Strange Weather Lately is the title of a series of
comics
a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
created and released between 1996 and 1999 by the Glasgow-based Franco-Scottish duo ''
Metaphrog
Metaphrog are graphic novelists Sandra Marrs and John Chalmers, best known for making the ''Louis'' series of comics.
History
Marrs is originally from France, where she studied Arts and Letters. Chalmers is from the west of Scotland and has a ...
''.
The very first issue was entitled Strange Weather Lately - Martin Nitram #1 and comprised a series of short comic stories along with a hand-numbered print, released in 1996. It was followed by a longer story, beginning in Strange Weather Lately #2 and continuing in a series of ten cult
comics
a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
published bimonthly until 1999 when the collected story was released in two graphic novels. Metaphrog used creative marketing to promote the releases of their books and comics, creating Strange Weather Lately cans of beans and tea bags as well as posters, bookmarks and flyers.
''
The Sunday Herald
The ''Sunday Herald'' was a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published between 7 February 1999 and 2 September 2018. Originally a broadsheet, it was published in compact format from 20 November 2005. The paper was known for having combined a centre- ...
'' in Glasgow described ''Strange Weather Lately'' as "the existential adventures of Martin Nitram, an unpaid theatre worker engaged in an attempt to mount a cursed play, The Crimes Of Tarquin J Swaffe."
Strange Weather Lately was the first ever
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
to appear at the
Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Metaphrog
Metaphrog are graphic novelists Sandra Marrs and John Chalmers, best known for making the ''Louis'' series of comics.
History
Marrs is originally from France, where she studied Arts and Letters. Chalmers is from the west of Scotland and has a ...
have gone on to produce the popular and critically acclaimed ''
Louis (graphic novel)'' series.
Image:Strangeweatherlately1.jpg, Cover for Strange Weather Lately - Martin Nitram #1 comic book by metaphrog. Published in 1996.
Image:Strangeweatherlately2.jpg, Cover for Strange Weather Lately #2 comic book by metaphrog. Published in 1998.
Image:StrangeweatherlatelyVolume2.jpg, Cover for Strange Weather Lately Volume Two graphic novel by metaphrog. Published in 1999.
Sources
* Long interview with Metaphrog by Gavin Lees for The Comics Journal: http://www.tcj.com/the-metaphrog-interview/
* The 20th anniversary of Strange Weather Lately: http://papercutz.com/metaphrog-celebrates-comics-anniversary
* Sequential Tart interview by Jennifer M. Contino, "Lies, Letters, and the Strange Weather": http://www.sequentialtart.com/archive/nov01/metaphrog.shtml
References
* Beadie, Brian (May 23, 1999). "Comically graphic tales from the Glasgow underground". ''The Sunday Herald'', p. 7.
* The Metaphrog interview: http://www.tcj.com/the-metaphrog-interview/
External links
Official metaphrog website
Scottish comics
1996 establishments in Scotland
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