Creators @ Thought Bubble 2015: Part 2 – Small Press

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The ninth annual Thought Bubble Festival took place in Leeds over the week of 9-15 November 2015, however it is the huge two-day comic convention over the weekend of 14-15 November that the vast majority of punters and creators think of when “Thought Bubble” is mentioned.

Antony Esmond has already reviewed this year’s Thought Bubble here on downthetubes, as has our colleague Richard Bruton over on the Forbidden Planet International blog, so this is a run through some of the creators who were there, divided (very roughly) into Artists in Part 1 and Small Press in Part 2 – not everyone in Part 1 was an artist and not everyone in Part 2 is small press but you get the gist. Hopefully the fact that there is virtually no cross-over in the subjects of the photos in three DTT posts as well as the FPI post will give you some impression of just how many creators were there.

Thought Bubble 2015 a Zuzu Dominiak Aimee Lockwood
There were quite a few members of the Edinburgh League of Comics at Thought Bubble this year including Zuzu Dominiak and Aimee Lockwood. Zuzu makes creepy comics including Fear while Aimee, who was featured in this year’s Thought Bubble Anthology, has titles included North Coast Plagues.

There are more details of Zuzu Dominiak’s work on her website.  

There are more details of Aimee Lockwood’s work on her website and Facebook page.

There are more details about the Edinburgh League Of Comics on their website and Facebook page.

Thought Bubble 2015 b Kate Ashwin

Kate Ashwin was there with the fifth and latest title in her Widdershins series, Green-Eyed Monster. Set in England’s magical epicentre, the town of Widdershins, these tongue-in-cheek Victorian adventures allow Ms Harry Barber and magician Sidney Malik to investigate strange magical and supernatural occurrences.

There are more details of Kate Ashwin’s work, both Widdershins and her earlier Darken, on her website.

Kate was interviewed about Widdershins on downthetubes here.

Thought Bubble 2015 c BHP Sha Nazir Greg Watt
Glasgow independent publishers Black Hearted Press were at Thought Bubble in force with Laptop Guy artist Sha Nazir and BHP VP Greg Watt. As well as publishing comics and graphic novels BHP are the organisers of various comics events including the long running Glasgow Comic Con.

There will  more details of all Black Hearted Press titles and events at the new Black Hearted Press website when it launches in December 2015.

Thought Bubble 2015 d Disconnected Press Conor Lizzie Boyle
Disconnected Press’ Conor Boyle and Lizzie Boyle may have a selection of comics and graphic novels to their names but it is the delightfully named Sentient Zombie Space Pigs that they are perhaps best known for. With Conor illustrating Lizzie’s script, the a-pork-alypse has now drawn to a conclusion with issue 3 and 4 available at Thought Bubble.

There are more details of Conor’s work on his blog.

There are more details of Lizzie’s work on her website.

There are more details of all Disconnected Press titles on the Disconnected Press website.

Thought Bubble 2015 e WesterNoir Dave West Gary Crutchley
Accent UK have been stalwarts of the UK independent comics scene for many years now and their longest running series in that time is WesterNoir. Written by Dave West and illustrated by Gary Crutchley the series follows the exploits of old west demon hunter Josiah Black and has reached issue 6, Ructions, Ramifications and Repercussions.

There are more details of Dave West’s work on his blog.

There are more details of Gary Crutchley’s work on his blog.

There are more details of all Accent UK’s titles on their website and blog.

Thought Bubble 2015 f Patrick Brown
Belfast writer and artist Paddy Brown is the creator of the web and print comic The Cattle Raid Of Cooley which has now reached its tenth and final issue.  This is Paddy’s comics take on the Irish legend of a war against Ulster by the Connacht queen Medb and her husband Ailill who attempt to steal the stud bull Donn Cuailnge and are opposed the Ulster hero Cú Chulainn.

There are more details of Paddy Brown’s work on his website.

