Steve Bell, one of Britain’s foremost cartoonists, has spent over four decades satirising the Royal Family and public figures with his sharp wit and exaggerated portrayals, sparing no one—not even Charles III. Our latest exhibition, The Windsor Tapestry (open until 20 March), features Bell’s 28-meter tapestry inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry. Comprising 98 cartoons chronicling Charles III’s life from 1980 to 2023, it weaves a dual narrative: the modern monarchy through Charles’s lens and the creative evolution of a cartoonist dedicated to holding power to account.

The exhibition also explores Bell’s other critiques of figures, such as Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and Tony Blair, and offers a glimpse into his creative process. How does he bring his ideas to life, and what inspires his sharp, fearless style? We spoke to Bell to uncover a few more secrets behind his work.

Steve Bell
Steve Bell (born 1951) is one of the most revered figures in British cartooning. With a career spanning over 40 years, he is best known for his If… comic strip in The Guardian (1981-2021). He also has been one of the trustees of the Cartoon Museum for over 20 years and curated the ‘Drawing Life’, the display of the museum’s permanent collection in the main gallery of the new Wells Street site.

How long do you let a sketch evolve before you think “This is it”? 
Sketches tend to evolve as you’re doing them, and you have to try things out to see if they work. I came up with the Boris-as-an-arse thing in 2014 while he was still Mayor of London and I drew him as a tube train coming out of a tunnel, but I didn’t start using it regularly until five years later in 2019, just before he became Prime Minister. My caricature of him was pretty rudimentary anyway, dominated by the mop of blonde hair. Drawing him as an arse seemed to work very well after that and it saved a lot of time as it was so quick and simple when I had to draw him more frequently.

Steve Bell, “Effocracy,” The Guardian (January 2021). Image courtesy of the artist and the Cartoon Museum, London.

How do you capture ideas when they pop up unexpectedly?  
Ideas come in all sorts of ways and in all sorts of places, but usually as a result of thinking hard about what I’m trying to say. The trick is to see when something might work, and strip cartoons depend on ideas being recognisable, simple and repeatable. I always found it helpful to go to party conferences and soak it all up, take pictures and make sketches which were/are very useful later.

Portrait of Margaret Thatcher (black felt pen), Steve Bell

How do you keep track of daily topics, political events, or current affairs that you might want to use as subjects later? 
I keep track of politics by following the news and reading the papers avidly, which obviously I do less these days. I used to have Radio 4 on from 6am onwards, except when I actually had to sit down and think of something, in which case I find that most background chat and music gets in the way of thinking. When I’ve finally cracked how I’m going to do something, the Radio, or music, or, these days, an audiobook or whatever, can come back on while I get on with the finished drawing. If an idea comes unexpectedly I try to note it down in a sketchbook, or at the very least make a strong mental note so it doesn’t disappear forever.

Are there any new characters or subjects you want to portray now? 
I keep track of politics by following the news and reading the papers avidly, which obviously I do less these days. I used to have Radio 4 on from 6am onwards, except when I actually had to sit down and think of something, in which case I find that most background chat and music gets in the way of thinking. When I’ve finally cracked how I’m going to do something, the Radio, or music, or, these days, an audiobook or whatever, can come back on while I get on with the finished drawing. If an idea comes unexpectedly I try to note it down in a sketchbook, or at the very least make a strong mental note so it doesn’t disappear forever.

Steve Bell

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Cartoonists carefully craft striking, consistent imagery to make figures instantly recognisable and memorable. These creations go beyond humour, shaping public opinion, influencing politics, and leaving a lasting mark on our everyday life. We invite you to explore the artistry of Steve Bell and the profound impact of caricature at this exhibition.

by Haruka Katsuyama
All drawings, cartoons copyright ©Steve Bell 1977-2025- All Rights Reserved.

Exhibition Information:

Our current exhibition, The Windsor Tapestry (open until 27 March), features Bell’s cartoons spread sequentially across a 28-meter printed fabric tapestry, inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry.

References:

Belltoons – The Steve Bell Cartoons Website

https://www.belltoons.co.uk/

Steve Bell Profile (The Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/stevebell

”Before The Boys, before Kick-Ass, before Watchmen, there was Captain Civilian.”

Have you ever dreamed of becoming a superhero? If you’re like most of us, the answer is probably yes. But while many left that dream behind in childhood, one man turned it into a reality. In 1985, young art student Steve Marchant set out to explore a bold question: What if a superhero actually existed? Proudly donning a balaclava, goggles and pink pants over a tight black costume, Steve transformed into Captain Civilian. For eight unforgettable months, he patrolled the streets of Plymouth and Dartington College, fully embracing the superhero life. Before long, some of the students began recognising him as their very own ‘hero’- they witnessed and got involved with it firsthand when there was still no internet, no X, and no TikTok—and even some were eager to join his adventure. And soon, The Captain found himself facing an arch-nemesis… Nearly 40 years later, we’ve brought him back—along with a story that’s never been told. It’s a tale of courage, hope, and laughter that will strike a chord with anyone who ever dreamed of being a hero—or even those who didn’t. Don’t miss this legendary, boldly bizarre, and daftest hero’s return!

Steve Marchant (Captain Civilian)
Steve Marchant read too many comics as a boy in Wolverhampton. After two years at art college in Devon he moved to London where he became a cartoonist, a special needs youth worker and a tutor. Since then he has combined all three in his 29-year career at The Cartoon Museum, where he is the education coordinator/tutor/occasional curator.

The very first issue of Captain Civilian from the eminent Marchant Comics Group is currently exclusive to The Cartoon Museum.

It’s a real pleasure speaking with you, Captain Civilian. What was it like putting on the hero’s costume again after all these years?
Making the video for the Heroes exhibition was the first time I’d worn the costume since, I think, 1992. Being made of nylon, I was worried it might have decayed during the years it sat in a suitcase under my bed, but it slipped on fine. And I’d forgotten how just by wearing it, your whole posture changes – shoulders back, chest out – clothes do make the man, as the saying goes.

Your “Captain Civilian” zine, now available in the Cartoon Museum Shop, tells the story of how you came to exist and be recognised in the real world as a hero.   Are there any heroes that particularly inspired you in inventing Captain Civilian?　What do you think makes a hero a hero?
What inspired me was all of the superheroes I’d grown up reading, from both Marvel and DC, and in particular the Adam West Batman from the 60s TV series. By the 80s, the Batman in the comics was quite a grim and gritty character, along with other darkly-clad anti-heroes like The Punisher. I wanted to hark back to when superheroes were more fun, I felt that this would enable better interactions with the public.

In real life, heroes don’t wear fancy costumes. Real-life heroes to me are people that put other people before themselves – nurses, doctors, teachers, carers, etc. Having said that,  next time I’m in hospital I wouldn’t mind being tended to by a nurse in a skin-tight outfit. But I suppose I’d need to be in BUPA.

