Charlie Adlard, Viz creators and more join Lakes Festival line up

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival has revealed more of the writers and artists who will be taking part in the event later this year.

The festival, which will run from 18-20th October 2013 in Kendal in Cumbria, has a guest list running to more than 50 writers and artists from the United States, Europe, South America and the UK, who work in a wide range of different genres.

The latest group of guests range from Charlie Adlard, the artist on the hugely popular zombie comics The Walking Dead, to the men who created Britain’s most irreverent comic Viz, and American cartoonist Gilbert Shelton.

Charlie Adlard currently works with American writer Robert Kirkman on The Walking Dead, which dominates the list of US best selling graphic novels month in and month out.  It has been turned into a popular TV series, which is currently being broadcast on FX UK, with the third series due to start on Channel 5 around late spring.

Charlie says: “I'm very much looking forward to the event, particularly because the organisers are trying to style it on an Angouleme-style show, which I'm a big fan of.”

Simon Thorp and Graham Dury are two of the people who created Viz, which introduced characters like Raffles the Gentleman Thug, The Fat Slags, Felix and his Amazing Underpants and Roger Mellie the Man on the Telly to the world.

Viz parodies British comics like The Beano and The Dandy, with crude toilet humour, black comedy and surreal jokes. This will be the first comic event they have attended for more than 25 years (as far as they can remember!)

After a period producing underground comix in the sixties American Gilbert Shelton created The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and Fat Freddy’s Cat. Unlike many cults from the sixties which have since faded away, The Freak Brothers are still going from strength to strength and are acquiring new fans all the time. They are published in 15 languages and worldwide sales are now over forty million copies.

Bryan Talbot, who is a patron of the new festival, says: "Gilbert Shelton is a comedy genius and a true original. His strips furnished catchphrases to the entire underground counterculture."

Hannah Berry is one of the talented young artists at the forefront of the new golden age for British comic art.  Her first graphic novel, Britten and Brulightly, was published by Jonathan Cape while she was still studying.  The Daily Telegraph said it was ‘superb’.  The New Statesman described her second graphic novel Adamtine as doing 'horror in the traditional way, while using the quirks of the medium to ratchet up the fear'.

Hannah says: "Just as comics are finally creeping into the public consciousness in the UK, The Lakes International Comic Art Festival takes the stage as the biggest, boldest and brightest celebration of their place in our culture. Long may it continue!"

The prize winning Argentine writer and illustrator Oscar Zarate has created two graphic novels with comedian Alexei Sayle - Geoffrey The Tube Train and The Fat Comedian.  He has also worked with Alan Moore on A Small Killing and produced several graphic novels with Carlos Sampayo. He will be celebrating his new book The Park at the festival as well as running an exclusive masterclass.

Karrie Fransman's autobiographical comic strips were published in The Guardian and her comic serial The Night I Lost My Love ran in The Times. Her graphic novel, The House That Groaned has been praised by film director Nicolas Roeg and was chosen as Graphic Novel of the Month in The Observer.

Robbie Morrison is best known for the Eagle award-winning Nikolai Dante saga which was serialised in 2000AD and, as we reported recently, he has written Drowntown, an epic adventure set in a flooded, futuristic London, which will be published by Jonathan Cape in the summer.  He is also a regular writer on Judge Dredd, and has scripted Batman and Spider-Man.

Spanish cartoonist Pau has won The Oscarcomix children's comics award, the Luis Molina International contests award (Italy) as well as the Haxtur Award for Humor, for his daily editorial cartoon Pau Per Tots.

Ravi Thornton is a multi-award-winning fiction writer whose work often involves a mix of different artistic approaches including graphic novels, sound and theatre.  Her work deals with adult subject matter and ranges from dark and disturbing, through wickedly outlandish, to heartbreakingly insightful. Her graphic novel The Tale of Brin and Brent and Minno Marylebone, published by Jonathan Cape, has been nominated for this year’s Bram Stoker Awards by the Horror Writers of America

Ravi says: "As a cross-media writer, I think very visually. I don't, however, draw. This means people who do draw are one of my most favourite things. At The Lakes International Comic Art Festival I'll be surrounded by them. It doesn't really get any better than that."

Luke Pearson is the writer and artist behind the highly-acclaimed Hilda series of comics published by Nobrow, which are aimed at both children and adults, and the short graphic novel Everything We Miss.

INJ Culbard won the award for Best Graphic Novel or Comic at the 2011 British Fantasy Awards for At the Mountains of Madness, published by SelfMadeHero.  He has also illustrated Deadbeats, which was published by SelfMadeHero late last year, in which a trio of 1920s Chicago jazz musicians find themselves battling with monsters, moonshiners and mobsters.

