Comics, Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions and Exhibitions
2008
April • May • June • July • August • September • October • November
2009
• January • February • July • October
Jump To: • Regular Events • Exhibitions
UK
Tuesday 6 May Illustrated talk: Gary Erskine in Conversation
7pm,
National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EW.
Free Admission. Booking essential for this free event: events@nls.uk or
0131 623 4675.Freelance comic artist Gary Erskine shares highlights from his illustrious
career; nearly 20 years of work that has featured in 2000AD,
Star Wars, Hellblazer and
many other classic titles. Gary also gives us a sneak preview of his latest
work on the original space cowboy, Dan Dare,
one of the most popular icons of British cartooning from the 1950s onwards.
Chair: Hanna Sommerseth
UK 8 May: Jamie McKelvie Signing
6-7.00pm Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H
8JR
Jamie McKelvie, who will be signing his new collection, Suburban
Glamour: Volume One, is an illustrator and comics creator
living in the Southern outskirts of London. With writer Kieron Gillen he
co-created the hugely successful graphic novel Phonogram: Rue Britannia.
His own four part mini series is now collected in Suburban Glamour Volume
One. He also has a short story in X-Men: Divided We Stand.
Jamie has been called "one of the
major new talents of the decade" by Warren Ellis.
Suburban Glamour: Volume 1: Life's tough when
you're a teenager, full of homework, boy trouble and meddling parents.
But Astrid Johnson also has to deal with imaginary friends turned real,
monster attacks and faerie magic. Life’s just not fair, is it?
UK 9th
- 11th May: Comic Expo 2007 (Bristol)
Ramada Plaza Hotel & British Empire and
Commonwealth Hall, Bristol
Organised by Mike Allwood. Britain's longest-running and biggest comics
festival.
Guests include Walt and Louise Simonson and Michael Aven Oeming
Russia 15-18 May EuroCon/RusCon
Lesnye Dali Hotel, Gorki-10, Moscow West,
Russia. (Date change from the original 3-7 May) $100 regular (same at
the door); Euro20 supporting; all-inclusive membership Euro250 with three nights'
accommodation and 3 meals/day -- this must be booked in advance. See
booking form on web site.
UK Saturday 17 May 10am Family
workshop: Let’s
do Kamishibai!
7pm,
National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EW.
Free Admission. Booking essential for this free event: events@nls.uk or
0131 623 4675.
Come along and make your own Japanese kamishibai picture story at this
storytelling and art workshop. Make manga-style picture cards with artist
Julianna Capes, inspired by traditional Japanese stories told by Mio Shapley
and Fergus McNicol.
Suitable for children aged 7 or over.
UK Saturday 17 May 1-2pm Glenn Fabry and Pat Mills Signing
Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR
Glenn Fabry is the award-winning artist who has been creating memorable
images for the last 20 years. As well as working for 2000AD on
Judge Dredd and Slaine,
he has created artwork for The Preacher, Neverwhere
and Hellblazer.
Pat Mills is one of the founding fathers of 2000AD.
He has created some of the longest running characters for the title, including
Slaine, ABC
Warriors and Nemesis
The Warlock.
His other work also includes writing and developing Judge
Dredd and
writing the classic World War One war comic Charley’s
War.
The signing marks the publication of Slaine: The King, a classic tale of sword and sorcery, which makes Conan look like a boy scout, is finally available again complete with introduction by Mills and a whole host of extras. Exiled from his tribe, Sláine is forced to roam the land of Tir-Nan-Og with his dwarf, Ukko. Ahead of him lie terrifying ordeals that will require all of Sláine's famed warrior strength if he is to return victorious and claim his rightful place as King!
UK
18 May National
Collectors Marketplace
12 noon onwards Royal National Hotel, Bedford Way, London, WC1
The National Collectors Marketplace, with 130 tables, is the largest regular
marketplace for comicbook and trading card collectors in the UK. You will also
find a whole range of related materials including Sci-fi, Fantasy, Film, TV and
Toys from leading National & International dealers.
UK Friday 23 May Workshop: 'Create your own comics'
(for ages
8-12, places are limited).
2.30 pm, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EW.
Booking essential for this free event: events@nls.uk or 0131 623 4675.
