‘Every comic is practice for the next one’: An interview with Polish cartoonist Tomasz Spell

Page from Zasada Trójek (The Rule of Threes). Tomasz “Spell” Grządziela is a self-taught cartoonist from Gdańsk. He writes comics, draws comics and breathes comics. His career began during the golden age of Polish webcomics, when he was best known as the creator of the strip series Stripfield. His work appeared in the comics magazines Kolektyw, Biceps and Profanum. In 2014, he made his album debut with Ostatni przystanek (Last Stop, Kultura Gniewu), a comic set aboard Gdańsk trams. He subsequently serialized Przygody Stasia i Złej Nogi (The Adventures of Stanley and Bad Leg) online before Kultura Gniewu published it in print. The bittersweet story of a likable boy who uses a wheelchair appeared on numerous lists of the best comics of 2016. In 2022, Grządziela published Zasada Trójek (The Rule of Threes), a visually arresting story about three characters living in an extraordinary city. The album earned him the Grand Prix at the International Festival of Comics and Games in Łódź, the editorial award of Nowa Fantastyka, and the Orient Men Award for Best Polish Comic of 2022 from the Polish Academy of Comic Art. I spoke with Tomasz Spell about growing up around street theater, learni...