So... #SmallPressDay is sponsored by @brokenfrontier.bsky.social this year. Or to put it more bluntly the entire running costs (hosting, app subs, payment to an artist for this year's poster, etc.) come from my pocket. On top of BF's running losses. So if you enjoy SPD please chip in if you can!
Great to see a glimpse of your comic. Looks great!
Four panelists, in white armchairs and backed by a screen
From the #LondonBookFair, the #Manga is Mainstream panel, with @karriefransman.bsky.social, @mikemotoghosh.bsky.social and Nigel Twumasi from @mayamada.com :)
From back in 2018 at BF but still relevant... How to Make a Living as a Comics Artist – Tips from Graphic Novelist Karrie Fransman @karriefransman.bsky.social on Pitching to Publishers and Potential Avenues for Your Work.
www.brokenfrontier.com/karrie-frans...
Sophie and Scarlett Rickard and Myfanwy Tristram - Placards and panels: graphic novels as protest. Pics of the three of us! I’m a drawing and they are photos. Just like real life.
I’m really pleased to be sharing a stage with @rickardsisters.com at @hayfestival.bsky.social on May 27th, where we’ll be chatting about the power of graphic novels & #comics to make change. Details: www.hayfestival.com/m-232-hay-fe... @selfmadehero.bsky.social
To celebrate World Book Day we have some fun facts to share to help raise awareness of the value of comics via The Comics Cultural Impact Collective (CCIC)
There is a 'Reading for Pleasure Crisis' in the UK amongst 8-18 with rates at their lowest since records began... but not amongst comics readers! Nearly twice as many young comics readers said they enjoyed reading compared with non-comics readers (58.6% vs.33.1%). *National Literacy Trust Research
40.3% of 8-18 year olds read comics 27%of adults read comics once a month 31% of adults do/have read comics The audience for comics in the UK is large and more diverse than for traditional artform in terms of class, ethnicity and neurodivergence. *Research from 1. The National Literacy Trust 2. The Reading Agency 3. Professor Andrew Miles and YouGov/Manchester University
Comics are big business. 2025 was the biggest year for comics since accurate records began (£78.7m across adult and kids' via BookScan). Waterstones reported tripling of sales and store mix for Manga & Adult GNs combined from 2019 to 2024.
To celebrate #worldbookday we have some fun facts to share via The Comics Cultural Impact Collective (CCIC). Join us to help raise the value of comics in the UK. thecomicsculturalimpactcollective.org/Join-Us
Aw, thank you! I hope to make more like it soon.
Thanks @deadlyknitshade.bsky.social for capturing the moment I entered The Tale Spinner (a 3D ‘un-AI-able’ performed comic that @karriefransman.bsky.social manually spins around your head) yesterday night @ the @rsliterature.bsky.social ✨
Thanks for coming for a spin! Only just read this. ❤️🙏
Thanks Zara! There’s a lot of education resources around the comics and animations on refugee stories @posnegorg.bsky.social
You star! Thank you. 🙏❤️
If there are any progressive organisations/charities/events/activist groups out there using comics as a way to spread socially relevant messages we'd love to feature you at BF. In the same way we did with PositiveNegatives a few years back.
www.brokenfrontier.com/positivenega...
Aw- we appreciate your shout outs! ❤️🙏
Aw, thanks! That means a lot. ❤️🙏
I've had a good read of this now, and although it’s clearly not aimed at us I do have some thoughts on it. Buckle up, lads!
The Comics Cultural Impact Collective is looking into UBI based on the Ireland model for comic creators. We agree it would be the dream for the UK.
Check out this page for the Comics in Theory and Practice roundtable we did a few weeks back. You can watch the talk halfway down the page.
Thanks to @karriefransman.bsky.social @paulfisherdavies.bsky.social and @miriamkent.bsky.social for a great chat!
sites.google.com/view/comicsp...
I was super lucky to have you as an intern! ❤️🙏
my minicomic for #thoughtbubble ! i was super lucky to be taken by @karriefransman.bsky.social as an intern for running her Tale Spinner, and got a chance to make this!
Thank you @create_180 and Harry Metcalfe for help building it, Richard Hughes for the audio, Dylan Owen and Jenny Robbins for filming, Ellis Benji Bertram for assisting aaaand mostly @artscouncilengland.bsky.social for making it all happen.
🤯 Wow. This is the strongest response I’ve ever had to any artwork I’ve made. Thank you everyone who came for a spin in The Tale Spinner @thoughtbubbleuk.bsky.social I’ve now got to work out how to tour this thing so if you’ve got any tips let me know. 🙏
Thank you to @karriefransman.bsky.social @rikworth.bsky.social and @paulfisherdavies.bsky.social for the extremely insightful chat and thanks to everyone who came out in the characteristically inhospitable weather!
Dinner by Karrie Fransman is 1 of 25 limited edition comics in the first VERY TINY COMICS ANTHOLOGY: MONSTERS @karriefransman.bsky.social
🔵 Coming to @thoughtbubbleuk.bsky.social on Nov 15 and 16 in a shiny retro gumball machine and a flurry of 22mm (1 inch) comics
🟡 Find it at Bubbleboy Hall, F13
DO NOT MISS The Tale Spinner by @karriefransman.bsky.social, in Bubble Boy Hall at @thoughtbubbleuk.bsky.social. Gentle, warm, concerned, human, graceful, and so so essentially IRL. Actually, I think you just missed it. I'm so sorry!
#thoughtbubblefestival #thoughtbubble #harrogate
Aw- so glad you didn’t miss it! Thanks for the lovely feedback. ❤️🙏
Sophie holding up a sticker that reads FUND COMICS YOU COWARDS from the CCIC table, with Myf Tristram egging her on
An audience eye view of the panel discussion
We had a good catch up with CCIC - @karriefransman.bsky.social @myfanwytristram.bsky.social , @streakofpith.bsky.social & @zaraslattery.bsky.social then went to ‘The Revolution Will Be Sequentialised’ panel which was inspiring and encouraging ✊
A person sits on a stool with their head inside a big circular structure. Karrie, wearing headphones and holding a Walkman style device, gently adjusts bolts and spins the wheel around. She is wearing an embroidered velvet waistcoat, black tutu and yellow trainers.
Near our table @karriefransman.bsky.social was working her incredible Tale Spinner machine, an “un-AI-able” comic.
RE Burke, me, Joe Sacco and Karrie sitting behind a table
And then it was time to host the Revolution Will Be Sequentialised panel with @karriefransman.bsky.social Joe Sacco and @reburked.bsky.social. This was such good times! A topic I love to discuss, and people with unique and useful insights to share. We had a full audience and within it were…
Vol. 1 of our graphic novel SWEENEY'S PROGRESS is finished. An ecological fable set in C7th Ireland, from one of the great medieval poems. Script by me, art by @zaraslattery.bsky.social.
To read the book online & help with the making of Volume 2, visit our Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/sweeneyspr...
I won't be able to make it to this excellent panel discussion with @karriefransman.bsky.social @paulfisherdavies.bsky.social and my boy Rik, but some of my art will be part of the exhibition alongsides greats like @nsousanis.bsky.social @kaysohini.bsky.social @cartoonkate.bsky.social !