“Every week, Captain Civilian took a break from patrolling with a well-earned mug of tea at the Bomb Shelter Cafe.”

What was the reaction when you stood in front of people with your superhero character and costume after all the trial and error?
As you see in the zine, the costume evolved gradually during the first few months. In its earliest stages, where I wore just tights, underpants, balaclava, goggles, and rubber boots, I got laughs and puzzlement at college (which was fine) and nervous glances from the citizens of Plymouth. They probably thought I was on my way home from a fetish club or something. That’s when I realised that I had to adopt more of the classic costume elements. Once I had a chest emblem and a cape, I was suddenly a ‘superhero’ in peoples’ eyes – or more likely a nutter who thought he was a superhero. If the latter opinion was true (and it probably was), that was okay because the whole point of what I was doing was to discover what would happen if a superhero walked among us. And yeah, that’s when people occasionally engaged with me.

“Just these two key elements turned me from being a hapless pervert into a superhero.”

Like Batman’s Joker or Spider-Man’s Green Goblin, the presence of a vicious enemy or rival makes the superhero story more fascinating (For that matter, without enemies, there can be no superheroes!). We hear that villains have appeared in your Captain Civilian world as well. How did you feel when you finally had an enemy to defeat?
The appearance of The “Orrible Phantom” was completely unexpected, and brilliant. It brought to life the aspect of the Spider-Man comics where he gets blamed for New York being plagued by super-villains, that his presence has brought them forward. A later enemy, The Bingo Master, was very much a collaboration between me and a friend of mine. And even later, I became my own villain, as you’ll eventually see.

Captain Civilian’s rival “Orrible Phantom”

In the 40 years since your days patrolling as Captain Civilian, the world of superheroes has changed, with the diversification of heroes in terms of gender, race, age, and the rise of anti-heroes, etc, (yet most of them still wear tight costumes and capes). But no matter how much times have changed, why do you think superheroes still fascinate people today?
In the 80s, superheroes were very much a niche interest. Things have changed and I think it’s largely down to the ubiquity of superheroes in films and TV over the last 25 years. That has revived the genre and taken it to the greater public. Nowadays you see people wearing superhero T-shirts, jackets, caps, everywhere you go, because they love the movies. They’ve probably never read a comic.

As an avid superhero fan for many years, what part of the ”HEROES” exhibition did you get excited about the most?
I love it all, but I got the biggest thrill from seeing all the old American Sunday newspaper strips such as Flash Gordon, Superman, Batman, and Miss Fury – I’d never heard of her but she predates Wonder Woman, she was the first female superhero. The page of Little Nemo in Slumberland is amazing.

And of course, I’m in the exhibition, which has been fun. When I suggested including Captain Civilian I was kind of half-joking, but everyone thought it was a great idea. And that led to the Captain Civilian zine, which is the first of maybe four or five I’m going to publish. Collect the set!!

Lastly, if someone wants to be a hero like you, what would you advise them to do?
Make sure you have a wee before you go out on patrol.

by Haruka Katsuyama

Captain Civilian and all related elements © and Steve Marchant 2024

Meet The Captain!
Want to meet Captain Civilian? Catch him in action at our latest exhibition, “Heroes”, where you can see him in a special video! But don’t worry—he’ll be making a REAL appearance at The Cartoon Museum soon, with issue #2 of his epic saga in print! 

And don’t forget, our exhibition HEROES: The British invasion of American comics is on until Saturday, 19 October.

We are delighted to announce the winners of the third annual Alison Brown Young Comics Maestro award, recognizing the most exciting comic strip talents from the UK under the age of 18 years old.

The 2024 winners are:

Winner – Lila Shaw-Mitchell

Runner up (U18) – Maanya Pai

Runner up (U10) – Frazer Shaw

Highly Commended: Artie Thoukidedes, Olivia Requejo, Elliot van den Hoed, Jasmine Brown, Freya Field

Entrants submitted an original comic strip of up to three pages long (or a three-page section of a story). Each of the winners receives prize money and a certificate. The winner and runners-up, along with entries by a selection of artists receiving a Judges’ Commendation, have been collected in a digital e-comic.

Check out the e-comic here!

Huge congratulations to Lila, Maanya and Frazer! This years entries showcased some incredible talent, and most of the entries had the judges laughing at the absurdist humor and logic on show. We look forward to seeing what they are doing in a few years time as their abilities as artists and storytellers continue to grow.

The 2024 awards were judged by a panel that included Hannah Berry (Livestock, Adamantine, Comics Laureate 2019-21), Laura Howell (The Beano), Joe Brady (Deputy Editor of The Phoenix), Steve Marchant (Learning Officer at The Cartoon Museum), Patrica Aggs (Horrible Histories, No Country), Matt Baxter (Monster Fun), Mark Stafford (Salmonella Smorgasboard, The Bad Bad Place), Phillipa Rice (Soppy, Sister BFFs, My Carboard Life) and Joe Sullivan (Director of The Cartoon Museum)

The Comics Maestro Award celebrates Cartoon Museum staff member Alison Brown, who passed away from Covid in 2021 at the age of just 39. Alison was the heart and soul of The Cartoon Museum, staffing the front desk, running events, and stocking the shop, and bringing light into the life of everyone she met. Alison loved comics and championed young comic artists, often selling them in the shop, and after a collection for her funeral was donated to the Museum, we and her family felt the best way to remember her was to use the collection to continue providing a pathway for young people to have their art seen by a larger audience.

Additionally, in March we celebrated the winners and runners-up of the 28th Young Cartoonist Awards. Over 120 entries were received from all over the UK, with winners decided by a panel of judges chaired by Nicola Jennings, British Cartoonist Association Chair and Guardian cartoonist). The winners and runners-up, and their families, joined the judges and guests from the world of cartooning for drinks and to see the artworks displayed in the Clore room, and received their certificates from Nicola and from Leonie Wykes-Mahood, who sponsored the competition in memory of her husband, cartoonist Ken Mahood.

The 2023 winners are:

Under 30’s

Winner: Rex Yardley Rees

Runner Up: Jess Judge

Under 18’s

Winner: Issy Laing

Runner Up: Dylan Jewitt

Woodcock prize for the most surreal cartoon:

Oliver Grant (Ol’) – The Red Herring

The Young Cartoonist of the Year competition was originally set up as the ‘Mel Calman Young Cartoonist Competition’, in memory of the great Times cartoonist and Cartoon Arts Trust founder. In 2001 the competition morphed into its current form. The competition, now in its 28th year, has produced winners including Nick Edwards (2009) who went on to win an Emmy for his work on Uncle Grandpa in the US, New Yorker cartoonist Will McPhail, and political cartoonist Matt Buck. 

