Lancaster is the place to be this Saturday if you’re a comics fan, with the free Coco Comic Con at The Storey in Meeting House Lane LA1 1TH (24th June 2023).
Organised by Coco Comics, “this is a convention dedicated to the people who make this whole community alive,” say the enthusiastic, dedicated team, “the wonderfully talented indie creators in the UK Comic Book Community.”
The event will will feature some of the biggest names in the UK comics community exhibiting their comics, zines, stickers, bookmarks, and other assorted bits and bobs.
• Coco Comics Con 2023 Saturday 24th June 2023 The Storey, Meeting House Lance, Lancaster LA1 3TH | Web: cococomics.co.uk/comic-con-2023 | Facebook Event Page | Twitter | Instagram
WHO’S GOING?
COCO COMICS
Founded in 2020 by James, Tom, Theo and Caio, CoCo Comics is an independent comic book publisher aiming to create comics with Personality.
Currently, they publish The CoCo Comics Anthology, which collects three ongoing series with a handful of shorter, one-shot stories.
• Check them out online at: cococomics.co.uk
MATT & ZEKE SIMMONS
A father and daughter team from Lancaster. Together, they co-created ‘Spider Demon’, and separately they create a wide range of handmade comics and zines, including Future Egg, Mukbang and the Left Handed Horror series.
• Follow them on Twitter @SheriffFreak
ADAM FALP
Underground cartoonist making Comix 50 years too late.
• Follow Adam on Twitter @adamfalp
ALEX PAKNADEL
Writer. Doom gnome. He writes REDFORK, FRIENDO and ALL AGAINST ALL, so yeah. Slightly over a quarter of #whatiswhitenoise by weight.
• Follow Alex on Twitter @AlexPaknadel
ANDY DIGGLE
Comics writer, and former editor of 2000AD.
• Follow Andy on Twitter @andydiggle | Substack
ANNA READMAN
Cartoonist and illustrator based in Leeds.
• Follow Anna on Instagram @annareadman
A.S CHAMBERS
A.S.Chambers is Lancaster’s notorious master of the macabre. He is well known for marking his home town’s place on the horror map of the United Kingdom.
His Sam Spallucci books, with their quirky blend of urban fantasy, film noir and dry humour, have gained a cult following over the last few years.
Readers and fans have journeyed from around the country to see where reality meets an ever-expanding universe of vampires, werewolves, angels and a plethora of other supernatural characters.
• A.S Chambers has a dark and brooding website at www.aschambers.co.uk
CONOR FENNA-TOORA
Freelance Illustrator with a passion for storytelling and poster design. Creator of The Settler graphic novel
• Follow Conor on Twitter @Conorft
DAN ROCK
Independent comic creator, with regular campaigns on Kickstarter. Currently writing/drawing a comic Accalia, which is on its tenth issue! Dan tends to write more gritty, dark topics similar to Lone Wolf & Cub or The Walking Dead.
• Dan is online at danrockcomics.uk | Twitter
DAVE COOK
Dave Cook is an award-winning comic writer and video game history book author from Scotland. His cyberpunk comic series Killtopia is a Kickstarter smash and is currently in development as a TV series at LA animation studio, Voltaku.
• Dave Cook is online at davescook.substack.com | Twitter
FIRST AGE COMICS
First Age Comics is Lancaster’s own family-run independent comic book shop, stocking comics, toys and collectables.
• Find First Age Comic on Facebook
HESITANT DOODLE
A Scottish-based illustrator and comic artist who loves bright colours, magical adventures and the world of wrestling! Has had the pleasure of working with such organisations as the V&A Museum in Dundee, the Scottish Book Trust and LDComics and I always strive to push the boundaries of what comics can do.
“I love queer characters and stories and giving them a voice in my work and I can’t wait to share them with everyone!”
• Hesitant Doodle is online at hesitantdoodle.com | Twitter
H. L. ROBERTS
21-year-old Writer from East of England.
• Follow H.L. Robert on Twitter @Kingfridayjoe
JAMES LAWRENCE
James Lawrence is a bare-knuckle cartoonist and the perpetrator of the Lucha Libre fantasy action series The Legend of La Mariposa. He recently adopted an elderly dog named Dodger, and wants you to know he’s a good stinky boy.
