Uploaded October 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2023 is delighted to announce comic writer, artist, tutor and editor Bobby Joseph as the new Comics Laureate.
Bobby follows in the footsteps of comic creators Dave Gibbons, Charlie Adlard and Hannah Berry, and illustrator and bookseller Stephen L. Holland in the unpaid role promoting the comics form, also known as 'The Ninth Art'.
The Comics Laureate is an ambassadorial and educational role aiming to raise awareness of the impact comics can have in terms of increasing literacy and creativity.
The appointment is made biennially to a distinguished comics creator, writer or artist in recognition of their outstanding achievement in the comics medium.
For more on the role of the Comics Laureate please visit: comicartfestival.com/uk-comics-laureate
Profile: Bobby Joseph
Bobby Joseph is an acclaimed comic creator whose work has often challenged and inspired its readers. His early work includes the creation of Skank magazine, where his best-known strip, 'Scotland Yardie', first featured, and was later published by Knockabout Press.
Bobby has written for The Guardian newspaper, Dazed and Confused and Vice.com. His comic work was a prominent feature at the Anarchy in the UK comic exhibition at the British Library in 2015 and was seen by over 60,000 visitors.
He is also a vocal advocate for diversity and BAME representation in comic books and is credited on the BBC website as instrumental in featuring some of the “first comics by black creators featuring black characters.”
Scotland Yardie, published by Knockabout Comics in 2017, was the first BAME graphic novel to be studied as a module on an English Literature MA course at King’s College, London.
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2023 is delighted to announce comic writer, artist, tutor and editor Bobby Joseph as the new Comics Laureate.
Bobby follows in the footsteps of comic creators Dave Gibbons, Charlie Adlard and Hannah Berry, and illustrator and bookseller Stephen L. Holland in the unpaid role promoting the comics form, also known as 'The Ninth Art'.
The Comics Laureate is an ambassadorial and educational role aiming to raise awareness of the impact comics can have in terms of increasing literacy and creativity.
The appointment is made biennially to a distinguished comics creator, writer or artist in recognition of their outstanding achievement in the comics medium.
For more on the role of the Comics Laureate please visit: comicartfestival.com/uk-comics-laureate
Profile: Bobby Joseph
Bobby Joseph is an acclaimed comic creator whose work has often challenged and inspired its readers. His early work includes the creation of Skank magazine, where his best-known strip, 'Scotland Yardie', first featured, and was later published by Knockabout Press.
Bobby has written for The Guardian newspaper, Dazed and Confused and Vice.com. His comic work was a prominent feature at the Anarchy in the UK comic exhibition at the British Library in 2015 and was seen by over 60,000 visitors.
He is also a vocal advocate for diversity and BAME representation in comic books and is credited on the BBC website as instrumental in featuring some of the “first comics by black creators featuring black characters.”
Scotland Yardie, published by Knockabout Comics in 2017, was the first BAME graphic novel to be studied as a module on an English Literature MA course at King’s College, London.
