Kapow convention cancelled, but back in 2014

A busy workload for Millarworld Productions that included the upcoming 'Pavillion of Dreams' for BBC Scotland has led to the cancellation of Kapow next year

Bad news for fans of the Mark Millar-initiated Kapow Comic convention, which has been held in London for the last two years - there won't be one in 2013.

The ComicBookMovie news site broke the news that Millarworld and Millarworld Productions have announced that due to work commitments - which not only nclude new comics but TV and film productions - they simply not have time to arrange the convention, but plan to return in 2014.

Here's the statement from the Millar team in full:

 

Dear Friends,

Due to an increased workload in Millarworld and Millarworld Productions, we will not have time to arrange another wonderful Kapow! Comic Convention in 2013.

Sarah and I have had to make a very tough decision, and after much deliberation and poring over upcoming work schedules, we have decided to put Kapow! 2013 on hold. The event is a genuine pleasure to work on and everyone has been a total delight, but this year we are unable to dedicate the time necessary to deliver a weekend that once again exceeds the expectations of attendees, guests, exhibitors, publishers and studios.

Millarworld Productions first TV show ‘Pavilion of Dreams’ is scheduled to air on BBC One Scotland on Jan 3rd at 9pm and in 2013 both myself and Sarah will be heavily involved in the development and production of various TV shows and feature films.

We hope to return with an even bigger and better show for Kapow! 2014.

Best wishes and enjoy Christmas and New Year,

Lucy & Sarah Unwin

 

In Pavillion of Dreams (9.00-10.00pm Thursday 3 January BBC One Scotland) viewers will discover keeping the dreams alive at the Pavilion Theatre Glasgow hasn’t been easy over the decades. Like Circus folk, General Manager Iain Gordon, his family and his dedicated staff have always been all hands to the pumps to keep one of the last original totally unsubsidised Variety Theatres open for business.

This film from Millarworld Productions offers a unique peek behind the scenes as Iain and a well-known cast prepare for this year’s Christmas panto The Wizard of Never Woz, a roller coaster ride of rehearsals, singing, dancing and finally The Opening Night. Along the way, the programme features comments and interviews from stars that have also graced the stage over the years; from Ken Dodd, Lena Martell, Sydney Devine to the phenomenon that is Mrs Brown’s Boys.

• More info: www.paviliontheatre.co.uk/pavilion-of-dreams and www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pp3qy

 

Steve Parkhouse and Peter Hogan talk Resident Alien

Get along to the Kapow! convention, Islington Design Centre tomorrow to hear an episode of Panel Borders being recorded live, as Alex Fitch talks to writer Peter Hogan and artist Steve Parkhouse about their new serialised comic Resident Alien, published by Dark Horse.

The comic tells the tale of a 'grey' alien becoming a small town doctor in the USA and Alex will be talking to the creators about the genesis of the comic as well as Peter previous experience of writing about grey aliens in Vector 13 for 2000AD and Steve's earlier comic of suburban weirdness, The Bojeffries Saga with Alan Moore.

The panel is at 2.30pm, Sunday 20th May 2012, Room A, Kapow! comics convention, Islington Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, London N1 0QH

• More info at http://kapowcomicconvention.com/node/307

Mega Signing at Forbidden Planet London this Friday

Forbidden Planet London is capitalising on Kapow this coming weekend by having a fantastic line-up of artists and writers for a fabulous Friday Night Mega-Signing.

"On Friday 18th May, from 6 – 7pm, at the London Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, we’ll have a huge and one-off event, taking place with an amazing line-up of guests," said a spokesperson. " Jock, Andy Belanger, Becky Cloonan, Trevor McCarthy, Conor McCreery, Anthony Del Col, Scott Snyder... We’ll also have all the hottest titles including Batman: Gates of Gotham, Batman: The Black Mirror, Demo and the wonderfully off-the-wall Kill Shakespeare graphic novels.

Sounds like the perfect way to warm up for the weekend, with Kapow expecting thousands of comics fans at their event.

