Gromit gets "Beano-fied" in a good cause!

The Beano is letting loose Dennis the Menace’s trusty sidekick Gnasher, to raise funds for the Bristol Children’s Hospital this summer, as the famous cartoon dog joins forces with Aardman’s triple Oscar-winning character Gromit, for charity initiative Gromit Unleashed.

Extracts of original Beano artwork featuring Dennis and Gnasher have transformed a giant five foot high Gromit sculpture that will feature as part of a high profile public arts trail, hitting the streets of Bristol and beyond for ten weeks from Monday 1st July.

The Beano’s ‘Gnashional Gromit’ is one of 80 giant Gromit sculptures to be featured in the ground-breaking Gromit Unleashed event, organised by Aardman and the children’s hospital charity, Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal. The cartoon design has been created by the team behind The Beano, led by Editor-in-Chief Mike Stirling and legendary artist David Sutherland.

David was the Dennis the Menace artist from 1969-1998 and it was he who gave Gnasher his trademark look. In his career, he has also drawn other legendary Beano characters, including Biffo the Bear and The Bash Street Kids, for whom he has now drawn a whopping 2180 weekly comic strips – a unique achievement in the cartoon world. He has also worked with all six editors of The Beano.

The Beano editor Craig Graham said: “The whole Beano team has had an absolute blast working with David on this project. David is truly one of The Beano greats and ‘Gnashional Gromit’ is testament to this. We hope the public enjoy our Gromit.”

Gromit’s creator Nick Park grew up an avid reader of The Beano and is a massive fan of David’s work, attributing him as a major influence at Aardman and an early inspiration for himself. At 10 years old, smitten by the characters in the comic, Nick Park started drawing his own cartoon strip, which led to the creation of Wallace & Gromit.



Nick Park said: “As a life-long fan of The Beano, I am thrilled that Gromit and Gnasher, two of the world’s most iconic canine characters, are getting together. To have Gromit receive a Gnasher makeover from the comic which inspired Gromit’s creation is pretty amazing!

“I am sure that Gnasher will get his teeth into the project in the nicest possible way and help raise lots of money for this fantastic cause!”

Nick Park guest-edited the 70th anniversary issue of The Beano, which this year celebrates 75 years in production.

The Beano joins a prestigious line-up of famous names including Nick Park, Sir Quentin Blake, Raymond Briggs, Cath Kidston, Sir Paul Smith and Harry Hill, each transforming the five foot statues with their individual designs, alongside local artists from the Bristol area.

Organisers will be revealing further famous names and unveiling more finished designs in the lead up to the public arts trail.

After the public arts trail, the Gromit Unleashed sculptures, which have been individually sponsored by businesses, will be auctioned to raise funds towards Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal’s campaign to support the expansion of Bristol Children’s Hospital, one of the leading multi-disciplinary children’s hospitals in the UK. The Grand Appeal has pledged to raise an initial £3.5 million for state-of-the-art equipment, including an intraoperative MRI scanner, family facilities and child-friendly artwork to enhance the £30 million investment by the NHS.

The Grand Appeal is working with Wild in Art, a leading arts and education company that produces mass participation events in cities, to deliver Gromit Unleashed.

Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal has already raised over £22 million for Bristol Children's Hospital, one of only a few specialist children's hospitals in the UK providing life-saving surgery, care and treatment to children on a local, national and international scale.

With the support of tourism agencies VisitEngland and Destination Bristol, Gromit Unleashed will help raise the profile of the city to tourists across the UK and beyond.

• For more information and the latest news on the project, visit www.gromitunleashed.org.uk. To register your interest in bidding, please email auction@gromitunleashed.org.uk.

• For information on events and activities taking place in Bristol during Gromit Unleashed, plus details on accommodation options in the city, visit www.visitbristol.co.uk.

Middlesbrough Literary Festival hosts "Mini Comic Con"

Middlesbrough will host a Mini Comic Con on Saturday 22nd June as part of the fifth Middlesbrough Literary Festival , which begins on Saturday 15th June.

The ethos of the Middlesbrough Literary Festival is to celebrate the word in all its forms through reading, writing, music and spoken word and we have something to cover all these forms in this year's programme.

The team are putting particular emphasis on creative writing and performance in 2013, offering variety of learning opportunities including writing workshops, local history sessions and opportunities to meet and learn from literary agents, publishers and learning providers.

The Mini Comic Con starts at Middlesbrough Central Library at 10.00am and includes a talk by 2000AD and Beano comic artist Nigel Dobbyn.

Tickets for all Festival are on sale at Middlesbrough Central Library or you can book and pay for them at any Middlesbrough library.

• More info and full Festival timetable: www.middlesbrough.gov.uk/litfest

• Follow the Middlesbrough Literary Festival on Facebook and Twitter

Medicine and Comics merge for unusual conference

Ethics Under Cover is an interdisciplinary conference in July in Brighton, intended to appeal to a wide audience, including healthcare professionals, comics creators, students, academic scholars, comics enthusiasts and various stakeholder groups.

The meeting, organised by Brighton and Sussex Medical School in collaboration with Brighton and Sussex University Hospital Trust, the Wellcome Trust and Graphic Medicine will consist of a mix of peer reviewed academic papers, lectures and workshops. Guests include Paul Gravett and Nicola Streeten. There will also be an exhibition and stalls for participants’ work.

The organisers of the event are Muna Al-Jawad, Bobbie Farsides, Sue Eckstein, talented comic creator Ian Williams, Susan Squier, Michael Green, Shelley Wall, MK Czerwiec and Lydia Gregg.

Graphic Medicine is a web site created by Ian Williams, who coined the title as a handy term to denote the role that comics can play in the study and delivery of healthcare.
Ian writes papers and articles on comics and medicine, and has just started to run a medical student module at the Medical School in Manchester and also makescomics under the pseudonym Thom Ferrier. He's currently working on a graphic novel, to be published by Myriad Editions in 2014.

