No Surrender: by Scarlett and Sophie Rickard

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The original novel is written in a visual style, and was less of a challenge to adapt than The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. What makes No Surrender work is the way the relevance to our current lives shines through the story. Hailed by Emily Wilding Davison as “a book which breathes the very spirit of our Women’s Movement”, the fast paced story interweaves the lives of women from all classes working together to bring about change. Our hero Jenny is a small but fierce Lancashire textile mill worker who puts principle before everything. NORD – Martin Simpson’s Norse Epic is a Stunningly Illustrated Tale of Mortality and Lineage October 31, 2023 Jenny Clegg is a wonderful working-class hero,” says Sophie. “We were drawn to her vitality and turn of phrase because of our childhoods. No Surrender was written in part as a recruiting tool for the suffrage movement, and the way it explores things from the point of view of all kinds of women from all walks of life adds to the sense of unity. Jenny, Mary and Alice all have individual strengths and challenges, and there is something there to relate to.” No Surrender was nominated in last year’s Broken Frontier Awards in the Best Graphic Novel category. A book that still has much to say a century on and one that in these dark times is a reminder that the fight for civil rights is a never-ending one.

Marvel Comics Quicksilver Trade Paperback No Surrender Marvel Comics Quicksilver Trade Paperback No Surrender

Brilliant … utterly irresistible” Rachel Cooke, Guardian/Observer Graphic Novel of the Month, November 2022Our graphic novel of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists has gone down well with people who love the original, and with people who’d never heard of it before,” says Scarlett. “The graphic storytelling medium has made Tressell’s political ideas accessible to a new generation. It’s a great way to revive older books that deserve more attention.” Shedding – Anastasia Hiorns’ Abstract Comics Don’t So Much Communicate a Narrative as Provide a Catalyst for One November 1, 2023 Shedding – Anastasia Hiorns’ Abstract Comics Don’t So Much Communicate a Narrative as Provide a Catalyst for One We have begun to think of the 1910s as ‘our era’ and relish the task of world-building in an authentic way,” says Scarlett. “Design, style and subtle social cues about relative prosperity are all part of the book’s richness. We have to think about things like lighting – electricity, gas, or candles? – and transport – motor car, horse or walking? – in different ways without getting carried away with historical detail.” We saw its potential,” adds Scarlett. “The novel stands the test of time, although we edited out several instances of racist cultural norms. It shows even people with equality in their hearts can have blind spots.”

No Surrender by Sophie Rickard published by Selfmadehero No Surrender by Sophie Rickard published by Selfmadehero

Illustrating London in 1910 required research. No Surrender has a deeply immersive world for the words to play out across.Five Months on Earth – Joe Stone’s Versatility Comes to the Fore in this Autobio Story of Mental Health and a Kitten Named Earthling November 1, 2023 Five Months on Earth – Joe Stone’s Versatility Comes to the Fore in this Autobio Story of Mental Health and a Kitten Named Earthling The sisters scored a publishing sensation in 2020, when their graphic novel adaptation of Robert Tressell’s seminal socialist novel, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, illustrated the thirst for this type of story. Graphic novel publishers Self Made Hero, based in King’s Cross, have earned a reputation for finding new ways to use the genre to cast a light on modern storytelling. They range from the noir and thriller to social realism and political tales.

No Surrender – Constance Maud’s 1911 Novel on Women’s Fight No Surrender – Constance Maud’s 1911 Novel on Women’s Fight

It was read as a call to arms, told through the story of mill worker Jenny Clegg, who lives in a northern industrial town. This is a fascinating story and equally an important piece of social history – deserving a modern audience. But written in a language that reads like a period piece, No Surrender was ready to be updated. No Surrender is like a sister volume to The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists,” says Scarlett. “Maud was an active suffragette, writing fiction in the same era about her authentic experience of living a marginalised life. While The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists examined the arguments for and against socialism, No Surrender explores the battle for equality, how women were regarded, and the ethics of civil disobedience.” Edwardian novels can be long-winded and heavy going, but in this format you get pure action. A story all about ‘Deeds not Words’ is ideal for the graphic format.”The story of the lives of the people who feature in the novel are well described and contrasted. Jenny works in the mill, partly to help support her family, in which her demanding father is never satisfied, her downtrodden mother scrapes to find enough food, and Peter, her brother is still recovering from work related illness. A sister has been ill treated by her husband and deprived of her children. Jenny’s focus has become the fight for the vote for women which she sees is the route to equality before the law and genuine hope for women. A male advocate of the socialist cause is interested in Jenny, but she knows that their paths lie in different directions, and that her solidarity with the cause and other women may well end in her imprisonment. Meanwhile wealthy women are being criticised by their acquaintances and even their families for wanting to stand with the women’s cause, and indeed witness the formation of anti-suffragist groups. Not that men are excluded – they are often opposed to the fight but some clear sighted men are sympathetic and supportive. There are crises throughout the book – as arrests are made and protests occur in prisons which test everyone’s beliefs. A young woman is arrested for her desperate acts, and it takes extreme events to bring about life changing decisions.

SelfMadeHero | No Surrender

The pair are recent arrivals in the graphic novel world and are planning a third political tome from the same era. No Surrender, they felt, could be tweaked to bring Maud’s message to an audience 110 years after it was written. Finding ways to update it the story without losing its power was key, the sisters say.No Surrender is sometimes funny, sometimes violent, but always exciting and authentic. It is highly regarded as an important document of the arguments for and against extending votes to women, for its witty storytelling and for an unflinching depiction of the rapid escalation of violence encountered by the women involved. This sumptuous and faithful graphic novel of the 1911 suffrage classic brings to life the exciting story of gender, class, the ethics of civil disobedience and the right to be equal before the law – offering an accessible, entertaining and rewarding read to a new generation. Jenny Clegg is a Lancashire mill-hand with dreams of equality and freedom. Along with friends from every walk of life, she brings the fight to the Prime Minister’s door – and suffers for her cause. Written by a Suffragette from the heat of the battle, this novel is a vivid social record of a tumultuous era, told through the lives of a broad cast of powerful characters. Tressell was a decorator who wrote about economics from his working-class point of view, and died in poverty in 1911 before it was published,” says Scarlett. “It was a difficult book in prose form, and we wanted to make it more accessible because it contains important ideas.” The Lost Loiners – Anna Readman Lends an Unlikely Humanity to the Monstrous in Her Troll Illustration Zine October 31, 2023