- You can find this on our website at: http://forbiddenplanet.com/events/2012/05/18/friday-night-mega-signing/

Kapow breaks world records, announces 2012 return

Kapow ComicCon.
Photo: http://www.stereoartist.com/blog/.
See Original on flickr

Guinness World Records, the official authority on record-breaking, has confirmed that two new Guinness World Records were set at the Kapow Comic Convention over the past weekend.

Comic book artists from across the industry came together to achieve new records for the ‘Fastest Production of a Comic-book’ (11 hours 19 min 38 sec) and ‘Most Contributors to a Comic-Book’ (62 contributors).

Talent including Kick Ass creator Mark Millar, cult Glaswegian artist Frank Quitely, Doctor Who and Superman writer Paul Cornell and iconic Marvel artist John Romita Jr worked throughout the day to create a new Superior comic book title. 62 contributors in total contributed to the comic-book, with the story concept, script, dialogue and all panels illustrated and lettered in one day.  “This is normally at least four weeks work and has be done in the space of a single day” explained Millar.

Guinness World Record adjudicators were on-site to confirm all guidelines were followed and to determine the records had indeed been accomplished. Gaz Deaves, Editor of Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition, said: “It was a fantastic opportunity to see some of the most successful comic creators in the world working together for this Guinness World Records title. Watching the components of a real comic book slowly emerge over the day and combine into the finished article was both deeply intimidating and hugely entertaining.”

The comic-book will be printed and distributed through Marvel’s Icon imprint, with all royalties being donated to Yorkhill Children’s Foundation. “Children in hospital love to read comic books to while away the hours on the wards," noted Shona Cardle, Chief Executive of the Foundation, " and we’re sure that this new comic will be a hit with the young patients at Yorkhill Hospital”.

Yorkhill Children’s Foundation provides enhanced medical equipment and resources which benefit sick children and babies who are treated at Yorkhill Hospital and within NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. These can include innovative medical equipment, improvements in child and family facilities and paediatric research and training.

The Kapow! Comic Convention team have announced that the event will return in 2012, "with film studios and exhibitors already lining up to book."  

• Read our Kapow Convention Report  

• Official Kapow Website: http://www.kapowcomiccon.com

• Yorkhill Children’s Foundation

Kapow: A Round Up

Kapow ComicCon. Photo: Stereo @rtist. See Original on flickr

(with thanks to Dave Stokes for letting us re-publish his Round Up - original version, with swearing, on his blog here; and Stero @rtist Ketan Majmudar for permission to use some of his super pictures of the event)

Mark Millar's first Kapow event, which included comics, film and TV panels, signings and the presentation of the first Stan Lee Awards (winners below). took place in London at the weekend. It seems to have gone well, judging from the many positive comments on Twitter and initial reports, although there has been some criticism of the amount of queuing and a lack of information on what was on in the run up to the event.

Here's a personal account of Saturday's proceedings by artist Dave Stokes, plus web links to other reports and news items that sprang from the event. We'll add to that list as more get posted.

Our thanks to everyone who offered their take on proceedings for this site.
 

So after falling in from the first annual Kapow Comic Con I promptly blacked out. Only to wake just now! So I guess this is as good a time as any to do a bit of a write up.

I'll get the negative out of the way first. I'm not proclaiming to be some sort of convention expert - this was only my second big comic convention - but I felt the information available prior to the con was a little lacklustre. The last con I attended had their panel schedule, floor plans (with a list of who every table was allocated too), and signing schedule all emailed to me ahead of leaving for the con.

Judge Dredd - aka 2000AD archivist Wakefield Carter
Photo: Stereo @rtist

I knew what books I could take to get signed, knew which artists were going to be in artists alley so I could go look up their sketch prices to help me plan my budget, etc.

I'm not the most organised person but I don't think going to a con without some vague gameplan is a great idea. All the books I took to get signed today, every single one, the creators aren't signing till tomorrow. I took a couple of movie posters for the new Thor movie to see if I could get those signed only to find when I got there that the Thor movie guests weren't on any signing schedule.

So I spent the day carrying a quite a bit of dead weight.

That's probably my only major gripe with the convention.

Now the postive. The turnout was great, at the busiest time of the day the show floor was rammed. There were some queuing snafus with the incredibly popular signing guests (John Romita Jr, Mark Millar etc) at times. Fortunately, most of the more popular panels were during "peak" times so the queues for those (on a balcony above the show floor) really helped the congestion a bit.

