Tickets go on sale for the first Lakes International Comic Art Festival

Grandville by Bryan Talbot

Tickets for the first Lakes International Comic Art Festival, which will feature top talent from both sides of the Atlantic including Kurt Busiek, Ed Brubaker, Bryan Talbot and Jose Munoz, go on sale on Monday (13th May).

The festival will run from 18-20 October 2013 in Kendal, Cumbria with an exciting line up of more than 50 writers and artists including some of the biggest names in comic art from the United States, Europe, South America and the UK.

The range of guests show the diversity of comics, including biography, political cartoons, comics journalism, satire, superhero comics, comedy, adaptations of historical novels and innovative new story-telling.

Astro City 2 by Kurt Busiek

There will be more than 35 events including panel discussions, interviews, live drawing events, films and workshops. As well as the ticketed events, there will be a number of free exhibitions, including work by founder patrons Bryan Talbot and Sean Phillips, and free activities in a special Family Zone.

The organisers also aim to make the whole of Kendal part of the event, like the popular festivals on the continent in places such as Angouleme, so people can expect to find comic art around every corner.

One of the opening events on the Friday evening will be The Big Comic Draw, with Doug Braithwaite (X-Men and Storm Dogs), Carlos Ezquerra (Judge Dredd), Duncan Fegredo (Hellboy) and Jose Munoz (Alack Sinner).

They will be followed by The Write Comic Stuff, a chance to hear from two hugely popular American writers Ed Brubaker (Captain America, Criminal and Fatale) and Kurt Busiek (Spider-Man, Marvels and Astro City).

Other events over the weekend include 2000AD: An On-Earth Odyssey, a special celebration of the evolution and influence of the ever-popular British comic 2000AD with Judge Dredd creators John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra.

Another event will provide a rare chance to hear Viz creators Simon Thorp and Graham Dury discuss their work.

Festival patron Bryan Talbot will talk about Grandville and the Anthropomorphic Tradition. Gilbert Shelton (The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers) and Hunt Emerson (Dante’s Inferno) will be talking about their work from the underground comix of the sixties to the present day. And there will be a discussion on The Art of Crime and Noir with Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, Jose Munoz and David Lloyd (Kickback).

British political cartoonist Steve Bell will be interviewing the ground breaking American comics journalist Joe Sacco. Steve will also be discussing his own work in a separate event.

Other interviews with guests will provide opportunities to learn more about the work of writers and artists like Ed Brubaker, Kurt Busiek, Posy Simmonds (Tamara Drewe) and Andy Diggle (The Losers and Doctor Who).

A key feature of the festival will be the special live Watch them draw events. Artists featured over the weekend will include Charlie Adlard (Walking Dead), Glyn Dillon (Nao of Brown), Spanish artist Pau and Hunt Emerson.

In Quick Strips, a myriad of comic artists, some famous, others emerging, will talk about and present an aspect of their work-in-progress for a maximum of six minutes each.

There will be a chance to see Alan Moore and David Lloyd's seminal graphic novel V for Vendetta brought thrillingly to life on stage.

Festival patron Mary Talbot will be part of a panel for a discussion on The Art of the Memoir.  A group of innovative new wave comic creators who are published by Jonathan Cape will take part in a discussion on the Caped Crusaders and writers published by Selfmadehero will discuss adaptations in Re-imagining the Classics.

Nobrow writer and artist John McNaught, who won the award for the best newcomer at Angouleme earlier this year, will be interviewed together with Luke Pearson, the creator of the popular Hilda series of books. Both men have been nominated for Eisner awards this year.

Writers and artists will be running workshops including Al Davison (The Spiral Cage), manga artist Inko (Milk The Cat Comix), Karrie Fransman (The House That Groaned) and Hannah Berry (Adamtine).

The Brewery Arts Centre is putting on a special film programme including American Splendour, Tamara Drewe, 300, V for Vendetta, A History of Violence, and manga films My Neighbour the Yamadas and Oldboy.

The Comics Clock Tower will be the festival’s version of the marketplace.  Based in Kendal Town Hall it will champion breaking talent from all styles and genres. Many of the big name writers and artists visiting the festival will also be appearing in the Comics Clock Tower over the weekend and new adventure anthology STRIP: The Adventure Comics Magazine, which launched last month in newsagents, will also have a stand there.

A Weekend Pass will cost £25 and provide unlimited access to the Comics Clock Tower plus four daytime events (starting before 7pm).

A day pass on the Saturday or Sunday will cost £14, providing unlimited access to the Comics Clock Tower plus two daytime events.

Tickets for additional events can be bought separately.

Organisers are emphasising that places need to be reserved for most events, including the wide range of talks and discussions. So if people buy passes, they also need to plan which events they would like to attend and some of the events are expected to get booked quite quickly.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.breweryarts.co.uk or by phoning 01539 725133.

Festival patron Bryan Talbot says: "Our aim is to make The Lakes International Comic Art Festival like the European comic art festivals rather than the conventions that many fans will be used to.

"We think there's something for everyone in the wide range of events the team have put together, both the fans of different genres but also people who may not have read a comic book for many years.

"As well as being able to see artists drawing in our version of the comics marketplace there will be special live draw events, one of the most popular elements of European festivals. There will be interviews with some individual writers and artists as well as discussions on topics like the art of the memoir, horror and adaptations.

"People will be able to book their seats at events rather than having to waste time queuing. We also have a lot of free events including exhibitions and activities for children, so there's no excuse for not coming to find out what it's all about."

Fellow festival patron Sean Phillips says: "I'm really looking forward to this first event. Not only is it on my own doorstep but it's modelled on events like the Angouleme comic art festival, which is something I've long wanted to see in the UK.

"In countries like France and Italy they take comics very seriously and huge numbers of comics are sold every year, most of them to adults.  This event is a great opportunity to find out more about comic art and the writers and artists working in the medium."
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• 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.

Dundee Comic Expo: A Creator's View by MontyNero

Comics writer and artist MontyNero was one of many at the Dundee Comic Expo last weekend, and, complementing Jeremy Briggs' Photo Report on the event, offers his take on the event...