A selection of zines at The Cartoon Museum Shop

“Zines are an accessible, versatile outlet for ideas, art and writing.”
– Kristyna Baczynski, Make Your Own Fun – A Zine About Making Zines

Have you checked out the zines in our museum shop? They are privately published books that come in all sorts of themes, styles, sizes, and printing and binding qualities. Some might look as humble as a note from a friend! I have to admit, it’s a delightful little treat to hold one of these zines during quiet moments at the museum. They seem to capture the raw essence of their creators’ inspirations, unrestricted by the usual rules and regulations. It’s like getting a glimpse into their creative process in its purest form.

I recently sat down with Holly Burrows, our Commercial Manager (and a talented illustrator herself), to ask her about what makes zines so appealing, how she selects them, and how we support creators by selling their self-published works through our shop. Also, The British Library has reached out to us as they recognise zines as an important publishing genre. We are assisting with this and are collecting in zines for them to add to their collection. For more details, please read the full article!

Holly T Burrows
Holly has been the Commercial Manager at the Cartoon Museum since the beginning of April 2021. Previously she worked at the House of Illustration and the Roald Dahl Museum and prior to that studied Graphic Design and Illustration. Outside of work Holly tries to keep her hand in creatively by making her own illustrated merchandise (you can see part of them at the museum shop) and co-directs Illustrators’ Fair with Studio Tucktite. 

What attracts you to zines? How do you find zines and their creators? 
It’s a mixture of things – sometimes they’ll be zines I’ve seen at fairs such as The Lakes International Comics Festival or Illustrators’ Fair, and they’re zines that appeal to me personally because of the story and/or artwork. I also have to consider whether it will sell, so whilst I’m looking at things that I might personally like, I have to keep a commercial mindset as well. I’ll also look online if there’s something specific I’m after to compliment one of our changing exhibitions. So for example, when we had the This Exhibition is a Work Event show on, I needed merchandise that was themed around Boris Johnson – not something you look for every day! So I searched on Etsy and came across the artist Your Dad’s A Tory and his small press publication Mr Fibby which is both a satire and a parody, and is now one of our top selling items! I’ve stocked zines on how to make zines via discovering the artist Krystina Baczynski on Etsy. I also keep an eye on social media and will look at recommendations from review sites like Broken Frontier. 

Mr Fibby Your Dad’s A Tory

Make Your Own Fun Kristyna Baczynski

What criteria do you use for making selections?
Some of it is instinct – I’ll just ‘know’ that the zine I’m looking at is good and will sell well. I think Ed Firth’s series of small press works Horny and High would be one good example. It’s not a subject I knew anything about but as soon as I saw his artwork and style of drawing I just ‘knew’ it would be successful, and it is one of the small press titles I have to re-stock frequently. It also introduced me to an issue (Chemsex) I didn’t realise existed which was also another reason to stock it – to get the word out there and inform more people about something that’s important to know about.

Horny and High Ed Firth

I look at the physical quality of the zine because they are often handmade – this can be an issue in a shop as people who are not familiar with zines will sometimes assume that this hand-made quality means it’s free! So I have to consider whether it looks ‘worth’ the money it’s being sold for to the untrained eye. This can be frustrating when you overhear visitors saying ‘that’s very expensive!’ because they are not considering the effort the creator has gone to, to create it and get it printed etc. In fact I printed some of David Shenton’s zines using a professional printer when we needed a lot to accompany the exhibition Love Stories – he usually makes them by hand and it wasn’t possible to get the quantity I needed made in time. (He did, however, hand-stick stickers onto all of them which was a really meaningful touch.) We discussed the differences between the handmade copy and the professional copy and both agreed it lost something in the process of being made in a more commercial fashion.

My Four December Weddings David Shenton

I think that’s also something to look for in a zine – is it a desirable object? How does it feel in your hand? Will people want to pick it up because they’re drawn to the colours or the cover image? Is it something people will buy for themselves or as a gift? These are probably not things that the creator of the zine will be consciously thinking about because often zines are personal projects made for the love of making them or to tell a story. And that’s what marks them out as something a bit different – you don’t want to commercialise them too much, but I have to find a balance as at the end of the day, my job is to make money. I’d love to be able to stock more zines but currently don’t have much space – I’m very happy to receive emails from people who want to sell their zines, they just have to be extremely patient as it can take many months to get back to people as my inbox gets very full!

Because I’m short on time, probably the overall look and feel of the zine is what needs to capture my attention initially as I don’t have time to read everything properly (I wish I did!), then that will draw me in to see what the zine is actually about. Sometimes they don’t have a story and are just a collection of images and that’s equally valid. They span a whole range of being very meaningful or ‘just’ nice things to have. I try to stock a mixture of zines on serious issues, ones that are funny, some that are collections of lovely imagery or some that are narrative based. That way there should be something for everyone and it showcases the diversity of what zines are!

How do you envision a museum store supporting and showcasing zines and small-press creators?
A lot of it is just giving people the opportunity and saying yes when you are able to. I’ve stocked zines by people who’ve never made one before and by others who are seasoned creators. Because zines are very accessible to make and produce, arguably the creators are more diverse than those who have work printed professionally by publishers. This is obviously a good thing as the arts are missing more diverse voices because of all of the barriers to entry. This is a way of getting those voices out there and heard, plus, if their work sells it generates a small bit of income for them which helps them to continue to create which is well-needed in these difficult times.  

I also think you have to be patient and honest – you can’t expect everyone who approaches you to sell their work to understand how museum retail works, so being able to offer an explanation of why a small museum can’t take 500 copies of something is worthwhile, rather than just saying ‘no!’ Similarly with pricing I’m always balancing being fair to the artist with making a profit for the Museum. I think it helps that I’ve sold work myself and know how hard it is to make money from art – I have sometimes told people they are underselling themselves!

Is there any advice or message you’d like to share with creators who are reading this blog or aspiring zine creators in the future?
If anyone reading this does want to try selling their zines in our shop, please include in your email images (or a link to your online shop) along with the cost price – that’s the price you’re selling it to me for and the ideal retail price (the price we are selling to the visitors at). The Museum has to make a profit on everything we sell but so should the artist, so they’ll need to work that out. It saves a lot of back and forth if you already know this and means it’s quicker and easier for me to stock the item. (Retailers are usually wanting to at least double the price you’re selling something to them for eg. if you sell a zine to someone for £2, they’ll sell it for £4) 
Contact Holly at shop@cartoonmuseum.org

If you’d like your zine to form part of the British Library’s collection…

You can download the entry form HERE, and this poster for further info HERE.

