A final set of snippets of wonderful pictures from the recent Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox anthology on the theme of positive change.
Each contributor also suggested a positive idea in keeping with the theme of the anthology…
Positive Idea: “No matter how down and alone you feel, there is always someone there to talk to. Your friends, your family, even a teacher or a doctor. And hey, there’s always a comic hermit in London who’ll listen if you want.
Remember that you are loved.”
Art sample from her Tempo Lush tale: UndertowJAMES HICKMAN
Previous works include:Score & Script
Positive Idea: “It’s an old cliche but we were given two ears and only one mouth. It’s a reminder that we should listen more than we talk.
Change is inevitable but positive change is entirely up to us. It’s a journey that begins only when we stop going wherever we’ve been heading and take the time to listen to one another.
Also bring snacks. Snacks are always welcome on any journey.”
Art sample from his Tempo Lush tale: ColossiKIM CLEMENTS
Previous works include:The Great Cat Mystery, Rabbit Thoughts
Positive Idea: “When I feel down I think about the famous Audrey Hepburn quote that there is much beauty in kindness. I also find that when all the anger and the sadness of the world makes things feel difficult, that it can be easy to look through people. I hate myself for doing this so I always try to slow down and imagine people’s life stories and talents that I pass on the street. When I do this I feel much happier and I often end up having spontaneous conversations.”
Art sample from the Tempo Lush tale: Bugleberry Tree You can get hold of the book online here, or at Gosh Comics!
On Friday September 18th 2015, a crowd of lovely people shuffled into the amazing shop known as Gosh Comics to help celebrate the launch of four new comics.
There on the left is contributor to two of the night’s comics, Mike Medaglia, helping lay out the goods…So nice to see many friendly faces join us for the evening, some regulars and some new to the world of comic shops… Below (left to right): Friends of Gosh Comics, Paul Shinn (Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanooxcontributor), Chantel Beaven and Lauren Louise Murphy. On the left below, you can see my amazing co-host, Penny Blackfeathercreator and Alidade contributor Francesca Dare.Below: On the far left is comic creator and director Andy Poyiadgiwho kindly filmed much of the evening’s activities for us, on his own phone.
Taking a swig of beer is Alidade collaborator Tim Hassan, next to Paul Shinn and with the amazing pink hair is Paul’s fellow Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox contributor Anna Dowsland.It was great seeing comic related images projected nice and big in the shop……such as this wonderful panel by Francesa Dare, taken from her Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanooxstory Undertow… And there’s Francesca again signing a comic for a fan!It was great having the shop full, creating a brilliant buzz…It was a busy night but I was glad to catch moments to chat to star creators such as David O’Connellwho contributes the first story in Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox, Flat E…And there’s two good friends (and Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanooxcontributors) who I barely got to chat to at all, even after they traveled to the event from Brighton, the amazing Inko and Chie Kutsuwada…I have a big grin on my face here but I think it masks my nervousness as I’m about to perform some music in a few minutes…Speaking of music, here’s three great performers, newly-weds Paul and Sally-Anne Hickman chatting to my old band mate Miss E (Enoma Igiehon).And two more contributors who created the Tempo Lush Tale Give It a Go, Angela Wraight (back, in glasses) and Nas Bee (front left) who surprised me with some incredible homemade cake to feed the masses…Aw! Such a nice bunch of folk including (left to right) comics academic and creator John Miers (who did a fantastic page of Bugleberry Tree in the anthology), Graphic Novelist S J Harris and Broken Frontier top guy Andy Oliver.
(Photo by fellow Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox contributor Keara Stewart) That’s James Hickman holding a beer! James created the four page epic for Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox, Colossi, next to Lisa Woynarski.
Lisa used her theatre direction skills to great effect, timing the image changes during the evening’s performances on top of writing her first comic story for the Tanoox anthology: The Death of the Familiar. Miss E, Sally-Anne Hickman and myself downstairs in the shop after a bit of tuning up… And upstairs – Five minutes to curtain!Right! Things are really about to kick off as Steve Walsh, writer, podcaster and Gosh Comics superstar introduces his niece Aimee to get things rolling with a penny-whistle performance…Next up I start plucking away on Imani (my guitar) as we prepare for a special satellite link-up with the undersea town of Stoneydip……and Lucy the Octopus!
Lucy welcomed to the stage my two musical collaborators for the night, Sally-Anne Hickman……and Miss E, who as Lucy pointed out, bears a striking resemblance to someone who appears in Lucy strips like this one!We three performed a little guitar instrumental I wrote a few years back, which still doesn’t have a name…(Photo by Karen Rubins)
Next it was the turn of the Francesca Dare Theatrical Players to perform a scene from the new Penny Blackfeather comic with style and panache…Left to right: Francesca Dare, Paul Shinn, Steve Walsh and Lauren Louise Murphy.Left to right: Saul Taylor and Ramsey Hassan.
