Malta Comic Convention 2013 – the biggest and most awaited comics related event on the Islands – is less than a month away, and the organisers have just released full details of the event, which includes appearances by a number of British creators, including Ian Churchill, Mike Carey and Sean Phillips and Charlie Adlard.

Several comic art exhibitions will also feature at the event, including a selection of work by Game of Thrones storyboard artist Will Simpson.

Ever since its inception the annual Malta Comic Con has provided the biggest platform for local creators to exhibit, showcase and sell their work. This year will see the biggest number of participating Maltese creators which include writers, artists and handcraft artisans.

Joining the local artists will be a host of international creators which include a healthy mixture of renowned and established creators as well as number of leading up and coming ones.

Besides boasting the biggest number of international creators, this year’s show also contains the most culturally and stylistically diverse group of guests yet. Ian Churchill, Mike Carey, Sean Phillips and Charlie Adlard form just part of the line up from England, alongside Will Simpson from Ireland, the SOB crew from Wales, Rebekah Isaacs and Ales Kot from the United States (the latter of Czech descent), and Marco Santucci, Emanuela Lupacchino and Stefano Cardoselli from Italy.

Also attending are the Grafimated School of Comics from Sicily, Guillermo Ortego from Spain, Rosalys and Joel Alessandra from France, Esad Ribic from Croatia, Michael Dialynas from Greece, Tasos Anastasiades from Cyprus and Dave Lung from South Africa.

All these and the rest of the guest creators are looking forward to this opportunity to chat with their fans and sign their books. Besides selling their books and original pieces of artworks the majority of these creators also sketch for free or do commissioned work for fans during the convention. An opportunity which art lovers and collectors certainly cannot afford to miss.

The Malta Comic Con 2013 will be celebrating its fifth year anniversary by comprising all things falling under the comic culture banner and promises two days of awesome entertaining and educational activities. On both days there will be material specifically intended for children while other specifically intended for a mature audience. Guest creator Tim Perkins who runs an all ages comic book company will be hosting his parents and children comic art workshop, while Dave Windett has practically worked on all the popular cartoon characters and is happy to sketch such characters for children and adults alike.

In the cinema free animation movies will be showing on both days. Art work and collectibles exhibitions will be held in the hall, and the guests will be participating in a number of fun and interesting discussion panels moderated by leading pop culture journalist Chris J. Thompson and holding workshops throughout both days.

Mike Carey will also be doing an exclusive reading from his novel The Girl with all the Gifts.

In the Gaming Room set up in collaboration with Video Game People; gamers can simply play for fun on a variety of leading consoles or enter specific tournaments held throughout both days. Minecraft, Pokemon and Ninteno fans will also be in for a treat as Malta’s official groups will be hosting special events during the MCC 2013 weekend. Meanwhile a number of exhibition and introductory table-top and creative role playing games as well as workshops will also be held courtesy of W.A.R.S.

Fans will once again be encouraged to create their own costumes of their favourite heroes and come dressed in these costumes. Should they wish they can also participate in Malta’s Official cosplay competition which will be held during the Malta Comic Con and judged by a panel of professional cosplayers including guest Federica Di Nardo who, besides offering advice on costume making, will be happy to pose for photos with her fans.

For the first time ever professional make up and SFX artist Mary Samele from Media Movie Makeup will be at hand to transform people into their favourite characters while professional photographer Ruben Buhagiar will be available for photo shoots. A number of commercial stands will compliment all these events.

During the duration of the Malta Comic Con 2013 three exclusive artwork exhibitions will be spread around St. James Cavalier, including an exhibition of art by Will Simpson, storyboard artist for Game of Thrones, showcasing some of his original artwork from the set of the show. Also on show will be artwork by Esad Ribic, who has recently been working on the popular Marvel character Thor.

Attendees will also be able to appreciate the different techniques involved in the pencilling and inking process in the dual exhibition of original artwork showing pencilled pieces by Emanuela Lupacchino and inked pieces by Guillermo Ortego. Both guests will be running an exclusive guided tour of the exhibition and sitting for a Q&A session later with fans.

A family oriented event, the MCC offers something for everybody, from those with a casual interest to the hardcore fans. Wicked Comics guarantees two days of awesomeness. Fun for everyone!

The event is organised by local NGO Wicked Comics, a voluntary organisation promoting the comic culture world wide, and is sponsored and supported by entities such as the British Council, the French Embassy, the Italian Institute of Culture, the Malta Tourism Authority, Heritage Malta and St. James Cavalier.

• The Malta Comic con 2013 will be held on Saturday 30th November and Sunday 1st December at the St James Cavalier Valletta between 10am – 6pm (Sat) and 11am-7pm (Sun). Children under 11 years enter for free.

• For full guest line up and more detailed information on the Malta Comic Con www.maltacomic-con.com and on the number of packages on offer for fans wishing to travel from abroad, kindly visit www.maltacomic-con.com/post/525/travelling-and-accommodation-packages-for-fans-m

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: Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, Events

Tags: Charlie Adlard, Dave Windett, Ian Churchill, Malta Comic Con, Mike Carey, Sean Phillips, Tim Perkins, Wicked Comics, Will Simpson