You can drop your zines into the Cartoon Museum anytime during opening hours for collection or send them directly to the address on the poster. You don’t have to fill in the form, but it’s really helpful for the Librarians to speed up adding the item to their systems. (And especially helpful if your zine doesn’t have a title, or if it might not be immediately obvious what it’s about) The key things to note are that the zine must have been made with the intention of being distributed (i.e. you can’t make a zine just to go into the collection that has never seen the light of day anywhere else – it should be something that was made with the intention of it being eg. sold at comic fairs, or distributed to a specific community.) Once the zine is part of the collection, it can’t be removed, so if your zine is particularly personal, consider whether you’ll still be happy for it to be potentially accessed by the public 100 years from now! Note also that it can take over a year for an item to be added to the British Library’s collection. This is a donation – no payment will be made by the British Library for items added to their collection. We look forward to seeing your submissions!

Lastly, keep an eye out for the latest additions to our zine collection, and join us in supporting the incredible talent of these creators! You can buy Zine and Small Press Books through the Museum Shop.

by Haruka Katsuyama

During the first half of 2024, we have been working hard to refresh our main gallery display. This comes after spending the past few years conducting visitor surveys during the Easter and Summer holidays, to find out about our visitors’ experiences of the site, both negative and positive. Trying to answer some of the issues highlighted in the feedback our visitors have given, we set out to bring more colour to the main gallery walls, add new contextual information to the gallery (and ensure all of the artworks had captions), and display more comics.

New text was written for the display by cartoonist Steve Bell, and new graphics were designed by the museum’s (former) Graphic Designer Alice Morris. All of the new artwork and graphics were installed by our incredible volunteer team June Edwards and Chris Roelants, with help from Dick Cole. June and Chris came in for a day’s volunteering on most Monday’s during May and June, working hard to improve the museum for our visitors and achieving fantastic results. 

Read on for some behind-the-scenes photos of what we did, and why we’ve done it. 

More context!

With little text aside from an introduction and a selection of artwork captions, for the past four years the museum has been a little unwelcoming to visitors who are not already familiar to some extent with British politics or historical cartooning. I remember when I first walked around to check the place out ahead of my interview for the Director post in 2019, my wife commented that she didn’t understand anything until we got to Tony Blair. This was instructive to me as it provided the view of people we want to reach – visitors who might come to the museum but leave having laughed a few times but not taken much in, or people who might never visit as they feel it isn’t ‘for them’. 

Providing context to what you are looking at is key in understanding the history of cartooning, particularly because it is often so self-referential, and tied up with the ideas, sensibilities, and street-level views of its time. Understanding the subtleties in a Gillray cartoon about the Whigs – a political party that doesn’t exist any more – is hard work when you have no idea who the Whigs are! As part of the refresh we broke the main display down into more manageable sections that provides more overall context to the period the works were created in – whether they appeared alongside the first printing presses, were the product of war propaganda, or were created and shared via Instagram.

We also provided more context to our mission to create a world where everyone feels inspired to pick up a pencil and draw something. To help with this we have turned the In Focus box into an inspirational drawing area, with cartoons, comics and caricatures on the wall and clipboard and ideas to help visitors take inspiration from the works around them to start drawing.

More colour!

As you come down the stairs into the museum you are met on all sides by colourful wacky imagery. The display on the stairs designed by Eduardo Camaré, our Graphic Designer from 2019 until he sadly passed away in 2022, leads you into our bright and vivid shop filled with yellows and blues. The main gallery though? White. Not just white, but WHITE. Then some more white. It feels like a bit of a stark comedown, especially when we have worked hard in the temporary gallery to use paint and graphics that make the shows exhibited there really pop. 

Our Designer Alice Morris established a new brand identity in 2023, and she drew from the brand colours and shapes to design brand-new colourful title graphics that broke down the narrative of the main gallery into several new sections. Each shape was inspired by the language of cartoons and comics, from ink blots (‘This the modern world’) to speech bubbles (‘The golden age of the print shop’). Alongside this she designed a new front wall, removing the large printed text graphic and replacing it with smaller more colourful stabs of vinyl. The new introduction graphic has been complimented by a selection of five artworks that sum up the core of our collection – satirical cartoons, gag cartoons, caricature and comics. The graphics were printed on high-quality and very large sticky vinyl. Chris and June spent a hard day cutting and sticking it on the walls to make it look absolutely perfect.

More comics!

When we opened in 2019 we hosted the Comic Creators: The Famous and the Forgotten exhibition, displaying a swathe of the 450 pieces of British comic art bought with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. When that closed in February 2020 it left us with very little comic art on the walls, aside from the occasional temporary exhibition such as V for Vendetta or Bryan Talbot’s Luther Arkwright. Visitors wanted a more permanent selection of comic art, so we began in 2021 by hanging comic artworks in our Clore learning centre, and followed this up as part of the 2024 refresh by adding a new section displaying comic art, including pieces from The Dandy, Judge Dredd and Pam & Peter. 

Rotate the art!

Our original permanent collection display when we opened in 2019 was curated by cartoonist and Museum trustee Steve Bell. With his deep knowledge of the history of cartooning, he selected key artists and works, arranging them chronologically around the gallery. The latest cartoon on display was from 2019, shortly before the museum reopened at our new site at Wells Street. Initially there were no captions, to let the art speak for itself, but captions were added around a month after the opening. As the art was already hung, this meant captions were a little haphazard, being displayed wherever there was space.

In 2022 we proactively collected material from the past four years as part of a new exhibition focusing on Boris Johnson’s government, COVID, the war in Ukraine, and the 2019 election. We collected a few more modern works in 2023 and 2024, as part of other exhibitions, bringing our collection up to date. The new closing section of the main gallery ‘An Age of Rage’ celebrates this with a display works from a variety of artists covering the period from 2017-2024. This include our first meme (This Is Fine by KC Green), and work by Jadore Nicholas from our first Young Artist residency, and works by Ben Jennings, Ella Baron, Samuel Ojo and Nicola Jennings looking at the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the 2024 election. With additional artworks being hung across the gallery to replace some of the watercolors, alongside the new comics and drawing inspiration sections, as well as a significant update to the ‘Wall to Wall War’ section, we have hung 68 new artworks during the refresh development, several of which have never been exhibited before.

All of this would not have been possible without the incredible efforts of June and Chris or the design eye of Alice, so a huge thank you and congratulations to them again. With a swathe of new art and interpretation to enjoy, make sure you get down to the museum soon to have a look!

by Joe Sullivan

This July marks The Cartoon Museum’s fifth anniversary of relocating to Wells Street, near Oxford Street. The move followed a successful £1.1 million fundraising campaign led by cartoonist and Cartoon Art Trust chairman Oliver Preston. To commemorate the anniversary of the move, I spoke to Oliver about the process and challenges.

