The comic book - an interesting medium of entertainment. It brings back memories of colourful superheroes in equally flamboyant costumes fighting against the bad guys, promoting messages of peace, justice and honesty. Some of the biggest comic names in the world such as Frank Miller and Stan Lee cut their teeth on making comic books big business. It’s a multi-million pound empire that has spawned films, merchandise and big, big profit for its creators. There’s little doubt, be it fantasy or non-fictional tales, graphic novels are one of the most popular forms of storytelling - so much so that budding artists have emerged around the world all armed with an arsenal of drawing and narrative skills. On Thursday November 5, Ctrl.Alt.Shift gave these artists another platform.

Down a side street in Soho, London, more accurately the Lazarides Gallery on Greek Street, a mix of comic enthusiasts, artists and activists were packed into the venue - treated to some of the finest comic art in the country, all themed around corruption. With some artists focusing on the struggles of Palestinian people occupying the West Bank whilst others choosing to spotlight the corruption of politicians, there was an eclectic array of talent on display. The amazing work included the entrants to Ctrl.Alt.Shift’s ‘Unmasking Corruption Comic Competition’, which was set up earlier in the year and encouraged people to submit their best work to a script penned by musician Dev Hynes, also known as Lightspeed Champion; himself a self confessed comic book fanatic. Dev was there, happy to look over the work on display and had nothing but praise - not only for the artists whom had entered the competition, but all the work that was on show.

As for me, that night was something of a dream come true. I have been a huge fan of the comic book since college days, after reading Frank Millers ‘The Dark Knight’ for an essay, and have since discovered some other great artists including Joe Sacco - author of award-winning comic ‘Palestine’, and an inspiring man who I had the privilege of meeting just a few weeks back when Ctrl.Alt.Shift interviewed him in the lead-up to the exhibition. All in all, it was a good night, with good (FREE!) beer, and of course, so many great pieces of art on show in a comic-loving forum.
 

 

 

To celebrate the successful run of the Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption Exhibition and the Comic Book of the same name (the Ctrl HQ stocking filler of choice!) we have three exclusive signed and framed pieces of Foldvari artwork to give away.

TO BE IN WITH A CHANCE TO WIN ALL YOU’VE GOT TO DO IS BE A SIGNED UP MEMBER OF CTRL.ALT.SHIFT AND EMAIL comps@ctrlaltshift.co.uk WITH YOUR USERNAME AND AGE, WITH ‘UNMASKS’ IN THE SUBJECT LINE. THE CLOSING DATE IS FRIDAY 18TH DECEMBER.