10 YEARS OF THE BF SIX TO WATCH! While we quietly retired the ‘Small Pressganged’ branding early in 2022 one of that former regular feature’s most popular pieces was always our annual ‘Ten UK Small Press Comics You Need to Own!’ round-up. And so, in that tradition, here’s this year’s look back at some of the standout British self-published comics we covered over the last twelve months.
A quick reminder, as something we say every year, that this is not a “Best of” list, per se. Rather it’s an opportunity for us all to immerse ourselves in the creativity, imagination and invention of those working in the small press world, and to give an extra push to their practice while celebrating the diversity of the self-published work on offer in the process. The focus this year is on solo creators or partnerships rather than anthologies, comics published by micropublishers or ongoing anthology-style series. There may also be some crossover with the Broken Frontier Awards for 2023. And just to underline the loose definition of “2023”, this is about work covered in that year here at BF rather than about what was published then. There’s plenty of strong material from ’23 waiting still to get it’s moment in the spotlight here after all.
Make sure to check out some of the work below by picking up the books concerned and supporting these amazingly talented creators. That’s what this (and BF in all honesty) is really all about, after all!
Spoiler warning: there’s a lot of BF ‘Six to Watch’ work included below!
(Read our previous annual round-ups here at Broken Frontier)
Trigger Shot
Tal Brosh
Tal Brosh’s wordless, abstract depiction of “a woman’s journey through infertility and medical intervention” was published to coincide with Infertility Awareness Week earlier in 2023. This is graphic medicine that asks the audience to interact with the page on an entirely different level of reading comprehension. Brosh was one of our 2022 Broken Frontier ‘Six to Watch’ creators.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Trigger Shot is a powerful manipulation of the medium’s distinct qualities and once again underlines Brosh’s talent as an artist invested in the unique tools of the form.
Zayani Zam
Mereida Fajardo
Mereida Fajardo’s landscape comic used that format to its utmost advantage to depict the vast, unforgiving expanses of the Gobi Desert environment its protagonist moved through. This story of the lonely life of a truck driver was nominated for a Broken Frontier 2023 Award for Best One-Shot and was shortlisted for the First Graphic Novel Competition. Fajardo was one of our 2021 Broken Frontier ‘Six to Watch’ creators.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Mereida Fajardo is inarguably one of the most exciting current voices in UK comics. I cannot reiterate that point enough.
Pricks #3
Fraser Geesin and Laurie Rowan
Fraser Geesin and Laurie Rowan’s brutally comedic skewering of the patriarchy has become one of the most bleakly funny comics of the moment. Filled with a cast of ghastly grotesques it’s a brilliant piece of biting satire that blends social commentary with outlandish and strangely appropriately bizarre situations. I don’t normally push for comics properties to be translated into other media but this would make an amazingly off-the-wall sitcom.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: If laugh-out-loud grim is a thing then it perfectly sums up this exercise in comedy-melancholy.
In a Plum: A Walk through Thought
Peony Gent
Peony Gent’s lyrical contemplation on the very nature of poetry feels almost meta given the nature of her form-pushing practice over the last few years. A visual essay on the artist-reader relationship and the very act of creativity, all bound up in her usual abstract visuals. Outstanding work, as ever. Gent was one of our 2017 Broken Frontier ‘Six to Watch’ creators.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Gent’s abstract sequentials entice us to infer our own meanings from their symbolism and impressionistic stylings.
A Complicated Young Man
Tom Philipson
Tom Philipson’s collection of strips on his mental health both plunders classic comics approaches and embraces its own takes on the language of comics in one of those small press offerings that should have had far more attention in 2023. Expect huge things from Philipson in the future.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Philipson’s near scattershot approach to structure and composition oddly complements itself rather than feeling incongruous and fragmentary.
Downlands
Norm Konyu
Norm Konyu’s work may have been picked up by publisher Titan but this is an illustrator who deserves to be a major breakout star and it’s staggering that with three outstanding graphic novels to his name he’s not been afforded anything like the attention he should have been. Downlands is his second full-length title; a twisting, timeframe-jumping, supernatural story focussing on the legend of the Black Dog whose appearance precedes death. Konyu was one of our 2021 Broken Frontier ‘Six to Watch’ creators.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Each page is a studied triumph in perspective, character placement, pacing, and page structure as Konyu adeptly evokes the required emotional reaction from his audience whether that be sympathy, sadness, anger or shock.
Times Table
Gareth Brookes
Describing a comic as “the story of a young boy’s strange relationship with his identical twin grandmas” is certainly a catchy narrative hook to attract reader attention, and when that’s attached to a Gareth Brookes comic you just know you’re going to get something darkly comedic in tone. As is to be expected from a Brookes offering this is also an experimental presentation, underlining Brookes’ ongoing interrogation of the form.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Brookes has made a point of alternating longer-form work with shorter-form practice that challenges and interrogates our perceptions of the form.
Not Another Haunting
Sammy Ward
Sammy Ward has carved herself something of a niche as a purveyor of ghostly comics shorts and this collection of brief but memorable ghost stories is a testament to her ability to use the most limited space to convey a supernatural thrill. It includes probably my favourite short-form comic of 2023 as well (below). Ward was one of our 2022 Broken Frontier ‘Six to Watch’ creators.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Not Another Haunting! will no doubt be recognised as the moment when, for many, the full potential of Sammy Ward’s practice became apparent.
Visit Sammy Ward’s Ko-fi page here
Five Months on Earth
Joe Stone
When people think of Joe Stone’s work they almost certainly think first and foremost of his off-centre approach to narrative and his cartooning idiosyncrasies. Stone is also an incredibly versatile artist, though, as this touching piece of slice-of-life comics shows. It’s the story of Stone’s relationship with a kitten called Earthling and, as the title suggests, it’s not one with a happy ending. However, what could have easily turned into an exercise in the cloying and the self-indulgently maudlin in the hands of a less able storyteller becomes something beautiful and sensitive in Stone’s. Stone was also one of our 2019 Broken Frontier ‘Six to Watch’ creators.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Stone is an artist whose work shows a constant awareness of how to use the tools of comics to forge a connection with readers and here he does so with a precision that ensures this is a deeply intimate read.
Don’t Worry, I Die at the End
Beck Kubrick
Also nominated as Best One-Shot in this year’s Broken Frontier Awards Don’t Worry, I Die at the End is Beck Kubrick at their irreverent, random best. A collection of strips that are knowingly dark in tone they cover subjects like existential angst, mental health, nihilism, and furniture re-arranging. An excellent entry point into the style of an artist who is going to seriously break out on a much greater stage in the not-too-distant future.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: This celebration of cynicism, pessimism and morbidity from a genuinely unique voice in our scene should be grabbed and devoured.
Article by Andy Oliver
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