Avoid The Future, a UK/France based comics blog, have posted a piece on their favourite comics from the Alternative Press Festival and Brighton Zinefest.
Their choices include comics by Hurk, Kevin Ward, Dan Locke, Jimi Gherkin, Julie Homersham, Karoline Rerrie, Peter Lally, Bird, Hannah Glickstein, and me!

24 hour comic challenge: 13th March

Independent press organisation P.R.E.S.S. teams up with the Tyneside to deliver an exciting 24 hour event!

24 hour event is now booked out but there are still free public drop-in sessions during the day and you can folow a live stream of the event and message participants via the learning revolution website.
More info here.

the next Alternative Press Hour will be going out at 8pm tomorrow, Thursday the 4th March on Resonance FM. The show will be the first of three Angouleme Specials, focusing on the Alternative Press Collective's adventures at Angouleme International Comics festival as they try to find out about the world wide small press scene. Shortly after there will be a link to the show available on the website www.alternativepress.org.uk

The Caddy, the new comic book by Malcy Duff, is out now on Missing Twin.
The 32 page comic features a cover screen printed by Heavyrock Screenprint .

www.missingtwin.net

Insomnia Comics visit Harlow Library on Saturday 6th March, 10.00 -12.00.
Tickets Free from Harlow Library.
Panel discussion with Alasdair Duncan, Lauren Sharpe, Alex Willmore, Tony Wicks
and Peter McLeod, Followed by a workshop for aspiring writers and illustrators to have a go.

The 'Thing' is happening 27th March, at Mile End, London. Drinks will be happening throughout and afterwards at the Wetherspoons nearby, if you're one of those that likes your minicomics smelling faintly of beer.

I'll be dishing out FREE copies of 'Deja Vu' and 'Foot-Balls of Fury'. Say Hi if you see me.

Buy The Greatest Adventures of Captain Winston Bulldog trade paperback for half price (£5) this week only. I just did!

A few quick hits -

Andy Luke's 24hour comic 'Absence' is recommended.

Newcomers Ben Cook and Esme Baran preview LETS*GO!, plus Cook and Jim Wilkins introduce Neutron Boy - You can probably find all creators at "The Force Is Coming II" on May Bank Holiday weekend (1st May to 3rd May 2010).

International conference on graphic novels and comics - Manchester Metropolitan University. 13th - 14th April.
Guest speakers: Martin Barker, Mel Gibson, Paul Gravett, Roger Sabin.
Contact: D.HUXLEY@MMU.AC.UK

Oliver East's new comic is now online and free to read in your own time.

It's REALLY good.

TIM SKINNER: TOTAL SCUMBAG, by the Eagle Award-winning team of Andy Winter and 28 Days Later artist Declan Shalvey, is now available to download for FREE at moonfacepress. The entire download runs to 43 PDF pages and also includes Skinner's first appearance from 2005's SHRIEK! one-shot. (Click on the cyclical SKINNER banner at the top of the page.)

From Hilary Lawler (of Longstone Comics):

A table-based comics event is proposed for mid June in The 02 Village, Dublin. The main focus will be on selling and promoting all types of comics. Table space will be FREE.

Further details will be sent out as soon as I have them - at present it is a names-gathering task. Those interested in taking up this opportunity, please express your interest by emailing 02villagefreetable(at)gmail(dot)com.

Bugpowder over-saturated with Irish comics coverage by the location of it's writers? This one's very good. Fractured Visions is a short documentary on the Irish Comics scene spotlighting the work of Bridgeen Gillespie and Malachy Coney. There's also appearances by David Campbell of the 2D Festival, Declan Shalvey and Englander David Lloyd. The video is open-source and on Youtube. Coney and the Belfast arts also feature in my latest market diary column for Alltern8.

Contact creator Graham Pearce for a free PDF copy of Sgt. Mike Battle #11 - See Millarworld for details.

Here's a multi-part feature on comics pub meets in
Scotland and Wales,
Ireland
South England and
Northern England.
It also doubles as a handy events listing.