"I did an MA in medical humanities (looking at the discourse of medicine using the conceptual tools of the arts and humanities)," Ian explains, "and am a member of the advisory board for the International Health Humanities Network.

"I wrote a dissertation on medical narrative in graphic novels - it's my contention that comic/graphic fiction could be a useful resource for healthcare professionals, patients and carers. Soon after I set up the Graphic Medicine site, one of the first people to get in touch was Michael Green of Penn State University Medical School, who had started to teach a comics class to medical students around the time I was doing my MA.

"It seemed like a critical mass was starting to build, and it has gotten more exciting over the last few years, and will continue to gain momentum over the next few, as people realise that comics can articulate profound truths about the discourse of medicine, and healthcare in general."

• For more information visit: www.graphicmedicine.org/comics-and-medicine-conferences/2013-brighton

Image Duplicator exhibition opens this week at Orbital Comics

Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein currently has a show on at the Tate Modern. While the public is
intimately familiar with his work, what they may be unaware of is that many of his images were directly “appropriated” from comic artists like Irv Novick, Russ Heath, Jack Kirby, John Romita and Joe Kubert, who received no fee or credit.

Is this an act of brilliant recontexturalisation? The elevation of commercial “low” art to “high” art? Art world snobbery? Artistic licence? Gallery shortsightedness? Cultural annexation? Or something else entirely?

Image Duplicator, a new show at Orbital Comics in London which opens later this week, brings together real comic-book artists and other “commercial artists” – illustrators, designers, cartoonists – to ask these kinds of questions and share their views, via their work.

Each artist was asked to “re-reappropriate” one of the comic images Lichtenstein used: to go back to the source material and twist it into something interesting and original, and in the process to comment on the act of appropriation.

Money raised from selling prints and originals will be donated to the Hero Initiative, which helps down-on-their-luck comic book veterans: www.heroinitiative.org.

Take Back the Art!

“I’ve spoken out in the past about my dislike, on both aesthetic and ethical grounds, of the “appropriation” of comic strip images by 'pop art', says Dave Gibbons. "The feeling amongst the comics community is pretty much unanimous: we feel patronised, and we feel that several of our revered elders have been, frankly, robbed.


“To us, their creativity and skilled labour has been discounted by considering their work as being merely, in the jargon of the art world, “found”, and they have received no credit or recompense for what amounts to celebrated and expensive copies of their creations.


“The current exhibition of such images at the Tate Modern in London has prompted a new
consideration of these matters, and I was invited to speak on a recent TV show about my views.

”However, it was Rian Hughes, another vociferous critic of the art establishment’s attitude who came up with the brilliant idea of our comic community using its own medium to make the point. Under the title Image Duplicator, the response has been very heartening and we are staging an exhibition of several dozen images in the gallery space at Orbital Comics.


“Naturally, I’m very pleased to support this project and have created an image for exhibition and subsequent auction sale.  (Artwork above).

"Entitled “WHAAT?”, it’s framed in diptych format, measuring 41" x 94", and is my very own “re-reappropriation” of an image originally created by Irv Novick.

“Whilst he and nearly all of the artists mistreated in the past are no longer with us to benefit, all profits from the Image Duplicator venture will, appropriately, be donated to the Hero Initiative.

"This is a US-based charity which exists to help living comic artists and their families who find themselves in financial difficulty due to age or ill-health.


“So, not only will IMAGE DUPLICATOR make a cultural statement on behalf of the medium which we love but will also have a positive and practical benefit for those in our community who have given of their creativity for often poor rewards.”


Prints of WHAAT? will be available as a signed and numbered edition up to 16th May. Dave Gibbons will also be signing copies at the IMAGE DUPLICATOR launch night at Orbital Comics. After this date, the print is still available in an unsigned, unnumbered edition, but the numbered and signed version will be no longer available.

All prints will be shipped and dispatched week commencing 20th May. For print sales and enquires, please email blam@print-process.com


• Image Duplicator: 16 to 31 May 2013,  Orbital Comics Gallery, 8 Great Newport Street, London WC2H 7JA

Opening night: 16 May 7.30 - 9.30pm
Tel: 0207 240 0591
Web: www.orbitalcomics.com
Image: Dave Gibbons after Irv Novick
Curated by Rian Hughes and Jason Atomic

Digital prints kindly provided by Mark Blamire at www.print-process.com

Prints of the images areavailable for purchase: http://tinyurl.com/ckxtjwf

For catalogue enquiries, please email infoATdevicefonts.co.uk

Breaking talent to be showcased at Kendal-based comic art festival’s Clock Tower

Some of the UK’s best emerging and established comic art talent will be showcasing their skills at the specially-dedicated Comics Clock Tower venue as part of Kendal's The Lakes International Comic Art Festival in October, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Print Media, publishers of STRIP: The Adventure Comics Magazine.

The festival will run from 18-20th October in Kendal in Cumbria. Held beneath the landmark tower of Kendal Town Hall, the Comics Clock Tower venue will be a vibrant mash-up of writers and artists from a wide variety of styles and genres, who will be signing, sketching and selling their original creations.

Occult antiquarians will rub shoulders with urban teen vigilantes. Slacker vampires will size-up the romantic poets in a venue that promises to have something for comic fans and those who may not have read comics since they were kids.

The aim of the Lakes International Comic Art Festival’s Comics Clock Tower is to champion some of the breaking talent of comic art, as well as some of the industry’s more established names. The focus is on writers and artists who are pioneers of new styles in the field of comics and graphic storytelling. The venue will celebrate and introduce their work to a new audience.

Owen Johnson, co-ordinator of the Comics Clock Tower, said: “We’re thrilled to be able to reveal some of the comic creators and publishers taking part in the three-day marketplace.  These are some of the brightest, freshest names in British comics and it really is a privilege to present them to a wider audience.

