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.

The British Journal of Photography has a feature in it's latest issue on the recent strip Paul O'Connell (The Sound Of Drowning) did about the DRCongo using the photography of Marcus Bleasdale for the CTRL.ALT.SHIFT 'Unmasks Corruption' anthology. An abbreviated version of the text from the article and interview with Bleasdale is available to read online.

A solo show of ceramic figurines by Jon Williams - creator of Tales Of The Sidewalk - runs from Tuesday 8th Dec to Saturday 12th Dec at The City Gallery, Leicester. (Tuesday – Friday: 11.00am – 6.00pm; Saturday: 10.00am – 5.00pm.)

Private View is Tuesday night 6.30 - 8pm featuring complimentary mulled wine, breads and a live set by Liz from Firebugs Lava Lounge.

More Irish
Paddy Brown and Andy Luke will be at the Belfast Black Box Markets this sunday selling comics by North and South Irish creators. Confirmed for this weekend are their own works and those of Gar Shandley and Cathal Duggan, Deirdre de Barra, Hilary Lawler and others at Longstone Comics, Paddy Lynch, Davy Francis and Tommy Kelly with others to follow. Mr.Luke will also be premiering his festive zine, online shortly after.
The Black Box Comics table will be there the first Sunday in the month. More details at the Black Box website. Or via Andy or Paddy, often found at the Belfast Comics Pub Meet at The Garrick Bar the first Thursday of the month.

'Free Irish Comic Book Day' with Liam Geraghty & Philip Barrett.

‘Just What I Always Wanted’: An Exhibition of Irish Comic Book Artists.

BugPowder Pal Jimi Gherkin writes "just to let you know that the Alternative Press Fair 2010 will be held at St Aloysius Social Club, Phoenix Road, NW1 1TA (near Euston tube) on Saturday 13th February 2010. The event will start at around 12 noon, with the fair going til 7pm and then begins the evening fun as we celebrate one whole year of the Alternative Press! More details will be announced shortly please get in touch with peter for information on table bookings..."

So now you know.

Via Lee Grace, review some great looking pages from Machines, Miracles or Magic, a collective anthology of short stories and comics, with contributions from artists based in Ireland. Includes award winning Illustrators Alé Mercado, Chris Judge, Joven Kerekes, Nerosunero and Fintan Taite. (Featured strip by Chris Judge.)

Independents' Day is a D.I.Y. fair of zines, records, comics, info stalls, etc. With workshops, screenings, performances and exhibitions. The 2009 event is to be held from 12-5pm at the Dublin Food Co-Op, 12 Newmarket, Dublin 8. Workshops comprise:

12.30 – 2.00pm: Mini comic workshop. Ages 8+ by Paddy Lynch (creator of Last Bus).
In this workshop (roughly 1 hour in length) independent comic artist and publisher Paddy Lynch will take participants through the different stages of sequential storytelling, character creation and mini-comic making. Starting with the basics of sequential storytelling each participant will tell a simple "knock knock" joke in a four panel comic strip. Next, the group will collaborate with Phil (Matter) Barrett and Paddy in creating a cartoon character by combining attributes like "types of animal" with "type of occupation" (eg "Fox Postman", "Elephant Pilot",). Following this each person can create their own individual character to be used in a small 7 page mini-comic they can take home at the end of the class.

2.10 – 4.00pm: Make Your Own: Books, Zines and the Art of DIY Publishing by Natalia.
Natalia has been involved in Do It Yourself publishing for many years. From producing her own zine Sweet Olive, touring around the USA as part of a zine reading tour before returning to Dublin to set up Red Ink radical book and zine shop with husband Willie which between 2004-6 was a hotbed of independent publishing in Dublin. Now based in Leitrim, Natalia and Willie set up their own publishing company and recod label Stitchy Press. They have already released five records (by such Irish bands as Sea Dog, Party Weirdo, Excuses, De Novissimis, Heat Lightening) and their first book Transmorphosis & Other Short Story by Boris Belony. Here Natalia presents a two hour workshop that in her own words: “ sums up everything I know about diy publishing.”

4.15 – ?: History of Zine Making in Ireland by various.
Informal discussion by old time zinesters PA (A Nuclear Threat/ Paranoid Visions), Niall Hope (Whose Life Is It Anyway/ React) and more (tbc) chat about producing zines back in the day: their motivations, places to distribute, etc.

Mister Amperduke is now available in every comic shop in the Uk and the USA, so go order it before its too late. You have around 3 weeks - the code is nov090705 under Clamnut Comix.

The Forbidden Planet blog has been posting losing entries to the Observer/Random House comics competition. Here's another one by Paul Francis of Tidalism.

