iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

If you can’t be bothered to make it, why would anyone want to read it? For me, the initials AI will always represent Amnesty International. Their slogan through the nineties and noughties? “PROTECT THE HUMAN”

Amnesty International protest banner in black with yellow text PROTECT THE HUMAN

And it turns out that this Thing they have brought forth - because it has no creators, but has been stitched together from the flesh of stolen creative corpses - can never be copyrighted! So again, what’s the point?

Frankenstein’s unnamed and motherless monster, reading a graphic novel by the fire.

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If we found a way to make a generic, soulless version of what we do for half the cost in half the time, we just … wouldn’t? It’s like a hungry diner choosing a plate of cardboard for £5 over a nutritious meal for £10. Why would you?

A book cover: on a bottle green background, a sign writer is putting finishing touches to a square panel which reads Robert Tressell’s The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, a graphic novel by Scarlett and Sophie Rickard. A young boy hands the man a tin mug of tea. Another worker sits reading a newspaper.

A book cover. The text reads ETHEL CARNIE HOLDSWORTH’S THIS SLAVERY, a graphic novel by Scarlett & Sophie Rickard. The full page illustration shows two women standing back to back in a steep terraced street at sunset. The blonde woman holds a violin, the dark haired woman wears a man’s coat. A young man looks at them from an upstairs window on the left, and on the right there is a perky white and brown dog. In the distance the factory chimneys smoke. It’s all very ‘mills & doom’

A book cover: on a dark inky blue background a five women stand together holding up an ornate protest banner which reads Constance Maud’s No Surrender, a graphic novel by Scarlett & Sophie Rickard. They are dressed in Edwardian clothing and VOTES FOR WOMEN sashes. The girl in the centre, who wears the shawl of a working woman, holds a loud-hailer

A book cover, with the title MANN’S BEST FRIEND and the names Scarlett and Sophie Rickard. The picture is a drawing of a man walking a big dog up an urban street in the evening. The man has his hood up and holds the dog on a red lead. He’s walking towards us along the pavement past shops with lights on.

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A romantic moonlit walk from This Slavery graphic novel

A panel from This Slavery, depicting Jack and Hester walking through the woods above the town, in the moonlight.

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From 1935 Sylvia campaigned relentlessly for Ethiopia against the Italian invasion. She was around for the beginnings of Rastafarianism and moved to Addis Ababa at the invitation of Haile Selassie. She died there aged 78, and was given a full state funeral.

An early studio portrait of Sylvia, before she got famous for causing bother

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She campaigned in London’s East End for workers rights, equality and anti-colonialism. She was too socialist and too pacifist for her sisters. When WWI came along she campaigned for conscientious objectors. Sylvia campaigned for Irish home rule, Indian independence, and against fascism of every type

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She designed the WSPU logo, leaflets and many banners and posters. She painted portraits of working women, and wrote for the suffragette press. She was arrested for protests loads of times, and went on repeated hunger strike.

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Today we remember Sylvia Pankhurst, who died on this day in 1960. Pankhurst women were each a strong flavour, and Sylvia is our favourite. Brought up by suffragist socialist activist parents, Sylvia trained as an artist (Manchester, then Royal College of Art), noting every exclusion along the way

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 21/09/2026

We’re gearing up for LICAF next weekend, who’s coming? I don’t think we’ll be boating this year, since the festival will be in Kendal and the schedule’s packed with stuff we’re keen to see.

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In the USA, over 4 million people have lost access to SNAP food poverty support in the last year, and there are more rule changes coming next month

A soup kitchen from The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists graphic novel. It’s the precursor to British ‘food banks’. A child has brought a jug from home. A wealthy woman is supervising her maid ladling some hot soup into the jug. Everyone looks ashamed except for the wealthy lady, who feels smug about her charitable giving. A better system would be for her to pay tax and for the child to receive dignified state support, but what do we know

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 20/09/2026

Look at this scrappy sketch Scarlett just found in an old notebook! The only real change is the spine, because we soon learned that ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’ is practically impossible to say quickly or fit on small surfaces…

Sideways on lined paper, about 10cm by 7cm, a blue pen layout design of the front, back and spine of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists graphic novel

A finished The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists graphic novel cover, back and spine as published in the UK in 2020

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 13/09/2026

hbd Annie Kenney (1879) this dog is here tell you facts about his special interest, radical activists with spicy lives, indulge him

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 09/09/2026

real sisters talking about fictional sisters This Slavery graphic novel tells the tale of Rachel and Hester, who take very different approaches to survival but never abandon one another

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 08/09/2026

Bert the unwaged apprentice mixing toxic lead to make paint in The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. France banned its use in 1909 (for the health of the painters). The UK banned it in 1992.