“In the lead up to the show, we plan to use our various social media platforms to present interviews and artwork from these guests in order to explore them and their work in graphic novels.”

There will be an emphasis on creators working or living in the North of England. These will be joined by a selection of cutting-edge names from across the country, as well as leading UK publishers.

Guests who will be appearing at the Comics Clock Tower include:

• Emma Vieceli, 33, from Cambridge, who has worked on the Manga Shakespeare series for SelfMadeHero, Girl Comics for Marvel, Violet for The DFC, My Little Pony for Hasbro, and Comic Book Tatoo for Image Comics.
  Her more recent work includes The Avalon Chronicles, the award winning Vampire Academy and the graphic novel adaptations of the Anthony Horowitz Alex Rider series.
• Great Beast, a publishing house which is dedicated to making fun, creative, accessible and pop-culture inspired comics.
• Black Hearted Press – Scotland’s leading independent comic book publisher. The publisher’s leading title School of the Damned has been optioned to be made into a motion picture.
• Andrew Tunney (aka 2hands) – Manchester-based, Andrew’s debut self-published comic GIRL&BOY was nominated for Best Comic in the first ever British Comic Awards in 2012. He is also the colourist for Peabody & D’gorath.
• Nich Angell – Nich has been drawing explosive, vibrant and colourful comics for clients such as Mattel, Hasbro, WWF, Titan and the BBC for more than seven years. He has also recently produced concepts and games for an animated series for Nickelodeon UK.

Many of the more than 50 special guest writers and artists who will be appearing at the festival will also make appearances within the Comics Clock Tower., which will give an opportunity to people to buy from a wide range of new and existing comic art of all genres.

Names already announced as attending the festival include founder patrons Bryan and Mary Talbot and as well as Sean Philips, Ed Brubaker, Charlie Adlard, Posy Simmonds, Kurt Busiek, Joe Sacco and many others.

Julie Tait, festival director, said: “We want to give comic fans the chance to discover something new and also encourage others, who may perhaps think comics are just for kids, to pick up a graphic novel and find out what they are missing.

“The Lakes International Comic Art Festival wants to highlight the diversity of the UK comic arts community. One of the ways we will be doing this is through the Comics Clock Tower – our version of a comics’ marketplace.”

• More details about the new event are available at www.comicartfestival.com.

Malta Comic Con 2013 Annoounced

Malta Con organisers Wicked Comics have just announced the 2013 show will run the weekend of Saturday 30th November and Sunday 1st December at St. James Cavalier Valletta.

The guest list has yet to be revealed, but, says Chris Le Galle, "Fans can look forward to another killer roster of foreign creators who are not only gifted but are also really nice folks,, more local creators and locally created comics, cosplay events and competitions, gaming events and competitions, free movies and animations showing during the whole duration of the convention, impressive exhibitions and a healthy number of talks, workshops and discussion panels. There will be something for everyone!"

If you've never been to Malta Con, then check out comic creator and guest Richmond Clements review of last year's event, posted here on downthetubes back in December).

"There is a vibrant and exciting comics community in Malta," he noted. "What they need now is support to help make it grow. So, buy their comics and visit their convention! And don’t think it’s out of your price range either. It cost me less to go to Malta than to the Bristol Convention..."

Inside the Malta Comic Convention 2012 at St James Cavalier in Valletta. Photo courtesy Malta Comic Con

His enthusiasm for the event is echoed by fellow 2012 guest, legendary comic artist Herb Trimpe, whose comments suggest that while this event may be outside the UK, it's also one well worth getting to.

"I have to reiterate and say what a great time we had in Malta, and all because of your show," he enthused to the organisers. "Selling points:  great people; great location (the fort); great environment (your country, five+ stars, fantastically beautiful); hospitality tops; weather; the Med; oh, yeah, and... the food!  If I left anything out, you can add it, as we're sure it's the best of whatever. I honestly can't think of anything you could do better!”

The sun-soaked venue for Malta Comic Con. Photo courtesy Malta Comic Con

As customary, Wicked Comics have designed a number of packages for fans wishing to travel to the Malta Comic Con from abroad, which include heavily discounted accommodation rates and local transport from hotel to convention.

Similarly, Wicked Comics have a number of packages tailored for foreign creators who whish to exhibit at the Malta Comic Con including heavily discounted tables.

• Anyone wishing to know more about these packages, and local creators/retailers wishing to exhibit at the Malta Comic Con 2013 are kindly requested to email us for more details on info@maltacomic-con.com

• For more details visit: www.maltacomic-con.com

Caption, the comics creator’s convention, returns in August

This summer, the East Oxford Community Centre is once again host to the comics festival ‘Caption’, Britain's longest continuously-running comics convention

Comic cons have been popping up left, right and centre like mushrooms recently with the larger London shows taking their cue from American cons like San Diego. But it's easy to forget that it was the UK that started the phenomenon and indeed it is Oxford that is proud to boast the longest running convention in the UK.

The festival established itself from the outset as the comics creator’s convention. The emphasis on workshops, panels and social interaction has meant that over the years some of the biggest names in the business have been drawn to Oxford to talk about their work, whilst at the same time new creators have been given a chance to be involved in the festival and rub shoulders with successful writers and artists.

All this has been happening under the very noses of Oxonians for years in the unpretentious surroundings of East Oxford Community Centre.

To quote Paul Cornell, a guest at Caption 2010: “It's good to have a comics event that feels right in a church hall with a tea urn!”

Creators from Oxford based comics companies 2000AD and The Phoenix will be in attendance, there will be fun workshops and activities for anyone who wants to get involved and a wide variety of comics will be available to buy from the Caption table.

(Don’t expect a dealer’s hall with endless merchandise and back issues - do expect fascinating panel discussions and excellent workshops all in an informal friendly environment).

