Hey, all! I’ve just been sent over the details of an interesting sounding British small press comic, called Sugar Glider. The book is put together by Daniel Clifford and Gary Bainbridge, and tells the story British crime-fighter. It looks to have some pretty good reviews so far, and they are going to send me over a copy to review, so we should have that coming up soon… ish! I have posted the press release below, along with some art from the comic, and you can find out more about the project at its Facebook fan page.

Press release:

Surrounded by friends and family with it all figured out, Susie Sullivan is desperately unsure of her purpose in life. Casting ordinary pursuits aside, Susie takes to the Newcastle skyline as the crime-fighting…

Story

Set in Newcastle upon Tyne, Sugar Glider tells the story of Susie Sullivan - an 18yr old with a habit of dropping out of things at a moment’s notice. Having given up on so many ‘dreams’ already in her short life, Susie is poised to drop out of college and give her mother, Brenda, an ulcer.

But Susie has a secret more likely to give Brenda a mischief. Somehow, Susie has gotten hold of a high-tech gliding suit and is quickly becoming attached to it. Her late night crime-fighting adventures are becoming more frequent and more successful. But there’s something else about that suit - it bears a striking resemblance to the ones worn by MI5’s Vigilance project super agents. The same super agents who are being spread out all across the UK.

Background

Sugar Glider was born in late 2009 at a Paper Jam Comics Collective meeting in Newcastle and developed throughout 2010.

Aiming to create something with self-press ethics that would still capture the imagination of younger mainstream or casual comics readers, Sugar Glider is presented with a colour cover, US dimensions and 22 pages of story.

To increase the enjoyment of Sugar Glider - especially to the casual comics reader - each issue of the three-part series is designed as an independent story. However, a bigger story will be revealed if all three issues are read together.

Sugar Glider issue 1 was launched at Thought Bubble in November 2010, selling out over a third of the print run in one day.

Reviews

“Truly the best Small Press comic I have ever read.” 4.5/5 
- geeksyndicate.co.uk

“Reminded me of those old classics Billy the Cat and The Leopard from Lime Street…a strong debut.” - hiexcomics.blogpot.com

“Fresh, cool and with an addictive energy, this is a great debut issue.” - Martin Eden (The O Men, Spandex)

“Really natural and relatable characterizations…I look forward to reading more.” - Stephen Downey (Torchwood, Cancertown)

Future

Sugar Glider Stories will be published in the early part of 2011. This anthology will act as a stopgap between issue 1 and 2 of the main Sugar Glider title but also help to build on the Sugar Glider universe. Each story will be drawn by a different small press comics artist and focus on a different character from the SG universe - some appeared in the issue 1, some didn’t.

Sugar Glider 2 and 3 are tentatively scheduled for Bristol Comics Expo and Thought Bubble respectively - with another issue of Sugar Glider Stories in-between. The second Sugar Glider Stories will hopefully feature a more diverse cross-section of the UK small press scene writing as well as drawing the strips.

Sales

Sugar Glider is currently stocked in Travelling Man, Newcastle and OK Comics, Leeds.

Daniel will selling Sugar Glider comics and badges at Bristol Comic Expo in May - sharing a table with O Men and Spandex creator, Martin Eden.

Sugar Glider and other titles by Daniel Clifford can be purchased from the Cottage Industry Comics online store at http://cottageindustrycomics.bigcartel.com

Sugar Glider and other titles by Gary Bainbridge can be purchased from the Unterwelt Comics online store at http://gb.bigcartel.com

Online

A Facebook page has been set-up for those who want to find out news about forthcoming Sugar Glider releases, write reader reviews and see a selection of fan-art - just search for ‘Sugar Glider Comics’, or click here.

Creators

Daniel Clifford was born in South Shields in 1986. In the early 1990s comics taught him to read, and in 2009 he set out to make comics that could have a similarly positive impact on young minds. Alongside his published work, he organises comic book/literacy workshops with the artist Jack Fallows. His recent work includes a pre-school comic, Lily and Danel: Adventurers (with Lily Daniels) and an all-ages anthology, A4 Comics presents… (with various creators).

Gary Bainbridge was born in Durham 1985. He has been making and self-publishing small press comics since 2005 across a range of genres from crime fiction to super heroics, from artist’s books to personal journals. His artwork has appeared in galleries in Newcastle & Japan an in every Paper Jam Comics Collective anthology to date. His recent work includes Grainger Street, Nightbus (with Chris Jones) and Show & Tell (with Andy Waugh).

Daniel and Gary first collaborated on the story ‘That Cool Robot’ for Paper Jam Comic Collective’s Robots…and that anthology.

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