Stormtrooper and Black Cat. Photo: Stereo @rtist. See original on Flicker

The cosplayers looked awesome! Although every single time I walked passed a cosplayer who was stopping to get a photo taken, I could hear someone  just out of my eyeline make some snide comment about them. I'm not exaggerating either, literally everytime. The queue to get in first thing in the morning was the worst, pretty much 2-3 people deep either side of me in the queue were tearing into every cosplayer in the line that "dared" show off their costume on the streets.

Phoenix and Ghostbuster. Photo: Stereo @Artist
Original on Flickr here

RANT INCOMING! What the f*** is people's problem? You don't want to dress up? Fine, no one is asking you to. That Harley Quinn doesn't have that quite leggy, big boobed comic book figure so you want to spout some quite hurtful comments (not loud enough for her to hear though, thankfully) when you look like a passable Clayface even without make-up.

It's not like there were any Hawkmen with eight foot wingspans choking up already narrow aisles. If you're at a comic convention, you're a geek. There's no cool geeks, jock geeks whatever, that person you think you're entitled to rip the piss out of is just the same as you, so if you don't have anything nice to say, keep it to your fucking self. How are you people 30+ years old and still have yet to learn this very basic life lesson?

Costume Competition Line up - Kapow Comic Con 2011. Photo: Stereo @rtist.

I think the cosplayers all looked awesome! Some of the costumes were top notch and really detailed. The Penguin especially was a real standout for me personally. he looked like he literally stepped out of the Batman Animated Series. I certainly don't have the balls to do it so who am I to criticise.


I only actually made it into one panel: the DC Comics Creators panel with Paul Cornell, Pete Milligan and Frank Quietly which was a lot of fun, but didn't really break any news that hasn't been seen elsewhere. Paul Cornell was a standout as he's such an enthusiastic and genuinely funny guy that he had the audience rolling in the aisles.

I do regret not getting into a couple more panels, especially the Green Lantern one, as I'm really looking forward to Emerald Knights and, obviously, the movie. But even getting to the queue 45 minutes before the panel starts and being faced with a huge line was a bit off putting. The Thor movie panel were even asking people to surrender their phones and cameras before being seated, which is fair I guess, but I wasn't prepared to part with my phone (anyone who knows me that my luck would have worked against me and I'd never see the phone again) so I skipped that panel also.

Early on the day I had a great chat with fantasy artist Manon who had the most gorgeous, incredible work on display in her portfolio. Her high end prints look amazing, and I was sorely tempted to grab one, but that would have decimated my weekend budget in one fell swoop. I was gutted, I'm going to start saving my pennies again and grab a print through her website eventually.

Despite being under the weather with what seemed like the start of a failing voice she was really open and informative about her process and her transition over to painting digitally in the last few years. Her work's very diverse with great humour pieces side by side with thoughtful portraits and stunning fantasy heroines. Really inspiring stuff, if you get a chance to see her at an event and you can afford it, please hurl large amounts of cash at her.

I eventually met up with good twitter buddy and fellow wannabe comicker Kev Levell, and we had a great chat about the trials and tribulations of being a full-time illustrator (which I'm not, but still), and how difficult it is to get into the comics biz, and the pro's and cons of twitter in general.

Unlike me, Kev was organised enough to get his portfolio submitted in time for the Marvel review at the convention, but still didn't get selected for a review slot. For shame Marvel, for shame, your loss.

So we made a pact I had to go stick my portfolio under someone's nose before the end of the day and so did he. I like to think I'm a man of my word so no excuses, no time for shyness, just do it.

I have this absolute hang-up about approaching someones table with the goal of getting them to look at my work, and not buying anything, especially another artist. So I spent way more than I'd planned to because of this, but ultimately got some really cool swag.

I got some great feedback from Terry Martin of Murky Depths and the cover artist of their latest issue, Neil Roberts. Really positive, I grabbed a Murky Depths card and Terry Martin took my email address (because of course I had forgotten to bring my business cards!) so fingers crossed something might come of that. Maybe once I've got a solid story arc finished of Blackfriars that might be an avenue to see it actually in print?