A series of 8 panels from The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists graphic novel.
1. A barrel of white lead
2. Bert opens it and the powder escapes
3. He scoops the powers out by hand
4. He’s bent right over inside the barrel to get the last bit out
5. He’s bent tips the powder into a big vat
6. He returns the empty barrel to the dray
7. He adds other ingredients to the paint and stirs
8. He’s bent double, saying “it’s just one of my belly aches”
Poor Bert will surely go mad with lead poisoning, and then be just the right age to serve in WWI 😢

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 07/09/2026

A little bit of character design, which always has to include what people do for a living and elements of their home life

Haha yeah Christabel contained multitudes… she was also a bit pro-WWI and Royalist for my tastes. She’s the subject of one of the best portraits in the National Portrait Gallery (imho)

Christabel Pankhurst by Ethel Wright, oil painting

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It would be another 15 years before any women could vote in Britain, and even then it was only some of them. These days the suffragettes are broadly considered to be noble freedom-fighters. At the time they were terrorists. Views have changed because they (eventually) won. ✊

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The fires were extinguished pretty easily, and no-one was ever caught or prosecuted. It’s widely believed that the WSPU arson campaign was led by this woman: Christabel Pankhurst 🔥🔥🔥🔥…

Black & white photo of Pankhurst looking mighty and defiant

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Who would carry out such a heinous crime? Well, the next morning, Votes for Women and other suffrage pamphlets were found attached to trees in the grounds with ladies’ hatpins, alongside discarded petrol cans 🔥🔥🔥…

Detail from the fly leaves of No Surrender graphic novel, showing WSPU rosettes and broken glass

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Term had not yet begun, and Dulwich had the decorators in. The arsonists used one of the painters’ ladders to reach an open window on the first floor of the science building, and set fires in two different places 🔥 🔥…

A panel from The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists graphic novel, showing a decorator up a ladder. Just for fun

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 04/09/2026

What have PG Wodehouse, Raymond Chandler, Bob Monkhouse and Nigel Farage got in common? They all went to this fancy school, Dulwich College. On this day in 1913, the school was subject to an outrageous arson attack 🔥…

A stock photo of one of the UK’s most expensive boarding schools. It’s in South London. If it looks familiar, it’s a filming location for both Legally Blonde and Lara Croft Tomb Raider - nice to see strong women disrupting a boys school hehe

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Who wouldn’t enjoy a joyous jammy welcome like this?

A panel from The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists graphic novel, showing a baby in a high-chair welcoming a man home. It has jammy toast in each hand. There is jam on the tablecloth, the baby’s face, and in its hair. In the background, a woman tends to the stove-fire.

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 03/09/2026

Today is brought to you by the letter D - draw faster!

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 01/09/2026

Four years ago, we were marking up our 1910 map of Great Harwood, preparing to go location scouting for This Slavery graphic novel.

Sophie colouring in bodies of water on the map with a blue pencil

Scarlett making a list of locations to visit, using the map to guide us about what was there in 1910

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 31/08/2026

The morning after the night before… from our first graphic novel, Mann’s Best Friend

Terry Mann is asleep. A chink of harsh morning light crosses his face

Terry wakes from his drunken slumber. He knows everything is Not Okay

Terry remembers the full horror of his behaviour the night before

Terry sits up in someone else’s bed, drinking tea from someone else’s mug, head in hands. What has he done?

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 30/08/2026

Have you ever been to Rice Lane City Farm? It’s the final resting place of Robert Tressell who wrote The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, as well as some lovely animals 🐐 🐖 🦆

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 09/08/2026

Imagining what life might have been like if we hadn’t had to find a disability-friendly way to work… We have such a good time working together, and having each other really helps with the daily grind of pain, inconvenience and fatigue that our condition brings

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 05/08/2026

Would you like to WIN a set of 4 Rickard Sisters tea towels? All you have to do is 🏖️ come to Whitstable 🎨 find the Horsebridge gallery 🎟️ buy a raffle ticket at our free talk* 🤞 be lucky See you there on Thursday evening? * £ to Pilgrims Hospices

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 04/08/2026

What on earth would possess us to think about - never mind draw - a naked Trump? And what’s Timothy Claypole got to do with anything? To find out, get yourself a copy of @selfmadehero.bsky.social Count Binface Comic Book, out on Thursday 6th, preorders from @goshcomics.bsky.social 10% to Shelter

A close up crop of our entry to the Count Binface Comic Book, showing a beatific Trump wearing nothing but a golden crown 👑

A close up crop of our entry to the Count Binface Comic Book, showing Timothy Claypole, the Rent-a-Ghost jester, pointing at his own face

A close up crop of our entry to the Count Binface Comic Book, showing a balloon tie and the words “the power lies with us! Anyone can do it”

The cover of SelfMadeHero’s Count Binface Comic Book, listing the 30+ comic art creators who contributed content

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 03/08/2026

We’re coming to Whitstable on Thursday and then Oxford at the weekend - will any of you be there to say hello? Full details of all our shenanigans at RickardSisters.com