Inko is a Japanese Manga artist who now lives in the UK.  Her work includes Milk The Cat Comix and MangaQuake. She was also commissioned to create 19 Manga posters at Embankment Station in London as part of Art on the Underground.

Hannah Eaton was shortlisted for the First Graphic Novel competition in 2012 for Naming Monsters, which was published by Myriad Editions, the story of Fran a keen amateur crypto-zoologist – an expert in the study of animals that may not exist.

Kate Evans is an environmental campaigner who marries words and images for political effect.  Her latest book The Food of Love, published by Myriad Editions, is an ironic, self-deprecating view of the impossibility of perfection in an imperfect world.

They join founder patrons Bryan and Mary Talbot, and Sean Phillips, as well as writers and artists like Ed Brubaker, Jose Munoz, Posy Simmonds, John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra and Joe Sacco.

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is modelled on the European comic festivals rather than comic conventions that UK audiences are more familiar with.

The aim is create an ‘en fete’ atmosphere, making the whole town part of the festival.  There will be a much bigger emphasis on the range of talks, special live drawing events, workshops, films, exhibitions and a kids’ zone.  Some of the events, including the exhibitions and the kids’ zone will also be free.

There will be a marketplace – The Comics Clock-tower - in Kendal Town Hall, where people will be able to buy comics and where authors and artists will be signing copies of their work. It will be smaller than at most comic conventions and will focus on writers, artists and publishers who are pioneers of a new wave of innovators in the field of comics and graphic storytelling.

Festival Director Julie Tait says: “We’ve now revealed more than half the line up for this year’s festival, so hopefully people have a real sense of the range and quality of what will be on offer later this year.   There’s an exciting mix of some of the big names from the world of comic art over the last few decades, as well as some of the best up-and-coming young writers and artists working in comics.

“We want to create something that is modelled on the European comic art festivals rather than the comic conventions that UK audiences will be more familiar with.

“We hope to take Kendal over for the weekend with comic art and we’ll be putting a lot of effort into individual events to give visitors a special experience.

“So people should expect something a bit different from most other comic events.  We hope it will not only appeal to the fans but also help to bring a new audience to comics, including many local people who may still be wondering what it’s all about!”
          
• More details about the new event are available at www.comicartfestival.com.  It is also possible to keep up to date with plans for the festival by following @comicartfest on Twitter or by liking the Lakes International Comic Art Festival Facebook page. Tickets will go on sale 7th May 2013.

ROK Comics parent develops VIZ comics app

ROK Global, the company behind ROK Comics, has just announced its latest mobile application -- a highly innovative  iPhone application featuring characters and content from the hugely popular adult comic Viz, has been launched on the iPhone App Store.

Developed for Dennis Publishing, the Viz Strip Teaser iPhone application will provide customers with all the latest Viz characters and content.

One issue is included in the app's free download, with subsequent issues priced at £1.49.

The App's design means you can read a page of VIZ panel by panel but utilises the overall page as it appears in its original print format, the reader "sliding" from one panel to the next.

“Viz is a national institution so we’re delighted to have been chosen to develop the magazine’s iPhone app which we’re confident will prove very popular indeed.” Said Jonathan Kendrick, Chairman of ROK  Global.


 The Viz Strip Teaser is one of several comics-related digital applications and products developed by ROK. Its projects include the Team M.O.B.I.L.E. comic, created by Jonathan Kendrick, which will also be released on iPad and iPhone.

In addition to its comics projects, ROK has pioneered many new technologies and services in the rapidly-evolving mobile and web space including high quality mass-market Mobile TV (which can be streamed, live and on-demand, over 2.5G as well as 3G and Wi-Fi) which it licenses to Mobile Operators, revenue-generating applications available direct to consumers via the leading application stores, mobile security technologies which it licenses to law enforcement agencies and multi-language text-to-speech technologies which it licenses to website owners.

• ROK Global: www.rokglobal.com

• ROK Comics: www.rokcomics.com

Canny Comic Con comes to Newcastle

(with thanks to Bryan Talbot): Next Saturday, 10th December, Newcastle hosts its first comic convention for 16 years. The Canny Comic Con is an all day event at Newcastle City Library and entry is free.

Comics, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, manga, sequential art - however you want to refer to it, the CCC wants to celebrate everything about telling stories in pictures. Whilst it won't be on the same scale as some of the bigger UK comic conventions, they're going to have a full range of activities, including talks and panel discussions, workshops and a hall of stalls where you can meet some of the finest comic-creating talent from the region and beyond.



