Comics Creators At Hi-Ex 2012: Part 2

Having taken a lot of photos of the various creators at the Hi-Ex comics convention, which took place at the Eden Court complex in Inverness last weekend, there was never going to be enough room in the main downthetubes review of the con to include all the images. Instead we present a selection of those images of the creators along with links to their websites, blogs and/or Facebook pages. They are in no particular order and the first part of this photo feature is here.

Artist Nigel Dobbyn has an eclectic selection of titles to his credit from The Beano's Billy The Cat to 2000AD via Thunderbirds and Transformers. The image he is showing here is entitled Primeval Priest and is available to buy from his website.

There are more details of Nigel Dobbyn's work on his website.

Glasgow's small press Team Girl Comic have four issues to their name as well as a selection of individual contributors' own titles and did a good trade, particularly on the Saturday. Shown here are editor Gillian Hatcher (left) with contributors Coleen Campbell (centre) and Clare Yvette (right).

There are more details of Team Girl Comic on their website and Facebook page.

French artist Michel Rodrigue is currently resident in Scotland and having been at the previous Hi-Ex was back this year on the Cinebook stand. His Cinebook titles are the two modern Clifton titles Jade and Black Moon which he was signing and sketching over the weekend. He is also the writer of the French series Sybil La Fee Cartable which is on its third book in France and the first book of which has just be translated into English by Papercutz as Sybil The Backpack Fairy and he was more than happy to sketch and sign copies of it as well.

There are more details of Michel Rodrigue on Lambiek.

There are more details of Sybil The Backpack Fairy on the Papercutz website and of Clifton the the Cinebook website.

From pink fairies to something rather darker and artist John Higgin's RazerJack, the death-bitch from the Twist Dimension. To promote RazerJack, John produces illustrations at each of the conventions that he attends and here is the image that he was working on on the Sunday at Hi-Ex.

There are more details of John Higgin's work on his website and of RazerJack on its Facebook page.

Write and artist Ian Sharman is also editor of Orang Utan Comics and AAM/Markosia as well as writer of Alpha Gods and Hero: 9-5. He took part in the Hi-Ex Pitching and Portfolio session on the Sunday. His latest title, as seen above, is Hypergirl.

There are more details of Ian Sharman's work on his blog and on the Orang Utan Comics website.

Perhaps the most unusual graphic novel available over the weekend was writer and animator Leslie MacKenzie's Gaelic title Cuir Stad Ak An Stoirm Shneashda which translates as Stop The Snow Storm. With art by Shona Shirley MacDonald, it uses the idea that the first peoples of Scotland were not from the south and Europe but from the north and the Arctic regions. As part of the publishing deal with the Gaelic Books Council the title will not be published in English for several years.

There are more details of Leslie MacKenzie's work on her website while Cuir Stad Ak An Stoirm Shneashda will be available from the Gaelic Books Council website.

A comic strip with killer STDs in it just sound like the sort of thing that should be in CLiNT magazine and the editorial team of CLiNT obviously thought so too. As can be seen above, artist and writer Monty Nero's Death Sentence started life as a small press comic but will get a new lease of life, and a lot more exposure, when it begins in CLiNT Vol 2 No 1 very soon.

There are more details of Monty Nero's work on his website and blog.

Artist Will Pickering worked on the Burke and Hare graphic novel published several years ago as well as contributing to a number of Glasgow based small press titles. He was also displaying Black Hearted Press' Gabriel title written by Jim Alexander.

There are more details of Will Pickering's work on his blog.

Londonderry's Uproar Comics came together through the city's 2D Comics Festival and its 2D Collective offshoot. They publish the Zombies Hi title which is an anthology of the main ongoing Zombies Hi story backed up with short zombie text stories and comic strip and has reached its fourth issue. Set after a zombie apocalypse within the defensive walls of the City of Derry, the comic is widely distributed within Northern Ireland. Artist Kevin Logue (left) drew attendees as zombies while writer Danny McLaughlin (centre) drummed up support and artist John Campbell (right) worked on pages for forthcoming issues.

There are more details of Zombies Hi on the Uproar Comics website.

Last and by no means least, especially since one of her titles is Eagle Award nominated this year as Best European Comic, is Irish writer Maura McHugh. Her two titles for Dublin's Atomic Diner Comics are the Eagle Award nominated 1920s mystery Jennifer Wilde and the supernatural Roisin Dubh as seen above.