For some reason I don't often take tables at cons, but Dundee Expo was an exception for three reasons. Firstly, it's free to the public and a family event which is admirable. Secondly it's barely ten minutes from my home, a distance even a lazy artist like me can handle. Thirdly, the good work of Dundee University in promoting the comics medium is something I wanted to support in my own modest way.

On arriving at my table it became clear that I was surrounded by Expo experts with banners and hoardings and plates of enticing cakes to attract a crowd. In contrast, my own self-published wares were meagre and rudimentary. A lot of guests sell comics, merchandise or do sketches for cash which is commendable. I'm frankly too unsure of myself for the latter, and there are technical issues with the former. I've got stuff in 2000AD and Clint this very month but I can't very well sell that as both Rebellion and Mark Millar get annoyed when I post them coins through the post. I'm doing a six issue series - Death Sentence, with Mike Dowling - which Titan aren't releasing until October so it's too early to sell that. I decide the best thing is to do is get on with finishing the short story I'm drawing for 2000AD and chat to anyone that stops by.

Gary Erskine (left) with MontyNero (right) at the Expo. Photo courtesy Joe Gordon.
More of Joe's pictures form the Expo here

The Expo takes place over three main rooms, and my seat near the door of College Hall is cold. As I spend most of my life protesting to friends that Dundee is a sunny place - a veritable Scottish Marbella - this is somewhat disappointing. My fingers freeze up a little and I'm shivering, despite wearing a coat and scarf, which makes drawing tricky. The public all seem happy enough, and I eye their warming perambulations with envy. So many people stop to enquire about my work - perhaps intimidated by my perplexingly narrow-eyed stare - that there's barely time to draw comics anyway.

The people I meet can be roughly defined as twenty per cent curious newcomers to the medium, fifty per cent mainstream comic fans, and thirty per cent indie comic enthusiasts. There's a constant buzz of chatter and bonhomie, with a fairly equal male/female split and a sprinkling of young kids/babies and pensioners. A lot of the convention veterans around me are doing good business, and I enjoy hours of interesting chats with the steady stream of visitors to my table. Most people seem politely intrigued by Death Sentence and volunteer their email address so I can let them know how to buy the first issue in October. The day passes so quickly that I completely miss out on spending time in any of the other much warmer rooms at the Expo.

I eventually abandon my post to catch Mary and Bryan Talbot talk about their award winning graphic novel Dotter of my Father's Eyes. This splendid work concerns the lives of Lucia Joyce and Mary Talbot in conflict with their respective fathers, drawing resonances and parallels between two time periods. The Dundee Uni crowd ask a number of intelligent questions. Consequently we learnt a lot about how Mary's story emerged through research, dreams, intuition and hard work before Bryan brought the script to life in watercolour, pencil, ink and Photoshop.

Thrillingly, as I get me copy signed, Bryan casually mentions that he has 100 pages of their new graphic novel on his iPad. It's called Sally Heathcote: Suffragette and concerns a fictional maid at the heart of feminist activism in Edwardian Britain. I flick through the artwork, entranced, as Bryan's enthusiasm for his collaborator Kate Charlesworth bubbles over. I ask about the division of labour and Bryan explains how he breaks down and lays out Mary's script before Kate draws and paints her pages on top.

The end product is very similar in style and tone to Dotter but more refined and polished in its finish. Some of Kate's watercolour paintings of historic London are beautiful and emotionally stirring. The story's told within a nine panel grid structure, switching to narrow eight panel layouts for oppressive 'incarceration' scenes evoking prison bars. Look for it at the end of this year.

On the way out I spy a graphic novel and cake stall and eagerly stock up on both. As I greedily stuff my face with carrot sponge I reflect on what a wonderful environment for discussing comics the lecture hall is, with its modern sound and multimedia facilities, comfy seats, well informed audience and thoroughly effective heating system.

Back at my frosty table the Dundee students next to me have imaginatively cut through the frozen floor to search for fish in the frigid depths below Between triumphant whoops they're also selling an excellent compilation of university comics work, Anthology Three, which features a cover by visiting lecturer Dave Gibbons.

As the shadows begin to lengthen I spy a kettle, tea, fresh milk and a plate of what I immediately decide are complimentary biscuits. Manna from heaven! I make us all a brew and we huddle round a notional brazier munching Jaffa cakes and discussing our comic experiences. With so many skilful enthusiasts in one room - David Lloyd, Gary Erskine, Jim Alexander, Gary Gray, and the Accent and Black Hearted Press crew to name a few - it's impossible not to feel inspired.

Personally, I couldn't be happier with how it went. Roll on Dundee Comics Day, this October.

• MontyNero is a writer and artist for 2000AD and the co-creator of Death Sentence with Mike Dowling for Clint and from Titan in October 2013. You can buy Death Sentence 01 on Amazon, Itunes, Kobo or Graphicly. Check out his official web site at www.montynero.com or follow him on Twitter, follow his blog or Tumblr

 

Free Dundee Comics Expo on 30 March

The first Dundee Comics Expo will be opening its doors to the public in two week's time at 11am on Saturday 30 March 2013 and entry to all its talks, workshops and sales rooms will be free.

Held in the University of Dundee, and building on their experience from running the annual Dundee Comics Day as part of the Dundee Literary Festival, organisers Chris Murray and Phil Vaughan have promised an impressive line-up of both guests, small press and dealers.

The full event programme is as follows:

11.00am - Doors open to public
11.30am - Sha Nazir - Workshop in Baxter Suite Foyer (Tower Building)

All following talks are in the Darcy Thompson Lecture Theatre (Tower Building)

Noon - David Lloyd (Aces Weekly, V For Vendetta)
12:30pm - Comics Studies at Dundee and UniVerse Publishing
1:30pm - Laura Sneddon
2:00pm - Hannah Berry (Britten and Brulightly, Adamtine)
2:30pm - Bryan and Mary Talbot (Dotter Of Her Father's Eyes, Grandville)
3:00pm - Nigel Dobbyn (2000AD, Beano, Transformers)
4:00pm - Doors close

The evening events at Dundee Contemporary Arts complex (a 2 minute walk from the Tower Building) are as follows:
6:00pm - Screening of Judge Minty- A Judge Dredd Fan Film
7:00pm - DeeCAP, an hour of comics, performance and entertainment hosted by Damon Herd.