And after that the weight of self-doubt was lifted, and I was showing stuff to anyone who would look.

Stephen Downey really took a lot of time looking through my stuff and gave me some great feedback to improve my sequential work and seemed genuinely impressed with my portfolio, so much so he put it under the nose of one of his friends who walked passed his table. I'd already got an awesome Nightcrawler sketch in my sketchbook earlier (which were stupidly cheap for how awesome they are. Seriously go get a sketch from this guy!)


The stand out, hands down highlight for me though was Kev Crossley. Just after 5pm I think so funds had dwindled to my last £20, I'd hoped to get a sketch but his sketch list was heaving so I settled for some awesome fantasy themed greetings cards, and asked if he would be willing to look at my portfolio.

He was really busy but agreed, and the feedback was insane! He seemed genuinely surprised and was so taken with a couple of pieces he asked if he could snap a picture or two, particularly of my Abe Sapien sketch from a few months back, as he wanted to have a stab at his own interpretation.

I was so flattered I just about burst on the spot and insisted he take the sketch. Kev said I should look him up on facebook so I can see his version when he gets around to it, which I'm looking forward too immensely. He jotted down my webcomic address on the back of the sketch too so let's hope he likes it!

So all in all, it was a great day. I do have a ticket for Sunday but I'm not sure I'm going to go. I'm already over my budget for the weekend (by a lot), and I will end up spending more money if I go. That and the absolutely obnxious, horrific closures/delays/diversion on the London Underground made travelling to and from the venue an arduous affair.

There's a few kinks to work out with the convention if it returns next year, but I don't feel like it was a wasted trip. I only took a few snaps at the con. I'm neither a great or prolific photographer and once I'd discarded the ones with my finger intruding into frame there wasn't very many left, but if you're interested you can go see them here.

About the contributors to this post

• Dave Stokes is a a full time projectionist, and part time illustrator and currently accepting commissions. Please email stokesbookATgmail DOT com for rates. Check out his blog at http://stokesbook.blogspot.com

• Stereo @artist Ketan Majmudar is a freelance Web Designer/Developer (spiritquest.co.uk), Bassist and Photographer (stereoscopic & 2d) for art an fun. Check out his twitter event app: www.twical.net and his blog at www.stereoartist.com/blog 

Mark Millar pushed into phone box by fans at Kapow. Photo: Stereo @rtist.

More Kapow Links

• Official Website: www.kapowcomiccon.com 

Stan Lee Award Winners

Best Writer – Grant Morrison
Best Artist – John Romita Jr
Best Series – The Walking Dead
Best Superhero or Sci-Fi Movie – Inception
Best Trade – Blackest Night
Best Limited Series or Story Arc – Batman & Robin: Batman & Robin Must Die
Best Comic Hero - Batman
Best Newcomer - Jonathan Ross
Best Publisher – Marvel
Best TV Show – The Walking Dead
Best Game or Toy – Red Dead Redemption
Man or Woman of the Year – Stan Lee

News Items

• ComicBookMovie.com: Green Lanetern Footage Report
"After being shown the previously released trailer for the Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters video game and animated movie, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights  those of us in attendance were lucky enough to see the footage which was shown at WonderCon a couple of weeks ago... The footage was very well received by the audience..."


• ComicBooked: Thor Screening Report
"It was the end of day one of Kapow!, and with all recording devices checked in prior to entering the auditorium, security was tight for the panel for upcoming Marvel movie Thor – but what would you expect when the security team included a gentleman who looked exactly like Odin, the God of Thunder’s father?"

• IGN Comics: Hit Girl gets Spin Off - Mark Millar announces four new projects
Hit Girl, the pint-sized dervish of death and destruction from Kick Ass, is to star in her own eponymous spin-off book, with work on it already well under way.
• IGN Comics: Kapow! 11: How to Break Into Comics
Marvel's top drawer on how to catch a break in the comics' business.

• Geek Syndicate: Stan Lee Award Winners

Games
• Geek Syndicate: The IGN Arena at Kapow Comic Con

Pro and Creator Reports

• Comic Journal writer David Robertson: I Just Came Back from Kapow
"It was a good event, I’d like to see another. But Mark Millar did mention that he’d lost a fortune today, so I wouldn’t count on it."

