Hello John Gatehouse and Dave Windett

Who are you?

Writer - John Gatehouse, Artist – Dave Windett

Why did you get involved in Spineless?

We got involved in the Spineless project because we are both interested in using comic strips as an educational tool.
We contributed to Applied Comics Etc's previous project Asteroid Belter and have created a number of other comic strips with educational content such as The Wacky World of Animals.

Tell us about your comic.

Our feature shows the reader how to identify and encourage insects in their garden.

The picture of a wasp's nest was chosen as it is a good representation of the garden feature.


John and Dave are working with Environmental Records Information Centre North East.

Little Lemming Books
@l_lemming_books

Hello Emily Lambert

Who are you? 

I'm Emily, a Greetings Card Designer and Illustrator based in Newcastle.

Why did you get involved in Spineless? 

I had a particular fascination with invertebrate creatures growing up - even keeping some (like Stick Insects, Giant Snails and Jewel Beetles) as pets! I was excited to have the opportunity in 'Spineless' to combine both my interest in invertebrate creatures and my love of comics into something with an educational element.

Tell us about your comic.

My first comic follows Claude the Lobster as he is tagged and tracked by researchers. Scientists are still learning new things about Lobster behaviour and my comic was inspired by the possible adventures Claude could be having underwater.

My second comic is all about Mussel Byssus - a sticky glue-like substance Mussels use to stick to rocks which has potential surgical uses and was used to make fabric in the past. The story follows Zizi and her robot pal Pixel as they explore the underwater 'Musselopolis' and travel back in time in their Submarine Time Machine to learn about the uses of Byssus in ancient Egypt.

Top - this is the panel where Zizi and Pixel travel back in time to ancient Egypt to find out how Byssus was made into luxurious 'Sea Silk' material. After using a lot of blue for both comics, it was nice to shift the colour palette to warmer colours for the section where the characters explore Egypt, this panel shows that transition.

Bottom - Claude finds a rocky crevice to call his own and spends a few weeks relaxing there after a rather traumatic predator encounter! I like the expression of Claude as he's munching on Plankton in this panel. It was fun to try and characterise a lobster and create Claude's different expressions to get across his mood as the story progresses.


Emily is working with Guest Curator Dan Skerritt.

Emily Rose Illustration
@DooferTree

Hello Sigmund Reimann

Who are you?

My name is Sigmund Reimann and I am a freelance illustrator.

Why did you get involved in Spineless? 

I love any and all animals, including the unappreciated spineless denizens of our planet. When an opportunity to teach young people more about these lesser known species arose I was happy to offer my skills to make it happen. If we can educate children today then there is hope that in the future they will care about the plight that these species face in this changing world, and will show them the admiration and mercy they deserve. It would also be great to educate some of the adults that read the comic too!

Tell us about your comic.

My comic explores the invertebrates dwelling in cave systems, specifically limestone caves, and is based on the research carried out by Fiona Ware. It focuses mostly on the encapsulated habitat, what dwells within it and how. It also touches on the danger human quarrying of limestone imposes on the species living in them.

My favourite section of my comic is in the first section where the diver is exploring the limestone cave system. I especially like the part where she swims through the rock formations. Limestone caves hold some of the most beautiful natural formations on the planet and I find them truly captivating.

Sigmund is working with Guest Curator Fiona Ware.

SReimann Artwork

Hello Samuel Williams

Who are you? 

Samuel Williams

Why did you get involved in Spineless? 

I am really interested in my comics serving a purpose, they are such a great format for conveying information and I knew it would be a great challenge. Also getting to work with people with a more academic background and sharing ways of presenting their work!

Tell us about your comic.

My first comic see's two girls parachute in to one of the few remaining church forests of Ethiopia to discover what kind of insects still live there! The second comic is all about an Art loving Praying Mantis showing off his superior sight.

There is a panel in my Mantis comic where the face of the mantis is camouflaged behind long grass, and all you can see is his dark eyes poking through while he speaks to some other confused insects. I think it shows how dangerous they can be to their prey when they can't be seen.

Samuel is working with Guest Curators Vivek Nityananda and Erica McAlister.
Samuel Williams Design and Illustration
@samuelcwilliams

Hello Terry Wiley

Who are you?

Terry Wiley

Why did you get involved in Spineless?

Because I remember how much fun it was absorbing science info when I was wee, everyone should get some science in.

Tell us about your comic.

It's called Reef Beasts, it's all about the squishy animals that live at the bottom of tropical seas, and their amazing abilities.