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 02/08/2026

that feeling when your brother and sister gang up on you… 🐝

Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 01/08/2026

Do we think Mamdani has read The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists? This is a key step in the book’s proposals for a better future: government stores selling the necessities of life at affordable prices

A full page of THE Ragged Trousered Philanthropists graphic novel, depicting a futurist style woman with groceries, as part of a described ‘better way’. The text reads:
“State-owned shops will supply state employees with the necessities of life at the lowest possible prices. At first the stace wil buy from private manufacturers, in huge quantities to get things cheap. There won't be any advertising. The sole aim will be to supply goods at low prices, so they will be cheaper than profit-making private stores.
The national shops will be just
for those in public service, as
they won't take metal money. At first, everyone will be paid in metal money, but public servants could opt to be paid all or part in tokens for the national shops, hotels restaurants, and so on.
The national shops will sell practically everything for low prices, so it wont be long before people will prefer tokens. Anyone unemployed and willing to work will be employed cultivating land or making food, boots, clothing, furniture, and all the necessities and comforts of life.”

A book cover: on a bottle green background a man is painting an ornate sign which reads Robert Tressell’s The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, graphic novel by Scarlett & Sophie Rickard. A young lad sits by his feet and is passing him a cup of tea in a tin mug. An older man in a painty bowler hat is reading a comic.

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 31/07/2026

🚨🗑️ new @countbinface.bsky.social comic drops 06.08.26 🗑️🚨 from @selfmadehero.bsky.social with 10% going to @sheltercharity.bsky.social Pre-order NOW from @goshcomics.bsky.social Crafted from contributions by 36 comic creators, including…

A book cover with a large cartoon Binface in a powerful pose. The Count Binface Comic Book with 36 contributors listed. Here goes:

Nick Abadzis, Krent Able, Steven Appleby, Andrew Attwell, Rachael Ball, Becky Barnicoat, Henny Beaumont, Hannah Berry, Abbigayle Bircham & Bobby Joseph, Paul Ashley Brown, Grazia Caleo & Louis Netter, Darryl Cunningham & Jonathan Edwards, Dix, Kate Evans, Babak Ganjei, Fraser Geesin, ILYA, JAKe Detonator, Rich Johnston, Rebecca K. Jones, Jonesy, Dave McKean, Peter Morey, Rob Murray, Woodrow Phoenix, Anna Readman, Scarlett & Sophie Rickard, Martin Rowson, Mark Stafford, Bryan Talbot, Edward Taylor, Myfanwy Tristram

A very zoomed in glimpse of our pages of the Count Binface comic, here showing the Count himself, celebrating in front of a somewhat demonic looking Farage holding a pint. Above Farage the letters FASCI appear before being cropped by the edge of the frame

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 29/07/2026

When we adapted This Slavery into a graphic novel, we set the action in the town where the writer, Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, lived and worked. That meant several joyous trips to Great Harwood in Lancashire - including this one after the book was finished ☔️

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 28/07/2026

Whitstable friends! Would you like to come and see us at the Horsebridge on Thursday 6th August? It’s free, and we’ll show you how and why we make our books. Tickets at thehorsebridge.org.uk

A pair of panels from No Surrender graphic novel, in which an older suffragette explains why they do ‘stunts’ for the press. “It's the only way.” she complains, “Not a single paper reported that deputation to the Home Secretary about the treatment of women in prison.” The next panel is a newspaper cutting with a big photograph. “But they couldn't resist "Suffragettes chained to the railings in Downing Street"

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 22/07/2026

Kitchens are the heart of a home, and in this case at the heart of a story. Kitchens are also workplaces, where labour happens and important meetings take place. We love kitchens.

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 12/07/2026

This one’s all about where silk comes from and what it does next. Including how Jaquard weaving was the precursor to 8-bit programming (and is all about consent) Come with us to Macclesfield 🧵 🪡 🏭

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 10/07/2026

One week until the end of term, and look how much love this book has had! Y4 absolutely loved Pets Tell Tales: Ancient Egypt @rikworth.bsky.social @jordancollver.bsky.social

The teacher holding the book Pets Tell Tales: Ancient Egypt in front of an empty classroom (the kids have gone home)

The same teacher holding the same book, but so you can see that it’s been incredibly well read, loved and used by 30 x kids

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 05/07/2026

Who’d like to come to Darcy’s house, get dressed to the nines, admire his satin bed, interrogate his tapestries, shoot his balls and marvel at his massive clock? Thank you for having us @nationaltrust.org.uk 🎩

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 21/06/2026

Hey, people of Bristol and thereabouts! Do you want to DO SOMETHING about the state of the world? Or hang out with people who do? Come to Rockaway Park next weekend for a festival of getting on and doing something www.rockawaypark.co.uk/whatson/do-i...

An amazing poster for the DIY festival featuring the Commoners Choir

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Rickard Sisters @rickardsisters.com · 21/06/2026

It turns out the most useful character to put in your graphic novel might be a pet…