Blank Slate Books (BSB) was a publishing company based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It published primarily comic books,

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

s and

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

collections, with an emphasis on new work by British artists and translated work by European artists. The books it published were noted for their "indie-friendly" content, and were frequently by

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. However, when a distinction ...

artists whose initial work was self-published. The name of the company was a pun on "drawing" or "writing" on a

blackboard A blackboard or a chalkboard is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulphate or calcium carbonate, better known as chalk. Blackboards were originally made of smooth, thin sheets of black or da ...

. BSB was one of the few dedicated original comics and graphic novel publishers in the UK.

History

Blank Slate Books (BSB) was founded in 2008 by Kenny Penman and partner James Hamilton. Penman was inspired by

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, WA, to publish books in the United Kingdom that would do for artists in Britain what Fantagraphics was doing in the USA, championing independent, alternative creators who were not working in superhero or other ‘mainstream’ commercial comics genres. Penman was co-director of

Forbidden Planet International Forbidden Planet is the trading name of three separate businesses with online and retail bookstores selling science fiction, fantasy and popular culture products. The original store was opened in London in 1978 named after the 1956 feature film ...

, and had plenty of experience with the comics industry. He saw the mission of BSB as "supporting home-grown talent" and providing an essential outlet for work that might not be seen elsewhere. He was primarily motivated to begin the company after encountering the work of Oliver East, who had no real precedents in UK comics. The publication of ''Trains Are Mint'' by East was BSB's first release in 2008 and was critically acclaimed, with an

Ignatz Ignatz is a masculine given name. It may refer to: People * Ignatz Bubis (1927–1999), German Jewish leader * Ignatz Greenberg, birth name of Ukrainian baritone and music teacher Igor Gorin (1904–1982) * Ignatz Gresser (1835–1919), American ...

award nomination following soon after publication. Other notable releases were ''Psychiatric Tales'' by

Darryl Cunningham Darryl Cunningham (born 1960) is a British author and cartoonist who has written the books ''Science Tales'' (also known, in the US, as ''How to Fake a Moon Landing''), ''Psychiatric Tales'', ''The Age of Selfishness'' and ''Billionaires: The Li ...

, another non-genre work which was featured on Radio 4, in many newspaper articles, and eventually republished in the USA. The "collective graphic novel" ''Nelson'', edited by Rob Davis and

Woodrow Phoenix Woodrow Phoenix is a British comics artist, writer, editorial illustrator, graphic designer, font designer and author of children's books. Phoenix is best known for ''Rumble Strip'', published in 2008, a non-fiction look at the difficult social ...

, was an experiment that became ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' newspaper's Graphic Novel of The Month, November 2011. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' newspaper awarded it Best Graphic Novel of 2011, it was nominated for an

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

, and was voted Book of The Year in the British Comic Awards 2012. Penman's other mission was to introduce titles from European countries to the UK that otherwise might not be seen. He focused primarily upon German titles by creators such as Mawil, Line Hoven, and Ule Osterle, who starred in Germany but little known in the UK. BSB published six to eight books a year. In 2012

, himself an acclaimed author of graphic novels, became art director of the company, supervising BSB's design and production. Blank Slate Books ceased publishing around 2016.

Titles

Graphic novels

*''Berlin and That'' (vol. 3) by Oliver East (2010) *''Death & The Girls'' by Donya Todd (Aug 2012) *''Dinopopolous'' by Nick Edwards (Aug 2011) *''The Girl and the Gorilla'' by Madéleine Flores (2010) *''Kochi Wanaba'' by

Jamie Smart Jamie Smart (born 21 July 1978) is a British comic artist and author best known for his comic series Bunny Vs Monkey, Bunny vs Monkey and his 10-issue comic series Bear (comics), Bear. Most of his modern comics run through The Phoenix (comics), ...

(Mar 2012) *''A Long Day of Mr. James — Teacher'' by James Harvey (2011) *''My Skateboard Life '' by Ed Syder (2011) *''Peepholes'' by Laurie J. Proud (2011) *''Playing Out'' by Jim Medway (Aug 2012) *''Proper Go Well High'' by Oliver East (2008) *''Psychiatric Tales'' by

(2010) *''Spleenal'' (vol. 6 of Slate) by Nigel Auchterlounie (2009) *''The Suitcase'' by Dan Berry (2012) *''The Survivalist'' by Box Brown (2011) *''Swear Down'' by Oliver East (Dec 2012) *''Take Away'' by Lizz Lunney (Apr 2014) *''Trains Are... Mint'' by Oliver East (2008) *''Weak As I Am '' (vol. 3) by Nigel Auchterlounie (2015)

Collections and anthologies

*''The Accidental Salad'' by Joe Decie (2011) *''Alby Figgs'' by

Warren Pleece Warren Pleece is a British comics artist. He is best known for his work at the DC Comics imprint Vertigo and the 2012–16 Irish novel series '' Zom-B''. Biography Warren, with his brother Gary Pleece, wrote and drew three issues of a self-pub ...

(June 2014) *''Hugo Tate'' by Nick Abadzis (2012) *''The Listening Agent'' by Joe Decie (2013) *''Nelson'', edited by Rob Davis and

(2011) — contributors include Kate Charlesworth,

Garen Ewing Garen Ewing (born 1969, England) is an illustrator, designer and most notably a comic creator, being the writer and illustrator of '' The Adventures of Julius Chancer - The Rainbow Orchid''. As an aside, Ewing is a part-time researcher and writ ...

Duncan Fegredo Duncan Fegredo (; born 1964) is a British comic book artist. Career Born in Leicester, Fegredo first managed to get into comics after showing his portfolio around UKCAC in 1987 and meeting Dave Thorpe. Together they worked on a strip for a s ...

, Sarah McIntyre, and Suzy Varty *''Uncle Bob Adventures'' vol. 1 by

(Nov 2013) * ''Uncle Bob Adventures'' vol. 2 by

(June 2014)

Translations

*''The Band'' by Mawil (2011) *''Departures'' by Pierre Maurel (Apr 2012) *'' Luchadoras'' by

Peggy Adam Peggy Adam (born 1974) is a French comic book artist and illustrator. She studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Saint-Étienne, at the OCAD University in Toronto, and at the ESI (Ecole Supérieure de l'Image) in Angoulême. She created posters ...

(2011) *''Hector Umbra'' by Uli Oesterle, translated by Iz Rips (2011) *''Home & Away '' by Mawil (2011) *''Love Looks Away'' by Line Hoven (2013) *''Sleepyheads'' by Randall C. (2011) *''Sparky O’Hare, Master Electrician'' by Mawil (2008) *''We Can Still Be Friends '' by Mawil (2008)

Other books

*''Felt Mistress: Creature Couture '' by

(2012)

References

External links

* * {{gcdb publisher, id= 7045 , title=Blank Slate
Blog of publisher Kenny Penman
British companies established in 2008 Comic book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Privately held companies of the United Kingdom Publishing companies established in 2008