A “Cracking” Chat with Luke Poulton, Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers turns 30!

Wallace & Gromit ‘The Wrong Trousers’ © 1993 Aardman / Wallace & Gromit Ltd

“Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers turns 30!,” commemorating the 30th anniversary of Aardman Animations “Wrong Trousers” at The Cartoon Museum has become a smash hit among our past exhibitions, drawing visitors of all ages since its opening last September.  One of the highlights has been the display of the exhibit is the showcase of Wallace & Gromit memorabilia from private collectors, a testament to their enduring popularity.

Back in the 1990s, a Guardian article highlighted Wallace & Gromit as a prime example of international merchandising success, generating a staggering £50 million in annual profits. Even now, the limited edition items fly off the shelves of our museum shop. (Fun fact: Items featuring Wallace & Gromit’s mischievous house guest penguin, Feathers McGraw, in ‘The Wrong Trousers’ have outsold Gromit himself. Oh, Gromit…!) 

Merchandise plays a crucial role in Wallace & Gromit’s legacy, but the challenge lies in collecting and displaying the past 30 years of merchandise that has become increasingly rare. While contemplating this, our Marketing and Communications Officer, Khadija Osman, came across stand-up comedian and PEZ collector Luke Poulton, whom she follows on TikTok. Luke’s frequent posts about his deep fascination with Wallace & Gromit’s franchise sparked our interest, and we wasted no time reaching out to him. We were fortunate enough to borrow some pieces from Luke’s valuable collection, which has now become an integral part of our exhibition. Luke’s collection adds a personal touch to the objects, inviting visitors to imagine the connections between these cherished pieces and the countless fans who have adored the extraordinary duo over the past three decades.

We recently had a lovely chat with Luke, discussing his love for Wallace & Gromit and how his passion for collecting began.

Luke Poulton
Luke Poulton is a standup comedian who is autistic, in his comedy he tells stories about his life. He is also a massive Wallace & Gromit fan and makes online content all about his love for the iconic duo. 
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@veganluke
Instagram @veganluke https://www.instagram.com/veganluke/ 
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lukepoultonstandup

What are your first memories of Wallace & Gromit? 
My Dad showed me A Grand Day Out when I was little, getting to see The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave as they were released on television and my Dad also bought me the Wallace & Gromit modeling kit in 1995 where you could build Wallace, Gromit and Feathers McGraw.

When did you start collecting Wallace & Gromit merchandise?
I had quite a few bits as a kid and then when I was in university in 2011 I began collecting bits here and there and I’ve been collecting more ever since.

How do you manage your various collections? When you find yourself accumulating too much, what’s your approach to handling it?
I recently had a bit of a clear-out to make more space for my Wallace & Gromit collection and Aardman things too. But I also put stuff out that I really want to display and keep something in a box and will display a different item every now and again.

Could you highlight three amazing, unmissable items from your collection that are on display at the museum?
A Close Shave VHS that comes with figures, The Wrong Trousers train chase ornament, and a Wallace & Gromit photo signed by Nick Park. The A Close Shave VHS adds even more fun to the film as with these figures that came with it, you were encouraged to play along with the film and I remember having the figures when I was a kid. The Wrong Trousers train chase ornament is incredibly iconic because of how perfect that scene is and what a lot of people remember the film for. I chose the Wallace & Gromit photo because this is signed by Nick Park the creator of Wallace & Gromit and one of my favourite items I have in my collection. 

If you had a time machine, is there any Wallace & Gromit merchandise from the past that you’d love to acquire for your collection?
I’d loved to have been able to get my hands on the Bluebird sets which are very similar to Polly Pocket. They were released in 1997 and are very hard to get hold of now. Boots also released so much incredible merchandise in the 90s too including bubble baths with figures on top.

How did you feel when the museum asked to showcase your Wallace & Gromit collection?
Incredibly happy, I love Wallace & Gromit so much, and being a part of an exhibition like this is incredible.

The Wrong Trousers has been one of the most successful exhibitions the Museum has ever had. What makes Wallace & Gromit so timeless and appealing to all generations, even after over 30 years?
I think it’s the fact the films still hold up so well and children and adults can find something they love about this fantastic duo. The whole story of The Wrong Trousers still feels relevant with all the heist movies we have had and Feathers McGraw is still one of the best villains. I think it’s so popular all around the world because of its fantastic stop-motion animation. It’s also a film that has so much going on, mixes genres together, and has a story you can really invest in. I think with Wallace being the main speaking character in the first two films and other characters just being known by facial expressions the films can connect with people so easily. 

Finally, who is your favorite – Wallace or Gromit?
This is a hard question to answer because I love them both so much but I’m going to have to say Gromit. He’s such a perfect character who doesn’t say a word but gets everything across with his brilliant facial expressions.

By Haruka Katsuyama

Exhibition/Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers turns 30! is on until Tuesday, 16 April
https://www.cartoonmuseum.org/whats-on-exhibitions/event-four-53tyl

Meet Luke:
Luke will play standup comedy at our evening event , Thursday 11th of April. For more information, visit our website:
https://www.cartoonmuseum.org/whats-on-events/wallace-gromit-the-wrong-trousers-turns-30-late

Want to collect W&G goods?
If you’re interested in collecting Wallace & Gromit goods like Luke, check out our shop.
A lot of the products are currently exclusive to The Cartoon Museum, such as the limited edition print, the T-shirts, and the Lollipop. (The special thing as well was knowing that when Aardman Animations approved the products, Nick Park cast an eye over them too and helped decide between two designs!)

You can see everything here!: https://cartoonmuseum.shop/collections/wallace-gromit-30-years-of-the-wrong-trousers

Black. Zwarte. Noir! An interview with Oluwasegun Babatunde

The Cartoon Museum is currently showcasing a special exhibition titled “Oluwasegun Babatunde: Birth of a Universe.”

Babatunde’s creation stands apart from the typical Black narrative depicted by White creators in a Western context. Instead, he presents a Black narrative from the perspective of a Black creator – a tale featuring a Black superhero. His narrative isn’t about seeking validation within the Western framework or condemning racism. In Babatunde’s view, the focus is on the myriad struggles people face: socioeconomic disparities, oppression, poverty, and also rich cultural heritage and beautiful traditions. Babatunde’s world is a powerful narrative in its own right. We had a chat with him about how he came up with this new superhero universe and what he’s got in mind for the future.

Oluwasegun Babatunde

Oluwasegun Babatunde is a multifaceted creative force. He is an accomplished author, comic book conceptor, and filmmaker. His artistic vision is rooted in the exploration, progression, and presentation of narratives that illuminate the experiences of black people. This vision extends across various mediums, including published literature, comic books, movies, and animations. Babatunde’s literary repertoire includes thought-provoking titles such as ‘Unethical Or Not’, ‘A Good Human Being’,’ My Book Of Afrobeats Stories’, and ‘Lessons from Hollywood’s Rise’, alongside his recent work on Storibud Comics; ‘Olórò, the Grandson of Fádèyí Olóró’ and ‘AfroGods’. 

