Introducing Tony Hitchman

Tony helped us bring the The Amazing Three Parent Monkey to life with his wonderful illustration. Also on the team were Sourima Shivhare (scientist), Alexi Conman (writer) and Paul Thompson (colourist and letterer).

Tony Hitchman used to teach Primary Science by day and draw comics by night. Now retired he draws comics by day and tries to think of witty things to put in a bio by night.

He is the co-author of "Using Comic Art to Improve Speaking Reading and Writing" (title trips off the tongue doesn't it?) and has written for DC Thompson as well as cartooning for the small press. He is currently working, for no discernible reason, on a series of four page adaptations of Henry James novels - with added robots!

Tony is not sure what a URL presence is but thinks he was possibly screened for it when he turned sixty!

Introducing Sourima Shivhare

Sourima is the scientist behind our The Amazing Three Parent Monkey comic. This was one of our more challenging comics as the subject was so new to folks that we couldn't assume anything. Sourima worked with writer Alexi Conman and artist Tony Hitchman on this comic, with colours and lettering by Paul Thompson.

Who are you?
I am an early stage researcher interested in human reproduction, particularly embryology. Evidently I love science, but importantly also have a keen interest in effective science communication.

What have you done / what are you doing?
I am a 2nd Year student at Newcastle University studying my PhD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Prior to this I studied Clinical Embryology and after having worked with the eggs, sperms and embryos I realised I better study the uterus to complete the picture. So, currently I am looking at blood vessel development in the human uterus in one of the most common bleeding disorders, called menorrhagia.

What excites you about comics?
I like simple but visually powerful comics. Although not a fanatic, I appreciate and understand the strength of the use of comics in making science simpler and perhaps more interesting, especially to the younger audience.

What excites you about science?
The fact that it almost always makes sense!

Introducing Sara Woolley

Sara Woolley is an award-winning illustrator and comic book artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY.  Her work has been twice recognized by the New York Society of Illustrators, by the Los Angeles Society of Illustrators, and most recently by 3×3 Magazine of Contemporary Illustration.

Sara has always been fascinated by science and draws a lot of her inspiration from the natural world.  Her father worked in research science at Colombia and her mother was an earth science teacher.  Her first comic ever, created at the age of 8,  was about microorganisms, the Daphnea and the Hydra.  She is deeply honoured to have been included in this year's New Castle Science Comic!

Of Colombian and American ethnicity, Sara also explores cultural identity throughout her art work.  Her current project, Los Pirineos: The mostly true memoirs of Esperancita Gómez, a three volume graphic novel written by Sara’s mother, Leila Gómez.    Los Pirineos is a fictionalized memoir chronicling a young girl’s upbringing in and eventual exile from Colombia told through the lens of childhood imagination.  Researched on location in Colombia with the help of a grant from the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC), Los Pirineos is at once deeply personal while giving voice to a common immigrant experience.

Sara attended the City University of New York, Queens College where she first majored in Geology, prior to earning her BFA in Visual Arts with honors Cum Laude.  She went on to receive her MFA in Illustration, from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco California.

To see more of Sara's work please visit

WWW.SARAWOOLLEY.COM
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaraWoolleyArtist
Twitter @saritajeanine

Sara has been working with scientist Lauren Breese to create a comic activity about fight or flight responses. You can see a preview of the comic here.

Introducing Jenny Rigby

Newcastle Science Comic has a brilliant mixture of professional comic artists, self published artists and those who are being published for the first time. It's been great discovering (and sometimes rediscovering) talent, creativity and all the different ways of working comics folks have. Jenny Rigby is one of our youngest artists and a student at Newcastle University. She worked with scientist Michael Jeffries on a comic all about ponds and the life found within them.

What have you done / what are you doing?
I'm heading into my third year, studying Biology at Newcastle University.

I've done a fair bit of travelling related to Biology but I've never really had the chance to do anything past GCSE art when it came to drawing. I know I'm still a novice and I've got plenty to learn, but I enjoy drawing as a hobby and I've just begun to explore Digital Art, so things are on the way up! I've just started putting things onto my Deviantart and I'm going to be an artist for Sunnycon, an anime convention held in Sunderland.

What excites you about comics?
What excites me about comics? What doesn't excite me about comics! I love them, especially manga, Japanese comics. If it weren't for my student budget, I would have a library of them!!!

What excites you about science?
And as for science, for someone doing a science degree, I should hope I still like it this close to the end! I've always admired David Attenborough, since I was old enough to watch and understand documentaries. My ultimate goal is to be like him, a long shot, but you have to dream big! In the short term, however, I've designed my own dissertation and I'll be creating science revision comics for A level students to review and revise from!

Contact/Links
http://shakuganotaku.deviantart.com/ - My Deviantart account, it shall soon be filled with all sorts!

Introducing John Miers

We've got another profile for you today, it's John Miers. John has created a fantastic comic for us which allows you to programme a robot, allowing it to navigate a maze. This is no easy task but is certainly great fun. John's work is based on the science of John Hedley.

Who are you? 
John Miers

What have you done / what are you doing?
I'm a cartoonist, teacher, and researcher, currently working on a practice-based PhD exploring the use of metaphor in comics. I've done a lot of work in the UK indie / underground comics scene, and illustration for books and magazines. One of my favourite recent projects was collaborating with some of Britain's best cartoonists on a billboard-sized comic for Foyles bookstore, which is still on display outside their flagship store on Charing Cross Road, London. I'm frothing with excitement about my work being used in an upcoming book about comics from Tate publishing, the first survey of the artform they have ever conducted.

What excites you about comics?
How long have you got? They're a unique artform that combines the immediacy of imagery with the specificity and detail of writing. Comics can present the reader with fantastic worlds and sprawling, epic narratives, while retaining the intimacy of handwriting. What's really exciting about being involved in comics right now is the explosion in the styles and subject matter being used by cartoonists, and the different uses to which comics are being put. The Newcastle Science Comic is a great example of this!

What excites you about science?
I can't help but be attracted by the mind-bending theories proposed to explain some of the more outlandish phenomena that have been observed in the recent history of science, such as the use of parallel universes as an interpretation of quantum mechanics, or the idea derived from the study of black holes that we might all be living in a hologram. More generally, the scientific method, rooted in scepticism and evidence-based knowledge, is one of the greatest gifts to thought humanity has ever given itself.

Contact/Links
Website: www.johnmiers.com
Email: info@johnmiers.com