There’s a jam packed schedule of talks and panels and guests include Viz’s Simon Donald, Marvel artist Dougie Braithwaite, Bryan Talbot and Al Ewing.

Whatever your age or experience, whether you read comics, make comics, or are just interested to know a little more, we hope to have something to interest you.

• More info at: http://cannycomiccon.blogspot.com/p/what-is-it.html

30 Years of Viz Exhibition

In November 1979, DHSS clerk Chris Donald, his 15-year old brother Simon and old school friend Jim Brownlow put together a 12-page comic fanzine in a bedroom of the Donald family home in Jesmond, Newcastle. The initial 150 copies of Viz Comic – ‘rude, wacky, music, sick’ - sold to punters at local pubs, discos and music shops.

Within a decade, Viz had become a publishing and cultural phenomenon selling over a million copies and spawning a host of imitators.

30 Years of Viz - a new exhibition at London's Cartoon Museum which starts on 4th November - celebrates the art, irreverence and brilliant bad taste of Viz Comic. The exhibition of over 80 original drawings features all the key characters, many of whom have become ‘icons’ in their own right: Roger Mellie - The Man on the Telly, Sid the Sexist, The Bottom Inspectors, The Fat Slags, Finbarr Saunders and his Double Entendres, Johnny Fartpants, Spoilt Bastard, Suicidal Syd, Mrs Brady – Old Lady and The Modern Parents. Some characters such as Drunken Bakers and Billy the Fish - the goalkeeping half-man, half-fish – are both loved and hated by readers in equal measure.

Also on show will be a selection of classic Viz ‘tat’ including The Queen Mother’s Teeth, The Life of Christ in Cats Plate and The Elvis Presley Dambusters Clock Plate of Tutankhamen.

Viz remains one of Newcastle’s most famous exports. Many of the characters are obviously Geordie as revealed in the way they speak, sometimes requiring readers to write in for translations. Much of the comic’s humour involves lampooning earnest features from classic British comics – strips with obligatory rhyming titles (Roger Mellie - The Man on the Telly), spoof photo-romance stories, surreal send-ups and bogus advertisements.

And, of course, there is nothing Viz enjoys more than taking a tilt at the ‘sacred cows’ of British culture like the Royal Family and celebrities such as Sting and Bono, and this talent for mockery has always delighted its fans and outraged its critics.

Since the time of Hogarth, satirists have been drawn to the human capacity for squalor, self-destruction and self-delusion. Unlike Hogarth, the Viz artists profess no higher moral purpose: their aim is to entertain not educate. As Graham Dury, one of the longstanding artist/editors admits,"We pride ourselves on the fact that you're no cleverer when you've read Viz. You might have had a few laughs, but you've not learnt anything".

• 30 Years of Viz: An exhibition of original artwork, 4th November – 24th January 2010

The Cartoon Museum, 35 Little Russell Street, London WC1A 2HH Tel: 020 7580 8155 E-mail: info@cartoonmuseum.org Web: www.cartoonmuseum.org

Images from top of item: the cover of Viz Issue 116, featuring the Fat Slags by Simon Thorp; the Pathetic Sharks - Cover 126 - by Simon Thorp; and Gilbert Ratchett, 2005 by Davey Jones. Art © Fulchester Industries

Tube Surfing: Dave Gibbons, Digital Awards and Zombies!

downthetubes has been having some behind-the-scenes computer woes: we apologize for the lack of posts in recent days. We're grateful to Jeremy Briggs for his review of Cinebooks' Rameses' Revenge.

Digital Artist 2009 Masterclass #1 - Dave Gibbons from Intel Digital Artist 2009 on Vimeo. News story below

• Artist Dave Gibbons has been interviewed for The Guardian, talking about how computers have liberated him as an artist – and the dubious honour of inspiring the Comic Sans font... Dave is busy promoting the Digital Artist 2009 awards, backed by Intel and Future Publishing. Gibbons is a judge in the competition to find the digital artist of the year, and has contributed a masterclass video (above) on how he uses digital media.

• A re-design of the official 2000AD web site is underway - expect some modifications to unfurl next week. The official forum is still accessible. Talking of things 2000AD, word is that the latest Meg' (out today) carries the first part of a two part interview with artist Ron Smith.

• Still on 2000AD, the 2000AD Review Site has had a revamp. It looks rather nifty, with the news section now more of a blog featuring 2000AD news and much anything 2000AD related that might be of interest to 2000AD readers.

• Want some great original comic art by a very talented British cartoonist? Lizz Lunney is doing a comic a day for August and selling the original artwork in her online shop.