Note that entry to evening events at the DCA is free but ticketed. For tickets contact the DCA box office on 01382 909 900.

There are more details and update on the Dundee Comics Expo Facebook page.

72nd World Science Fiction Con to celebrate 'Diversity in Speculative Fiction'

The academic programme at Loncon 3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention which will be held in London next August at the Excel, is offering the opportunity for academics from across the globe to share their ideas - including their thoughts on comics - with their peers and convention attendees.

Running from Thursday 14th to Monday 18th August 2014, Loncon 3 has already announced authors Iain M. Banks, John Clute and Robin Hobb, SF editor and critic Malcolm Edwards and the highly influential SF artist Chris Foss, artist and designer Jeanne Gomoll  and comics creator Bryan Talbot as Guests of Honour.

In a Call for Papers for the event, organisers have announced that to reflect the history and population of London, the host city, the theme of the academic programme at the event is 'Diversity'.

"We will be exploring science fiction, fantasy, horror, and all forms of speculative fiction, whether in novels, comics, television, and movies or in fanworks, art, radio plays, games, advertising, and music."

Proposals are particularly welcome on the works of the Guests of Honour, the city of London as a location and/or fantastic space, and underrepresented areas of research in speculative fiction. Examples of these may include, but are not limited to:

• Representation of alternative sexualities
• Speculative fiction by writers and producers of colour
• Non-English language media and/or fandoms
• The fantastic in unexpected places (greetings cards, opera, football stadiums)
• Digital comics
• The role of speculative fiction in Live Action Role-Playing
• The fantastic in music videos
• Speculative fiction in advertising
• European horror

Academics at all levels are warmly encouraged, including students and independent scholars. Proposals for presentations, roundtable discussions, lectures, and workshops/masterclasses are welcomed.

The deadline for submission is 1st October 2013 and participants will be notified by December 31st 2013. All presenters must be in receipt of convention membership by 1st May 2014. Abstracts will be included in the Academic Programme Book, available to download from the Loncon website. It is anticipated that an edited volume showcasing the variety of topics presented will be published.

• To propose a paper, please submit a 300 word abstract to Emma England, the academic area head. To submit something other than a paper, please contact her first, for an informal exchange of ideas at emma.england@loncon3.org.



• Web: http://loncon3.org • Twitter: @AcademicLoncon3

Brubaker, Sacco and Munoz among first 'big name' guests for Lakes International Comic Art Festival

Lakes International Comic Art Festival Poster
by Bryan Talbot. Competition below!

Some of the biggest names in comic art - including top names such as Joe Sacco, Ed Brubaker and Posy Simmonds, John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra - will be heading to the inaugural Lakes International Comic Art Festival later this year.

Festival organisers have just announced some of the guests of honour who will be appearing at the event which will run from 18-20th October 2013 in Kendal in Cumbria, who include writers and artists from the United States, Argentina, Spain and the UK, working in a wide range of different genres.

The event, which is modelled on the European style comic art festivals such as Angouleme, has a guest list running to more than 40 writers and artists - some yet to be announced.

Ed Brubaker. Photo: Luigi Novi

Organisers plan to reveal more names over the next few months, in the run up to tickets going on sale in May.

American writer Ed Brubaker is making his first visit to a British comic art event.  He is famous for his work on comics like Captain America, Batman, Catwoman, Uncanny X-Men and Daredevil, as well as the creator owned comics Criminal and Fatale. He has won four Eisner awards, the comic industry’s equivalent of the Oscars.

Artist Sean Phillips, a founder patron of the new festival along with Bryan Talbot, has been working with Ed Brubaker for about 12 years, most recently on Criminal and Fatale. “I find Ed’s work believable," he says. "We do crime fiction so there are obviously things like armoured car heists, pickpockets and other crime plots.

“But the important bit is the characters and how they react to their situations.  And the way the characters created by Ed react is always believable.  You have to be able to care about what happens to the characters and that is what he does really well.”

Jose Muñoz

Another guest at the festival, the highly rated Argentine artist Jose Muñoz, has had a strong influence on a number of other leading comic artists.  Muñoz is noted for his influential black and white artwork and his graphic novel series Alack Sinner was the inspiration for Frank Miller's Sin City comic series.

Art by Joe Sacco

Another US writer and artist who will be flying over for the festival is Joe Sacco, who writes and draws international political reportage in a comic book format, providing an insight into the complex issues of global politics while telling the stories of some of the ordinary people living in war torn areas like Sarajevo, Chechnya and Palestine.

Festival patron Bryan Talbot says: “Joe was trained as a journalist and singlehandedly created the genre of reportage in graphic novel form. Immersing himself in a situation, his in-depth reports use the medium of sequential art to its full advantage. His books, such as Palestine, Safe Area Gorazde or his recent Footnotes in Gaza, follow his investigations and interviews, explaining the history, politics and dynamics of the situation as he goes along.” 

Judge Dredd fans will be particularly looking forward to meeting British writer John Wagner and Spanish artist Carlos Ezquerra, who are the co-creators of the famous law maker.  They have both created many other characters for 2000AD including Strontium Dog. 

John is also credited as being one of the people who revitalised British comics in the 1970s along with Pat Mills and others.

The work of another guest, cartoonist Posy Simmonds, could not be more different.  She satirises the English middle classes, particularly those of a literary bent.  Her cartoons for The Guardian, Gemma Bovery and Tamara Drewe, have both been turned into books.  Tamara Drewe won the Prix Des Critiques in 2009 and was made into a feature film in 2010. 

Posy has also written and drawn several books for children.

Two British comic creators coming to the festival recently won prestigious awards at Europe’s biggest comic art festival in Angouleme.

Glyn Dillon won the the Prix Spécial du Jury for The Nao of Brown, the story of a half Japanese, half English woman who suffers from violent morbid obsessions and a racing, unruly mind.  He has had a wide ranging career, including working as a storyboard artist and concept designer for both film and television.

Jon McNaught was the first Briton to win the Prix Révélation, The Best Newcomer Award, at Angouleme, for his first full-length book Automne (entitled Dockwood in English).

