When did you last see your vote?

Tags

comics, CROSS, election, satire, voting

You know, your vote. You used it a couple of years ago when you voted in your local council elections (well, one in three of you did). More likely, you used it five years ago to help create a very curious coalition (two out of three of you voted that time).

You get to use it again in just over three months’ time. It’s quite useful: it’s the only legitimate way we have of overthrowing a Government if we don’t like it. In the interests of balance, it’s also the only legitimate way of ensuring that a Government you do like stays in power.

Anyhoo, the point is this: voter registration has changed. Up until last year, one person per household filled in a form which said who lived there and was eligible to vote.

Now, every individual in the household has to fill in their own form. This has been in the works for a decade, and is a good way of making sure that we don’t miss anyone.

Except the process of change has lost a million voters.

Here at Disconnected Press, we care about votes. Underlying the sarcasm and the venom that populates our political satire anthology CROSS is a core message: use your vote.

In order to use your vote, you need to be registered. So go and dig through that pile of junk mail you’ve been ignoring and make sure you are. Spread the word too, particularly on National Voter Registration Day on February 5th – you can find out more about that at http://bitetheballot.co.uk/nvrd/.

What you do with your vote is entirely up to you. Just don’t lose it….

Inside Look: The Coalition of Heaven and Hell by Emma Beeby and Gavin Mitchell

Tags

coalition, comics, Conservative, heaven, hell, humour, Lib Dem, politics, satire

Sometimes the political sphere creates strange bedfellows.

Imagine a party that was committed to free university education, non-renewal of Trident, tackling climate change, proportional representation and replacing the House of Lords. Then pop them in a coalition with a party that felt, well, somewhat differently. And see what happens?

If it wasn’t a country they were running, it’d be a sitcom. (In fact, stop reading this now, and go and watch Series 4 of The Thick of It.)

Anyhoo, the point of all this, dear reader, is to draw attention to another strange coalition, that crafted by Emma Beeby and Gavin Mitchell for our satirical anthology CROSS. Emma’s concept – The Coalition of Heaven and Hell – was brilliantly realised in Gavin’s art: here’s an example:

Sometimes you get a script and you laugh out loud. The Prayer Line was one of those moments…

You can read the rest of The Coalition of Heaven and Hell in CROSS – available now at our Comicsy store: http://www.comicsy.co.uk/disconnectedpress/

Emma Beeby’s latest graphic novel Robbie Burns: Witch Hunter is available from Renegade Arts Entertainment and your friendly local comic store.

Gavin Mitchell’s art is featured in Disconnected Vol 1 (virtually sold out but there is a single print copy in Orbital Comics in London!), and in Stiffs and Santa Claus vs The Nazis. His blog is at http://gavinmitchell.blogspot.co.uk/.

Inside Look: Money Bucket Head by Rob Williams and PJ Holden

Tags

comics, election, MP, parliament, politics, satire

Today marks the launch of campaigning for the 2015 General Election. 121 days to go! 121 days of photo opportunities, baby kissing, gaffes, apologies, hirings, firings, outlandish commitments, fragile promises and – we hope – some very fine satire and sarcasm from the nations writers and cartoonists to pull the rug out from under the whole thing. As campaigning starts, we wondered: what makes a person decide to go into politics?

Someone asked Benjamin Disraeil (who he?) why people became Member of Parliament?

“We come here for fame,” he replied.

Now I’m not sure if that still holds true. There are easier ways to become (in)famous these days. Irritatingly catchy, Youtube-sensation pop songs. Daytime television. Inappropriate fancy dress. The possibilities are endless….

So it must be something else that draws people into politics and into Parliament. This is the theme for MoneyBucketHead, Rob Williams and PJ Holden‘s story of Tim, a young man of principle who follows his dreams… MoneyBucketHead features in CROSS, an anthology of political satire which aims to make people sit up and think – then get up and vote – in this year’s election. Featuring work by some of the UK’s finest writers and artists, including Mary Talbot, David Baillie, Howard Hardiman and BRICK, CROSS takes aim at all sides of the political divide in 64 pages of anger, humour and the occasional robot.

Back to why people want to become MPs: here’s a great article from Prospect Magazine, a thought provoking defence from a Labour MP,  and in the interests of balance, a feature about becoming a Tory MP.

If becoming an MP is a bit much, then why not start by reading our comic 🙂 You can order your copy of CROSS at http://www.comicsy.co.uk/disconnectedpress/ for just £10 plus P&P.

Thanks for reading!