Small Press Comics for Children


Hannah Sackett introduces some of the people behind the self-published comics and zines flourishing at the moment..


July 9th marked the launch of Small Press Day in the UK. ‘Small press’ is a term generally used to describe comics and zines which are self-published or micro-published by individuals or groups of writers and artists. Self-publishing in the world of comics is seen as a way of taking control of the creative process and gives creators the opportunity to explore art styles, storytelling and print processes that may not be evident or practical in mainstream publishing.


Comics for children and for all ages audiences are among the large number of small press comics created every year. I talked to a couple of artists who publish their own small press comics about their reasons behind taking this route to publication.


Jess Bradley, who creates Squid Bits for the Phoenix Comic chooses to produce her own comics as well as working with commercial publishers. Jess’s weird and loveable cartoon characters, as well as her puns and visual gags, have appeal across a wide age range. Talking about her continuing involvement with small press, she told me: ‘I love self-publishing because you can literally do whatever you want. It’s easy to turn an idea into a comic and print it within a matter of days (depending on how fast you work!) and then you have books you can sell. It’s very satisfying to try out different paper for the interiors and covers to get the kind of book you want and even more satisfying to sell them at comic conventions. I just love being able to have my own book collection without having to go through publishers. I have a lot of friends who self-publish too and who are always up for swapping their own comics too!’


games and fantasy worlds, the reader’s emotional engagement with our heroes on their quest, along with Slorance’s ever-charming artwork make this comic a must-read. Asked about the decision to self-publish the comic rather than looking for a publisher, Slorance said: ‘I’ve always wanted to make my own comics and with how easy it is to get your own books printed and selling online self- publishing seemed like a great option. I also really love all the small press stuff that’s been coming out since I started. When I’m reading a small press book It’s hard not to feel a bit closer to the artist knowing they’ve produced the book themselves and self- published it.’


So where to start in finding your way into the world of small press comics for children and all ages? I talked to small press champion Andy Oliver of Broken Frontier about his favourite titles for this audience and about why he values this form of publication. Oliver said: ‘Over the last few years the growth of the UK small press comics scene – in terms of both output and creativity – has been phenomenal in its scope. The work being produced is innovative and inspirational and, perhaps most importantly, it’s proving to be accessible to a whole new non-traditional comics audience who are discovering the communicative power of the medium for the very first time. Small Press Day exists to celebrate that movement, to spotlight the exciting new voices working within it, and to showcase the profound sense of democracy that micro and self-publishing embodies.’


I asked Andy to name some of his favourite small press comics for children and all ages audiences. Here is his list, along with snippets of his reviews from the Broken Frontier website.


Neil Slorance is an artist who has had great success in his small press venture with writer Colin Bell. Their comic Dungeon Fun featuring a human raised by trolls and her sword which is haunted by the ghost of a knight, won Best Comic, Best Writer, Best Artist, Best Cover at the Scottish Independent Comic Book Alliance Awards 2014. This is a real all-ages comic, with something for children and grown-ups on every page. The references to computer


Maleficium by EdieOP Maleficium is the story Huxley Leighton-Lomax a young, would- be wizard who encounters a dangerous, dark force lurking in his home. Are Huxley’s limited magical powers equal to the threat? ‘There are definite echoes of Sendak here’ says Oliver, ‘That same feeling of childhood discovery, of the revelation of the magical in the mundane, and a similar sense of the dreaming world breaking into our reality.’


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