Hard Case Cunningham!

Comics have always been a source of imagery for use in other medium - but suitcases? That's a new one on me. Ace creator Darryl Cunningham (of Psychiatric Tales fame etc) was commissioned to create some eye-catching designs for a range of suitcases for major maker Samsonite, and here's the result.

They aren't available in the UK yet, but you can buy the full set from amazon.com for a tad over $500. (We have tried to contact Samsonite's UK PR agency for info, but no reply as yet).

Speaking as someone who wants to make their suitcase stand out on airport carousels, definitely something to be considered.

Issue 2 of Free Off Life 'street comic' released

Issue Two of OFF LIFE – the UK’s only free street press comic – is out this week. The magazine was being distributed in Bristol today, in London on Saturday and the digital edition was posted online at OFFLIFE.co.uk this evening.

Featuring an interview with Adrian Tomine and short comics from the likes of Oliver East, Darryl Cunningham, Dan Berry and Joe List, the editorial team think this could be a breakout issue for the comic, which aims to open comics to non-comics readers by distributing free in bars, galleries and coffee houses across Bristol and London.

"The Tomine interview discusses his history of self publishing, his beliefs of where comics fit in modern culture and how they could reach a wider audience," editor Daniel Humphry told downthetubes.


"The comics are a mix of published chaps and super talented unknowns. New advertisers on board include No Brow, comic publisher Ad House and a raft of comic shops.

"We're really happy with how Issue Two came together," Daniel adds. "Thanks to top comic creators putting their time and effort in to some fantastic stories we hope that Issue Two of OFF LIFE continues to bring comics to the masses and helps showcase the potential of this wonderful medium of ours."

• A full list of stockists is also available on the OFF LIFE web site: OFFLIFE.co.uk

 

Caption 2012 - The Countdown Begins...

Limited Edition Caption T-Shirt available now, ordering details below

 This year's Caption small press and comics festival in Oxford is only 17 days away!

Guests include: Hannah Berry, Richy K. Chandler, Jade Sarson, David O’Connell, Al Davison, Hunt Emerson, Patrice Aggs, Robin Etherington, Woodrow Phoenix, Darryl Cunningham and Nicola Streeten.

Saturday 18 August

Doors open 10 a.m. Bar open from 10 for coffee, 12 for drinks.

12:00. PANEL: Good, Clean, Knockabout Fun! Publisher Tony Bennett joins artists Hunt Emerson ('Lady Chatterly's lover'), Krent Able ('Big Book Of Mischief') and Brick ('Depresso') to talk about 32 years of the controversial British comics company.

13:30. WORKSHOP with Al Davison. ‘The Alchemist's Easel: a rough guide to drawing the unconscious’

14:30. PANEL: Shedding Light on the Dark Art of Editing Comics. Woodrow Phoenix ('Nelson'), Corinne Pearlman (Myriad), John Anderson (Soaring Penquin) and Hannah Berry (First Fictions judge) discuss editing and commissioning comics and graphic novels.

16:30. PANEL: Myriad Editions. Myriad commissioning editor Corinne Pearlman discusses the output of the company alongside Woodrow Phoenix ('Rumble Strip'), Darryl Cunningham ('Science Tales'), Nicola Streeten ('Billy, Me & You') and Gareth Brookes ('The Black Project').

21:00. QUIZ by Tony Hitchman, ‘Dangerous when wet!’

Doors close 23:00

Sunday 19 August

Doors open 10 a.m. Bar open from 10 for coffee, 12 for drinks.

11.00. BOOK GROUP: Comic Gosh!p Book Club (escaping from London) discuss Maus (Art Spiegelman) & My Cardboard Life (Philippa Rice). Try to (re)read one or both of these before the informal discussion in the bar, so you can join in!

12:30. PANEL: Playing in Someone Else’s Sandbox. Cartoonists discuss the benefits of working on creator owned vs. pre-existing characters, featuring Richy Chandler ('Wallace & Grommit' in The Sun) , David Baillie (via video! - Russian 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'), Charles Cutting ('The Dream Quest of Randolph Carter') and Robin Etherington ('The Phoenix' / 'Transformers').

14.00. PANEL: The Phoenix - A Gallimaufry of Graphical Goodness. Daniel Hartwell (writer, ‘Pirates of the Pangaea’), Neill Cameron (artist, ‘Pirates of the Pangaea’), Adam Murphy (‘Corpse Talk’), Robin Etherington (writer, ‘Long Gone Don’), Patrice Aggs ('Blimpville') discuss year two of the popular British kids comic.

15.30. PANEL: America is not the Only Fruit. Manga influenced (and Manga Jiman shortlisted) small press creators Rebecca Burgess, Sarah Burgess, Jade Sarson and Joe Morgan discuss looking outside Anglo-American comics for inspiration with David O'Connell (Tozo, the public servant).

Doors Close 17:00

The website - www.caption.org - includes info on how to order the limited edition T-Shirt designed by Sarah MacIntyre, pictured above, which you can pre-order and pick up at Caption. Also, exclusively available at the event is the Caption 2012 programme featuring a brand new jam comic - 'How I spent my summer holiday' - by Hannah Berry (see above), Richy K. Chandler, Brick and more...