Albedo One issue 37 is released! This issue features an in-depth interview with renowned SF author Greg Egan and more informative and entertaining reviews from columnists Juliet E. McKenna and David Conyers. The cover, entitled "Moon 13", is courtesy of the highly talented Christian Podgorski. The issue is packed full of the best fiction, including "Safe" by Hugo Award-winning Robert Reed, an SF story that asks some rather important ethical questions. The issue also includes the 2nd place winner of the Aeon Award 2008, "Aegis", by D. T. Neal. There is some very distinctive work by Sara Joan Berniker, who at long last returns to the pages of Albedo One, Gustavo Bondoni, Richard Alan Scott, with a highy entertaining mythical addition to the life of Bram Stoker, Gareth Stack, who's first published story here presents a very unsettling cross of SF and Horror, and T D Edge, who provides what can only be described as a rip-roaring adventure.

Mister Amperduke has his own website...

At Speech Balloon (Birmingham Mail) writer Paul H Birch takes us behind the scenes of Carter's Column, and remembers Joe Ahern...

This week the Comic Cast sat down for a cup of tea with comics writer and artist Gerry Hunt. Gerry’s comics include In Dublin City, Streets of Dublin and the recently released Blood Upon the Rose – a retelling of the events of the 1916 Easter Rising published by The O’Brien Press. Here he talks about how he went from architecture to comics, working with BrenB (a frequent colourist of his comics), the importance of Irish made comics being set in Ireland and his next comic about the viking undead.

stevo's newsround

dont forget, its the second "are you zine friendly?" event this coming thursday, the 12th november, following the last hugely successful event as part of the alternative press festival last summer. all the details here, plus ziney news at the zinefriendly news blog

richard short has an interesting looking blog- have a look

more strips by matilda tristram here, here and here

also, its the thought bubble comics event on the 21st november which by last years standards should be excellent. I'll be launching my new book "Ethel Sparrowhawk's Terrible Hangover", and there'll undoubtedly by lots more great new stuff, including Hugh Raine's "find comet, hit comet, watch comet, sleep". see you there!

If you're in London this Sunday, don't forget to check out Comiket.

"For 2009 we’re relocating Comica Comiket to the ICA’s cool ground-floor Theatre which can accommodate even more tables and all in one room, handily right next to the Bar. The Theatre and Bar will also showcase a number of launch events for new titles released on the day.
Tickets: Free
Where: ICA Theatre & Bar, ICA, The Mall, London
When: Sunday, November 8, 2009 - 1pm to 6pm "

Featuring :

Aben Maler & Steffen P. Maarup
Alternative Press, Jimi Gherkin & Banal Pig Press
Atlantic Press & Steve Braund
Sean Azzopardi, David Baillie, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey & Douglas Noble
The Bedsit Journal & Richard Cowdry
Capes & Drapes & Van Nim
C2D4 & Martin Buxton
Cobalt Cafe & Zarina Liew
Cute But Sad Comics & Howard Hardiman
Decadence & David Lander
Donkey’s Tails & Christopher Bateson
Marc Ellerby, James McElvie & Kieron Gillen
Fabtoons & Francesca Cassavetti
Famicon - Leon Sadler, Stefan Sadler & Kitty Clark
Glyndwr University Graphic Novels Course (Dan Berry)
David Greene
Ink Soup & Graphic Short Stories @ BIAD (Chiu)
Aidan Koch
Last Hours & Excessive Force
Ellen Lindner & Jeremy Dennis
Philip Marsden
Kat McMorrine
Mild Tarantula - Josceline Fenton
Modern Monstrosity - Oliver Lambden & Laurence Powell
Will Morris-Julien
Murky Depths & Terry Martin
My Eye is on Fire & Chiu
Ninja Bunny - Philip Spence
Nobrow
Luke Paton
Pittville Press - Kieren Phelps
Popcorn Peacock - Timothy Gavin
Paul Rainey & Martin Eden
Karen Rubins, Gwen Kortsen & Paul Fryer
Savage Messiah & Laura Oldfield Ford
Semiotic Cohesion & Terome McNally
Skinny Bill Comics & Hannah Glickstein
Solipsistic Pop & Tom Humberstone
Space Babe 113 & John Maybury
Tempo Lush & Richy K. Chandler
Tozo - David O’Connell
TP Cat Melody Lee & Terome McNally
Ushio & Chris Bottoms
We Are Words + Pictures & Matthew Sheret
Timothy Winchester
Ali Winstanley & Edwin Rostron

GRINDER!! written by BugPowder-chum Matt Badham, drawn by many fabulous artists and one computer programmer, is coming.