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.”
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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. Tickets will go on sale 13 May 2013.

Radio show about Nelson creators: Dan Berry, Rob Davis, Sarah McIntyre and more...

Panel Borders: Nelson

Continuing our month of shows looking at depictions of lives on the page, Dan Berry talks to four of his fellow creators who worked on the award winning anthology graphic novel Nelson, published by Blank Slate Books, including the book's co-editor Rob Davis and artists Jonathan Edwards, Sarah McIntyre & Suzy Varty.

Nelson depicts 54 days in the life of the titular character, a young and then adult female Londoner, who is born in the first chapter set in 1968 and we follower her life to middle age in the present day. Dan discusses the history of the project, the aspects of autobiography that were absorbed into each creator's pages and the collaborative processes involved in working on a exquisite corpse method of storytelling. 

(Recorded at Thought Bubble Festival, Leeds 2011 and edited by Alex Fitch)

8pm, Sunday 9th December 2012, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

Off Life, free indie comic zine out now

While I was away last week in the wilds of Scotland, OFF LIFE - the new, free indie comic magazine, available in print and online - got under way with a sparkling first issue crammed with some great comics. My apologies to the editorial team for not being about to give it a plug, because it's fantastic.

OFF LIFE is the UK's only street press comic magazine. Each issue featurs comic stories from today’s best indie talent, compiling them in a bi-monthly magazine and then leaving them around bars, coffee houses, shops and galleries for good people like you to pick up – free of charge.

The first issue has some fab strips - one pagers and longer strips - from talents such as Sean Azzopardi, Neill Cameron, Rob Davis and Lizz Lunney, just to name a few, along with a profile of ace creator Tom Gauld.

It's a strong start for the title that aims to put great talent in front of more people - not just comic fans - and I hope it's the success it deserves to be.

• If you're in a major city in the UK you may find a print copy lurking near you, but if not then you can view it online or download a PDF at: www.offlife.co.uk

 

 

Blank Slate's 'Nelson' in the spotlight at Hay Festival

(via Sarah McIntyre's blog): If you're in Wales at the Hay Festival this weekend, don't miss out on what is sure to be an awesome panel by six of the comics creators who made NELSON, published by Blank Slate - including Sarah McIntyre - on Sunday.

"I'm so completely proud of this book," says Sarah, who will also be doing a 4.00pm reading of Morris the Mankiest Monster in the Family Area, if you want to stop by to say hello.

Rob Davis, Woodrow Phoenix, Gary Northfield, Kristyna Baczynski and Will Morris are also on the NELSON panel.

If you're at Hay the following weekend, Sarah is back doing a bunch of other stuff, including a sold out panel with Philip Reeve, Martin Brown and Cathy Brett called Illustration Game of Consequences. Inspired by suggestions from you, these amazing artists draw live on one giant piece of paper.
"It will be random and it will be fun," says Sarah.

On Saturday 9th June at 10am, Sarah hosts Cartoon Craziness, a chance to meet this brilliant illustrator and learn how to invent your own cartoons. Expect pirates, monsters, princesses, dinosaurs, cowboys and, of course, Vern & Lettuce.

Then, at 1.00pm: Philip Reeve talks to Sarah: get along and discover a wild world of magical creatures and heroic adventures from the extraordinary imagination behind Mortal Engines - and, hopefully, a sneek peek of their forthcoming series Seawigs.

- Full info on the Hay Festival web site

Blank Slate pride at Eisner award nomination for 'Nelson'

Comic-Con International have announced that Blank Slate's Nelson has been nominated for the Best Anthology honour in the 2012 edition of the the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards.

Created by a team of 54 of the UK’s most prominent comic creators, Nelson was devised as a celebration of the incredible diversity of talent within the rapidly growing British comics industry. Envisioned and edited by veteran UK creators Rob Davis and Woodrow Phoenix, the book unites a dynamic range of literary, mainstream, independent and small-press talent to tell the story of protagonist Nel Baker from her birth in 1968 to the present day.