1. Can you briefly tell us about the history of the museum leading up to 2019? 

Founded in 1989, the Cartoon Art Trust had been itinerant in its search for a home and it wasn’t until February 2006 when Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, our patron, opened London’s first Cartoon Museum off Museum Street in an old dairy that we had converted on a minimal budget of £350,000. With the help of our indefatigable curator, Anita O’Brien, the museum built a nationally important collection of cartoons, caricatures, and comics, held over 50 exhibitions, developed a learning programme attended by 50,000 children and adults, and received over 420,000 visitors.

2. Why did you decide to move from Little Russell Street and why did you choose the Wells Street site?

It was September 2018 and we were facing a rent increase from £75,000 to £200,000 to renew our lease, a figure that was unaffordable and unsustainable. We were very worried about the museum’s future and had looked at alternative premises, from the stables at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea to the small mansion at Gunnersbury Park, and had registered our interest in Section 106 availability in boroughs throughout London. Then I received a call from Great Portland Estates. They explained there was a 4,000 square feet property available in Wells Street, under a Section 106 agreement, with a 25-year lease at a peppercorn rent of £1. The offer was a lifeline for us. The premises were in the basement of a new office building in Wells Street (on the site of the old Magistrates Courts) and by December we had signed the terms and accepted their offer.

3. What challenges did you face when relocating the museum, and how did you overcome them?

Relocation of the museum was a huge challenge. The space was a concrete shell in a basement with limited street frontage. Would the new location work for us? How could we design and build a new museum from scratch? How much money did we need to raise for the project? How did we propose to move a museum and its valuable collections safely, on budget, and on time to re-open within 8 months?

We selected Sam Jacobs Partnership for the design work, who had come up with a colourful and exciting proposal to meet our brief. The space needed to have permanent and temporary galleries, a museum shop, a learning studio, office space, and storage for collections. Although the space was the same size as Little Russell Street, the basement space was a challenge and we had to allow for heating and air conditioning, and meet health and safety and building controls. Our new directors Becky Jefcoate and Sarah Batten oversaw much of the building work, whilst the museum team including Alison Brown, Kate Owens and Steve Marchant organised the move of the collections. The building works were overseen by quantity surveyors and trustees raised £1,100,000 to fund the build. Amongst others, we were supported by Garfield Weston, the Hintze Family Trust, Sackler Trust, and the Clore Duffield Foundation, who funded a Clore Studio. 

4. Soon after the relocation from Little Russell Street to Wells Street the museum experienced the global pandemic. It must have been a unique challenge – how did the Covid-19 outbreak affect your plans?

On 19 March 2020 the announcement of the Covid lockdown changed everything. As a small museum with no national or local authority funding, we relied on visitor numbers and shop trading for our income – and the museum was closed, threatening our very existence. But with the help of charitable trusts, support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council Cultural Recovery Fund, and a crowd funder on Virgin Giving (which raised an astonishing £145,000) we raised £450,000 to secure the museum’s future. But they were terrible times for the country, and the museum. With intermittent trading, it was difficult to plan and run the museum, and most tragically we lost two of our members of staff, Alison Brown and Eduardo Camaré, which had a huge impact on staff morale.

Since then, the cost-of-living crisis has had an impact on visitor spending at the museum, and we have had to alter our expectations of the demographic of visitors since COVID-19. All museums have had to plan for less of the more elderly segment of visitors and make bigger offerings and events to a younger demographic. However, we have been particularly successful this year with our recent Wallace and Gromit exhibition, “30 Years of the Wrong Trousers”, and our current director Joe Sullivan and his team have been particularly effective with special events (including a cartoon conference) and the new Alison Brown Comics Award. 

5. Now that the museum has been relocated for five years, what do you see as the most significant accomplishments or milestones achieved during this time?

We have won a Museums and Heritage Award in 2022. Our volunteers have received several awards at the London Heritage Volunteering Awards, and our autism programme (funded by the Foyle Foundation and John Lyons Charity) won an award at the Museums and Heritage Awards in 2023. Hire of the museum premises is busy, and we have now achieved over 500,000 visitors since we opened in 2006.

6. Looking ahead, are there any upcoming projects or developments that you’re particularly excited about?

We are currently fundraising for a new curator, which the museum urgently needs to help us maintain our collections, and are planning future exhibitions.

by Haruka Katsuyama

“How To Make A Mint.”

This past May, we received a letter from David Shenton on his 75th birthday, in which he thoughtfully answered our interview questions. We warmly congratulate David on his remarkable 40+ year career as a cartoonist and are delighted to feature him on our museum blog this Pride Month. David’s comics have vividly depicted the gritty realities of gay life, since long before the term “LGBTQ+” existed. His latest comic collection “Forty Lies“, published last December, is an autobiography covering his life from his teens to his 70s(with his unique queer knitting patterns) and it is also a chronicle of more than half a century of LGBTQ+ history. New, young readers may be struck to learn that, how until recently living as a gay person, and loving someone as you are could even be considered a crime. This real living record of his struggles with various unreasonable challenges, wrapped in jokes and humor, reminds us of the communicative power of the art form of cartoon. In this interview, we asked David about how he got started as a cartoonist and what motivates him to continue creating to this day.

David Shenton
https://www.facebook.com/dscomics/
David Shenton was born on May 20, 1949, in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. He entered Ashton-under-Lyne College of Further Education in 1965 and Loughborough College of Art in 1967 where he studied printed textiles. He has been a cartoonist since the 1970s, with his comics appearing in The Guardian, various specialist magazines, and most gay newspapers in the UK. His work brings laughter, provokes thought, and offers comfort for the inevitable challenges people face in life. He has also tackled social issues such as same-sex marriage and the AIDS crisis. He posts daily on the DS Comics page on Facebook, works on his knitting, and continues to attend LGBTQ+ events in London and Norfolk.

–Can you tell us about your journey as a comic artist specialising in LGBTQ themes?
What inspired you to focus on this genre and cartoons as a form? Are there any particular artists, works, or episodes that have influenced or inspired your creative process?
To begin, I’ve never specialized in LGBTQ+ themes. I’m a gay man; I’ve known that since I was a teenager. So these themes are my norm. I started as a cartoonist by accident. I had a well-received painting exhibition in Manchester in the mid-1970s, which had a splendid write-up in The Guardian. I invited the gay press to review it, too. But because the subject matter wasn’t explicit, they didn’t show up. Instead of writing a letter wanting to know what constitutes gay art, I drew them a cynical cartoon. They still didn’t review the exhibition, but liked the cartoon enough to offer me a weekly space in Gay News. This space developed into a four-frame strip and eventually a book. Alongside Kate Charlesworth, we were in both of the gay papers and magazines through the mid-70s, and the 80s and 90s. Sometimes we worked together, documenting LGBTQ+ life in its entirety: politics, music, nightlife, idioms, phases, fashions, more politics, and health.

