Comic Boom - Comics in Education

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In this episode Lucy chats to illustrator and graphic novelist Mollie Ray.

Mollie is a Lancaster-based comic artist and illustrator, her debut graphic novel Giant was published in 2024 with Faber and Faber. In 2019, Mollie graduated from The University of Edinburgh with a First-Class Honours degree in Illustration. Her work has been featured by Creative Boom, The AOI and Broken Frontier's 'Six To Watch In 2021'.She has also done work for the BBC in support of David Attenborough's Wild Isles series and self-published multiple short-form comics.

This episode of Comic Boom is sponsored by ALCS, The Authors Licensing and Collecting Society.

Find our more about the Lakes International Comics Art Festival here.

Mollie's recommendations:
Making Comics by Scott McCloud
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

Lucy's book post included:
A selection from Puffin Graphics. Read about the imprint here.

Titles mentioned:

• Max Meow by John Gallagher
• Blood City Rollers by V P Anderson and Tatiana Hill
• Sweet Valley Twins by Francine Pascal, Nicole Andelfinger and Claudia Aguirre

Connect with Mollie:
Instagram/Threads: @mollierayillustration
Twitter: @themollierayway
mollieray.co.uk

Follow the podcast:
Insta: @comic_boom_podcast
Twitter/X: @Lucy_Braidley
Contact: [email protected]

Music by John_Sib from Pixabay

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In this week's episode Lucy chats to comics creating duo The Rickard Sisters.

Scarlett & Sophie Rickard, sisters who work together to make graphic novels.

Sophie does the words and Scarlett draws the pictures. Scarlett has been drawing since before Sophie was born, and Sophie has been telling her what to draw since she learned to talk. Their first graphic novel was Mann’s Best Friend (2017).

 The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists was published in Autumn 2020 by SelfMadeHero, a graphic adaptation of Robert Tressell’s long and heavy-going socialist classic. It was released in the US and Canada in December 2021 and will soon be available in translation in France. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists was nominated in the category Best Adaptation in the 2022 Eisner Awards.

In Autumn 2022 they brought out No Surrender, also with SelfMadeHero. This book is a graphic adaptation of Constance Maud’s suffrage classic.

Scarlett's recommendations:
Old Macdonald had Some Flats by Judi and Ron Barret
Hostage by Guy Delise

Sophie's recommendation:
The Motherless Oven by Rob Davis

This episode of Comic Boom is sponsored by ALCS, The Authors Licensing and Collecting Society.

Connect with The Rickard Sisters:
Twitter/X: @RickardSisters
Instagram: @TheRickardSisters
Website

Follow the podcast:
Insta: @comic_boom_podcast
Twitter/X: @Lucy_Braidley
Contact: [email protected]

Music by John_Sib from Pixabay

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In this week's episode Lucy chats to passionate comics advocate Lida Tsene.

Lida is Head of PR, Art and Educational Programs of Comicdom Con Athens, founder of the Athens Comics Library, managing co-director of the Digital Comics Museum, organiser and curator of several events, exhibitions, conferences and workshops. Currently, she is a researcher and teaching associate at the MA Program Communication and New Journalism of Open University of Cyprus, at the MA  Cultural Management of Hellenic Open University and at the MA Rhetorics, Humanities and Education of NUA. 

She has participated in international conferences on media, digital media, entrepreneurship, storytelling and social impact, while she also designs and facilitates workshops applying design thinking and team-building methodologies.

Lida's recommendation:
Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang

Lucy's recommendation:
Zatopek by Jan Novak

This episode of Comic Boom is sponsored by ALCS, The Authors Licensing and Collecting Society.
The ALCS Carnegie Awards resources highlighted in the episode can be found here.

Connect with Lida:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PPoucette
Twitter/X: @lidatsene
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lidatsene
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lidatsene/

Find out more about Lida's work:

• athenscomicslibrary.gr
• comicdom-con.gr
• comicsmuseum.gr

Follow the podcast:
Insta: @comic_boom_podcast
Twitter/X: @Lucy_Braidley
Contact: [email protected]

Music by John_Sib from Pixabay

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In this episode Lucy talks to writer Swapna Reddy (who you may know as Swapna Haddow!).