Comprised of yearly snapshots, Nelson combines a myriad of stylistic approaches and decades of British history in one compelling, beautifully-rendered graphic novel.

For Blank Slate, Nelson presents a great opportunity to promote the rapidly expanding comics scene in Britain. Speaking on the book's Eisner nomination, Editor Rob Davis states “It's great to see Nelson getting this recognition, not just because it shines a light on the mind-boggling profusion of talent in British comics right now, but because it's a unique experiment that takes the anthology format and uses it to create a genuine novel.

"Everyone involved has a shared belief in the power of comics to make stories come alive."

Co-editor Woodrow Phoenix added "I'm really proud of what we achieved with this book. It proves that you don't need guns, superpowers, zombies or swords to make a story compelling”.

Met with international acclaim from both mainstream and specialist book reviewers when released in November 2011, Nelson quickly sold out of its initial run, all profits from which will be donated to Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity.

- ISBN: 978-1-906653-23-1 | 252 pages | 236 x 178mm softcover with flaps, full colour | £18.99

• More about Nelson on the Blank Slate web site her • Order Nelson from Blank Slate

Happy Birthday, 2000AD! from artist Rob Davis

Name: Rob Davis

Blog: http://dinlos.blogspot.com

Currently working on:

Writing and drawing second Volume of Don Quixote and working on strips for The Phoenix.

First memory of 2000AD?

I bought prog 1 of 2000AD from the newsagents on Ashley Road in Parkstone, lost the spinner down the back of Chris Morrel's fridge. I couldn't read very well as an eight year old, but I loved Belardnelli's Dan Dare art. Space Hyper Hero!

I probably read most of the first 100 issues more by the pictures than the words. Within a year or so I was doing my own 2000AD style comic called "Space". I still have issue 3.

Favourite character or story?

Favourite character as a child was Robo Hunter. Halo Jones stands out to me as a writer because it spun everything around, made writing about anything seem possible. Dredd is the great icon of the comic and contains all the cleverest and most witty writing, it's what 2000AD is all about.

Artwise Mick (then Mike) McMahon's work surpassed, and surpasses, anything else in British comics and waking up one Saturday and rushing to the newsagent to get my hands on Prog 335 to see the first pages of McMahon's Slaine work on 'Warrior's Dawn' is the No. 1 art experience of my life. Not sure I'll ever recover from the moment I saw that opening page.

Having said all that, my personal favourite read ever was the first book of Nemesis. Genuinely alien and familiar, futuristic and historical, mythical and satirical. Top stuff!

What you like about 2000AD?

2000AD tricked me into thinking this is how thinks are; there's a 12p newsprint rag I could pick up every in the same shop that sells my dad his fags and it contains more invention, creativity, peerless art than I'd ever encounter in one place again. I thought that is what we should expect, it's what I intended to do with my life - keep that illusion going, make the world seem that impossibly giving to kids so they'd grow up as bursting full of imagination as I was.

Sadly the comic wanted to grow up with me, but it grew up to be a retarded, heavy metal fan who thought women smelt of magazine paper. I didn't want to be its friend anymore.

What would you like to see in 2000AD as it heads for its Forties?

We don't keep in touch, but I'm assured it did grow up and sort itself out. It keeps the best of company now, so it must have turned out ok, I've seen D'Israeli's marvelous Stickleback for example! We probably just grew apart and we've gone our separate ways. 

 

Part of me harbours an ambition to do something for the comic, but it would have to be an homage to one of the great inspirations of my life and therefore would have to be startling original and staggeringly good.

If you worked for 2000AD, do you have an anecdote to share about Tharg and his minions?

And here's the rub. I did draw Judge Dredd for a while in the 1990s, in Lawman of the Future, and I found the experience draining and soul destroying. I had nothing to add to Dredd that could improve upon what Mick McMahon had done. I could do something different, for the sake of it, but nothing better. This didn't appeal to me. I had no kids or mortgage in those days so I just walked. I didn't like the scripts or the ideology or the lack of ambition. Sadly the very thing that had made me want to make comics ultimately made me give them up as a career.