“Gay Life”, 1987

As the years went by, I became an established cartoonist. My focus was all over the place. I had strips in The Guardian and professional publications, such as Solicitor’s Journal, Building Design and The Optician. But the queer cartoons were the personal ones that carried the most clout because they covered issues that mattered to my community through those difficult years. Cartoons can highlight the shortcomings of the government – their acceptance of, and indifference to, growing homophobia, leading to a lack of essential investment in healthcare. The trans community is facing similar problems today.

My creative process had to grow up and become serious with the advent of the HIV/AIDS crisis and the iniquities of Clause 28. I deal with the age of consent in “Forty Lies“, from the viewpoint of my own personal story and the PARTIAL Decriminalisation of the Sexual Offences Act in1967. I was eighteen then and had a boyfriend who was twenty-one. The partial repeal set the age of consent at twenty-one. I was immediately classed as a minor and my boyfriend could be sent to prison as a sex offender. We had to split up. ‘My Four December Weddings’, also a personal story, in “Forty Lies“, tells of the lead up to and legalisation of Equal Marriage in 2014.

“Been there, Seen that”

I’m from the North West of England where a lot of comedians come from and many people routinely use humour to counter the difficulties of everyday life. Comedy is very serious to handle when politics and events are so dire, but it can be done. I like to be sly and funny, but I’m a kind cartoonist and let people off easily, yet still get my point across.

“The Baton of Activism is Lost”

–In “Forty Lies” and ‘My Four December Weddings’, there’s a clear reflection of the evolution of LGBTQ-related environments and legislation in the UK, including milestones like Section 28, change in the age of consent for gay men sex, the AIDS crisis, the legalisation of same-sex marriage and more. Have you noticed any significant shifts in audience reception or mainstream acceptance of LGBTQ comics throughout your over 40-year career?
Last week I gave a talk about “Forty Lies” and my work overall to fifty members of the Women’s Institute here in Norwich. They were aware of my sexuality and the LGBTQ+ focus of a lot of my work. This invitation and welcome to their meeting most likely wouldn’t have happened ten years ago. I am openly gay and a named patron of Norwich Pride, so people accept who I am.

–Can you share some of the most memorable reactions or feedback you’ve received about your comics and activities?
The most important reaction to my work, I suppose, is that I’ve made a career doing something I love. I’ve had eight books published; all are out of print now, except “Forty Lies”, which came out last year. The first one, “Stanley and the Mask of Mystery “(1983) was the first LGBTQ+ graphic novel to be published in Europe, and perhaps in the world. It sold very well in the USA.

“Stanley and the Mask of Mystery”, 1983

I was once kidnapped and held to ransom in a pub by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and was only released when the pub coughed up £40 for AIDS research. In 2022, I received the Orfeo Imago Award, from Sweden, which honors outstanding contributions to LGBTQ+ art, photography and sculpture. Incidentally, this year it was awarded to Durk Dehner, the Tom of Finland Foundation President. In 2022, I was also made a patron of Norwich Arts Centre.

“Ginger Tom of Finland”

-As you continue to update your Facebook page almost daily with your cartoons, have you noticed any changes in the response from your readers or in your creative process compared to when your work was primarily published through traditional means? How has the internet as a platform influenced your approachand motivation to creating and sharing your cartoons?
When Facebook first came out I knew it could be useful. I was still cartooning and drawing illustrations, mainly for Cambridge University Press. All the weekly gay newspapers had disappeared, some gone forever and others becoming online publications. And the monthly gay lifestyle magazines had no use for political cartoons. So my LGBTQ+ platforms had gone. I therefore decided to upload my cartoons onto a dedicated Facebook page called These Foolish Things. This brought my queer work back into public notice, and revived my career. Through this page, I’ve produced cartoon collections and stories, printed out and sold as zines. These zines culminated in being noticed by a book publisher, who offered me “Forty Lies“. Also, my embroidered and knitted craftivist pieces have been shown in The Cartoon Museum and Sheringham Museum, and acquisitioned by the Castle Museum in Norwich and Queer Britain in London.

–Can you share any upcoming projects or plans you have?
“Forty Lies” has brought offers of conducting workshops in London, in Queer Circle and Queer Britain this summer. I haven’t stopped drawing and creating, and will do until I can no longer hold a pencil. There is still a long way to go before LGBTQ+ issues worldwide are resolved, and discrimination and hatred are replaced with equality and peace.

*All images were provided by David Shenton, and the copyright of these images belongs to him.

by Haruka Katsuyama

Resources:

DS Comics
https://www.dscomics.co.uk/ [Accessed: 09/06/2024]

Prism Comics | David Shenton
https://www.prismcomics.org/profile/davidshenton/ [Accessed: 09/06/2024]

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Shenton [Accessed: 09/06/2024]

LGBTQ+ HISTORY, English Heritage
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/lgbtq-history/ [Accessed: 09/06/2024]

LGBTQ+ HISTORY BY THE DECADES(1980s-2010s), NCS
https://wearencs.com/blog/lgbtq-history-decades-1980s [Accessed: 09/06/2024]
https://wearencs.com/blog/lgbtq-history-decade-1990s [Accessed: 09/06/2024]
https://wearencs.com/blog/lgbtq-history-decades-2000s [Accessed: 09/06/2024]
https://wearencs.com/blog/lgbtq-history-decades-2010s [Accessed: 09/06/2024]

On Thursday 4 July the British public will go to the polls for the first time since 2019 to select their government. Will it be Starmer or Sunak?

In the lead-up to the election the Museum is hosting a short trail through the history of elections in the UK, highlighting some of our favourite election cartoons over the years and featuring artists such as James Gillray, Trog, Steve Bell, Nicola Jennings and Ella Baron.

Your country needs you to piss off © Ella Baron 2024

Many are treating the 2024 election as something of a foregone conclusion. After 14 years of a Tory government the public are making their feelings audibly clear that time may be up – only last week during the first televised debate, a fairly weak joke about Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s maths ability from Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer brought audible jeers and mocking from the audience as Sunak tried to defend himself (albeit also poorly).

224 years ago, the 1804 Middlesex by-election was also hotly contested. Gillray’s cartoon from the election shows popular radical candidate Sir Francis Burdett en route to the hustings, travelling past a densely packed and cheering mob, who proceeded to shout down his opposition, George Mainwaring (standing in place of his father William, who had initially been elected in the 1802 General election, but seen the result declared void in 1804 due to his bribing of voters). Burdett was the favourite of the mob attending the hustings, and Mainwaring was shouted down, unable to get his points across….yet in the following contest, George Mainwaring was elected. Are we in for another switch-about in July?