Swapna Haddow is the multi award-winning children’s author of the Dave Pigeon
series, published by Faber & Faber. The Dave Pigeon series has received rave reviews since first publishing in 2016 and went on to win three regional awards in the UK and was shortlisted for the prestigious Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Award.
Swapna loves to write about boisterous animals that cause mayhem and is working with Faber & Faber, Magic Cat, Scholastic, Oxford University Press and Macmillan to make sure mean cats, grizzly bears and big-hearted little rabbits find their place on the bookshelves. Friendship and humour are always at the heart of what she loves to write.

Swapna also writes for Oxford University Press, under the pseudonym ‘Swapna
Reddy’ and comes on the podcast to talk about he new comic-prose hybrid for younger readers Reggie Rabbit and the Great Carrot Heist illustrated by Becca Moore.

Swapna's recommendations
Big Little Blue by Raymond McGrath
The Black Sand Beach Series by Richard Fairgray
Tulip and Doug by Emma Wood
Granny McFlitter by Heather Haylock

Lucy's Recommendation
Narwhal and Jelly Series by Ben Clanton

This episode of Comic Boom is sponsored by ALCS, The Authors Licensing and Collecting Society.
The ALCS Carnegie Awards resources highlighted in the episode can be found here.

Connect with Swapna via her website.

Follow the podcast:
Insta: @comic_boom_podcast
Twitter/X: @Lucy_Braidley
Contact: [email protected]
Music by John_Sib from Pixabay

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In today’s episode Lucy is joined by a wonderful creative duo - Chie Kutsuwada and Julian Sedgwick.

 Chie is UK based Japanese manga creator and illustrator. Chie graduated from Royal College of Art, London, and since then has carved out a successful career in illustration. She creates her own illustrated stories and comics strips, as well as working on titles like the manga version of Shakespeare’s As You Like It (SelfMadeHero, London).  Chie also regularly runs manga workshops for schools and art institutions and more recently is known for her collaborations with author Julian Sedgwick.

Julian Sedgwick is the author of numerous books for young people, with a lifelong interest inthe cultures of East Asia. On the way to realising his childhood ambition to be a writer, Julian read Chinese Studies and Philosophy at Cambridge.  The the first book in his Mysterium trilogy was published in 2013 and won the Rotherham Children’s Book Award. Since then, his books have been shortlisted for numerous awards,with both Voyages in the Underworld of Orpheus Black (co-written with his brother, Marcus).

The pair began collaborating combined manga and prose books, starting with on the Carnegie shortlisted Tsunami Girl (2021 Guppy Books, UK) and their latest creation 100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café (2023 Guppy Books, UK).

This episode of Comic Boom is sponsored by ALCS, The Authors Licensing and Collecting Society.
The ALCS Carnegie Awards resources highlighted in the episode can be found here.

Julian's recommendation:
Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir by Pedro Martin
(Pedro's episode on Comic Boom can be found here!)

Chie's recommendation:
Hicotea - A Nightlights Story by Lorena Alvarez

Lucy's recommendation:
www.comicsdevices.com

Follow Chie:
https://www.facebook.com/chitangarden
X: @chitanchitan
Instagram: @mcmc69

Follow Julian:
X/Twitter: @julianaurelius
Insta:@julian_sedgwick

Follow the podcast:
Insta: @comic_boom_podcast
Twitter/X: @Lucy_Braidley
Contact: [email protected]
Music by John_Sib from Pixabay

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In this episode Lucy chats with educator Clare McGreevy and illustrator Chris Mould about an innovative comic project involving schools across Rochdale, developing reading for pleasure through comics and also supporting the creation of comics - through re-imagining the untold stories of the historic Rochdale Town Hall. 

Clare McGreevy is an Advisory Teacher for Reading in Rochdale Council’s Virtual School. Prior to this, Clare had been a teacher, English Lead and Phase Leader with over 18 years of experience in education. She leads the OU/UKLA Reading for Pleasure Teachers’ Group in Rochdale and is the founder and Director of the annual Rochdale Children’s Literature Festival. She is passionate about giving young people the opportunities to express their voice and creativity through writing for pleasure.

Chris  Mould is an illustrator whose work ranges from children’s publishing to theatre and film, having produced a long backlist of children’s titles, theatre posters, editorial cartoons for major newspapers and character development work for animated features. He exhibits his artwork regularly, and commits to an ongoing programme of events.