This is a sub-species of Sea Cucumber called a Sea Apple - I picked it for the Sea Cucumber section because of its interesting red-white-blue colouration, most other Sea Cucumbers are greenish-brown and look like an underwater poo.


Terry is working with Guest Curator Irene Brown.

idcm
@terrywiley_idcm

Hello Jess Bradley

Who are you?

 I'm Jess Bradley and I'm an illustrator and comic artist from Bristol.

Why did you get involved in Spineless?

 I had the pleasure of working on Asteroid Belter and jumped at the chance to work on another science comic!

Tell us about your comic.

I've drawn the cover for Spineless which was a lot of fun. I'm a big fan of squishy creatures and as soon as I knew that I could draw sea cucumbers, I couldn't wait to get going!

I like the back cover with all of the different invertebrates on it - it was fun to be able to draw something from every other comic in the book.


Jess Bradley Illustration
@VenkmanProject

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

Introducing Graham Pearce

Graham is the creative force behind Exceptional Man, working with scientist Karolina Rygiel and his regular colourist Jim Cameron.

Who are you?
I'm Graham Pearce, a boy from Cornwall who now lives in the North West and draws comics in his spare time. I've won an episode of The Weakest Link, I've never been drunk and once stood next to Stan Lee for 2 seconds (but keep showing the photo to make people think we're great mates).

What have you done / what are you doing?
I've spent the last 12 years writing, drawing and publishing the satirical action comic SGT MIKE BATTLE: THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO! I've got dozens more ideas in development and am currently creating a new comic called SWOOPER HEROES with my 6 year old niece.

What excites you about comics?
Comics are so versatile and it's a medium which allows you to create characters and worlds with nothing more than a sheet of paper and a pencil!

What excites you about science?
Science fascinates me more as I get older as I realise how little I understand about it.

Contact/Links
@mrgrahampearce
www.sgtmikebattle.co.uk

Introducing Oscillating Brow

Oscillating Brow once created (drew and photocopied) a comic so popular that it kept selling out at a local pop-up shop. He found this quite troubling and protested at length whenever he received the profits. Oscillating Brow is in it for the comics. He wants to draw them and share them. O.B. has contributed a comic demonstrating a brilliant grasp on Astoundishing Science and all it's implications. This was lettered and coloured by Paul Thompson. The two had so much fun working together they teamed up again to make one of our puzzles.

Who are you?

Oscillating Brow

What have you done / what are you doing?

I draw daft comics because it's fun. I even print my own small comics occasionally. I've been a member of the Paper Jam Comics Collective since the very start and have done a story in each of the PJCC anthologies. You can read some comics I drew (mostly at Paper Jam meetings) here. Occasionally I write reviews and articles about comics for the Newcastle City Library graphic novel reading group 'Readers of the Lost Art' (see here).

What excites you about comics?
Drawing silly stuff, ideally with shouting and gurning (but preferably not involving backgrounds or perspective or any of that nonsense). The great thing about comics is that anyone can do it. Pick up a rudimentary drawing implement, find a bit of paper, draw a sequence of pictures - BOOM! If you haven't drawn a comic recently, have a go. Right now. Stop reading this. Stop it. Go on, do it now. ... Fine have it your way, but I'm tutting at you.

What excites you about science?

Anything amazing and it's all amazing. We take so much for granted but if you look objectively at life today, it's like magic. I think science is basically magic that someone somewhere can explain and has replicatably demonstrated beyond current reasonable doubt. It's pretty exciting that science is still happening, and at a faster rate than ever. Where will it end? (well, the heat-death of the universe, I guess, but that's got to be quite a way off).

Contact/Links 

oscillatingbrow.blogspot.co.uk/

Introducing Brian Randell

I'm happy to say that our definition of science also includes computing science. You can't really talk about the history of computing science without getting into Bletchley Park - which, by the way, is an amazing place to visit and one of the few places where it's essential to go on the tour. Every member of staff has a real passion for the place and it makes the experience really cool. Brian Randell's work rediscovering the Colossus and the work at Bletchley Park during World War II are the topic of not one but two comics - including a brilliant cypher puzzle comic by Paul Thompson and a comic featuring Brian himself drawn by Sigmund Reimann with words adapted from Uncovering Colossus by Alexi Conman - A Colossal Achievement. Let's have Brian speak for himself:

I graduated in Mathematics from Imperial College, London in 1957 and joined the English Electric Company where I led a team that implemented a number of compilers, including the Whetstone KDF9 Algol compiler. From 1964 to 1969 I was with IBM in the United States, mainly at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, working on operating systems, the design of ultra-high speed computers and computing system design methodology. I then became Professor of Computing Science at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where in 1971 I set up the project that initiated research into the possibility of software fault tolerance, and introduced the "recovery block" concept. Subsequent major developments included the Newcastle Connection, and the prototype Distributed Secure System. An at times very active side activity has been the history of computing, one high point of which was the “discovery” of the Colossus computer, developed for code-breaking at Bletchley Park during World War II. I have been Principal Investigator on a succession of research projects in reliability and security funded by various UK and European agencies. I am now Emeritus Professor of Computing Science, and Senior Research Investigator, at Newcastle University.