Middlesex-election, 1804, James Gillray 1804

Back in 2019, Boris Johnson led the Conservatives to a crushing victory over Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, basing his platform on the slogan ‘Get Brexit done’ (remember Brexit?).  The Conservatives won 365 seats, many captured from Leave-voting former Labour strongholds in the north, condemning Labour to its worst election performance since 1935, winning 202 seats. This was after an election without a public vote, that saw Johnson replace Theresa May in mid-2019, and shortly before another two elections without a public vote, one that saw Conservative Party members elect walking disaster area Liz Truss, who 49 days later was replaced by Rishi Sunak, this time via a vote of the MPs. This time WE get to choose. Has Starmer got it licked or will Sunak prevail?

Licked © Nicola Jennings 2024

Which side are YOU on? Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Purple? Either way, make sure you get out to the polls on 4^th July and cast your vote.

We also have a lovely selection of election-themed goodies in our shop to complete the visit.  For example, are you sick of Nigel Farage? Now you can feed him to your cat! (for clarity – and on the advice of lawyers – we wouldn’t advise you to feed the real Nigel Farage to a cat…). There are no Keir Starmer ice creams for sale though I’m afraid!

Alternatively you could join the Cultural Comics Impact Collective in drawing a comic for your MP

by Joe Sullivan

Wallace & Gromit ‘The Wrong Trousers’ © 1993 Aardman / Wallace & Gromit Ltd

“Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers turns 30!,” commemorating the 30th anniversary of Aardman Animations “Wrong Trousers” at The Cartoon Museum has become a smash hit among our past exhibitions, drawing visitors of all ages since its opening last September.  One of the highlights has been the display of the exhibit is the showcase of Wallace & Gromit memorabilia from private collectors, a testament to their enduring popularity.

Back in the 1990s, a Guardian article highlighted Wallace & Gromit as a prime example of international merchandising success, generating a staggering £50 million in annual profits. Even now, the limited edition items fly off the shelves of our museum shop. (Fun fact: Items featuring Wallace & Gromit’s mischievous house guest penguin, Feathers McGraw, in ‘The Wrong Trousers’ have outsold Gromit himself. Oh, Gromit…!) 

Merchandise plays a crucial role in Wallace & Gromit’s legacy, but the challenge lies in collecting and displaying the past 30 years of merchandise that has become increasingly rare. While contemplating this, our Marketing and Communications Officer, Khadija Osman, came across stand-up comedian and PEZ collector Luke Poulton, whom she follows on TikTok. Luke’s frequent posts about his deep fascination with Wallace & Gromit’s franchise sparked our interest, and we wasted no time reaching out to him. We were fortunate enough to borrow some pieces from Luke’s valuable collection, which has now become an integral part of our exhibition. Luke’s collection adds a personal touch to the objects, inviting visitors to imagine the connections between these cherished pieces and the countless fans who have adored the extraordinary duo over the past three decades.

We recently had a lovely chat with Luke, discussing his love for Wallace & Gromit and how his passion for collecting began.

Luke Poulton
Luke Poulton is a standup comedian who is autistic, in his comedy he tells stories about his life. He is also a massive Wallace & Gromit fan and makes online content all about his love for the iconic duo. 
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@veganluke
Instagram @veganluke https://www.instagram.com/veganluke/ 
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lukepoultonstandup

What are your first memories of Wallace & Gromit? 
My Dad showed me A Grand Day Out when I was little, getting to see The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave as they were released on television and my Dad also bought me the Wallace & Gromit modeling kit in 1995 where you could build Wallace, Gromit and Feathers McGraw.

When did you start collecting Wallace & Gromit merchandise?
I had quite a few bits as a kid and then when I was in university in 2011 I began collecting bits here and there and I’ve been collecting more ever since.

How do you manage your various collections? When you find yourself accumulating too much, what’s your approach to handling it?
I recently had a bit of a clear-out to make more space for my Wallace & Gromit collection and Aardman things too. But I also put stuff out that I really want to display and keep something in a box and will display a different item every now and again.

Could you highlight three amazing, unmissable items from your collection that are on display at the museum?
A Close Shave VHS that comes with figures, The Wrong Trousers train chase ornament, and a Wallace & Gromit photo signed by Nick Park. The A Close Shave VHS adds even more fun to the film as with these figures that came with it, you were encouraged to play along with the film and I remember having the figures when I was a kid. The Wrong Trousers train chase ornament is incredibly iconic because of how perfect that scene is and what a lot of people remember the film for. I chose the Wallace & Gromit photo because this is signed by Nick Park the creator of Wallace & Gromit and one of my favourite items I have in my collection. 

If you had a time machine, is there any Wallace & Gromit merchandise from the past that you’d love to acquire for your collection?
I’d loved to have been able to get my hands on the Bluebird sets which are very similar to Polly Pocket. They were released in 1997 and are very hard to get hold of now. Boots also released so much incredible merchandise in the 90s too including bubble baths with figures on top.

How did you feel when the museum asked to showcase your Wallace & Gromit collection?
Incredibly happy, I love Wallace & Gromit so much, and being a part of an exhibition like this is incredible.

The Wrong Trousers has been one of the most successful exhibitions the Museum has ever had. What makes Wallace & Gromit so timeless and appealing to all generations, even after over 30 years?
I think it’s the fact the films still hold up so well and children and adults can find something they love about this fantastic duo. The whole story of The Wrong Trousers still feels relevant with all the heist movies we have had and Feathers McGraw is still one of the best villains. I think it’s so popular all around the world because of its fantastic stop-motion animation. It’s also a film that has so much going on, mixes genres together, and has a story you can really invest in. I think with Wallace being the main speaking character in the first two films and other characters just being known by facial expressions the films can connect with people so easily. 

Finally, who is your favorite – Wallace or Gromit?
This is a hard question to answer because I love them both so much but I’m going to have to say Gromit. He’s such a perfect character who doesn’t say a word but gets everything across with his brilliant facial expressions.

By Haruka Katsuyama

Exhibition/Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers turns 30! is on until Tuesday, 16 April
https://www.cartoonmuseum.org/whats-on-exhibitions/event-four-53tyl

Meet Luke:
Luke will play standup comedy at our evening event , Thursday 11th of April. For more information, visit our website:
https://www.cartoonmuseum.org/whats-on-events/wallace-gromit-the-wrong-trousers-turns-30-late

Want to collect W&G goods?
If you’re interested in collecting Wallace & Gromit goods like Luke, check out our shop.
A lot of the products are currently exclusive to The Cartoon Museum, such as the limited edition print, the T-shirts, and the Lollipop. (The special thing as well was knowing that when Aardman Animations approved the products, Nick Park cast an eye over them too and helped decide between two designs!)

You can see everything here!: https://cartoonmuseum.shop/collections/wallace-gromit-30-years-of-the-wrong-trousers

The Cartoon Museum is currently showcasing a special exhibition titled “Oluwasegun Babatunde: Birth of a Universe.”