• Caption: 18th / 19th August 2012, East Oxford Community Centre, Cowley, Oxford OX4 1DD (Near to St. Clements 'Oxford Tube' stop)

Caption readies for another great event

The annual small and indie press event Caption takes place 18th - 19th August 2012 in Oxford.

Oxford’s annual small-press comics convention is a unique, friendly event that brings comics creators, manga artists, comic-book readers and professionals together to mingle and discuss their work. With a huge number of comic creators set to drop by, it's a great event for people interested in our lively independent scene, and, if you're a creator, a greta place to pick up tips and tricks on not only but producing but also marketing your work.

Guests include Darryl Cunningham, creator of Psychiactric Tales and Science Tales  and Nicola Streeten, creator of Billy, Me, & You and co-creator (with artist Sarah Lightman) of Laydeez do Comics, a graphic novel forum with a focus on the new wave of comic work (‘more domestic than superheroes’) based on the drama of everyday life.

Check out the official web site for more info, and for exclusive CAPTION podcasts, the first online now (recorded in 2010) in which, Paul Gravett discusses webcomics with a variety of young creators including P.J. Holden, Liz Lunney, Tim Winchester, Philipa Rice, Sydney Padua and David O’Connell, whose work varies from cardboard cutouts to historical fiction. 

• More info: http://caption.org

Cartoonists naturally good at social web practice?

(Above: A panel from Darryl Cunningham's Evolution strip. Click to enlarge.)

There's an interesting post over at Pete Ashton's Ash-10 blog about cartoonists and social web practice.

'I often pick up on cartoonists as examples of good social web practice,' Pete writes, 'partly because I like cartoonists, partly because their work lends itself to being displayed on a web browser but also because many of the cartoonists I follow have a history in fanzines and self-published comics and have an innate understanding of how this stuff works.'

Pete singles out ace cartoonist Darryl Cunningham as an example of someone who uses social media particularly well:

'Darryl is now working on a new collection of strips about science and is posting the strips in their entirety on his blog as they are drawn. So far you can read chapters on homeopathy, MMR and, from this week, evolution. What’s interesting is he’s calling these “beta” strips and inviting corrections and clarifications from his readers.'

You can read the full post, which is well worth your time, here.

Pete Ashton is an online communications consultant specialising in social media and blogging. He also spent a long time as a fanzine maker and advocate of self-published comics.

Panel Borders: Comic Therapy

In a panel discussion recorded at the 2010 Comics and Medicine conference, Institute of English Studies, University of London, Paul Gravett talks to Brian Fies, Phillipa Perry and Darryl Cunningham about their work in portraying aspects of medical care and therapy in sequential art.

Paul and the panel discuss issues of biography and autobiography on the page, the process of portraying a narrative that has a story structure as well as an element of education to it and what they learned from the experience.

(Recorded and edited by Alex Fitch)

• Panel Borders: Comic Therapy airs at 5.00pm, Thursday 02/06/11, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

• Buy Psychiatric Tales from amazon.co.uk

• Buy Psychiatric Tales from amazon.com
(A US edition will be published in 2011)

• Darryl Cunningham's Blog
Darryl Cunningham is the creator of the book Psychiatric Tales, and the web-comics, Super-Sam and John-of-the-Night  and The Streets of San Diablo. A prolific cartoonist, sculptor and photographer, Darryl's work can also be found at his Flickr page.

• Interview with Darryl by Matthew Badham on his darn fine Blog

• Blank Slate Books

Tube Surfing: Lunartik Toys, Lunatic Comiket and Divine Comedy!

• Matt JOnes has confirmed his new Lunartik Mini Teas figures will be Launching at the Forbidden Planet Mega Store on the 20th November (see news story). He'll be on hand to sign my new Lunartik Mini Teas and fill fans faces full of cake!

• A quick reminder that Frames of Mind: Comica Conversations with Brick and Darryl Cunningham takes place this Saturday (6th November) between 2.30-3.30pm in London. More info here.
Talking of ComICA, you may also be interested in Comics of the Living Dead: Comica Conversations with Charlie Adlard and Alex Fitch, later on Saturday (4.30-5.30pm). Tickets for both are £4 each bookable online - it's best to pre-book though, but some may also be available on the day on the door.

• Also this weekend is the Comica Comiket with the new Drawing Parade event featuring 10 artists drawing live before your very eyes on a giant plasma screen. Admission free, on Sunday 7th Novmber, 12-5.00pm at Royal National Hotel, Bloomsbury. Full details here on the ComICA site. Paul Gravett has posted a list of titles on sale at the event here on his web site

• Bloomsbury have just sent us a copy of the recently-released Dante’s Divine Comedy by Seymour Chwast. His fab book, which we'll review soon, is a wonderful retelling of Dante’s work, infused with humour, irony and satire, depicting the journey through the 100 cantos in Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise. Each page includes startling noir-ish graphics, as the dark allegorical tale is combined with one of the most striking visual art mediums of the twenty first century.

