It’s an autumn afternoon and across from me sits a bright eyed young lady nervously sipping a cup of tea, eyes dancing around her surroundings and hands hugging the warming brew. This young individual is Biz Horne, a Leeds based comic book creator and all round inspiration. Biz, a history and philosophy of science and philosophy student at Leeds University, starts to relax as we begin to talk. The latest project by this talented artist is a range of comics, not your average super hero, sexy ladies comics but comics with a message. As Biz puts it “Just because they [her comics] don’t involve superheroes and aliens and monsters doesn’t mean that the problems in our world aren’t just as serious, but unlike the adventures in comics, there are things that we “normal” people can do to help (but what is normal anyway?). We don’t have to rely on superheroes to save the world”. And I would add to that that we can’t. 

So what is Biz’s driving goal? She aims to bring rarely spoken about subjects to the fore of the comic book world, subjects such as forced marriage. Indeed forced marriage is the subject of Biz’s latest release FML: Priya. FML stands for fuck my life and I would dare anyone to read this story and not understand such a strong title. This dark nightmarish comic drives home the hopelessness and unescapable horror of some who find themselves in such a situation, a situation that many a white anglo-saxon could dream of finding themselves in. Biz allows the reader to climb down into dark holes that many find themselves in but with the safety rope that lets you know you can close the book and climb out a lot easier than those trapped within the pages. 

As we continue our conversation, nursing our drinks (and I am slightly nursing a hangover) we get to talking about how Biz became inspired to enter the world of comics, a story which is as interesting and inspiring as the stories she now tells. Biz was a fantastic student but in the run up to her A levels she was stuck with a crippling illness, one which left her in almost constant pain. The answer to this, she found, was to draw and to draw for hours on end and escape, or at least to distract, from the pain, if just for a little while. It seems that this time spent drawing also formed Biz’s ideas of what a comic can do, of what it can be and what effect it can have on its readership. Of course just having an idea and the talent to draw and write is along way off of getting a comic book in its understood form. 

Biz is a self publisher, full of life and self promotion through her website and facebook page (links to which can be found at the end of this article). Biz gushes with praise, to her mother who has supported her, both emotionally and financially, to the wonder of local printers and the love of comics in hard copy ( a view shared by previous interviewees Richard and Jordan). The problem Biz faces is how to push her line of comics, FML is said to be a comic in 15 parts, to a wider audience without the hated deadline and in a way which will allow her to continue to produce comics that have a story to tell and a mission to enlighten those of us who are still in the dark. This, dear reader, is where you come in. Buy her comics (available through her website) spread the word and if you are in Leeds for the Thought Bubble comic convention on November the 19th and 20th visit Biz’s table in the Royal Armouries Hall (on which you will also find Richard and Jordan) and give some support or even better money.

I feel greatly honored to have had the chance to meet Miss Horne. An inspirational character with a story to tell. Biz still suffers from chronic pain but this, in my eyes, seems to drive her forward not only as a creator but as a student and she can count on my support from here on in. 



 You Can Find Biz By clicking on any of her Illustrations on this page or by clicking this link to her website http://bizhorne.blogspot.com/p/fml.html or her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Biz-Horne-Comics/184117021666276
or Follow her on twitter under the name @Bizhornecomics.