This event is held in conjuction with the exhibition Local Heroes - The Art of
the Graphic Novel which will take place at the National Library of Scotland from
April 4th until June 1st 2008.
UK:
25 May How to Draw Manga
Eden Court, Inverness
One
of the organisers of the Hi-Ex comics convention in Inverness, Vicky Stonebridge,
will
host two workshops on How to Draw Manga. The two sessions will be for 9
to 12 year olds from 12.30 to 2.00pm, while 12 to 18 year olds will get
the chance to participate between 2.30 to 4.30pm.
UK Wednesday 28 May Illustrated talk: David Donaldson
in Conversation
7pm,
National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EW.
Free Admission. Booking essential for this free event: events@nls.uk or
0131 623 4675.
David Donaldson, Managing Editor at DC Thomson and scriptwriter for The
Broons and Oor Wullie since
1962, tells colourful tales from a long and extraordinary career working with
some of the greatest comic strip geniuses of the golden age.
UK
31 May Prestonpandemonium
III
12.00– 3.00 pm The Prestoungrange
Gothenburg (a.k.a. “The Goth”), 227-229 High Street, Prestonpans, EH32
9BE.
Scotland’s Smallest Small Press event takes part during the annual 3
Harbours Arts Festival which attracts several thousand visitors.
Admission is free.
Tables can be booked at www.prestonpandemonium.com
UK
5-7 June 2D Northern Ireland Comics Festival
The Verbal Arts Centre and other locations, Derry, N. Ireland. Free.
This festival
is organised by the Verbal Arts Centre, an educational charity, and is a celebration
of comic book culture. It will feature an exhibition, workshops, signings, sketching,
panel discussions and portfolio review sessions. The workshops will be held mainly
on Thursday and Friday in the Verbal Arts Centre; panels will be held in a local
bar on Friday and Saturday evenings and the festival will culminate on the Saturday
with the Open Day. There will be a closing party on Saturday night to round things
off.
The festival is completely free of charge and aimed at offering an accessible and exciting resource for anyone to tap into. Have a look at our old website and photos from last year's event by going to at www.2dfestival.com. While you are there you can also visit our forum and keep up to date with festival news, make suggestions for the content of the festival, post your own work and generally have a chat about anything from comics to TV to just where did that Cloverfield monster come from?
"We're determined to improve the festival this year in terms of variety and quality and make it even better than last year, which was a great success," says organiser David Campbel. "While we encourage everyone to come along to as much of the festival as possible, the main opportunity for exhibitors will be on the Saturday, for which we are offering free table space. We have a limited amount of table space but will do our best to accommodate as many creators, dealers and exhibitors as possible. If you would be interested in attending and would like to find out about booking a table please get in touch. If you would like to enquire about anything else regarding the festival, need help with travel and accommodation information, or have any suggestions please feel free to email us."
UK 26-29 June ConRunner 2008 (conrunning)
Britannia Hotel, Wolverhampton.
£35 now, £50 on the door. Day rate £25 Contact 56
Jackmans Place, Letchworth G.C., Herts, SG6 1RH.
UK:
29 June How to Draw
Manga
Eden Court, Inverness
One of the organisers of the Hi-Ex comics convention
in Inverness, Vicky Stonebridge, will host two workshops on How to Draw
Manga. The two sessions will be for 9 to 12 year olds from 12.30 to 2.00pm,
while 12 to 18 year olds will get the chance to participate between 2.30
to 4.30pm.
Australia
3 - 6 July GenCon
Oz
Brisbane Convention
and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Queensland
This will be the first time
ever that the "Best Four Days in Gaming" will
hit Australian shores, offering gamers four fun-filled days of Anime,
Board Games, Collectable Card and Miniatures Games, Computer and Console
Games, CosPlay, Historical and Fantasy Wargames, along with Tabletop
and Live Action Role Playing Games. With over 10,000 square metres of
space under one roof, life in the land down under now leads up to one
thing: Gen Con Australia.
Australia
3 - 6 July The
HUB Productions presents: Jason " Small Gods" Rand, Stewart " JLA" McKenny
and Mungo " Undead" Mckay
9am to 6pm at Gencon
Oz located at Brisbane
Convention and Exhibition Centre
Further guests to be announced.
