Kendal’s YWCA will be transformed in October into an art installation that is part comic strip, part crossword puzzle, that examines our concepts of home, and homelessness. As part of the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (16th -18th October) “Windows Trail”, local shops and… Read More ›
Events
Not Just for Girls: Five Shojo Manga picks and a Competition, too!
Shojo (sometimes spelt Shoujo or Shoujou) means girl in Japanese, but that doesn’t mean Shojo comics can be enjoyed only by girls. In Britain and, increasingly, Japan, shojo’s stories are enjoyed by men as well. Here are five shojo comics… Read More ›
Game designers joins comic creators, explore “Parallel Worlds” for Lakes Festival in October
Comics and games have long held shared interests, so it’s no surprise that many of this year’s guests for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (16th – 18th October) include creators with credits for both, including Bach, Kieron Gillen and Antony Johnston. Comic… Read More ›
Beano celebrates record-breaking run as a weekly comic, and Toytopia aims for another!
‘ Thanks to Guinness World Records, this week’s Beano (Issue 3800), on sale now in all good newsagents and sporting a new logo, confirms the comic’s status as the longest-running comic published weekly. The Beano is officially a record breaker! We’re the longest-running… Read More ›
First Ever ComicCity Festival heads to Derry next weekend
Some of the UK and Ireland’s leading comic artists and writers – including PJ Holden, John McCrea and Declan Shalvey – will touch down in Derry next weekend for the first ever ComicCity Festival. The two-day festival, which is being run… Read More ›
Lakes Festival Focus 2015: An Interview with Karrie Fransman, creator of “Death of the Artist”
Last year, in partnership with the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, downthetubes brought you a number of interviews with creators attending the event – and we’re delighted to be able to run a series in the run up to their… Read More ›
Call For Papers: Fourth Global Forum of Critical Studies in Italy
A call has gone out for paper on the broad subject “The Sequential Art: Comics as a Cultural Nexus“, for a panel at the Fourth Global Forum of Critical Studies, organized by Vienna-based Euroacademia in Lucca, Italy, which will take place… Read More ›
Comic Stars head for Birmingham for this year’s International Comics Expo
Some of the biggest names from the world of comic book art and publishing will be descending onto the Studio Venue in Birmingham city centre this coming weekend for this year’s International Comics Expo. The International Comic Expo, or ICE as… Read More ›
A Day in the Country: Melksham Comic Convention, August 2015
“This is the country!” I heard someone shout as the Awesome Comics Podcast crowd (Dan Butcher, Vince Hunt, Tony Esmond and buddies Shaun Dobes and Marc Laming) arrived in the lovely town of Melksham for this year’s Melksham Comic Convention…. Read More ›
Show and tell: Airfix illustration at the House of Illustration
Join Matt Curtis, Art Director of the Sunday Times Magazine next Saturday (5th September), for an informal drop-in show and tell session at London’s House of Illustration examining the breadth of vintage Airfix illustration. Curtis will share pieces from the… Read More ›
“Wot? No Fish!!”, a theatre show inspired by shoemaker’s doodles, back on tour
(With thanks to Glenn Dakin for the spot): Wot? No Fish!!, a theatre play inspired by a shoemaker’s doodles on his wage packets, is currently touring the UK, most recently playing the London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank,… Read More ›
Demoncon X – A Comic Convention Review
Demoncon X… no, no! It’s not a call back to all the video rentals we craved in the 1980s but actually a comic convention in Maidstone, Kent, now in its tenth incarnation. Run by the people from the Grinning Demon Comic Shop,… Read More ›
Lakes Festival confirms Canadian comic guest line-up, announces “Canada Lodge” venue
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… Read More ›
Lakes Festival Focus 2015: An Interview with Canadian Comic Creator Seth
Last year, in partnership with the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, downthetubes brought you a number of interviews with creators attending the event – and we’re delighted to be able to run a series in the run up to their… Read More ›
Safari Festival 2015 – An Old Bloke’s Review
The Safari Festival 2015 was billed as “a celebration of the new wave of alternative and art comics from the UK and beyond…. and for attendees to experience the best of the UK comics’ avant-garde”. Run by the team behind… Read More ›
10 Days to Mancster Con 2015, celebrating indie sequential art in the North West
There are just ten days to go to MancsterCon 2015 on 29th August 2015, which will be held at the University of Salford Media City campus. Featured guests include Adam Cadwell, creator of Blood Blokes and Lydia Wysocki, creator of the Newcastle Science Comic, among others…. Read More ›
Safari Festival returns to London this weekend
The Safari Festival, organised by Breakdown Press, is back this weekend, taking place at Studio 2, the Shoreditch gallery space of London-based creative agency, Protein. The Festival is a one-day celebration of the new wave of alternative and art comics from the UK and beyond and… Read More ›
Gosh! Comics gets set to host Safari Festival Pre-Party
This weekend sees the return of Safari Festival, courtesy of the fine folks at Breakdown Press. It’s a showcase from some of the most interesting and innovative comics work out there at the moment and we’ve got an event on Friday night to… Read More ›
Dave Gibbons guest at London’s SoundStage in September
Comics Laureate, artist and writer Dave Gibbons and costume designer Jane Petrie will share a stage at London’s Soundstage in September. Soundstage is a new and unique regular London-based arts event. Each month, there’ll be a line-up of two special… Read More ›
An Embarrassment of Riches: A forward look at Comic Conventions of 2016
We are already seeing a surge in convention activity for next year as teams around the country begin to prepare their conventions – which should really come as no surprise to many event organisers, whose planning for their next comics… Read More ›