How did you become interested in creating comics?

Spider-Man was the first comic character that swept me off my feet. Everything about Spider-Man is fascinating, especially the underdog persona. Peter Parker, having so much power, yet choosing to be responsible, helps the real world see the value in not abusing power. So, I could say Spider-Man inspired my comic creative side.

You moved into the creative world after a long career as a clinical embryologist.  What sparked that change, and how do you think your previous career and experience have shaped your creativity?

I started out as a clinical embryologist in 2007 and worked in the field until August 2022 when I hung up my scrubs. I had worked in IVF clinics in Nigeria, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. After fifteen years of serving as a medium, a support in ushering couples in their drive to get pregnant, I think my love for art outgrew my love for the sciences and decided to fully delve into a new career in art. It took two years to fully switch.

My scientific background influences my storytelling. Sometimes, my experience plays into my ideas. Having worked as a scientist, I play with the ideas of what scientific breakthrough I could conceive that is able to alleviate the world’s pain. Other times, I play with a terrible/good experience I have had as a Nigerian, Belgian, and UK resident. This, you would observe in Olórò. Also, things I have witnessed happening to other people are flipped into a story. I edit some things to suit a narrative.

You created “Olórò, the Grandson of Fádèyí Olóró” during the Covid pandemic of 2021. How did you go from the idea of a superhero story set in sub-Saharan Africa, to bringing it to life as a comic?

I have been a fan of superhero comics for about two decades, but the thought to conceive my own never took shape in my head. It would have been preposterous to even consider it! I am merely a fan of the superhero genre. Then, the continuous butchering of the African accent on Black Panther wouldn’t let me be.

All my friends from Africa do not speak like they speak in Wakanda; neither do I. Also, the stories were not directly linked to our realities. There are no African countries as advanced as Wakanda! So there and then, the energy to rewrite our stories in the superhero world became a dream and aspiration.

The moment of discovery for Olórò was a day when I was listening to a song by Olamide, an Afrobeats musician. The song was ‘Inferiority Complex,’ and he mentioned Olórò ‘ (‘Olórò’ is a Yoruba word meaning ‘someone to be feared’) while I was pondering on what the title of my first comic book should be. The name clicked.

The exhibition features a video of you working online with your collaborator, Daniel Egharevba, who is based in Nigeria. What was special about collaborating online during the pandemic, across two different continents?

First of all, collaboration could have been with anyone here in the UK, Europe, or even the Americas, but the cultural elements would not have reached the level I aspired to. So, I had to extend my searches beyond the shores of the UK to back home – Nigeria.

It was very difficult finding someone who understood the nitty-gritty of each character idea and where the vision lies. So, I had to test run more than 5 people. I sunk a few hundred pounds into it, until Daniel came along. He instantly became a perfect fit.

What was special about collaborating online with Daniel was trust. I had to trust that he would get the job done – and so he did.

Oluwasegun Babatunde and Daniel Egharevba Rough storyboarding and finished design, Video (2021)From “Oluwasegun Babatunde: Birth of a Universe”

Unlike Marvel’s Black Panther, DC Universe’s Cyborg, and the lead characters in the new Spider-verse films, which were created by White creators, your comics feature Black characters created by you, a Black creator. What do you see as the main distinctions between the Black characters they created, and the ones you’ve developed?

The black characters in both Marvel and DC comics are mind-blasting. Characters such as Miles Morales, Falcon, DeadShot, BloodSport, Cyborg and Black Manta have mirrored the US or Western realities, taking into account racism and American culture. In my own reality, racism does not exist. We are all black! My characters are all layers of black. Zwarte. Noir! What exists in Storibud Comics are classism, oppressions, penury, deep culture, and aesthetically beautiful traditions. They are what my stories portray.

Your character design, the characters’ hairstyles, accessories, and costumes are very eye-catching, blending modern style with elements reminiscent of traditional African attire. The female characters, in particular, showcase a departure from the typical outfits seen in Western superhero series. Can you share the inspiration behind this distinctive style? Were there specific traditional features you kept in mind while incorporating them?

I have an eye for African cultural features, and I ensured they were well-designed with precision. Some of the early movies of my childhood – Nigerian traditional films – were my major source of influence. Characters such as Abìjà Wàrà Bí Ekùn, Òrìsábùnmi, Fádèyí Olóró, Sòún, and many more were my go-to inspiration.

From “Oluwasegun Babatunde: Birth of a Universe”

How do you envision the creation and increased representation of Black characters by Black creators impacting readers, the creators themselves, and the broader landscape of the comics industry?

I think relatability becomes more easily accessible. People from other cultures, other races, can start appreciating individual races’ niches in the world we live in and in the alternate world of comics.

Also, children born in Africa, living in Africa, or born to African families living in the US, UK, and the rest of Europe and the world can more easily see themselves in the imagery of these comic characters. This will be an avenue to keep black culture alive for many generations and potentially inspire new generations to create their own stories influenced by the works of early black comics adopters. The comics industry can only grow and expand further and larger,  adding more variety and reducing comic book fatigue.

We’ve heard that you’re currently working on your first movie. Could you give us some insights into your upcoming projects and share your goals for the future?

My debut movie is based on the wave of efforts to better the socio-economic status of a fictional West African country called the United African Republic. While the movie is not centered on my comic books, I left a couple of Easter eggs about my comic book characters in there. So, yeah, you get a glimpse into my next installment after this debut movie – a live-action Olórò movie.

By Haruka Katsuyama

Oluwasegun Babatunde: Birth of a Universe is on until Saturday, 30 March and you can buy Baba’s books through the Museum Shop.

If you love Baba’s work as much as we do, you can find out more here:

Instagram: ＠oluwasegun.babatunde

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@oluwasegun.babatunde

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NaijalandOloro?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Celebrating “Rupert Bear” Illustrator Mary Tourtel’s 150th Birthday

Robbie, now 86, was born just before World War II and still remembers that as a child she always had her little Rupert Bear soft toy by her side wherever she went. When the German air raids on major British cities became more intense, she was evacuated to the countryside at the tender age of two. During this upheaval, her Rupert soft toy was the only item she could bring along…

Since its debut as “The Little Lost Bear” in the Daily Express on November 8, 1920, the tale of Rupert Bear has been illustrated by several artists for over a century, becoming a British national treasure, and earning love from successive generations. Last month, on January 28, 2024, we celebrated the 150th birthday of the artist behind Rupert’s creation, Mary Tourtel. 

Mary Tourtel

Mary Tourtel (born Mary Caldwell) was born in 1874 in Kent, emerging from an artistic family. Her father, a stone mason and stained glass artist at Canterbury Cathedral (later, her youngest brother Samuel also became responsible for the cathedral’s stained glass), and her eldest brother Edmond, who later achieved renown as an animal painter in South Africa, were influential figures in her artistic upbringing. Following in Edmond’s footsteps, Mary honed her skills as an animal illustrator at Thomas Sidney Cooper’s School of Art. She then went on to the Royal College of Art, where she met Herbert Tourtel, who was to become her husband as well as her creative partner.

