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Lakes Festival confirms Canadian comic guest line-up, announces “Canada Lodge” venue

By John Freeman on August 25, 2015

LICAF 2015 Limited Edition Giclee Print by Stuart Immonen

Kendal Calling! This stunning art by Festival guest Stuart Immonen is being offered as a limited edition print, available to buy here

The full line-up of Canadian creators at this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival (16th – 18th October) is now confirmed and includes Kate Beaton, Darwyn Cooke and Kathryn and Stuart Immonen – who will be joining many others in the dedicated Canadian Comics Lodge at The Shakespeare Centre over the event-packed weekend.

Working in partnership with the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, LICAF’s exciting events line up this year includes appearances by Estelle Bachelard (aka Bach, creator of It’s Hard To Be A Girl), Kate Beaton (Hark, A Vagrant and Step Aside, Pops!), Darwyn Cooke (DC: The New Frontier and Parker: The Hunter), Michael DeForge (Lose, Ant Colony, First Year Healthy, Very Casual and designer on the Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time), Stuart Immonen (Star Wars, Captain America, Russian Olive to Red King and All-New X-Men), Kathryn Immonen (Moving Pictures, Operation: SIN, Spider-Verse and Russian Olive to Red King), Samuel LeBlanc (Perfume of Lilacs), Conor McCreery (Kill Shakespeare and Sherlock Homes vs. Houdini) and Seth (Palookaville, George Sprott)

Along with appearances on comic panels and in workshops over the weekend, the Canadian guests will take up residence in Kendal’s Shakespeare Centre, close to the main Brewery Arts Centre venue for Festival events and the free Comics Clock Tower, which will host a huge line-up of British and international creators, publishers and retailers.

Justice League cover by Darwyn Cooke

Darwyn Cooke, making his first ever visit to the UK, will also introduce a special screening of the 2008 film Justice League: New Frontier, screening at the Brewery Arts Centre on Saturday morning (17th October). adapted from the award-winning DC: The New Frontier he created, which effectively captures his gritty writing style and powerful artwork on screen.

“Festival’s offer the chance for young creators to meet other artists whom they share a sensibility with,” says Canadian guest Seth. “This is so important when you are young and is probably one of the things I am most envious of the younger artists.

“There were few opportunities in my youth to meet other young artists with the same tastes and ambitions. It was a small pool then. It’s nice to see so many young artists meeting and having fun together at these festivals.”

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• Tickets for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival are on sale now from the Brewery Arts Festival – Book Now
• Check out a digital version of the 2015 Lakes International Comic Art Festival Programme here
• For the latest news on the 2015 Lakes International Comic Art Festival visit: www.comicartfestival.com
• Sign up for the Festival’s newsletter here for the latest news!

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The Canadian Comics Lodge

In May 2015, British cartoonists from LICAF invaded The Toronto Comic Arts Festival with their comics, art, films, and more! Now the Canadians are returning the favour, as Canadian cartoonists and comics experts set up shop in the Shakespeare Centre for the weekend…

The Canadian Comics Lodge will feature:

A full programme of presentations, author signings, and special events
An amazing gallery of prints and original artwork by the participating artists
Kendal’s “Baba Gamoose” selling delicious light snacks and drinks with an authentic Canadian twist
A bookshop fully stocked with Canadian comics and graphic novels, brought to you by Page 45 and Canada’s The Beguiling Books!
A great selection of official posters, t-shirts, and much more from The Toronto Comic Arts Festival!
A FREE souvenir (while supplies last)

The Canadian Comics Lodge at The Shakespeare Centre is a production of TCAF, The Toronto Comic Arts Festival, in association with The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival and its sponsors. The Festival is delighted to acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.

• For more information about events at the Lodge, bookmark http://torontocomics.com/lodge (currently a holding page)

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.