SKRAWL #1 – UK Comic Anthology Magazine
Cover artwork by Martin Simpson
Continuing in the tradition of Escape, Pssst!, and Revolver, SKRAWL is a comic anthology magazine featuring cartoonists, artists, and writers primarily from the UK’s independent comic scene. The magazine was launched on Kickstarter on August 1st and met its goal in under 24 hours. With a long list of up-and-coming UK talent as well as established professionals, SKRAWL promises to be one of the most exciting comic anthologies of the year.
An interior page from SKRAWL by Gustaffo Vargas
SKRAWLLORDZ
The core of SKRAWL are the SKRAWLLORDZ (Mark Hughes (Silverbeard), Russell Mark Olson (Gateway City; Tripwire Award Best New Talent 2018; Yancy Street Award Best UK artist 2018), Nick Prolix (Slang Pictorial), Martin Simpson (Needleman, Pipedream Comics Top 10 Indie Comics of the Year 2018), Pete Taylor (Silverbeard), and Gustaffo Vargas (Manu, Pipedream Comics Indie Comic of the Year winner, 2019)) who formed during last year’s LICAF. The magazine will also feature guest spots by their chums, including UK-indie royalty Phil Elliott (Tales from Gimbley), Rosie Packwood (Bun), Jessica Lucas (Yours, Yesterday), Matt Simmons (Bastard Galaxia), and the Cartoon Museum’s Artist-in-residence, Mark Stafford (The Bad Bad Place). And to further accentuate the magazine-ness of the anthology, John Reppion (Conspiracy of Ravens) and Lucy Sullivan (Barking) will provide an illustrated short folk horror story.
While experimentation is not a requirement, SKRAWL aims to allow cartoonists the freedom to explore the medium of comics and offer opportunities for collaboration. Many aspects of the comics industry are in flux, and as an anthology format magazine available in print and digital, SKRAWL is well positioned to provide cartoonists a vehicle to navigate the turbulent waters with short, punchy examples of their craft. SKRAWL fully intends to evolve and grow through subsequent issues.
Check it out! The Brits know how to do comix magazines! ??SKRAWL: Comix Magazinehttps://t.co/zoY0VnUGGY, via Kickstarter
— Shelly Bond, Editor-at-Large (@sxbond) August 1, 2020
SKRAWL on Kickstarter
The SKRAWL Kickstarter campaign offers backers to get on board the publication either as a fully digital or print edition, with retailer tiers for comic shops and bookstores. The magazine will be US format, (a bit bigger and a lot wider than a US comic– at 280 x 210 mm) perfect bound, and currently sitting at a page count of 84…but we’d like to expand outwards a bit through stretch goals.
An interior page from SKRAWL #1 by Russell Mark Olson
The campaign can be found on Kickstarter. Funding began August 1st and ends on Thursday, August 20th at noon BST. Digital backers can get the full magazine for £5, while the physical magazine is £12 (plus shipping). Retailers in the UK and EU can take advantage of the retailer tier which offers 8 copies for £48 (plus shipping). For more information, please email [email protected]
Interior page for SKRAWL #1 by Rosie Packwood
