andyluke

Well, its been a great few days for me, and its time to mix the pot once again.

LONDON - WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12TH & WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19TH : MASS LONE DEMONSTRATIONS TO RAISE AWARENESS OF YOUR COMICS

Yes, to demonstrate in certain areas of London you now need to get written permission from the police six days in advance. So, why not stand in line and use your unique social skills to pitch your comics to a bunch of similarly disenfranchised outsiders ? I'm considering carrying a placard bearing the words, 'STOP CUTTING ARTS COUNCIL FUNDING TO KIDSON AND KENNEDY'

Do you have a new comic strip you want to promote, or an old collection viciously being attacked by dust mites that needs defending by THE READER !!



I KNOW WERE YOU LIVE !

or you could protest against the war or something, i dunno

You need to read this (link), and then you need to tell other people. And you need to come back here and say 'Yeah, those cartoonists who arent doing it are just a bunch of poosays' (or busy at work or something, you know how things are, starving artist recession recession) or,  'HELL ANDY YEAH      - HOOOOOYYYYAAAAAA!'

Theres a two page word document I've just finished on this whole environmental justice political postcard comic geniuspalooza happy that I were plugging a lot at Caption. Originally written for the 6 or 7 who signed up. I guess I'll send them copies of it tomorrow. Environmental Justice Postcard Comix.doc at http://www.esnips.com/web/drewlukesBusinessFiles

Proposal-of-Suggested-Recommended-Alterations-For-Ob-Scene.doc has also been moved to http://www.esnips.com/web/drewlukesBusinessFiles after a bunch of folk had trouble finding the file.

Well, things are still crawling along at a much slower pace than I would have liked for the comix activism project. I can't really see a big release at Climate Camp, although maybe we could manage a small print run with something bigger for the December Shared Planet event.

Following the balls-up I made regarding the format, I thought it would be cool to re-print this email I got from one of the contributors so you can get an idea of were the projects going, and just how flexible the question of format really is.

"Alternative to submissions of four pages in length, you could ask for submissions of a one page strip and a double-sided postcard – that way a one page strip could precede a double-sided page of two postcards, and then another one page strip could follow. And the process begins again. (i.e. page 1: your introduction; page 2 (back of intro): submitter A's strip; page 3 (facing): submitter A's postcard top, the back of submitter B's postcard bottom; page 4: the back of submitter A's postcard top, the front of submitter B's postcard bottom; page 5 (facing): submitter B's strip; page 6: submitter C's strip; page 7 (facing): submitter C's postcard top, the back of submitter D's postcard bottom etc.)

 

Anyway, I've a one-page strip ready, and a second one-pager in the works. Dunno if you'll be able to use either – they're not exactly what you're looking for – but they might come in handy as page-fillers should the layout of your publication become difficult. I'll do a couple of postcards as well (which would bring my submission to the four-page mark, and fit the layout outlined earlier), but I'll do them as gag cartoons so that you'll be able to use them as half-page fillers too instead of postcards.

 

Fuck it, it'll all come together in the end! It's a worthwhile project, Andy, to be sure. You should still be excited by it. I hope you are."

Restricting work completion so close to print deadline is a lofty idea with accurate intent, but practically doomed. I guess what I'm saying is, Open for submissions.

Finally gotten around to preparing another graphic so people get what I'm on about.



I've also made a list of groups I want to email over the next couple of days and find out if they could circulate it around some of their members, and make enquiries into the possibilities for funding.

I'm way too knackered to do all of these myself so if you know people in these groups well, or want to run with a message, this one for example,
( http://andyluke.livejournal.com/tag/read+by#169413 )
it woulds be help.
Throw in a link to this subject matter, rather than my livejournal. Thats this one http://andyluke.livejournal.com/tag/read+by

Tell me in the comments !

• New Internationalist (emailed website contact)
  
• People and Planet (emailed contact Charlie)
  
• Schnews (emailed website contact)
  
• CAAT (emailed website contact)
  
• Amnesty International ((emailed website contact)
• Paper Tiger Comix (emailed Sean Duffield)
  
• Lobbying, activist groups on Facebook ?
• Twitter  (?)
  
• Friends of the Earth (Forum'd):)
  
• Oxfam (emailed)
  
• Stop The War coalition (emailed)
  
• CND (Emailed Campaign, Press and Enquiries)
  
• Propaganda Matrix (Emailed Mr. Watson)
  
• Indymedia (Bless em !)
  

