Tube Surfing: Mazeworld, Mad Science and Harvey Pekar

Does the sporadically torrential rain of the last few days mean that's all the summer we're going to get? I hope not.

Onto the Tube Surf...

• Arthur Ranson sends word that Daniel Clifford, a fan of the artist's Mazeworld strip (produced in collaboration with writer Alan Grant), has set up a Facebook petition to get the strip re-published.

Arthur has written about Daniel's efforts over at his blog. "I, of course, believe a collection of the entire Mazeworld in one fat edition would be a nice thing to have," he notes, "but the reason this petition thing excites me is the thought of a social network of fans using their connection to create an outcome.

"Coincidentally in Saturday’s Guardian Review section there was a review of Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age by Clay Shirkey whose suggestion is that the brainpower wasted with passive entertainment watching might be used via the internet to organise and do something in concert. Shirkey quotes examples of charities that have been set up. A Mazeworld reprint doesn’t have that significance but hey, we can be shallow too."

If you want to check out some pages from Mazeworld, you can do so at Arthur Ranson's website.

• Meanwhile, in Manchester, there are two events with British comic connections happening at the Lass O'Gowrie pub over the weekend as part of their epic Lass fest event.

The first, The Hammer House of Dezza, kicks off on Saturday at 3.00pm. It features veteran British comics editor Dez Skinn, who will be talking about his time at the helm of Hammer House of Horror Magazine, which included in its pages comic strips.

The second is on Sunday. It's Vworp 3, a one-day Doctor Who convention that numbers among its guests the aforementioned Dez Skinn and comic artist Adrian Salmon, alongside the likes of Doctor Who writers Terrance Dicks, Andrew Cartmel, Rob Shearman and actress Sophie Aldred, who played companion Ace alongside Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy.

• Speaking of events, there's lots forthcoming from the folks at Alternative Press (who describe themselves as "...a group of artists, comix creators, writers and poets dedicated to encouraging creativity through self-publishing").

The group has lots of exciting news, available via the above link, of fairs and exhibitions, including the Alternative Press Fair in November, Tunbridge Wells Zine Fest in August and much, much more.

Hang on, if I'm mentioning events, surely I've got to talk about Caption... I know John's plugged it recently, but it's well worth a reminder. Oxford's annual convention celebrates all things comics, but primarily the small press, with the theme of 'Mad Science' this year.

It looks like it's going to be another cracking event, with guests such as Melinda Gebbie, Jeremy Day, Al Davison and Darryl Cunningham all attending. I'll be along too as a punter and I can't wait!

Caption 2010 is held over two days on the weekend of 31st July.

This Tube Surf has been a bit verbose. Let's go for some quick hits:

• Rob Jackson makes ice cream and comics, and his blog is always worth a look.

• Dan McDaid goes all 'TV Action' for a pal, with a page of art homaging Doctor Who as he appeared in the 1970s comic Countdown. Oh yes!

• Adam Cadwell pays tribute to the recently deceased Harvey Pekar. He's also set up a Flickr group for pictorial tributes to Harvey. R.I.P. Mr Pekar...

And on that sad note, it's goodbye until my next Tube Surf...

Foundry supports Haiti relief effort, comic creators wanted

London's The Foundry is running an evening to raise money for earthquake victims in Haiti on 27th January - and comic creators are invited to get involved.

The event is just part of a joint fund raising campaign by the Haitian arts group Ghetto Biennale, which is based in Port-Au-Prince, and the Foundry. A foundry/haiti fund to support the artists community www.atis-rezistans.com in Grand Rue, Port-au Prince has now been set up.

The evening will have entertainment, but funds will be raised by people bringing tables on which to sell their wares to those attending, the money from the sales of which are to be given to the fund. Jonathan, who runs the Foundry, has asked if Britain's small press community would be able to bring a table and sell some of their items to raise money for charity.

The Alternative Press have done two "Are You Zine Friendly" events there previously, but by chance all of them are out of the country at that time, so they can't bring a table for people to sell their stuff on.

"So we're asking if anyone is interested in bringing a table to the Foundry, for use by the small press community," Peter Lally told downthetubes, "so that they can sell their goodies and give the money to the Haiti fund.

