Old Masters and Ninja Turtles

“ “You can’t have those,” the man said to his son, nodding his head towards the stack of comic books the boy had grabbed from the library’s shelves.
“Why not?” the boy asked.
“Because comic books aren’t real books, you need to get proper books. Those don’t count.””

— Lucas Maxwell

I come from artistic stock.

On the paternal side, my grandfather was a jewellery designer. Both my great-grandfather and great, great-grandfather were master tailors and livery makers with a royal warrant. My father studied textile design at the Royal College of Art in London and worked briefly as a freelancer, before beginning his lifelong career as a paper conservator. He trained at the British Museum, then spent the rest of his working life at the Royal Library in Windsor Castle, where he became head conservator of the Queen’s collection of Old Master drawings.

This year I caught some of the Leonardo centenary exhibitions, including the one at the National Museum Cardiff, which I saw with Dad. As a kid, I sometimes watched Dad restoring Her Majesty’s Leonardos when I visited him at work. So it was good to see the works of art up close, once again - with him by my side.

You can’t fail to admire Leonardo’s drawings. But despite having that first-hand contact with the Old Masters at such an early age, the most significant influence on me, artistically speaking, was comic art. (In that respect, I was not that dissimilar to many other five-year-olds.) So whilst I’d be a fool not to rate Leonardo da Vinci, I do hold Leonardo the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in high regard!

 

Old Masters. Dad reunited with a Leonardo drawing that he restored…

 I began reading a weekly Disney comic (complete with invaluable step-by-step tutorials on how to draw the characters) which was later usurped by the Beano.

I amassed and devoured a whole load of Schulz’s Peanuts (‘Snoopy books’ as they were known). Various Marvel / DC comics came next (Spiderman was my favourite), followed by as much Asterix as I could get. 

The influence of comics continued into my teenage years when I absorbed MAD magazine, Garfield and Gary Larson’s Far Side. I eventually discovered graphic novels and Calvin and Hobbes as an art student (thanks to Dave's Comics in Brighton). These examples and more besides (Mutts, Cul de Sac) have conjoined to influence my work as a picture book artist.

Comics (and graphic novels) - in the UK and US at least - have always been regarded as a lower art form in comparison to ‘proper books.’ Fast-food burgers to filet mignon, if you will. But they are becoming increasingly popular and influential and beginning to receive the recognition they deserve. Dr Laura Jiménez, a lecturer at Boston University, praises the medium of graphic novels because they ‘might provide an entry point for struggling readers, challenge gifted readers, and help more students learn.’

Emma Nichols, manager at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, agrees: ‘For the reluctant reader, comics can be easier to grasp and more fun to read than text-only books.’ 

Nichols continues:

 

‘Comics are more complex than prose books. I know this seems counterintuitive to argument #1 [for the reluctant reader, comics can be easier to grasp and more fun to read than text-only books], but it’s true; they demand engagement on both a visual and textual level.

- The Graphic Novel Is a Perfect Teachable Format by Emma Nichols

 

I think this ‘engagement on both a visual and textual level’ is the appeal - and the power - of comic art (including graphic novels). When done well, the way the text and images are integrated serve to communicate the story in a truly effective way. Throw in some visual shorthand in the form of symbols (for example, hearts for eyes to show a character is in love), and they can become master classes in visual literacy. As such, I think they have great value.  

 The most obvious example of comics leveraging my work is Chalk & Cheese. But look closely, and you’ll see their influence seeping in here, there and everywhere: 

Oh, Boris! by Carrie Weston, ill. by Tim Warnes (Oxford University Press 2007) | Image © 2007 by Tim Warnes

Oh, Boris! features a gang of ninja rats who burst into the story in a most manga-inspired way (plus a few speech bubbles);

Monty and Milli - the magical starbursts, another effect borrowed from manga;

Jesus Loves Me! - a straightforward narrative told through sequential panels;

The Archie (Otto) series and The Great Cheese Robbery all rely heavily on speech bubbles.

Detail from The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press 2015) | Image © 2015 by Tim Warnes

 

I’m not alone in my appreciation of comic art. You can see the comic influence again in many of my favourite children’s book illustrators - in particular, the work of Bob Graham, Satoshi Kitamura and Posy Simmonds. Perhaps less obvious (at least at first glance) is the work of Maurice Sendak, whose In the Night Kitchen was directly influenced by Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo comic strip.

Aside from Chalk & Cheese, the closest I’ve come to creating a comic (other than those as a kid) can be found in The Big Book Adventure By Emily Ford (Silver Dolphin 2018). 

‘ Flying over Neverland, swimming with a mermaid, joining in a mad tea party, soaring on a magic carpet—old classics come to life in the eyes of two readers [Foxy and Piggy] who can’t believe what they’ve seen.’

Featuring Foxy and Piggy, this award-winning book revisits several old classics such as Alice, Peter Pan and The Three Bears. Another story that Foxy relays is the fictional Galactic Race, which I decided to show as a comic (with my accompanying illustrations looking like they’ve come from the insides). Some old Eagle and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics helped me achieve the look I was after.

 















































 

I inked the line art and sent it through with some colour notes for a designer to weave their magic (my IT skills are zero when it comes to digital art) - specifying that I wanted it coloured with a dot matrix for that classic comics feel. The result blew me away.

 

Detail from The Big Book Adventure by Emily Ford, ill. by Tim Warnes (Silver Dolphin 2018) | Image © 2018 by Tim Warnes

 

I wanted to make sure that the page representing the comic, Galactic Race, was self-contained - in other words, to have enough of a story within those few panels to feel satisfying, while suggesting they are part of something bigger:

Foxy’s giant rocket zooms out of nowhere, surprising an alien in an archetypal UFO. The alien is not happy. He wants to win the race. But Foxy is determined.

He reaches out and decisively presses a big, red button.

*Click*

The alien looks on in horror as Foxy’s rocket engages Warp Factor 9 and blasts ahead!

I only wish there was a complete Galactic Race comic to read. I’d love to see more of that competitive, cephalopod-ic alien!

 

From The Big Book Adventure by Emily Ford, ill. by Tim Warnes (Silver Dolphin 2018) | Image © 2018 by Tim Warnes

 The Big Book Adventure by Emily Ford, illustrated by Tim Warnes (Silver Dolphin Books 2018)

‘Truly delightful’ - books4yourkids.com

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Winner: 2019 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Silver Award (Children's Picture Books)

Winner: 2018 Foreword INDIE Gold Award (Picture Books, Early Reader)

Good to Read

Picture Books with a comic book vibe

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton (Egmont 2016)

Queenie the Bantam by Bob Graham (Walker Books 1997)

Baker Cat by Posy Simmonds (Red Fox 2004)

Tiger Vs. Nightmare by Emily Tetri (First Second 2018)

Chalk & Cheese by Tim Warnes (Simon & Schuster 2008)

Sources A FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT COMIC BOOKS STILL COUNT AS READING by Lucas Maxwell (Book Riot, 8 February 2018) Graphic Novels 101 by Laura Ehrlich (Boston University Today, 24 July 2014)The Graphic Novel Is a Perfect Teachable Format by Emma Nichols (Publishers Weekly, April 19, 2019)Oh, Boris! by Carrie Weston, ill. by Tim Warnes (Oxford University Press 2007)The Great Cheese Robbery by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press 2015)The Big Book Adventure by Emily Ford, ill. by Tim Warnes (Silver Dolphin 2018)