Comics, Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions and Exhibitions
Convention and exhibition information welcome. Please include details of event citing date, venue, guest list, admission details, contact information including web site and e-mail
where applicable. Information on numbers attending would also be useful, but
this will not be published. 2008
• July • August • September • October • November
2009
• January • February • June • July • October
Jump To: • Regular Events • Exhibitions
UK
5 September 2008 British Fantasy Society Open Night
From 6.00pm, Ye
Olde Cock Tavern, 22 Fleet St, London, EC4 1AA. All welcome.
5-7
September 2008 ZombieCon (Brainnnnnns!)
Quality Hotel, Bentley,
Walsall. Advance booking now closed; £50 at the door. Contact 54 Bridge
Rd, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 2QP; infoATzombiecon co uk.
6-7
September 2008 Forbidden Planet is 30!
Forbidden Planet
(London, Birmingham,
Bristol, Cambridge, Coventry, Croydon, Liverpool, Newcastle, Southampton)
celebrates its 30 years of 'Geek Chic' with parties, including giveaways.
The fun starts at opening time and the first 30 people through the doors each day get a fantastic goodie bag and throughout the weekend the stores will be giving away goodie bags in the stores every hour.
Thanks to FP's brilliant sponsors, including Eaglemoss, Character Options, Dark Horse, DC Comics, Universal Pictures and more, the store is able to offer a huge range of tasty goodies including treats from Doctor Who, Star Wars, Marvel, and DC.
WIN FORBIDDEN PLANET GOODIES!
downthetubes is
delighted to wish Forbidden Planet a very Happy
30th Birthday and to
celebrate -- especially, perhaps,for those of you who won't be able to
get to one of the stores - we have FIVE Special Edition Forbidden t-shirts
to give away featuring art by Brian Bolland,
courtesy of FP (thanks Leesa and John!).
All you have to do is answer the question below, by e-mail by
12 noon GMT on Friday 12 September.
The first Forbidden Planet store was
in Denmark Street, London, but by what name is Denmark Street also known
to many musicians and others since the early 19th Century?
• Please Note: The celebrations do not
include Forbidden Planet International (Scotland, Ireland, other English
towns) which dates itself from the Edinburgh SF BookShop in 1975 and is
a totally separate company.
Saturday
6th September 3-4pm Forbidden Planet Doctor Who Authors
Signing
Signing by Mark Morris and Simon Messingham Forbidden
Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR
Mark Morris – Ghosts Of India
It’s India 1947and when the Doctor and Donna arrive in Calcutta
they are swept up in violent events. They discover tales of ‘half-made
men’ who roam the streets at night and steal people away. These creatures
are white as salt and have only shadows where there eyes should be. Who
are they? The Doctor and Donna set out to investigate.
Simon Messingham – The Doctor Trap
Sebastiene is a ruthless hunter. He hunts people and planets just
for sport. But he is now after one more trophy and he knows he is going to
need help. So he gathers together the best hunters in the universe to help
him capture what would be his most prized possession – the last of the
Time Lords, the Doctor.
UK
13th September 2008 Lost
Girls Signing - Melinda Gebbie and Alan Moore
2pm - 4pm Orbital Manga, 4c Orion House, Upper St Martins Lane, London WC2H
9NY. UK Tel: 0207 2405577
UK Wednesday 17th September Tara
McPherson. She will be signing Lonely
Heart
6-7.00pm the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London,
WC2H 8JR
Tara McPherson is based in New York City and creates art about people and their
odd ways. Recalling many issues from childhood and good old life experience,
she creates images that are thought provoking and seductive. People and their
relationships are a central theme throughout her work. Lonely Heart is the first
book of her artwork.
Tara exhibits her paintings and serigraphs in fine art galleries all over the
world. Named the crown princess of poster art by ELLE Magazine, she has created
numerous gig posters for rock bands such as Beck, Modest Mouse, and Melvins.