Caption is proud to announce that guests include Rian Hughes (Dan Dare), Andrzej Klimowski (Stanisław Lem’s Robot…), Danusia Schebal (Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde graphic novel), Al Davison (Doctor Who comics), Paul Collicutt (Robot City Adventures), Karen Rubins (Victoria & Albert Museum comic artist in residence), Ian Rakoff (V & A comics lecturer, writer The Prisoner: Welcome to Harmony) and Charles Cutting ( artist for The Doings of Vincent John McKeown, Poet), with more to be announced in the weeks to come.

The convention will take place on 24th-25th of August and tickets are £6 per day or £10 for both days, so get yourself along! The EOCC bar will be open from noon to 5.00pm, for drinks and crisps as well, what more could you want?

• Caption, East Oxford Community Centre, 44 Princes St, Oxford OX4 1DD - 11am – 11pm Saturday 24th August / 11am – 5pm Sunday 25th August. More info at www.caption.org

Comica Festival preps for launch with Brian Bolland and many more

Brian Bolland, Frazer Irving, Warren Pleece, Mark Stafford and many more comic creators will be part of this year's fantastic Comica Festival thus weekend (April 19th and 20th) at Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, King's Cross, London.

Don't miss the chance to hear Brian Bolland, famed for his iconic versions of Judge Dredd and Batman, discussing his infuences, career, projects and passion at Comica Festival on Friday April 19th from 5.30-6.30pm. Tickets are only £8 or £4 for all concessions and are bookable online at http://www.wegottickets.com/event/218114 or on the door (subject to capacity).

Then on Saturday April 20th, at the Spring Comica Comiket Fair, a host of comics creators will be drawing live on the big screen in the Drawing Parade, every 30 minutes from 11am to 6.30pm, on stage before your very eyes - and admission is completely free.

Here's the Festival's line-up (publisher name in brackets after each title mentioned):

11.00-11.30: Stephen Collins - The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil (Cape)

11.30-12.00: Terry Wiley - Sleaze Castle (Markosia) and VerityFair (Sequential)

12.00-12.30: S.J. Harris - Eustance (Cape)

12.30-1.00: Vivane Schwarz - The Sleepwalkers (Myriad) & Welcome To Your Awesome Robot (Nobrow)

1.00-1.30: Gary Northfield - Derek the Sheep (Bloomsbury), Gary’s Garden (The Phoenix) and Teeny Tinysaurs (Walker)

1.30-2.00: Oliver East - Trains Are... Mint, Proper Well High, Berlin, Swear Down (Blank Slate)

2.00-2.30: Hannah Eaton - Naming Monsters (Myriad)

2.30-3.00: Dan Berry - The Suitcase (Blank Slate)

3.00-3.30: Warren & Gary Pleece - Montague Terrace (Cape) and The Great Unwashed (Escape Books)

3.30-4.00: Frazer Irving - Batman (DC), Uncanny X-Men (Marvel), Gutsville (Image)

4.00-4.30: Chie Kutsuwada - As You Like It (SelfMadeHero), The Story of Lee (NBM), Hagakure (Kodansha)

4.30-5.00: Darryl Cunningham - Psychiatric Tales (Blank Slate) and Science Tales (Myriad)

5.00-5.30: Mark Stafford - The Man Who Laughs (SelfMadeHero) and Cherubs (Dark Horse)

5.30-6.00: Inko - Ketsueki (Markosia) and Fantasy World (Adjiey Media)

6.00-6.30: Neill Cameron - Mo-Bot High (The DFC Library) and Pirates of Pangaea (The Phoenix)

• For full programme and details visit www.comicafestival.com

 

Cooking up a treat: Busiek, Hine, Lloyd and Emerson join Lakes International Comic Art Festival line-up

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

The festival, which will run from 18-20 October 2013 in Kendal in Cumbria, now has a guest list running to more than 50 writers and artists from the United States, Europe, South America and the UK.

The latest guests announced by the festival again show the diversity of the medium including superheroes, comedy, adaptations of historical novels and innovative new story-telling.

American Kurt Busiek has won over two dozen industry awards for his work.  He has had runs on Avengers, Spider-Man, Superman, Conan and others, and has co-created books such as Thunderbolts and Arrowsmith.

He is best known for his work on the multiple-award-winning Astro City and Marvels.  A commercial and critical hit, Marvels tells the story of superheroes like Spider-Man and the X-Men from the point of view of an ordinary man on the street.  Stan Lee described it as 'a giant leap forward, bringing us to a new plateau in the evolution of illustrated literature'.

David Hine is a British writer who has worked with Marvel on comics such as X-Men and Spider-Man, as well as writing Batman comics for DC.  He is currently working with fellow festival guest Doug Braithwaite on Storm Dogs and has also worked on a comic adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel The Man Who Laughs, illustrated by Mark Stafford, which is published this week by SelfMadeHero.

Hunt Emerson has received several comics industry awards and in 2000 was named one of the 75 Masters of European Comics by the CNBDI, the noted French comics Academy.  He has produced witty adaptations of stories such as The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, as well as two books based on the ideas of Victorian philosopher John Ruskin. His latest book is a riotous take on Dante's Inferno.

David Lloyd, who launched a new digital comic Aces Weekly, last year, is the well-known illustrator and co-creator of V For Vendetta. He has also produced stories for the Hellblazer series, Aliens, Marlowe, War Stories, and the acclaimed crime thriller, Kickback.

Pete Doherty is an artist and colourist who is particularly known for his work on Judge Dredd.  He is currently colouring Jupiter’s Legacy, a new epic tale by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely.

Stephen Collins began cartooning for The Times in 2003, and has since won several awards, including the Jonathan Cape/Observer Graphic Short Story Prize 2010. He contributes regular comics to the Guardian Weekend and Prospect magazine. His first graphic novel The Gigantic Beard that was Evil is published by Jonathan Cape next month.