Thought Bubble 2015 g Panels Comics Letty Wilson Faye Stacey
Another independent publisher based in Glasgow is Panels Comics. Dundee University comics course graduates Letty Wilson and Faye Stacey were there selling Letty’s Meteor and Faye’s Eye Spy! Murder as well as giving away the new comic magazine that promotes the Dundee University Comics and Graphic Novels Course.

There are more details of Letty Wilson’s work on her Behance site.

There are more details of Faye Stacy’s work on her website.

There are more details of Panels Comics at their website.

Thought Bubble 2015 h Norrie Millar Chris Murray
Another former Dundee comics course student is artist Norrie Millar who has illustrated course organiser Dr Chris Murray’s script for the new Mary Shelley’s Dundee or Frankenstein Begins, published and now printed as well by the university’s UniVerse Press. The 40 page A4 comic imagines that Mary Shelley was partially inspired by her time in Dundee to write her most famous novel and was produced as part of the Being Human Festival 2015.

There are more details of Norrie Millar’s work on his blog.

There are more details of Dr Chris Murray, the University of Dundee’s Centre For Comics Studies, and its UniVerse publications at the DCCS website.

Thought Bubble 2015 i TGC Jef Sinclair Gill Hatcher MJ Wallace
From Dundee back to Glasgow and the well established Team Girl Comic collective. TGC contributor Jef Sinclair, editor Gill Hatcher, and contributor MJ Wallace were all at Thought Bubble selling copies of Team Girl Comic as well as their own publications.

There are more details of Jeff Sinclair’s work on her Tumblr.

There are more details of Gill Hatcher’s work on her website.

There are more details of MJ Wallace’s work on her Tumblr.

There are more details of Team Girl Comics publications on the TGC website.

Thought Bubble 2015 j Rob Jones Nick Gonzo Mike Sambrook Brad Holman
Madius Comics were there in force with writers and artists Rob Jones, Nick Gonzo, Mike Sambrook, and Brad Holman running a busy and well stocked stall. Their titles include Papercuts And Inkstains, 50 Signal, Ramlock Investigates, Funk Soul Samurai, Average Joe and the new anthology Tragic Tales Of Horrere.

There are more details of all Madius Comics on their website.

Thought Bubble 2015 k Blurred Lines Steven Ingram
Another of the Edinburgh League Of Comics contingent was Blurred Lines Comics’ Steven Ingram with his ongoing series Left, now up to issue 5,  and the anthology The Saddest Whale and Other Stories.

There are more details of Steven Ingram’s work at his Blurred Lines Comics website.

Thought Bubble 2015 m Futurequake Press Mini-Bolt Bolt-01
Futurequake Press’ Dan and Dave Evans (und der Gronk) mug for the camera with the latest issues of 2000AD zines Dogbreath and Zarjaz plus their own SF themed A4 anthology Futurequake. Futurequake are celebrating 10 years of publishing and in that time have become powerhouse of the British small press scene.

There are more details of Futurequake Press titles on their website plus the Futurequake blog and Zarjaz/Dogbreath blog.

Thought Bubble 2015 n Planet Replicas Mekon
Also mugging to the camera, not that he really had a choice, is the prototype of Planet Replica’s Mekon figure. Sculpted by 2000AD cover artist Alex Ronald and based on Dave Gibbon’s Mekon from the “Servant of Evil” series in 2000AD, this is an impressive representation of Dan Dare’s perpetual nemesis. downthetubes will have more information on this when it becomes available for sale.

There are more details of all Planet Replica’s current products on their website.

Thought Bubble 2015 o Durham Red Integra Fairbrook
And finally, helping to promote the Planet Replica’s line and the Strontium Dog fan film, was Integra Fairbrook as 2000AD’s favourite blood drinking mutant bounty hunter, Durham Red.

The downthetubes review of Thought Bubble 2015 by Antony Esmond is here.

Creators @ Thought Bubble 2015: Part 1 – Artists is here.  

The Thought Bubble website is here.



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