My personal home page is at: http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/brian.randell/

Introducing Marcus Kaiser

Explaining epilepsy to a younger audience was a challenge for us. It can seem a very scary thing, specially as we're still learning about it. Luckily the excellent team of Marcus Kaiser and Cuttlefish were on the case with their comic The Hyperactive Brain.

Marcus studied biology and computer science now works at Newcastle University in the field of Neuroinformatics which combines both areas. He observes how the human brain is connected and how the wiring from patients with developmental diseases differs from healthy subjects. By using computational tools he aims to better diagnose brain disorders and to inform about the most suitable therapy for individual patients. Current projects involve the simulation of human brain development to understand the rise of schizophrenia, Tourette Syndrome, and epilepsy (http://www.greenbrainproject.org/ ) as well as the development of novel treatments for epilepsy patients.

Schematic drawings, or comics in other terms, are an essential tool to communicate ideas within my lab and with other researchers. These are exciting times for our research field as, for the first time, we have enough data to build realistic models of human brain development and brain function. More information about our research can be found at http://www.biological-networks.org/ and there are various Neuroinformatics training opportunities at Newcastle (http://research.ncl.ac.uk/neuroinformatics).

Introducing Liz Todd

We've covered biology, chemistry, physics, engineering and more, not to mention loads of science that is so awesome we just can't categorise it. It was fascinating learning about how human beings communicate - with scientist Liz Todd and artist John G. Swogger with their comic Watching you... Watching me...

Who are you?
My science is educational psychology. I am Professor of Educational Inclusion at Newcastle University and in the past I have worked as a maths teacher, educational psychologist, therapist and on a market stall.

What have you done/ what are you doing?
I use video and narrative to bring change in relationships, whether this is in families, schools or between those working in children services. I also try to get schools to open their doors to their communities and to have a range of professionals offering services from within schools. I am passionate about getting young people involved in research.

I have written 3 books that represent my research over the last 20 years. Their titles are:
Beyond the School Gates: Can full-service and extended schools overcome disadvantage? (with Alan Dyson and Colleen Cummings); Video Interaction Guidance (with Hilary Kennedy and Miriam Landor); and Partnerships for inclusive education: A critical approach to collaborative working (I wrote this by myself). Two of these books have been given prizes.

What excites you about comics?
They get over tough ideas in a fun and interesting way so everyone can talk more about science

What excites you about science?
It's the asking of questions that I like about science. I like having ways to explore what we can know about the world. For me this is the world of people interacting with each other within complex contexts.

Contact/ Links

Website: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ecls/staff/profile/liz.todd

Email: liz.todd@ncl.ac.uk

Introducing Terry Wiley

As I declared earlier, everything is connected. Terry Wiley is connected with scientist David Alderson by the comic Everything's Connected. Figuring out complex networks and how they connect isn't just serious stuff, it's fun too. Terry was also kind enough to be one of our earliest contributors by helping put together our school activities pack, Science FACT-ion.

Who are you? 
Terry Wiley

What have you done / what are you doing?
I drew the massive 480-page black & white 'Sleaze Castle' collection (which is not at all sleazy),
and now I'm doing a 160-page colour story 'VerityFair' (warning - cotains bums and swears).

What excites you about comics?
Comics are the ultimate combination of Show and Tell - OK, maybe film is good at that too, but comics
only need 1 millionth the budget of a film!

What excites you about science?
Science is is what's left when you get rid of all the flim-flam, hearsay, self-deception, lies, exaggerations,
hard-sell, gibberish and hoo-hah we ape folks chuck at each other every day.

Contact/Links
www.idcm.net      twing@cix.co.uk

Introducing Alexi Conman

Enigma of a man, Alexi Conman has been kind of hiding in the background ever since Newcastle Science Comic became a thing giving endless support and and opinion. Alexi is the writing mastermind behind The Amazing Three Parent Monkey, working with scientist Sourima Shivhare, artist Tony Hitchman and colourist/letterer Paul Thompson.

