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Full Lakes International Comic Art Festival Comics Clock Tower line-up revealed

By John Freeman on May 9, 2019

Photo: Giuseppe Abbà. Web: vimeo.com/giuseppeabba

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2019 has announced a whole host of comic creators, publishers and more are lined up to take over the Comics Clock Tower at this year’s Festival in October.

Among the Comics Clock Tower creator line up are a number of creators joining the gathering as special guests of Festival patron Sean Phillips: artists Mack Chater, Paul Harrison Davies, Emma G, Emmainky, Michael Kennedy, Roger Langridge, Joe Latham, Angela Pan, writer John Harris Dunning and the team behind the graphic novel Square Eyes, Anna Mills and Luke Jones.

Opportunities for comic creators to be part of the Festival to promote their work were expanded this year, with more dedicated spaces across Kendal being opened up as an extension of the event’s hugely-popular platform for artists, writers and publishers.

Mack Chater is an Eisner-nominated comic book artist, the co-creator of Sword Daughter for Dark Horse. He has worked in the games industry for the last 20 years but getting the chance of a lifetime, he became a comic book artist full time.

Emma Galloway (Emma G) is a comic artist living in Scotland and working on a slice of live/ fantasy comic following the misadventures of a newborn vampire brimming with curiosity for the new supernatural world she’s been thrust into.

Art by Emmainky

Emmainky is a full time illustrator and comic artist. She describes her work as eco feminine, moving her focus on to more ecological pieces of work. She’s seen such a positive response with this shift, as if it has filled a small gap in peoples minds for what matters to them as media consumers.

John Harris Dunning is the writer of graphic novels Salem Brownstone and Tumult and was the man who, together with Paul Gravett, put together the terrific Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy exhibition at the British Library. He’s written for GQ, Esquire, Dazed, iD, The Guardian and Metro.

23-year-old artist Michael Kennedy brought his singular style and bold colour work to an edge-of-your seat script by John Harris Dunning for the graphic novel, Tumult, published last year by SelfMadeHero.

Designer and artist Anna Mill and architect, lecturer, and co-host of the podcast About Buildings + Cities Luke Jones are the joint creators of Square Eyes — originally a short comic entry to the Observer Jonathan Cape Graphic Short Story Prize in 2010 and now a 256 page graphic novel published by Jonathan Cape. It’s a story that takes place in a near future in which the delirious excitement of the digital spectacle has been drawn tight over the crumbling remnants of the old world. A city that is simultaneously a bright and enticing mirage and a machine that is gradually falling apart…

Nearly 70 comic creators from fourteen countries form this year’s guest list, including recently-announced Belgian creators Serge Baeken, Ephameron, Loic Gaume, Ben Gijsemans, Valentine Laffitte, Pascal Lemaitre, Marine Schneider, Judith Vanistendael.and Joris Vermassen.

Garth Ennis

Also in attendance will be Comics Laureate Hannah Berry, Laurence Campbell, Kate Charlesworth, Becky Cloonan, Garth Ennis, Duncan Fegredo, Staz Johnson, John McCrea, Junko Mizuno, Declan Shalvey, Simon Spurrier and Rob Williams – with many more yet to be announced.

“Every year, we aim to make our Comics Clock Tower bigger and better,” says Festival Director Julie Tait. “I don’t think our visitors in October will be disappointed by the range of talent they’ll be able to meet and talk comics with. I think we have a great mix on offer.”

In other Festival-related news, the organisation has also welcomed new donations for its work from a number of supporters, including artist Charlie Adlard, Festival Chair Peter Kessler and artist Bryan Talbot. This welcome individual support comes in addition to funding from Arts Council England and other partners, local, national and international.

• Visit the Festival’s Exhibitors Section on the official web site for more details of Who’s Who in the Comics Clock Tower

• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival returns to Kendal at various venues across the town 11th – 13th October 2019

• Tickets for the 2019 Festival are on Sale Now at www.comicartfestival.com/buy-tickets

• Web: www.comicartfestival.com| Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Podcast

The Comics Clock Tower Photo: Harry Atkindon

2019 COMICS CLOCK TOWER – THE FULL LINE-UP

The full line-up for this year’s Lakes International Comics Clock Tower is: Alice Davies Illustration, Angela Pan, Arctic Ring Comics, Aroha Comics, B7 Media, Big Brown Eyes Collective, Brushwest, the Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain, Centrala, CFcomiX, Chris Askham, Chris Dorning – The Cunning Craftsman, comicbooks.ie, Comics Youth CIC, Dan Whitehead, Demian 5, downthetubes.net, Drew Marr, Emma G, Emmainky, Fair Spark Books, Frisson Comics, Gustaffo Vargas, Hand Drawn Body Art, Happy Space Sloth, Jessica on Paper, Joe Latham, Katie Whittle Illustration, Knockabout, Lyndsey Green Illustration, Mayamada, Myriad Editions, New Internationalist, Nick Prolix Comix, Rachel Jane Findlay Printmaker, Rebecca K Jones & Peter Morey, Robert Wells, Roger Langridge, Russell Mark Olson, SelfMadeHero, SIMO, So What Press, Soaring Penguin Press, Square Eyes, Steve White Art, technobabbl, Teesside Comics Society, The Lang Walk Hame, This Man, This Pete!, Torbentegner, Tut and Groan, Unbound, University of Cumbria CBC and Zoom Rockman

• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival returns to Kendal at various venues across the town 11th – 13th October 2019

• Tickets for the 2019 Festival are on Sale Now at www.comicartfestival.com/buy-tickets

• Web: www.comicartfestival.com| Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Podcast

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.