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OCT/NOV
2012
ISSUE#1
FEATURING AN
INTERVIEW WITH
TOM GAULD ANDCOMIC ART FROM
THE BEST INDIE
TALENT AROUND
FREE
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Welcome to Issue One of OFF LIFE magazine, the UKs only street
press comic anthology.
What does that mean? Well, that well be collecting stories from
todays best indie comic talent, compiling their stories in a
bi-monthly magazine and then leaving them around bars, coffeehouses, shops and galleries for good people like you to pick up
free of charge.
Some of you may be new to comics. To you, I hope that
OFF LIFE will be a stepping stone to all the works of genius that
exist out there in four-colour print. Because, sure, Spider-Man is
fun and Wolverine is tough, but at their best comics can be every
bit as adult, serious and culturally incisive as any novel or theatre
production. And at a time like this, with the UK so nipple-deep in
struggle, bold voices in every medium should be given the chance
to shine. Yes, even comic creators!Finally, Id like to thank all who helped this issue reach the
surface. To the designers, contributors, friends and those whove
spread the word of our very existence... nice one!
Now, why on Gods shit-strewn Earth are you still reading this
waffle? There are comics to read. Get to it!
DANIEL HUMPHRY
Editor, OFF LIFE
COMICS
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TOM GAULD
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EDITOR
Daniel Humphry
ART DIRECTOR
Steve Leard
COVER ART
Sean Wars
wwrrssddrrwwss.co.uk
DESIGN
wearerandl.co.uk
ADVISOR
Luke Harvey
OFFLIFE.CO.UK
INFO@OFFLIFE.CO.UK
@OFFLIFE_COMIC
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...
This magazine has been partly funded through crowd sourcing. Wed like
to thank the following donators: Derek Hamilton, Pete Ashton, David
Panaho, Matthew Smith, Paul HMD, Phlebas, Jamie Smart, Sarah Casey,
Tim Parker, Lauren Carnall, Tim Harries, David OConnell, Marion
Cromb, Calum Johnston, Stuart Perrins, Lucy Rice, Mark Allen, Nick
Burton, Monkleus, Dean Simmons, Andy Oliver, Steph Miller, Emma
Mould and Joe Stone.
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Hi Tom, how are you?
Very well, thank you.
Youve been published as a cartoonist for over ten
years now, what first drew you to comics?
Ive been drawing constantly since I was tiny and
loved the picture books read to me as a child by
Maurice Sendak, Janet and Allan Ahlberg, etc so it
just seemed natural to me to like comics when I was old
enough to read them. My first love was the Asterix
books then I got into Tintin and moved onto Battle
a war based comic for boys and then 2000 AD.When I left school, I knew I wanted to draw for a
living and went on to study illustration at Edinburgh
College of Art. I was still interested in comics, reading
Eightball and the Acme Novelty Library and would
play around with short narratives, but it wasnt until
I was at the Royal College of Art that I started to find
my feet with storytelling.
While still studying you kick-started your comics
career in small press and self-publishing. What doyou think you gained from this?
When Simone Lia and I self-published our first
comic in 2001 [as Cabanon Press] there were not many
other ways of getting a book out there. There are many
more comic publishers out there and more who might
publish shorter work by a new artist Nobrow and
Blank Slate spring to mind.
However, I still think that self-publishing can do
some things better than proper publishing: you get a
level of control, freedom and intimacy with your readerwhich is much harder to find elsewhere. Id definitely
advise trying it; I learned a lot of things self-publishing
which have helped in proper publishing.
Have you seen the comic industry change much in
the 12 years youve been published?
Its definitely changed and definitely for the
FOR OVER TEN YEARS TOM GAULD HAS BEEN TAKING HIS
DISTINCT COMIC ART TO THE WORLD. WHETHER IN THE FORM OFBEST-SELLING GRAPHIC NOVEL GOLIATH OR AS A CARTOONIST FOR
THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER, TOMS WRY INSIGHTS AND SIDEWAYS
GLANCES HAVE OPENED COMICS TO A CROSS-OVER AUDIENCE AND
PUSHED PEOPLES PERCEPTIONS OF WHAT COMICS CAN BE.
