BA (Hons) Illustration for Commercial Application student, Parker Cliffe, 20 years-old, from Manchester, has successfully stocked his comic Pandora at independent book store The Book Dragon. The Book Dragon is an award winning book shop dedicated to selling and celebrating independent authors. Parker has come a long way since starting the concept for the comic at 14 which has now formed a large part of his university work and is available to buy in-store and online. The story follows mythical stories, religious artefacts and acts to show kids that they are not alone. Read on to find out more:

Tell us about Pandora:

Pandora has been a passion project for over half a decade now. When I was 14 I wrote up the concept and attempted to create it as a webcomic, inspired by so many others. Comics, manga and fantasy have always been a large inspiration to me, I wanted to create a story with tangible main characters that were ordinary people and easy to relate to. I knew that there are probably thousands of young people who lived just like me with trouble at home and at school who just needed to feel like they weren’t alone and the goal of pandora has always been to create something genuine to my own feelings, in the hopes it will make at least one kid somewhere feel less alone in their experience and give them the hope that anyone can be a hero.

The story follows Christy, a collected and intelligent young woman with a point to prove and all the skills to prove it, alongside her friend Bailey who is a complete 180 to her in his reckless and confident behaviour. Their job is to find religious and mythological artefacts and they start strong with Pandora’s box. Volume One is about the beginning of their journey and setting up the trials they are to face after opening the box in a story packed with action, adventure, drama and possible romances. We get a glimpse into the realm of Hades and begin our journey into the main series as they will face harder and scarier battles.

I would say my art is definitely mostly inspired by anime and manga and predominantly dreamworks’ Voltron, strangely enough. But I am quite proud to kick off my career with something both inspired and unique in its own right.

You recently stocked Pandora at The Book Dragon, how did that come about?

For my research and prep module I reached out to as many stores as I could think of that stock small press. The Book Dragon was suggested to me by a classmate and I am so grateful for it. The shop is small and cosy in all the best ways and the staff are so friendly and helpful. They only stock independent and small press authors and you can really tell they care. When I went they were super giddy and completely matched my level of excitement, told me they were proud and they understand how big a step this is and helped me take photos of my work and myself to document the moment. The owner is an author herself and you can really tell by how delicately and considerately the store and its staff come across. I couldn’t think of a better place to start.

You manage a freelance business alongside your studies, how do you manage it all? 

Managing a freelance business alongside my degree has been challenging at times but it’s not as hard as I thought. My comic fit right into being my FMP so I kind of got to merge the two. The sales side also benefits my degree as it is all stuff I put into my process book to evidence meeting learning outcomes and I truly think that is the benefit of studying something you’re passionate about. I often go to conventions to sell my work which are usually on weekends and don’t interfere with my studying, once again they actually aid it.

What are your ambitions for the future?

Pandora has plans to be an 8 issue series with loose plans for spin off and sequels. For me the absolute dream would be to make this my career and possibly have it animated as a series. I think right now Hazbin Hotel is a hot topic of discussion and for any flaws or issues people take with it the Viv is living the artists dream with her passion project and id be lying if I said that’s not the ideal world for my own project. I’ve had discussions with other students to collaborate on things like card games and I fully intend to do everything possible to make that happen. Aside from that I would love to work in the comics industry or concept art, character design being my specialty outside of my graphic novel. I intend to take a two year break from education to focus on Pandora and then study a masters in graphic novels.

How do you find studying illustration?

Studying this degree has been challenging at times and I definitely sort of miss the idea of a large campus and getting back to the convenience of city life but the close proximity and the ability for tutors to really know you and your work has been something I have massively benefited from. I have struggled quite a lot between social issues, mental health and personal life issues but being able to talk to tutors one to one has been a life saver. I excelled in education when I was young but the older I have got the more challenging I have found it and i honestly didnt think id make it past college but here I am, on track for top grades and with a successful passion project, because I kept going and I think thats the most important thing to remember. Having support from tutors and student services is always a benefit but there will always be people and events that try to prevent you from excelling, and when its all said and done you are your own biggest supporter and its pivotal you create things you love.

Any advice for future students?

If I could give one piece of advice to anyone, particularly young people it’s to do the things you want to. You’re never going to please everyone. Sometimes you pour everything you have into people you care about and its still not enough for them. Be enough for yourself. Be the creator you want to be and make the media you wish you had, as artists we are the ones that make massive changes in people views and have the ability to completely shift the course of someones life, theres something beautiful in that.

You can view and buy Parker’s work here:

Instagram: @mythical.styx

Online store: Mythicalstyx.myshopify.com

Enquiries & questions email: mythicalstyxcontact@gmail.com

If you are interested in studying illustration at degree level make sure you check out our course here.