Artist Doug Braithwaite began his career in comics 25 years ago working for Marvel UK and 2000AD.  He has worked on many of the industry’s flagship titles, and has drawn just about every major character for both Marvel and DC comics. His recent work includes Secret Invasion: Thor, Wolverine Origins, and the award winning Justice series for DC comics.  He is currently working on the creator owned series Storm Dogs with writer David Hine.

Another British writer who will star at the inaugural festival is Andy Diggle.  He is currently working on Superman and writing stories for Doctor Who, Thief of Thieves and a new supernatural comic, Uncanny.  Andy has recently launched his own thriller called Snapshot with artist Jock.  He has also been nominated for the prestigious Eisner Award for co-creating the New York Times best-selling action thriller The Losers, which was turned into a film.

Andy says: “The wider world is finally waking up to the richness, vibrancy and immediacy of the comics medium in all its diverse genres. Comics aren't just great art and great entertainment - they're also educational. Multiple studies have shown that kids who read comics have improved literacy, and go on to read more prose in a wider range of styles and genres than kids who don't.

“So it's great to see a European-style comics festival come to the North-West, bringing the joy of comics to a whole new audience.

"As for myself, I'm looking forward to meeting the fans - and the other creators. Festival Director Julie Tait has pulled together an amazing line-up of talent, especially considering it's the inaugural festival. Long may it continue!”

These first nine guests of honour join founder patrons Bryan and Mary Talbot, who won the biography category in the Costa Book Awards earlier this year, and Sean Phillips.

Bryan Talbot has also created a special festival poster which features Kendal’s town hall a lake and references to 28 different comic art characters. If you can name all the comic characters referenced in the Festival's poster which has been created by Bryan Talbot, they'll put you into a prize draw to win one of five signed copies and our festival mug. Email your answers to media@comicartfestival.com by 11.00am on Monday 18th March.

The festival will include events where people will be able hear from writers and artists, panel discussions, special live drawing events, films, several exhibitions, workshops and a kids’ zone.  Authors and artists will be signing copies of their work and there will be a marketplace to buy comics and comic art.  There will also be some free events and exhibitions.

Festival Director Julie Tait says: “We’re very excited to give people their first real taste of the guest list for our new festival.  We have a great line up which includes top creators from the UK, Europe and further afield who are recognised as leading lights or exciting new talent - all are pioneers in some shape or form.

“We’ll be revealing more big names over the next few months.  We know people are eager to find out who all our guests are but we want to keep people in suspense for a bit longer!

“The festival will include a wide range of events, including some which are free.  We want The Lakes International Comic Art Festival to appeal not just to the people who are already big comic art fans but also to help bring new audiences to this fantastic and versatile medium.”
          
The founder partners of the event are the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal College, South Lakeland District Council and Osprey Communications. Founder supporters are Curious Road, Designworks and Jonathan Cape. The festival is also supported by Kendal Library and publishers Myriad Editions, Nobrow, Blank Slate, Knockabout and Selfmadehero.

The leader of SLDC, Councillor Peter Thornton, says: “I’m really excited about this inaugural Comic Art Festival. Super Heroes in Kendal, Spiderman climbing the Town Hall – who knows what will happen?

“Kendal’s a great place to have this festival and I know that it will draw in many visitors who will experience Kendal hospitality and return again and again. Great work by Julie and her team, South Lakeland District Council is pleased to be able to support this event.”

• 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.

New festival to celebrate comic art launched in Lake District

A new festival which aims to match the vibrancy of France's annual Angouleme event was launched last night, to celebrate the very best comic art from across the world, from cartoon strips to superhero comics and manga to non-fiction graphic novels.

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival will run from 18-20th October 2013 in Kendal, Cumbria.

The founder patrons of the new festival include Bryan and Mary Talbot who won the biography category in the Costa Book Awards earlier this month. They are joined by another internationally renowned comic artist Sean Phillips.

And, while the Festival organisers are keeping tight-lipped about their guest line-up, at a special event at the Brewery Arts Centre attended by local comic creators, arts organisers, press and councillors, Bryan revealed Guardian cartoonists Steve Bell and Posy Simmonds are signed aboard.

The full guest list will be revealed over the next few months, with top comic archivist and promoter Paul Gravett also on board and lending his support. The organisers, who have been attending numerous comics events around the country over the past few months and are planning the Festival as something long term, have already gained support in kind from designers, PR experts and local business, and had meetings with publishers in an effort to attract their support.

The launch of the new festival comes at a time when there is a growing buzz about comic art. Graphic novels have been taken increasingly seriously over the last 20 years.

Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes, written by Mary Talbot and illustrated by husband Bryan, was the first graphic novel to win the biography category in the Costa Awards. The Chair of the 2013 Man Booker Prize has also encouraged entries by authors of graphic novels.

Bryan Talbot’s work also includes Batman, Judge Dredd, Alice in Sunderland and his Grandville series of detective thrillers. He also wrote and drew A Tale of One Bad Rat, which is partially set in the Lake District, a haunting tale homaging the work of Beatrix Potter.

Bryan Talbot at the Festival launch

“The UK is one of the only countries in Europe that doesn't have an international comic festival, celebrating the whole range of this versatile and exciting medium," he says. "This is the golden age of graphic novels, with more, and better, comic art being produced today than ever before.

"The Lakes International Comic Art festival is therefore a concept whose time has come."
Giving a brief overview of British and US comics history, and enthusing about the achievements of European comic festivals such as Angouleme, Bryan clearly has high hopes for this new Festival, supported by his wife.

“The medium of comics, or sequential art, is as valid an art form as any other and is capable of dealing with any subject and any genre in its own unique way, a way that is direct and accessible," he feels. "The best graphic novels are comparable to the best in prose, film or drama.”

The festival will include events where people will be able hear from some of the biggest names in comic art, panel discussions, films, exhibitions and workshops. Authors and artists will also be signing copies of their work and there will be a marketplace to buy comics and comic art.

Sean Phillips, who lives in Cumbria, has also worked as an artist on comics such as Batman and Hellblazer, and more recently on crime genre comics Criminal and Fatale.
“It's great to be involved with any festival that is interested in promoting the vast range of comics out there," he says.