Bloomsbury also published Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou – a very successful book based on the life and work of Bertrand Russell – and they tells us they're hoping Dante’s Divine Comedy will have similar broad appeal.


One of the most influential artists of contemporary times, Seymour Chwast’s work can be found in the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.  He co-founded Push Pin studio in 1954, which became known for its playful representations of popular culture and which continues to flourish to this day. 

Chwast remains a hugely influential figure and a source of inspiration for many young artists. 

There's more information on the book on the Bloomsbury web site here and Push Pin’s website is found at www.pushpininc.com, which includes various details on the artist himself and his work.

• Fossil Angels was written by Alan Moore in December 2002, and was to appear in KAOS #15. KAOS #15 never actually appeared, and the piece has been without a home since then. Pádraig Ó Méalóid was lucky enough to be given a number of  the scripts by Alan himself a few years ago, and this was amongst them. He asked if he could publish it and, when another publication which it was slated to appear in folded, Alan told me I was free to go ahead: so here's the story, published in two parts here and here on Padraig's Glycon site – the first time it's ever been seen  anywhere.

Caption 2010 'Mad Science' Art Appeal and guest update

For anyone interested in exhibiting artwork and/or donating artwork to the Caption auction, part of Mad Science Caption 2010 at the East Oxford Community Centre on 31st July - 2nd August, the organisers tell downthetubes they can accept artwork right up to the opening day of this ace British small press event.

However, if you'd like your artwork to appear in the Mad Science Caption 2010 souvenir printed booklet then they will need a 300dpi scan, or hard copy of the artwork by 13th July. Any queries to jay.ealesATgooglemail.com.

Guests already lined up include Sydney Padua, animator and creator of the superb webcomic, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace & Babbage (sample above), which sees Victorian scientists Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage fighting crime; Al Davison, who will once be providing one of his fabulous drawing workshops, bringing along stock from his Astral Gypsy Comic Shop, and is also designing the Caption t-shirt this year; and John Miers, who will be doing a talk about a large-format project, Babel, exhibited as part of last year's Comica, that uses a wordless pictorial language to interpret the biblical myth.

Jeremy Day will kick Caption off on the Saturday morning with a workshop; Tony Hitchman will be providing us with one of his fun quizzes on the Mad Science theme.

This year's Special Guest is Melinda Gebbie, who started out in the American alternative comics scene in the 1970s and is now best known for her collaboration on Lost Girls with Alan Moore; Sarah McIntyre will be interviewing Darryl Cunningham about his new book Psychiatric Tales and his other work; and 2000AD and incoming Strip Magazine UK artist PJ Holden, will be talking about digital comics.

Other guests are Paul Duffield, artist on Warren Ellis' FreakAngels, who will join the webcomic panel, Neill Cameron and Kate Brown, who will be talking about their DFC Library books, Mobot High and Spider Moon.

• Caption report they are also experiencing a few problems with the Caption website at the moment, so you can also check the Facebook Event page or Livejournal site for the latest news.

Tube Surfing: Monsters, Heroes, Cycling and Moon Hoaxes

I'm really behind with everything. Anyone else behind with their deadlines and work?

Oh, dear, it's all gone a bit Pete Tong...

Anyway, a bit of tube surfing always peps me up. What's out there today?

Ace cartoonist Darryl Cunningham offers previews of the strips he's currently working on over at his blog. He's been doing various science-related strips and the latest one is about the supposed 'moon hoax'. He's also working on an instalment of his rather ace 'Uncle Bob' series. All good stuff!

The Forbidden Planet International blog makes us aware of cartoonist and illustrator Luke Pearson's inclusion in an exhibition hosted by the London Transport Museum (well done, Luke). The exhibition is on the theme of cycling and if you want to check out the art on display, it runs until 22 August. Some of the art is also online at the Guardian website. Go take a look!

Cartoonist Sarah McIntyre has been on holiday to Cornwall and I suspect that in the coming days she'll be posting some cool artwork chronicling her trip. There's already one picture up.

Just stumbled across this 2009 mini-interview with cartoonist James Nash. James is a major talent and the interview is worth a read.

The Manchester Comix Collective has lots of interesting stuff to share with the world, including news of Heroes and Monsters, the summer exhibition at the Manchester Art Gallery, which features a mural and workshops by cartoonist Jim Medway. Here’s more information from Manchester Art Gallery’s site:

‘Come and play in our Heroes and Monsters exhibition (20 July – 19 September) and see Jim Medway’s fantastic mural. It brings those Ancient Greek superbeings into our modern world and sends you on a journey of discovery around the gallery. There you can put on your crown and pick up one of Jim’s amazing interactive Hero Quest maps. You are the hero in your own epic story as you play, draw and imagine your way around the gallery, finding mysterious objects, meeting other heroes and immortals and slaying monsters.’

And finally, I wanted to mention the Birmingham Zine Festival. Running from September 10 - 12, it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun, with a zine fair, zine picnic, Atta Girl zine party, exhibitions and also workshops to be announced. (Via Pete Ashton.)