We're all getting ready for this Saturday's Alternative Press Fair, and are hoping you can join us. It starts at midday and carries on till 6pm. THEN there will be open mic DJ's to 7pm before the commencement of a night's free entertainment, including some of the best spoken word acts from the London scene, the band 'The Awkward Silences', and the return to town of the Singing Sensation of the Nation, 'Trent Miller'. Interspersed throughout will be open mic spots, so come along and watch or take part, as you fancy. The evening will be compered with aplomb by the man with such a big heart they even put a bit in his name, Kevin Reinhardt.

There will be food and drinks on sale from the kitchen, as well as something stronger from the club's modestly priced bar.

Any promotion you can do for the event is very welcome.

Alternative Press Fair
Saturday 13th February
St. Aloysius' Social Club
Corner of Eversholt Street and Phoenix Road
London NW1 1TA

Nearest Tube: Euston

12 pm - midnight (FREE)

A day of zines, comix, poetry, radical literature, printmaking and anything else self-published! Then from 6pm there will be a birthday party to celebrate our 1st year - with music, spoken work, DJ's and open mic. So come along and be a part of the day.

www.alternativepress.org.uk

Full Oscar-nominated film of 'Granny O'Grimm', directed by Nicky Phelan, produced by Brown Bag Films, and written/voiced by Kathleen O'Rourke. Nominated for Best Animated Short Film 2010!

THE PAPER JAM COMICS COLLECTIVE IS (roughly) THREE YEARS OLD!

And to celebrate we're going to have a right old knees up round the Old Joanna round at The Telegraph.

Entry fee of £3 will get you:

- Fantastic live music from the likes of The Stillwells, Sleepwalk and assorted other local folks, including a potential comics-creator supergroup that could make all other comics-creator supergroups look MERELY ADEQUATE!

- Free copy of the latest all-killer-no-filler anthology from the Paper Jam Comics Collective, SPACE MONKEY... AND THAT. Our latest venture is all ages big format full colour cover fun with a capital F! We didn't quite get to have a proper launch for this one, so let's celebrate it with some vigour!

- The regular cakes and sweets, available to all who attend, free of charge! Some home baked if you're lucky. If you'd like to bring your own baking, feel free!

- Small press from local creators available on the night, comics of all kinds available! Why not interrogate the creators themselves about where they get their crazy ideas from?

Date: Thursday, February 18, 2010
Time: 7:30pm - 11:30pm
Location: The Telegraph, Orchard Street, Newcastle, NE1 3NY
Street: Orchard Street NE1 3NY
City/Town: Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

paperjamcomics.blogspot.com

Movie mag Little White Lies is running a film to comics competition. If you can condense your favourite film into a six panel comic strip, you could have a page in the next issue of Little White Lies, sitting under a John Romita Jr Kick-Ass cover. Sound like fun? Well read the details and then get cracking because the closing date is the 12th of February.

In Don't Get Lost Making A Graphic Novel totemic small-presser Andy Luke details the typically atypical process he experienced in creating his graphic novel Don't Get Lost. It's fascinating stuff, as ideed is the novel itself - a fractured narrative that requires a willingness to submit to idiosyncratic storytelling, but which manages to coalesce into something meaningful and rewarding.

The latest issue, number eleven, of Paul Rainey's long comic There's No Time Like The Present is available now. Paul confirms that the series will conclude in two issues time. I haven't seen a copy of 11 yet, but Bugpowder chum Richard Bruton recently reviewed issue 10 on the FPI blog. TNTLTP really is a terrific comic - I recently read all ten issues in more or less one one go, and then sat snivelling for a few minutes while I recovered myself.

Watch Will Sliney's comic Age Of Heroes accrue. (Link via paddybrown.co.uk)

Over at blackshapes, Phil Barrett continues to cough up some sterling work.

From Bryan Talbot:

If you happen to live near Newcastle, I’ll be giving the “Grandville and the Anthropomorphic Tradition” presentation I did at BICS and the ICA at the Literary and Philosophical Society Wednesday 3rd February, 6.00pm. 23 Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SE Free to members, £2 for non-members. You can reserve a seat by calling (0191) 232 0192, emailing library@litandphil.org.uk or by calling in. If you reserve a ticket and are subsequently unable to attend, please let them know as they often have a waiting list.

