Gail Simone, March 2013. Photo: OnceAnFutureLaura (ShareAlike 2.0 Usage)

Hot on the heels of announcing the final creative line-up for its 24 Hour Comics Marathon, the Lakes International Comic Art Festival has just announced a number of top comic creators who will be attending their event in Kendal in October, joining the previously-announced Scott McCloud and many others for an entire weekend of comic activities at various venues in the town.

• Gail Simone is the writer of Birds of Prey, Secret Six, Welcome to Tranquility, The All-New Atom, Deadpool, Red Sonja and, it was recently announced, a Savage Wolverine story. More info: http://gailsimone.tumblr.com

• Jeff Smith is the creator of the multi-award winning, multi-million selling Bone series and the more recent RASL. More info: www.boneville.com

• British writer and artist Dave Gibbons numerous credits include Dan Dare  and Rogue Trooperfor 2000AD; Doctor Who,  Give Me Liberty, The Originals and Green Lantern Corps. He is the co-creator of Watchmen – the latter one of the best-selling graphic superhero graphic novels of all time. You can find Dave here on Twitter: https://twitter.com/davegibbons90

• Comic artist Jock is best known for his work on 2000AD, on strips such as Judge Dreddand Lenny Zero – and for Vertigo’s The Losers, which was written by fellow Brit Andy Diggle. He was also the main concept artist on the Dredd movie. More info: www.4twenty.co.uk

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is a new kind of comic art event in the UK. Modelled on a European-style festival it aims to take over the market town of Kendal, on the edge of the lake district, with comic art presenting the widest range of genres.

• Tickets for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival go on sale from 25th April 2014. Sign up for the Festival’s newsletter here for the latest news

• Lakes International Comic Art Festival: www.comicartfestival.com

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.

Categories: downthetubes Comics News, Events, Featured News

Tags: Dave Gibbons, Gail Simone, Jeff Smith, Jock, Lakes International Comic Art Festival, Scott McCloud