• Keiron Gillen: Notes on Kapow
"In short, they pulled it off. For a first time con, it was spectacularly together. It also served its purpose, in terms of justifying its existence."

Photo © Joel Meadows

• Joel Meadows, Edior of Tripwire: Windy Millar
 "So after months of hype and bluster, Kapow Comic Con 2011 came to London at the weekend. Promising San Diego in London (overpriced hotels, restaurants you can't get into and panels you can't get near), at last there was the chance to see what all of the fuss was about..."

(Joel's report includes some brilliant photographs from the event, including this one of the two cos-players having a break)

• Steve Penfold and Dan Thompson: Diary - Day 1
"Talking about it now we’re pretty sure – given the success of the weekend – it’ll likely upgrade to Excel at some stage but this was the best venue I’ve stood inside for a long old time."

Fan Reports

• The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth (Matthew Hyde): Day One, blow by blow
• The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth (Matthew Hyde): Day Two, blow by blow

• Growler's World: Saturday
"I went to the Saturday part of this brand new, major comic convention in London and was blown away by the awesomeness!"

• Heather Taylor: My First Ever Comic Convention
"Mark Millar ended the panel Q&A with a comment about those who’ve said he’s sold out. His response? “If I get given free money, I’m going to take it. I’m Scottish.” If John Romita Jr. is anything to go by, taking money isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it can still lead to even better things i.e. the work you love to do."

Photographs

• Stereo @Artist at Kapow: Flickr Set
• Hit Girl Promo Cover Revealed
• London Comic Club: http://www.londoncomicleague.co.uk/Kapow!/
• Jock: Frank Quitely, John Romita Jr., Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar

Twitter Comments

"I do think they maybe need more volunteers to ensure that the 45minute rule on queuing is enforced" - MCE 

"This year I think VIP was not worth it due to a number of things, but I will buy it next year if they guarantee  a few BIG panels like the Thor panel, and hopefully they'll get a decent VIP goody bag too!... Jonathan Ross was a true gent at his signing, best signing of the day." - SasariHurley

"Getting good reports about #kapow from creators - amused that they all seem focused around the after con pub..." - Tony Lee 

"IMHO it was the best Comic Con I've been to. Well done to all at #Kapow!!" -  Gary Seaward

No More Places for CB Cebulski

David Lloyd has just been in touch to tell us that there are no more places available for Marvel Comics talent scout CB Cebulski's appearance at London's Cartoon Museum (see news story), organised by Cartoon Classroom (www.cartoonclassroom.co.uk).

"I wish we could have offered more time for this service to aspiring Marvel talent from CB, but we've all done our best in this instance," says David.

"Hopefully, we can repeat the event at some convenient time for everyone in the future."

Artists atending the Kapow Comics Convention in London will also of course have a chance to see CB.

• More about the Kapow Con at www.kapowcomiccon.com

Kapow plans secret sneek movie preview - could it be Thor?

Could the Kapow convention team be planning an advance screening of Kenneth Branagh's Thor film? They aren't saying, but it's one possible option for their just-announced sneak preview movie night.

The team behind next year's upcoming Kapow convention next April continue to unveil their plans and the latest is MOVIE X - a special advance movie screening of an upcoming superhero movie.

While the actual movie has yet to be announced - it's planned as a a secret, surprise screening that will be the finale to the show on Sunday 10th April 2011 - there are plenty of possibilities, including director Kenneth Branagh's Thor, which opens 29th April in the UK.

The advance screening will be shown in a 500 seater auditorium in the London Business Design Centre with state of the art facilities.

Nobody will know what MOVIE X is until the lights go down, but organisers say fans of comic book cinema can rest assured they are in for a special treat. "Our only clue this year is that the movie features a solo superhero. Have fun guessing who he is!"

If not Thor, given this clue, it could be James Gunn's Super, opening 1st April in the US, which has a kind of Kick-Ass vibe to the plot that might appeal to Mark Millar, one of the Kapow team.

A major coup would of course be a very advance screening of Green Lantern, set for a June release.

