UniVerse Titles Available From UK On Display

UniVerse is the imprint set up by the University Of Dundee to publish the work of the students on both the university's MLitt in Comics Studies and the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) Animation, Graphic Design and Illustration course's Comic Art and Graphic Novels module. It has also been used to feature the work of the winners and runners up in the annual Dundee Comics Day art competition.

The imprint's main title is Anthology, each issue of which is a full colour, US sized, soft cover, perfect bound book.

Anthology One features the work of the DJCAD students and is a 72 page book with a cover by DJCAD graduate Colin MacNeil.

Anthology Two features the work of the MLitt students and is a 100 page book with a cover by DJCAD lecturer Phillip Vaughan.

Anthology Three again features the work of the DJCAD students and is a 120 page book with a cover by DJCAD guest lecturer Dave Gibbons.

Also featured in Anthology One are the winner and runners-up in the Tartan Bucket comics prize competition from the 2011 Dundee Comics Day and includes the winning strip, Belle's Magic Mobile by Steve English, which was published in The Beano.

The winner and runners up in the 2012 Dundee Comics Day art competition are featured in a separate publication, The Amazing Mr X. In 1944 The Dandy introduced the first home-grown British superhero and the competition brought the character of Mr X back to life, re-interpreted for the 21st century prior to his appearance in the Digital Dandy strip Retro Active. The 76 page book reprints three of the original 1940s Dandy adventures of Mr X along with the winning strip by Steve Marchant and thirteen other modern takes on the character plus a history and appreciation of the character by University Of Dundee lecturer Dr Chris Murray.

UniVerse titles are now available via mail order from UK On Display:

Anthology One (downthetubes review here)
Anthology Two
The Amazing Mr X (downthetubes review here)

All four UniVerse titles will be available at the Dundee Comics Expo on Saturday 30 March 2013. Anthology Three will be launched there and will be available via mail order after the Expo.

In Review: Anthology One

Anthology One is the first publication to come from the new UniVerse imprint set up as part of the various comics related courses run by the University of Dundee. Co-edited by Dr Chris Murray of the university's School of Humanities and Phillip Vaughan of the university's Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD), it presents the work of the students of the 2011-2012 DJCAD Comics Art and Graphic Novels module as well as the winner and runners-up of the 2011 Tartan Bucket Prize that was run as part of last year's Dundee Comics Day.

A 72 page, US comic size book with an excellent cover by DJCAD graduate Colin MacNeil, Anthology One does exactly what is says on the tin and presents a series of short stories from each of the contributors: Nest by Stephanie Scott; Hubert and Remington by Charlie Parsons; Treasure Hunt by Rebecca Rolland; Mob Mentality by Calum Sutherland; Asylum by Louise Cadger; Code of Love by Samantha-Jo Ross; Subject Nine by Claire Roe; and finally Calvin The Dog by Jamie Buchanan.

The Tartan Bucket Prize section at the back features the winning strip, Belle's Magic Mobile by Stephen English, that was also published in The Beano, plus the four runners-up, The Ape Prentice by Stephen Baskerville, Holly Unlikely by Adam Smith, Elly's Evil Teddy by Jamie Huxtable and Jack The Robot by Paul Rainey.

Any anthology title can be a hit or miss experience depending on the reader's interest but it has to be said that the standard achieved throughout the book by the DJCAD students is uniformly high. Their strips range from complete short stories to issue zero style intros to what could become a longer story and each strip also has a page or two of design sketches. Since I enjoy 'police procedural' TV series Samantha-Jo Ross' different take on the arrest of a suspect in Code of Love (left) is perhaps the highlight for me, helped by being complete in itself, but Stephanie Scott's moodily talky Nest and Jamie Buchanan's silently comedic Calvin the Dog, despite being worlds apart both story and art-wise, are also both interesting while Hubert and Remington by Charlie Parsons with its robot and human lead characters is perhaps the most 2000AD or Megazine-like strip in the collection. It would have been nice to read a paragraph or two by the creators explaining their work as part of their sketchbook pages but that is a minor gripe.