Herbert, born in the same year as Mary into a tailor’s family in St. Peter Port, had a passion for folklore and mythology, along with a dream of publishing his own poetry. Despite lacking funds, Herbert sought an illustrator for his poems. He approached the Royal College of Art, requesting assistance from a student willing to contribute to his project without charge. This marked the fateful moment when he crossed paths with Mary. He later became a reporter for the Daily Express, and was engaged to Mary in 1899; they tied the knot the following year.

Before marrying Herbert, Mary had already embarked on her career as an illustrator of children’s picture books, publishing her first picture books, “A Horse Book” and “Three Little Foxes,” in 1897. “When Animals Work”, her 1919 short story (a collaboration with Herbert), features a bear character that holds a resemblance to Rupert. 

By 1920, the Daily Express was facing stiff competition from other daily newspapers; noting the popularity of the “Teddy Tail” comic strip in the Daily Mail, the Express decided it, too, needed a cartoon strip to attract readers’ children. Herbert

noted the rising popularity of the “Teddy Bear”  as popularised by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and toy manufacturers such as German company Steiff. Herbert envisioned the creation of a bear character for the Daily Express and approached his wife as co-creator, using her expertise as an animal illustrator. Despite Herbert’s pivotal role in Rupert’s creation, the credit for Rupert’s adventures was always given to Mary. According to Howard Smith’s recent research, this deliberate choice by Herbert aimed to ensure that his wife received the associated fees.

From Mary Tourtel’s story “Rupert and the Christmas Tree Fairies”.
These images have been restored from newspaper clippings from the original publication, with restoration and colouring done digitally by Mark Manley. Rupert and all treated characters are copyright Express Newspapers PLC, and are used by agreement solely within Followers of Rupert publications exclusively for members. 

The Tourtels co-created Rupert until Herbert’s passing in 1931 from tuberculosis. 

After his death, Mary persevered in working with his incomplete manuscripts, facing the challenge of maintaining momentum. At this time, both the storylines and her illustrations began to exhibit signs of declining quality. In 1934, Mary relinquished Rupert’s work at the Daily Express to her successor, Alfred Bestall.

She reportedly gave up Rupert because of declining eyesight and health problems, but the aforementioned Howard suggests that the stress caused by Herbert’s death may have been a major factor in her condition, and that Mary did not go blind. 

Rupert’s success has become widely recognised, extending beyond the newspapers to include picture books, merchandise, and TV animation. His popularity has transcended the borders of the UK, making a significant impact in Europe as well. Remarkably, the Rupert Annual which is published each Christmas has solidified its place as a cherished tradition during the holiday season since its first publication in 1936, continuing to captivate audiences and contribute to the festive spirit.

Throughout generations, though the creators behind Rupert have changed, the essence of the character endures. Rupert, his adventurous spirit, clad in his jumper and checked trousers, has retained much of the charm that Mary originally captured over a century ago.

From Mary Tourtel’s story “Rupert and the Christmas Tree Fairies”. 
Rupert Characters ™ & Copyright Express Newspaper plc.

So, on the occasion of Mary’s 150th birthday, what other special celebration can we have?

The Rupert enthusiasts society “The Followers of The Rupert”, was established just over thirty years ago in 1983, and named after the inducement printed on the last page of every annual to “Follow Rupert in the (Daily) Express”. Members receive exclusive newsletters three times a year, which are full of interesting articles and pictures and there are currently preparations being made to produce an exclusive book of previously-never-seen-in-colour stories of Rupert by the three main Express Rupert artists —Mary Tourtel, Alfred Bestall, and John Harrold. 

Mary’s work has faced unjust treatment over its extensive history, often subjected to unfair redraws and crude colouring. However, this upcoming book aims to rectify this by providing readers with the chance to explore Nutwood’s enchanting world through meticulously digitally cleaned and painted illustrations, ensuring a true appreciation of Mary’s original vision. The Society kindly provided two coloured images from the upcoming book for this blog.

In addition, the Society is gearing up for its annual member gathering scheduled for this September which is a great opportunity for Rupert fans to meet up, attend talks, buy old annuals and other merchandise, and get to know more about Rupert. If you’re keen to join, please check their website for further details.
https://followersofrupertbear.co.uk/

By Haruka Katsuyama

Acknowledgments

This blog post wouldn’t be possible without the help of “The Followers of Rupert Bear” and Howard Smith MA. We express our sincere thanks to them for their valuable contributions. Special appreciation goes out to Robbie and her grandson Tom for sharing such a heartwarming memory about Rupert.

Bibliography and Further Reading

Howard Smith MA, “Rupert The Bear Facts”
http://www.howardsmith.me.uk/page2.html

Howard Smith MA, “BECOME AN INSTANT EXPERT ON RUPERT BEAR”, The Arts Society.
https://theartssociety.org/arts-news-features/become-instant-expert-rupert-bear
[Accessed 25/01/2024].

Howard Smith MA, Howard Smith MA LECTURER HISTORIAN AUTHOR.
http://www.howardsmith.me.uk/index.html
[Accessed 25/01/2024]

“The Followers of Rupert Bear.”
Official Rupert Bear Society Website. https://followersofrupertbear.co.uk/
[Accessed 25/01/2024].

Holly Buggins-Eaves, “Mary Tourtel: celebrating the creator behind Rupert Bear for Women’s History Month”, Art UK.
https://artuk.org/discover/curations/mary-tourtel-celebrating-the-creator-behind-rupert-bear-for-womens-history-month/slide-page/12
[Accessed 25/01/2024].

“Mary Tourtel (1874-1948)Illustrator & Author”, Canterbury Historical and Archaeological Society.
https://www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk/tourtel-mary
[Accessed 25/01/2024].

Richard Pope, “Discovering Rupert Bear at the Cartoon Museum”, The Cartoon Museum Blog.
https://thecartoonmuseum.wordpress.com/2017/12/09/discovering-rupert-bear-at-the-cartoon-museum/
[Accessed 25/01/2024].

“Rupert Bear.” Wikipedia. [Accessed 25/01/2024].

“Mary Tourtel.” Wikipedia.[Accessed 25/01/2024].

Director’s Blog, January 2024

Welcome to 2024! We’ve started the week with heavy rain, lots of people coming to look at Wallace and Gromit, and the looming prospect of further tube strikes. As you were, then.

It’s been a little while since my last Director’s blog, and in the time that has passed we have won a Museums and Heritage award for our autism-focused programming, opened some great exhibitions, said goodbye to our Curator, Emma, and Collections Manager, Kate, and opened a brilliant Wallace and Gromit exhibition telling the story of Britain’s favourite animated duo. Which is still on till April – come and visit!