“Comics is a medium, not a genre. It's not just superheroes and the Beano, and this festival is a good chance to see that there are comics for everyone, no matter what their interests are. Comics can be used to tell any type of story in any genre, and that should be celebrated.”

Festival organiser Julie Tait outlines plans for the event

The festival is the brainchild of Julie Tait and her 14-year-old comic fan son Finn, who live in Kendal.

"The Lakes International Comic Art Festival will celebrate this exciting and vibrant art form, which is gaining a growing number of fans of all ages," says Julie. "For me, the fusion of great art and great writing is dynamite. It makes it a very exciting, inspiring and challenging art form to be promoting, celebrating and encouraging."

The event's founders have looked to the comic art festivals held on the continent for inspiration, including Europe’s largest celebration of the art form at Angouleme in France, which takes place later this month.

"In countries like France there's a real appreciation of comics as an art form and our aim is to create something of the atmosphere at comic art festivals like the one in Angouleme," Julie enthuses. "There will be plenty for the real enthusiasts but we also hope it will help to introduce a new audience to comic art."

Julie also runs the team behind the Lakes Alive outdoor arts festival. Speaking about her latest venture she says: "There's a real enthusiasm in the Lake District and across Cumbria for new, contemporary cultural events. We believe this new festival will provide something that is inspiring, exciting and creative for local people to enjoy, as well as bringing in audiences from outside the area."

The new festival will take place at a number of venues across Kendal, including the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal College and the Town Hall and will be created and presented by Lakes Arts Festivals Ltd, a not-for-profit company.

• More details about the new event will be available at www.comicartfestival.com shortly. 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.

Talbots scoop Costa Award for "Dotter of Her Father's Eyes"

Mary Talbot's Dotter of Her Father's Eyes has won the biography section in the 2012 Costa Book Awards.

Drawn by husband Bryan Talbot, the award has delighted the couple, who The Guardian reports have known about their win for some time but had to keep quiet about it.

While this is not the first graphic work to win a major literary prize – Art Spiegelman's Maus won a Pulitzer in 1992 and Chris Ware won the Guardian first book prize in 2001 for Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth –  the Costa Award is still a significant moment for the graphic medium and 2012 marks the first time comics have featured in the Costa nominations (see news story).

"It is a good thing for graphic novels as a whole,"  Bryan Talbot told the Guardian, whose works include The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, The Tale of One Bad Rat and Alice in Sunderland. "Graphic novels are becoming increasingly accepted as a legitimate art form."


Dotter of Her Father's Eyes tells the story of James Joyce's tragic daughter Lucia, who spent the last 30 years of her life in a mental institution. Into that tale, Mary Talbot has woven the story of her own troubled relationship with her father, the eminent Joycean scholar James S Atherton.

In other categories, Hilary Mantel won the novel award for Bring Up the Bodies; Francesca Segal won first novel for The Innocents; Kathleen Jamie's The Overhaul came first in poetry, and Sally Gardner's Maggot Moon was named children's book of the year.

Among the nominations this year were Days of the Bagnold Summer by Joff Winterhart while artist and writer Dave Shelton, who writes and draws Good Dog, Bad Dog, for both The DFC and Phoenix was shortlisted in the Children's Book category with his novel A Boy And A Bear In A Boat (see news story).

• Costa Book Awards: www.costabookawards.com 

Comics make the Costa Book Awards for first time

(Updated): Two graphic novels - Dotter of Her Father's Eyes by Mary and Bryan Talbot and Days of the Bagnold Summer by Joff Winterhart - feature in the short list for this year's Costa Book Awards - considered one of the UK's most prestigious book awards.

While there are many dedicated comic industry awards, this is, the Guardian notes, something of a literary milestone, as they are the first graphic works to be shortlisted for a Costa (formerly the Whitbreads) which "unashamedly celebrate and reward enjoyability in five sections.

"While it might be a surprise to some, there will be many who feel there should be more mainstream recognition for graphic work," the paper reports, and Bryan Talbot agrees. "I think it's a big thing for the comic medium generally," he says. "It is another instance of the growing acceptability of comics as a valid artform."

The well-received Dotter of Her Father's Eyes tells the story of James Joyce's tragic daughter Lucia, who spent the last 30 years of her life in a mental institution. Into that tale, Mary Talbot has woven the story of her own troubled relationship with her father, the eminent Joycean scholar James S Atherton.

Told in both monochromatic and colored styles, the story shows two very different people, combined in a way that is unique all on its own, the book received major praise for its take on gender politics on its debut and was rated one of the best graphic novels of the year by Publisher’s Weekly.

In Joff Winterhart's funny graphic novel, Days of the Bagnold Summer, Sue, 52, works in a library. Daniel, 15, is still at school. This was the summer holidays Daniel was due to spend with his father and his father's pregnant new wife in Florida. When they cancel his trip, Sue and Daniel face six long weeks together...

Already well-known for his animated films like Violet and Turquoise, Joff Winterhart here shows himself to be a comics author of extraordinary talent.

On release, review site BookMunch described it as the most enthralling graphic novel debut of the year.

"Days of the Bagnold Summer is a book that will make you chuckle and ponder," their reviewer enthused. "Chuckling and pondering are no bad things. It is also a book that will work on you and draw you back for another re-read, another chuckle, another ponder. From start to finish, it’s a pleasure of a peculiar kind. Joff Winterhart is a writer we will be keeping a close eye on in the future. He is also a writer that we think you graphic novel types should be hurrying to check out.

Talking about the nomination in the Guardian yesterday, Bryan Talbot said many people tended to view comics as a genre rather than a medium, whereas "they can tell any sort of story". He said some tended to not think beyond Superman.

"People don't seem to realise there's a whole range of quality material out there which is worth any intelligent person's time to read."

Shortlisted for his first full-length book 38-year-old Winterhart, who drums in a band despite having only one hand, told the Guardian he was extremely surprised by the nomination. "It doesn't feel like a novel, it's got pictures in it!

"I didn't know it had enough words to constitute a novel," he continued. "Some graphic novels are quite epic and very cinematic in scope and mine is incredibly not like that."

