The deadbeats

The Deadbeats

The Deadbeats: Issue 1 (2015) by Squimoo

The Deadbeats is a comic-zine created in the summer of 2015 by Beth Wood (aka Squimoo).

The zine consists of a series of comic strips following the lives of 20-something's Effy and Maven and their friends. It is a mildly satirical 'slice of life' strip series that tackles issues such as sexism, homophobia and classism.

Characters

• Effy (Ethel Evans): Effy is 23-year-old, unemployed, quiet and contemplating. However, Effy struggles to bottle her frustrations, though never turns aggressive towards friends and loved ones. Although she will not hesitate to respond with her fists towards strangers who offend her, which often got her in trouble with police. These outbursts have been less common since she has been with her girlfriend, Maven. Effy writes online articles and blogs to channel her frustrations and wishes she could be a freelance journalist. Her relationship with her family is somewhat strained because of their opinions towards her sexuality, and has little contact with them.

• Maven (Maven Hill): Maven is Effy's girlfriend, and Effy has lived with Maven ever since Effy was kicked out of her parents house for being lesbian. Maven is friendly and good-natured but has a tendancy to get swallowed up by her anxieties and nerves. Maven often detests social expectations though sometimes struggles to think independently - she feels that she can express herself more freely with Effy.

• Yas (Yasmine Raine) Friend of Maven and Effy, a very hard-working but fun-loving. She often attracts the unwanted attention of men but has no problem with calling them out if they step the line. Effy likes to make things in her own time, from cooking, building to arts and crafts.

• Mo (Maurine Storey): A life-long friend of Effy's, who have known each other since primary school. Mo is strongly against the system and currently illegally squatting with her squat-mate Bud. Like Effy, she is also unemployed but gets by with the income she makes from doing gigs and selling merch with her band, but most of the money she does make goes back into the band and music equipment. She is strong-willed and resilient and wants more to life then trying to fit into the system anymore.

• Bud (Just...Bud?): Bud is a bit of a mysterious kind of guy, someone Mo met along the way and sort of just stuck - but stuck by the glue that is an extremely close friendship. They're often mistaken as a couple but they are just very good friends. Bud is quite the handy man, often finding work doing odds jobs around people's houses and occasionally holding down a temp job for a couple of weeks. Bud also likes to go rummaging around back alleys and skips for anything worth of value to sell on or use. Quite the tinkerer, Yas and Bud often collaborate on projects. He's of an easy going nature, he is also very intelligent and likes to read a variety of different genres of books, mostly non-fiction.

About Squimoo

Squimoo lives in the North East of England, currently studying illustration for commercial application at Cleveland College of Art and Design. www.squimoo.tumblr.com