Peter Lord, Dave Alex Riddett, David Sproxton and the Aadrman team at the launch of Wallace & Gromit: 30 Years of the Wrong Trousers

So what next? Well honestly, we don’t know. Since our Curator left in October 2023, we’ve been having a think about how we want to approach our exhibitions programme moving forward. Over the past few years we have been creative in our approach, and diversified the artists and art on display. We want to keep this going, but want to make sure it is even more representative of a diverse group of people. So later this month we will be holding an exhibitions roundtable made up of staff, volunteers, trustees, teachers, visitors, students and cartoon experts. We’ll put our heads together and think about a programme for the next year that has a little something for everyone. It’s very exciting to be taking this creative approach, and some of the ideas on the table are excellent. More news on upcoming exhibitions will be shared soon!

2024 will also see the third instalment of our annual conference in February, works on show by Alice, our second young artist resident, and a refresh of our main gallery. The other big plan for 2024 is to keep going with our pledge to help meet the climate emergency. 2023 saw us tackle the subject of pollution and destruction of the countryside through our exhibition Norman Thelwell Saves the Planet. We worked hard to reduce our waste and work with green partners such as Yes Colours and First Mile, and ensured we worked with sustainable and local suppliers wherever possible. We also participated in the Mayor’s Business Climate Challenge as part of Fitzrovia ward, working with local business colleagues to commit to reducing our energy emissions by 10% over the year. We were thrilled to achieve this target, and our Green Champion, Holly, joined our local business colleagues to celebrate the achievement with London’s Deputy Mayor.

Holly Burrows representing the museum at the BCC Celebration Event

So, there are exciting things to come! If you want to keep up to date with all our news and events throughout the year, make sure you sign up to our mailing list!

Ella Baron tells stories from South Sudan

by Ella Baron

As a newspaper cartoonist, I’m used to my drawings having a shelf-life of days, if not hours. So after 3 years, I’d given up on finding a platform for the graphic short story that I’d drawn in South Sudan on commission for Medicines sans Frontiers (MSF, aka Doctors Without Borders). I’d started this project just before the first lockdown, but by the time I’d finished it MSF were pre-occupied with their pandemic response, the newspapers were a litany of r-numbers and all the galleries were closed.  There was only one place for the pages that me and the women I’d met in South Sudan had poured our hearts into; under my bed. There they remained gathering dust- as the pandemic slithered on, and in the void left by all my paid commissions, I started drawing a graphic novel fuelled exclusively by cuppa soups. In 2022, when Emma Stirling-Middleton contacted me asking for Boris cartoons for The Cartoon Museum’s latest exhibition,  I deleted her email. What did I have to contribute? I hadn’t had a political cartoon commission in over nine months and the cuppa soups were getting very thin.  But Emma persisted; she inspired a confidence in the value of my work which I had lost.  Not only did she get a Boris out of me, but we got talking about my graphic reportage work with MSF…

Now, almost a year since that first conversation – my circumstances are very different- a book deal, an Arts Council Grant and regular cartoon commissions from The Times and The Guardian are keeping the cuppa soups at bay (for now). And my sketches from South Sudan have escaped from under my bed to be the focus of The Cartoon Museum’s current capsule exhibition- beautifully curated by Emma, designed by Alice Morris, and facilitated by the rest of the wonderful team and volunteers – to all of whom I’m very grateful. Work as a cartoonist is solitary, so it has been a joy and a privilege to briefly be a part of The Cartoon Museum’s team.

Ella Baron installing the exhibition at the museum

When I visited South Sudan in September 2019, flooding and civil unrest made the remote region of Pibor impossible to reach safely by road. So a UN helicopter shuttled me from the capital, Juba, to MSF’s operation in Pibor. As the other passengers in the helicopter introduced themselves, I felt the globe-trotting affectations of a child raised on Tintin slipping away from me with the ground below us. There was a surgeon, an electrician, a sanitation specialist, a psychiatrist, a security officer, a technical advisor on HIV Testing and Prevention. I clutched my sketchbook, wishing very hard that it was smaller and perhaps said something on the cover about Pre-Natal Training Materials. Clearly visible above the zipline of my rucksack- my paintbrushes nestled their little bristly heads against the Thing that the Infectious diseases specialist from Oslo, had brought. It had lots of tubes and dials and looked definitively life-saving. I had to come clean. “I’m a cartoonist?” It came out with a cringe. At worse an apology- at best a question. I’m still not quite sure I’ve worked out the answer…

Luckily, MSF’s International Communications Coordinator, Jean-Marc Jacobs,  has it all figured out: “Project visits by cartoonists contribute to the notion of bearing witness. They can illustrate sensitive humanitarian activities and simultaneously show the vulnerability alongside the resilience and agency of people caught in crisis.”  If you take photos of patients in hospitals – you show them in an unfamiliar environment – in pain, a victim, a subject. But a good cartoon can get you a sense of a person’s story beyond the hospital – the home and identity they’ve come from and will hopefully return to.  As is still the case in so many cultures, women in Pibor rarely stray beyond their family home. Visiting MSF to give birth may be the only opportunity these women have to access vital services like immunisation, family planning and domestic violence support – so MSF will always offer these things alongside maternity care. In September 2019, my sketchbook and I were an additional service on offer to the mothers who came to MSF – an opportunity to tell their story. For Laito, the mother on whom my comic focuses, this was the first time she’d left her family’s remote home to interact with westerners. It may be the only opportunity we have to learn about her life. And I believe, as MSF does, that her life is important.

Sketch of Laito, Chacha and Maria, by Ella Baron

Access to healthcare in the Pibor region is so scarce that to reach MSF, many women have to walk for days. Because of this, they’d make the journey before their due date, and sleep in the mother’s waiting hut until their baby is born. This gave me a precious opportunity to spend several days with the same families – drinking tea, sketching, chatting- until they trusted me to draw their stories and their bodies in a way that could never have been captured by a camera – or a man. If introducing myself as a ‘cartoonist’ makes me cringe – then the only thing that could be worse – is to preface it with ‘female’ – a qualifier that I will forever be scrubbing out of my by-lines. I am not a ’female cartoonist’ – I’m a cartoonist- like men get to be. I think the subtleties of this point may have been lost in translation when I was introduced to the mother’s staying with MSF in Pibor. The first thing they wanted to know was how many wives my husband had. Once we had established that I had no husband and no children and was fully aware of the waning value of my twenty-three year old womb, we moved on to more fruitful topics – our mothers, grandmothers, sisters. I gave them my story – in exchange for theirs. I wished I’d thought to fill my phone albums with family photos – rather than caricature references of UK politicians pulling strange faces. ‘Husband?’ asked Laito hopefully when we’d flicked past the 8^th photo of Michael Gove.

Sketch of Chacha and Maria, by Ella Baron

I was accepted into the mother’s waiting hut, on the shared ground of our female bodies. But beyond that, our lives were so radically different – I struggled to see what we had in common. How could I communicate their stories in such a way that people back home would empathise – when I was struggling to identify with them myself? In the end, I felt all I could do was draw in the cracks and folds that would reveal me as an imperfect mediator, because if you can’t be entirely authentic- you can at least be open about it. Comics lend themselves to fragmented stories- scrapbook like- you can fan out the different strands of a narrative and leave the reader to make links. On a single comics page- I could depict these mother’s stories,  in parallel with my story of meeting them to learn their stories. In this way, I hoped people would see that this comic isn’t fully mine or theirs- but held between us.