• Lew Stringer reports that the Pathetic Sharks are back in Viz for the summer, and that to mark the humour magazine's 30th birthday, an exhibition of original artwork will be shown at the Cartoon Museum, Little Russell Street, London from 4th November 2009 to 24th January 2010 (www.cartoonmuseum.org).
Viz No.188, which also features favourites such as Roger Mellie, Eight Ace, Millie Tant, and Meddlesome Ratbag is £3 and on sale now in all good newsagents, supermarkets -- and even some bad ones. Viz website: www.viz.co.uk

• Ian Edginton is writing a six part zombie series for DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint: Victorian Undead, is set in a 19th Century London overrun by zombies, and only Sherlock Holmes can save the day. The series is illustrated by Star Wars and Brothers In Arms artist Davide Fabbri and will launche in November.

• DC Thomson is to launch a Scottish football magazine in October. AllMedia reports Eleven aims to report all levels of the game in Scotland, including the national men's team, the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League, all the way to Highland League and East of Scotland leagues and women's football. Priced £2.75 it will be on sale in newsagents and promises - for its launch issue - news from each of the 42 SPL and SFL clubs, plus a report from the Major League Soccer scene in the USA. No word on whether it will include any comic strip.

• Despite this launch, AllMedia also notes DC Thomson, like all UK publishers, is not having the best of times. It stable of magazines and comics has suffered across-the-board drops in its sales, according to figures published recently, the ABCs indicating the average net circulations of the likes of People’s Friend and the Dandy all experienced sales falls between the end of December, last year, and the end of June this year.

Sales of The Beano average at 53,964 between December 31 and June 30, down 12.8 per cent on the previous six months, and sales of My Weekly average at 145,676, down 4.6 per cent. Read the full report

• The Geek Syndicate web site have a 45-minute chat with British International Comics Show organiser Shane Chebsey, where Shane "reveals what events people can expect at this years show as well as a look back at lessons learned from previous years. There is a look behind the scenes at what goes into the preparation of the show and what their plans are for the future."

• And finally... Jason Cobley reports for the education market, Classical Comics have got together with Heinle Cengage Learning to publish an ELT (English language teaching) version of their Frankenstein graphic novel. "It's quite similar to the Quick text version, with some changes to the language for clarification, the intended readers being learners of English as an additional language," says Jason. "It's interesting to compare the three versions alongside each other.

"I know which I prefer as a straight read - for a general reader I'd recommend the Original Text, for younger readers the Quick Text, and a mix of the two for use in schools, emphasising the original text. But the ELT version is a really good tool for schools also, the best thing about it being the audio version that comes with it. It's a great reading, with a variety of voices and sound effects for key scenes - a narrated audio play that I heartily recommend whether using it in school or just to listen to in the car."

• Buy Classical Comics: Frankenstein

Compiled with thanks to Matthew Badham

BBC’s Culture Show Celebrates 30 Years Of Viz

It almost sounds like a headline that the staff of Viz made it up for their comic but BBC2’s Culture Show travelled to Gateshead for the Tuesday 3 March programme. While there, as well as taking in Yoko Ono’s exhibition at the Baltic, presenter Lauren Laverne nipped across the river to Newcastle Upon Tyne to talk to Viz co-creator Chris Donald and visited the title’s offices to talk to artists Simon Thorp and Graham Dury.

For those who missed it the programme is available on BBCi player for 7 days and can be downloaded and retained for 30 days. The Viz item is first in the running order and lasts about 10 minutes.

The Culture Show on BBCi Player is here.

The Viz website is here.

Tube Surfing: 22 September 2008

• One of downthetubes contributor Matthew Badham's two articles in the new Judge Dredd Megazine (article entitled The Nu Brit Comics Revolution) pimps Blank Slate, The DFC, ROK Comics, Trains are Mint and Garen Ewing's Rainbow Orchid. You should be able to find a copy, which comes complete with a spiffing free gift -- a copy of Snow/Tiger: Pax Americana By Andy Diggle & Andy Clarke and includes Part 4 of an all new Judge Dredd strip, Ratfink, Part 2 of Tank Girl: Skidmarks, Part 1 of Black Atlantic: Rig and Part 5 of Anderson, Psi Division: Wiierd.

• Talking of Trains Are Mint, belated congratulations to Mr Oli East, who is among the nominees in the Promising Newcomer category in the Ignatz Awards for Trains Are Mint from Blank Slate. Nice one.
The Ignatz Awards, named for the character in the classic comic strip Krazy Kat by George Herriman, is a festival prize that recognizes outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning. The ballot is created by a panel of five cartoonists and is then voted on by the attendees at the event. This offers a unique reflection of the views the professionals and their fans. The award winners will be announced on Saturday, 4th October, 2008.