Author Wendy Holden, one of the category's three judges, said it was funny, thought-provoking and "sniff-makingly sad". She added: "Anyone with a teenager in the family, or anticipating having one in the future, should read it. It's not only hilarious and brilliant but deals with real life, as people really live it, which alone sets it apart from many works of fiction today."

She said graphic novels were "undeservedly underrated" and Winterhart's book was a jewel in the genre.

For the hotly contested Children's Book Award shortlist, the debut illustrator and author Dave Shelton stands alongside former Whitbread Children’s Novel Award winner Diana Hendry, as well as dyslexia campaigner Sally Gardner, and teen fiction writer, Hayley Long.

You can read about Waterstones’ own Sarah Clarke and experiences on the judging panel of the Children’s Book Award here.


The winners of the Costas will be announced on 2nd January 2013. The final five will then be in competition for the overall £30,000 prize as Costa book of the year on 29th January.

New Grandville book launches on Friday at Foyles, London

On Friday 9th November, the Badger is back! Comica Festival at Foyles will be presenting the world premiere of Grandville Bête Noire, the third thrilling episode in Bryan Talbot’s phenomenal Grandville series of anthropomorphic steampunk scientific-romance-thrillers starring Inspector Le Brock.

Be among the very first people on the planet to get hold of this stunning, sumptuous edition and get your copy signed with a personalised sketch by Bryan.

In his interview with writer and cultural historian Kim Newman, Bryan will also be joined by his wife Mary Talbot, writer and co-creator of Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes, part autobiographical family history, part biography of James Joyce’s daughter Lucia. There will also be a trailer and exclusive sneak peak at the forthcoming Bryan Talbot documentary.

• Comica presents: Grandville at Foyles, Doors open 6pm for 6.30pm start, followed by book signing. Tickets cost £8 online http://www.wegottickets.com/event/191081 or on the door (subject to capacity).

Grandville 'Bête Noire' Trailer released

Bryan Talbot has just released this sneak peek at his new Grandeville book, Bête Noire (due for release 6th December in the UK from Jonathan Cape), on YouTube.

The Badger is back!
 
At Toad Hall, lair of multibillionaire Baron Aristotle Krapaud, a cabal of industrialists and fat cats plot the violent overthrow of the French state by the intervention of horribly beweaponed automaton soldiers. Meanwhile, the brutal murder of a famous Parisian artist, mysteriously stabbed to death in his locked and guarded studio, is subject to the investigations of the tenacious Detective Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard, placing him and his faithful adjunct, Detective Sergeant Roderick Ratzi, in pursuit of the mysterious masked assassin stalking the cut-throat commercial world of the Grandville art scene.

Bête Noire signals the welcome return to anthropomorphic steampunk detective fiction of master storyteller and graphic novel pioneer Bryan Talbot with the third stand-alone volume of the Eisner and Hugo Award nominated Grandville series.

As the body count mounts and events spiral exponentially out of control, aided by his brilliant deductive abilities and innate ferocity, LeBrock battles against outrageous odds in this funny, high octane thriller, an adventure shot through with both high art and comic book references, a glorious illegitimate offspring of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Ian Fleming - with animals!

Follow the Badger!

• Bryan Talbot's Official Grandeville Page

• Buy Grandville Bête Noire from amazon.co.uk

• Buy Grandeville Bête Noire from forbiddenplanet.com

Ninja Turtles, Grandville and other anthropomorphic comics on Resonance FM

Panel Borders: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Continuing Panel Borders' month of shows about anthropomorphic comics, Alex Fitch talks to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman, Rich Magallanes (Senior Vice President, Nickelodeon animation) and British comic book writer David Baillie about the ever popular franchise. Alex discusses the history of the comics and cartoons with Kevin and Rich as well as the latest versions of the characters appearing in IDW's new comic book and Nickolodeon's forthcoming series. Alex and David talk about the latter's experience in writing TMNT strips for the Eastern European market, in the form of two page comics that look at the point of view of both the Turtles and the villains from the series.

8pm, Sunday 12th August, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

Clear spot: Anthropomorphic literature

To complement this month's series of Panel Borders on anthropomorphic comic books, tonight's Clear Spot explores the use of animal characters with human characteristics in literature. In the first half of the show, we're proud to present an extract from one of Bryan Talbot's lectures on anthropomorphism in children's books, cartoons and comics, and their relevance to his own graphic novels series Grandville. Alex Fitch also talks to Bryan about his interest in the subject, and to children's writer and illustrator Helen Ward about her adaptations of Aesop's Fables for modern audiences.

8pm, Monday 13th August, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

Timelord Talbot!

When artist Bryan Talbot, creator of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright and Grandville was recently honoured Northumbria University with an Honorary Degree, friend and fellow creator Al Davison couldn't resist a bit of fun at the expense of a new Doctor by photoshopping him into the guise of an almost as well known Time Lord.

Al cleverly metamorphosed the newly-created Doctor into several incarnations of Doctor Who, including this PR image from The Krotons, recently released on DVD.

Bryan was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters alongside students from the School of Arts and Social Sciences, and you can see him in suitable finery below.

Bryan, who lives in Christchurch in Sunderland, has worked on a range of ground-breaking comics and graphic novel and is credited with being the writer of Britain’s first graphic novel - The Adventures of Luther Arkwright – serialised from 1978.

In 1989 Arkwright won the Mekon award for Best British Work and four Eagle Awards. Published in nine countries it has a strong cult following which has recently been made into a three-hour audio drama featuring David Tennant as Arkwright.

Probably his most famous work, the graphic novel Alice in Sunderland explores the links between Lewis Carroll and Sunderland. It was nominated for a host of awards and is in its fourth printing in the UK.

His graphic novel The Tale of One Bad Rat, which deals with the after-effects of child sexual abuse, also won a host of awards including the Eisner, the Oscar of the comic industry. It is published in 16 countries and used in several child abuse centres in Britain, America, Germany and Finland.

Bryan has created a variety of comic strips for publications as diverse as Radio Times, Wired and Imagine. His most recent work, Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes, is a graphic memoir written collaboratively with his wife, Mary.

