THE TIMES I KNEW I WAS GAY BY ELEANOR CREWES

THE TIMES I KNEW I WAS GAY BY ELEANOR CREWES

TITLE: The Times I Knew I Was Gay

PUBLISHER: LITTLE, BROWN BOOK GROUP

CREATORS: ELEANOR CREWES

THIS SHOULD BE A: SERIES

AGE RANGE: MID SCHOOL +

POTENTIAL NETFLIX TAGS: British TV Shows, Drama, Gay and Lesbian Dramas, Teen Drama, Teen TV Shows,

BOX ART: Striking teenage girl with short red hair on a yellow background.

IT’S LIKE: Heartstopper, My Mad Fat Diary, Skins

TAG LINE: “Sometimes, You Just Know”

LOGLINE: Ellie is a teenager on her way to university, navigating her confusing sexuality amidst the growing pains and drama of adolescence.

LONGER LOGLINE: Ellie always knew she was different. Contrary and creative, she wore black, obsessed over Willow in Buffy and somehow just doesn’t really like boys, no matter how hard she tries, and wow, she tries. As she grows up, so does her fears and a deep sense of unbelonging. The Times I Knew I was Gay follows Ellie from closeted confusion to navigating the London lesbian scene. From her first communion to her first girlfriend via a swathe of self-denial, awkward encounters and everyday courage, Ellie's journey is a tender and funny story of self discovery and acceptance.

CONTEXT: I encouraged Eleanor to produce her first zine and sell it at Gosh!. She’s been building her career ever since. Aside from Times I Knew I Was Gay she’s also published her first mid-grade graphic novel The Accidental Witch (perhaps another title of interest). She’s smart, articulate and enthusiastic. The only downside is that TIKIWG is quite thin in terms of content, it’s a series of vignettes that build to a whole and it’d need fleshing out. Perhaps pairing Eleanor with, or passing the reigns over to a writer who could expand upon Ellie’s story.

THE PITCH: Unique looking female lead in a queer coming of age episodic series.

IF I WERE DOING IT: I’d tonally look towards My Mad Fat Diary with an older Ellie narrating. Perhaps find a way to include Eleanor’s art into some sequences. I’d make this a 2010’s period piece, lovely opportunities to mine the musical culture and court the newly nostalgic, newly adult audience whilst not being so far removed in time that it alienates a modern teenage audience. I’d look towards style cues from shows like Heartstopper, Euphoria and Skins that whilst different in content, share some of the thematic DNA.

REVIEWS: The Quietus, gscene, Goodreads, Broken Frontier

ARTISTS WEBSITE: https://www.eleanorcrewesillustration.co.uk/

AGENT DETAILS: Unknown

RIGHTS STATUS: Unknown

BROKEN FRONTIERS SIX TO WATCH 2023

Andy Oliver has selected his annual “Six to Watch” for comics news and culture website Broken Frontier’s mentorship programme.

“our supremely talented ‘Six to Watch’ artists have gone on to be published by such luminaries as Avery Hill Publishing, BOOM! Studios, Faber, Graphic Universe, Icon Books, Image Comics, Koguchi Press, Myriad Editions, Quindrie Press, Rebellion, SelfMadeHero, and more. Seriously, if you want to discover tomorrow’s comics stars today then this annual feature is the one for you!”

Names of particular interest would be Becca “Beck” Kubrick and Ed Firth. Some NSFW images on Ed’s site to watch out for if you’re looking at this on your morning commute.

Kubrick’s work is all teen angst, queer themes and horror. Recent comic Meat4Burgers is a “YA+ slice-of-life-esoteric-teen-sci-fi-horror. It’s a 20 page, self published comic that follows Trace, a teen who wakes up in fast food restaurant, VAL-U-BURGER. They have no idea who they are or how they got there, they’re name probably isn’t even Trace- that’s just what the nametag says - and the lunch rush is looming.”

