The Society of Strip Illustration (SSI), later known as the Comics Creators Guild, was a British network for all those involved in any stage of the creative process of

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

production. The SSI, which was co-founded in 1977 by

Denis Gifford Denis Gifford (26 December 1927 – 18 May 2000)Holland, Steve, Obituaries: Denis Gifford', ''The Guardian'', 26 May 2000. was a British writer, broadcaster, journalist, comic artist and historian of film, comics, television and radio. In h ...

, met monthly in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, published a newsletter, and distributed annual awards for achievement in the field. Despite the organization's name, most members were

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

creators, as opposed to those of

comic strips 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 ...

like those found in ''

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it published its 4000th issue in August 2019. Popular and ...

'' and ''

The Dandy ''The Dandy'' was a Scottish children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after '' Il Giornalino'' (cover dated 1 Oc ...

''. SSI members included

Brian Bolland Brian Bolland (; born 26 March 1951)Salisbury, Mark, ''Artists on Comic Art'' (Titan Books, 2000) , p. 11 is a British comics artist. Best known in the United Kingdom as one of the Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology ''2000 AD (comi ...

Dave Gibbons David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story " For the M ...

John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican Party (United States), Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to ...

, Kevin O'Neill,

Paul Neary Paul Neary (18 December 1949 – 10 February 2024) was a British comic book artist, writer and editor. His first work was for Warren Publishing in the 1970s before working with Dez Skinn at Marvel UK as well as work for '' 2000 AD''. He later ...

,Skinn, Dez
"Early days of UK comics conventions and marts
" DezSkinn.com. Retrieved Dec. 11, 2020.

Jim Baikie James George Baikie (; 28 February 1940 – 29 December 2017) was a Scottish comics artist best known for his work with Alan Moore on '' Skizz''. He was also a musician. Biography Baikie served as a Corporal with the Royal Air Force in 1956–19 ...

Arthur Ranson Arthur James Ranson (born 1939) is an People of the United Kingdom, English Comic book creator, comic book illustrator, known for his work on ''Look-in'', ''Judge Anderson, Anderson: Psi Division'', ''Button Man'' and ''Mazeworld''. His work on C ...

Tony Weare Tony Weare (1 January 1912 – 2 December 1994) was an English comics artist best known for drawing ''Matt Marriott'', a daily Western strip written by Jim Edgar, which ran in ''The Evening News'' from 1955 to 1977. Tony Weare was born at ...

, Keith Watson,

Alan Davis Alan Davis (born 18 June 1956) is an English comic book writer and artist, known for his work on ''Captain Britain'', ''The Uncanny X-Men'', ''The ClanDestine, ClanDestine'', ''Detective Comics'', ''Excalibur (comic book), Excalibur'', ''JLA: ...

, Mark Farmer, Alan Grant,

Bryan Talbot Bryan Talbot (born 24 February 1952) is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of '' The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' and its sequels '' Heart of Empire'' and '' The Legend of Luther Arkwright'', as well as the ''Gra ...

, David Lloyd,

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

Dave McKean David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an England, English artist. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpture. McKean has illustrated works by authors such as S. F. Said, S.F. Said, ...

, Mark Buckingham,

Nicholas Vince Nicholas Vince (born May 1958) is an actor, writer, and film maker who was born in West Germany and lives in South London. He trained at Mountview Theatre Academy, and shortly after graduating he met Clive Barker, modeling for him and later bein ...

, and

John Maybury John Maybury (born 25 March 1958) is an English filmmaker and artist. He first came to prominence as the director of the music video for the Pet Shop Boys 1984 single "West End Girls". In 2005 he was named as one of the 100 most influential gay ...

. For a while in the 1970s, the SSI met at the

London Sketch Club __NOTOC__ The London Sketch Club is a private members' club for artists working in the field of commercial graphic art, mainly for newspapers, periodicals, and books. History The club was founded in 1898 by a breakaway group of members from ...

in Dilke Street, Chelsea.

History

In November 1980, the SSI hosted a conference which resulted in the publication of ''Strips '80'', an introduction to the Society and a directory of its members. According to

, in the early 1980s, scouts from

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

came to SSI meetings to recruit British creators to work on DC titles,Joe Pruett (ed.) "The 1970s – The European Invasion," in ''The Art of Brian Bolland'' (Image Comics, 2006), , p. 103. leading to the so-called

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...

. The 1981 Society of Strip Illustration Awards were distributed on Saturday, October 31, at

Comicon A comic book convention or comic con is a fan convention emphasizing comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at conv ...

