TT Journal, ISSUE 7, September 2024

By Julie Innes

Really all of my comics are autobiographical.  When you think back over your life it is so hard to make sense of things as one narrative: for me to do this seems like an impossible task, and somehow dishonest.   I don’t think that time and memory work in this way – not for me anyway. There are moments that glow like beacons from my past to remind me of pivotal events that somehow formed who I am and where I am at today.  On examination these beacons are more like cheap solar garden lights: some of them stopped working on day three and a couple have spider’s nests in them, and the cat has probably knocked at least one over.  The path is really not that clear, but trying to figure it out takes you somewhere. My ideas often come from the examination of one of these moments, and the effort of trying to form that memory into a story often reveals connections I hadn’t thought of. You can buy a jet brooch on eBay for less than £100, but this brooch is the embodiment of something important for me, and I felt that it deserved to be remembered in a comic.  

Julie Innes is an animator and comic book maker, and she lives in South London with her family. Most of her work is autobiographical, and reflects on themes of migration and family dynamics.  She is currently developing a ghost story graphic novel, based on a known local legend, and exploring themes of violence against women in horror.