With the main section of the book being the DJCAD students producing artwork formatted for US size publication, the Tartan Bucket Prize pages formatted for DC Thomson's Beano and Dandy are a considerable change of pace. The introduction at the very beginning of the book by Chris Murray gives a little of the background to the competition but it would have been nice to read more details on the competition and its creators while a separate introduction to this section would have lessened the culture shock between the two different sections of the book. Of these stories Adam Smith's Holly Unlikely (right) is perhaps the most interesting with its girl character puzzled by being able to see herself in other panels on the same page, although it is also probably the least likely of the Tartan Bucket strips to work as a series.

Anthology One is an interesting snapshot of the comics work that has been gradually building up over the last five years or so at the University of Dundee and shows off a wide range of styles and genres. It will be interesting to see if Anthology Two, which is scheduled to contain work by the students of the MLitt in Comics Studies, can keep up the high standard of this first issue.

Anthology One will be formally launched and available to buy at the Hi-Ex Comics Convention in Inverness this weekend, Saturday 31 March and Sunday 1 April 2012. The cover price is £5.95.

Details of ordering Anthology One by post are available by e-mailing : universecomic@gmail.com

Anthology co-editors Dr Chris Murray and Phillip Vaughan are interviewed on downthetubes here and here.

Treating Comics Seriously: Six Questions For Lecturer Phillip Vaughan

Phillip Vaughan is a lecturer at the University of Dundee's Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art And Design (DJCAD) with a background in 3D animation for the television, film and games industry. At DJCAD he teaches graphic design and has run the first module on Comic Art and Graphic Novels, the results of which have just been published in the Anthology One book from the new UniVerse imprint. Jeremy Briggs talks to Phillip about his work teaching the new generation of animators and graphic artists.

What comics did you grow up reading and what do you read now?
Being brought up near Dundee, it was inevitable that my first comics were The Beano and The Dandy. I soon graduated to more 'adult' comics such as The Victor, Warlord, Commando, Starblazer, Spike, Buddy and Champ, all DC Thomson stalwarts. In 1982 I picked up the new Eagle, but wasn’t impressed with the photo strips (bar Doomlord!), really I bought it for Dan Dare, especially the early Ian Kennedy run. A slow adopter, I moved onto 2000AD in 1984. Also around this time I discovered Marvel and DC Comics imports in my local newsagents. Sporadic though these imports were, I managed to collect runs of Uncanny X-Men, Peter David's run on the Hulk, John Byrne's run on Superman and some of Alan Moore's stint on Swamp Thing.

These days, I have stuck with 2000AD through thick and thin, and like the sentiment of anthologies such as Strip and Clint. I dip my toes into the American mainstream now and then, currently reading Hellblazer, Fatale, Action Comics and Captain America (mainly for the Alan Davis art). I have also been picking up Requiem by Pat Mills and Oliver Ledroit.

You lecture at DJCAD, could you tell us a little about what you cover and how comics came to be in the curriculum?
For the past 7 years I have lectured part-time in Graphic Design, mostly covering On-Screen and Motion Graphics, and I have also taught 3D Animation. We restructured our courses last summer, and as part of the new Communication Design umbrella, we were invited to pitch new expansive modules. I proposed the Comic Art and Graphic Novels Module, and was happy when this was picked up for Level 3 students to participate in.

Dr. Chris Murray, Lecturer & Programme Convenor at the School of Humanities (left, with Phillip Vaughan, centre, and Cam Kennedy, right), was a great help in the preparation of this module, as he had undergone the same process in the School of Humanities a couple of years before. The first cohort of students signed up for the module last year, and we are expanding to offer the module to other undergraduate areas of the art college next year.

You have had a number of comics creators give talks to the pupils as part of the course - who has done this and do the students value these talks?
So far we have been very lucky to welcome David Bishop, Colin MacNeil (a DJCAD graduate and cover artist of Anthology One), Frank Quitely, Cam Kennedy and the guys from DC Thomson, Calum Laird, George Low and a childhood favourite of mine, Ian Kennedy! Phew! This year, as well as returning guests, I have a few more very special creators up my sleeve, who have agreed to come in and impart their considerable knowledge! The students have given very positive feedback, and I can't wait to reveal who we have coming this year!

How did you get involved with the Dundee Comics Day?
Dr. Chris asked me! No seriously, me and Chris had been having several planning meetings with regard to my module and Chris's Comic Studies MLitt in Humanities. We dreamed up a wish list, that just so happened to include a lot of 2000AD alumni and I had a few contacts, Chris had his contacts and we managed to get a stellar line up of guests for Dundee Comics Day 2012. Again we are looking to push the boundaries for this year’s Comics Day…stay tuned!

