Toxoplasmosis: Unlocking the Secrets of a Mysterious Parasite

Earlier this year, I had the great pleasure of working with Dr Jamie Hall and Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology on another comic about the parasites the centre studies.

Over the last few years we've been working on a series of short comics about their work. The first two, Malaria: The Battle Against a Microscopic Killer and Sleeping Sickness: The Fight Against a Nightmarish Disease covered two truly devastating diseases.

The latest entry focuses on a far more prevalent, but significantly less deadly disease: Toxoplasmosis. Thought to have infected up to a third of humans worldwide, Toxoplasmosis is thankfully fairly benign under normal circumstances. It's a hugely interesting disease, capable of altering the behaviour of the animals it infects.

You can read Toxoplasmosis: Unlocking the Secrets of a Mysterious Parasite in full here.

Whatever Happened to the Blue Whale in 2302AD?

A comic I worked on in collaboration with poet Russell Jones appears in the exciting poetry comics anthology Over The Line - An Introduction to Poetry Comics which is out now from publisher Sidekick Books.

The poem, titled Whatever Happened to the Blue Whale in 2302AD? was a wonderful piece to work on and adapt - an intelligent and striking piece of sci-fi poetry that really lent itself to adaptation into comics form. It's a great poem from a talented poet, and I thank Russell for working with me on the piece. Russell's next book of poetry The Green Dress Whose Girl Is Sleeping is out in October. He has also edited an anthology of sci-fi poetry called Where Rockets Burn Through available here.

Over The Line as a whole looks very interesting, full of a diverse range of poets and artists working together in this wonderful hybrid form. I'm really honoured that our piece was chosen by editors Tom Humberstone and Chrissy Williams. You can order a copy here.

Scottish Independence Comic

Last year I drew this comic about my feelings on Scottish Independence.  It was meant to go into an anthology, but with that delayed and with the vote now just months away, I agreed with the editor that I should put it online.  I have presented them here in the page spread format that was originally intended for printing, so each jpeg is actually two pages side-by-side.

If you like my comics, you can support me by buying some here or downloading some here!

Or if you want to learn more about making comics, and live in Edinburgh, I have a comic course starting 8th May 2014... more about it here.

'Scottish Stem Cell Stories' Out Now!

My most recent science comic project is now available to read for free online.  The comic sets out to examine some of the research being done in Scotland right now into stem cells and regenerative medicine.  It's a truly exciting field, full of challenges and possibility, and one I was glad to get an insight into.

The comic was written by Barbara Melville, who gave the whole thing an interesting twist and a sense of character and exploration that was fun to work with.  Essentially the comic is a sequel or companion piece to last year's Hope Beyond Hype, which can still be read here in its new and improved interactive version.

Filmish #4 - Food on Film

After a two year hiatus, Filmish is coming back with its fourth issue this August.  It returns with a look at a subject that has fascinated me since university - the role of food and eating on film.

Readers of Filmish issue 1 will recognise that I've tackled the subject matter before, in a brief whistle-stop tour that just touched the surface of this fascinating subject.  Since that first issue my work has developed a lot, and I've poured everything I've learned about making comics over the past few years into this issue to try and create an issue of Filmish that is both a pleasure to look at and to read.

You can book now for my Edinburgh Book Festival event, where I'll be talking alongside Will Morris about my work.

The Dead of Winter

I had a couple of afternoons free the last few days, so decided to make something new.  I rarely create things now that have no other ultimate purpose, so this was a rare occasion to stretch my wings.  I think it's turned out nicely, a simple story but hopefully told in a new way.  It's a piece ideal for print, a two pager that would force the reader to rotate the comic half way through.  Hopefully it's still readable here.

This piece was envisioned just before reading this excellent article by Eddie Campbell about comics literacy and storytelling clarity.  Campbell makes some interesting points, and I'll be interested to hear people's thoughts on whether this kind of unusual storytelling could have a place beyond the experimental arena.