Her array of art also includes painted comics and covers for various high-profile
companies and she has created toys with KidRobot. Her art has also been featured
in the Oscar Award winning film Juno, Veronica Mars, Point Pleasant, and Guitar
Hero.
UK
Thursday 18th September 2008 C.E. Murphy Signing
6-7pm
Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Thursday
18th September 6-7pm
Born and raised in Alaska, Catie Murphy started her writing
career at the age of six when she wrote three poems for the school magazine.
The teacher wasn’t very
impressed with her efforts but still told her not to stop writing and Catie
took the advice to heart. She has now written several sets of titles including:
The Walker Papers, The Inheritor’s Cycle and The Strongbox Chronicles under
the name of Cate Dermody
Hands Of Flame is the third book in the Negotiator series and war has erupted
among the five Old Races. Margit is responsible for the death that caused
it and now New York City's most unusual lawyer finds herself facing her
toughest negotiation yet. Margit is determined to rescue her prisoner gargoyle
lover, Alban but is torn between conflicting loyalties as the battle seeps
into the human world, Margit soon realizes the only way out is through the
fire…
UK
19-21 September FantasyCon 2008
Britannia Hotel, 1 St James St, Nottingham.
Guests include Christopher Golden £70 (BFS members £60). Day rate £25
Fri or Sun, £40 Sat. Contact 5 Greenbank, Barnt Green, Birmingham, B45
8DH.
UK
21 September 2008 National
Collectors Marketplace
12 noon onwards Royal National Hotel, Bedford Way, London, WC1
The National Collectors Marketplace, with 130 tables, is the largest
regular marketplace for comicbook and trading card collectors in the
UK. You will also find a whole range of related materials including
Sci-fi, Fantasy, Film, TV and Toys from leading National & International
dealers.
UK
24 September 2008 BSFA Open Meeting
5pm/6pm onward The Antelope, 22 Eaton Terrace,
London, SW1W 8EZ. With Farah Mendlesohn.
25-28
September 2008 Oxonmoot (Tolkien Society)
Christchurch, Oxford. £49.50
reg (members £42.50). Contact 29 Tockley Rd, Burham, Bucks, SL1 7DQ;
bookings at tolkiensociety org.
UK 27th September 2008 Doctor Who Signing - Tony Lee and Gary
Russell
2pm - 4pm Orbital Manga, 4c Orion House, Upper St Martins Lane, London WC2H
9NY. UK Tel: 0207 2405577
UK
3 October 2008 Sci-Fi London Oktoberfest (film)
Apollo West End Cinema, Lower Regent St, London. Box Office: 020 7451 9944.
4-5
October 2008 Birmingham
International Comic Show
2008
thinktank, Birmingham.
• Latest guest information on our blog
• Enter the ROK and a Hard Place Comic Competition!
• Review of 2007 event
Saturday
11 October 2008: Comic Fans Reunited
Noon til 11pm The Phoenix Pub, 14 Palace Street, Victoria, London SW1E
5JA
Fiona Jerome and Hass Yusuf are joining forces to bring you Comics Friends
Reunited! This will hopefully be an annual event where old friends from
the wonderful world of comics can meet up. Since the UK Comic Art
Convention (UKCAC) ended ten years ago, there's been no regular outlet
for creators or fans in London to meet up.
Think of it as UKCAC without the bother of going to events, where you can eat,
drink and chat all day long!
Food will be available all day. Full Menu from 12.00pm-4.00pm and 7.00pm-10.00pm,
with a limited menu of bar snacks between 4.00pm-7.00pm. There are good veggie
options and decent gastropub standards as well as tapas style bar snacks. Don't
be put off by reviews you read online, as the pub was recently completely revamped,
and now has a decent range of beers and a good wine list as well as a bright
and comfy interior.
UK 11-12 October NewCon 4
The Fishmarket, Bradshaw Street, Northampton, NN1 2HL. £40 reg (BSFA members £35). £10
supporting; £20 per day.
Contact 16 Albany Road, Northampton, NN1 5LZ.