To be true to someone in words you can just transcribe what they say verbatim –but there are no quotation marks in sketches. To reformulate someone’s words into a visual representation – their story must go into and through you. Bits of you get stuck to it – and bits of them will stay with you. That sense of connection with the women I’d met in Pibor lingered long after my return to the UK. I wonder what they’d think of me now, writing this article about the exhibition of their story? I know they’d be disappointed in my continual lack of children. Baby Maria would be four years old now – she’d be walking and talking – and not yet, maybe ever, – reading. She’d have lived through some of the most difficult years in South Sudan’s short history – four years of historic flooding, and now the spill-over of humanitarian issues from the conflict in neighbouring Sudan. It’s been four years, and this story about a woman’s right to maternity care is more relevant today than ever. It is vital that we keep telling these stories – in order to recognise and help fund MSF’s work.

If I have the privilege of drawing for MSF in the future, and once again were to find myself in a helicopter clutching my sketchbook – I’d still introduce myself to the other passengers with a cringe. But this time, the cringe would be backed up by experience – less in doubt at my utility as a cartoonist, than out of recognition for their value as aid-workers.

She Is My Daughter: All Of Her Is Me runs until 8 October in the In Focus space. Find out more and book your tickets here.

Winner of the Alison Brown Young Comics Maestro Award 2023!

We are delighted to announce the winners of the second annual Alison Brown Young Comics Maestro award, recognizing the most exciting comic strip talents from the UK under the age of 18 years old.

The 2023 winners are:

Sofia Deen, age 9 (winner)

Eric Caseras-Ros, age 11 (runner-up)

Zack Bennett, age 9 & Asta Haldane, age 8 (runners-up)

Entrants submitted an original comic strip of up to three pages long (or a three-page section of a story). Each of the winners receives prize money and a certificate. The winner and runners-up, along with entries by a selection of artists receiving a Judges’ Commendation, have been collected in a digital e-comic.

Check out the e-comic here: bit.ly/3Pi2Ct8

Detail of page by winner, Sofia Deen

Huge congratulations to Sofia, Eric, Zack and Asta! This years entries showcased some incredible talent, and most of the entries had the judges laughing at the absurdist humor and logic on show. We look forward to seeing what they are doing in a few years time as their abilities as artists and storytellers continue to grow.

The 2023 awards were judged by a panel that included Hannah Berry (Livestock, Adamantine, Comics Laureate 2019-21), Martin Rowson (The Guardian, The Daily Mirror), Laura Howell (The Beano), Tom Fickling (Editor/MD of The Phoenix), Steve Marchant (Learning Officer at The Cartoon Museum), Kate Owens (Collections Manager at The Cartoon Museum), Matt Baxter (Monster Fun), Mark Stafford (Salmonella Smorgasboard, The Bad Bad Place)and Joe Sullivan (Director of The Cartoon Museum)

The Comics Maestro Award celebrates Cartoon Museum staff member Alison Brown, who passed away from Covid in 2021 at the age of just 39. Alison was the heart and soul of The Cartoon Museum, staffing the front desk, running events, and stocking the shop, and bringing light into the life of everyone she met. Alison loved comics and championed young comic artists, often selling them in the shop, and after a collection for her funeral was donated to the Museum, we and her family felt the best way to remember her was to use the collection to continue providing a pathway for young people to have their art seen by a larger audience.

Jadore, Young Cartoonist in Residence

In our latest blog, Jadore Nicholas of JK Cartoon Studios tells us how he has been working with the museum as our Young Cartoonist in Residence.

In December 2021 I attended an interview with the Cartoon Museum for work experience, and they were so impressed with my characters – ‘The Jadoodles’ (which come in all shapes and sizes, showing us feelings and emotions, reminding us to make time for them all) and illustrations that they offered me a residency. While the details were sparse at the time, I was excited for the new year! The residency started in February and it has been designed by Amba, Community Engagement Officer, to work around me. I started my residency by customising The Cartoon Museum windows with ‘The Jadoodles’ – this was something I was planning to do on my own garden door, so it was perfect! Additionally, I debuted my 3 new artworks: Westside Jadoodle, Pulling Page Jadoodle and Smiley Face Jadoodle, exclusively stocking the postcards for these artworks in the Cartoon Museum gift shop.

Jadore outside The Cartoon Museum

I spend my time at The Cartoon Museum exploring the galleries to get inspired by the many old cartoons in the collection. Additionally, I am able to learn more about cartoons as I am surrounded by experts like Steve, Learning and Outreach Officer, who is an expert in the history of cartoons, and uses this inspiration to do his own artwork and host workshops. I have also been leading workshops at ‘Relaxed Monday’ events. My first workshop included my JKCS colouring sheet and then for my second Relaxed Monday, I planned a workshop that allowed participants to customise their own small windows to take home, either with their own design or a Jadoodle character – which I helped with by explaining step by step.

Customising the museum window with The Jadoodles

The Relaxed Monday workshops have grown my confidence from strength to strength, as well as developing the workshops I offer. Starting with my own JKCS colouring sheet sessions, I now lead workshops where I tutor participants on how to draw Jadoodles. I was able to adjust my approach depending on the type of group – for families I was able to show them on their table, but when a group of teenagers attended a later session, I used the flip chart at the front of the room to keep everyone engaged (and make sure they all could hear and see) – even running a competition for the best window to win a JKCS postcard. One special moment for me was when I assisted a person in a wheelchair with special needs to a 1-to-1 session on the board.

To celebrate my residency at The Cartoon Museum, I hosted a takeover of the museum on 15 November for a special event showcasing my responses to the collection at the museum – as well as a few other surprises!

Jadore with some of his framed finished pieces that respond to the Museum collection

by Jadore Nicholas

Find out more about Jadore’s work here

Find out more about our Relaxed Monday events here

The Silhouettes of Auguste Edouart

by Lydia Newton

Auguste Edouart was a French artist known for his silhouette artworks. Extremely prolific in his day, given the niche nature of Edouart’s art he escapes mainstream popularity today. This piece aims to provide an entry into his world of profiles and focuses on several aspects of his portraiture that parallel key features of cartoons.

Born in Dunkirk, France, in 1789 – a period of extreme political turbulence – Edouart was one of sixteen children. At 19 years old, he fought in the Napoleonic wars and in 1814, he married Emilie Laurence Vital and travelled to London where he remained until 1829 when he moved to Scotland. Initially, he specialised in artworks made of hair – a painstaking and lengthy process. It is hardly surprising that his career began to flourish in the far more lucrative market of silhouettes where one profile could take him less than three minutes to make. It was in 1825, on being shown a silhouette made by a machine, that he produced some scissors and card and cut out the likeness of one of his companions. From this point, silhouettes became his bread and butter (Profiles of the Past). Producing thousands of profiles in his lifetime, these were quicker and cheaper to make than painted portraits. His portfolio is a formidable achievement given the control required to produce the likenesses using only scissors! 