UK
10 - 12 July 21st
Century Teenager: Media Representation, Theory & Policy
Trinity & All Saints College, Leeds
A sequential art friendly conference
tackling young adult fiction, music, art, youth culture, magazines/comics
and more. Organised by the Association
for Research in Popular Fictions,
which was established by Liverpool John Moores University and the University
of Liverpool, to offer a forum for research in popular fiction and to support
the teaching and understanding of popular fiction in an interdisciplinary
context.
UK
18 - 20 July 2008 London
Film & Comic Con 2008
Earls Court, Old Brompton Road, London, SW5 9TA
The London film and comic
convention.
UK
3 August National
Collectors Marketplace
12 noon onwards Royal National Hotel, Bedford Way, London, WC1
The National Collectors Marketplace, with 130 tables, is the largest regular
marketplace for comicbook and trading card collectors in the UK. You will also
find a whole range of related materials including Sci-fi, Fantasy, Film, TV and
Toys from leading National & International dealers.
UK Caption
2008: Timewarp
East Oxford Community Centre, Oxford
Now it can be told... Attendees at the
UK indie comic press event Caption 2007: Dreams & Nightmares were given
a prophetic dream of the theme for Caption 2008. And the dream came true.
Caption 2008 is Caption Timewarp.
It
will be taking place again at the on 9th - 10th August, in the year that
celebrates Deadline's 20th anniversary, Escape's 25th anniversary, Luther
Arkwright's 30th anniversary and The Beano's 80th...
Caption are now accepting
illustrations and comic strips on the Timewarp theme for inclusion in the
convention programme, exhibition, and auction. Contact Jay Eales for more
info at: jay.eales AT googlemail.com.
6-10
August 2008 Denvention 3 (66th Worldcon)
Denver, CO, USA.
Artist GoH now announced: Star Trek designer Rick Sternbach. $130
reg until 31 March 2007.
Contact Denvention, PO Box 1349, Denver, CO 80201, USA.
UK
8-10 August AmeCon
Leicester University
The largest UK convention dedicated to the celebration
of Japanese animation, comics and culture.
22-25 Aug Discworld Convention 2008
Hilton Metropole, Birmingham
(NEC). £55 regular, £36 junior/concessions. Online booking
closes 1 Aug or earlier if the membership limit is
reached. Contact PO Box 4101, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 5XD.
UK
19-21 September FantasyCon 2008
Britannia Hotel, 1 St James St, Nottingham.
Guests include Christopher Golden £45 regular (BFS members
£40) until 31 June; then £55 (£50). Supporting or day rate
£25. Contact 3 Tamworth Close, Lower Earley, Reading, RG6 4EQ
UK
21 September National
Collectors Marketplace
12 noon onwards Royal National Hotel, Bedford Way, London, WC1
The National Collectors Marketplace, with 130 tables, is the largest regular
marketplace for comicbook and trading card collectors in the UK. You will also
find a whole range of related materials including Sci-fi, Fantasy, Film, TV and
Toys from leading National & International dealers.
4-5
October 2008 Birmingham
International Comic Show
2008
thinktank, Birmingham.
• Review of 2007 event
UK
17-19 October: Festival of Fantastic Films
Day's Hotel, Sackville Street, Manchester. £70/$140 registration; £30/$60
day. Under-17s £30; under-13s £20. Contact 95 Meadowgate Rd,
Salford, Manchester, M6 8EN.
Eire 18-19 October Octocon
Royal Dublin Hotel, O'Connell St, Dublin. Euro30
regular; students Euro12; under 18s/supp Euro10. Octocon 2008 c/o Electric
Dragon, 19a Main St, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
UK
2 November National
Collectors Marketplace
12 noon onwards Royal National Hotel, Bedford Way, London, WC1
The National Collectors Marketplace, with 130 tables, is the largest regular
marketplace for comicbook and trading card collectors in the UK. You will also
find a whole range of related materials including Sci-fi, Fantasy, Film, TV and
Toys from leading National & International dealers.
UK
15 - 30 November Comica
2008
ICA, London
London's International Comics Festival returns to the ICA and other
venues, including an exhibition in the ICA Concourse Gallery.