For your ease of reading, here's the same comic again, upside down:

Oot The Digger

I recently finished a really fascinating project working with men who have been through the Scottish prisons.  Part of the project involved a set of collaborations between three of these men and three different artists to create comic book stories that shared their experiences of getting out of prison.  The resulting publication was called 'Oot the Digger', prison slang for being out of solitary confinement.

Hearing their stories, these guys face really difficult odds in finding a stable footing on their way out.  It is tragically easy for them to get dragged back into drugs and crime when they face homelessness, a dearth of work and very little support that they trust on re-entering society.  This kind of cycle serves no one, and the project's work was to explore what these men thought would help them stay straight and get back on their feet.  All too often voices like these are ignored, the belief being that people who have been through that kind of thing are not qualified to judge what would help them. In fact the opposite seems true.

Solipsistic Pop 5

I've been busy working on my contribution to the latest edition of UK comics anthology Solipsistic Pop.  Editor Tom Humberstone has always collected together some of the most interesting UK based comic artists for his curated anthology, which this time round is an anthology of journalistic non-fiction and reportage.  It's going to be a fascinating read when it comes out - a timely collection of comics from the growing field of non-fiction and journalistic comics.

My own piece is on the impending vote on Scottish independence.  It was admittedly very hard to write for me, a task that took me so far out of my comfort zone I was squirming for weeks as I made it.  Hopefully it will stand up to what will no doubt be a really high standard of reportage from the other contributors, which include non-fiction pros such as Darryl Cunningham and Tom Humberstone.

Solipsistic Pop 5 is out later this year, and will be available to buy from www.solipsisticpop.com

On Tumblr

I've just started up a Tumblr account to preview my new comic 'Grow'.  My account is here and will be updating with new strips tomorrow and Thursday as well.  You can find me here.

To show you what you're missing, I've included today's pages below, though the next two days will be Tumblr exclusives.

100 Tiny Moments... Kindle eBook

My first autobiographical comic work '100 Tiny Moments' is currently off sale in my webshop to make way for 'Grow'.  However, I have now made the comic available to buy from the Kindle store.

Once a day for 100 days I drew a comic based on my life.  Drawn from memories of the past, events from the present, and imagined hopes and fears for the future, it's at once a diary and an experiment in daily creativity.

"There is imaginative and poetic potential in the small details of life that surround us, and very small details can encapsulate the most important things about life."
- Josie Long, in her introduction

Baby Comics III

A prequel to the previous haircut themed comic.

Baby Comics II

I'm enjoying drawing autobio comics again.  I think I might make a habit of it!

Baby Comics

My son Niven is 4 months old later this week.  At first I'd sworn that I wouldn't draw comics about becoming a dad, feeling it would just be too self-involved.  But, you know what?  After numerous requests, I've changed my mind.  It probably is still very self-involved, but you don't need to read them if you don't want to.

If you like this comic, check out my autobiographical comic series '100 Tiny Moments From My Past, Present and Future' here or buy it here.

Island comic preview

I've started work on a new project, a one-shot short story set on an unidentified Scottish island, sometime in the future.

This one's a bit of an adventure for me.  First off, this is the first original fiction comic I've written and illustrated.  Most of my work in the past has been non-fiction, and I've been pushing a documentary approach for a while now.

Secondly, I'm trying to work a much looser style than usual - the project's going to be all hand drawn (though computer coloured), and I'm hoping to create something here where I don't obsess endlessly on getting things 'right'.  It's a cartoonier style as a result.  I'm working with a mix of roller-ball and brush pens.

Mostly, I'm just wanting to create something for the sake of it, for once.  Not having to answer to clients and collaborators is pretty refreshing, though kind of scary too.

On Science and Comics

Science finds itself in a tricky position when it comes to reaching out to the public.  To most people, science is seen as almost untouchable, a field that few can participate in or even have a say in.  There’s so much required knowledge, so much specialist training, so many facts and formulas, that to interact with and question science feels daunting.