UK
18 October: Vworp Vworp! Comic Book
Adventures in Time and Space
Guests: Paul Cornell, Steve Dillion, Ian Edgington, Adrian Salmon, Gary Russell,
John Freeman, John Ainsworth
Tickets for the event are £9.00
(Adult) and £6.50
(concessions/U16) with a total of 80 tickets made available.
Any additional funds raised once
guest and associated costs have been covered will be donated to the mental
health charity MIND, together with any proceeds of the charity auction.
A group of Manchester comic and Doctor Who fans have organised a special event on 18 October at the Lass O’Gowrie, Manchester featuring several top creator names in, arranged in conjunction with Engine Comics and the team behind Redeye - one of the UK's most influential comics fanzines - will explore the highs, lows, challenges and pitfalls of creating comics based on BBC’s Doctor Who and other popular television and movie characters. Intended as part of the Manchester Literature Festival, this intimate "mini-con" will be staged over a day and feature formal panels, smaller breakout rooms with powerpoint-based artist showcases and a signing/merchandising areas where the artists can make their work available to attendees.
In terms of guests, the organisers have put out a number
of 'in principal' feelers to the following comic creators who have agreed
to appear, subject to work commitments:
• Steve
Dillon Co-creator
of Abslom Daak and Kroton, Steve was responsible for visualizing some
of the most memorable back-up strips in Doctor
Who Weekly.
An internationally renowned talent, Steve’s best known for his run on DC
Comics Hellblazer and as creator
of Preacher. (Photo above by Chris
Lander)
• Ian Edgington Writer: 2000AD,
Marvel, DC Comics, Doctor Who, Planet of the Apes, Predator, Aliens, Torchwood
• Adrian Salmon
Artist: Doctor Who, the Cybermen, Power Rangers, 2000AD. His work is currently on display in the Snug of the Lass (see
news story on the Kasterborous web site)
• Lee Sullivan
Artist: Doctor Who, Thunderbirds, Transformers, Robocop
• Paul Cornell
Writer: Doctor Who – TV
show/comics, Wisdom, Benny Summerfield
• John Freeman
Writer/editor; Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, Star Wars Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine and others: writer of Ex Astris and The Really Heavy Greatcoat
• Gary Russell
Writer/editor; Script Editor - Torchwood, former editor - Doctor Who Magazine and editor of IDW's new Doctor Who US comic mini-series
• John Ainsworth
Writer/producer; producer of the 2000AD series of audio dramas released by Big Finish Productions and producer for Noise Monster Productions. John has written numerous articles, reviews and interviews for various SF magazines and wrote the definitive history of Doctor Who in comics for Doctor Who - Classic Comics
The organisers are also awaiting confirmation from a number of additional guests.
The Programme The event will run from 10am - 5:30pm (doors @ 9:30am). Panels planned at this stage include:
• 10.00-11.00am – Doctor
Who in the Comics
In
the beginning… a history of the development of the comic spinoffs, challenges
to overcome, opportunities and constraints. Proposed Panel; Gary Russell,
Ian Edgington, John Ainsworth, John Freeman
• 11.30 – 12.30pm
- "What
do you do when the show runs out?"
Exploring
the unique challenges and opportunities of dealing with a dead, or 'dormant'
franchise and how fans can fill the void) - using the Doctor Who Magazine
strip "Emperor of the Daleks", launched during the TV hiatus as the central "case
study".
Proposed Panel; Paul Cornell, John Freeman and Lee Sullivan
• 1.30-2.30pm
- "What's that coming over the hill?"
