The Comics Cultural Impact Collective Makes the Case to the UK Government for £1.5 Million Funding for Comics

News today from the direction of the Comics Cultural Impact Collective, the independent collective of professionals from the UK comics community who have been collaborating since February 2023 to amplify awareness of comics’ profound cultural and economic impact. The report below urging funding for comics from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is one that has been co-signed by both myself and Broken Frontier and is the next important step from a collective who have been doing much valued work to raise the profile of comics in the UK over the last two years. Read. Digest. Spread the news through your networks. This is exactly the sort of thing we should be coming together as a community to support and promote.

CCIC make the case to government for comics funding

• Comics Cultural Impact Collective (CCIC) ask DCMS for £1.5 million investment in comics

• Report is based on extensive consultation with comics creators, booksellers, events, publishers and agents

• Comics Fund would turn untapped potential of comics industry into a thriving cultural sector for the UK

Today, CCIC, the Comics Cultural Impact Collective, share a report they will be delivering to the government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), proposing a £1.5 million fund for comics.

The report recommends a UK Comics Fund in the model of the UK Games Fund, creating robust opportunities for comics makers and businesses, and unleashing the potential of comics as a valuable component of the UK’s creative industry.

The full report can be seen at https://www.thecomicsculturalimpactcollective.org/The-Power-of-Comics.

CCIC have consulted extensively with grassroots and professional comics artists; agents and publishers; festivals and booksellers. They are committed to working from the bottom up, feeding the needs and views of the people who make up the UK comics sector into their plans, and protecting their rights.

The report has gained support from a wide range of comics organisations and individuals, including Charlie Adlard, Dave Gibbons, Posy Simmonds, Steve Bell, Emma Vieceli, Isabel Greenberg, Lizzy Stewart, Paul B. Rainey, the Beano, the Cartoon Museum, DACS, the Society of Authors, the National Literacy Trust, the Royal Society of Literature, Thought Bubble Festival, The Wellcome Trust Collections and the Association of Illustrators. See the full list of organisations and individuals at the foot of this release.

CCIC are encouraging further creators, organisations and anyone who works with or around comics to add their names, which they can do via the form at https://forms.gle/FmrSpanoXGYw5yux7.

Hannah Berry, ex Comics Laureate and CCIC co-Director said “This fund is about levelling the playing field. Comics already punch above their weight culturally, and it’s time they did so economically. With the right groundwork, we can turn a hugely talented but under-resourced community into a sustainable, revenue-generating industry. It’s a chance to build up UK creator originated works, boost exports, and create real jobs. Most importantly, it shows that Britain values — and supports — its creators.”

Rhiannon Griffths MBE, founder of Comics Youth and also a CCIC co-Director, added, ““The UK Comics Fund is a smart, strategic investment: it creates jobs, builds IP, and unlocks the economic potential of an underfunded but high-impact sector. But more than that, it sends a powerful message. Comics have always been a space for working-class, marginalised and young voices — this fund turns that energy into opportunity, sustainability and growth. It’s not just good economics — it’s cultural justice.”

The UK Comics Fund is projected to generate millions in revenue, create up to 300 jobs a year, and deliver £3 – £5 return for every £1 invested. By funding this sector, Britain not only backs its creators, but unlocks a scalable pipeline of IP, exports, and innovation.

Full list of organisations and individuals who have signed the report in support (as per 16 April 2025):

Organisations

1. Afroflux

2. ALCS

3. Association of Illustrators

4. Avery Hill Publishing

5. The Beano

6. The bks Literary Agency

7. Bleeding Cool

8. Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)