“I sincerely thank Northumbria University for this Honorary Degree," says Bryan. "It is a great honour, not just for me, but also for the medium I work in. It is indicative of how sequential art in the form of the graphic novel is increasingly accepted as a legitimate art form.”

We think it's a bit of an honour being turned into a Time Lord, too.

- For more details about Bryan Talbot's work, visit www.bryan-talbot.com

Beasts take over the Cartoon Museum!

Animals have always inspired cartoon and comic artists, from the British Lion to Bunny Suicides, Korky the Cat to Simon’s Cat. Now, London's Cartoon Museum is to host an exhibition of animal-inspired cartoons.

The Animal Crackers exhibition includes works by creators such as Nick Abadzis, Leo Baxendale, Alfred Bestall,  Simon Bond, Hunt Emerson, Michael ffolkes, Martin Honeysett, Don Lawrence, Royston Roberston (above), Ronald Searle, Ralph Steadman, Bryan Talbot, Norman Thelwell, Dudley D. Watkins and many, many more.

This cartoon bestiary features the iconic American Eagle, the Russian Bear and the financial Fat Cat, as well as favourite characters such as Mickey Mouse, Wallace and Gromit, Flook, Fred Basset, Gnasher, Pip, Squeak and Wilfred and Rupert Bear. Also included are cracking joke cartoons from Punch, Private Eye, The Oldie, The Spectator and many national papers. There is something for everyone with over 140 cartoons, caricatures, comics and graphic novels by over 60 artists.

Throughout history animals have fascinated us. We have hunted, eaten, studied, collected – and drawn them. They inspired our earliest art and our oldest myths. We have given them human attributes: ‘as cunning as a fox’, ‘as wise as an owl’, ‘as brave as a lion’. Selfish pigs and proud peacocks strut their stuff on our gallery walls accompanied by Aesop’s Hare and Tortoise, the Three Bears (minus Goldilocks) and other characters of fur, feather and scale from folk and fairy tales and from literary classics such as the Alice books.

Giants of the natural and unnatural world such as Moby?Dick and the Lambton Worm also feature, as well as beings which only exist in the minds of cartoon and comic artists. Among the ‘marvellous creatures’ are dragons of yore, the Loch Ness monster and a psychedelic horse.

Many of the cartoons suggest how much animals are ‘just like us’. From Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Jiminy Cricket and King Louie of The Jungle Book to Nick Park’s Gromit, these animals are human in every way that counts. Others, such as Simon’s Cat and Thelwell’s ponies, highlight our pets’ irritating or endearing habits.

Also represented are political animals, both individual and national. When political caricature developed in the eighteenth century it drew on the tradition of heraldic beasts – the English Lion, the Scottish Unicorn and the Habsburg double-headed Eagle. Others such as the Russian Bear and the French Cockerel became established in the nineteenth century.

Certain creatures are purely figments of the cartoonist’s imagination such as David Low’s ‘Coalition Ass’ and ‘TUC Carthorse’. At times animals themselves have taken on a political significance, as in China’s so-called ‘Panda diplomacy’. Politicians can find themselves depicted as King Kong or a chimp, a panda or even a dodo.

The world of animal cartoons is often a surreal place, allowing creatures to stray into the realms of art, business, politics and personal relationships. It reminds us just how much we share with our fellow animals.

• Animal Crackers: A Cartoon and Comic Bestiary; 25th July – 21st October 2012,  Cartoon Museum, 35 Little Russell Street London WC1A 2HH. Tel: 020 7631 0793 Web: www.cartoonmuseum.org

Bryan Talbot scoops SNCF Award for Grandville Mon Amour

Congratulations to Bryan Talbot this morning, for winning the prestgious Prix SNCF prize for the French edition of his ace graphic novel Grandville Mon Amour.

Bryan won the Prix SNCF for best graphic novel at a ceremony at the Gare de Lyon, Paris on Tuesday 29th May.

Voted for by the general public, this is a national award given by the French railway company for the best in crime fiction.

"They give an award for best novel and best short film," Bryan told us. "This is the first year they've introduced the bande dessinée category and it was won by Grandville Mon Amour out of a long list of 50 and a shortlist of five."

The Milady blog (in French) has two stories on Bryan's win here and here.

- Bryan's official web site: www.bryan-talbot.com

(With thanks to Jeremy Briggs for the Milady links)

Arvon Calling

The next annual creative writing for graphic novels course that Bryan Talbot co-tutors in the depths of the beautiful Shropshire countryside for the Arvon Foundation is on 25 - 30th June this year.

This time around, his co-tutor is Hannah Berry (Britten and Brulightly, Adamtine), with Mary Talbot (Dotter of Her Father's Eyes) as the guest speaker Amazingly there are spaces still available (it’s been fully booked the last two years) so, if you'd like to do it, now's your chance!

There’s a link to the Arvon site below and also a link to Paul Gravett’s write-up of the course.

- www.arvonfoundation.org/graphic-novels-3

- www.paulgravett.com/index.php/articles/article/arvon_foundation/

In Review: Dotter of Her Father's Eyes

Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes 
by Mary and Bryan Talbot
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Out: Now

The Book: Part personal history, part biography, Dotter of Her Father's Eyes contrasts two coming-of-age narratives: that of Lucia, the daughter of James Joyce, and that of author Mary Talbot, daughter of the eminent Joycean scholar James S. Atherton. Social expectations and gender politics, thwarted ambitions and personal tragedy are played out against two contrasting historical backgrounds, poignantly evoked by the atmospheric visual storytelling of award-winning graphic-novel pioneer Bryan Talbot.

Produced through an intense collaboration seldom seen between writers and artists, Dotter of Her Father's Eyes is smart, funny, and sad - an essential addition to the evolving genre of graphic memoir.

The Review: 

Father/daughter relationships can be fractious at best of times. Either the former is too protective of the latter, becoming inadvertently overbearing and prescriptive or, conversely, too immersed in work or personal projects and thus aloof and distant. It’s rare the father that can tread this tightrope successfully. It’s this relationship that Mary Talbot examines in her new graphic novel, Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes. Juxtaposing her own relationship with her father, James S. Atherton, a noted Joycean scholar, with that of James Joyce and his daughter Lucia, Talbot has created a bittersweet drama that will resonate with anyone who has a parent.

