Bics and Pieces

"Wow", as Tony Shahloub said in Galaxy Quest, "That was one hell of thing!".

The Death Star like Think Tank at Millenium Point

I think I have the shellshock under control now, apart from the tw-twi-twitching! But where to start? I started making some nice neat notes of everything that happened that I need to mention and it's ended up looking like the scribblings of a madman.

Let me try and break it down for you...

Very Special Thanks

The important bit first, then.

• Huge thanks to Shane Chebsey and James Hodgkins for organising a wonderful show yet again. The effort that goes into making something like this happen is mammoth, and I hope they are now having a well deserved rest.
  
  
  
• Special thanks to Lauren Anne Sharp for creating the Insomnia Trailer (which I will be putting up on youtube very soon) that was playing on the screens throughout the show.
  
  
• Thanks also to quilt artist Ferret for bringing along the showstopping Bad Rain quilt (I don't know if quilting books have ever sold at a con before this one, but we always like to be a the bleeding edge!),

Stephen Downey and Alasdair Duncan with Bad Rain

• Our unbounded gratitude to Sarah McIntyre who did an amazing job interviewing Michiru Morikawa in the brilliant panel about her work on the Sunday. She also invited Jeymes Samuel join in to talk about the comic and the upcoming Buskers film and the panel was described by Matthew Badham of Down The Tubes as "one of my personal highlights of the whole weekend." in his write up of the show.
  
  
• It was great to have so many Insomnia creators come to the stand over the weekend for signing and sketching. Not only was it lovely to see old friends we've been working with for a while now, and to meet others in person for the first time, but to hear you all talking so passionately to visitors about your work, and seeing their response is fantastic. Having people there from all around the world really brought home what an international family we are.
  
  
• To everyone who came to the stand to pitch, show portfolios or leave submissions, thanks for taking the time to do so. The standard was incredibly high once again, and seems to be increasing each year. I will hopefully have some news to come out of some of these discussions in the coming weeks.
  
  
• Of course this would not be complete without thanking everyone who came by the stand to buy books, look at previews, talk about what Insomnia is up to and what we are all about. We do it for you, you know :)

Book Launches

The con saw the first public appearances of Burke and Hare (Martin Conaghan and Will Pickering) and Buskers (Jeymes Samuel, Sean Michael Wilson and Michiru Morikawa).

I saw lots of people just gazing at and even stroking the beautiful cover designs by Rian Hughes (Burke and Hare) and Richard Johnson (Buskers). Seeing them join all the Insomnia books in a row on the table made my little heart swell with pride - I felt like a kitten in a cream factory.

Martin Conaghan and Will Pickering with Burke and Hare

When I say that Alasdair, valiantly manning the sales table, did not stop for a break the whole weekend I mean that literally. He didn't even get away for lunch, or a quick cup of tea, and had to snap quick bites of his sandwiches as an when he could! At several points I could not get back to the stand for the deep crowd around it!

Copies of Burke and Hare were going by the boxload, and the special con edition of Buskers with CD all but sold out. We have only a few copies left for the MCM Expo show in 3 weeks, so anyone who wants to be sure of getting a copy might want to order it from us directly before then.

Following Michiru's interview on Sunday we had a point where we literally could not get the books onto the table quickly enough for people to buy them and get them signed. It sounds like Crawford will be making a visit to the film set soon, but more and that (and pictures we hope!) in the coming weeks.

Michiru Morikawa and Jeymes Samuel with Buskers

Sadly we could not even get away to the Sunday panel for publishers and retailers to explore how to improve sales in the current market, as we were too busy selling! People were still coming up to make last minute purchases as the stand was being packed away. Alasdair had to retrieve the cashbox from where it had been packed away, get copies back out of their boxes again.

Given the current economic climate all we can say is "Thanks everyone!"

Reviews and Interviews and Podcasts

There was quite of bit Insomnia based podcast activity going on before and during the show:

• Cy Dethan talks about Cancertown and his upcoming work on Comic Book Outsiders and why Richard McAuliffe thinks he is "...a lovely bloke, but one intense looking Motherf**ker"
  
  
• The Geek Syndicate do the first ever review of Burke and Hare, coming to the conclusion that the book conclusively proves to them that "comics are a medium, not a genre". Way to go Martin and Will!
  
  
  
  
• The Sidekick podcast fought their way to the stand and interviewed Alasdair about Insomnia and what we get from doing events like this, and Martin and Will about the launch of their book. "I was truly blown away...These guys have lived and breathed this story and it shows in every part of this chilling and macabre production."
  
  
• Just in time for the show the guys at the Temple APA brought out a mammoth size issue 5 which has a large section on Insomnia including interviews, reviews, previews of upcoming books and some never before seen artwork. We have David Hailwood and John Kirkham to thank for bringing this monster to life.
  

New Signings and Teams

We are pleased to announce:

• Lauren Ann Sharpe joins the Quarantine team as colourist, along with Michael Moreci, Monty Bloor and Jim Campbell. This is her second Insomnia book and long may it continue.
  
  
• Shock Theory by Celeste Sharp:
  
  "After a horrific tsunami, England is abandoned and forgotten; even by history. Rising from dark times, a single city known as Hubris is suspended in the Sky, providing a new life based on technology and social order. The N.O Government has put the clocks back to zero and reinvented London as a completely clean slate for a prosperous society and economy... But Hubris wasn’t just built on the ruins of London; it was built on shock. "
  
  Set in a dystopian England, where the totalitation regime uses the Techframe to control its citizens using shock and sedation, Shock Theory draws on the dystopian heritage of George Orwell and Philip K. Dick, woven with theories of investigative journalist, Naomi Klein, to follow Eva and her companions as they attempt to unravel the sinister nature of Hubris and offer the only resistance to the tyrannical Dr.Shock and the New Order government.
  
