Online Belter

Welcome to the online edition of Asteroid Belter: The Newcastle Science Comic

Click on the image above to open up the comic. Please note that it contains forty four very large images, so is unlikely to work well over a slow network or on a mobile device at this time - we're working on that. Click outside the frame to close it down.

Introducing James Wilkinson

James worked with Matt Gan on our double page comic Fantastic But Foolish Scientists. It made for a very entertaining read.

Who are you?
My name's James Wilkinson.


What have you done / what are you doing?
 I make cartoons, illustrations, fine art work, zines, and design logos. For Asteroid Belter I wrote for and coloured the 'Fantastic But Foolish Scientists' pages.


What excites you about comics?
I like the uniqueness of cartoons as a medium. They have an intimacy, life, and pace to them that no other medium quite captures.

What excites you about science?
I think science is fascinating as it allows you to make some sort of sense of a world that is becoming aver more complex and ever more ruled by science. Knowing more about science also make the world seem more fantastical and beautiful.

Contact/Links
You can see some of my art over here: https://www.facebook.com/jameswilkinsonart 

And you can contact me here: ja.wilkinson@yahoo.co.uk

Introducing Louise Crosby

We're not done yet. With over 70 contributors involved in our comic we haven't even introduced you to half of the team yet. Wow. Louise Crosby worked with scientist Suzanne Escolme on the comic Squashed Tomatoes. Louise submitted a comic to our open call too, How to save a Polar Bear with just one finger.

Who are you? 
I am Louise Crosby and most of the comics I draw are to illustrate poetry. I also work as a part-time Geography teacher and do some illustration/ graphic design work and comics workshops. I run the Laydeez do Comics Leeds meetings, where we listen to talks from people who draw comics mainly about their own lives.

What have you done / what are you doing?
I started drawing comics by accident. I was a printmaker and I started to illustrate the poems of Clare Shaw (Bloodaxe Books). This began by making just one etching for each poem. But when I started to illustrate the whole poem as a series of pictures with text, I realised I had actually drawn a comic.From then I was hooked into comics and wanted to find out more and more about them. I continued illustrating Clare's poems as comics and we call the project Seeing Poetry. We hope to have an illustrated poetry book out soon.

What excites you about comics?
I find the appearance of comics exciting as I love the appearance of words and images together. They are fun to create, as you have to work out how much of the information can be told in just the pictures and what is needed in the text. All the different methods artists used to make marks and draw comics is also fascinating. Some use pen and ink, others pencils or markers, whereas I draw all mine digitally. I also like the huge range of comics and the ways that they can engage readers of all ages, whether it be a story, poem or science.

What excites you about science?
I have always been interested in science. My first science teacher thought I was really brilliant at chemistry as I could always predict what would happen - but I had just done all the experiments before with my chemistry set!

Science is great because it helps you understand how things work, then it's easier to know what to do when they don't. So understanding our bodies helps us stay healthy and understanding about nature and ecology helps us to know how our own actions can help to protect our planet.

Contact/Links
www.facebook.com/SeeingPoetry
www.lindenartstudio.org/artists/louise-crosby/
www.laydeezdocomics.com

Archaeological Oddities

Howdy science lovers. Today we've got a special edition of Archaeological Oddities, by Hannah Sackett (aka Dr. H). We encourage you to read more of her comics. 

Send us your comics! 
Like science? Like comics? We're taking submissions for our blog, this is open to any age and ability (in short everybody). Email your science based comic to newcastlesciencecomic+web@gmail.com and we'll put it on the blog. Want to know more about what we're after? Check out our Open Call for Online Comics page.

Schools Challenge Winners

School students from all over Newcastle entered our Science FACT-ion challenge, to create a labour-saving invention that will be in every home by 2050. With the future of science in their hands they set to work, the entries did not disappoint. Every invention was amazing, it made the task of judging and choosing winners incredibly hard. What a grand generation of inventors they'll be.

Transportation Design Winner: Thomas James, age 9, Newcastle Prep School
Inventor of Wiz-a-Chair 3000, the perfect transport solution for elderly and disabled people.  It can travel on land, air and water.  Heated seats come as standard.

Transportation Design Winner: Niall Slee, age 10, Newcastle Prep School
Inventor of Ultrapack, the solar-powered jetpack.  Comes complete with oxygen tanks and a space helmet. The most powerful jetpack ever!

Domestic Design Winner: Demi Raisbeck, age 12, Longbenton Community College
Inventor of The Paintinator, the latest innovation in home decorating.  Fill the tank with paint, then The Paintinator moves up and down the walls for a perfectly smooth finish.

Domestic Design Winner: Matthew Pike, age 9, Newcastle Prep School
Inventor of Trash Bin 5000, your easy recycling solution.  Trash Bin 5000 senses when you have rubbish, then sorts your waste and takes recyclable materials to the recycling centre.

Conceptual Design Winner: Alex Sample, age 13, Longbenton Community College
Inventor of Power Glove, the handy life device.  Run out of storage space? Why not try interdimensional storage!  Missed a train? Bend the fabric of time! Bonus features include holographic communications and control over matter.

Conceptual Design Winner: Lauryn W, age 13, Longbenton Community College
Inventor of Locationator.  Simply type in the name of something you have lost and have it immediately return to Locationator's item retrieval pad.  Amazing!

You can see all winners and highly commended inventions on our Gallery page.

Asteroid Belter Launch and The Science of Comics

Join us at Newcastle City Library for the launch of Asteroid Belter - The Newcastle Science Comic on Saturday 7th September, 9.30am-5.30pm. 

Grab your free copy of Asteroid Belter and learn the tricks of the trade with Art Heroes and Tees Toons.
Art Heroes will be running 2 comics workshops for children, 10am-12noon and 2pm-4pm
Tees Toons will be running drop-in workshops for children, 12.30pm-5pm

There'll be fun at the drawing table all day. Come and colour in, invent a new flavour of crisp, make a new bridge over the Tyne or help us find things through a telescope. Add your mark to our big sheet of paper, make your own comic.

Check out the 'The Science of Comics' exhibition, Sat 7th until 21st Sept. 
With original artwork, concept sketches and progress work from our comic artists, giving you a sneaky peek into how the comic was put together.

How to save a Polar Bear with just one finger

Greetings scientists! We've got another wonderful comic to share with you today from Louise Crosby. We can help save the Polar Bear by preserving its habitat and this comic shows us how. 

Send us your comics! 
Like science? Like comics? We're taking submissions for our blog, this is open to any age and ability (in short everybody). Email your science based comic to newcastlesciencecomic+web@gmail.com and we'll put it on the blog. Want to know more about what we're after? Check out our Open Call for Online Comics page.