Greg Griffith Introduces 'Mr Grimez The Anti-Hero'

Our very own Social Reporter/Blogger, Greg Griffith has written and published his first in what will be a line of an exciting series of comic books! Mr Grimez: The Anti Hero is hot off the press and ready for purchase at Orbital Comics.

We were delighted to discover he was writing a comic book, when he developed his idea at Social Startup Labs back in July last year. We caught up with Greg to hear about his comic book journey.

"Firstly I will give myself a pat on the back for what I have achieved since July 28th 2012. That was the date I released the Mr Griméz comic online in the digital world, which was the project I launched at Social Startup Labs. At first things were slow but I would always notice some minor changes which would help my situation to evolve.

During the time after I released the first issue many people were asking about the second issue. I felt it was not the right time to produce a second comic as I did not want to rush this project. My mission is to make as many people as possible know about the first issue. I really want to get out of my limbo situation so I was thinking of ways to gain more exposure. This included dressing up as my character Mr Griméz for the Volcano Life Arts event at the Brixton Jamm on November 7th 2012. Boy was that a good week but seriously it was a good experiment as I did get a lot of attention for my mask. Some people were scared of it, I think they got the expression I was from some low budget horror film. Plus since Halloween just passed some people thought I still had the spirit of it stuck in me. No this was not the case, I knew the mask would get attention so it served its purpose. Mr Griméz being a misunderstood character in the comic it also reflected in real life so that was interesting.

I wanted to pick up the pace and bring the story into the physical realm. I decided to print some copies and my friend told me about a store called Orbital Comics which would accept my comic. There is no way on earth I could have turned down this opportunity even though I was bit skeptical at first.

I still believe that this is just the first stage of my journey so for now I will keep in control of my destiny.That's important because it's not about other people taking control of your life. If this is the case you will never be happy and you will be stuck in a cycle of sadness.

I'm glad I'm breaking free of any restrictions, onwards and upwards."

Please check out his Mr Grimez Facebook Page for more of Mr Grimez's antics!

The first Social Startup Lab!

On Tuesday the 15th of June, London Creative Labs held the first of its Social Startup Labs in Vauxhall, South London.

At Social Startup Labs, 50 participants (social entrepreneurs from across London) learned by doing how communities can work together to create and grow social businesses that provide or enable employment opportunities for all (including the disadvantaged) and make their neighbourhoods better places to live, work and play!

Overview video. Actual lab footage available later!

At the end of the day, five social ventures successfully emerged with clear actions to be taken within a week of the Lab.

The Event in three sentences.

The morning was about building the bigger picture of needs, assets and opportunities of a bunch of people in a room.

The afternoon was about taking action that was informed by the bigger picture from the morning.

The power of community was used to encourage and provide lift-off for individual initiatives, working them from idea to social startup, social project or to bring fresh teams around existing social project or startups.

Photos by Pip Dudrah

For unedited feedback, output and to get involved: read the full Lab Report!

The next Social Startup Labs will be take place on the 23rd of July. Info and tickets here.