In 1839, Edouart travelled to the United States remaining there for ten years before returning to France. On his voyage home, thousands of his works were lost in a shipwreck. Thankfully, many were saved – indeed, it is said that he took duplicates of every portrait he completed (Profiles of the Past). Vast in quantity, Edouart also depicted a variety of subjects, including public figures such as the exiled royal, Charles X, William Dyce and Fanny Brawne (National Portrait Gallery). From familial scenarios in the drawing room, to urban scenes of the streets in Bath, he documents not only people but nineteenth-century life itself.  

The Magic Lantern by Auguste Edouart

The Magic Lantern (ca,1835) elevates Edouart from being solely a portrait artist given the complexity of the composition. By definition, a silhouette is also inherently basic, created with nothing but black card – the detail can be seen in the form of the figures where the lines have been cut. The likenesses are achieved with skilled prowess but are not caricatures – whilst one dimensional and blank, no feature is disproportionate. Every detail is recognisable and achieved through a speedy medium, one which was possibly considered less ‘highbrow’ – a reputation which has also been held by cartoons at times. If the dictionary defines a cartoon as ‘a simplified or exaggerated version or interpretation of something’ (Oxford languages) or a ‘ludicrously simplistic, unrealistic, or one-dimensional portrayal’ (Merriam-Webster), then Edouart’s silhouettes fit nicely into that category.

Equally, if cartoons tell a story, in a humorous way at times, then there is certainly both a narrative and comedic component to many of Auguste Edouart’s silhouettes, as seen in The Magic Lantern and other compositions which I shall examine shortly. What Edouart has created is difficult to characterise – it is not only a silhouette; the scene is telling a story with various forms of entertainment moving the narrative along. A man is putting on a show using a magic lantern – these were images painted onto glass which were projected onto a screen through an illuminated lens. The figure with a wooden leg provides a musical accompaniment using a barrel organ (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). Not all the people are in profile. The man to the right and the two children face away from us, and are immersed in the show. One figure lifts her child to get a better view, another opens the door, and an elderly woman sits stationary in the background. The room is a hive of activity and a vignette into one afternoon’s leisure pursuits. 

Cartoons tell a story with artists using various techniques to convey movement and emotion. Far from static, Edouart has cut the silhouettes to bring a sense of action. A child is lifted whilst another crouches down to play with a dog who is jumping up. Up and down and to and fro, the motion of the characters brings a vitality to the scene. Excitement, disapproval, concentration – these emotions are all evident in the stances of the characters.

Johnny’s Funny Story to Mary the Cook by Auguste Edouart

Johnny’s Funny Story to Mary the Cook and The Magic Lantern demonstrate how Edouart represented a wide breadth of ages and social types in their daily lives. In the Funny Story, the subjects are starkly different to the middle/upper classes of The Magic Lantern. They are placed in front of a fire – one is a cook, the other is a servant. Whilst apolitical, the title adds a playful dimension to the figures reminiscent of Hogarth – Mary’s smile is visible, and Johnny lifts his coattails in one relatable motion.

Cut Silhouette of Four Full Figures by Auguste Edouart

Cut Silhouette of Four Full Figures contains a similar humorous streak. Two men (possibly tutors) are busy instructing the boys – one of whom playfully pokes the other with a stick, contrasting the solemn manner of the occasion. As we delve into Edouart’s portfolio, we are rewarded with more than just likenesses but stories, and beyond this, social products which serve as records for the period in which they were produced. Here, I have paralleled them loosely with several attributes of cartoons, using this lens as a tool for analysis and offering some information and interpretation. I have not discussed the context of his work in detail or, how the medium was almost completely halted by the invention of photography. There are many more questions to ask and answer and I encourage you to do so!

Further Reading

1. “Cartoon.” Oxford Languages and Google, Oxford University Press, accessed 7th September 2022. 
2. “Cartoon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cartoon. Accessed 7th Sep. 2022. 
3. Edouart, Auguste (McKechnie Section 1). Profiles of the Past: 250 Years of British Portrait Silhouette History, Profile of the Past, http://www.profilesofthepast.org.uk/mckechnie/edouart-augustin-mckechnie-section-1. Accessed 7th Sept. 2022. 
4. Edouart, Auguste. People and Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp06932/augustin-edouart,  Accessed 7th Sept. 2022. 
5. The Magic Lantern. Auguste Edouart, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,  https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/365307. Accessed 7th Sept. 2022. 

From the Vaults: Comic Highlights The Adventures of Luther Arkwright

By Monica Ann Walker Vadillo

This blog was originally published in 2016 as part of the Museum’s Comic Creators project. We are reposting it as part of our From the Vaults series to celebrate our exhibition about the history of the series, open until 2 October.

Introduction

The Comic Creators Project at the Cartoon Museum in London has original artwork from The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, a  limited series comic written and drawn by Bryan Talbot between 1978 and 1989. It was followed by a sequel called Heart of Empire: The Legacy of Luther Arkwright in 1995, which was published by Dark Horse Comics. In 2014, this publisher released Arkwright Integral, which combined both stories with an introduction by Michael Moorcock, an afterword by Warren Ellis, and plenty of additional material. This graphic novel is featured in the exhibition The Great British Graphic Novel (20th April – 24th July, 2016).

Bryan Talbot, The Papist Affair Brainstorm Comix, 1978.

Luther Arkwright was introduced to the public in a strip published by Brainstorm Comix in 1978. In this strip, titled “The Papist Affair,” the intrepid Luther helps a band of biker nuns to recover the relic of Saint Adolf of Nuremberg, which was being held by  “a buncha male chauvinist priests”. Bryan Talbot, in his introduction to the re-printed edition of Brainstorm, mentions that the strip was “an excuse to do a “ground-level” strip in line and water-colour wash and was directly inspired by the Jerry Cornelius stories of Michael Moorcock. After this, Arkwright took on his own personality and I developed his own milieu, but this was his very first appearance.” (Talbot 1999, Introduction).

Luther Arkwright’s adventures continued in 1978 as a serial in Near Myths, a comics magazine published in Edinburgh that only ran for five issues. Afterwards it was picked up by Pssst! Magazine, but its publication was interrupted in 1982 with the story having advanced maybe half way through the plot. Still, it was this same year that the first collected volume of Luther Arkwright was published for the first time by Never Ltd. This book and Raymond Briggs’ When the Wind Blows, published in the same year, are usually considered to be the first British graphic novels, although the serialised form of Arkwright was created four years earlier than When the Wind Blows.

