The fourth annual Webcomic Artist Swap Project (WASP) takes place next week Monday February 22nd and continuing until the 28th. An always fun piece of collaborative conjuring the event sees a number of international self-publishers swapping art duties on their respective webcomics. Originated by UK small press mover and shaker Richy K. Chandler (Lucy the Octopus, Tempo Lush Tales) in 2013, WASP sees its second year in 2016 in the capable hands of Sarah Turner (Folklore) and Francesca Dare (Penny Blackfeather).
Turner and Dare have sent out a press release detailing the line-up of 18 contributing creators with Dare enthusing “WASP is going strong four years in, and is still my favourite collaboration project each time. It’s like a cosy warm webcomic hug in the middle of winter. Every year we get some beautiful, funny and surprising entrees and 2016 is no exception.”
Turner is similarly evangelical about the enterprise “WASP is one of the most enjoyable things in my comic calendar! I look forward to seeing all the different artists mixing it up and showing off their skills, creating beautiful, quirky and fun art! And at the end of the day, it’s all about trying something new, meeting new artists and enjoying the challenge of drawing something different We’ve got even more entrants than last year and we’d welcome new creators to join us for WASP 2017! If you fancy getting involved visit our Facebook or Twitter, we’d love it if you got in touch!”
As I say every year when I give WASP a brief shout-out here at BF it’s creative initiatives like this that bring that wider sense of supportive community on the small press scene to the fore. The line-up of artists involved is listed below with the obligatory revisitation of Richy K. Chandler’s comic strip explanation of the project. Check out the respective webcomics next week to find out which creators are guesting on which strips!
Folklore
– Sarah Turner
Penny Blackfeather – Francesa Dare
Lucy the Octopus – Richy K Chandler
Overground – Alex Brenchley
Cafe Suada – Jade Sarson
Chrysanthemum Alley – Midori Harako
Go! Go! Metro! – Inko
Legion of Kats – Kate Hayward
Demontail – Emily Moore
Fruit Machine – Evelyn Hewitt
Ask Flimsy – Rachael Smith
Aunt Rebecca’s Triplet Sons – Cherish York
Nobody Kisses Me Like That – Chie Kutsuwada
The Wastelands – Gemma Sheldrake
Tamino and The Magic Flute – Paula Albaneze
Sapphire Days – Mewa Chu
Don’t Feed the Pigeons – Anna Dowsland
The Fourth – Courtney Svatek and Victor Acuña
For regular updates on all things small press follow Andy Oliver on Twitter here.