Clare's recommendation for this episode:
Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, illustrated by David Polonsky

Chris's recommendation for this episode:
Kingdom by Jon McNaught

Lucy's recommendation for this episode:
No Surrender, Adapted by The Rickard Sisters

Follow Clare:
Twitter/X:@BookishToby

Follow Rochdale Children's Literature Festival:
Twitter/X: @RCLFest

Follow Chris:
Insta: @chrismouldink
Twitter/X: @chrismouldink

Follow the podcast:
Insta: @comic_boom_podcast
Twitter/X: @Lucy_Braidley
Contact: [email protected]

This episode is sponsored by ALCS, The Authors Licensing and Collecting Society.  Check out their range of copyright education tools, resources and planning  - including those highlighted on the show by following this link.

Music by John_Sib from Pixabay

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In this episode Lucy chats with writer and comics creator, James Turner.

James is a cartoonist and writer, creator, with illustrator Yasmin Sheikh.  As well as Star Cat, his comic strip Clatters and Bump regularly appears in weekly comic The Phoenix.

James joins me to talk about his new graphic novel Toby and the Pixies: Worst King Ever!  illustrated by Andreas Schuster is out on 6 June 2024.

James's recommendation for this episode:
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin

Lucy's recommendation for this episode:
Fantasy Sports by Sam Bosma

Follow James:
Insta at  @eruditebaboon
Twitter/X: @eruditebaboon

Follow the podcast:
Insta: @comic_boom_podcast
Twitter/X: @Lucy_Braidley
Contact: [email protected]

This episode is sponsored by ALCS, The Authors Licensing and Collecting Society.  Check out their range of copyright education tools, resources and planning  - including those highlighted on the show by following this link.

Music by John_Sib from Pixabay

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In this episode Lucy chats to professor and author Nick Sousanis.

Nick Sousanis is an Eisner-winning comics author and an associate professor of Humanities & Liberal Studies at San Francisco State University, where he started and runs a Comics Studies program. He received his doctorate in education at Teachers College, Columbia University in 2014, where he wrote and drew his dissertation entirely in comic book form. Titled Unflattening, it argues for the importance of visual thinking in teaching and learning, and was published by Harvard University Press in 2015. Unflattening received the 2016 American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE Award) in Humanities, the Lynd Ward Prize for best Graphic Novel of 2015, and was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Scholarly/Academic work.

Connect with Nick:
https://spinweaveandcut.com
X: @nsousanis

Nick's recommendation for young readers:
K Gets in Trouble by Gary Clement

Nick's recommendation for older readers:
Toussaint Louverture: The Only Successful Slave Revolt in History by C.L.R James

Lucy's Recommendation (an upcoming guest!):
Young Hag by Isabel Greenberg

This episode is sponsored by ALCS, The Authors Licensing and Collecting Society.  Check out their range of copyright education tools, resources and planning  - including those highlighted on the show by following this link.

Producer and Host: @Lucy_Braidley
Contact: [email protected]
Music by John_Sib from Pixabay

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In this episode Lucy chats to author and illustrator Eliza Fricker.

Eliza Fricker is an author & illustrator, and an advocate & consultant for PDA, autism and learning.

She has published several books, including the Sunday Times Bestselling title “Can’t Not Won’t”, and the acclaimed autobiographical “Thumbsucker” released in November 2023.

Connect with Eliza:
Missing the Mark
X: @_missingthemark
Insta: @elizafricker_missingthemark
Facebook: MissingTheMark1

• Details of the Tara Togs Kickstarter can be found here.
• Read the National Literacy Trust's report on children and young people's engagement with reading comics can be found here.

Producer and Host: @Lucy_Braidley
Contact: [email protected]
Music by John_Sib from Pixabay

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Lucy chats to The Cartoon Musuem's Steve Marchant

Steve Marchant is a cartoonist and comic artist who has worked for British Airways, the BBC, ITV, the British Council and other clients big and small. He has also been running cartoon and comic strip workshops in schools and libraries across the UK since 1992, now primarily for The Cartoon Museum where he is also the learning coordinator and comic art consultant to the curator. Steve also runs adult evening courses in drawing for comics and graphic novels at City Lit, a university near Holborn.

Follow The Cartoon Museum on Social Media:
Twitter/X: @cartoonmuseumuk
Insta: @thecartoonmuseum

Links to everything  discussed in this episode  can be found on the podcast padlet.

You can SUPPORT the podcast by buying a comic or buying me a comic at: https://ko-fi.com/lucysb

Producer and Host: @Lucy_Braidley
Contact: [email protected]

Music by John_Sib from Pixabay