Parasite on Parade

Here's a little video we made of the giant trypanosome, free comic event.  Enjoy!



The event was a resounding success I'd say.  The comic is still available for download here.

The Wellcome Trust Blog

I was asked to write about the process of making a comic about tropical parasites by the lovely people at the Wellcome Trust Blog.  My guest post can be read here.

Filmish Reviewed in 'The List'

Scottish events magazine 'The List' has reviewed issue 2 of 'Filmish' in their mid-June issue, giving it 4/5.  The review is not currently available online, so here is what they have to say:

"Just in time for the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh-based comic writer Edward Ross returns with the second installment of his comic treatise on film theory.  The second issue is more ambitious, with Ross devoting the entire title to 'Sets and Architecture', using movies like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Metropolis and Blade Runner to illustrate his points.  But it is perhaps the inclusion and dissection of films such as Die Hard, James Bond and the Bourne series and the relation of their protagonists to their surroundings that is the most illuminating.

 Educational and entertaining, his clean, simplistic art helps to draw you through various aspects of what could be confusing and complex ideas if they weren't so nicely translated into comic form.  This comic is available from Edinburgh's Filmhouse and via edwardmaross.blogspot.com and we can only hope there's more to come."

(Henry Northmore)

Parasite Project

 A few months ago my friend Jamie approached me with an idea he'd be harbouring of participating in the Glasgow West End Festival to help raise public awareness of the work he and his colleagues do researching tropical parasites at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology.

The plan was simple, but definitely crazy: to build a giant trypanosome float for the festival's parade, and to hand out comics to explain what was going on.  It would be like a Chinese dragon, a 7 meter long parasite held aloft on poles, twisting its way through Kelvingrove park amongst the colourful floats and costumes of the parade.

The idea fell by the wayside for a while, and it soon reached the point where we were at risk of not having enough time to get something made.  And that's when we decided to get to work on it.

With funding from the Wellcome Trust I was able to get on board New York artist Rachel Morris to design the cover and a diagram for the back, giving me breathing room to focus on creating the internal comic goodness.

The writing process was definitely a challenge, mainly due to trying to balance clarity with the complexity inherent in the subject.  We wanted to introduce our audience to three major parasites studied at the Centre: Plasmodium, Trypanosoma Brucei and Leishmania.

© Edward Ross, 2010

Our hope was to avoid condescension, over-simplification and anthropomorphism, while remaining engaging and accessible to a large audience.  I think what we came up with might be a struggle for young children, but a wide audience will hopefully be able to engage with it.

Since we started work the project has expanded in scope.  From our original plan of 500 copies, it has been increased to 5,000 at the behest of the department, who I think have seen our work as an excellent opportunity to get the word out about what the department is doing.

© Edward Ross, 2010

I'm really excited to see the outcomes of our efforts.  The work Rachel has produced is brilliant, and gives the comic a really enticing first impression.  And inside we've done six full-colour pages that I'm really pleased with.

 © Rachel Morris, 2010

You can download a copy for free here.

Filmish Issue 2 OUT NOW!

The comics arrived back from the printer last night and were hand numbered while watching Lethal Weapons 1 and 2.  And now I'm pleased to announce that Filmish Issue 2 is on sale now.

The issue explores film's fascination with the world built around us, taking a journey through famous and much loved classics like A Trip to the Moon, Metropolis, Blade Runner and Die Hard.  You can read an excerpt here.

With the first 20 online sales I'll be giving away a free Filmish badge made by Ikioma.

If you fancy the whole set of 4 you can buy them for £3.

If you live locally you can pick up a copy from Filmhouse, Avalanche or The Fruitmarket Gallery.  I'll try and get some copies down to London in the next week or so...