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Garrie Fletcher

~ writing and all that

Garrie Fletcher

Tag Archives: Graphic Novel

Panel Show

13 Saturday Oct 2018

Posted by fletcherski in Art, Birmingham Literature Festival, Comics, Drawing, Ikon Gallery, Inktober, The Arts, writing

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Birmingham, Birmingham Literature Festival, Cath Tate, Dr Nicola Streeten, Drawing, Drawing Challenge, Graphic Novel, Ikon Gallery, Inktober, Inktober2018, uk

Yesterday, No.1 Daughter and I went to a marvellous workshop at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham. The workshop was run by Dr Nicola Streeten and Cath Tate as part of the Birmingham Literature Festival.

We looked at visual story telling through greetings cards and graphic novels. Cath talked us through her work and considerations for greetings cards and Nicola the same for graphic novels. The two hours flew by and incorporated some fun and challenging drawing activities. The culmination of this was all of us producing our own four panel stories. The daughter and I agreed to leave our work there as a backdrop for a talk today, so I’ve recreated/completed the first panel above here.

Here are some pics of the work we produced on the night.

Y: The Last Man

22 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by fletcherski in Comics, writing

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Brian K Vaughan, Comics, Graphic Novel, Pia Guerra, Stephen King, Y: The Last Man

Y: The Last Man is a stunning graphic novel that poses the question: would the world be a better place if it was run by women?

untitled

Written by Brian K. Vaughan and beautifully drawn by Pia Guerra the story is told across 60 issues that concluded way back in 2008. I read it a while ago but I’ve been prompted to post this after coming across a fine article in The Guardian today written by Sian Cain. Check out the article on The Guardian site and more imnportantly read the book for yourself. Don’t just take my word for it, Stephen King said it was the best graphic novel he’s ever read.

The article is prompted by the search for books that inspire rather than soothe and states that hope can feel intangible – but defiance is practical. What do you think?

y-the-last-man-032

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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