If they can, they should contact me (peterlally@gmail.com) and we'll put the details up on our "Are You Zine Friendly" Blog so that anyone interested in selling their goods can get the information and contact you to arrange things."

"So for example, we can put on the blog 'Johnny from Johnny Zine is bringing a table down to the Foundry, he'll be there by 6pm, and if you're coming please email him at: ...co.uk' etc., etc."

Pete adds that you should also contact Jonathan of The Foundry to say you're bringing a table, his contact details are on the Foundry link below.

If you cannot attend but wish to donate some money to their Fund, there is a Paypal button on the Foundry page.

• The event takes place on Wednesday 27th January 6pm - 11pm, The Foundry, 84-86 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3JL (nearest station: Old Street) Web Link: http://www.foundry.tv/haiti/

Tube Surfing: Alternative Press, Bryan Talbot, Comic Sales Figure and more Mackie!

• The Alternative Press Fair is back! Taking place in London on 13th February, this is a free event celebrating all things self-published and DIY: Comics and Zines, Radical Literature, Poetry, Printmaking, Book Arts and even a bit of DIY Fashion come together in this carnival of modern cottage industry!

There will be a huge variety of things to see and do, including collaborative drawing and live screen printing where you can make your own poster of the day. Plus, in the evening there will be a party to celebrate the first birthday of the Alternative Press Fair with an open mic night for all comers to try, also featuring poetry, spoken word and music. Get along and help the organisers blow out the candles! More info at www.alternativepress.org.uk

• Talking of events, Bryan Talbot and Denise Mina will be attending Glasgow's Aye Write Festival on Friday 12th March at 7.30-21.00. Bryan will of course be well known to most readers as the creator of Luther Arkwright, Alice in Sunderland, hailed by the Guardian as one of the ten best graphic novels ever and, more recently, Grandville, inspired by the work of the nineteenth-century French illustrator Gerard. Denise Mina is well known as a crime writer but recently worked with Leonardo Manco on John Constantine: Hellblazer: Empathy Is the Enemy, set in Glasgow. They'll be discussing graphic novels in a specially illustrated event with Stuart Kelly. Tickets are £7/£6 and you can find more info here on the Festival web site.

• (via Bugpowder): British independent Unico Comics is on the look out for British artists who can complete books they intend to publish in 2011! Unico's plans include a series of 22 page one shots published in b/w or using grey scale. Paul H Birch has the story at speechballoons.

• News that Kieron Gillen and Steven Sanders' S.W.O.R.D. series from Marvel, which guest-starred Death's Head in its first two issues, is to meet an untimely demise has prompted a flurry of debate over on the Marvel UK-inspired It Came from Darkmoor blog. #3 came out this week, to be rewarded with the news that #5 will now be the final issue, and the Darkmoor editor has joined others campaigning for its continuation, offering several insights into the state of US comic publishing. It's worth checking out the comments on the piece, where we learn the success threshold of a US comic is, apparently, some 27,000 copies. (#1 of S.W.O.R.D. sold 21,988, according to ICV2)

• A much longer living comic was Britain's weekly title Film Fun, which celebrated its 90th anniversary last week. One of the most successful comics from Amalgamated Press, it ran from 1920 to 1962, compiling over 2,000 issues before it merged into new kid on the block Buster and Lew Stringer has published an affectionate tribute on his always-entertaining Blimey! It's another blog about comics blog...

• And finally... comic creator Simon Mackie, who kindly dropped us a line about his new blog devoted to The Beezer earlier this week, is certainly keeping busy. He's currently working on 'digitalising' an old comic strip he drew with Ben Rowdon Called 'Ride Your Horse Cowboy' and you can view the first two pages over on the Drunk Duck web comics portal. Also, look out for an autobiographical story of his coming out very soon in the mature readers only US comic Satyr, in #10, available from Dimestore Productions and other online stores.

(Compiled with thanks to John Owens and Matthew Badham)

AntiFolk Goes Zine Friendly

In order to try and get more zines, comics and self published material out to a wider audience, Britain's Alternative Press team are teaming up with like-minded events organisers to ensure they have a table for the sale of zines and comics etc., making it "Zine Friendly".