Babatunde’s creation stands apart from the typical Black narrative depicted by White creators in a Western context. Instead, he presents a Black narrative from the perspective of a Black creator – a tale featuring a Black superhero. His narrative isn’t about seeking validation within the Western framework or condemning racism. In Babatunde’s view, the focus is on the myriad struggles people face: socioeconomic disparities, oppression, poverty, and also rich cultural heritage and beautiful traditions. Babatunde’s world is a powerful narrative in its own right. We had a chat with him about how he came up with this new superhero universe and what he’s got in mind for the future.

Oluwasegun Babatunde

Oluwasegun Babatunde is a multifaceted creative force. He is an accomplished author, comic book conceptor, and filmmaker. His artistic vision is rooted in the exploration, progression, and presentation of narratives that illuminate the experiences of black people. This vision extends across various mediums, including published literature, comic books, movies, and animations. Babatunde’s literary repertoire includes thought-provoking titles such as ‘Unethical Or Not’, ‘A Good Human Being’,’ My Book Of Afrobeats Stories’, and ‘Lessons from Hollywood’s Rise’, alongside his recent work on Storibud Comics; ‘Olórò, the Grandson of Fádèyí Olóró’ and ‘AfroGods’. 

How did you become interested in creating comics?

Spider-Man was the first comic character that swept me off my feet. Everything about Spider-Man is fascinating, especially the underdog persona. Peter Parker, having so much power, yet choosing to be responsible, helps the real world see the value in not abusing power. So, I could say Spider-Man inspired my comic creative side.

You moved into the creative world after a long career as a clinical embryologist.  What sparked that change, and how do you think your previous career and experience have shaped your creativity?

I started out as a clinical embryologist in 2007 and worked in the field until August 2022 when I hung up my scrubs. I had worked in IVF clinics in Nigeria, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. After fifteen years of serving as a medium, a support in ushering couples in their drive to get pregnant, I think my love for art outgrew my love for the sciences and decided to fully delve into a new career in art. It took two years to fully switch.

My scientific background influences my storytelling. Sometimes, my experience plays into my ideas. Having worked as a scientist, I play with the ideas of what scientific breakthrough I could conceive that is able to alleviate the world’s pain. Other times, I play with a terrible/good experience I have had as a Nigerian, Belgian, and UK resident. This, you would observe in Olórò. Also, things I have witnessed happening to other people are flipped into a story. I edit some things to suit a narrative.

You created “Olórò, the Grandson of Fádèyí Olóró” during the Covid pandemic of 2021. How did you go from the idea of a superhero story set in sub-Saharan Africa, to bringing it to life as a comic?

I have been a fan of superhero comics for about two decades, but the thought to conceive my own never took shape in my head. It would have been preposterous to even consider it! I am merely a fan of the superhero genre. Then, the continuous butchering of the African accent on Black Panther wouldn’t let me be.

All my friends from Africa do not speak like they speak in Wakanda; neither do I. Also, the stories were not directly linked to our realities. There are no African countries as advanced as Wakanda! So there and then, the energy to rewrite our stories in the superhero world became a dream and aspiration.

The moment of discovery for Olórò was a day when I was listening to a song by Olamide, an Afrobeats musician. The song was ‘Inferiority Complex,’ and he mentioned Olórò ‘ (‘Olórò’ is a Yoruba word meaning ‘someone to be feared’) while I was pondering on what the title of my first comic book should be. The name clicked.

The exhibition features a video of you working online with your collaborator, Daniel Egharevba, who is based in Nigeria. What was special about collaborating online during the pandemic, across two different continents?

First of all, collaboration could have been with anyone here in the UK, Europe, or even the Americas, but the cultural elements would not have reached the level I aspired to. So, I had to extend my searches beyond the shores of the UK to back home – Nigeria.

It was very difficult finding someone who understood the nitty-gritty of each character idea and where the vision lies. So, I had to test run more than 5 people. I sunk a few hundred pounds into it, until Daniel came along. He instantly became a perfect fit.

What was special about collaborating online with Daniel was trust. I had to trust that he would get the job done – and so he did.

Oluwasegun Babatunde and Daniel Egharevba Rough storyboarding and finished design, Video (2021)From “Oluwasegun Babatunde: Birth of a Universe”

Unlike Marvel’s Black Panther, DC Universe’s Cyborg, and the lead characters in the new Spider-verse films, which were created by White creators, your comics feature Black characters created by you, a Black creator. What do you see as the main distinctions between the Black characters they created, and the ones you’ve developed?

The black characters in both Marvel and DC comics are mind-blasting. Characters such as Miles Morales, Falcon, DeadShot, BloodSport, Cyborg and Black Manta have mirrored the US or Western realities, taking into account racism and American culture. In my own reality, racism does not exist. We are all black! My characters are all layers of black. Zwarte. Noir! What exists in Storibud Comics are classism, oppressions, penury, deep culture, and aesthetically beautiful traditions. They are what my stories portray.

Your character design, the characters’ hairstyles, accessories, and costumes are very eye-catching, blending modern style with elements reminiscent of traditional African attire. The female characters, in particular, showcase a departure from the typical outfits seen in Western superhero series. Can you share the inspiration behind this distinctive style? Were there specific traditional features you kept in mind while incorporating them?

I have an eye for African cultural features, and I ensured they were well-designed with precision. Some of the early movies of my childhood – Nigerian traditional films – were my major source of influence. Characters such as Abìjà Wàrà Bí Ekùn, Òrìsábùnmi, Fádèyí Olóró, Sòún, and many more were my go-to inspiration.

From “Oluwasegun Babatunde: Birth of a Universe”

How do you envision the creation and increased representation of Black characters by Black creators impacting readers, the creators themselves, and the broader landscape of the comics industry?

I think relatability becomes more easily accessible. People from other cultures, other races, can start appreciating individual races’ niches in the world we live in and in the alternate world of comics.

Also, children born in Africa, living in Africa, or born to African families living in the US, UK, and the rest of Europe and the world can more easily see themselves in the imagery of these comic characters. This will be an avenue to keep black culture alive for many generations and potentially inspire new generations to create their own stories influenced by the works of early black comics adopters. The comics industry can only grow and expand further and larger,  adding more variety and reducing comic book fatigue.

We’ve heard that you’re currently working on your first movie. Could you give us some insights into your upcoming projects and share your goals for the future?

My debut movie is based on the wave of efforts to better the socio-economic status of a fictional West African country called the United African Republic. While the movie is not centered on my comic books, I left a couple of Easter eggs about my comic book characters in there. So, yeah, you get a glimpse into my next installment after this debut movie – a live-action Olórò movie.

By Haruka Katsuyama

Oluwasegun Babatunde: Birth of a Universe is on until Saturday, 30 March and you can buy Baba’s books through the Museum Shop.

If you love Baba’s work as much as we do, you can find out more here:

Instagram: ＠oluwasegun.babatunde

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@oluwasegun.babatunde

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NaijalandOloro?mibextid=LQQJ4d