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WELCOME
I hope you will join me and enjoy exploring the worlds of comics, graphic novels and manga at the annual Comica Festival and other special Comica events held throughout the year.Paul Gravett, Comica Director
COMICA NEWS
BD & Comics Passion in association with Comica Festival is back!
Posted: May 4, 2012
After its hugely successful debut last October, once again London’s prestigious Institut Français hosts a packed, star-studded festival of comics, graphic novels and bandes dessinées, BD & Comics Passion in association with Comica Festival.
This year’s line-up spans from the wildest reaches of heroic fantasy, in the worlds of Thorgal and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, to the cutting edge of politically charged graphic novels by David B. and Guy Delisle. With nearly thirty events including live drawing, talks, exhibitions, workshops, a drawing jam with cult chanteuse Mesparrow, and a dress-up party of Victorians vs. Decadents, this innovative festival will have something for everyone! And yes, every event is in English, merci beaucoup!
On the opening night, Thursday May 24th, Comica Co-Director Paul Gravett will be hosting from 7-8.30pm a lively Reading Group, who will discuss together over a glass a wine the remarkable albums of Iranian-born Marjane Satrapi: her powerful memoir Persepolis, as well as her bittersweet family story Chicken With Plums, and her account of women’s lives Embroideries. Tickets cost £5, and right after there will be a screening of the movie adaptation of Chicken With Plums, co-directed by Satrapi and not due for cinema release in the UK. For details and booking online click over to the BD & Comics Passion What’s On webpage.
After an afternoon of book signings, highlights of Friday evening, May 25th, include the prize ceremony for the festval’s two comics competitions, a drawing duo between Guy Delisle and Tom Gauld, and Jonathan Ross being interviewed about his love for comics and bandes dessinées. Saturday May 26th is the big, big day and night with workshops, films, signings, and another drawing duo between Jean-Louis Mourier and Luke Pearson on their shared passion for trolls. Add to this presentations by Pat Mills & Kevin O’Neill, David B. on his new book Best of Enemies, and Guy Delisle, winner of the best graphic novel of the year at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, followed by a drawing jam with French singer Mesparrow and a costume ball till 2am, and you have a stunning, unmissable programme.
There’s still plenty more to enjoy on Sunday May 27th, including a further talk by David B. on his use of dreams in his comics, a Masterclass with Karrie Fransman, a workshop for digital comics on iPad, and the first ever discussion in London by Thorgal illustrator Rosinski. Paul Gravett will be chairing a Q&A session with Nicolas Duval, director of the forthcoming animated adaptation of Régis Loisel’s dark take on Peter Pan, opening with the UK premiere of a 13 minute sneak preview, winner of the Best Short Film Award at the Paris International Fantastic Film Festival.
And this is far from everything at BD & Comics Passion, in fact there is so much going on, how do you choose? One solution is the great innovation this year of two super-value package deals on tickets, making the festival even more affordable. The Fan Pass gets you all five main events on Saturday for only £15, while The Addict Pass entitles you to an amazing ten top events over the festival’s four days for only £25! Book early to be sure of getting these bargain offers. See you there!
It’s TODAY! Don’t Miss The Spring Comica Comiket & After Party!
Posted: April 21, 2012
An all-star line-up of creators including Tom Gauld, Simone Lia, Darryl Cunningham, Andi Watson, Mark Stafford & many more will be drawing live on the stage of the Great Hall today, while nearly 100 exhibitors offer their fantastic comics, graphic novels and other wonders for your delectation! Add to that the Comica Cafe with Panel Borders’ own Alex Fitch interviewing all our guest artists, plus the Nobrow room with still more exhibitors and the signing table, it’s going to be an amazing day. And then tonight, relax and enjoy the company of comics makers and readers at the Comiket After Party. Tickets will be on sale during the day at the Fair and on the door too. It’s 7 for 7.30pm start and runs till 10.30pm with SelfMadeHero’s Lovecraft Cabaret, DJs, bar, animation screenings and more live drawing. SEE YOU THERE at Bishopsgate Institute, London!
One Week Till Spring Comica Comiket & After Party!