Warren and Gary Pleece’s Montague Terrace, published by Jonathan Cape last month,  is a series of surreal vignettes based in and around a decrepit London block of flats. The Observer's Rachel Cooke said the Pleece brothers' black and white drawings are 'brisk and economical, they have an energy that pulls you along. Their story gets under your skin.'

Steven Harris is a British cartoonist and writer, based in London. His first graphic novel Eustace was also published by Jonathan Cape last month.

Artist Rob Davis is best known for reinventing Roy of the Rovers and for drawing Judge Dredd. He has recently finished illustrating a second volume of Don Quixote stories, which will be published by SelfMadeHero in May.

Belgian Ivan Petrus is the author of The Nieuport Gathering, a moving historical comic book on World War One, in which a Belgian, French and English soldier meet each other on the front line, starting a friendship that will transcend life and death.

Nicola Streeten is an illustrator and the co-creator of Laydeez do Comics, a graphic novel forum with a focus on the new wave of comic work based on the drama of everyday life.  Her first graphic book, Billy, Me & You, was published by Myriad in October 2011.

Gareth Brookes is known for his unusual approach to materials, using embroidery, textiles, lino-cut print, stenciling and even pressed flowers in his work.  In 2012 he was the winner of the First Graphic Novel Competition. Myriad Editions is due to publish his book The Black Project in September 2013.

The guests who have already been announced include Ed Brubaker, Jose Munoz, Posy Simmonds, Viz creators Simon Thorp and Graham Dury, Judge Dredd creators John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, comics journalist Joe Sacco and Walking Dead artist Charlie Adlard. The founder patrons of the festival are Bryan and Mary Talbot, and Sean Phillips.

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival aims to make the whole town of Kendal part of the festival, like the popular festivals on the continent in places such as Angouleme.

There will be a wide range of talks, special live drawing events, workshops, films, exhibitions and a kids’ zone.  Some of the events, including the exhibitions and the kids’ zone will also be free.

The festival's Comics Clock Tower 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.

Festival Director Julie Tait says: “We want to turn Kendal into a comics town for the festival weekend and we are looking forward to welcoming all the writers and artists who will be coming here from across the UK, the US and Europe.

"Whether you call them comics, graphic novels or sequential art, this is a medium that is growing in popularity, so this new festival couldn’t be starting at a better time.

"We want to give the comic fans the chance to discover something new and encourage others who think comics are just for kids to pick up a graphic novel and find out what they're missing.

"We'll be celebrating people like Kurt Busiek and David Hine who have made their names taking forward the stories of some of our most famous superheroes.  We'll also be exploring the work of the many talented young British graphic novelists who are using comic art to tell a huge range of exciting and innovative stories.”
​
More details about the new event are available at www.comicartfestival.com.  It is also possible to keep up to date with plans for the festival by following @comicartfest on Twitter or by liking the Lakes International Comic Art Festival Facebook page. Tickets will go on sale 13 May 2013.

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.

Gateshead's BALTIC announces June Artist’s Book Fair

For two days in June, Gateshead's BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead will play host to a national two day Artist’s Book Fair. (Friday 14th & Saturday 15th 10-6pm June 2013).

They're now actively seeking creators who may want to have a table at the event. Submissions are welcome from artists, bookmakers, small press publishers, zine artists and bookbinders.

BALTIC is running the Fair to celebrate the Festival of the North East. the hope is for the venue to become a market place of exhibiting book stalls within Quay, with opportunities to have a go at bookmaking and experience some Bibliotherapy from Lucy May Schofield in a Citreon Van and mobile library.

Also on display is The Sunderland Book Project offering visitors the chance to explore the city through the medium of artist’s books, The Book Apothecary, a travelling museum of book art encased in suitcases and sculpted bookwork from Cleveland College of Art.

The Festival of the North East is a month long celebration of the region’s creativity and innovation jam packed with over 200 events happening in every part of England’s North East during June 2013.

Application Details

Application Fee £10
Tables 90x180cm £60

How to apply: contact theresa_easton@yahoo.co.uk for further details or download an application form (PDF)

The deadline for submission is 1st April 2013. Successful applicants will be notified by 15th April 2013

More info:
• Festival of the North East: www.festivalne.com
• Baltic Mill: www.balticmill.com
• Fabulous Books, Fantastic Places: http://fabulousbooksfantasticplaces.wordpress.com

Birmingham Comic Con offers manga, TV and film attractions

MCM Birmingham Comic Con and Memorabilia, Britain's biggest collectors' event,  come to the NEC on 16-17th March, and the team behind it tell us they have an awesome line-up of film and TV guests waiting to meet fans, host panels and sign autographs.

Guests for their Comics Village area, with an emphasis on manga, include creators Josh Clarke, Kit Jo Yuki, Lily Mitchell, Lisa Cummins and Lyndon White; and indie publishers such as Subversive Comics, T Publications and Vimanika Comics UK.

Here's a selection of the special guests attending the shows:

• For Doctor Who fans there's Colin Baker, who starred as the sixth incarnation of The Doctor, Nicola Bryant, who played his companion Peri Brown and Sophie Aldred, who was The Doctor's companion Ace. Other Doctor Who guests include Frazer Hines, who played Jamie McCrimmon in no fewer than 117 episodes of the show; Terry Molloy, best known as the Daleks' villainous creator Davros, and stuntman Jimmy Vee, who has played a host of monsters and aliens in Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

• A trio of bold knights from Merlin will be at comic con: Alexander Vlahos (Mordred), Rupert Young (Sir Leon) and Eoin Macken (Sir Gwain).

• Potter Personalities - Chris Rankin, who plays Percy Weasley in six of the blockbuster Harry Potter films, Steffan Rhodri, who was Reg Cattermole in Deathly Hallows and Hugh Mitchell, who appears as Gryffindor student Colin Creevey in The Order Of The Phoenix. Steffan is also famous for playing Dave in hit comedy Gavin & Stacey, and recently won plaudits as the voice of Drippy in acclaimed videogame Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch.