There are more details of Maura McHugh's work on her website.

There are more details of Jennifer Wilde and Roisin Dubh on the Atomic Diner website.


The first part of Comics Creators At Hi-Ex is here.

The Hi-Ex website is here.

The downthetubes review of Hi-Ex 2012 is here.

Comics Creators At Hi-Ex 2012: Part 1

Having taken a lot of photos of the various creators at the Hi-Ex comics convention, which took place at the Eden Court complex in Inverness last weekend, there was never going to be enough room in the main downthetubes review of the con to include all the images. Instead we present a selection of those images of the creators along with links to their websites, blogs and/or Facebook pages. They are in no particular order, but let's start with "A" anyway.

Dr Chris Murray's distinctive shirts are now well known around comics events in Scotland and, along with fellow Dundee University lecturer Phillip Vaughan, had the Anthology One book on sale. It presents the work of the students of the 2011-2012 University of Dundee's DJCAD Comics Art and Graphic Novels module as well as the winner and runners-up of the 2011 Tartan Bucket Prize that was run as part of last year's Dundee Comics Day.

Details of ordering Anthology One by post are available by e-mailing : universecomic@gmail.com

Dr Chris Murray and Phillip Vaughan are interviewed on downthetubes here and here.

Colin MacNeil is a former student at Dundee University's Duncan of Jordanstone College Of Art And Design where Phillip Vaughan lectures and supplied the rather excellent cover for Anthology One. As can be seen here, he uses chalks on a black background for his convention sketches.

Colin MacNeil's professional website is here and his Lambiek entry is here.

Another title that Colin provided the cover for is the 2012 edition of the A5 size Doctor Who comic Doctor WTF?! Contributor James Feist (left) and editor Owen Watts were there to sell both issues of this title which chronicles short adventures of 'other' incarnations of the Doctor.

There are more details of Doctor WTF?! on the title's Facebook page.

From Doctor Who to Star Wars and Star Wars: The Clone Wars artist Tanya Roberts who has been working on the junior title for some four years now. It was good to see former Star Wars Dark Empire artist Cam Kennedy comparing notes with Tanya during the weekend and it will be intriguing to she what comes of her ideas for non-licensed work in the future.

There are more details of Tanya Roberts art on her Enolian Slave DeviantArt page.

Hi-Ex co-organiser Richmond Clements is a creator in his own right as well as being an editor for Futurequake Press. As well as writing for Strip Magazine, Rich wrote the two part Turning Tiger for Renegade Arts Entertainment which is just about to be released as a special edition graphic novel.

There are more details of Richmond Clements' writing on his blog and his FQP work of the Futurequake website.

Rich's co-creator on Turning Tiger is artist Alex Moore and she was at Hi-Ex as well showing of the new title and her small press work. Alex is currently working on The Liberty graphic novel due from Markosia.

There are more details of Alex Moore's work on her website and blog.

There are more details of Turning Tiger on the Renegade Arts website.

Writer and artist Dave Shelton's comic strip Good Dog, Bad Dog was originally published weekly in The DFC and then collected into one of the hardback DFC Library titles. New episodes are due to appear in The Phoenix, a comic that he had copies of to show prospective readers which was a good thing considering that the nearest Waitrose to the venue was 155 miles away in Edinburgh. He also had copies of his new illustrated novel A Boy And A Bear In A Boat.

There are more details of Dave Shelton's work on his blog.

Manga artists Chie Kutsuwada (left) and Inko (right) were some of the hardest working of the creators over the course of Hi-Ex's two days. Both seemed to have a never ending stream of attendees wanting their portraits drawn manga style with Inko even having Cam Kennedy sit for her.

There are more details of Chi Kutsuwada's work on her blog.

There are more details of Inko's work on her blog.

Artist Graeme Neil Reid as well as having his own blog is the founder of the Scottish daily art-blog Scotch Corner. Graeme normally does his sketches before conventions which allows him to relax more during the events, as well as using them on the two blogs and compiling them into limited edition convention sketchbooks. However as the Sqaxx Dek Thargo know that he is an artdroid, he was convinced by several Hi-Ex attendees to draw them Dredd while one little girl even managed to get him to draw her a dinosaur.

There are more details of Graeme Neil Reid's work on his website, blog and on Scotch Corner.

