| Society of Strip Illustration | |
| Founders: | Denis Gifford |
| Abbreviation: | SSI |
| Dissolved: | 2008 |
| Type: | Comics creators organization |
| Status: | Defunct |
| Purpose: | Networking, presentation of annual awards for achievement in the comics field |
| Location: | London |
| Region Served: | United Kingdom |
| Membership: | UK comic book creators |
| Leader Title: | Chairman |
| Leader Name: | David Lloyd (1982–1983) Mark Buckingham (1988) Nicholas Vince (1992–1993) |
The Society of Strip Illustration (SSI), later known as the Comics Creators Guild, was a British network for all those involved in any stage of the creative process of comics production. The SSI, which was co-founded in 1977 by Denis Gifford,[1] met monthly in London,[2] published a newsletter, and distributed annual awards for achievement in the field. Despite the organization's name, most members were comic book creators, as opposed to those of comic strips like those found in The Beano and The Dandy.
SSI members included Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, John Bolton, Kevin O'Neill, Paul Neary,[3] Jim Baikie, Arthur Ranson,[4] Tony Weare,[5] Keith Watson, Alan Davis, Mark Farmer, Alan Grant, Bryan Talbot, David Lloyd, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, Mark Buckingham,[6] Nicholas Vince, and John Maybury. For a while in the 1970s, the SSI met at the London Sketch Club in Dilke Street, Chelsea.[7]
In November 1980, the SSI hosted a conference which resulted in the publication of Strips '80, an introduction to the Society and a directory of its members.
According to Brian Bolland, in the early 1980s, scouts from DC Comics came to SSI meetings to recruit British creators to work on DC titles,[8] leading to the so-called British Invasion.
The 1981 Society of Strip Illustration Awards were distributed on Saturday, October 31, at Comicon '81, held at the Regent Centre Hotel, London.[9]
In October 1982, the SSI sponsored a "Teach-In and Work-In" at the Westminster Comic Mart, with a number of creators from 2000 AD and Warrior talking about and presenting their work.[10] David Lloyd was chairman of the SSI, and editor of the newsletter,[11] at this time.[12] A later chairman was Mark Buckingham.[13]
The SSI became the Comics Creators Guild in 1992;[14] Nicholas Vince was secretary and then chairman of the Guild from 1992 to 1993.[15] The Guild's newsletter became known as Comics Forum; it was published quarterly from 1992 to 2004, and then annually until 2008.
The Guild appears to have dissolved some time after 2008.
The SSI distributed awards from 1977 until at least 1989; in 1988 the awards were renamed The Mekon Award (in honor of The Mekon of Mekonta, the arch-enemy of the British comic book hero Dan Dare). When the SSI became the Comics Creators Guild in 1992, the award name was again changed, this time to the Comics Creators Guild Award.