One of the first of these alliances takes place next weekend with the AntiFolk UK Autumn Festival (Friday 20th – Saturday 21st November) in London's Soho, an evening of music from the Anti-Folk UK collective. A zine friendly event, Alternative Press will have a table or two to sell zines and comix. Also, self publishers who come to sell will receive a discount of £2 off daily ticket price (so, £4 rather than £6).

Plus, who could miss comic creato Jimi Gherkin playing some sounds, along with the Tuscan Troubadour, Trent Miller and The Skeleton Jive?

The AntiFolk event is at the 12 Bar Club, Denmark Street, Soho, London WC2H 8NL

• 12 Bar Web Site: www.12barclub.com
• AntiFolk: www.antifolk.co.uk

London Alternative Press Event Announced

Alternative Press are hosting another awesome evening of Zines, comix, book arts and poetry at their second Zine Friendly event at the Foundry in London in November, in order to promote the new project, the Zine Friendly Blog.

A resource for Self Publishers far and wide, the site will be listing venues, promoters, stockists and events that are all "Zine Friendly"!

To celebrate this the AP team are inviting small pressers everywhere to come down and promote their own work for free.

"All we are asking is that people donate what they can, even a zine or two, to help Alternative Press to keep promoting the scene," says co-organizer Jimi Gherkin.

"There will be communal tables with lots of space for self publishers to leave their work," he continues. "Also, printmakers or those with large work are encouraged to use the walls as a spontaneous temporary free arts space where you can stick up your work DIY style! BYOB (Bring Your Own Blu-tak!)

"Also, we are inviting some zine distributors to represent as much of what is going on in the scene as we can."

There will be food and other fun stuff, too. "We'll be having a cake sale with free tea, knitting circle, free blank zines for you to use and a poetry workshop followed by some performances and a short open mic."

It all sounds like great fun and past events have been well received, so if you're in London, give it a go.

• We Make Zines takes place at the Foundry, 86 Great Eastern Street, London, EC2A 3JL on Thursday 12th November. Things will kick off at 7pm until around 11pm. More info at: http://zinefriendly.wordpress.com

• We'll be presenting an interview with Jimi later this week as part of our "Matters of Convention" series compiled by Matthew Badham

Alternative Press Festival Ready to Go

Comics creator Jimi Gherkin and the team behind the upcoming Alternative Press Festival in London (Wednesday 29th July – Sunday 2nd August 2009, click here for the latest events listing) have been in touch to say that everything's go for this summer's events.

"The venues are all booked up, the Anthology is on its way and we are preparing for a wicked festival!" he tells us.

Part of the Festival includes Collaborama!, an event for artists, zinesters and self publishers to come and show and sell their work, as well as collaborate in making pages for a zine on the day. There will be table space given to both aspects of the event which will take place on Saturday 1st August 2009 at the The Miller, 96 Snowsfields Road, London Bridge (www.themiller.co.uk)

"Right now, we're starting to book tables out," says Jimi. If small press publishers would like a table space to exhibit and sell their work then various size tables are available.

"Regarding the zine making, the idea is to encourage visitors to take part and get involved, to help the process along we will have themes," Jimi continues. "These are just ideas so that people can get started more easily but so far one is "Strangers", where, maybe the idea that lots of people in the city don't know each other, the lack of communities or people who interest us that we don't know.

"The other is "You and Me", a lighthearted look at relationships, meeting someone for the first time, or maybe your relationship with not a person but something else, an idea maybe?

"These themes can be narrative or non narrative based."

In the evening of the event the Resonance FM radio orchestra will be performing a piece written by Ed Baxter, the Director of Resonance FM. "This will be really special and will be performed by the orchestra as well as actors, and two teams of artists will be illustrating the performance live on overhead projectors." Jimi enthuses. "If you're interested in being considered to be on one of these teams then also, get in touch."

• The Alternative Press Festival runs from Wednesday 29th July – Sunday 2nd August 2009, click here for the latest events listing

• For more info and table rates etc. contact Jimi via jimigherkin(at)yahoo.co.uk

• http://comicsandzines.wordpress.com

Alternative Press Anthology 2009: More Details Emerge

Jimi Gherkin, one of the organisers of the recent Alternative Press Fair in London, has revealed more for the plans for an Alternative Press Anthology, to be released later this year.

"The Alternative Press Fair was great," he reports. "We've had reports from all over that those who came had a good time, met some interesting people and sold, bought or swapped work. Some saw exciting things, and generally enjoyed the day.