Artist Gary Erskine is another member of Scotch Corner as well as being Eagle Award nominated this year in the Favourite Artist: Inks category. He is also rather well known nowadays for liking girls in roller skates and is working with his wife Mhairi on the Roller Grrrls title which has manifested itself before publication with rather a lot of comic conventions now having female Roller Derby teams attending - including Hi-Ex.

There are more details of Gary Erskine's work on his blog, on Scotch Corner and on the Roller Grrrls Facebook page.


The second and final part of Comics Creators At Hi-Ex will follow soon.

The Hi-Ex website is here.

The downthetubes review of Hi-Ex 2012 is here.

In Review: Hi-Ex 2012

Begun in 2008 by Richmond Clements and Vicky Stonebridge, the Highlands International Comics Expo, Hi-Ex, takes place at the Eden Court Theatre and Cinema complex on the banks of the River Ness in Inverness and, after a break in 2011, Hi-Ex was back for its fourth event over the April Fool's weekend of Saturday 31 March and 1st April 2012. As a helper on one of the sales tables this will be more of a view from "the other side" in the dealers' room than a review of the convention and its panels.

Vicky Stonebridge

Traditionally, due to its location as the most northerly comics convention in the UK as well as its pre-Easter timing, Hi-Ex and the threat of snow tend to go together. After a direct hit during the first year when heavy snow in Scotland prevented its more distant attendees from reaching Inverness, a pre-con deluge on the second year across the entire country which had been sorted in time for Hi-Ex 2, a post-con fall trapping lorries on the main road south from Inverness the day after Hi-Ex 3, it meant that travelling into a hot and sunny Inverness on the Friday before the convention was something of a culture shock for seasoned Hi-Ex-ers (although no more of a shock than the Inverness region waking up to inches of snow four days later.)

The dealers' room was open on the Friday night for setting up and it gave people a chance for a catch-up chat while they set up tables even if co-organiser Vicky Stonebridge's voice was already failing her - she would eventually give up the struggle, turn her ID badge around and write "Sorry I have lost my voice" on it.

Saturday morning was cooler but still pleasant and, with the event opening to the public at 11am, this gave the exhibitors a chance to both set up and look around the dealers' room as well as have a chat with some of the guests before the doors officially opened. Illustrator, artdroid and Scotch Cornerer Graeme Neil Reid (above left talking to Judge Burdis of the Hi-Ex Hell-Trek) is an old friend and I was behind his table as 11am brought the start of a very busy couple of hours as comics fans young and old, newbies and seasoned con-goers, streamed into the large room to see what they could find to buy.

The first panel of the day was on the subject of current British comics and included Strip Magazine and downthetubes editor John Freeman who, needless to say, had already been into the dealers' room for a chat.

The Saturday panels have been well covered by Joe Gordon over on the FPI blog and they included a talk by artists John Higgins about his multi-media concept RazorJack, artists Nigel Dobbyn and Monty Nero's art workshops, the Hi-Ex Charity Auction with all proceeds going to Children 1st (the Scottish equivalent of the NSPCC) plus discussion panels on current British and Irish comics and an exploration of Celtic (Irish and Scottish) comics.

The Saturday was so busy in the dealers' room that it wasn't that noticeable when panels started or ended as the number of attendees kept the hall busy whilst the Nasty Nessie Roller Girls provided a little excitement as they whizzed past helped on by artist Gary Erskine's Roller Grrrls concept. Meanwhile the Imperials and a solitary Tusken Raider of the 501st UK Garrison patrolled the venue at a more leisurely pace.

Saturday night was the tradition retiral to the local Chinese buffet conveniently situated between the venue and the con hotel before either a return to Eden Court for a screening of the Edinburgh-set short film Electric Man or back to take over the hotel bar. There were a few bleary eyes the next morning...

Sunday is normally a quieter day but this then allows for more chatting between the guests and exhibitors as the number of attendees in the dealers room is more affected by the panels which included workshops by Chi-Tan and Inko on Manga and Dave Shelton on children's drawing. Indeed considering how busy the two mangaka girls were doing portraits over the weekend, the workshop may have come as something of a break for them. As can be seen above, one of Inko's portraits was of artist Cam Kennedy - more a case of Kenny Yu than Kenny Who. From the old guard of Star Wars artists to the new and Clone Wars artist Tanya Roberts was showing off her new work while artist Colin MacNeil seemed to have managed to do more than his fair share of covers of many of the books and comics that were being sold in the room.

