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Comic creators, a bar – and a Music Festival in Liverpool? Sounds like a great combination!

By John Freeman on April 19, 2017

Ace Liverpool-based comic creators Tom Ward (writer and creator of MERRICK: The Sensational Elephant Man, co-creator of Doc Dino) and Chris Welsh (creator of Wart and the horror anthology The Grime) are running a little tester comic event out of a bar at the end of this month, in conjunction with a local music festival.

The free Craft Comic Festival is part of the weekend’s Smithdown Festival festivities on Saturday 29th April, and the Craft Taproom are hosting a bunch of local comic creators through the day, with the bands starting shortly after.

If you’re in Liverpool on the day, why not pop along and meet and chat with and support local writers and artists. Enjoy some nice coffee, cakes, craft beers and peruse some classic back issues!

Guests include Leah Moore and John Reppion, the husband and wife writing team who have been scripting comics together since 2003. The duo have written for the likes of 2000AD, Channel 4 Education, Dark Horse, DC Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, Electricomics, IDW, and Self Made Hero; Joe Glass, the creator and writer of The Pride and also a co-writer on Stiffs and writer for Bleeding Cool and an advocate for LGBTQ representation in media; Jimmy Furlong, creator of Kickstarter-success Sh*t Flingers, a series about a crusading band of soldiers turned into primates; Dave McCluskey, the Liverpool-based creator of zombie horror comic series The Few, plus a whole host of other titles; Ste Matthews, creator of Jurassic Mark, winner of ‘Best Pun Title of 2016’ award, probably; and Rozi Hathaway, a comic creator, illustrator and zine maker, currently based in Manchester. Winner of the Broken Frontier Breakout Talent Award 2016, Rozi has self-published comics The Red Road, Njálla, Ø and Sneaky Business, and her recent book Cosmos & Other Stories is out now from Good Comics.

Indie publishers at the event are Madius Comics, also known as Mike Sambrook, Rob Jones, Nick Gonzo and Brad Holman are a group of critically acclaimed comic creators from the UK who in two short years have taken the independent scene by storm. With titles such as Papercuts & Inkstains, Griff Gristle, Horrere, 50 Signal and Funk Soul Samurai already under their belts and a whole host of new titles in the works, you won’t want to miss this great chance to get your hands on some signed exclusive goodies and have a chat with the guys themselves.

Frisson Comics, the duo of Katie Whittle and Tom Smith have had a number of successful Kickstarters recently for their haunting and beautiful comics work. Also based in Liverpool, this is a great chance to check out some local work!

Plus, look out for Comic Youth, who deliver comic and zine-creation workshops and guided comic reading sessions to young people in Liverpool and Knowsley.

• For more information check out the event’s Facebook page here. The event page for the evening’s musical line-up can be found here

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.