[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-comica-comiket":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"There's been SO MUCH going on in London with comics this week! And next weekend is \u003Ca href=\"http://thoughtbubblefestival.com/\">Leeds Thought Bubble\u003C/a>, the action never stops. So this weekend saw the launch of \u003Ca href=\"\\r\nhttp://strumpetcomic.com/\">The Strumpet\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"http://inkpluspaper.com/\">ink+PAPER\u003C/a> comics magazines at Orbital Comics, and the next day, Comica Festival's \u003Ca href=\"http://www.comicafestival.com/index.php/site/news/come_to_comica_comiket_fall_2012\">COMIKET\u003C/a>! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_ellen_badges-7b2565e5c0.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's The Strumpet's co-editor \u003Ca href=\"http://www.littlewhitebird.com/\">Ellen Lindner\u003C/a> at Comiket with badges. She and \u003Ca href=\"http://jeremyday.org.uk/\">Jeremy Day\u003C/a> worked hard to get this issue of the magazine successfully running with support from fans \u003Ca href=\"http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2019502594/the-strumpet-a-transatlantic-flight-of-comics-fanc\">on Kickstarter\u003C/a>. This time, it's travel-themed!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_-strumpet_ellen-93c8ec2f70.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd here's the fab \u003Ca href=\"http://scribblehound.com/\">David O'Connell\u003C/a> at his stand with \u003Ca href=\"http://teahermit.co.uk/\">Jade Sarson\u003C/a>, and the latest issue of \u003Ca href=\"http://inkpluspaper.com/\">ink+PAPER\u003C/a>. I did a strip for Issue 2, with Dave editing, and can't wait to see who made it into Issue 3! (\u003Ca href=\"http://inkpluspaper.bigcartel.com/\">Here's the shop if you want to buy either ink+PAPER or The Strumpet online\u003C/a>.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_inkpaper-49a55e26f3.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI was very pleased to see \u003Ca href=\"http://www.thezoom.co.uk/\">Zoom Rockman\u003C/a> and his younger brother, Ace, selling the latest copies of The Zoom. I first met Zoom at an earlier Comiket and was so impressed by his business skills that I asked him to join our professional comics team at London's \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/489519.html\">Pop Up Festival\u003C/a>. He also had a front-page appearance \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/499091.html\">in The Independent magazine\u003C/a>. Hurrah! Comiket isn't specifically a kids' event, and some comics on sale won't be appropriate for children to buy, but if a kid or a group of kids have the gumption to book their own table and run it, there's nothing to stop them selling alongside the adults. It could be a brilliant class or comics club project. (\u003Ca href=\"http://www.thezoom.co.uk/\">Check out Zoom's comics on his website\u003C/a>.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_the_zoom-46b064f74e.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Photo by Kate Lennard (Zoom and Ace's mother)\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nSo here's the loot I picked up during the day:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_loot-62ec46ebb1.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOne of the most fun things about Comiket is watching fellow creators do live drawing on stage. I'd been reading \u003Ca href=\"http://www.stevenappleby.com/\">Steven Appleby\u003C/a>'s comics for ages in \u003Ci>The Guardian\u003C/i>, but it was great being able to put a face to a name. \\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for lots more pics under the cut!-->\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_steven_appleby-997bc2a5fe.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd here's a look at the cartoon Steven made on the day, projected up on to the big screen. You can buy the brand-new \u003Ca href=\"http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9780852653777&INTCMP=SRCH\">\u003Ci>Steven Appleby's Guide to Life\u003C/i> from the Guardian online bookshop\u003C/a>.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_steveapp_comic-ce88543f5d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI'd tried to get a copy of \u003Ca href=\"http://www.naobrown.com/news/\">Glyn Dillon\u003C/a>'s \u003Ci>\u003Cb>The Nao of Brown\u003C/b>\u003C/i> from Gosh! last week, but it sold out almost instantly. (Josh the owner would want you to know that they HAVE restocked.) Glyn drew one of the entries in our \u003Ca href=\"http://www.blankslatebooks.co.uk/our-books/nelson/\">\u003Ci>Nelson\u003C/i> collborative book\u003C/a>, so I'm curious to read his book-size comic. Here he is with \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jake-art.com/\">JAKe\u003C/a> and Steven.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_glynjakesteve-0af16d792d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nLook, Glyn painted in my book! Isn't it lovely?\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_nao_of_brown-92aeadf69d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe hall at Bishopsgate Institute makes for a lovely venue. And the Comica organisers gallantly took on board the criticism from last spring's fair to give more space in the aisles for visitors. (You can see a picture of how crowded it was \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/473276.html\">in my blog post about it\u003C/a>.) It meant that there were slightly less comics, and nothing hidden away downstairs, but it felt like just as much because it was easier to look at everything, and I didn't have to feel so guilty about clogging the aisle if I wanted to chat with a creator.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_hall-b0729b3251.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nTables mostly sold comics, artist books and related badges and things, but \u003Ca href=\"http://www.woodrowphoenix.co.uk/\">Woodrow Phoenix\u003C/a> had a lot of his old toys to sell. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_wdz_bridget-2251c8f97c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAt the next table, \u003Ca href=\"http://craigscomicland.com/\">Craig Conlan\u003C/a> had loads of new merch:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_craig_conlan-310bf4b9db.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHis lovely set up, with all the matching candy colours:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_craig_comics-3ac093a861.