How did Anthology come about and is it something that we can expect from each year of the course?
The Anthology was always part of the brief for the DJCAD Comic Art and Graphic Novels module, where the students were asked to produce between 2-6 finished pages of comic art, on a subject of their choice, for publication. The final book, Anthology One, features the best of the work from the module, and runs to 72 pages of full colour artwork. Colin MacNeil has provided a stunning cover for the first issue. The book costs £5.95 and is non-profit, with costs just covering printing, and it will be used to support and promote the students hard work!

We will be launching the book at Hi-Ex on the 31st March. Everyone who has seen the finished product has been very impressed with the work, which was produced in a very short space of time. Anthology Two will feature the work of students from the Comic Studies MLitt, and then we will keep the book running as a biannual affair! These publications will all be published under the UniVerse imprint which we have recently set up.

Could you tell us a little about your work outside of the university?
When I am not teaching, I work as a freelance designer/animator. Over the last 16 years I have worked on many different projects including 3D animated sequences for Deathtrap Dungeon, Star Trek, Farscape, Tom & Jerry, Wallace & Gromit, Teletubbies(!), Braveheart, plus a couple of original computer game concepts for various publishers such as Eidos and Sony. Most recently I completed the character design, animation and front end work on an iOS Superman Game App for DC Comics/ Warner Bros, which was nice! In the little spare time that I have I produce comic work just for fun and have had a couple of strips in Zarjaz, with the next one appearing in issue 15, out in July. The next project on the table is a comic book collaboration with Dr. Chris Murray.

There is more information about Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design on their website.

For more information about the Comic Art and Graphic Novels Module at DJCAD e-mail Phillip Vaughan at p.b.vaughan@dundee.ac.uk

For information about ordering Anthology One email: universecomic@gmail.com

There is more information about the University Of Dundee's MLitt in Comics Studies on the university website.

There are more details of Phillip Vaughan’s freelance work on his website, V14 Studios.

Phillip Vaugan will be at the Hi-Ex Comics Convention in Inverness on Saturday 31 March and Sunday 1 April 2012 where he will have copies of Anthology One for sale.

Anthology One Due From Dundee's UniVerse(ity)

Due out later this month is the first issue of a new comics series, Anthology, published under the new UniVerse imprint, which will showcase the best creative work that is emerging from the new comics courses at the University of Dundee and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.

Dundee has long been a haven for comics creation due largely to the city being home to DC Thomson. However in recent years the University of Dundee and its related colleges, specifically Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD), have been taking more of an interest in comics creation due in no small part to Dr Chris Murray of the University's School of Humanities. This has lead to various comic art exhibitions, often in association with DC Thomson, and the annual Dundee Comics Day, a full day of talks from a wide variety of British comics creators, as part of the Dundee Literary Festival.

With a cover by DJCAD alumnus Colin MacNeil, Anthology One, is the first issue and features work from the students on DJCAD's Comic Art and Graphic Novels Module. Module Leader and co-organiser of the Dundee Comics Day Phillip Vaughan said, "We have created an imprint called UniVerse to promote and publish up and coming work from the next generation of comic creators. This is the best of the work from the first cohort of the module, which (staggeringly) was run over 12 weeks for one day a week during Semester 1 of Communication Design Level 3 (encompassing Animation, Graphic Design and Illustration undergraduates). This year we plan to roll the module out to other undergraduate areas of the art college."

Chris Murray (far left, with Phillip Vaughan, centre, and Cam Kennedy, right) is course leader of the Comics Studies MLitt at the university and director of the newly formed Scottish Centre for Comics Studies and helped to deliver the course. Chris said, "It is an exciting time for Comics Studies at Dundee, and the DJCAD module has been even more successful than we'd hoped - the results are impressive, and the students clearly benefited from workshops with industry professionals such as Frank Quitely, Cam Kennedy, Colin MacNeil and others".

Anthology One will be available at the Hi-Ex comics convention in Inverness on Saturday 31 March and Sunday 1 April.

The downthetubes review of the 2011 Dundee Comics Day is here.

Links to the various comic art exhibitions that have taken place at the University Of Dundee since 2007 are here.

downthetubes interviewed Dr Chris Murray about his comics work here.