From Hope Beyond Hype.

Stem Cell Comic Preview

I'm currently working on a short comic about stem cell research for a client.  It's a fascinating subject, and I'm getting to work with a great team, including the lovely Edinburgh based sci-fi author Ken MacLeod, and my previous collaborator Jamie Hall.

Anyway, here's panel 1 from our story, which I'll be working on for the next few weeks.

Hourly Comic Day 2012

On a whim yesterday morning I decided to take part in this year's Hourly Comic Day, a challenge held every year on the first of February.  The idea is to draw a short comic about the last hour for every hour that you are awake.  By the end of the day you have a wee story about your day, and everyone shares what they've been up to and rejoices!

Anyway, it turned out to be a fun challenge.  It's been three years since I did '100 Tiny Moments From My Past, Present and Future' (where I drew an autobio comic once a day for 100 days) and it was nice to get back to doing some good ol' fashioned autobiography.  It's two very different projects, but I do feel that this glimpse of my life three years down the road is a nice counterpoint/afterword to the stories I told in '100 Tiny Moments...'.

If you enjoyed my hourly comic, I hope you'll have a look at '100 Tiny Moments'.  Even better, you can order a limited edition printed copy from my shop.  Also, don't forget to check out the entries by other people, which you can see over here.  Hourly Comics Day is a fantastic idea that is a pleasure to see in action - something that reminds you of what a great comics community there is out there, and reiterates the potential we have to make comics every day.

If you weren't following my hourly comic in real time on Twitter, you can read the comic in full below...

Malaria Comic - Preview

© Edward Ross and EVIMalaR 2011

Here's another glimpse of the malaria comic I'm working on.  We've been fighting forward the last few weeks, trying to get inks done before the end of the year, and it looks like we're on track.  Meanwhile, comic artist Tom Humberstone is bringing my black and white linework to life with his fantastic colour work.

Above is an image of an infected Red Blood Cell bursting open to release the parasites into the blood stream.  Below is one of our more allusive images, illustrating our metaphor of scientists 'taking apart a clockwork parasite to see what makes it tick'.

© Edward Ross and EVIMalaR 2011

I'm very excited to see this project all coming together.  The hard work is starting to pay off!  In the new year we'll be wrapping up the artwork, finalising the wording of everything, and then getting covers and so forth prepared for the final comic.

Stay tuned!

Malaria Comic - First Glimpse

For the last six months I've been working on the pre-production of a comic for a malaria research network called EVIMalaR.  Along with my co-writer Jamie Hall, who I also worked on 'Parasites' with, we've been doing research, interviews and lots of script work.  We're trying to create a 20 page comic that does justice to the incredible complexity of the malaria parasite Plasmodium, and to the various strands of research and techniques being used to find out more about these single celled organisms.

© Edward Ross / EVIMalaR 2011

Just a couple of weeks ago, we finally sprang into action with the illustration.  I'm doing the linework, and I'm honoured to have the fantastic Tom Humberstone on board doing the colours.  I love the work he's doing - bringing to life this microscopic world with a rich, otherworldly palette.

Plasmodium parasites entering the bloodstream down a mosquito proboscis
© Edward Ross / EVIMalaR 2011

I'll try and bring more previews as the process unfolds.  It's been a welcome challenge for us, really exploring what we can do with comics to describe science.  And being part of the writing process has been fascinating, having to learn about and then retell really complex scientific ideas in an efficient and interesting way.

Maps To Live By - A Solipsistic Pop 4 Sample

Lots on the go at the moment, but far and away the most personal and challenging project is my piece for Solipsistic Pop 4, which I wrote alongside my father, Peter.

Based on family history, it is without a doubt the most demanding comic I've written, both in personal and technical terms.  I thought it would be nice to share a little of it today, since for too long I've been working on things yet to be finished.  I have to say it's been nice getting back to drawing more personal work, it being almost two years since I made '100 Tiny Moments'.

Please help fund this project and order your copy for when it comes out here.