9. Bog Eyed Books

10. The Bookseller

11. Breakdown Press

12. British Cartoonists’ Association

13. Broken Frontier

14. The Cartoon Museum

15. Cartoon County

16. CHIP Collective

17. Comic Printing UK

18. Comic Scene

19. COMICA Festival

20. Comics Youth CIC

21. Convention Collective

22. DACS

23. David Fickling Books

24. Dekko Comics

25. Faber & Faber

26. First Graphic Novel Prize

27. Forbidden Planet International

28. Graphic Medicine International Collective

29. Graphic Novel Reading Room

30. Gosh Comics

31. Hachette Children’s Group

32. Hay Festival Global

33. inQ! Queer Comic Fair

34. Knockabout Comics

35. Little, Brown Book Group

36. LDComics

37. Markosia

38. Myriad Editions

39. National Literacy Trust

40. Page 45

41. The Phoenix

42. PositiveNegatives

43. Professional Cartoonists Organisation

44. Quindrie Press

45. The Reading Agency

46. Royal Society of Literature

47. Scholastic

48. SelfMadeHero

49. Soaring Penguin Press

50. Society of Authors

51. Third Bear Press

52. Thought Bubble Festival

53. Viz

54. Waterstones Booksellers

55. Wellcome Trust Collections

56. Wowbagger Productions

57. Yo Comics!

Individuals

1. Nick Abadzis, graphic novelist

2. Charlie Adlard, comics artist & Comics Laureate

3. Patrice Aggs, writer, artist & graphic novelist

4. Muna Al Jawad, University of Sussex

5. Juice Aleem, Director, FluxCon/AfroFlux

6. John Anderson, Publisher, Soaring Penguin Press

7. Steven Appleby, graphic novelist

8. Yomi Ayeni, comics creator & filmmaker

9. Rachael Ball, graphic novelist

10. Henny Beaumont, political cartoonist

11. Steve Bell, political cartoonist

12. Amy Bellwood, Festival Director, Thought Bubble Festival

13. Tony Bennett, Managing Director, Knockabout Comics

14. Angus Cargill, Publishing Director, Faber & Faber

15. Katriona Chapman, Head of Marketing, Avery Hill Publishing

16. Kate Charlesworth, graphic novelist

17. Paul Cornell, comics writer

18. Gareth Cowlin, Cartoon and Comic Arts, University of Staffordshire

19. Liz Cross, Managing and Publishing Director, David Fickling Books

20. Dr Colleen Douglas, comics writer

21. Graham Dury, cartoonist & Editor, Viz

22. Andrew Ettinger, Director of Education, National Literacy Trust

23. Tom Fickling, Managing Director, The Phoenix

24. Alex Fitch, Lecturer, University of Brighton/ broadcast journalist

25. Tony Foster, Editor, Comic Scene

26. Anna Ganley, Chief Executive, Society of Authors

27. Dave Gibbons, comics artist & Comics Laureate

28. Kieron Gillen, comics writer

29. Clive Goddard, Chair, Professional Cartoonists Association

30. Melanie Grant, Collections Development Lead, Wellcome Trust Collections

31. Paul Gravett, comics historian and author

32. Chloe Green, Festival Director, Thought Bubble, comics creator and academic

33. Isabel Greenberg, graphic novelist

34. David Ziggy Greene, cartoonist & bookseller

35. Eve Greenwood, Publisher, Quindre Press

36. Simon Hacking, Publisher, Breakdown Press

37. Rich Hardiman, Comic Printing UK

38. Barbara Hayes, Chief Executive, ALCS

39. Emma Hayley, Managing Director, SelfMadeHero

40. Debbie Hicks MBE, Creative Director, The Reading Agency

41. Rachel Hill, Chief Executive, Association of Illustrators

42. Stephen Holland, Comics Laureate & Owner, Page 45

43. Kai Holmström, Dekko Comics

44. Steven Ingram, Third Bear Press

45. Nicola Jennings, cartoonist & Chair, The British Cartoonists’ Association

46. Rich Johnston, Editor, Bleeding Cool

47. Helen Jones, Director, Yo Comics!

48. Phillip Jones, Editor, The Bookseller

49. Rob Jones, comics writer/letterer

50. Martha Julian, Festival Director, Thought Bubble

51. Cat Laird, CHIP Collective

52. Sarah Lambert, Head of Fiction, Bloomsbury Children’s Books

53. Ashling Larkin, CHIP Collective

54. Imogen Mangle, illustrator

55. Nina Mickwitz, Senior Lecturer, London College of Communication

56. Hannah Miller, Director, Yo Comics!

57. Ricky Miller, Publisher, Avery Hill Publishing

58. Pete Morey, comics creator

59. Professor Chris Murray, University of Dundee

60. Kirsten Murray, Editor

61. Gary Northfield, Publisher, Bog Eyed Books

62. Lauren O’Farrell, Publicity for Yo Comics! & Director inQ! Queer Comic Fair

63. Florence Okoye, FluxCon/AfroFlux

64. Tom Oldham, Publisher, Breakdown Press

65. Andy Oliver, Editor-in-Chief, Broken Frontier

66. Josh Palmano, Publisher, Breakdown Press

67. Corinne Pearlman, Creative Director, Myriad Editions & First Graphic Novel Prize

68. Luke Pearson, comics creator

69. Woodrow Phoenix, comics creator/designer

70. Warren Pleece, graphic novelist

71. Owen D. Pomery, graphic novelist & illustrator

72. Gabi Putnoki, Graphic Novel Reading Room

73. Paul B. Rainey, graphic novelist

74. Molly Rosenberg, Director, Royal Society of Literature

75. Kate Rosser-Frost, Head of Communications & Engagement, DACS

76. Martin Rowson, cartoonist

77. Professor Roger Sabin, Professor of Popular Culture, Central Saint Martins

78. Alison Sampson, comics artist

79. Posy Simmonds, comics artist/graphic novelist

80. Rachel Smith, comics creator

81. Lisa Smosarski, Editorial Director, The Beano

82. James Spackman, Literary Agent, The bks Agency

83. Lizzy Stewart, author & illustrator

84. Rossie Stone, Dekko Comics

85. Dr Nicola Streeten, Director, LDComics

86. Joe Sullivan, Director, The Cartoon Museum

87. Lucy Sullivan, comics author & artist

88. Leonard Sultana, An Englishman In San Diego & The Convention Collective

89. Dr Emma Sutton, historian

90. Brian Talbot FRSL, Hon. Litt. D, Hon DA, graphic novelist

91. Dr Mary Talbot, comics writer

92. Emma Vieceli, comics writer & artist

93. Loesja Vigour, Collections Development Librarian, Wellcome Trust Collections

94. Dr Ian Williams, comics creator & Director, Graphic Medicine International Collective