Comics education in the UK also came under the spotlight helped by Dr Chris Murray and Philip Vaughan of Dundee University while film maker John Vaughan gave a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the 1970s bee movie, The Swarm, a presentation format that he has been doing at Dublin's Octocon for the last ten years. In fact those of us at the guest/exhibitors meal on the Sunday night soon discovered that John hadn't so much kissed the Blarney Stone as tickled its tonsils!

Hi-Ex had a big Irish presence this year from both north and south of the border. From Belfast came artists and writers Andy Luke and Paddy Brown who chatted around the dealers' room as well as taking part in panels while the guys of Londonderry's Uproar Comics did a good trade in their Zombies Hi comics as well as doing zombie portraits of the attendees. From the south, as well as John Vaughan, came writers Maura McHugh and Mike Carroll both of whom had their work recognised in the Eagle Award nominations this year.

And all too soon it was over save for one very important fact - the £1907 that Hi-Ex raised for the Children First charity. In these times of austerity when people are counting their money more carefully than ever before, and when so many other comics events are now run to make a profit for their organisers, Vicky Stonebridge and Richmond Clements are to be congratulated for such a enjoyable and family-friendly event that raised so much money for charity.

OTHER VOICES...

• Vicky Stonebridge and Richmond Clement's own thoughts on how it went on the Hi-Ex website.

• Joe Gordon's account of the Saturday's events on the Forbidden Planet International blog.


• Highland News coverage of the event and a pre-con interview with John Freeman about the Team MOBILE project for ROK Comics

• Georgina Coburn's review on the Northlings blog.


• BBC News concentrates on the Star Wars cosplayers.

• Hi-Ex attendees can play spot the familiar faces in the background in Breaking News North's video report on the weekend.

And finally... Scottish Television's news section not really understanding what was going on - "workshops, art classes and discussion panels with leading comedy writers."

Review Of Scottish Comics Events In 2011

Over the last few years downthetubes contributor Jeremy Briggs has collated a Scottish Comics Events Review Of The Year.

These articles originally came about after discussions at the first Hi-Ex comics convention in Inverness in 2008 showed that many people were unaware of the extent of comics events north of the border and that there was a general consensus amongst the Scottish attendees that such events only happened in the Midlands and the south of England. The aim of these articles therefore was to document all comics related events in Scotland that were open to the general public, from talks to exhibitions, workshops to conventions

The first two years reviews were published in the Hi-Ex convention brochures with the Hi-Ex 2 brochure covering those events in 2008 and the Hi-Ex 3 brochure covering those events in 2009. With the postponement of Hi-Ex in 2011 the home of the reviews moved, with the blessing of the Hi-Ex organisers, to the downthetubes main site where the 2010 review was published for the first time and the previous two reviews were reprinted.

As the reviews were originally so closely tied to the Hi-Ex convention, Jeremy has held back publication of the 2011 review this year to allow it to once again tie in with the Hi-Ex convention that is taking place this weekend, Saturday 31 March and Sunday 1 April 2012. Jeremy will be attending the convention on both Saturday and Sunday while downthetubes editor John Freeman will be there on the Saturday.

You can read the Scottish Comics Events Review Of The Year for 2011 here.

Previous Scottish Comics Events Reviews are below:
• Review Of The Year 2008
• Review Of The Year 2009
• Review Of The Year 2010

Reviews of the previous three Hi-Ex conventions can be found on the downthetubes blog:
• Hi-Ex in 2008
• Hi-Ex 2 in 2009
• Hi-Ex 3 in 2010

There are more details of the Hi-Ex Comics Convention on their website.

Good Cop, Bad Cop checks into High-Ex

If you're planning a trip to the Highlands for the Hi-Ex Comic Expo next weekend, then be sure to track down the latest comics from Black Hearted Press, run by Jim Alexander, David Brayher, John Farman and Sha Nazir.

Black Hearted Press is a new Scottish comic book publisher promoting new, exciting and diverse creator owned, collaborative comic books whose first release was Black Maria issue 616. Building on that success, they've added several new titles including the much-praised School of the Damned, Gabriel and Scout One.

Their latest title is Good Cop, Bad Cop by ace writer Jim Alexander, whose credits include stories for 2000AD, DC and Marvel Comics and Metal Hurlant.