For any of you who can receive the Discovery Channel, I’ll be appearing in an episode of “A Brush With Britain”. The series is about artist Charles Evans travelling around the country, painting scene from each place and meeting artists associated to the area. I’m in the one about Sunderland. The first showing is Sat Feb 6th at 8.30 pm on Discovery Real Time One hour later it will be repeated on the catch up channel "Real Time+", then at 12.30am again on Real Time and an hour later again on "RealTime+".

British independent Unico Comics is on the lookout for artists who can complete books they intend to publish in 2011! Paul H Birch has the story at speechballoons.

From Leonie O'Moore:

24 Hour Comic Challenge, Tyneside cinema, Newcastle Upon Tyne

SAT 13 MARCH, 10.00AM UNTIL SUN 14 MARCH, 10.00AM

FIGGIS ROOM & TYNESIDE BAR, FLOOR 3

Independent press organisation P.R.E.S.S. teams up with the Tyneside to deliver an exciting 24 hour event!

We’ll be testing you to your limits with this special challenge; to create a comic book in 24 hours. The story, the artwork, and the lettering will all be completed in the time allowed. No previous experience is necessary, only enthusiasm and ideas. Comic artists and graphic designers will be on hand to assist, and dinner and breakfast is included – and lots of coffee too! But if you just fancy a taster, there will be drop-in mobile phone drawing workshops, 24 min workshops, and
Drink and Draw sessions all across Saturday.
A round the clock creative event, not to be missed!

Entry: £15 for the 24hr event. Places are limited, and advance booking essential.

FREE for public drop-in during the day.

http://www.tynesidecinema.co.uk/

This Month sees the release of a new Bi-Monthly Print comic by Tommie Kelly. Called ROAD CREW: FOR SALE, its storyline deals with all the good things in life: death, success, magick, rock star ambitions, family relations and love. Read the prologue at http://roadcrewcomic.com/forsale/; buy the comic at indyplanet.com.

Gareth Brookes, on behalf of the Alternative Press Collective, sez:

We now have our own monthly show on Resonance FM, the first Alternative Press Hour features music by small pressers such as Shug, Paul O'Connell and an interview with Edd Baldry organiser of the London Zine Symposium and part of the Last Hours collective and an interview with Mike Lake who was a founding member of Forbidden Planet and Titan Distribution. He talks to us about the very early days of comics in the UK.

The show will go out on Friday the 15th January at 9pm, and will be (hopefully) archiving it with a link on the alternative press website

Secondly the Alternative Press Fair will happen again on the 13th February with, as usual, as many creators of comics, zines, bookarts, poetry etc as its physicaly possible to squeeze into St Aloysius Social Club! There will be a big party afterwards to celebrate our 1 year aniversary with music, open mic and djs, details as always on the alternative press website

Elsewhere, I'm giving away some art via the banal pig website

and

Good Grief! A new comic and zine shop in manchester!

Available at 3Darths Comics in Harlow and other selected comic shops is 'Glory Be', the surreal freaky shenanigans of your not-quite-average church congregation - Article here.

This looks like a must-have to me:

Featuring comic strip and articles, "...Vworp Vworp! is essentially a loving, affectionate look at Marvel/Panini’s Doctor Who comic strips and the magazine that spawned them – Doctor Who Magazine..."

Paul Gravett is re-launching Escape Magazine.

Recovered!
Charming Jim Medway talks about kids comics, location and teaching visual literacy. Adam Cadwell is along for the ride and Matt Badham orchestrates. A bit lengthy, educational and fun read. (MatthewBadham.com)

Carter's Column: Shang Ri La La La Episode 1 at Speech Balloons. (Subscribe via the RSS feed.)

Don't Get Lost is Andy Luke's stripblog - featuring a tale of abuse and survival.

Over at Speech Balloons, Paul Birch continues to share a delight of Christmas cards.

The John Freeman is also the editor on the forthcoming ILEX Books' Sci Fi Art Now and he's looking for illustrators. More details on the Downthetubes blog.

All sorts of talented illustrators, craftsters and some comickers too will be exhibiting their stuff at the Lancashire Zine, Artists Book and Multiples Fair in Preston, Lancashire on Fri 29th and Sat 30th January 2009.
More details at www.zinefair.com

Andy Luke is Comicking on the small press scene at Altern8.

Over at Speech Balloons Paul Birch reports that The Comic Book Alliance (CBA) is running a competition to design a new logo.