In addition to ‘MOVIE X’, the panels, signings, exclusive announcements and portfolio reviews, Kapow! visitors will also be able to enjoy the Comic Fans vs. Pros Game Show hosted by Jonathan Ross and The Stan Lee Awards. The guest list now includes Jonathan Ross, Frankie Boyle, Noel Clarke and Stewart Lee who all write for Titan's CLiNT, plus A-list UK and US comic  creators such as John Romita Jr., Dave Gibbons, Mark Millar, Leinil  Yu, Paul Cornell and Andy Diggle.

• The full movie and TV line up will be announced on Kapow! on 14th February. Tickets for Kapow! are available in advance only, and can be purchased  at www.kapowcomiccon.com. Tickets will not be available on the door.

Tube Surfing: Ross joins Kapow line up, Cardiff Comic Expo and more

• British TV presenter, comic book writer and lifelong comic fan Jonathan Ross has confirmed he will be a guest at Kapow! Comic Con and host the Comic Pros vs. Fans Game Show live on stage. The event takes place 9th & 10th April 2011. More info: www.kapowcomiccon.com

• If you live in the UK fancy nabbing a copy of the Burke & Hare by Martin Conaghan and Will Pickering as a stocking filler this Christmas, you can get it now with free postage. The total price, delivered, is now £10. You can purchase the book at Amazon UK, or on the Burke & Hare Graphic Novel website: www.burkeandharecomic.co.uk

• The line up for the first  Cardiff Comic Expo on Saturday 26th February 2011 includes comic creators Charlie Adlard, Mike Collins, Paul Cornell, Neil Edwards, John Ross and Simon Williams. The  event will see the launch of 10thology, a collection of 10 stories by the cream of the crop of Welsh creators and creators living and working in Wales from the Small Press and Indie scene, including industry legends such as Mike Collins.
There's also a Manga Expo Spotlight hosted by Cardiff’s Otakuzoku Store and a Small Press Showcase hosted by Fallen Angel Media.
 All advance ticket holders will receive a money off voucher for 10 thology and the chance to win original art! Tickets are only £5 and are on sale now via Paypal. Visit http://www.fantasyevents.org/cicel to pre-book. For more info, there's also a facebook page here.

• Talking of Facebook, indie comic distributors and all round good eggs Smallzone now have space there. Check it out at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Smallzone

• Andy Diggle draws our attention to the Sitcom Mission 2011's 15-minute sitcom scriptwriting competition. The event launched last year and the search for the 2011 showcase is now on, and they're looking for a 15-minute episode. See the Blog, FAQs, Guidelines, Rules for further information, then Enter.

•  B7 Media, producers of all things Blake's 7-related, have just launched their new company website where you’ll find details about thir past, present and future productions, along with the ability to purchase and download our latest audio releases: www.b7media.com

• The Comic Creators Alliance have announced the launch of their second annual fund-raising drive to raise funds to fight against Human Trafficking. Last year's drive raised a staggering $10,000 and had over 80 artists working together on a special image just for the event. This year they hope to top not only proceeds, but the number of artists working on the project. In the spirit of upping the odds, this year's drive will include a print version of the piece available for purchase as well as the digital download. Artists have until the end of the year to contact the creator of this project, Lora Innes, at comiccreatorsallianceATgmail.com to contribute artwork.
The donation drive starts on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day which is 11 January 11, 2011 and ends 24th January 2011. The official website for the drive is http://comicalliance.weebly.com/. To learn more about what you can do to end human trafficking visit http://comicalliance.weebly.com/links.html. 

London Kapow comic event snags Judge Dredd exclusive

Visitors to the upcoming Kapow! Comic Con next April (9th - 10th) will be amongst the first in the world to get an exclusive sneak peek at various upcoming comics, movie blockbusters and hit TV shows from some of the biggest publishers and studios in the world.

Andrew Macdonald, producer of international blockbuster hits such as Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Last King of Scotland will be talking about the upcoming Dredd, based on Judge Dredd from the 2000AD comics.

“It's fantastic to be involved with Kapow!," says Andrew, "and I’m really looking forward to talking to all the fans about our upcoming Dredd movie.