OFF LIFE CAUGHT UP WITH TOM TO ASK WHAT COMICS MEAN TO HIM.
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AD AD
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better. I think were in a real golden age for alternative
comics, both in Britain and in the world generally.
It seems we have more good artists, publishers, outletsand enthusiastic readers than 12 years ago.
My only concern is that I think there is sometimes
a feeling in publishing that working on anything other
than a graphic novel is a complete waste of time.
I realise this is mainly because they sell the best and
have an air of seriousness about them, but I think many
artists and particularly new ones benefit from
working in shorter/different forms.
What does being a cartoonist mean to you?I aim to entertain people. I think my general
worldview comes across in the work but I dont start
out with things I want to say to my readers, I mainly
want to tell an interesting story. My cartoons can often
be quite melancholy or dark-humoured, but I would
never make anything really nasty or completely bleak
and without heart: there are enough bad things in the
world already.
Many people will recognise your work from theGuardian. What do you think cartoonists can bring to
news issues that perhaps other mediums don't?
Cartooning can bring a certain lightness to serious
things. In my work for the Guardian I am often given a
highbrow, serious theme and if I treated it in a serious,
highbrow way it wouldnt be interesting. So I treat it in
a light-hearted, silly way and the disconnect between
the two is what makes it interesting to me, anyway!
Do you manage to keep up with UK comics? If so,who have you been reading recently and who is
impressing you?
Yes, I go to Gosh! Comics in Soho most weeks and
get new stuff there. Ive really enjoyed Jon McNaughts
work with Nobrow and Im really looking forward to
his third book [Dockwood].
Finally, where do you see comics moving in the near
future and what advice would you give to creators
starting out today?Obviously, things are going to change because
of digital technology, but Im not sure itll be a
simple swap-over from reading paper comics to reading
exactly the same things on iPads and Kindles.
I downloaded some comics onto my iPad and realised
afterwards that I would have rather read them all
on paper.
I love books so I hope that they continue to be a
viable thing to make, and Im quite optimistic that they
will be for the forseeable future. I have a hope for booksgenerally that cheap digital editions will hurt the
publishers of badly made, ugly books and encourage
the sales of beautifully designed, well-made books.
All the technological innovations, Kickstarter
schemes and marketing strategies in the world wont
make up for an uninteresting idea or a badly told
story they might make money, but wont make good
art so you just need to get on with making good
things and then learning from those things to make
better things!
Thanks Tom.
Thank you!
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YOU CAN SEE TOMS WORK AT
TOMGAULD.COM
.. .
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AS
PIRATIONS
BYCOMIC-ISHwww.comic-ish.com
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YOU HAVE BEEN READING
SARI HODIRKERCOMIC-ISH.COM
PAGE 17
PHILLIP MARSDEN
PHILLIPMARSDEN.COM
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SIMON MORETON
SMOO.TUMBLR.COM
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LEWIS FARROW
@LEWISFARROW
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SILENT PAIGE
SILENTPAIGE.WORDPRESS.COM
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MURRAY SOMERVILLEMURRAYSOMERVILLE.COM
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SEAN AZZOPARDI
SEAN-AZZOPARDI.COM
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EMIX REGULUSORIGAMISHIP.BLOGSPOT.CO.UK
PAGE 2
DANIEL HUMPHRY / WILL ELLIOT
@DANIEL_HUMPHRY / @WFHIT
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TIM BIRD
TIMOTHYBIRD.CO.UK
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NEILL CAMERON
NEILLCAMERON.COM
PAGE 6
LIZZ LUNNEY
LIZZLIZZ.COM
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ROB DAVISDINLOS.BLOGSPOT.CO.UK
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TOM GAULD
TOMGAULD.COM
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WOULD YOUR COMPANY
BENEFIT FROM THOUSANDS OF
RAMPAGING NEW COMICS FANS
EYEBALLING YOUR WARES?
THEN GET IN CONTACT WITH
OFF LIFE ABOUT ADVERTISING
OPPORTUNITIES AND HELP US
BRING FREE COMICS TO THE UK!
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