In a modern and suitably macabre take on Jekyll and Hyde, the Good Cop and Bad Cop just happen to be the same person and the first issue features three all-new stories written by Jim, with art by Garry McLaughlin (Junkie Dad, Year of Fear, Taking Flight).

With suitably black humour and some nice touches on the characterisation, it's a project with immense potential - I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops. For example, given the Bad Cop's predilection for killing, rather than arresting villains, how will Good Cop cover the tracks of his alter ego? Do they have entirely different DNA, for example?

I'm sure this is the kind of thing Jim will be having fun with in later issues.

Also out is Scout One, what Jim previously described as "a super-hero strip with a difference." Sha Nazir's art lends the story a gritty DC Thomson look, and the first issue again features three stories from the mythology of Scout One.

"The story has a Doctor Who sensibility to it," says Jim. "There's a real sense of adventure and fun to be had. Something parents and kids can both enjoy."

Hi-Ex takes place at Eden Court, Inverness 31st March - 1st April. Other guests include Jim Montynero, one of the creators on CLiNT, Rok Comics editor John Freeman, artist Graeme Neil Reid, Inko and many more. More info at www.hi-ex.co.uk.

• Black Hearted Press: www.blackheartedpress.co.uk

• Jim Alexander's blog: http://jimalwriter.blogspot.com

Taisbeanadh Comaig Eadar-Naiseanta Na Gaidhealtachd 2012

Aren't you glad that they let us call it Hi-Ex?

A reminder that the Highlands International Comics Expo will be taking place at Eden Court on the banks of the River Ness in Inverness itself on Saturday 31 March and Sunday 1 April. Doors open from 11am to 5pm each day.

Guests include artists Cam Kennedy, Nigel Dobbyn, Tanya Roberts, Gary Erskine and Chie Kutsuwada, writers Maura McHugh, Al Ewing, Jim Alexander, Ferg Handley and Michael Carroll, plus downthetubes' own John Freeman in his not-so-secret identity of editor of STRIP Magazine.

All the details of Hi-Ex 2012, including a full guest list and details of how to get advance tickets, are on the Hi-Ex website and their Facebook page

Celtic Conventions: Hi-Ex and 2D Return In 2012

We missed out on mentioning Hi-Ex 2012 in our run-up to Christmas so let's set the record straight now. The fourth Hi-Ex will be taking place on Saturday 31 March and Sunday 1 April on the banks of the river Ness at Eden Court in Inverness.

Guests announced so far include writers Jim Alexander, Michael Carroll, Al Ewing and Ferg Handley, and artists Gary Erskine, John Higgins, Cam Kennedy, Colin MacNeil and Tanya Roberts, who has provided the convention with its fun poster art of Tank Girl, Dredd, Dennis and Gnasher riding Nessie.

Tickets are already available from the Eden Court's website.

There are more details of the event and all the guests on the Hi-Ex website and blog.

The downthetubes reviews of previous Hi-Ex weekends are here - 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Across the water in Northern Ireland the sixth 2D Comics Festival will be taking place in its usual location of the Verbal Arts Centre in Londonderry from Thursday 31 May to Saturday 2 June, with the main full day event of the 2D Comics Fair taking place on the Saturday. As with all the previous 2D Festivals, entrance will be free to everyone and, like Hi-Ex, the event is aimed at all the family.

Also free at 2D are the dealers tables which give small pressers from both north and south of the Irish border a great platform to get their publications and work on display to a wider audience at minimal cost. Guests have yet to be announced but in previous years have included well known names from the British mainland.

There are more details of the 2012 2D Festival on their Facebook page.

The downthetubes review of the 2011 2D is here.

Dundee Comics Day 2011 - Other Voices

downthetubes has been reviewing the Dundee University comics events run by Dr Chris Murray for many years, long before they were labelled as the Dundee Comics Day, and those reviews were often the only independent record of those events. Indeed Dundee University regarded those reviews highly enough to link through to them from their own website. So it is good to see that this year's Dundee Comics Day has generated many more reviews and comments than normal.

Laura Sneddon at Comic Book Resources provides a detailed review of the event talks with lots of quotes from the guests.

Ariadne Cass-Maran at Graphic Scotland reviews the event and points out the lack of female guests without actually suggesting any female creators that could have been invited. Indeed this is the first Dundee event for many years not to have any female guests who, in the past, have included The Beano's Laura Howell, Vampire Academy's Emma Vieceli, Manga Shakespeare's Nana Li and Metaphrog's Sandra Marrs as well as Northumbria University's Dr Mel Gibson.