• James Lawrence is on Tumblr | Twitter
JAKE MACHEN
Creator of comics, zines, prints and stickers and stuff.
• Follow Jake on Instagram @jakemachenart
J WEBSTER SHARP
Self publishing comic creator specialising in pointillism and erotic horror.
• J Webster Sharp is online at jwebstersharp.com | Instagram
KAWAII OH MY!
Stationery, Video games, Amigurumi, based in Lancaster.
KOGUCHI PRESS
Koguchi Press is a small-press publisher creating and stocking small press comics and manga from around the world.
• Koguchi Press are online at koguchipress.com | Instagram
KRISTAN
Specialises in Shoujo Manga and the Magical Girl genre.
• Online at kristancomics.com | Twitter
KRISTYNA BACZYNSKI
Kristyna Baczynski is a British-Ukrainian illustrator, Eisner-nominated comics creator. She works from her studio in Leeds where she creates images and stories for a wide range of clients and publishers, as well as her own shop. Kristyna takes inspiration from nature and our historic, futuristic and folkloric relationship with it.
Her work is influenced by analogue printing processes, and utilises limited colour palettes, hand-drawn textures, overlays and halftones. Kristyna makes zines, prints, stickers, stories and confessional diary comics about daily life, where her cartoon self is much more feisty than IRL.
• Online at kristyna.co.uk | Etsy Store | Instagram | Twitter | Patreon
MAT GREAVES
A cartoonist who self publishes the one-man-anthology Blat, along with other comics and zines.
• Mat is online at matgreaves.com | Twitter
MD PENMAN
Primarily self published writer artist focused on fantasy comics. As well as creating his own comics, he’s a lecturer on a comic and concept art course in Leeds.
• Follow MD Penman on Instagram | Linktree
NICK GONZO
Nick Gonzo is the creator of comics such as Black Dragon, 50Signal, and Funk Soul Samurai. Surreal, cynical, emotive, philosophical, transgressive: these are all words in their Tinder bio. They’re currently researching a PhD on the benefits making comics can have on Mental Well-being.
• Nick Gonzo Linktree | Twitter
PETER MOREY
Peter is a cartoonist and graphic scribe. He is excited to present the recently completed collection of his family-comedy-drama-memory comic, Endswell, at the CoCo Comic Con this year.
A long-form shaggy-dog story, Endswell weaves through the lives of the characters and creatures of Endswell Farm. At its centre is the chaotic end-of-life crisis of an eccentric matriarch which has ripples through the generations. Featuring extreme hoarding, all-consuming hobbies, rescues (human and animal), end-of-life care and responsibility, family dynamics, and post-industrial decline. And a new type of Pokémon for good measure.
The complete series is being sold in box set format with a snazzy slipcase and as separate episodes.
• Follow Peter Morey on Instagram @petermoreysketches
ROB LUCKETT
Co-wrote Regular Show graphic novels #1,#2 & #3 and created BUMSTORM: The Comic About Farting.
• Rob is online at luckettopia.com | Twitter
SOLA SIMPSON
London-based comic artist and writer.
• Follow Sola Simpson on Twitter @SolaSimpsonArt
STEVE GREGSON
Steve Gregson is a North West based Illustrator and Comic Artist. His work includes BPM: Beatdowns per minute, Bastard Galaxia, Monster Mates, and the comic reboot of the 1990s arcade game, Ninja Baseball Bat Man.
• Find Steve online at: SteveGregsonArt.com
TEESIDE UNIVERSITY COMICS SOCIETY
TheTeeside University Society self publish comics and novels with original prints for the series and also create fan art of the things they love.
• Online at tees-su.org.uk/groups/comic-society-8df6 | Facebook | Instagram
TOM WARD
Tom Ward is a writer from Liverpool. He has been self publishing comics since 2014 with eight successful Kickstarter campaigns under his belt.
Tom is best known for his Victorian pulp adventure series Merrick: The Sensational Elephantman, with artist Luke Parker. (You can download the first issue for free here)
• Coco Comics Con 2023 Saturday 24th June 2023 The Storey, Meeting House Lance, Lancaster LA1 3TH | Web: cococomics.co.uk/comic-con-2023 | Facebook Event Page | Twitter | Instagram
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.
Categories: British Comics, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events
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