Bryan finished the story between 1987 and 1989 and it was subsequently published as a series of nine standard comic books by Valkyrie Press. A tenth issue titled “ARKeology” was created due to the requests of obsessive fans who rightfully wanted to learn more about the history, production, and background of the characters. This was followed by the three volume trade paperback reprint edition in Britain from Proutt and the American edition of the comic book from Dark Horse Comics in 1990-1991 and 1997. As previously mentioned, Dark Horse Comics would eventually publish the sequel, Heart of Empire, in 1999. The whole story was reprinted in a single volume called Arkwright Integral by Dark Horse Comics in 2014.

The popularity of this graphic novel extends beyond the traditional medium of comics. In 1992 The Adventures of Luther Arkwright was made into a role-playing game (RPG) by 23rd Parallel Games. Interesting enough, and as a sign of how much people loved Bryan’s  universe, a brand new Arkwright RPG is currently in production by Hogshead Games. In 2001 there was a three-hour audio drama adaptation of the Adventures of Luther Arkwright by Big Finish Productions starring David Tennant as Arkwright and Paul Darrow as Cromwell. There was also talk about the possibility of taking Luther Arkwright to the big screen in 2006 by Benderspink. It was going to be produced by Andrew Prowse and Sophie Patrick, but according to Talbot, the rights for the project lapsed in June 2010. (Etherington 2010, 34).

Bryan Talbot holding Arkwright Integral

Luther Arkwright was digitally remastered by Comics Centrun in 2005 for a Czech edition titled Dobrodružství Luther Arkwrighta. This new artwork was also used in the French edition by Kymera Comics and was the basis for the 2006 webcomic release in the official fan page.

Bryan Talbot and the Valkyrie Press edition of Arkwright were nominated for eight Eagle Awards in 1988, winning four: Favourite Artist, Best New Comic, Favourite Character for Arkwright himself and Best Comic Cover. In 1989 Arkwright won the Mekon Award given by The Society of Strip Illustration for ‘Best British Work’.

Bryan Talbot, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, 1978, page 1

The Adventures of Luther Arkwright can be best described as an epic Steampunk Science-Fiction tale set in a multiverse that the eponymous hero can access by jumping from one parallel world to another. Luther is aided in his missions by Rose Wylde, a telepath that is capable of communicating with the different versions of herself in the multiverse. Both  of them work for a parallel called Zero-Zero, whose stable position in the multiverse has made it into a world at peace. It has developed a highly advanced technology that allows it to monitor other parallel worlds for signs of the evil influence of the Disruptors. It is during one of these swipes that Zero-Zero discovers that the Disruptors have gotten ahold of a mystical doomsday device called Firefrost, which is capable of destabilizing and ultimately destroying the multiverse.

Luther and Rose are sent to the parallel world where the Disruptors are hiding the doomsday device. In this parallel, the English Civil War has been indefinitely prolonged due to the actions of these agents. In this world, the monarchy was never restored and Oliver Cromwell’s line continued to rule England with an iron fist-though in this case the puritan religious fervour that characterized it has a distinct darkness to it. Moreover, this political climate has given rise to a royalist uprising that threatens to trigger a second civil war.

Bryan Talbot, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, Near Myths, 1978. Detail of original artwork donated by the artist to the Cartoon Museum, London.

Arkwright’s mission then is to destabilize the Cromwellian regime and he intervenes on the Royalist side in order to draw out the Disruptors. At one point, he infiltrates their base, locates Firefrost and destroys it saving the multiverse in the process. Nevertheless, his unit is ambushed, and Luther is killed. Yet his story does not end here. He returns to life in an apotheosic rebirth with his powers enhanced, becoming a new superhuman species in the process.

Mainly done in black and white, the early episodes of the story are rather complex. They present multiple story lines with flashbacks to Luther Arkwright’s upbringing by the Disruptors, his daring escape to his own parallel world, and his early missions for Zero-Zero. All these stories are intertwined with the events taking place during his mission in neo-Cromwellian England. Bryan changes his artistic style and story-telling techniques to match these shifts of place and time. Of particular interest are the scenes of Arkwright’s death and rebirth which are full of religious and mythological symbolism encased in a particularly abstract style. What is fascinating is to see this moment taking place, since from the start the readers and the main character know that he is going to die but details of how this will come to pass are not disclosed.

The last part of the story is more straightforward and linear, showing the evolution of the artist himself in the process (it did take him ten years to complete the story). In the end, Luther Arkwright completes his mission and renounces violence.

On Luther Arkwright by Bryan Talbot

Bryan Talbot has given many interviews along the years which reflect his visionary attitude towards the creation of comics and graphic novels. In The Arkwright Interview conducted by Stephen R. Bissette in 2012, Bryan discusses at length the motivations that led him to create The Adventures of Luther Arkwright. (Bissette 2012)

Bryan Talbot, Luther flying, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright.

According to Bryan, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright was a serious attempt to do an intelligent adventure story for adults. As such, he tried to create something as rich as a text novel and drawn in a manner following illustration-quality artwork. In this way he rejected the “short-hand” style that usually characterized the superhero genre. His work was also a reaction against the bland state of mainstream superhero comics of the time. Luther Arkwright contained sex, drugs, his characters swore and vomited, things that would have never happened in a superhero comic of the time…it was the 70s after all.

Regarding the story level, Bryan wanted to move away from formulaic plots usually found in superhero comics. Instead he wanted to create a story that was complex and multi-layered. He wanted for Luther Arkwright to have real depth with subjects like politics, religion, sex, or philosophy being taken into consideration at the same time that he presented an exciting adventure.

According to Bryan “The story itself was directly influenced by  French comics. In the late seventies I discovered Metal Hurlant, which blew me away. […] As well as [drawing inspiration from] Moorcock, Luther Arkwright was influenced by the books of Robert Anton Wilson, Alfred Bester, Colin Wilson, and Norman Spinrad. On the visual side, it was very much influenced by the films of Sergio Leone, Alfred Hitchcock, Sam Peckinpah, and, especially, those of Nic Roeg. I tried to translate their techniques of framing, composition and editing-basically, their visual storytelling-into comic form. This led to the comic storytelling techniques in Arkwright that then were experimental but are now pretty much mainstream. I was still learning then (and I still am now) and trying to push the boundaries, so, along with the innovations, there were things that didn’t work. Or drawings that look crap. I made all my mistakes in print. The eighteenth-century British artist and storyteller William Hogarth had a big influence on the illustration style.” (Bissette 2012)

Bryan agrees that from the beginning, Arkwright was self-consciously experimental. He did not use sound effects, thought balloons, wobble lines, and whoosh marks-actually nothing that could be considered cliched, childish or old fashioned by non-comic readers. In the end, he was aiming his work at an adult readership that he hoped would include people who were not used to reading comics. The experimentation included “the twenty-odd-page death/rebirth metamorphosis section, where I employed big blocks of text alongside collaged images, and the assassination sequence where I spread six seconds over seventy-two panels. Today these don’t seem very unusual. When I began The Adventures of Luther Arkwright in 1978, I don’t think that I’d ever seen a slow-motion sequence in an adventure comic before. I put one into the first five pages.”

