The Dundee Comics Day, organised by Dr Chris Murray at Dundee University, is now in its fifth year as part of the Dundee Literary Festival – although the current DCD name only came into effect in 2010 and there was a two day comics conference at the University under the rather unacademic name of Biff! Bam!! Crikey!!! in 2007, the year prior to the first Lit Fest.
Last year the theme of the Dundee Comics Day was Wot I Learnt From Comics and attracted a bigger number of attendees than usual due perhaps to the change of date of the Lit Fest to term time and also due to the fact that virtually every speaker was an art- or script-droid for 2000AD.
In 2012 the event takes this one step further and doesn’t just concentrate its guests on one title but on one creator, writer Grant Morrison, with a day entitled Invisible Symmetries, The Comics Of Grant Morrison. Grant received a MBE in the 2012 Birthday Honours list having worked on such British titles as Near Myths (below), Starblazer, Warrior, A1, Doctor Who Magazine, Trident, 2000AD, Revolver and Crisis (and has apparently even written some of those superhero-chappie stories that our colonial cousins are so obsessed by).
Grant will be attending the Dundee Comics Day on Sunday 28 October along with his artistic collaborators Cameron Stewart (Batman), Frazer Irving (Batman), Frank Quitely (All Star Superman), Rian Hughes (Dare) and Jill Thompson (The Invisibles). Each creator will be giving a talk followed by a QandA session as well as signing autographs and taking part in a roundtable discussion. The day will conclude at 1800 with a wine reception and the announcement of the Dundee Comics Prize winners.
The Dundee Comics Day takes place in the Tower Building of the University of Dundee beginning with registration at 1030 on Sunday 28 October 2012 and will run until after 1800. There are more details of the Dundee Comics Day at the Literary Dundee website were tickets, which cost £15 per adult and £7.50 per child, can also be purchased.
A Comics Workshop will take place in the Tower Building of the University of Dundee from 1400 to 1600 on Saturday 27 October 2012 and the cost of the workshop is included in the Dundee Comics Day ticket price.
There is a separately ticketed screening of the documentary Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods at the Dundee Contemporary Arts cinema and introduced by Dr Chris Murray beginning at 2045 on Friday 26 October 2012. Tickets for this screening cost £6.50 and are available from the DCA website.
For those unfamiliar with Dundee, the Tower Building of the University of Dundee and the Dundee Contemporary Arts cinema are within a few minutes’ walk of each other and are an approximately 10 minute walk from both Dundee’s train station and bus station, and a five minute taxi ride from Dundee’s airport.
downthetubes reviews of the previous Dundee Comics Days –
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
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: Events