Rich Clements and Vicky Stonebridge of Inverness' Hi-Ex comics convention show the sense of community that exists amongst comics fans in Scotland by giving DCD a glowing review on the Hi-Ex blog.

Gillian Hatcher of Team Girl Comic, who just might have managed a sneak preview of one of the runner-up entries in the Tartan Bucket Prize, enjoyed her day and hopefully made some useful contacts as well.

Writer and former Tharg David Bishop remembers John Wagner's words of wisdom.

Artist Katie Morrison reviews the day with a good selection of photos.

And finally, a selection of people from the 2000AD Online forum discuss the day.

Hi-Ex 2012 Dates Announced

Where are you going to be on Saturday 31 March and Sunday 1 April 2012? The chances are that many of you will be in Inverness - whether you know it yet or not.

Hi-Ex organisers Vicky Stonebridge and Rich Clements have announced that, after a year off, the Highlands International Comics Expo will return in 2012 with the fourth Hi-Ex taking place over the April Fool's weekend at its regular venue of the Eden Court complex on the banks of the River Ness in Inverness.

With Scotland still to experience the first Glasgow Comic Con in June, the third Oxfam Comics Day in Edinburgh (probably in late summer) and the fifth Dundee Comics Day at the end of October, Hi-Ex may seem a very long way off but with the second Cardiff comics expo announced for February, 2012 is already shaping up nicely for comics conventions.

Considering the Saturday night at Hi-Ex now traditionally involves taking over an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant in the early evening followed by an all out assault on the convention bar until the wee small hours in an attempt to drink it dry, Sunday morning 1st April may prove to be an interesting experience.

There are more details of the Hi-Ex convention on the Hi-Ex website and blog.

The downthetubes reviews the previous Hi-Ex conventions are here -
Hi-Ex 2008
Hi-Ex 2009
Hi-Ex 2010

Three Years Worth of Scottish Comics Events

For many people the highlight of the comics year in Scotland over the past three years has been the Highlands International Comics Expo, Hi-Ex, organised by Richmond Clements and Vicky Stonebridge and held in Inverness in the first few months of each year.

For the last two years downthetubes contributor Jeremy Briggs has provided the Hi-Ex convention brochure with a review of the previous year's comics events in Scotland, with the Hi-Ex 2 brochure covering those events in 2008 and the Hi-Ex 3 brochure covering those events in 2009.

These articles came about after discussions at the first Hi-Ex showed that many people were unaware of the extent of comics events north of the border and that there was a general consensus amongst attendees that such events only happened in the Midlands and the south of England. The aim of these articles therefore was to document all comics related events in Scotland that were open to the general public, from talks to exhibitions, workshops to conventions.

Despite the decision to postpone Hi-Ex 4 from 2011 to 2012, Jeremy chose to continue with his annual Scottish review for 2010 and so, with the blessing of Rich and Vicky, downthetubes presents his 2010 review of comics events in Scotland on the downthetubes main site, as well as reprinting the 2008 and 2009 reviews from the Hi-Ex convention brochures.

Scottish Comics Events:
• Review Of The Year 2008
• Review Of The Year 2009
• Review Of The Year 2010


• More details of Hi-Ex, as well as photos from the past three conventions, can be found on the Hi-Ex website and the new Hi-Ex blog.

Reviews of the three Hi-Ex conventions can be found on the downthetubes blog:
• Hi-Ex in 2008
• Hi-Ex 2 in 2009
• Hi-Ex 3 in 2010

Hi-Ex 2011 Cancelled

Bad news from Scotland this evening: the organisers of the popular annual Highlands comics convention Hi-Ex have announced that there will not be one in 2011.

"There's no easy way of saying this, so we'll just come right out with it: there isn't going to be a HiEx in 2011," co-organisers Richmond Clements, editor of Futurequake, and artist Vicky Stonebridge announced in a joint statement earlier today.

"We know, it's terrible! But at the moment, we simply don't have the spare time available over the next few months to get things ready on time and to do it justice and give you the event you deserve."

Vicky and Rich, who are clearly downhearted at having to make the decision, also revealed they have been struggling with finding sponsorship for the event - which should come as no surprise as arts funding cuts begin to bite across the UK.

"We fully intend to return in 2012 (the End of the World not withstanding!)," the pair also announced, "and hopefully that extra time will give us more room to find sponsorship and/or grant money and get things organised!