Considering
how at times the Daleks and other villains often take centre stage -
featuring the back-up strips and Doctor Who Magazine's (DWM) "the Cybermen" as
the main case study Proposed Panel; Gary Russell, Adrian Salmon (TBC
- Alan Barnes), Steve Dillon
• 2.30-3.30pm
- "What
do you do when it returns?" Considering
how the ground shifted for the comic strip when Doctor Who returned to
out screens, featuring DWM’s "Universal Monsters"
•
3.45-4.30pm – “The Yanks are coming…”
An
interview considering how the US dominance of the comic scene has
begun to change how we deal with classic British franchises, focusing
on IDW’s new Doctor Who title – the
latest fully originated dedicated Who comic
aimed at the US market and Captain Britain Proposed Panel; Gary Russell,
Paul Cornell, Ian Edgington, Steve Dillon
•
4.40pm – Charity Auction, in support
of MIND 5.00pm – Event
Close (Pub to reopen to public)
Each panel will be interviewer-led and framed by a powerpoint presentation,
introducing the topic and framing the discussion.
A full programme of signings and sketching sessions in the Snug
will also be made available to event goers.
The
Venue
The event will be staged at the Lass O'Gowrie (www.thelass.co.uk)
- one of Manchester's most celebrated pubs. Famous for real ale
and our fantastic homemade pies, the bar and kitchen will be open throughout
the event. The event will use spaces throughout the whole pub,
utilising the stage and saloon as "main hall" and the Snug and our
proposed upstairs function room (which will be online by then) as breakout/signing
spaces. A merchandising area will also be made available, subject to
agreement with a suitable retailer.
UK
17-19 October: Festival of Fantastic Films
Day's Hotel, Sackville Street, Manchester. £70/$140 registration; £30/$60
day. Under-17s £30; under-13s £20. Contact 95 Meadowgate Rd,
Salford, Manchester, M6 8EN.
Eire 18-19 October Octocon
Royal Dublin Hotel, O'Connell St, Dublin. Euro30
regular; students Euro12; under 18s/supp Euro10. Octocon 2008 c/o Electric
Dragon, 19a Main St, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
1
- 2 November 2008:
Alternative Press Expo 2008
Concourse Exhibition Center, San Francisco
UK
2 November National
Collectors Marketplace
12 noon onwards Royal National Hotel, Bedford Way, London, WC1
The National Collectors Marketplace, with 130 tables, is the largest regular
marketplace for comicbook and trading card collectors in the UK. You will also
find a whole range of related materials including Sci-fi, Fantasy, Film, TV and
Toys from leading National & International dealers.
UK
Saturday 8 November Thunderbirds Are Go! The Barry Gray Centenary Concert
7.30pm The Royal Festival Hall, London. Tickets
are now available via the Barry Gray website.
The Royal Festival Hall
on London's Southbank near the London Eye will host a concert of music
composed by the late Barry Gray for the TV series and films of Gerry Anderson,
performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Francois
Evans.
The Thunderbirds March may be the most familiar and famous piece
of Gray's music but he wrote the themes and incidental music for many Anderson
TV series from The Adventures Of Twizzle right up to Space:1999, as well
as the two Thunderbirds puppet movies, the little known Gerry Anderson
directed B movie Crossroads To Crime and the live action film Doppleganger,
which is due to be released on DVD in the UK in September 2008 under its
American title of Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun. While best known
as a composer Gray also came up with the original idea for the Anderson
puppet series Four Feather Falls.
Gerry Anderson will be the special guest for the evening
of music, and the event will be compered by actor Brian Blessed, no stranger
himself to Gerry Anderson productions having appeared in Space:1999 and
Into Infinity.
This is a charity event in aid of the Cinema and Television Benevolent
Fund, the concert will take place in London's Royal Festival Hall.
UK
15 - 30 November ComICA
2008
ICA, London
London's International Comics Festival returns to the ICA and other
venues, including an exhibition in the ICA Concourse Gallery.
UK
Saturday 15th November: Thought
Bubble Comics Convention
Saviles Hall, the Royal Armouries, Leeds. Tickets
available now for £6/£4.50
concessions:
Check the website for details
of other events happening around the convention.
Special guests and attending
professionals so far include Mark Millar, Alex Maleev, C.B. Cebulski,
Mike Carey, Andy Diggle, Barry Kitson, Adi Granov, Jock, David Lafuente,
Emma Vieceli, Sean Phillips and Rutu Modan! A number
of workshops are also being due to the successwith them last
year.