The crowd lapped up the culture, including Andy Oliver and contributor to two Tempo Lush Tales collections Matt Boyer…Now for the serious business of creator shout outs…Musicians strum while Francesca Dare leads the role call of talent involved in the evening’s new comic offerings……such as Graphic Novelist, singer and actress Jessica Martin who produced an amazing page for the Bugleberry Tree section of Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox……and Saul Taylor who won last year’s Complete the Lucy the Octopus strip contest!
Now it was time to reveal the secret project! Francesca called to the stage our collaborators on the book……and the crowd saw the 5 artists who made Alidade! (Left to right) Me, Mike Medaglia, Tim Hassan, Karen Rubins and Francesca herself!Mike explained how we created the 20 page comic from scratch over one weekend in August, how fun it was, how stressful it got and what a great experience it turned out to be…
Finally I said a few thank-yous before launching into the song Bugleberry Treealongside Miss E, Sally-Anne and the whole crowd in the shop.
It was great to display artwork interpreting the song for the Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox collection, such as the panels seen in the background below drawn by Rachael Smith.
(Photo by Keara Stewart)
It was a very special night for me – Thanks to all the friends and collaborators who turned up and made it rock monkeys!
All of my new books are available to buy in Gosh Comics and theTempo Lush Etsy shop!
Phew!
Holy Schmoly! Check out the line up of creators involved in the upcoming anthology from Tempo Lush… Brand new comic book stories on the theme of positive transformation from… Nas Bee(Paper Houses) & Angela Wraight (Circuit Breaker, Yoshitoki is Making Waves, Paper Houses) Francesca Dare (Penny Blackfeather) Emmeline Pui Ling Dobson (Knights of Eve, Wu Wei) James Hickman(Score & Script) Amber Hsu(The Sardine and Gherkin – A True Love Story – and other One Pound Poems, Tiny Pencil) Inko(Go! Go! Metro!, Manga Cupcakes, MangaQuake, Howl!, Rosie and Jacinda: Demon Cloud) Chie Kutsuwada (Go! Go! Metro!, The Story of Lee, Hagakure: Code of the Samurai, Rosie and Jacinda: Demon Cloud, Manga Shakespeare: As You Like It) David O’Connell (Jampires, Monster & Chips, Tozo, The Public Servant) Keara Stewart (On The Escalator, A Bit of Undigested Potato)
and Dr Lisa Woynarski(Performance + Ecology) & Mike Medaglia (One Year Wiser, Wu Wei, Last Days of Nobodies)
Plus a jam comic featuring the drawing talents of… Matt Boyer (Running) Chonto (Acclaimed Japanese Artist) Kim Clements (The Great Cat Mystery) Francesca Dare Anna Dowsland(Don’t Feed the Pigeons) Sally-Anne Hickman (Bang! Crash! Whizz!, Black Diamonds and Blue Scars) Jessica Martin(It Girl, Elsie Harris Picture Palace) John Miers(Score & Script, How to Train your Robot) Chibi Shibby (Stories about Me and You) Paul Shinn (March of the Penguins) Rachael Smith(The Rabbit, House Party, Flimsy the Kitten) Tammy Taylor (Bon Appetit, 18 This Summer)
If that wasn’t enough, there’s a foreword by Laydeez Do Comics founders and award winning comic creators Sarah Lightman(Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women) and Nicola Streeten(Billy Me and You, Becoming of Age).
It’s an embarrassment of riches and I’m thrilled and in disbelief that they’ve all agreed to take part!
Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox is a follow up to last year’s Tempo Lush Tales (see reviews on the Big Comic Page and Broken Frontier). Again I will be collaborating with some amazing artists, but this time round I’ll generally be handing over the writing duties to other creators. It’s going to be a wonderful mix!
There is a definite theme to this collection too. At times it’s hard to see out world moving forward and getting better so I thought it would be good to ask the creators to focus on the idea of positive transformation. Obviously this can be interpreted in numerous ways and it looks like each writer has their own distinct spin on the idea.
It’s all coming together nicely ready for a launch at Gosh Comics in London on Friday September 18th. Save the date – and see the Facebook event page here!
JAMES HICKMAN
KIM CLEMENTS
You can get hold of the book online here, or at Gosh Comics!
On the left below, you can see my amazing co-host, Penny Blackfeather creator and Alidade contributor Francesca Dare.
And there’s two good friends (and Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox contributors) who I barely got to chat to at all, even after they traveled to the event from Brighton, the amazing 
