A very cool UK comics project has been brought to my attention that features a ton of awesome British comics talent-- including many, many ladies.
Nelson is a 250-page collaboration between 54 of the UK’s most exciting comic creators. It is an unprecedented experiment to create one complete story – a collective graphic novel.
London, 1968. A daughter is born to Jim and Rita Baker. Her name is Nel. This is her story, told in yearly snapshots. Each chapter records the events of a single day, weaving one continuous ribbon of pictures and text that takes us on a 43- year journey from Nel Baker’s birth to 2011.
Based on an original idea by Rob Davis and co-edited by Davis and Woodrow Phoenix, Nelson celebrates the incredible diversity of talent in British comics today. Creators known for their editorial and national newspaper strips unite with those from humour comics such as the Beano, The Dandy, and MAD Magazine joining a wealth of talent from children’s books, indie publishing and webcomics, with the science fiction and superhero worlds of 2000AD, Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse.
Part exquisite corpse and part relay race, Nelson spans decades of British history and a myriad of stylistic approaches in telling the story of one woman’s life by 54 creators, in 54 episodes, detailing 54 days. The result is a surprising and compellingly readable book that is sad, funny, moving, poignant, ridiculous, heartfelt, and real. This is a story like none you have seen before. (via Blank Slate Books)
Female creators include Ellen Lindner, Sarah McIntyre, Suzy Varty, Katie Green, Simone Lia, Kate Charlesworth, Kristina Baczynski, Kate Brown, Carol Swain, Philippa Rice, Kate Evans, Alice Duke, Posy Simmonds, and Laura Howell.
All proceeds go to Shelter, a housing and homelessness charity. You can order it from the publisher at the link above. You can check out some preview art at the Forbidden Planet blog.
