Darwyn Cooke. Photo courtesy the artist
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival has just announced that award-winning Canadian comic book writer, artist, cartoonist and animator Darwyn Cooke will be among the many international and British guests attending its weekend-long event in Kendal, Cumbria in October (16th- 18th October 2015), making his first-ever UK appearance.
Justice League cover by Darwyn Cooke
Darwyn Cooke is a graphic designer and animator who turned his attention toward cartooning in the late 1990s. He is perhaps known for his work on the comic books such as Catwoman, DC: The New Frontier and The Spirit.
Cooke has won multiple Eisner, Harvey and Shuster awards, as well as the US National Cartoonist Society’s Best Series award. In 2008, he was Emmy-nominated for the animated adaptation of his magnum opus, The New Frontier.
He also recently illustrated IDW’s edition of Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter novel.
Darwyn is currently working on Revengance, a psychological thriller with darkly humorous overtones that will launch from Image Comics in June. When Joe Malarky is faced with a criminal tragedy, he sets out to make things right on his own. What follows is Joe’s odyssey through the underside of the city and the madness that seems to drive his crazy world.
Darwyn Cooke’s latest project, Revengeance – on its way from Image Comics in June
Revengance takes place in Toronto in the mid-1980s and is part crime story, part psychotronic melodrama, and a wholly fond look back at the author’s hometown.
Darwyn is the first of several Canadian creators (the rest yet to be announced) who will attend this year’s Comic Art Festival in the Kendal as part of a partnership with the Toronto Comic Art Festival that will send a number of British guests across the pond for its first “Lakes Festival Pavilion” event. Among the British guests attending TCAF will be graphic novelist Joe Decie, who is working on a longform project thanks to funding from the Lakes Festival; Oliver East, author of titles such as Trains Are Mint, who is working on another project with the Festival following the success of The Homesick Truant’s Cumbrian Yarn; and UK-based stitcher and prolific tea drinker Felt Mistress AKA Louise Evans, who has created a range of one-off bespoke creatures with her partner, illustrator Jonathan Edwards, including Poblin, the Festival’s mascot.
This year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival will feature a huge number of international comic creators – possibly more than any other comics event of its kind in the UK – and will include numerous programming strands. These include appearances by top shoujo manga creators from Japan, Canadian creators, British comic writers and artists, along with the return of many popular events including the children-friendly Family Zone and eye-catching Windows Trail involving over 50 local businesses keen to support the Festival’s aim to be the “Angouleme of the North”.
In addition, the Festival is supporting a number of major commissioning initiatives, working in partnership with organisations across the UK and beyond, more on which will be announced shortly.
• Tickets for this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival go on sale from the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, from 1st June 2015
• For the latest news on the 2015 Lakes International Comic Art Festival visit: www.comicartfestival.com
• Sign up for the Festival’s newsletter here for the latest news!
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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
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