• Primeval stars Andrew Lee Potts (Connor Temple), Hannah Spearritt (Abby Maitland), also famous as an original member of S Club 7, and Lucy Brown, who played both Claudia Brown and Jenny Lewis.

• Bond girl and Avengers star Honor Blackman. Other Bond girls at Memorabilia include Shirley Eaton (Goldfinger), Lana Wood (Diamonds Are Forever) and Maryam d'Abo (The Living Daylights).

• Iconic glamour model Samantha Fox. As well as being the most popular pin-up girl of the '80s, Sam is a 30 million album-selling pop singer and actor.

• Gary Dourdan, best known for portraying Warrick Brown in eight seasons of the massively popular CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

• Canadian actor Connor Jessup, best known for his role as Ben Mason in the Steven Spielberg-produced sci-fi series Falling Skies.

• Masters of Horror - best known by his stage name John Morghen, Giovanni Lombardo Radice achieved cult status with his roles in 1980's Italian splatter movies such as Cannibal Ferox, City Of The Living Dead and Cannibal Apocalypse. He'll be joined at Memorabilia by scream queen Madeline Smith (The Vampire Lovers, Frankenstein And The Monster from Hell) and Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist).

• Tickets for MCM Midlands Comic Con on 16- 17th March are available at www.midlandsmcmexpo.com/tickets And remember: KIDS GO FREE! *. Birmingham Comic Con visitors also get into Memorabilia free of charge

Website: www.www.midlandsmcmexpo.com
Twitter: @MCMExpo
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mcmexpo
YouTube at www.youtube.com/mcmexpo

* The ‘Kids Go Free’ offer applies to General Entry tickets only. Children aged 10 years or younger gain free entry if accompanied by a full paying adult, to a maximum of two children per full paying adult.

Jeff Keen talk at Brighton Museum

Tim Pilcher, founder member of the Comic Book Alliance, will be giving a talk on Jeff Keen, how comics influenced his work and how he, in turn, influenced (or at least foresaw) the future of comix, this Saturday (23rd February) at Brighton Museum at 2.00pm.

Artist and film-maker Jeff Keen (1923-2012) was one of the great figures of the British post-war avant-garde. Keen's work reveals a wild spirit of anarchic play, a fascination with surrealism, and a love of popular culture. His life-long commitment to Brighton & Hove will be celebrated in this display featuring a selection of his films alongside his paintings, drawings, poetry and assemblages.

Keen, who worked for Parks and Gardens for several years, spent most of his artistic career in Brighton and used the city as a major inspiration for his work. He ignored the hierarchies of the London arts scene and the wider world of avant-garde cinema in favour of a radical commitment to locality and intimate community.

Keen’s work focuses lovingly on a close-knit circle of real and imaginary friends at work and at play in and around Brighton & Hove.

• Jeff Keen – Comics and Techno Gazwrx: Full details here on the Brighton Museum page

Related links

• Jeff Keen Installation at Tate Modern

• Work on show at Frith Street Gallery, London 

Obituaries

• Lighthouse: www.lighthouse.org.uk/news/r-i-p-jeff-keen

• The Guardian: www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/jun/24/jeff-keen?newsfeed=true

Thought Bubble announces 2013 dates, first guests

Thought Bubble 2013 icon by Alice Duke

Leeds-based Thought Bubble has just announced that this year’s festival will run from 17th – 24th November, in conjunction with the 27th Leeds International Film Festival, and the comics convention, a regular feature of the event, will take place on the 23rd & 24th November.

The team will be making announcements coming soon regarding table registration and ticket sales for the convention, but in the meantime they have our first wave of guests confirmed, including…

- Rafael Alburquerque (American Vampire);
- Gabriel Bá (Daytripper, Casanova);
- Andy Belanger (Swamp Thing, Black Church);
- Becky Cloonan (Batman, Wolves, The Mire);
- Ming Doyle (Mara, Jennifer’s Body)
- Fábio Moon (Casanova, Daytripper);
- Sean Gordon Murphy (Punk Rock Jesus);
- Ramón Pérez (Wolverine and The X-Men);
- Emma Rios (Captain Marvel, Pretty Deadly);
- Annie Wu (Hawkeye, The Venture Bros)

You can see more details on their official website, thoughtbubblefestival.com, and they’ll have many, many more guests to announce as the festival draws closer, so keep an eye on Twitter and Facebook to find out as soon as they add new names to the list.

This year’s festival icon has been provided by Alice Duke, and the ThoughtBubble team should hopefully have a blog post soon about her process for creating it. "We love it," they say, "and the sci-fi vibe that it’s giving to this year’s proceedings is out of this world. Literally!"

Manchester Art Gallery to host Zine Fair and publication launch

(With thanks to Matt Badham): Manchester Art Gallery is to host a Zine Fair and the launch of a new publication, Dreams Without Frontiers, on Thursday 31st January.

Running fom 5 - 8.45pm, this is the first time the Gallery has hosted a zine fair, which will feature stalls around the ground floor selling self-published magazines and fanzines, small press books, comics, hand-made prints, poetry, and limited run vinyl records.

In an extra busy evening at the Gallery, Dave Haslam will help launch new publication as an accompaniment and response to themes arising from the Gallery's current exhibition Dreams Without Frontiers in the Manchester Gallery.

There will be speeches and readings at 6.45pm. Just turn up and enjoy.

• More info: www.manchestergalleries.org/whats-on/thursday-lates/ (Scroll page down for info)

2D Festival returns in 2013, first guests announced

2D, the Northern Ireland Comics Festival, returns in 2013 with a special, bumper edition with more guests and events than ever before.