Posted: April 14, 2012
This time next week, Saturday April 21st, the Spring Comica Comiket Independent Comics Fair will be in full swing at the Bishopsgate Institute, mere minutes away from Liverpool Street station and Spitalfields Market (How-to-Find-ushere’s a map and directions!). Last November’s Comiket was a massive success (see Soju Tanaka’s photo above), and we’re anticipating another great day for everyone. Huge thanks to the more than ninety exhibitors who have booked up table space this time, including publishers from Belgium and Denmark, plus Walker Books and the University of Creative Arts who have chosen Comiket as their first ever comics event to exhibit at - a fantastic response. Due to this increased demand, we’re expanding the Fair beyond the Great Hall into adjacent spaces and rooms to offer visitors even more amazing comics to discover and buy. The complete list of exhibitors is being updated regularly in the blog entry below.
Once more the main stage of the Great Hall will be animated by the Drawing Parade (see Luke Pearson in action last November above), as top creators get the chance to improvise and draw for thirty minutes each. The final closing line-up will be posted soon, but meantime here are the names and times for the artists currently confirmed (subject to change) :
11.00-11.30 Tom Gauld (Goliath)
11.30-12.00 John Allison (Scarygoround, Bad Machinery)
12.00-12.30 Darryl Cunningham (Science Tales, Psychiatric Tales)
12.30-13.00 Simone Lia (Please God, Find Me A Husband, Fluffy)
13.00-13.30 Andi Watson (Gum Girl, Glister, Skeleton Key)
13.30-14.00 Maarten Vande Wiele (Paris)
14.00-14.30 Emma Vieceli (Vampire Academy, Avalon)
14.30-15.00 Warwick Johnson-Cadwell (Nelson, Gungle)
15.00-15.30 Louis Roskosch (Leeroy & Popo)
15.30-16.00 Philippa Rice (My Cardboard Life)
16.00-16.30 James Turner (Super Animal Adventure Squad, Star Cat)
16.30-17.00 I.N.J. Culbard (Sherlock Holmes, Deadwardians)
17.00-17.30 Mark Stafford (Cherubs!, Lovecraft Anthology)
And it’s not over when the doors close at 6pm, as we’d love you all to come along to the first ever Comica After Party, featuring the SelfMadeHero Lovecraft Cabaret! We have a night of DJ’s, performances, film screenings, live drawing and a bar for thirsty exhibitors! Doors opening 7pm for a 7.30pm start in The Great Hall, the night will feature the Lovecraft Cabaret, a DJ set by the inimitable Mr Woodrow Phoenix, a screening of animated films by Matt Abbiss including his adaptation of Tom Gauld’s Invasion, and much more.
And through the evening, concluding at 10.30pm, SelfMadeHero presents: Lovecraft Cabaret, MC’d by Chris Lackey, host of the H.P. Lovecraft literary podcast with acts including: H.P. Ukelele; SelfMadeHero Screen: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (short film premiere); The H.P. Lovecraft Quiz with Dan Lockwood and Chris Lackey with prizes; Lovecraft Limbo with prizes; SelfMadeHero Screen: The Call of Cthulhu (short film screening); ‘Draw Something’ Lovecraft with I.N.J. Culbard; plus an extra special guest! Tickets cost only £6, or £4 discounted tickets for exhibitors! Tickets are available through Wegottickets.com, on sale during the day from the Comica table and of course on the door on the night. Bring your own tentacles! Make a whole day and night of it at Comica Comiket next Saturday. Comica - Putting Comics First!
Now Booking for Spring Comica Comiket April 21st!
Posted: February 5, 2012
It may be snowing outside, but like rabid rabbits we’re looking forward to London’s brilliant new Spring Comica Comiket, a bubbling Independent Comics Fair to be held on Saturday April 21st, 11am-6pm, admission free, at the Bishopsgate Institute, close to Liverpool Street station. Today the bookings open for exhibitors, small and big, to reserve their table spaces - click here for more Booking Details and PayPal buttons.