Kubrick’s latest effort the as yet unpublished graphic novel “Dead Girls”. “Dead Girls is a comedy horror YA graphic novel I am currently building a pitch for. It is a love letter (or maybe a death threat) to teen scream, slasher films.”

Ed Firth is the creator behind the extremely popular gay sex drama comic Horny and High. Think Queer as Folk meets Tom of Finland meets chem-sex. I pushed for Ed to win the Observer Graphic Short Story Prize in last years competition which I was on the judging panel for. He managed to secure the joint runner up spot with his uncanny and hallucinatory 5 pager about being targeted by a sex offender in a rural community, which you can find, here.

Lot’s of writing about Ed’s work online as it seems to have struck a chord with the community. Here’s a deep dive from Means Happy.

GAST BY CAROL SWAIN

GAST BY CAROL SWAIN

TITLE: GAST

PUBLISHER: FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

CREATORS: CAROL SWAIN

THIS SHOULD BE A: Film

AGE RANGE: MID SCHOOL +

NETFLIX TAG: Drama, Teen Drama

BOX ART: Dog and Teenage Girl

IT’S LIKE: Kes, Submarine, Stranger Things, The Selfish Giant, Sleep Furiously.

TAG LINE: “A MYSTERIOUS DEATH, A MYSTERIOUS LIFE”

LOGLINE: A child from the city moves to the Countryside and begins to investigate the apparent suicide of an elderly crossdresser from the small community and in doing so reveals melancholy truths about her own life.

LONGER LOGLINE: Helen is a child from the city, new to rural Wales, who discovers a mysterious bag of cosmetics and a spent shotgun shell in a skip on an abandoned farm. The discovery leads to questions about the farm owner, Emrys’, and prompts intense inner reflection for Helen. Emrys had few human friends and so Helen is left to question the animals about Emry’s mysterious death and their equally mysterious life. This interrogation of the beasts Emrys owned leads Helen on a voyage of discovery, not only concerning Emrys’ mysterious life and death but of herself and her place in the world.

CONTEXT: Hailing from rural Wales, a setting for many of her comics, Carol Swain is an OG of the UK comics scene. Rising to prominence in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s with her anthology series Way Out Tales, she was an exceptionally talented cartoonist notable for the quality and unique vision of her work in a sea of lesser talents who were attempting to emulate the styles prevalent in the North American alternative comics boom of the era. Alan Moore (From Hell, V for Vendetta, Watchmen) described her work as, "Dark and full of life, like soil... [Swain's comics are] a perfect example of what modern comics are capable of if only they try". Idiosyncratic use of liberally applied charcoal, studied attention to pacing and masterful panel composition are all markers of Swain’s approach to comics. Often focussing on liminal, rural or suburban spaces Swain’s comics often feature naturalistic detail, phantasmagorical occurrences and deal with themes of isolation of being an outsider. she has had three full-length graphic novels and short comics published with Fantagraphics Books including, Invasion of the Mind Sappers, Foodboy and Gast. Swain has also had a collection of shorts, Crossing the Empty Quater and Other Stories, published by Dark Horse Comics. A profile for Swain can be found on comic journalist and curator Paul Gravett’s website, here. Gast is welsh for bitch.

THE PITCH: Potentially a relatively low budget showcase, dependent on how you handled the animal effects, for a talented younger actor, that could be transposed to any rural setting around the world (though not with the same Welsh title, obviously). Could be a nice touch to cast well known British character actors as the voices of the animals Helen befriends.

IF I WERE DOING IT: I’d debut a young actor in the role, keep special effects to a minimum and tonally aim for Sleep Furiously (2007) via Submarine (2010). The rural setting would allow for some considered cinematography which could powerfully service the introspective and unsettling narrative. Obviously, there is an old adage about working with children and animals in the world of broadcasting this pitch is ignoring...

REVIEWS: Publisher’s Weekly, The Comics Journal, Broken Frontier, Paste.

ARTISTS WEBSITE: fantagraphics.com/flog/artist-bio-carol-swain

AGENT DETAILS: Unknown

RIGHTS STATUS: Unknown