Also discovered I might want to get hold of Tanya Tier and Lou McKeever

1. pick an area you're interested in, and some actions.

2. draw one and a half pages of comix putting the point across.

3. Add a layout for a double sided postcard whatever you choose : illustrated, blank, filled-for-signature, partially written, blank

4. send me stuff. andyluke @ livejournal.com

Its yours now, public. I'm going for some tea.

Its becoming clear quickly that the workload on 'Read By.../Best Before End...' is much too much for me to handle alone if I'm to apply for grants, co-ordinate with different cartoonists and activist group members, sort out printing several hundred copies....

I need editors, cartoonists, activists, tutors, gophers, and I need people to talk about this.

Re-titled because jenbee mentioned Climate Camp, which turns out to be the week after Caption, rather exciting venue, and much more likely to benefit from the >50 copies that a project like this needs backing with.

For printing I'm considering Parchment, and I've not ruled out Oxford GreenPrint, I certainly would like to make some connections there.

I've put out word to a number of individuals I reckon are definitely interested, and I'd like to get some activists who definitely know what they're doing. This is a problem as I've been doing this solo and with a focus stateside. I'm not really sure were to go outside People and Planet, New Internationalist, Schnews, and Amnesty International.

The meeting at OARC on Tuesday night was positive and reminded me what a big thing I'd originally imagined this as. Still, man shall not momentum on imagination alone.

Additionally, I think a website for these strips with an Urgent Action template letter aspect to it is probably a matter sometime in the future.

please uk-ish, link to this post. I want people who i don't know to read it and get involved with it, as well as the people that i do know.

'Read by 14 Aug 07' takes its cue from those mass pre-printed lobbying cards that often show up on stands at events like Shared Planet. I thought, why not do a bunch of them in a booklet introduced by a page/page and a half each in comic book form ?

The title date owes to its presentation on sale at Caption, the low-fi comics festival, and the final day of the festival.

Initially this is planned as a 28 page black and white comic to keep costs down. Comics will be printed on card, cost £1 each.

Visualised as 28 pages of 8 comic strips devoted entirely to lobbying and activism.. Each cartoonist will be given 2 & 1/2 pages to devote to their areas of interest.
- 1 & ½ page of comic strip outlining why someone should take this action
- Double-sided ½ page of postcard

The postcard section is designed at the discretion of the artist. A sample letter pre-written, blank space for viewer interface or a mixture of the two. In design, serrated edges or a simple cut-along-line will be, so as to encourage the reader to make use of the resources/cut up the book.

(heres a hurriedly rushed together sample 2xA5 I put together using one of Ryan Scott's comics and one of my postcards.)



Alternate formats include copies with pre-stuck 8 x 1st class stamps, 8 x 2nd class stamps and the inclusion of any Air mail stickers. Also packs of stamps, stickers and highest quality activist material available at POS.

I shall look into environmentally sound production method of recycled card or heavy stock paper.

Ideas for discussion as I'm not as crystal about them

A second and third edition on the same date (Maybe a fourth and fifth following on from good response at Caption ?)
The 7 Day Comic - (ie. original plan was to create the comics only within the 7 days before publication to keep the facts fresh)
Oxford Jam and Comics Workshop (would need student interest and extra tutors)
Online orders available through Paypal (for those not at Caption, and to shift overstock. Pre-orders to help fund)

I was thinking earlier why girls who enjoy speed dating don't ask me out. I'm a wide selection.

This isn't reflected in my more nimble self. For example, I'm doing the can-can over at Patrick Brown's ambitious comics project. Patrick describes The Ulster Cycle as "a historical adventure set in Iron Age Ireland, adapted from Celtic mythology." I have to confess to not having read it yet but Patrick was talking about this for a long time most enthusiastically since oh, when he was crucial in formulating my decision to create and publish my own comics. Encouraging, supporting during those days, amongst other dances he styles and graces of his. From what I've seen of The Ulster Cycle its reminiscent of Eddie Capbell's last few Baachus books. Patricks also links to Irish comics creators and Irish mythology up, http://paddybrown.wordpress.com/

Yes, last night I could not sleep because I accidentally stumbled accross an absolutely genius idea that solves about four of my problems at once and if love will have it, a buch of other peoples problems as well. Four hundred or thousand maybe, maybe more.

So heres clue in the assembly

Leave the week before Caption free, if you wanna do some comics and activism combo work with me. Get any Caption-intended presentations of your own ready by 6th August. Its gonna be a blast !
jenbee i'll be in contact, gonna likes your input on this one !