Join the Thought Bubble Facebook
group for frequent updates and more information
UK 22-23 November 2008 Dublin City Comic Con
Park Inn, Smithfield Sq,
Dublin. Admission €20/day or €35 for the weekend.
France
January 2008: Angouleme
Comic Festival
In France, comics or Bande Dessinées (meaning literally
Band of Drawings or Strip) are an accepted and lively part of French culture,
read and enjoyed by millions, in large part due to the variety of material
available for all age groups. The annual Angoulême BD Festival is the
Cannes of the comic world. Every January, a celebration of comics takes over
this quiet, provincial French town for a four day festival, culminating in
the annual awards given to recognise the very best in French and foreign
comic art.
• An English couple, Robert and Veronica Van Kimmenade, are offering bed
and breakfast/evening meals half and hour from Angouleme. Please see their
website www.lavieilledistillerie.com which
is under continuous amendment and extension, or call 0033
545 78 59 73 or email veronica AT lavieilledistillerie.com
UK
February Hi-Ex
Inverness
will play host to the second Highland International Comic Expo: Hi-Ex!
The two day festival will be held at the newly refurbished Eden Court, and will
feature a host of the very best in International comic talent.
UK 20-22 February 2009 Redemption 09 (multimedia sf)
Britannia
Hotel, Fairfax St, Coventry, CV1 5RP. Now £55 reg. Under-18s/supp: £15.
Contact 26 Kings Meadow View, Wetherby, LS22 7FX.
US
22 - 23 February 2009: WonderCon
Moscone Center South, San Francisco
UK 24-26 April 2009 Alt.Fiction
QUAD art/film centre,
Derby. More TBA. Contact 01332 715434 or alex dot davis AT derby gov uk.
UK
29 April - 4 May 2009 Sci-Fi London (film)
Apollo West End
Cinema, Lower Regent St, London. Box office 020 7451 9944. More TBA.
UK May:
Comic Expo 2009 (Bristol)
Ramada Plaza Hotel & British Empire and Commonwealth
Hall, Bristol
Organised by Mike Allwood. Britain's longest-running and biggest comics festival.
UK 25-26 July 2009 Satellite 2
Crowne Plaza Hotel,
Glasgow. GoH Iain M.
Banks. £40 registration; £10 supporting/junior (5-14), £1
infant (0-4).
UK 26-29 June 2009 Sectus 2009 (Harry Potter)
Bodelwyddan Castle, North
Wales. £290 inc 3 nights' accommodation with breakfast/dinner,
rising to £300 on 1 Nov 08, £310 on 1 Feb 09. (Instalment plan
available.) Contact 114 Bassnage Rd, Halesowen, W. Midlands, B63 4HF.
2010
UK 17-18 or 24-25 January 2010 ConRunner 2
'The North,
probably Sheffield or Manchester'. Rates to start at £30. More TBA. Contact
56 Jackmans Place, Letchworth GC, Herts, SG6 1RH.
Australia 2-6 September 2010 Aussiecon 4 (68th Worldcon)
Melbourne
Convention & Exhibition
Centre.
Guest of Honour Kim Stanley Robinson, Robin Johnson (fan), Shaun Tan. $A160/$US155/$CAN155/€100/£80
reg until 3 Nov 2008; $A52/$US50/$CAN50/€35/£25 supp; presupporter,
'Firend' and site selection voter discounts at www.aussiecon4.org.au. Contact
GPO Box 1212, Melbourne, Vic 3001, Australia; info at aussiecon4 org au.
Every
Saturday London Underground Comics
Camden Lock Market (behind Lock 17), London
Oli Smith runs the Camden Market
stall for small press and mini comics.
Radio: Panel Borders
Resonance 104.4FM
The weekly radio show about comics, every Thursday at 5.00pm (podcasts available)
UK
Until September 2008
Doctor
Who Exhibition
Open 7 days, 10am - 6.00pm, last admission 5.00pm,
Earls Court, London. Adults £9, Child £7 Family (2 + 2) £28
Doctor Who comes to London, and not just in a specially created event
for EastEnders, either.