The festival is Ireland's longest running annual comic event and runs from 30th May – 2nd June next year in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It features an expanded selection of workshops, panels, talks and exhibitions, catering for all ages and tastes. Derry was recently voted the fourth best city in the world to visit in 2013 by Lonely Planet - obviously word about the 2D festival is spreading!

Taking centre stage next year is the 2D Comics Fair, which has been extended to last for the entire weekend (Sat 1 & Sun 2 June) in a fantastic new venue in the city.

Guests confirmed so far for 2013 include; Andy Diggle (writer – Batman, Daredevil), Jock (artist - Losers, Batman), Roger Langridge (writer/artist - Popeye, Muppets) and legendary comic artist Mick McMahon (Judge Dredd, Slaine). See below for full list of confirmed guests.

The festival is organised by the Verbal Arts Centre, one of Ireland’s leading centres for literature and next year the event features as part of the official programming for the city’s year as the first ever ‘UK City of Culture’.

As with previous years, much of the educational programme will take place in the Verbal Arts Centre, 2D Evening Sessions will be held in Sandino’s Bar and the Comics Fair is based in the Millennium Forum. We are delighted to announce that, once again, 2D will be free to attend.

Find out more about 2D at

Facebook: 2D – Northern Ireland Comics Festival

Twitter: @2DComicsFest

Email: david@2dfestival.com

A new 2D Festival web site is in the works

30 Years of Knight Rider to be celebrated at Memorabilia

No, they didn't have the internet as we
know it back in 1986. That URL has been
added by David's fan site.

Break out your Look Ins! The 30th Anniversary of cult SF detective show Knight Rider will be marked at Memorabilia at Birmingham's NEC later this month, with a rare signing event by its original star, David Hasselhoff.

Memorabilia Birmingham, Britain's biggest collectors' event, returns to the NEC on 24-25 November, and there's a host of special guests already confirmed for the show - from Hollywood stars to sci-fi heroes, cult favourites to sporting legends.

Here's just a small selection from the first wave of announcements:

World First Signing

- David Hasselhoff will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Knight Rider by making Memorabilia his first ever signing event. The Knight Rider and Baywatch star will be meeting fans at the show on both Saturday and Sunday.

Movie & TV Guests

- Warwick Davis - Show favourite and star of Life's Too Short, Warwick's movie credits include Willow; Star Wars; Harry Potter and Leprechaun..

- Michael Biehn - Starred in James Cameron sci-fi movies The Terminator as Kyle Reese, Aliens as Cpl. Dwayne Hicks, and The Abyss as Lt. Coffey.

- Eddie McClintock - Star of Warehouse 13, where he plays co-protagonist Pete Lattimer. Other credits include Bones and Desperate Housewives

- Britt Ekland - Best known for her roles as an iconic Bond girl in The Man with the Golden Gun and as Willow in cult British horror film The Wicker Man.

- Craig Charles - Most famous for playing likeable slob Dave Lister in Emmy Award-winning sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf, which recently retirned to UK screens for its tenth season in Dave.

- Only Fools And Horses - Cast member reuniting at Memorabilia include John Challis (Boycie); Tessa Peake-Jones (Raquel); Sue Holderness (Marlene); Gwyneth Strong (Cassandra); Patrick Murray (Mickey Pearce); Paul Barber (Denzil) and Christopher Ryan and Roy Marsden (The Driscoll Brothers).

- Craig Parker - Best known for his roles as Haldir in The Lord of The Rings movie trilogy and Gaius Claudius Glaber in Spartacus: Blood And Sand.

- Virginia Hey - Starred in sci-fi favourite Farscape as Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan, the Delvian priestess imprisoned aboard Moya for assassinating her planet's leader.

- Ken Foree - Most famous for playing Peter in George A. Romero's classic Dawn of the Dead, widely regarded one of the best horror films ever made.

- Jeremy Bulloch - Best known for playing Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy. Jeremy's TV credits include Doctor Who and Robin of Sherwood.

- Claudia Christian - One of the main cast in J. Michael Straczynski's popular science fiction series Babylon 5, starring as Commander Susan Ivanova.

- Peter Lamont - First ever signing by Oscar-winning art director and production designer famous for working on 18 James Bond films, Titanic and Aliens.

- Eunice Gayson - Best known for playing James Bond's girlfriend Sylvia in Dr. No and From Russia with Love. Also appeared in The Saint and The Avengers.

- Alan Tomkins - Oscar-nominated art director who has worked on movies such as The Empire Strikes Back; Batman Begins; Saving Private Ryan and JFK.

- Garrick Hagon - Best known for his role as Biggs Darklighter in Star Wars: A New Hope, Garrick's credits also include Batman, Doctor Who and Spy Game.

- David Hedison - Played James Bond's ally Felix Leiter in Live And Let Die and Licence to Kill. Also appeared in The Fly, Knight Rider and Charlie's Angels.

- Kathryn Leigh Scott - Best remembered for regular appearances in US gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, which continues to enjoy a strong cult following.

For an up-to-date list of confirmed Memorabilia guests - including sports guests - and when they'll be appearing at the show, go to www.memorabilia.co.uk/birmingham.

For Memorabilia tickets, visit: www.memorabilia.co.uk/birmingham/tickets and for more about Memorabilia Birmingham, visit: www.memorabilia.co.uk.

You can discover more about MCM Expo events at www.twitter.com/mcmexpo; www.facebook.com/mcmexpo and www.youtube.com/mcmexpo

For more information about shows coming up at the NEC, visit www.thenec.co.uk

Organisers celebrate MCM Expo success

Last weekend's MCM London Comic Con smashed all previous attendance records, with more than 70,000 visitors coming through the doors of ExCel.

Claimed by the organisers as Europe's equivalent to San Diego Comic Con, MCM London Comic Con the team behind it say it has gone from strength to strength over recent years, and the latest show has seen another substantial hike in visitor numbers - 70,200 compared to the 64,000 attendees at the previous event back in May, which was itself a record figure.

