The following 5 page story was drawn by me.
It appeared in an anthology of comics about depression called Kinds of Blue. The project was driven by the very talented writer Karen Beilharz, and I was honoured to be part of it.
My chapter was only the first of fourteen, so why not go read the whole thing online for free!
There’s also a fairly well maintained Kinds of Blue Facebook page that’s worth a look.
And below is an interview with me (from the Facebook page) about my involvement in the project…
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Meet the makers: Mike Barry
June 19, 2011 at 1:14pm
Mike Barry describes himself as “a Sydney based writer, artist, designer and recovering control freak.” He made the beautiful art for the first comic in Kinds of Blue, ‘Feeling’.
How did you get involved with the project?
Karen and I “met” briefly a few years ago when we were involved in the creation of competing (sort of… not really) websites. That seems like another life ago now, so it was nice when Karen and I recently reconnected over twitter.
After that it didn’t take long to work out that she was almost as hardcore into comics as I was, which was a nice surprise because all my other friends think I read comics because I’m either immature or borderline illiterate, but Karen actually understands the artform so we can sit in our ivory towers and smugly judge my other friends together.
I think we started chatting about it and I sent her some of my work because I like showing off, and she told me she was going to make me famous if I could just draw 5 pages for her for free, and next thing you know I was reading her script and cancelling prior engagements so I could try and hit her unreasonable deadlines. Maybe it wasn’t exactly like that but you get the idea.
Favourite part of working on the project?
It was an honour to work on something so personal to Karen, but also so relevant to so many other people. There are few things more satisfying that creating art that means something so I feel lucky to have been part of this. If I can sneak in a second favourite thing about working on the project, it’s that I loved collaborating with Karen. She had a strong vision for what she wanted but was also very receptive to my thoughts on how the pages could work.
What’s your experience with depression?
Some of the people I love have suffered with depression, and it was as if this project appeared at exactly the right time for me. You might be surprised how many people you know have been either directly or indirectly affected by depression, but it’s not something people talk about much. I think that’s another reason I was so excited to be invited to participate.
Describe the perfect day.
Eating, laughing, creating, sharing. The details can change, but those things are the key ingredients for me.
What’s your next creative endeavour going to be?
My wife and I are having a baby in December which I’m hoping to claim as my greatest creation. Apart from that I have a couple of story ideas I’d like to write and illustrate in the very near future.
Coffee, tea, or…?
Coffee
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CREATION PROCESS
Mike Barry Was Here 