Last year, as part of that incredible run of TALKIN’ CON: A CUP O’ TEA WITH AN ENGLISHMAN IN SAN DIEGO livestreams, I was very fortunate to be involved in a live draw session with master comics writer/artist John McCrea who wanted to showcase his (ultimately very successful) crowdfunding campaign for his MIGHTY WORLD OF MCCREA retrospective book. Off the back of that, John contacted me to see if I’d be up for hosting a charity livestream – I said yes, instantly!
John explained that he wanted to, over the course of a couple of hours, put pencil and ink to paper for a JUDGE DREDD live draw, talking about his career, his process and favourite memories in the company of some very special friends, all with the intention of raising as much money as possible for the Cartoon Museum in London, currently closed to those much-needed visitors due to the pandemic lockdown. This is the livestream that resulted from that invitation, thanks to the generosity of the audience that donated for the privilege of watching live, one that went on to raise an amazing £1,300+ for the Museum!
I hope you enjoy this presentation – and I hope that you are inspired to dig deep and help the Cartoon Museum continue its work in curating and preserving remarkable cartoon and comic artwork from the UK and International talent. You can do so by visiting: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charity-web/charity/displayCharityCampaignPage.action?campaignId=12630
Welcome to an evening of creativity, memories, advice, tears, laughter and Dredd!
JOHN MCCREA is the celebrated creator and artist of comics such as HITMAN, THE MONARCHY, JENNY SPARKS: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE AUTHORITY, THE BOYS: HEROGASM and DEAD EYES, as well as the illustrator of Garth Ennis’ debut work, TROUBLED SOULS, appearing in the pages of the anthology series, CRISIS.
It’s this period of John’s career that the stream focuses on, as he is joined by fellow comics legends in rare online appearances, Steve MacManus and Garth Ennis himself! This livestream was being held to raise funds for The Cartoon Museum, the country’s premier curator of UK and international comic art, which aims to conserve and cherish the art form while encouraging fans young and old to celebrate amazing comics. The Cartoon Museum has been hit particularly hard by the lockdowns imposed during the Coronavirus global pandemic, shuttering its doors – like many museums across the UK – since the crisis began.
The session was hosted in association with Leonard Sultana (An Englishman In San Diego/The Convention Collective) and began with an introduction from Steve Marchant of the Cartoon Museum to talk about the Museum’s work and what they have been doing to keep afloat during lockdown – John hoped to raise as much money as possible to support this incredible organisation with this unique livestream which will also closed with an auction of the finished JUDGE DREDD piece, along with some other bits and bobs he and Leonard found lying around the studio!