• And talking of Judge Dredd: The Megazine, comic conisseur Paul Gravett has posted the full interview with Matthew Badham quoted in the article in Issue 276 about his new books, Best Crime Comics and The Leather Nun & Other Incredibly Strange Comics, on his own official web site.
"The Leather Nun & Other Incredibly Strange Comics is not a thick anthology of complete comics but a small hardback, really a gift book or stocking filler," says Paul, "showing 61 weird and wacky comic covers and alongside them some quotes, panels and info all about them.
"I've amassed some real oddities over my many years of exploring comics, I seem to be drawn to them, as I'm constantly surprised by what people have done in this medium. The idea was to appeal to people's taste for the tasteless and bizarre or simply odd, so all the comics had to have a striking title and/or cover. But they had to be incredibly strange inside as well, so I could explain the stories and the history behind each comic and its creators."

• Following last month's debut of Sarah Oleksyk's Previously Possessed at MySpace Dark Horse Presents, Comic Book Resources reports September's issue of the free webcomics anthology features another rising star discovered by the publisher at the Stumptown Comics Festival back in April. Steak and Kidney Punch by Liz Greenfield, a Netherlands-born cartoonist living in Manchester,who says being approached by Dark Horse on my 21st birthday "Was a better gift than I could ever have asked for, and I'm very glad it led to Steak and Kidney Punch." Read the CBR article and more from Liz

• A chap called Eamonn Clarke has, off his own bat, created a website containing annotations for all the references in Ian Edington and comic artist D'Israeli's Scarlet Traces trilogy, plus Leviathan, Stickleback and Kingdom of the Wicked. D'Israeli is, we're told, amazed...

• UK newspaper The Times ran an article on Doctor Who last week (yes, another one), based on e-mail exchanges between outgoing producer Russell T. Davies, who revived the show, and journalist Benjamin Cook. The e-mails, all part of preparation for the writing of Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, to be released later this week from BBC Books, provide a unique insight into the show - and reveals some of its most closely-guarded secrets. (While on the subject of Doctor Who, check out Lew Stringer's pictures of the Dalek and TARDIS forming part of this year's Blackpool Illuminations and a big Happy 400th Issue Birthday to Doctor Who Magazine! The first pro magazine I ever edited and tremedous fun to to do thanks to the readers and the cast and crew of the show.

• Lew also notes that latest Viz annual (sub-titled The Last Turkey in the Shop) is out now, featuring 160 pages packed with comic strips from issues 152 to 161 of the ongoing monthly. Priced at £10.99, the large hardback includes characters such as The Fat Slags, Sid the Sexist, The Real Ale Twats, Elton John's Bandit Beater, Roger Mellie, and many more. Artists include Paul Palmer, Cat Sullivan, Davey Jones, Simon Thorp, Alex Collier... and Lew, of course!

• Broadcast reports Merlin, the enjoyable new Saturday night tea time drama currently occupying the family viewing slot carved by Doctor Who and Robin Hood, worked its magic over 6.6m viewers (30% share) on Saturday night but was no match for ITV1's The X Factor. The opening 45-minute episode of the BBC1 drama featuring John Hurt as the voice of a dragon, Richard Wilson and Anthony Head, began with 6.9m (31.9%), dropped to 6.4m (28.9%) at 7.45pm but managed to rally in the final 15-minutes with 6.6m (29.3%). That rating is up by 24.5% on the channel's slot average for the year so far of 5.3m (25.4%).
Is a comic based on the show in the works we wonder? Or, now armed with three top drama series and countles other BBC-owned shows to draw from, how about a weekly title in the tradition of TV Comic and Look-In? Surely someone's considered it? Meanwhile, check out the official Merlin web site...

News bytes by Matthew Badham and John Freeman

BBC’s Comedy Map Of Britain – Newcastle

The BBC2 programme The Comedy Map of Britain turned its attention to the North East of England for the third programme of the second series.

Having previously been to the impressive century old headquarters of D C Thomson in Dundee to cover the Beano, this time they went to a terraced house in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne's Jesmond district.

Not just any terraced house of course but the one owned by the parents of Simon and Chris Donald - parents who were blissfully unaware of their off-spring creating Viz in their front bedroom. There, the brothers reveal that the way they avoided showing their parents a copy of the comic was to keep telling them that it had sold out.

Selected clips are available on the programme’s website. To view the clip from Jesmond, select the Newcastle To Leeds programme and The Viz Boys Return To Jesmond clip.