Star guests already confirmed for the Comica Drawing Parade include: John Allison, webtoonist extraordinaire behind Scary Go Round and Bad Machinery; Tom Gauld, whose new graphic novel Goliath is due from Drawn & Quarterly; Simone Lia, who has Please God, Find Me A Husband out soon from Jonathan Cape; and Andy Watson, launching his wacky all-ages superheroine from Walker Books, Gum Girl. Watch out for further announcements of creators and events. Book now, tell your friends and join us for a springtime celebration of mad bunnies, buzzing bees and blossoming sequential wonderment!
Comica 2012 presents Transitions 3 Conference
Posted: January 31, 2012
WHAT? Transitions is a one-day symposium promoting new research and multi-disciplinary academic study of comics / comix / manga / bande dessinée and other forms of sequential art, now in its third year.
WHEN? Saturday the 3rd of November 2012
WHERE? School of Arts, Birkbeck, University of London, London WC1E 7HX
Comics studies occupy a unique multi-disciplinary middle-space, one that encourages cross-disciplinary pollination and a convergence of distinct knowledges: literary and cultural studies, visual arts and media, modern languages, sociology, geography and more. Transitions is intended as a platform where different perspectives and methodologies; cultural, historical, or formal, can be brought together and shared, an event devoted to promoting new research into comics in all their forms. Rather than restricting itself to a specific theme, the symposium will highlight research from postgraduate students and early career lecturers. By thinking about comics across different disciplines, the intention is to stimulate and provoke debate and to address a wide spectrum of questions, to map new trends and provide a space for dialogue and further collaboration to emerge.
The first Transitions symposium was the successful opening event of Comica 2010, and in November 2011 Birkbeck hosted Transitions 2, testifying to a thriving UK comics scholarship emerging from a diverse range of disciplinary settings. Transitions 3 is part of Comica 2012, the London International Comics Festival, and is organised in association with Birkbeck, University of London, the School of Film and Television Studies and the School of American Studies at the University of East Anglia, Studies in Comics, European Comic Art, Journal of Graphic Novels & Comics, the Contemporary Fiction Seminar and The Comics Grid. Dr. Roger Sabin, Reader in Popular Culture at Central St. Martins, will once again act as respondent.
We welcome abstracts for twenty minute papers of 250 to 300 words.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to: International iterations - manga, bande dessinée, fumetti etc.; children’s comics; superheroes; non-fiction comics; the (im)materiality of comics; formalist approaches; cultural histories; adaptation / remediation; autographics; early comics; comic strips; small press; alternative comics; underground commix; comics narratologies; political comics; comics and cultural theory; contexts of production and circulation; audiences; comics and the archive; subjectivity in comics; graphic medicine; fan subcultures; comics as historiography; key creators…
Abstracts should be submitted by the 30th of July 2012 to Hallvard, Nina and Ed at transitions.symposium[at]gmail.com Looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you there!
Craig Thompson Talks With Marcel Theroux
Posted: January 10, 2012
Don’t miss the first Comica Conversation of the New Year! Later this month, the American graphic novelist Craig Thompson is in London to promote Habibi, one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of 2011, seven years in the making and published in Britain by Faber & Faber. He is doing regular comic-shop signings at Forbidden Planet (20th), Gosh! Comics (21st) and Mega City Comics (24th). Craig has kindly agreed to do one ‘live’ speaking engagement for Comica Festival. For this UK exclusive event on Monday January 23rd, Craig will give his illustrated talk and presentation about the ‘making of’ this remarkable book, giving rare insights into his research and process.
After this, Craig will give an in-depth interview about Habibi and his other graphic novels, including the much-loved autobiographical story Blankets, to Marcel Theroux, the novelist and broadcaster who reviewed Habibi on BBC2’s The Review Show. The evening concludes with a Q&A session with the audience followed by a book signing and sketching session, organised in association with Gosh! Comics.
This Comica Conversation, supported by Faber & Faber, is being held at the St Albans Centre, Leigh Place, Baldwins Gardens, London EC1N 7AB (see here for map). The closest tube stations are Chancery Lane, Holborn and Farringdon. Doors open 6.45pm for 7pm start. Numbers are limited so please be sure to book your tickets now for what is sure to be a sell-out evening - tickets cost £8.00 from We Got Tickets.