For a debut graphic novel, Mary’s writing is incredibly confident and assured. This may be partly due to her being an established, published scholar in her own right, and partly due to the fact that the book is drawn by her husband, Bryan, one of the UK’s most accomplished masters of the art. Bryan’s artwork mellifluously transports us up and down the timeline so effortlessly that we simply go with the flow. He very cleverly uses highly simplified, full-colour Julian Opie-like characters for the present day and Mary’s life story; a washed out sepia tone for Mary’s post-war childhood; and finally, a more rendered reality in a blue-wash to recount the tale of Lucia.

The majority of this collaborative endeavour is incredibly smooth, but there are a couple of points where Mrs. Talbot has to highlight her husband’s inaccuracies (such as how her classroom was laid out) in margin notes. While this is an endearing insight into the creative process, it feels like too much fourth wall breaking to sit comfortably, instantly reminding the reader that they are reading a graphic novel, rather than being engrossed in the fascinating tale.

Perhaps it is unsurprising that Mary’s academic career has focused on gender politics and power, once you have read this story. Being the only daughter with four elder brothers; a domineering father; the appalling repression and treatment meted out to women in the pre-Feminism era; and that she had two sons; all indicate a natural, and understandable, desire to readdress the balance somewhat. Yet despite the obviously painful, and joyful, recollections, and analysis of her relationship with her father, Mary never descends into mawkishness or hand-wringing self-pity, and remains refreshingly clear of the mire of the “misery memoir” that the book could so easily have become. Mary’s writing remains constantly engaging, and brings every character to vibrant, empathic life, as she contrasts her coming-of-age with that of Lucia’s. Where Mary’s father seems distant yet authoritarian, Joyce appears weaker, agreeing with his wife Nora’s more bombastic and conservative views on womanhood, as both girls are belittled for failing to live up to their parents’ expectations.

Thankfully, Mary’s tale ends happier than the tragic Lucia’s, but both resonate long after the final page has been turned. This is destined to become a set text for graphic novel scholars.

I’ll confess my ignorance when it comes to Joyce, but this book sparked an interest in his life and writing and I started actively searching out further information, and no greater compliment can be paid than that. Fortunately there’s a comprehensive bibliography in the back.

Most fathers remain enigmas to their children, and it’s this attempt to understand her father’s motivations and moods—to get behind both his public and home personas, and in turn closure—that makes Mary’s writing so intriguing. Like the title’s pun suggests, Mary Talbot is wrapping up her father’s business, his memory and legacy. Dotting his eyes and crossing his tease.

• This review is cross-posted with permission from the Comic Book Alliance web site: the web site championing British comics and their creators 

• More about Dotter of Her Father's Eye's on Mary Talbot's official web site

Blogs/Interviews about the Book

• Mary Talbot's "Director's Commentary" at the Forbidden Planet Blog

• Interview with Mary and Bryan at Comic Book Resources

•  Mary and Bryan interview at Broken Frontier

•  Mary and Bryan at Bookmunch

More Reviews

•  Paul Gravett

"Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes is a fascinating addition to the emerging tradition of autobiographical graphic novels by the offspring of complex, often difficult, parents..."

• Rich Johnston at Bleeding Cool

"The book... not only educates but it inspires"

• Stephen Holland at Page45

"Dotter of Her Father's Eyes will strike chords far beyond those interested in James Joyce and his own creativity; but it will be additionally fascinating both for those devotees and followers of Bryan Talbot, for there are insights to be gleaned into the comic creator's teenage years when first meeting Mary, and their shared trepidation of life under the threat of nuclear annihilation."

•  Kashfi Fahim at Review Fix

"The Talbots continue the recent excellence in using the graphic novel as a tool to educate of important social issues. Although the issues are from a distant past, Dotter reminds us of the urgency in women’s issues and keeps the momentum moving along in the present and into the future."

•  Publishers Weekly

"Talbot’s illustrations show exceptional dexterity in moving from the monochromatic past to the more colorful present, with the changing color palette suggesting the changing social climate for women. Those looking for a graphic memoir that provides an insightful study of how 20th-century sexual politics played out on the home front will be hard pressed to do better than the present title."

• Rachel Cooke at The Guardian

"Talbot has a keen eye for the revealing detail, an important skill if you are working in comics. She makes connections, but never labours them."

• Stuart Kelly at The Scotsman

"There are some very deft little touches where she comments on her husband’s artwork – the fact her mother would have never worn a frilly apron; the way he doesn’t segregate the sexes in the classroom scenes. This is within the context of a wider awareness, from education to ballet lessons to obstetrics, on how women’s lives were directed into the 'unnatural. There can’t be many more frightening and saddening moments in graphic novels than the account of the birth of a first child, and the terse note 'without anaesthetic'."

•  Tim Martin at The Telegraph

"Borrowing its punning title from Finnegans Wake, this compact graphic memoir mixes Mary Talbot’s memories of growing up alongside her father, the irascible Joyce scholar J S Atherton, with a biographical sketch of Joyce’s troubled daughter Lucia.

"The hazy parallels between the stories have to do with clever men being so absorbed in their work that they neglect and inhibit the women in their lives which, in the autobiographical segments at least, makes for some forceful bouts of score-settling."

• Iris on Books

"I am still reeling from the impact of the combination of images and texts, and this book had me both laughing out loud, crying, nodding my head, and enraged at the prevalent attitudes of other people in Lucia and Mary’s life."

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

Newcastle Gets The Canny Comic Con

Newcastle-Upon-Tyne has long had a regular comic mart to go with its branches of Travelling Man and Forbidden Planet, but it has apparently been some fifteen years since it has had a big comics event. Small Press Big Mouth-er Stacey Whittle is about to change all that with a convention called The Canny Comic Con.

Described as "a little festival of comics and sequential art" CCC will be at Newcastle's City Library on New Bridge Street West on Saturday 10 December 2011 beginning at 10am and will be free. Current plans include talks and panel discussions, workshops, and "a hall of stalls" and the guest list currently includes artists Bryan Talbot, Leonie O'Moore and Andrew Waugh.

There are more details on The Canny Comic Con blog and Facebook page.

There are more details about Newcastle City Library on its website.