back from caption!

This was my first-ever visit to Caption, Oxford’s annual alternative comics festival, and I had a great time! Thanks a million to Jenni Scott (jinty) and Richard who put me up for the night and did so much, along with a bunch of other great people, to make this event happen. It was my first-ever time on a comics panel, which was a little daunting, because almost everyone in the room had made comics for longer than I have, but it was very friendly and so interesting to hear what everyone had to say. I’m always on a very steep learning curve when I go to these things. We had a great showing of the DFC crew: Kate Brown, Woodrow Phoenix, Nick Abadzis, John Aggs, Neill Cameron, Garen Ewing, Andrew Wildman, Adam Murphy and one of our editors, Will Fickling (did I leave out anyone?).

I forgot about my camera most of the time, so a lot of the photos are pretty random, but here are a few:

The very hospitable Richard and Jenni, at breakfast with Matt Brooker (aka D’Israeli), where I learned that comics convention people can not eat without at least four computers present at table.

Woodrow with his erupting hot chocolate with marshmallows. And Bridget and Woodrow at a nearby Brazilian restaurant. Bridget just sent me a link to an amazing comics jam called Who Killed Round Robin? that Woodrow is working on with six other comics artists. I am going away to read it!) She said it inspired a group in Mexico to do something similar.

With a bemused-looking Rian Hughes at the Brazilian place.

With my fab illustrator friend Susan Burghart, who came up to Oxford at the end of Caption to surprise me and take me out to dinner with her fiance Mike.

Susan and I remarked that the most rock-and-roll thing we could do after a comics convention was go to mass, so that is what we did, even though I am not Catholic. And we went for a lavish French dinner and then ice cream and I got a dark purple tongue.

Here’s a very, very rough comic I made on the train ride back.

Edit: Other compiled Caption reports and a video here thanks to girlycomic in the caption news group.

Here’s the link for the book I was reading on the train, Rumble Strip by Woodrow Phoenix.

Edit: If anyone knows Steve P (one of the guys who made the Steve Whitaker film), could you give him these links to the painting and sketch I made of him? He always transfixes me with his pink glasses and then I forget to note down his last name or his e-mail.