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

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…

Comica Comiket 2011: Reviews & Photos

Posted: November 15, 2011

“A grand day out in Bishopsgate: After five years of attending Comica’s Comikets, the event has finally come of age. Though previously held in some wonderful locations such as the ICA and the Pump House in Battersea Park, this the first time that the combination of venue and location has worked so well to bring in the kind of footfall that I’m sure made every exhibitor’s day worthwhile. With plenty of passing trade, free entry and a magnificent continuous large-screen live drawing display kept visitors in the hall.”
Francesca Cassavetti, Fabtoons

“Hurrah! This year’s Comiket, part of Comica Festival, was a brilliant success. Three cheers to Paul Gravett, Peter Stanbury, events co-ordinator Megan Donnolley and all the other people who worked so hard to make it happen!”
Sarah McIntyre, Vern & Lettuce

“Paul and Peter do an excellent job with Comica, and Comiket has a great social vibe, lots of my current comic buds were met at the early ones.”
Sean Azzopardi

...and Bleeding Cool has a nice write-up of the Warren Ellis conversation with Lenny Henry which happened later that evening.

Come to Comica Club Night Tuesday 15th!

Posted: November 12, 2011

Next Tuesday, November 15th, Comica Festival is presenting its first ever amazing COMICA CLUB NIGHT in the cool Shoreditch venue The Book Club, 100-106 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4RH. For a mere £5, bookable via Paypal, or in cash on the door, you get a whole evening of exciting Comics-Art-Music-Film Happenings from 7pm to midnight.

Highlights include:

Drawings before your very eyes with projections to comics-themed music by The Stool Pigeon‘s ascerbic rock satirist and DJ savant Krent Able.

Giant two-man action-painting by Savage Pencil & Chris Long of Battle Of The Eyes, accompanied by their inimitable choices of music from their vast collections.

Live performance of SelfMadeHero’s brand new Hellraisers graphic multi-biography about Sixties’ acting and drinking legends Oliver Reed, Peter O’Toole, Richard Burton and Richard Harris, by writer Robert Sellers & celebrity caricaturist extraordinaire JAKe.

The Caterer comics creator, writer and comedian Steve Aylett unveils his insane film, Lint The Movie, co-starring Stewart Lee, Alan Moore, Robin Ince & others.

Nobrow’s Isabel Greenberg, winner of this year’s Observer/Jonathan Cape/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize, makes a live presentation of her world of imaginary fables.

There are bars on both floors, plus upstairs, Katja Spitzer’s lovely exhibition of her new Nobrow book Quodlibet - and more surprises!

Capacity is limited so to be sure of a place please book via PayPal now for £5 a ticket. There may be some tickets available on the door on the night. For latest updates and info, you can also reach us via this event’s Facebook page. Come and share your passion for comics in a new setting and a whole new light!

See You At Comica Comiket…

Posted: November 11, 2011

...followed by the screening of Captured Ghosts with Warren Ellis and Lenny Henry. Full details of the Comica 2011 programme of events right here...

Graphic Short Story Prize At Foyles

Posted: November 11, 2011

I thought I’d share with you all the current window display at Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road in Central London, which celebrates the winner and runner-up of this year’s Graphic Short Story Prize. Just think of all those thousands of people seeing our winner and runner up as they walk past this week. Lovely.

And don’t forget, until December 4th, while you are sipping a latte or cappuccino on the first floor of Foyles Bookshop Cafe, you can also admire and read a free exhibition of four-page graphic short stories by five of the finalists as well as the winner, Isabel Greenberg, and the runner-up, Michael O’Kelly and Olu Oke, in this year’s Graphic Short Story Prize. Also, a free e-comic Shorties: The Best Of The Graphic Short Story Prize 2007-11 is now available to read online in which competition judge and graphic novelist extraordinaire, Bryan Talbot, selects his favourite entries from 5 years of the prize.

Posy Simmonds & Luke Pearson Launch This Saturday’s Comica Comiket!

Posted: November 9, 2011

Who better to start our amazing Comica Comiket Independent Comics Fair this coming Saturday November 12th than this country’s much-loved doyenne of sequential art, Posy Simmonds? She has very kindly agreed to launch the day and officially open the Fair at 11.00am. Then Posy will be the first brilliant artist to kick off our all-day Drawing Parade, drawing live on stage with her artworks projected onto a giant screen for all to enjoy. Afterward she will be doing some short signing sessions of both her Jonathan Cape graphic novels, Gemma Bovery and Tamara Drewe, and the very first copies of Blank Slate’s outstanding anthology Nelson, on sale for the first time anywhere at the Comiket with all profits going to the charity Shelter. Posy can only be with us for the first hour or less, so make a point of being there in time for 11.00am when the doors of the Great Hall burst open!

Earlybirds will also get the chance to watch the rising prodigy Luke Pearson, famed for Hildafolk and Everything We Miss from Nobrow, who is next up in the line-up from 11.30am till noon. Luke will also be signing right after, so be sure not to miss his appearance.

Below you will find the complete timetable for the 2012 Drawing Parade - come along and enjoy the spectacle. We’ll have a seating area for you to sit in and relax and gaze in wonder at the fascinating artistry being created before your very eyes. And yes, the whole day is completely free, so come one, come all!

11.00-11.30:
Posy Simmonds (Tamara Drewe, Gemma Bovery, Nelson)

11.30-12.00:
Luke Pearson (Hildafolk, Everything We Miss)

12.00-12.30:
JAKe (Hellraisers, Mighty Book of Boosh, Nelson)

12.30-13.00:
Warren Pleece (Incognegro, Life Sucks, The Great Unwashed, Nelson)

13.00-13.30:
Sarah McIntyre (Vern & Lettuce, Morris the Mankiest Monster)

13.30-14.00:
Frederik Peeters (Sandcastle, Blue Pills)

14.00-14.30:
Sally Kindberg (The Comic Strip Big Fat Book of Knowledge)

14.30-15.00:
James Jarvis (De Profundis, Vortigern’s Machine)

15.00-15.30:
Karrie Fransman (The House That Groaned)

15.30-16.00:
Hannah Berry (Britten & Brülightly, Adamtine)

16.00-16.30:
Brecht Evens (The Wrong Place, Night Animals)

16.30-17.00:
Battle of the Eyes: Savage Pencil & Chris Long (Nyak-Nyak!, BOTE Prints)