhart tells a funny, sad, moving story with economy and wit. It’s a simple tale of a teenage boy having to spend the summer with his mother. Danny had been expecting to spend it in Florida with his father and stepmother. Initially he’s relieved but soon mother and son start to grate upon each other.

Joff splits the story into six weeks with each week consisting of 9-10 pages and each page broken down into six equal panels. The art work is simple black and white pencils and Winterhart’s real strength lies in his facial expressions. Some of the teenage disgust he manages to get into Danny’s face is simply sublime.

I’m not going to give anything away concerning the story, you’ll need to read it. The tension between mother and son and her fears relating to her son, based upon what happened in her past, are excellently realised as is Danny’s pain in the arse mate, KY. KY is such a dick that a lot of the humour comes through him and his view of himself and the world. It all struck a chord with me. Not that I was ever into Heavy Metal when I was younger – or now – just that I’m sure we can all remember feeling awkward around members of the opposite sex and wanting to fit in but also, being well aware that we don’t. Or maybe you were lucky and never went through any of that? Git.

I would recommend this to anyone and challenge them not to like it, but especially for those of you who may not read comics. Days of the Bagnold Summer shows just what you can do with only six frames and a few carefully chosen words. Well done Joff Winterhart.

Bagnold Summer cover.

Bagnold Summer cover.

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