'81, held at the Regent Centre Hotel, London. In October 1982, the SSI sponsored a "Teach-In and Work-In" at the Westminster Comic Mart, with a number of creators from '' 2000 AD'' and ''

Warrior A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, social class, class, or caste. History ...

'' talking about and presenting their work.Comic Mart advertisement, ''The Comic Book Price Guide for Great Britain''
Archived at My Little Underground
blog. David Lloyd was chairman of the SSI, and editor of the newsletter, at this time. A later chairman was Mark Buckingham. The SSI became the Comics Creators Guild in 1992; "Other American [sic
/nowiki> Awards,"">/nowiki>sic">"Other American [sic
/nowiki> Awards,"Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved Dec. 11, 2020.

was secretary and then chairman of the Guild from 1992 to 1993. The Guild's newsletter became known as ''Comics Forum''; it was published quarterly from 1992 to 2004, and then annually until 2008. The Guild appears to have dissolved some time after 2008.

Awards

The SSI distributed awards from 1977 until at least 1989; in 1988 the awards were renamed The Mekon Award (in honor of The Mekon of Mekonta, the arch-enemy of the British comic book hero Dan Dare). When the SSI became the Comics Creators Guild in 1992, the award name was again changed, this time to the Comics Creators Guild Award. ; 1977 * Best Newcomer —

; 1978 * Cartoonist of the Year — Ken Reid * Humorous Script Writer — Ken Reid ; 1982 * The

Frank Bellamy Frank Bellamy (21 May 1917 Khoury, George. ''True Brit: Celebrating The Comic Book Artists Of England'' (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2004). – 5 July 1976) "Artist Dies - a short notice" Daily Mirror 6 July 1976, p.7 was a British comics artist, b ...

Award for Lifetime Achievement —

Dez Skinn Derek Graham "Dez" Skinn (born 4 February 1951) Miller, John Jackson"Comics Industry Birthdays" ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', 10 June 2005. Accessed 14 August 2010WebCitation archive is a British comic and magazine editor, and author of a number of ...

* Best Writer —

* Humorous Cartoonist of the Year —

Hunt Emerson Hunt Emerson (born 1952) is an English cartoonist. He was closely involved with the Birmingham Arts Lab of the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the British underground comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s. His many comic strips and graphic novels have ...

; 1983 * Best Writer —

* Best Humour Strip — ''

Danger Mouse Danger Mouse is a British action cartoon which has had two incarnations: * ''Danger Mouse'' (1981 TV series), a 1981 British animated television series * ''Danger Mouse'' (2015 TV series), a 2015 reboot of the British animated television series ...

'', by

* Best British Adventure Artist —

; 1988 * The Mekon Award for Best British Work — '' Violent Cases'' (

Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of the British entertainment company Titan Entertainment, which was established as Titan Books in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cine ...

), by

and

; 1989 * The Mekon Award for Best British Work — '' The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' ( Valkyrie Press), by

; 1992 * Best Ongoing Humor Series Award — '' The Desert Peach'' by

Donna Barr Donna Barr (born August 13, 1952) is an American comic book author and cartoonist. She is best known for '' The Desert Peach'' and '' Stinz''. Life and education Donna Barr was born in Everett, Washington, and is the second child of six. She ...

; 1995 * Comics Creators Guild Award for Best Graphic Album in the UK — '' Stuck Rubber Baby'', by

Howard Cruse Howard Cruse (May 2, 1944 – November 26, 2019) was an American alternative cartoonist known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics. First coming to attention in the 1970s, during the underground comix movement with ''Barefootz'', he ...

References

External links

Excerpts from the ''SSI Newsletter'' of May 1979 (issue #16)

featuring a writers round table with

Pat Mills Patrick Eamon Mills (born 1949) is an English comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since. He has been called "the godfath ...

, Steve Moore,

Steve Parkhouse Steve Parkhouse is a comics creator, writer, artist and letterer who has worked for many British comics, especially ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' and ''Doctor Who Magazine''. Biography Parkhouse has worked in comics since 1967, when he drew the ...

, and

Angus Allan Angus Peter Allan (22 July 1936 – 16 July 2007) was a British comic strip writer and magazine editor who worked on ''TV Century 21'' in the 1960s and ''Look-in'' magazine during the 1970s. Most commonly known as Angus Allan and sometimes cred ...

''Comics Forum'' issues at MyComicShop.com
{{British Comic Book Industry Awards 1977 establishments in the United Kingdom Arts organisations based in the United Kingdom Comics awards in the United Kingdom Comics-related organizations Professional associations based in the United Kingdom

History

Awards

See also

References

External links