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://comicsandcakery.blogspot.co.uk/\">Jessica Cave\u003C/a> from \u003Ci>Comics & Cakery\u003C/i> baked a couple cakes and had lots of creators draw a comic panel on each in edible inks. Cakey comics jam! Here's \u003Ca href=\"http://darryl-cunningham.blogspot.co.uk/\">Darryl Cunningham\u003C/a> icing his section.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_darryl_cake-8e915d955c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nIt started out with Woodrow's \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pants_Ant\">Pants Ant\u003C/a> character and went wild from there.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_cake1-bf3fb8df48.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's \u003Ca href=\"http://www.cobaltcafe.co.uk/\">Zarina Liew\u003C/a> doing some live drawing. It was pretty impressive, she used some very watery ink technique that I would have worried would be hard to control in front of an audience. But she pulled it off beautifully.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_zarina_liew-877eb1d675.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nCheck out these great Imperial Russia badges from \u003Ca href=\"http://www.lizzlizz.com\">Lizz Lunney\u003C/a>!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_lizz_badges-2cb029c19e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOne of my new discoveries was \u003Cb>Rus\u003C/b> from \u003Ca href=\"http://www.eatsleepsniff.com/\">Eat, Sleep, Sniff\u003C/a>. Lovely guy, and you can't go wrong with cat comics! Rus works at a cat shelter charity, so it all makes good sense.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_rus_hudda-211b8da72a.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's Hamburg-based \u003Ca href=\"http://www.linehoven.de/\">Line Hoven\u003C/a> creating a live scratchboard drawing. I wonder if \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scratchboard\">scratchboard\u003C/a> is going to have a revival; my studio mate \u003Cb>Gary Northfield\u003C/b> has a gorgeous two pages in his upcoming \u003Ca href=\"http://www.garynorthfield.com/2012/07/24/teenytinysaurs/\">\u003Ci>TEENYTINYSAURS\u003C/i>\u003C/a> book, drawn using a huge piece of scratchboard, and children's book illustrator \u003Cb>Jane Ray\u003C/b> says she's a fan, too.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_LineHoven-e8d34dccc3.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI bought a couple of lovely comics from \u003Ca href=\"http://www.thingsbydan.co.uk/\">Dan Berry\u003C/a>, including a 24-hour-comic project called \u003Ci>Cat Island\u003C/i> and illustrated lyrics to a song by \u003Ca href=\"http://www.handsomefamily.com/\">The Handsome Family\u003C/a>, \u003Ci>After We Shot the Grizzly\u003C/i>. (Ah, \u003Ca href=\"http://youtu.be/y5U72jONa_I\">here's the song\u003C/a> on YouTube.) \\r\n\u003Ci>Edit:\u003C/i> Dan's just posted \u003Ca href=\"http://www.thingsbydan.co.uk/2012/11/comiket-november-2012/\">Tips on Convention Etiquette\u003C/a>; have a browse! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_dan_berry-684aaf8dad.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI was so pleased when I passed the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.cinebook.co.uk/\">Cinebook\u003C/a> table and \u003Cb>Aldous Russell\u003C/b> pulled out the latest \u003Ca href=\"http://www.cinebook.co.uk/index.php?cPath=189&osCsid=a824da2db94b50efa6e01ddb5fe789d8\">Yoko Tsuno\u003C/a> comic translation to show me. Yay! I love Yoko Tsuno, she's just the sort of gutsy, smart heroine I would've loved reading about as a kid and love now. \\r\n \\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_cinebook-8f305ab175.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd the other best part about Comiket was catching up with old friends. (Hello, Belle and \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/bridge\">Bridget\u003C/a>!)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_belle_bridget-eb7ad853ce.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nComica Festival runs events all year, it's not just Comiket, and the day before Comiket, Stuart, Emma Vieceli, Gary Northfield and I went to a talk at \u003Ca href=\"http://www.foyles.co.uk/bookstore-charing-cross\">Foyles Charing Cross\u003C/a> by husband-wife team \u003Ca href=\"http://www.bryan-talbot.com/\">Mary and Bryan Talbot\u003C/a>. Here's the doodle I made of the two of them:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_talbots_foyles-75d4dcac28.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nFoyles has been fabulous for running great events, and now they're working to turn the building next to them - the former Central Saint Martins College of Art - into a larger space for their bookshop. While the building work goes on, they're doing amazing things with the wooden boards around the site, teamed up with Comica Festival. So next time you're walking down Charing Cross road, look out for these striking comics about Foyles' history by some of Britain's finest creators! And you can \u003Ca href=\"http://www.foyles.co.uk/107-Artists\">read them online here!\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nPanels by \u003Ca href=\"http://www.devicefonts.co.uk/cgi-bin/device3.cgi?action=news\">Rian Hughes\u003C/a>:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.foyles.co.uk/107-Artists\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/foyles_comica_hughes-6c5b334b00.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nWoodrow Phoenix:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/foyles_comica_phoenix-c3e00fa725.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.karriefransman.com/\">Karrie Fransman\u003C/a>:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/foyles_comica_fransman-28b9c8269a.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nSteven Appleby:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/foyles_comica_appleby-8c8b38522c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n...and \u003Ca href=\"http://www.foyles.co.uk/107-Artists\">loads more\u003C/a>. \u003Ca href=\"http://www.emmavieceli.com/\">Emma Vieceli\u003C/a> spent the night at our place so she could go to both days' events. Here she is, penciling a page for \u003Ci>Shadow Kiss\u003C/i>, the next \u003Ca href=\"http://www.us.penguingroup.com/static/packages/us/yreaders/vampireacademy/books.html\">Vampire Academy\u003C/a> graphic novel. Emma \u003Ca href=\"http://www.emmavieceli.com/blog/2012/11/7/alex-rider.html\">recently announced\u003C/a> that she'll be drawing the \u003Cb>Alex Rider\u003C/b> books, so more exciting times ahead! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comiket12_emma_vieceli-2f13d973ce.jpg\">","2012-11-11T18:12:00.000Z","comica-comiket",[],"comica comiket!",1776628724435]