Who? Hugh Raine. I also call myself Shug, which means I’ve literally halved my internet presence. Whoops.
What? I started with a free comic-zine called REET!, which was given away in Leeds, Hull and even Dewsbury. Now, comic projects continue under the REET! Comics banner, namely my latest mini-series, Find Comet, Hit Comet, Watch Comet, Sleep and old ‘favourites’, Jenny’s Weird Friend, Barbs, Interference and Olive’s Mix Tape.
I also make the occasional soundtrack for these comics (which can be downloaded for free on my website) and have a steady flow of freelance work for beer companies, bands and magazines, doing album artwork, company logos, beer pumpclips and more.
Where? I live and work in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, where I illustrate and design funny cards for UK Greetings. I’m embracing my Yorkshire roots more and more, and every year I visit a place in Yorkshire I’ve never been to before for Hourly Comic Day. Read my Ilkley and Saltaire editions! It’s nice to have a sense of place and my work has become much more grounded.
When? I’ve always made comics. I thought I wanted to be a newspaper strip cartoonist while at college. Then, on my animation degree in Hull, I joined a group of guys who made a free comic called Lobster. When that ended, I continued in the same vein making REET! and in the last few years, I’ve been self publishing comics to sell through my website and at comic fairs. I find time to make them after work and at weekends, much to my wife’s chagrin.
Why? I just love comics. When I first picked up Peter Bagge’s Hate, I realised there was more to comics than the Silver Surfer comics I’d been collecting. I want to make comics and art along the lines of work by Steven Weissman, Tom Hart, Pat Moriarty, John Kricfalusi and Nicolas Mahler. Unfortunately, most of those guys are American, but there are many up and coming UK artists and writers who may inspire us all yet!
How? I work in a variety of mediums but always using the cheapest materials. It doesn’t matter what paper you work on or what pen you use. The only expensive bit of kit I have is Photoshop, which all my work is finished, collated and coloured on. I work endlessly to achieve an inky, natural line, but the recent rediscovery of dip pens is sending me in a new direction.
The Leeds Alternative Comics Blog 