"...It really is the last thing we're wanting to do, but we have to be realistic with the amount of work required compared to the number of hours we have available to do it."

We're sure this is disappointing news for the event's growing legion of fans, including those who even organised their own "Hell-Trek" to get to Inverness in a mini-bus from southern England last year. Let's hope 2012 proves more receptive to comics events beyond the Cairngorms...

• Hi-Ex web site: www.hi-ex.co.uk

Hi-Ex 2011: Fourth Fling In The Highlands

After the run of Scottish comics events that we have been reporting on over the last few days, it seems appropriate to mention the biggest Scottish comics event of them all, the Highland Expo - Hi-Ex.

In 2007 when Richmond Clements and Vicky Stonebridge started planning their Highland Comics Exposition they can hardly have envisaged that they would still be at it four years later. That first Hi-Ex comics convention took place in Inverness' Eden Court theatre in February 2008 and Hi-Ex 4 will return there once again in 2011.

Hi-Ex has always supported the same charity over its three years, Children 1st, and this year the convention presented them with a cheque for £2331.35 raised by the charity auction, raffles, signings and various other activities over that busy weekend in March. This total more than doubled the amount that the convention had raised for the charity in its previous two years.

The dates for Hi-Ex 4 are 26-27 March 2011 and when it will be held in the Eden Court Centre on the banks of the Ness River in the centre of Inverness.

More details will be available on the Hi-Ex website closer to the time.

The downthetubes reviews of the three Hi-Ex conventions to date are here - 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Photo Review: Hi-Ex 2010

There was something missing at Hi-Ex this year - snow.

After two years of heavy snow either on or just before the convention's weekend, organisers Richmond Clements and Vicky Stonebridge pushed this year's date back from mid-February to the end of March and it worked - just.



Saturday 27th March dawned sunny, dry and not too cold at the Eden Court complex in Inverness, and while the Sunday wasn't as bright, there was no snow. Even the Monday morning, for those travelling home that day, was also dry and sunny. It was third time lucky for Hi-Ex as the snow stayed away – at least until the Monday night, when lorries were trapped on the M90 motorway unable to climb the hills on either side of the Strathearn valley in Perthshire, the same road so many of us had driven south on in the 24 hours beforehand.

Snow really did seem to be the only thing missing from the convention this year. So what was there?

Stormtroopers - check; got to have those these days and there was even a Star Wars artist present as well.

2000AD artists from new young upstarts to those seasoned enough that they were about to retire - check; Brit-Cit had sent a Rad-wagon through the northern wastes to the wilds of Cal-Hab just to see them.

Female mangaka with long queues of youngsters wanting their portraits done manga style - check; were the manga queues longer than the 2000AD queues? Hard to tell but there can't have been much in it either way.

Goodie bags - check; good(ie) grief, will we ever forget the number of DC comics badges that were around the convention?

Small press publishers with a bewildering variety of home made zines - check; not quite so small press publishers with their professionally printed comics - check; two big comics shops with all the selection of professional comics and graphic novels that you would expect - check.

Old favourites like Cinebook with their wide selection of bande dessinee titles and Mark Stevens with his scratch build science fiction models - check.

New favourites such the DFC people with their new DFC Library books and children's storybooks and the stall manned by DC Thomson writers, artists and editors that was selling DC Thomson merchandise (but wasn't a DC Thomson stall – nope, definitely not a DC Thomson stall) - check.



Hi-Ex certainly ticked all the boxes this year. Team Hi-Ex - Rich, Vicky, Ish and Lukas - did us all proud and hopefully we all did the Scottish children's charity, Children 1st, proud as well with the total amount to be donated to them easily set to beat the previous year's amount. Roll on next year.

* * * * * * * *

The calm before the storm - final touches being put to the tables in the main hall just before the doors opened on Saturday morning.



Dandy and Beano artist Stephen White at his first comics convention checks out Graeme Neil Reid's table and gets a few tips on surviving a two day Scottish convention with your sanity (almost) intact from someone who has been at every Hi-Ex.



Stevie then started into sketches of various Dandy and Beano characters for an ongoing stream of delighted children.



Meanwhile Graeme, who tends to do his sketches beforehand and puts them up on his blog, took the time to do several sketches on the Sunday including this one of Judge Death.