• This post is one in a series of tributes to 2000AD to mark its 35th birthday on 26th February 2012. More about 2000AD at www.2000adonline.com
2000AD © Rebellion

British comic creators unite for charity in "Nelson"

Time for another plug for Blank Slate's Nelson project. The publishers have just announced announce the complete line-up for the book, which a graphic novel project that will see all profits going to Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity.

Seeking to celebrate the incredible diversity of talent in British comics today, Editors Rob Davis and Woodrow Phoenix have united over 50 of the UK's best and brightest comic creators for Shelter's great cause in the mother of all collaborations: a complete, 250 page story of one woman's life from her birth in 1968 to the present day.

Mainstream comic sensations such as Duncan Fegredo and Sean Philips join forces with cult British creators including D'Israeli and Roger Langridge, working alongside celebrated literary comic authors like Posy Simmonds and up-and-coming alternative comics stars Luke Pearson and Jon McNaught, amongst many others.

"When Rob and Woodrow came to me with their idea for Nelson, straight away it seemed to me that it should be a charity project" states Kenny Penman, Publisher at Blank Slate. "The British comic scene is more vibrant than ever before, and the opportunity to unite this diverse group of creators to aid the greatly important work that Shelter does in these difficult economic times seemed to good to miss."

Nelson's official launch event will take place on the 22nd November 2011 at The Cartoon Museum in London, with readers able to buy a special advance copy of the book at Leeds' Thought Bubble Festival on the 19th and 20th November, where the majority of its artists will be signing copies for the public.

Currently available to order in the UK section of the September edition of Diamond Previews, Nelson will be appearing in the main US section in October.

The full creator line-up is as follows: Paul Grist, Rob Davis, Woodrow Phoenix, Ellen Lindner, Jamie Smart, Gary Northfield, Sarah McIntyre, Suzy Varty, Sean Longcroft, Warwick Johnson–Cadwell, Luke Pearson, Paul Harrison–Davies, Katie Green, Paul Peart–Smith, Glyn Dillon, I.N.J.Culbard, John Allison, Philip Bond,D’Israeli, Simone Lia, Darryl Cunningham, Jonathan Edwards, Ade Salmon, Kate Charlesworth, Warren Pleece, Kristyna Baczynski, HarveyJames, Rian Hughes, Sean Phillips & Pete Doree, Kate Brown, Simon Gane, Jon McNaught, Adam Cadwell, Faz Choudhury, JAKe, Jeremy Day, Dan McDaid, Roger Langridge, Will Morris, Dave Shelton, Carol Swain, Hunt Emerson, Duncan Fegredo, Philippa Rice, Josceline Fenton, Garen Ewing, Tom Humberstone , Dan Berry, Alice Duke, Posy Simmonds, Laura Howell, Andi Watson and Dave Taylor

• Nelson ISBN 978-1-906653-23-1 | 252 pages | 236 x 178mm softcover with flaps, full colour | £18.99 / $22.99


• Make sure to keep up to date with future announcements via the book's Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/NelsonGraphicNovel.

Blank Slate announces 'Nelson' graphic novel, firms up 2011 schedule

Nelson, a new collaborative graphic novel from Blank Slate Books will be launching this November at the Thought Bubble convention in Leeds, and features an awesome line-up of British comics talent (detailed below).

So, who is Nelson? Well, Nel Baker’s story starts in 1968 (the year of her birth) and takes us through to the present day, with each creator presenting a snapshot of one year of her life.

“I don’t know if anyone’s tried anything like this before," says Rob Davis (Doctor Who, Don Quixote) the anthology’s editor. "I just think it’s a great way to show what separates comic artists from other artists – we don’t just draw pictures, we tell stories!

"I wanted us to avoid the ‘pick-and-choose’ aspect of most anthologies and get everyone writing their own chapters, working together to tell one continuous story. So whether a creator is your favourite or someone whose work you’d never normally go near, they all become an essential read.”