The exhibition is situated in the
Museum Hall, beneath Earls Court Exhibition Centre.
Web Link: www.doctorwhoexhibitions.com/earls.html
UK
Until 20th September 2008: Happy
Birthday Beano
The official 70th anniversary exhibition will be running
in the Tower Building of the University of Dundee from from 18th July to
20th September 2008. The display will include original artwork from the Beano
archives with work on show from Dudley D.Watkins, David Law, Leo Baxendale
and David Sutherland.
The Graphic Art of Comment: The web sites of the artists featured: • Simon
Farr |
The Newsroom, Archive and Visitor Centre 60 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA. Opening times to the exhibition: Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm Saturday 12pm to 4pm Closed August Bank Holiday weekend, 23 and 25 August. Free admission, free catalogue while stocks last. For more information call 020 7886 9898 or email newsroom@guardian.co.uk
With the flurry of outrage over New Yorker's recent Barrack Obama satire, a new exhibition of cartoons by the Guardian may well gain more attention than usual., offering a collection of illustrations and cartoons from the Comment pages of the Guardian. Featrung the work of artists such as Steve Bell, Simon Farr and Martin Rowson, the exhibition showcases the distinctive visual intelligence and wit that the illustrators and cartoonists bring to bear on the issues of the day. A free catalogue will accompany the show, while stocks last. (free p+p)
UK Until 27 September 2008: How Manga Took Over The World
Urbis, Cathedral Gardens, Manchester M4 3BG. Urbis is
located in Cathedral Gardens in Manchester City Centre, just next to Victoria
Station and easily accessible by bus, train, tram, car or on foot. Click
here to see google map
Tel: +44 (0)161 605 8200 E-mail: info@urbis.org.uk
Open daily: 10am
- 6pm. Admission to Urbis is free
Please note:
Urbis sometimes closes early due to special
events. Please refer to the Urbis website to check our opening times on the
day before your visit as occasionally these may vary.
The unique graphic art-form of Manga is explored through its manifestation
in everyday life in the 21st century at this new exhibition on our first
floor.
The exhibition explores Manga’s influence in shaping contemporary
culture, with something for everyone, from kids to adults; it offers a
whistle stop introduction to Manga for novices as well as plenty to keep
hard core fans immersed. Visitors will discover Cute Manga, Action Manga,
Manga in Art, Fashion and Design, Manga as communication and Erotic Manga – for
over 18s only! Read a review by Matthew Badham
UK
Until 17th October 2008: Animated Adventures Exhibition
New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester
LE1 7EA Telephone: +44 (0)116 225 4900
Animated Adventures, featuring Wallace & Gromit,
is now open at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery in Leicester. Visitors will get a behind-the-scenes look at how animators including
Aardman - the film makers behind Wallace and Gromit - create their characters
and bring them to life.
They will also reveal the industry secrets behind CGI technology, stop-frame
animation and set design. The exhibition will also include examples of
Manga and fantasy animations, and will even give visitors the chance to
try creating their own crazy animations.
The Animation Film Festival runs until September as part of the
programme, and will include a range of workshops, talks, activities and
screenings of animated films from across the world.
UK Until 2 November 2008 Beano and Dandy Birthday Bash!
The Cartoon Museum, 35 Little Russell Street
London WC1A 2HH open: Tue – Sat, 10.30-17.30 and Sun, 12-17.30 Admission:
Adults £4, Concessions £3, Free to Under 18s and Students.
This exhibition celebrates the 70th birthday
of The Beano comic this year. Both it and The Dandy have been responsible
for entertaining generations of British children. Included in the exhibition
are iconic characters such as Desperate Dan, Dennis the Menace, the Bash Street
Kids and Minnie the Minx.