And one last incentive - Faber & Faber have generously given us a copy of Habibi and Craig Thompson will pick out one ticket holder on the night to win it. So book now and see you there!
Next Comica Comiket on Saturday April 21st 2012!
Posted: December 31, 2011
Just a greeting to join George Herriman’s krazy kast wishing you all the Very Best for The New Year. And to give you the date of Saturday April 21st 2012 for our next Comica Comiket Independent Comics Fair, once more in the splendid Great Hall of Bishopsgate Institute. The great news is that our first confirmed special guest artist in the Drawing Parade is Tom Gauld, whose Goliath graphic novel is coming out this spring. Full details and how to book your stall space will follow shortly. Subscribe to the Newsletter for first notification. Meantime, please put that date in your new Diary. Our first Spring Comica Comiket is really something to look forward to in 2012!
Andy Oliver reviews Comiket 2011 on Broken Frontier
Posted: December 18, 2011
A comics web-journalist, small press reviewer, and contributor to 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die, Andy Oliver has written a very positive and perceptive report about this year’s Comica Comiket, held on Saturday November 12th 2011. Andy astutely echoes many of the fundamental principles behind these independent comics fairs. Here’s the highlights of what Andy wrote:
“Last Saturday the latest Comiket, the semi-regular London independent comics fair, took place at the Bishopsgate Institute as part of the Comica Festival. I was there in an unofficial Broken Frontier capacity, hunting down some gems of small press books for potential future coverage in this very column and taking the opportunity to say hello to faces both familiar and unfamiliar amongst the attendees.
“On Twitter on Saturday I described Comiket as ‘an Aladdin’s cave of small press and Indie treasures’ and, despite the forced economy of articulacy of that particular social networking environment, that soundbite does rather effectively encompass the variety of independent comics wares on sale. Comica master of ceremonies Paul Gravett was there working his usual magic on the stage behind the main fair, introducing a succession of creators drawing live on a projected big screen as part of ‘Artists Parade’. While I did stand still for a short period of time to watch Brecht Evens (the gent behind the remarkable The Wrong Place, published in translation by Drawn and Quarterly), I must admit my greedy, rapt, wallet-draining attention was largely elsewhere. But the likes of Posy Simmonds, Luke Pearson, Sarah McIntyre, Warren Pleece and Roger Langridge, amongst many others, were all scheduled to appear as part of the parade throughout the day.
“It’s the egalitarian feel of an event like Comiket that reignites that feeling of joy about comics for me that the cynical shenanigans of the bigger commercial publishers have done their best to erase. There’s something quite splendid indeed about buying a copy of ten-year-old school boy Zoom Rockman’s lively and enthusiastic comic The Zoom (current issue including a voucher for free chips at George’s Fish n’ Chips in Crouch End doncha know) and then walking a few short feet away to see Tom Humberstone selling copies of the polished and innovative Solipsistic Pop. It was that tangible lack of cynicism, and an all-pervading sense of diversity, that were the admirable hallmarks of an event where everyone attending was focused primarily on the same shared goal: selling their personal vision of the very best of what comics can be. A tiptop day on every level and an experience I look forward to replicating at the next Comiket in 2012.
“As for my own acquisitions, well from picking up Sally-Anne Hickman’s beautifully handmade diary comics and discovering with glee a Lizz Lunney minicomic I didn’t already have, to grabbing pro publishers Blank Slate’s Nelson and Nobrow Press’s Nobrow #6, my Comiket stash was a many-splendoured haul indeed.”
Don’t Miss Comica Festival’s Final Big Week!
Posted: November 22, 2011
Comica Festival 2011 continues its final, full, fun-packed week. Tomorrow, Wednesday November 23rd, why not come and hear me speak about The History and Future of Superheroes, about how the superhero genre was born and has evolved, and where it may be heading to next. As editor and co-author of 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die, I’ll be examining this much-loved and much-loathed genre. Secret Origins will be exposed and Secret Identities unmasked in my talk at Islington Central Library, Fieldway Crescent, London N5 from 6.30-8pm. This is free but please book your ticket by phoning 0207 527 6960 or emailing angelic.ashcroft[at]islington.gov.uk - dress code is capes and tights!