Tube Surfing: 23 March 2009

• Artist Rob Davis recently posted an interesting article about his work for Roy of the Rovers Monthly when it relaunched in late 1993. Davis had previously worked on the short-lived comic Glory Glory for Tundra UK with Stuart Green, who then became editor of the new Rovers title. "Stuart's plan was to bring the same sensibilities to Roy of the Rovers. His ideas were brilliant but ruthless," Rob reveals. "The original title had been cancelled in March 1993 and the story of Roy Race ended with Roy crashing his private helicopter, readers were left not knowing if he was alive or dead.
"In September of the same year our Monthly comic started up and Roy awoke from a coma to find that his comic strip world had gone and reality had moved in. The first shock was discovering that he had lost his famous left foot, amputated after the crash..." Although this version was disregarded by later revamps of the strip, it's an interesting look at this controversial re-toolong of the famous character.

• In 1992 writer Ian Carney and artist Dave Taylor teamed up to do some Mr Murray strips, purely for fun. Ian is now a writer for children's cartoons and shows such as Shaun the Sheep, but back then both were both struggling artisans trying to find their way in life. "Our love of comic books turned into this here strip," says Dave, who has now posted some samples of the strip on his blog. "The last page was written by myself and features Randy the Skeleton, a wonderful creation of Aidan Potts, another fellow Brit cartoonist who's work was always an inspiration."

• Diamond's Scoop site notes that it's been 80 years since Tarzan first apeared in comics. Let's not forget that includes appearances in later issues of TV21, capitalizing on the TV version of the character starring Ron Ely, who has also played Superman and Doc Savage.

• Joe Kubert's Tor: A Prehistoric Odyssey, collecting all six issues of the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of the character - a story begun over fifty years ago is now on sale in comic shops. In addition to the six issues, the hardcover book includes all six covers - including the correct version of cover number five - as well as rare, previously unpublished sketches and thumbnails. by the artist.

• Ian Sharman's fantastic-looking Young Gods project, available via myebook.com, is now Alpha Gods -- we suspect some copyright shenanigans. The comic centres on the eponymous Gods in battle with an ancient evil, Malak. Written by Ian Sharman with art by Ezequiel Pineda and coloured by Mauro Barbosa, this is an action packed series from Orang Utan Comics that will eventually be released as a print edition.

• James Moran, writer of series such as Torchwood, Primeval, Doctor Who and horror comedy Severance has published a really useful FAQ on writing, which includes the obvious advice that if you wnat to be a writer "Start writing. Keep writing." It seems many people just don't get this. "If you want to be a writer, you have to write, a lot, and read a lot, and rewrite a lot," he continues. You write and write and write, and you might not be any good for a long time, maybe several years, until you get a bit better, then you keep going, then eventually you'll get good at it."

• Since his creation by Mike Mignola, Hellboy has been adored by comic book fans across the world. Guillermo Del Toro brought him to the big screen and now author Mark Morris, author of several Doctor Who books, and winner of the 2007 British Fantasy Award, talks about his new Hellboy novel at the upcoming Leeds Young People Film Festival. This masterclass is followed by the screening of the animated film The Sword of Storms, which is free to anyone attending the masterclass. To book tickets please call City Centre Box Office on 0113 224 3801. More info online here

Compiled with thanks to Matthew Badham

Star Wars Comic That Never Was...

Artist Rob Davis, whose work includes Doctor Who and who's one of the contributors to the ongoing webjam Huzzah! has posted some intriguing pages from a planned Star Wars comic for the UK that had only limited distribution.

"Doing Huzzah! has reminded me of my last foray into Space Opera," he notes on his blog, "when I produced four issues of Jedi Academy for Lucasfilms and Deagostini a few years back.

"It was aimed at the kiddies (the younglings!?!?) and followed the jolly japes of four padwans as they go through their Jedi training."

This title should not be confused with the four-issue Star Wars: Jedi Academy series published by Dark Horse in 1998, written by Kevin J. Anderson.

Davis reveals the comic had limited distribution as a test but didn't materialize into a widely pubished title. Part work publisher Deagostini went on to produce the Official Star Wars Fact File.

• View more pages and designs on Rob's blog