"I’ll be on the 2000AD panel with a little taster of what people can look forward to from our 2012 release”.

The full film and TV guest list will be announced on the Kapow! website on 14th February 2011, but the comics creator guest list is already filling up, with appearances from the likes of John Romita Jr. (Kick-Ass), Dave Gibbons (Watchmen), Frank Quitely (Batman), Leinil Yu (Secret Invasion), Bryan Hitch (The Ultimates, The Authority) and more signing autographs, speaking on panels and giving exclusive previews of upcoming works.

Tickets are on sale now at http://www.kapowcomiccon.com/ and are selling fast, say organisers.

Tube Surfing: Kapow Comic convention, War Comix and Mag, Scientist

Kapow! Comic Con Trailer from kapowcomiccon on Vimeo

• Mark Millar has announced a new London-based comics convention, Kapow (9-10th April 2011) which will host the first Stan Lee Awards ceremony (see Newsarama and Bleeding Cool for more news). The guest line up includes John Romita Jr., Andy Diggle, Jock, Steve Dillon, Duncan Fegredo, David Hine, Simon Furman, John McCrea and Kieron Gillen, plus Frank Quitely, Lenil Francis Yu and Dave Gibbons.
If you buy your ticket before 31st December 2010 you'll be entered into a prize draw for your name and likeness to appear in an issue of Kick-Ass 2. More information at: www.kapowcomiccon.com

• Along with titles such as Luke Pearson's beautiful-looking story Hildafolk, London-based publishers NoBrow recently released A Graphic Cosmogony for sale online, and it's now on sale in all good book shops. Paul Gravett, organiser of Comica festival describes it as "their most ambitious publication yet, the story of creation retold by 24 international artists."
Contributing artists include Brecht Vandenbroucke, Ben Newman, Jon McNaught, Stuart Kolakovic, Mike Bertino, Mikkel Sommers, Jack Teagle, Andrew Rae and many others. More info here

•  As part of ongoing promotion for his War Comix project, Sean Duffield sent us this fun Rom Spaceknight cartoon. We suspect there's a tip of the hats to the latest Wikileaks revelations, too...

• Ace artist Rian Hughes has been interviewed by Comic Book Resources about the US edition of Yesterday's Tomorrows, which is being published by Image Comics in December. The collection includes his and Grant Morrision's take on Dan Dare, published in Revolver and Crisis in the 1980s.
"Grant plays on this nostalgia for a simpler, less politically complicated age," Hughes says of the story he and Morrison strove to tell with Dare, "while mirroring the fate of his original creator, Frank Hampson, who lost control of the copyright and made very little money from the merchandising success of the property, living in reduced circumstances in later life. A sad story."

• Lancaster comics artist David Hughes (no relation to the above) has written a computer game for the Sinclair Spectrum (no, really, the Sinclair Spectrum - I had no idea it was still being used!) based around his Norman character on his blog, details can be found at www.stonechatproductions.blogspot.com on how to play.  "It's linked to comics in that there is a prize for the first person to complete it before Christmas will get a selection of my comics," says David. Reader will recall David's book Thomas Wogan is Dead has been released for iPad by Tabella so he's no stranger to eComics.

• A unique Ron Embleton painting of actor David McCallum as Man from U.N.C.L.E. agent Illya Kuryakin has been relisted on eBay after it failed to meet its £250 reserve on first offering. As we previously reported, the painting was a prize offered in Lady Penelope comic in the 1960s. View the auction here

• Ace cartoonist Malcolm Kirk recently launched a new web comic, Mag, Scientist, which he tells us he hopes to update at least once a week on his blog. Check out the first episode here

• Fans of free gifts given away with British comics are sure to enjoy Lew Stringer's three-part series of articles about such items on his blog (Part 1 here). Lew traces the giveaways back to the 1930s, noting that many were more refined than the cheap plastic toys given away today.

• And finally... the winner of our recent Grandville Mon Amour competition is Michael Charlton from Lancaster, England. We asked you who was the right wing French Prime Minister in Bryan Talbot's Grandville? The answer is Jean-Marie Lapin. Congratulations to Michael - the book is on its way. Read our review of Grandville Mon Amour here