Other Comica Festival events for the rest of this year’s season include launch parties: for stunning 54-artist anthology Nelson; for the first issue of The Strumpet, ‘the world’s rockingest journal of ladies’ cartoon art’; for The British Museum’s first ever manga, Professior Munakata’s British Museum Adventure; for Sylvia Libedinsky’s A Girl’s Best Friend cut-out shoe book; and for Luke Pearson’s magical new full-length European-style album, Hilda and The Midnight Giant from Nobrow. For details see the full list of events.
There are two more late additions to Comica Festival now all confirned so add them to your diary! First up, at Orbital Comics on Saturday November 26th, 7.30-8.30pm (so giving you ample time to get over from the Pearson event at Gosh!), you are invited to another very special Comica Conversation between a North American and a British graphic novelists, in this case between Sarah Leavitt from Vancouver, whose Tangles from Cape movingly chronicles her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease, and Nicola Streeten, whose Billy, Me & You grabbed two whole pages in The Guardian for her account of losing her young child and confronting her loss and her grief. It promises to be a very special encounter and is completely free, subject to capacity. Both authors will also be signing their books afterwards.
And for the very last Comica Festival event, on Sunday November 27th from 3pm, in association with the Institut Francais’s South Ken Kids Festival at 17 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2DT, I will be interviewing the truly brilliant French cartoonist Julien Neel, whose album series Lou! is being translated here by Highland Books (the latest volumes, 4 and 5, are being launched here). You can check out my rave review of the first three albums on my website. Joining me will be the series’ translator Ros Schwartz. Book your tickets now at £7 and Neel will be signing his books after. Come earlier and you can catch a free screening from 1.30pm of the excellent animated adaptation of Lou!, shown in French and in English in alternating languages.
By the way, all being well and strike permitting, Comica Social Club is meeting again as usual, always the last Wednesday in the month, at the Central Bar of the Royal Festival Hall, South Bank, on November 30th, from 6pm to 9pm - or later. Join the Club via the Comica Social Club 2011 Facebook page and enjoy the company of people who love making and/or reading comics. You see, there’s no reason for Comica Festival to ever end!
More Reviews…
Posted: November 17, 2011
In case you missed the recent Comica events held at Gosh! Comics, Chris Thompson at Pop Culture Hound was there and has written incredibly detailed accounts for you:
L to R: Paul Gravett, Steven Appleby, Richard McGuire
Richard McGuire & Steven Appleby
14 November 2011
Although the weather had taken a turn and there was a definite chill in the air, around 30 people turned up at Gosh! Comics in London last night for a very special conversation between two incredible artists. I have to admit I’m not actually one of the cool kids - I wasn’t aware of Richard McGuire or Steven Appleby prior to this latest Comica Festival event being announced - but once I saw their work and some of the amazing things they’ve done, I just had to be part of it. More…
Frederik Peeters
11 November 2011
Around 40 people gathered last Friday night to listen as Paul Gravett interviewed Swiss artist Frederik Peeters at Gosh! Comics in London. Peeters, who is best known in English for his autobiographical tale Blue Pills, appeared as part of this year’s Comica Festival to promote the release of Sandcastle from Self Made Hero. More…
Comica Gosh!p
9 November 2011
Although I missed the inaugural get-together of Thinking Comics’ new comic book club last month, I was more than ready for the second one tonight. This time around the focus was on Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One, as well as Josceline Fenton’s excellent webcomic, Hemlock. Josceline herself was on hand to share insights into her work, though I can’t say the same for that slacker Miller. I arrived about 5 minutes late and things were already well under way. In total I counted just over 30 people, so there were a number of us standing (or leaning) on the periphery. Not bad for the second meeting of a group discussing comics. There were also tea-making facilities and some yummy Bat-cake for afterwards, thanks to the fine people at Gosh! Comics London. More…