"We are amazed by the turnout; we expanded the show floor space by 5,000 m2 from the May event and we were still packed," said show co-organiser Bryan Cooney. "It is wonderful to have so many attendees and companies like BBC, C4, Universal, Nintendo and Microsoft supporting our show. We are now looking to add a further 4,000m2 for May bringing us to 21,000 m2.

"We are also looking to the future and planning alongside our venue partner to make MCM London Comic Con the biggest show of its kind in Europe."

Running from Friday 26 to Sunday 28th October, Britain's biggest pop culture event welcomed special guests from a host of movies, TV series and SF shows, including Doctor Who's Matt Smith, Hollywood legend Bill Paxton and stars from shows such as Misfits, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Primeval: New World, Warehouse 13 and Continuum.

The MCM London Comic Con also played host to top games publishers such as Nintendo; Namco Bandai; Square Enix; Tecmo Koie Ubisoft; 2K Games; NIS; Konami and Microsoft. Show goers also explored the brand new VidFest UK zone celebrating online video; the UK's largest gathering of comic artists and writers; an expanded JapanEX zone and a colourful variety of costume competitions and fashion shows, including the finals of EuroCosplay 2012.

MCM London Comic Con returns to ExCel on 24-26th May 2013. The next MCM event is the UK's largest collectors' show, Memorabilia, held at NEC Birmingham on 24-25th November with special guest David Hasselhoff.

• You can find more about the event at www.londonexpo.com; on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mcmexpo; on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mcmexpo and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/mcmexpo

 

Hobbycrafts and Art Materials Live back at Birmingham NEC

The Crafts for Christmas, Hobbycrafts and Art Materials Live! Event takes place from 8-11 November at the NEC, Birmingham.

With everything you need for a beautiful handmade Christmas, the organisers say it's the perfect way to add some sparkle to the festive period this year - but downthetubes readers might simply want to check out the range of creative talent and find out more about their work, whatever the season. The Arts Material Live section also sounds like it might have things to offer artists who follow this site.

Whether it's a cuddly snowman for a little one, some festive decorations for the house or a beautiful necklace for that special someone, Crafts for Christmas offers a huge selection of handmade gifts and crafts from hundreds of exhibitors. A brand new Graduate Area will bring together an abundance of work from the very best of newly qualified British designers and makers. On sale will be gifts that include textiles, glass, wood, metal, jewellery, furniture and much more.

Quite asides from the Christmas-oriented areas like the Prima Magazine Craft Theatre, where you can pick up some clever ideas to add some creative handmade touches to your decorations and a Festive Food and Drink aisle, Hobbycrafts is the UK's largest creative crafts show.

The organisers claim it will be bigger and better than ever this year, with over 200 exhibitors bringing the best of the creative craft world together. Stock up and discover all the latest innovations and supplies from the world of creative craft and speak personally to the exhibitors for their advice and ideas.

With everything from stamping, beading and jewellery making to papercraft, cardmaking and calligraphy - you will find everything you need for your next hobbycraft project.

All visitors can enjoy a free programme of Quick & Easy Workshops, Make & Take sessions, Talks and Demonstrations each day of the show, as well as experts including popular TV craft personality Stephanie Weightman.

Art Materials Live is the UK's liveliest and biggest art materials show, where leading professional artists will be on hand to offer the very latest in art supplies, ideas and innovations as well as their top tips and advice to leave you feeling inspired and enthused.

Visitors to the show can attend one of the pre-bookable hands-on workshops organised by the Leisure Painter & The Artist Magazines, or can vote for their favourite painting in the 'Simply the Best' competition. Some of the best artists in the country will be demonstrating a variety of techniques, showcasing a whole range of mediums, materials and subject matter from which you can learn.

• For more information and to find out what's coming up at the NEC, visit www.thenec.co.uk or follow The NEC, Birmingham on LinkedIn. Tickets for Crafts for Christmas, Hobbycrafts and Art Materials Live! are on sale now priced at £9-£12 for a one day ticket and £14-22 for a two or three day ticket and are available from The Ticket Factory: www.theticketfactory.com or 0844 338 8000.

 

2000AD national signing event shapes up

Following-on from the announcement last week of the first ever 2000AD National Signing Event, Rebellion have announced even more big names taking part – and the addition of a signing at Forbidden Planet in Belfast.

To mark 35 years of the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, on 1st September artists and writers from the past three and a half decades of Thrill-power will be descending on comic book stores nationwide.

The venues are the Forbidden Planet stores in London, Bristol and Birmingham, Travelling Man stores in Leeds and Manchester, and Forbidden Planet stores in Edinburgh and Belfast.

Less than a week before DREDD 3D hits movie screens across the UK, Dredd co-creator John Wagner will be signing at Travelling Man in Manchester, while we are very pleased to unveil the signing at Forbidden Planet in Belfast with Judge Dredd writer Mike Carroll and artist PJ Holden.

35 years of Thrill-power, one zarjaz day!

EDINBURGH Forbidden Planet

• Gordon Rennie
• Gary Erskine
• David Bishop
• Colin MacNeil

BELFAST Forbidden Planet

• Mike Carroll
• PJ Holden

BIRMINGHAM Forbidden Planet

• D’Israeli
• Ian Edginton
• Mark Harrison
• Lee Garbett

BRISTOL Forbidden Planet

• Mark Buckingham
• Dylan Teague
• Patrick Goddard
• Kek-W

MANCHESTER Travelling Man

• John Wagner
• Steve Yeowell
• Sean Phillips

LEEDS Travelling Man

• Al Ewing
• Lee Carter
• Peter Doherty

LONDON Forbidden Planet

• Simon Bisley
• Dave Gibbons
• Dan Abnett
• Rufus Dayglo
• Ben Willsher
• Lee Townsend
• Clint Langley
• Boo Cook
• Dan Abnett
• John Higgins
• Simon Spurrier