"It gave a chance for creators to get their work out to a wide audience, and we think it inspired some people to do something creative."

Now, he and Peter Lally are putting together a full colour book. "The main aim is to get small press creators and the alternative press scene noticed by a wider audience," Jimi explains. "We think it's a brilliant scene; the work, the people, the creative freedom - and we strongly believe that people are empowered by realising their creativity and expressing themselves through the small press.

"We will set out to reflect as much of the alternative press scene as possible, covering zines, comics, poetry, short stories and political writing as well as anything else that [creators] believe represents the scene."

The themes of the planned are thus very broad. "Introduce yourself!" enthuses Jimi. "What we mean is, look at yourself and what you do in the small press, why you do it and how you got into it, or how you got started and think about how you can put that across.

"We want this book to be a collection of the great work going on in the small press scene, as well as having a handbook element exploring how people can be involved or get started themselves. We’d like to include artwork, illustration, poetry, articles, opinion, biographies and ‘how to’ sections.

Jimi and Peter want the book to feature all-new material to promote the British alternative press scene and urge creators to do their best work, "and we'll do our best to get decent distribution and spread the word as far as possible on its release."

• A new Ning forum, We Make Zines, has been set up to publicise the project. Submissions must be made by Thursday 30th April 2009: please get in touch with Jimi and Peter letting them know how you’d like to contribute by applying to join the group.

Alternative Press Anthology: Technical Details
Pagination: 80 pages
Size: 240mm x 170mm (with bleed - don't need to leave any border round the edge)
Printing: Full colour CMYK
Materials:
Paperback cover 280gsm double coated
Inside Pages 115gsm matt coated
Finishing: Slot perforated bound spine

Photo above courtesy of Richard of Handmade & Bound @ Alternative Press Fair. More of Richard's pics here

Alternative Press Anthology Planned

Photo courtesy of Richard of Handmade & Bound @ Alternative Press Fair. More of Richard's pics here

Hot on the heels of last weekend's Alternative Press Fair in London comes news of plans for a new Alternative Press Anthology.

Masterminded by the event's organisers Jimi Gherkin and Peter Lally, who are also planning a further APF event later in 2009, deadlines, themes and specifications of the book will be issued shortly.

"We hope that you had fun at the fair," say the pair in a posting to the APF web blog. "Maybe you've seen something that inspires you to create your own alternative media; to draw a comic, produce a zine, or to write a book or some poetry - anything’s possible. Perhaps you’ve simply enjoyed what people are doing and are interested in seeing more.

"...This is why the world of small press publishing is so important," they continue. "There is the freedom to express, without having to serve others. We organised this event in order to show what is going on in the world of small press publishing and for people to meet and exchange ideas.

"To present people's work in another way, we are putting together an Alternative Press Anthology book. This will showcase the talents of small press creators and introduce people to what the scene has to offer. Please get in touch with us if you would be interested in being a part of this. We would like as wide a variety of work as possible, and to cover areas such as perzines, comics, art books, poetry pamphlets and radical literature – anything that’s out there really."

The APF team aim to a book that will do justice "to what we believe is a great scene and you too will need to do the same... The point is that we really show the best of the small press so get your pens and pencils out, your glue and glitter and let's show people what we're made of!"

• For more details and latest info on APF events and projects, visit comicsandzines.wordpress.com
• Collective Memory of London's Alternative Press Fair over at Bugpowder: a list of reports from around the Web
• View pictures from the APF event on Flickr

Creator Reports
• David O'Connell
"..."Organizer Jimi Gherkin and team had put a lot of effort in the publicity of the event and it certainly paid off, as from door-opening until the end of the day the place was chock-a-block with punters..."
• Sarah McIntyre
"I had my own stall! This was a first for me and very exciting. And it couldn't have been a friendlier place; thanks to the huge publicity campaign..."
• Tom Hughes
"I just wanted to say a big thank you to all the people who purchased some of my comics!"

Alternative Press Fair Shapes Up Nicely

With just two weeks to go, Jimi Gherkin, Comic creator and organiser of the The Alternative Press Fair 2009 in London on 1st February is shaping up nicely with a terrifi line up of creators scheduled to be part of the day's proceedings (see below).

