Word Up
Word Up, Edinburgh City Libraries’ online newsletter, kindly asked to write an article on books that have inspired us to become graphic novelists:
Metaphrog
About Metaphrog
Posts by Metaphrog :
- 2 day comic workshops with KS2s in Newport
- 20th Anniversary of our 1st Comic
- 6 track
- album review
- American Tour
- award nomination
- awards
- Aye Write!
- BLOG
- Book Week Scotland 2012
- Brexit
- Cherry Red
- comics in the classroom
- Creative Scotland
- Edwin Morgan comic adaptation
- EIBF
- events
- exhibitions
- Galashiels Museum comic workshops
- Graphic Novel Authors in Residence
- Graphic Novel Mentoring
- Graphic novel tips
- illustrations
- ipad game illustrations for Kelvingrove Museum
- Islay Book Festival
- Kelvingrove Museum comic workshops
- Life-size illustrations for Borders Textile Towerhouse
- Louis
- Louis animation
- Mark E Smith
- National Library of Scotland events
- new LP 2013
- NEWS
- Newsletter
- Olympia Building Workshops with P7s
- Patrons of Reading
- Pig series Illustrations
- press
- review
- Rosalie Lightning
- short stories
- sketches
- Skint
- The Fall
- The Fall Re-Mit music review
- The Infinite Corpse
- The Lakes Comic Art Festival Festival
- The Little Mermaid
- The Red Shoes and Other Tales
- The Red Shoes and Other Tales Deleted Scenes
- The Remainderer
- Time To Shine: Graphic Novel
- Tour for Guernsey Book Week
- Uncategorized
- visit to International School Eindhoven
- Waterstones Launch Party
- Winter's Tales comic
- work in progress
- Writer in Residence EIBF
School Certificate
Last week as part of our three day trip to England and Wales, delivering graphic novel workshops, we had the pleasure of returning to Bishop Fox’s High School in Taunton, to give a talk on graphic novels and our own working methods to over a hundred Year 9 pupils. The talk was followed by a carousel of comic workshops. The pupils had to come up with a pitch, including character designs, story lines and so forth. We all had a fantastic time.
It was to our great surprise this morning that we received this certificate of appreciation from the school!
Forthcoming Workshops
We will be delivering several comic workshops in the spring, with more to be announced for the summer.
Cardiff Central Library on May 27th for two sessions (1030-1130 and 1400-1500), for 9-14 years old. Free.
To book a place, phone 02920 780953 or email centrallibrary@cardiff.gov.uk
Tramway Family Day in Glasgow on May 8th for their Alice in Wonderland themed day, for two sessions: 1130 – 1230 (for 5-8 years) and 1500-1600 (for 8-12 years). Free.
Book here in advance.
Illustrations
We very much enjoyed doing research and producing images for some educational text books!
Here are just a few of them. More illustrations can be viewed on www.metaphrog.com/illustrations
Evolution of man.
Roundheads vs Cavaliers.
Ancient Mesopotamian.
Eisner Award Nomination
Great news! Louis – Night Salad has just been nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Coloring!
Along with the YALSA nomination for Great Graphic Novels for Teens, this is the second award nomination Louis – Night Salad has received this year!
Recent Talks and Workshops
Over the past few months we’ve been busy working on various projects and also delivering a variety of talks and workshops around the country.
We were particulary honoured to be invited to deliver three very different talks: one at the CCA for Words Across the Water last November (along with Alisdair Gray who was also giving a talk); then, last month, at the Glasgow School of Art where we discussed our work and the creative process, and also delivered a workshop; and as part of the Glasgow Film Festival, where we had great fun talking about graphic novel adapations.
A couple of weeks ago, we spent a day delivering workshops at Newington Library in Edinburgh. We had a fantastic time talking about comics and graphic novels to eager participants of all ages, and the workshops were long enough to allow everyone time to create their own comic pages and character designs. You can see some photos below.
The Tales of One City blog for Edinburgh City Libraries also posted some pictures on their photostream here.
Read the feature about the Newington Library workshops on the STV website here.
The Comics Journal Review of Louis – Night Salad
Gavin Lees has written a fantastic review of Louis – Night Salad in The Comics Journal. Here’s a short extract, from the beginning and from the end of the review:
In the hands of Franco-Scottish duo Metaphrog (aka John Chalmers and Sandra Marrs — reductively, he writes and she draws, but the collaboration is much tighter than that), the children’s adventure-strip becomes an altogether more adult experience. They sublimate Pynchonesque paranoia and hallucinatory symbolism into the bright, primary-colored world of Louis: a cute, blank-featured everyman…
That Louis’s concerns are universal and his adventures a reflection of modern world make his tales like contemporary fables. Metaphrog manage to bridge the gap between innocence and experience with real insight, making Night Salad something that can stand alongside Kafka’s short stories — deceptively simple tales that manage to pierce directly to the heart of the human condition.
You can read the full review here.
The Skinny Feature
Louis – Night Salad is featured in The Skinny this month (December 2010 – Issue 63), with a review and mini-interview. Online version here.
ArtReview
Louis – Night salad is featured in ArtReview this month (issue 46 Dec 2010). Here’s an excerpt:
These days we’re bombarded with animations or graphic novels that claim to amuse kids while offering a meta narrative to please adults. But few actually fulfil these promises as effectively as this Scottish duo’s hand-painted book.
Metro and Sunday Herald Reviews
This week Louis – Night Salad has been reviewed in the Sunday Herald graphic novel round-up and in Metro! 