Who are you?
Alexi Conman. I write comics sometimes.

What have you done / what are you doing?
I've scripted comics stories in various anthologies, you can see the full list here.

What excites you about comics?
Sequential Art is a medium that has almost limitless storytelling potential; its unique visual syntax (a synthesis of lexical and iconic and mimetic pictorial elements) makes it incredibly adaptable, potentially complex, yet naturally intuitive.

What excites you about science?
That it might save humanity from itself, an edifice up which we might climb to the stars.


Contact/Links
alexiconman.blogspot.co.uk
@alexiconman

Introducing David Alderson

One of our favourite things about this project has been the chance to share big ideas that don't normally reach younger audiences. Everything's Connected, drawn by Terry Wiley, with science from David Alderson is a huge idea. From flushing the loo or turning on a light to whether your train arrives on time, it's all connected, with all the disruptions possible I'm surprised any of this works at all. So let's have David introduce himself and tell us a bit about what he does...

My name is David Alderson, and I have been working as a researcher in GeoInformatics at Newcastle University since 2005. Geomatics, geoinformatics and many derivatives thereof in general refers to the study, measurement, and management of earth-related things. Think Google Earth, and you are nearly there. It could include monitoring biodiversity by collecting crowd-sourced data on species sightings, developing models of infrastructure networks for failure analysis, to delivering web sites and web services for people to get access to spatial data. This data comes in many forms, from GPS positions, detailed land and building surveys, satellite imagery and aerial photography – with the one thing they have in common being that they are all related to the Earth, and position on the Earth.

In the past I have worked largely to manage, store and then deliver, mainly via geospatially-enabled websites, spatial data of all kinds. A couple of projects that I have been involved in involve crowd-sourcing data to help validate flood models and collect experiences of flood events, to collecting species sightings around the North East of England. I have worked with the Met Office, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC) and many others to help deliver the latest climate change projections, back in 2009. As climate change is largely accepted by all in the scientific community as a genuine challenge facing mankind over the next 10, 20, 50, 100 years and beyond, the tools and websites that I have been involved in developing, help to disseminate data that can aid decision makers to make better informed decisions. This is particularly important, for example, when considering what types of energy-generation technologies to invest in, or what carbon reduction strategies to employ. My current research, and largely the inspiration for getting involved in the comic, is focussed on the modelling, study and analysis of traditional infrastructure networks including roads, rail, energy, water and solid waste. We are trying to understand how infrastructure networks are affected by climate-related hazards, such as flooding, but then also understand how the supply and demand for infrastructure services will change over the next 100 years as the economy and population changes.

Comics excite me both because they are so much fun to read but can feasibly by focussed around any topic imaginable. When speaking with the artists and writers during the production of the comic, the alternative ways of portraying a specific idea seemed endless, and often presenting information in such different ways can lead to a better understanding of patterns, or identification of other interesting artefacts. I think the idea of joining up science and research within the comic medium for communication offers a completely different mechanism for disseminating concepts, ideas, research, data to the general public and other researchers. Scientists in academia are largely judged by their ability to, and frequency with which they, publish in peer-reviewed journals about their specific subject. However these are not necessarily easily-accessible to the general public or children alike, despite the proliferation of open access publishing and the accessibility offered by web-based publishing. The use of a comic as an alternative method brings in an element of fun to scientific research, and ultimately that is probably the best way to attract children and teenagers to becoming interested in science – BY MAKING IT FUN!

Email: David.Alderson@ncl.ac.uk

More information about some of the work that I have been involved in at Newcastle University, and also some of the work that the Geospatial Engineering, Geodesy and School of Civil Engineering at Newcastle have undertaken and are currently involved in can be found from the following links:

https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/geospatialengineering/ - Geospatial Engineering Blog

http://research.ncl.ac.uk/geospatial/ - Geospatial Engineering Research Website

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ceg/research/geomatics/ - Geomatics Research

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ceg/staff/profile/david.alderson - David Alderson, University Profile

http://www.ceg.ncl.ac.uk – School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University

Specific websites related to my work:

http://www.itrc.org.uk/ - Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (motivation behind comic)

http://ukclimateprojections.defra.gov.uk/ - UK Climate Change Projections ‘09

http://ukclimateprojections-ui.defra.gov.uk/ui/admin/login.php - User Interface to UK Climate Change Projections ‘09

http://ceg-morpethflood.ncl.ac.uk/ - MorpethFlood / ToonFlood crowd-sourcing

http://eyeproject.org.uk/ - Species sightings crowd-sourcing

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