Creature Creators: The Critter Shed publish their first comic

Sitting at an unfurnished wooden table under a mesh of cable and light bulbs in Liverpool’s newest coffee shop, Golden Square Coffee, Chris Anderson and Alex Smith – creators of independent printing collective The Critter Shed – are recalling the shenanigans of their recent birthday bash. The duo are relieved to be finally free of a hangover: “Yeah, it feels good to be one again” – and are open, easy-going and friendly; not something you might expect after reading their comic book about all things existential and survival, Life Death.

The Critter Shed started in late 2013 with a mission to create a collective platform for independent artists to showcase their work. “It started in Leeds University, which we both attended, and in wanting to do something in Liverpool when we got back,” Smith explains. “It came about by collaborating with people we had met along the way, and asking them to draw yetis and sea creatures, and the outcome and positive feedback that stemmed from there.”

Having initially focused on screen printing, with Life Death The Critter Shed has now moved into the publication of comic books. “It wasn’t anticipated. We just sort went with flow,” says Anderson. The expansion is organic, given they “are both into small-print comics,” says Smith, and the intent is now to “keep the ball rolling and keep pushing our name further, with a line of comics and eventually podcasts.”

With the future looking bright for The Critter Shed, the conversation moves on to the comic book itself, which manages to be both comedic and bleak in its exploration of life and death, and features some of the best independent comic artists from the UK and around the world. The timing of the release couldn’t have been better, given the growing popularity of, and increased demand for, independent and alternative comics. With Gosh! Comics – London retailers of cutting-edge small-press comics – picking up Life Death, The Critter Shed has reached another important milestone.

“It feels amazing to have a comic that you have made in your hands and that people were willing to get involved with,” says Smith. “It goes back to the Creatures packs [collections of illustrations] we did such as Yeti and Space that revolved around one creature and one aspect, and seeing the artist’s interpretations of that concept – but it also stems from them, their technique and the medium they work in.”

“We had a shortlist of artists from Liverpool, Leeds and Valencia [who use] diverse ways of creating and designing, to see the contrast in the answers each artist gave to a 'yin and yang' concept,” says Anderson. “Mikko [one of the artists featured in the comic] uses paints, Henry Booth spraypaints, Vicky Ledsom uses pencil (we use pencil to digital) and Tommings uses poster pens [to] convey the story and the outcome of their work as well as what is going on in their heads.

"That’s the beauty of it – we sent out the same brief and every submission is different and totally unexpected. That really surprised us.”