France
January 2008: Angouleme
Comic Festival
In France, comics or Bande Dessinées (meaning literally
Band of Drawings or Strip) are an accepted and lively part of French culture,
read and enjoyed by millions, in large part due to the variety of material
available for all age groups. The annual Angoulême BD Festival is the
Cannes of the comic world. Every January, a celebration of comics takes over
this quiet, provincial French town for a four day festival, culminating in
the annual awards given to recognise the very best in French and foreign
comic art.
• An English couple, Robert and Veronica Van Kimmenade, are offering bed
and breakfast/evening meals half and hour from Angouleme. Please see their
website www.lavieilledistillerie.com which
is under continuous amendment and extension, or call 0033
545 78 59 73 or email veronica AT lavieilledistillerie.com
UK
February Hi-Ex
Inverness
will play host to the second Highland International Comic Expo: Hi-Ex!
The two day festival will be held at the newly refurbished Eden Court, and will
feature a host of the very best in International comic talent.
UK 25-26 July 2009 Satellite 2
Crowne Plaza Hotel,
Glasgow. GoH Iain M.
Banks. £40 registration; £10 supporting/junior (5-14), £1
infant (0-4).
UK 26-29 June 2009 Sectus 2009 (Harry Potter)Bodelwyddan Castle, North Wales. £290 inc 3 nights' accommodation with breakfast/dinner, rising to £300 on 1 Nov 08, £310 on 1 Feb 09. (Instalment plan available.) Contact 114 Bassnage Rd, Halesowen, W. Midlands, B63 4HF.
Every
Saturday London Underground Comics
Camden Lock Market (behind Lock 17), London
Oli Smith runs the Camden Market
stall for small press and mini comics.
Radio: Panel Borders
Resonance 104.4FM
The weekly radio show about comics, every Thursday at 5.00pm (podcasts available)
UK
Doctor Who Exhibition
Earls Court, London
Doctor Who comes to London, and not just in a specially created event
for EastEnders, either. The Doctor Who Exhibition, Earls Court, London
opens to the public Easter 2008.
The exhibition will be situated in the
Museum Hall, beneath Earls Court Exhibition Centre.
Web Link: www.doctorwhoexhibitions.com/earls.html
UK Until 18 May Martian Museum of Technical Art
Barbican Art Gallery, Barbican Centre, Silk St, London,
EC2Y 8DS
Tickets £8
• To complement Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art landing in Barbican Art
Gallery, the Centre is also presenting a season of films from outer space
to welcome our alien friends. For
more information click here.
Anthropologists from outer space set out on a mission to understand life on earth. Imagine that they begin their mission by examining the curious phenomenon that human beings call 'contemporary art'. What does Art tell them about human life and culture?
Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art presents contemporary art works under the fictional guise of a museum collection conceived by and designed for extraterrestrials. Playful and irreverent, the museum’s collection features some 175 works by over 115 artists, from modern masters to bright new stars including Joseph Beuys, Cai Guo-Qiang, Maurizio Cattelan, Jimmie Durham, Thomas Hirschhorn, Ryan Gander, Mona Hatoum, Susan Hiller, Damien Hirst, Brian Jungen, Dr. Lakra, Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, John McCracken, Bruce Nauman, Mike Nelson, Cornelia Parker, Sigmar Polke, Ugo Rondinone, Daniel Spoerri, Haim Steinbach, Francis Upritchard, Jeffrey Vallance, Andy Warhol and Rebecca Warren.
Believing these objects to have a real or functional use, the Museum’s curators deploy an eccentric classification system. They treat artworks as artifacts. The Martian perspective opens up contemporary art to fresh interpretations as well as humorous misunderstandings. In presuming to understand an unfamiliar culture, the Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art parodies the way that Western anthropologists historically viewed non-Western cultures through alien eyes.
The organisers of this exhibition have clearly put a lot of effort into this, coming up with a Martian alphabet and an audio guide narrated by Professor Klaatu which you can listen to on the web site.
UK
Until 1 June: Local Heroes: The Art of the Graphic Novel
National
Library of Scotland
Opening Hours: 10am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm
Saturday and 2pm to 5pm Sundays
The spring exhibition at the National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk)
is about Graphic Novels.