"It’s only going to be as good as we can make it so… invite everyone you can!" Jimi urges via the event's Facebook group. "Get your friends down there even if they’re only slightly interested, it will be great to have people from outside the scene there and show them what the scene is all about; they might feel inspired to get into it themselves!"

Over 50 exhibitors will be part of the day, representing about 100 artists. "It’s going to be a really amazing day!" enthuses Jimi.

Creator Groups at the event include...

• Active Distribution (www.activedistribution.org)
• Brighton BA Illustration (www.illustratorselbow.com)
A a group of illustrators, currently studying at the University of Brighton who make drawings, books, prints, films, animations, sculptures, paintings, photographs, stuffed toys, jewellery, clothes, badges, stickers, and pretty much anything else they can think of.
• Hand Made and Bound (www.handmadeandbound.com)
An independent fair with affordable, handmade artists’ books, comics and zines.
• Last Hours (www.lasthours.org.uk)
Last Hours is a radical culture web zine and occasional publisher. It aims to explore and promote DIY ideas and ideals, with articles, interviews, comics, columns and reviews.
• Meat Mag
• Nude Mag (www.nudemagazine.co.uk)
Nude was launched in August 2003 by Suzy Prince and Ian Lowey; two people brought together by a shared interest in many of the strange and exotic things which exist at the margins of pop culture.
• Paper Tiger (www.dirtysquatters.com/papertiger)
Paper Tiger is a co-operative venture where all the artists get creative control of their work and get published in one of two ways.
• Wallflower Press (www.wallflowerpress.co.uk)
Independent specialist book publishing across the full spectrum of cinema and the moving image.

Individual Creators include...
• Gavin Burrows (lucidfrenzy.blogspot.com)
From his base in Brighton, England, Gavin Burrows has badgered the foolish and unwary with a plethora of comic strips, articles, polemics, drunken rants and nuisance phone calls for over twenty years now...
• Capes & Drapes (capesanddrapes.tripod.com)
Mini Comics and Doodles
• Chiu (www.myeyeisonfire.net)
Animator and comics creator
• Gethan Dick (www.gethan.org)
Creative educator
• Tanya Meditsky (www.milkkitten.com)
• Eleanor Jane Parsons (www.eleanorjane.co.uk)
Self publisher of Wretch and Pushing Twenty
• Sarah Ray (www.sarahray.co.uk)
Birmingham-based illustrator
• Karoline Rerrie (www.nursepussy.co.uk)
Yes, wwe still think people visit her site more by 'accident' than design.
• SINA (www.boycrazyboy.com)
Sina burst onto the underground queer punk scene at the age of 16 with the queer teen zine Concerned Muthers, going on to create comics such as the gay superhero saga Atomic Love and the intensely personal and highly acclaimed BoyCrazyBoy.
• Wes White (www.ecartilage.co.uk)
Publisher of Attack!!!! Magazine

Pens, Pencils and Photocopiers: Alternative Press Fair 2009

The Alternative Press Fair 2009 in London has just been announced, bringing together the worlds of alternative comics, zines, self-produced art-books, poetry and diy/punk culture for one amazing day, like a great colourful blacmange that you can’t eat.

It's a good opportunity to meet the artists, see their work, buy some if you like it. Then relax and enjoy an exciting evening of music, song and melody, starring the Singing Sensation of the Nation, Mr. Trent Miller (& The Skeleton Jive).

Taking place on Sunday 1st February 2009, 12pm to 6pm (music to late) at the St. Aloysius Social Centre, 20 Phoenix Road, NW1 1TA, this event is free to all good men and women everywhere.

To Get there, alight Euston Station, venture up Eversholt Street on your right is Phoenix Road and a modern church - those dashed creative types will be in the basement.

• For more info contact: jimigherkin(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk or peterlally(at)gmail(dot)com or check comicsandzines.wordpress.com for the latest news
• If you’re a comics creator or publisher interested in having a table the costs are £15 for a whole table (old school table size roughly 1.25metresX80cm) for those with lots of stuff/ distros/ collectives etc.; £7.50 for a half, new to the scene/ small books etc. Please confirm asap with Peter Lally (peterlally(at)gmail(dot)com) who will send details on how to pay etc.