These are some of the reasons why The Adventures of Luther Arkwright has been acclaimed as a seminal work, i.e. for its combination of historical, science fiction, espionage, and supernatural genres, its experimental narrative techniques and the avoidance of sound effects, speed lines, and thought balloons. Famous comic book creators like Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, Warren Ellis, Steve Bissette, Michael Zulli, Rick Veitch and Neil Gaiman among others have acknowledged the influence that this graphic novel has had in their work. Currently, Luther Arkwright has a strong cult following and it has inspired many fanzines devoted to the Arkwright mythos as well as short stories written by various authors. The Adventures of Luther Arkwright has been translated and published in eight different countries and his stories continue to sell.

Further Reading

Aldred, Elaine (2012). “Bryan Talbot. A Life of Constant Curiosity and Experiment.” In Strange Alliances: Great Writing Comes in Many Guises. Retrieved on April 17, 2016.

Bissette, Stephen R.(2012) Bryan Talbot-Dreams&Dystopias: S.r. Bissette’s On/In Comics, Vol. 1. Hertford, NC: Crossroad Press. (Ebook)

Etherington, Daniel (2010). “The Making of Grandville” Comic Heroes Magazine 3: 34.

Gordon, Joe (2014). “Director’s Commentary: Filming the Comics Creator.” Forbidden Planet International Blog. Retrieved on April 17, 2016.

Talbot, Bryan (1999). Brainstorm: The Complete Chester P. Hackenbush and Other Underground Classics. London: Alchemy Press.

Talbot, Bryan (2014). Arkwright Integral. Milwaukee, Oregon: Dark Horse Comics.

The Official Bryan Talbot Website. Writer and Artist: Comics, Graphic Novels and Illustrations. Retrieved on April 18, 2016.

Dementia cartoons with Tony Husband

Our new blog is with award winning cartoonist Tony Husband, who has been using his
artistic skills and personal experience of dementia to connect to carers and those living with
this life changing disease.

by Claire Madge

Tony Husband

To begin our conversation I asked Tony how he got started drawing cartoons.
“I wanted to go to art college but my Dad wouldn’t let me, he told me I had to get a ‘proper
job’. I’d been in advertising, a window dresser and a jeweller but my ambition was to be a
cartoonist. At night I was always drawing cartoons sending them out to various newspapers
and magazines trying to build up a reputation and earn enough money to have a career at it.
I took voluntary redundancy at the jewellers and that gave me the chance to give it a go.
It was a time when there were lots of magazines, the Daily Star started taking my work, I
was prolific with my work and things started to progress and then greeting cards came
along.

With a couple of guys in Manchester we created Oink magazine, it was a magic time when
Manchester was ‘Madchester’! We were in the same building as the Happy Mondays it was
a bit crazy. Mark Riley from the Fall joined us – it was like being in a rock band.
When Ian Hislop took over at Private Eye around 1986 I started to work for them, they took
some of my skinhead drawings and Hislop asked if I would do a strip for them called ‘Yobs’
and 37 years later I am still doing it!”

As Tony sketched away over our Zoom call I asked how he ended up publishing a book of
cartoons on dementia.
“‘Take Care, Son: The Story of My Dad and Dementia” was published 2014, my Dad had
vascular dementia and he had passed away. It was about three months afterwards I was in
my studio I had finished my day’s work and opened a bottle of wine, I was sat there playing
music. As I sat there I asked my Dad out loud – ‘What was it like Dad to have dementia, can
you remember?” and his voice came back to me…’I had dementia and you’re asking me to
remember?!” then I just had this conversation with him in my head, then I just thought I
would draw that conversation.

I got these 3 A4 pieces of paper, the first page was how it started, then it was things that I
remember happening, then the last page was him asking – ‘Can you imagine what it is like to
lose the memory of everyone and everything you have ever loved?’
I shared them with Stephen Fry, who is a friend and he tweeted them. They went viral and a
publisher emailed me and that is how it started.”

I asked Tony how he used humour and his experience with his father to help those facing
similar situations.
“My cartoons have this ability with the slightest line or movement create a feeling of loss or
sorrow and happiness. Sir Malcolm Walker who runs Iceland food stores, his wife had
dementia he bought 5,000 copies to help people deal with dementia. I sent him a cartoon of
a woman at a check-out, she is struggling to find her card, and everyone behind is tutting
and looking at their watches, looking angry and the caption is “Please be patient, I might be
living with dementia.” Walker loved this and it put over every till in all his stores.
After publishing the book I got involved with the Alzheimer’s Society and I have travelled the
country doing talks, telling the stories behind the pictures in the book. It is very hard talking
about my Dad, but I think the bonus is people go away thinking they are not the only ones,
someone understands.”

Tony has also used his work in other ways…
“I did some work with Portsmouth University and Heathrow Airport, through a guy called
Ian Sherriff we produced two books – one about visiting a dentist if you have dementia and
the other one is for the those travelling through an airport, it explains what is going to
happen. It also helps the staff understand why someone might behave differently.”

United book cover by Gina Awad, illustrated by Tony Husband

I asked Tony how he has been building on that first dementia book.
“I have also been working with Gina Awad, founder of Exeter Dementia Action Alliance,
illustrating her book – ‘United: Caring for our loved ones living with dementia’, it was
published in June. There are seven stories in the book Gina talked to the carers and I drew
them in the zoom calls, it was very moving.

“When I could remember…”
I can just about remember
When I could remember everything
Of the thoughts in my head
And the pleasure they could bring.
But I know the darkness now
And it’s getting darker still.
My mind it seems is closing down
And not of my free will.
Please sit with me and hold my hand
To let me know you understand.
Although my mind is not so clear
I’m still me and I’m still here
Tony Husband

“I didn’t expect the response that has happened and the goodwill towards the book. The
wonderful things people say to me about how the book has helped them.
The comic form is just so simple, in a cartoon by a great cartoonist you can see the story,
you can see what that person is going through in just one look and a few lines. It strips it
down for people, without thousands of words. Just two people, saying something with one
caption and it expresses everything.

As a family we got through it with humour, you have to otherwise you would crack up.
Finally I asked Tony if he had any advice for those supporting someone with dementia.
“Just talk and for your own sake get the memories before the memories go. Don’t talk over
them, include people with dementia in your conversation. Make them feel as though they’ve not gone, that they are important, that what they say
matters.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxx
Tony Husband website – http://www.tonyhusband.co.uk/
Books
Take Care Son: The Story of My Dad and Dementia
https://www.waterstones.com/book/take-care-son/tony-husband/9781472115560
United: Caring for our loved ones living with dementia
https://www.waterstones.com/book/united/tony-husband/gina-awad/9781472146519
Travelling with Dementia –
https://www.heathrow.com/content/dam/heathrow/web/common/documents/at-the-
airport/accessibility-and-mobility/flying-with-dementia.pdf
Dental Dementia Friendly Guide –
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/uploads/production/document/path/20/20743/Dental_Deme
ntia_Friendly_Guide.pdf