The evolution of the graphic novel as a 'serious artform', from its humble beginnings in newspaper cartoon strips and superhero comics, has been rapid and revolutionary. Its influence in cinema, popular culture and literature is beyond doubt, while the subject matter of illustrated works grows increasingly diverse. This exhibition draws on material from the Library’s vast collections to tell the story of how comics have ‘grown up’ over the past 40 years, and the influential role Scots artists and writers have played. The Broons, the superheroes and villains of Marvel comics and international work such as Tintin and Japanese Manga all feature, alongside the seminal work of Alan Moore, Art Speigelman and Frank Miller. Scottish artists featured include Grant Morrison, Alan Grant and Cam Kennedy, whose original artwork from the graphic novel adaptation of Kidnapped will also be on show. Put your creativity to the test with a host of interactive exercises.
UK Until 27 September 2008: How Manga Took Over The World
Urbis, Cathedral Gardens, Manchester M4 3BG. Urbis is
located in Cathedral Gardens in Manchester City Centre, just next to Victoria
Station and easily accessible by bus, train, tram, car or on foot. Click
here to see google map
Tel: +44 (0)161 605 8200 E-mail: info@urbis.org.uk
Open daily: 10am
- 6pm. Admission to Urbis is free
Please note:
Urbis sometimes closes early due to special
events. Please refer to the Urbis website to check our opening times on the
day before your visit as occasionally these may vary.
The unique graphic art-form of Manga is explored through its manifestation
in everyday life in the 21st century at this new exhibition on our first
floor.
The exhibition explores Manga’s influence in shaping contemporary
culture, with something for everyone, from kids to adults; it offers a
whistle stop introduction to Manga for novices as well as plenty to keep
hard core fans immersed. Visitors will discover Cute Manga, Action Manga,
Manga in Art, Fashion and Design, Manga as communication and Erotic Manga – for
over 18s only! Read a review by Matthew Badham
UK
Wednesday 30 Apr 2008 - Sun 25 October 2009: Dan
Dare and the Birth of High-Tech Britain
The Science Museum, London. Bookings and Enquiries:
0870 870 4868
Dan Dare’s rocket fleet
roars high over Venus to trounce his arch foe – the
power-mad Mekon. Meanwhile, back on Earth, another extraordinary future is
unfolding – one
which laid the foundation for Britain’s hi-tech consumer society.
After 1945, though war-weary and broke, Britain found huge pride in wartime advances such as radar, penicillin and the jet engine. Discoveries like these were now tipped to kick-start world-beating industries, bring prosperity and bankroll the emerging welfare state.
In an age before globalisation, products from rockets to radios sprang from local
roots. Together they reveal a fascinating ‘lost world’ of British design and invention – a
glimpse of a time when the TV in the corner was a Murphy, not a Sony.
The new temporary exhibition exploring the role played
by technology in creating post-war Britain includes Frank Hampson's murals
from the 1977 Dan Dare exhibtion at
the Science Museum
UK From 25 September 2008: Classic Cold War Modern: Design
1945-70
The Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Featuring Sputniks,
space suits, an early coupe form of the Trabant and a full-scale reconstruction
of a futuristic inflatable building.
Cold War Modern
will also feature classic cold war images including Roman Cieslewicz's
Superman 68, featuring rival US and Russian versions of the comic-book
hero.
The show aims to chart postwar design as it developed along parallel
lines on both sides of the iron curtain - in an atmosphere of frantic competition,
but also under the shadow, for much of the period, of the fear of nuclear
war.
Polish artist Roman Cieslewicz, who died in 1996, specialized in poster
and display designing and worked as a book and magazine designer, for titles
such as Vogue and Elle. He was also the artistic creator of Opus International
and Kitsch.
• The V&A also hosts the National
Art Library,
and its Comics Collection forms part of the Library's Special Collections,
to which access is restricted. For more information, see Registering
to use the National Art Library. An appointment is necessary for access
to the Krazy Kat Arkive at the Archive
of Art and Design.
2000AD fans
may be interested to know, however, that an electronic
version of the catalogue for an exhibition held in 2001 of original comic book artwork
from the comic is available online.
Permanent:
The
Art of War
Britain's
National Archive has an ongoing exhibition, The
Art of War, which includes comics used as propoganda during the Second
World War and more.