In the late 1930s The Beano and The Dandy brought a
new approach to comics. They came in a handy size with a mixture of picture stories
and comic strips and were a big hit with their young readers. Early favourites
were Lord Snooty and the cow-pie-eating Desperate Dan drawn by Dudley D Watkins.
When the war came the comics were forced to cut the number of pages due to paper
shortages and appear in alternate weeks, but they never ceased production and
did their bit to raise morale.
In the 1950s the British comic entered one of
its most dynamic periods. At D C Thomson artists such as David Law, Leo Baxendale
and Ken Reid were producing brilliant, ingenious drawings which inspired many
future cartoonists and animators. The decade saw the introduction of many classic
characters, some of whom are still with us today such as Dennis the Menace, the
Bash Street Kids, Minnie the Minx and Roger the Dodger.
This period also coincided
with record comic sales. In the week beginning 22 April 1950 the Beano
sold a staggering 1, 974, 072 copies and sales stayed well over a million
and a half throughout the decade.
The exhibition presents original comic
artwork from eight decades and shows how the comics and their characters
have developed over time. The cast of characters includes Ball Boy, Bully
Beef and Chips, Brassneck, The Three Bears, Les Pretend and Winker Watson
as well as feisty girl characters such as Pansy Potter - The Strongman’s
Daughter and more recently Ivy the Terrible. Some things have changed – the
comics’ graphic
style has evolved to suit modern tastes; but children still love the mischief
and mayhem created every week in The Beano and The Dandy.
UK
Until Sun 25 October 2009: Dan
Dare and the Birth of High-Tech Britain
The Science Museum, London. Bookings and Enquiries:
0870 870 4868
Dan Dare’s rocket fleet
roars high over Venus to trounce his arch foe – the
power-mad Mekon. Meanwhile, back on Earth, another extraordinary future is
unfolding – one
which laid the foundation for Britain’s hi-tech consumer society.
After 1945, though war-weary and broke, Britain found huge pride in wartime advances such as radar, penicillin and the jet engine. Discoveries like these were now tipped to kick-start world-beating industries, bring prosperity and bankroll the emerging welfare state.
In an age before globalisation, products from rockets to radios sprang from local
roots. Together they reveal a fascinating ‘lost world’ of British design and invention – a
glimpse of a time when the TV in the corner was a Murphy, not a Sony.
The new temporary exhibition exploring the role played
by technology in creating post-war Britain includes Frank Hampson's murals
from the 1977 Dan Dare exhibtion at
the Science Museum
UK
Until 4th January 2009: Frightful First World War Exhibition
Imperial War Museum, The Quays, Manchester
Based on Terry Deary's fab "Horrbible Histories" cartoons
UK From 25 September 2008: Classic Cold War Modern: Design
1945-70
The Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Featuring Sputniks,
space suits, an early coupe form of the Trabant and a full-scale reconstruction
of a futuristic inflatable building.
Cold War Modern
will also feature classic cold war images including Roman Cieslewicz's
Superman 68, featuring rival US and Russian versions of the comic-book
hero.
The show aims to chart postwar design as it developed along parallel
lines on both sides of the iron curtain - in an atmosphere of frantic competition,
but also under the shadow, for much of the period, of the fear of nuclear
war.
Polish artist Roman Cieslewicz, who died in 1996, specialized in poster
and display designing and worked as a book and magazine designer, for titles
such as Vogue and Elle. He was also the artistic creator of Opus International
and Kitsch.
• The V&A also hosts the National
Art Library,
and its Comics Collection forms part of the Library's Special Collections,
to which access is restricted. For more information, see Registering
to use the National Art Library. An appointment is necessary for access
to the Krazy Kat Arkive at the Archive
of Art and Design.
2000AD fans
may be interested to know, however, that an electronic
version of the catalogue for an exhibition held in 2001 of original comic book artwork
from the comic is available online.
Permanent:
The
Art of War
Britain's
National Archive has an ongoing exhibition, The
Art of War, which includes comics used as propoganda during the Second
World War and more.