"Fun for all and all for fun", artist Gordon Tait, ex-Dandy editor Morris Heggie and artist Stevie White on the 'not the DC Thomson' table.



Opposite DCT was the DFC area with Gary Northfield, Dave Shelton, Jim Medway and Sarah McIntyre. While the Gerry Anderson fans in the crowd may have been wondering why she wasn't wearing a purple wig, Morris Heggie couldn't resist the chance to get a signed copy of Sarah's storybook Morris the Mankiest Monster...



...while the nearby wall began to show off the efforts of the children who were helped by Sarah to create space monsters over the two days.



What does DFC stand for? Dodgy Fotographic Contortions? Sarah gets enthusiastic about photographing Dave and the resulting photo is on her blog and shows that this was actually worth it.



From Brit comics to Franco-Belgian and over at the Cinebook stall, Aldous shows off the latest translated Lucky Luke soon, no doubt, to top their sales charts...



...while at the other end of the table French artist Michel Rodrigue, in his first UK convention appearance, was busy sketching retired secret agent Clifton...



...and his dishy sidekick Jade for those buying his Clifton books that have been translated into English by Cinebook.



Continuing artists row and Alex Moore, who is working on Hi-Ex co-organiser Richmond Clements' Turning Tiger comic, was wired for sound...



...while Titan Star Wars artist Tanya Roberts was bright and ready to go on the Sunday morning when rather a lot of people were feeling the combined effects of the all-you-can-eat meal and the bar from the night before plus the jump to British Summertime that morning.



Beside Tanya was mangaka Inko all set for the queues of people wanting manga portraits of themselves...



... while around the corner Asia Alfasi was dazzling us with her smile and her lovely 'business cards', small scrolls with artwork on one side and her details on the other, all tied up in a red ribbon.



Meanwhile under a set of ridiculously large Kick-ass posters were the (mainly) 2000AD artdroids, Colin MacNeil (here doing his best Terry Pratchett impersonation)...



...along with artists Simon Fraser and Charlie Adlard who all never quite seemed to loose the queues for sketches on the Saturday.



On the Sunday the group came together for a History of 2000AD talk which also brought in artist Cam Kennedy, who had been happily walking round the main hall and signing autographs, as well as artist John Higgins and writer Al Ewing.



If 2000AD and the Megazine wasn't enough Thrillpower for you then Dave Evans (BOLT-01) of Futurequake Press was on-hand with the latest issues of Zarjaz and Dogbreath which proved to be very popular.



The Scotch Corner Art Blog was well represented with Graeme Neil Reid, Simon Fraser and here, Gary Erskine, behind tables all weekend along with a quick appearance by Tom Crielly on the Saturday.



No one was going to miss Terry Martin and his text based Murky Depths magazine with the most impressive display of any of the tables...



...while Alpha Gods' Ian Sharman, having serenaded Thoughtbubble punters in Leeds last November, left his guitar at home this time. From small press to smaller press and the international duo of Kyle Rogers and Cliodhna Lyons who hail from the Republic Of Ireland, live in London and now sell in Scotland...



...while Paul Thomson of the Newcastle-Upon-Tyne based Paper Jam Comics Collective had a wide selection of Paper Jam titles available as well as the critically acclaimed Omnivistascope which was trumpeting the fact that each of its five issues had been Fanzine Of The Month in SFX magazine.



The 21st century fanzines that we call blogs were also present, downthetubes (obviously) included, but Joe Gordon of the FPI blog trumped us all by not just tweeting from the convention but also posting a blog piece up while in the convention hall itself. He may have thought he had hidden himself away in a dark corner in an attempt to recreate the atmosphere of FPI Edinburgh's blog cave but you can't hide from a long lens.



Meanwhile, in downthetubes' ongoing attempts not to show pictures of Stormtroopers pointing guns at people kneeling on the ground, here we have the horrified reaction of one Stormtrooper to the idea that there may be more than one type of rebel.



Of course, the thing to remember about the Eden Court complex is with its theatres, cinema screens, meeting rooms, bar and restaurant, Hi-Ex was never going to have the entire place to itself, which must have surprised and thoroughly bemused the patrons of the Inverness Operatic Society when they arrived on the Saturday afternoon to see the Society's performance of Titanic and were confronted with a varied selection of Stormtroopers, Zombies and Manga characters as they walked around the corner.



Whatever they thought, for us, as in its previous two years, Hi-Ex was great fun.