  
• Gamebreaker by Cy Dethan
  
  "Those who even remember the legend of Bloodshot Iris and her insane, megalomaniacal schemes consider her a myth. They’re right – and like all great myths there’s a potent, even dangerous, nucleus of truth at her core. When the greatest villain of the Cold War emerges from retirement to reintroduce a disaffected world to the glorious chaos it once knew, she has only one target in mind – her nemesis, the ultimate superspy: Capablanca."
  
  Spiralling Insanity returns to the British spycraft scene as the last remnant of the Cold War makes her bid to kick-start the era of the psychedelic super-spy
  
  If you visit Cy Dethan's blog you can brave The Citadel of Comics: A Fantasy Convention in which YOU are the hero and experience the trials and tribulations of convention pitching yourself.
  
  It may be the maddest blog post ever made - you have been warned!
  
  
• Dream Solver now has it's own blog where you can follow the progress of the book in production.
  

Best of The Rest

• Walking through the door on the first day of the con, what was the first table I encountered? Why it was the good Dr Bryan Talbot himself. Pouncing on a copy of Grandville as soon as I could, before even going to the Insomnia stand, he sketched a badger in the front of it while we had a good chat about how the book was doing (very well, with a seque, Grandville, Mon Amour, already underway), how great it has been to have his intro to Cancertown, and the possiblity of a Luther Arkright sequel as he mentioned in a recent interview on the Forbidden Planet blog last week. We went to his talk later in the day and it was mind blowing. The man is truly a comics god.
  
  
  Bryan Talbot (borrowed from Down The Tubes)
  
  
  Bryan is doing the talk at a number of locations as part of the launch tour, and you should try to catch it.
  
  
• Had a lovely time chatting to the lovely Fetishman creators, while coveting a beautiful coat that one of them was wearing, and admiring his magnificent moustache. They do a hilarious illustration of just how absurd some of the proposed new laws are that could affect comics - but you'll have to catch them at a con and ask them to do it. Describing it in words would not do it justice!
  
  
  The Fetishmen!
  
  
  

  And if you haven't encountered Fetishman before you should buy it. It's up to issue 9 now and it is laugh out loud funny.
  
  
  
• The Robosteel sculptures were truly a sight to behold with their 2.5metre sculpture of a Transformer, made all from scrap metal and weighing 155kg!
  
  They do smaller pieces as well - and I think that one of them is going to find a new home with me as soon as my house move is done.
  
  
• I got to catch up with Tony and Martin. the C2D4 crew, eat their sweets and admire their new collected edition of Jack In The Box.
  
  
• Shout outs to our friends at Markosia, Monkeys With Machineguns, Orang-Utan comics, Timebomb, Murky Depths, Comic Book Outsiders, Geek Syndicate, Small Press Big Mouth and Comic Racks - I wish I could have spent more time with you!
  

Special Offers

We will extending our convention special offers for those that could not make this show or cannot get to the MCM take a look at our website for details on how to order.

... And Finally

Crawford made a very special visit to a secret location before flying back to Edinburgh on Monday. Hopefully I'll be able to tell all about that next week!

Until then...

Buskers: First Look

This week we have a 15 page preview of Buskers to read to whet your appetite for the launch at BICS 2009 in a few short weeks.

The special signed limited convention edition that will be available from the Insomnia stand at BICS comes with a CD featuring music by the Bullitts.

If you are coming to the show and want to reserve one, then email us and let us know.

MILK Exhibition and Launch Party

The MILK exhibition in the at the Fine Art Library in Edinburgh starts this week and runs through the whole of September.

There will be the opportunity to buy some of the original artwork during the course of the show, although, of course, you won't be able to take it home until the exhibition has ended.

The gallery is open open 10-8 Mon- Thurs, 10-5 Fridays and 9-1 on Sat.

You can order the special edition hardback from amazon now!

News Round Up

Quite a few little snippets this week:

• Head over to Andrew Croskery's blog if you want to hear the real story of how Kronos city came about. Or if you want to see an artists impression of how colourist Lauren Anne Sharp thought it happened have a look at her page first.
  
  Kronos City is developing at a blistering pace. Here is a first look at a mysterious and dynamic page from chapter two.
  
  

• Jennie Gyllblad is back from her trip to Sweden and cracking on with Butterflies and Moths. Have a look at her blog to see her work in progress, a really expressive speedpaint and a splash page where you can even recognise the picture on the bathroom wall! What's more impressive is that Jennie's work is all real hand painted watercolours, so no "undo" button there.
  
  
• Cancertown artist Stephen Downey was pleased to find, to his complete surpise some Cancertown sketches from Northern Irish artist Darren Reynolds on his blog.
  
  Stephen says: "I love his interpretations and really hope to see them in person if he brings them along to the next Belfast comics creators meetup. I only really know Darren's art through his blog, but I love his style and really want to see more."
  
  
• Our podcasting friends from the Geek Syndicate Network (Including Insomnia writer Richard McAuliffe) are going to be featured in an upcoming prog of the Judge Dredd Megazine talking about their shows. It will be Rich and co-host Flint on "Everything Comes Back To 2000AD", Barry Nugent on "Geek Syndicate", Iz McAuliffe on "Comic Racks" and Jimmy Aquino on "Comic News Insider". They are not sure which prog number exactly yet, but it should be out in October / November.

That's all for this week, I'm off to enjoy the bank holiday and think about what the Disney take over of Marvel means for the industry!

All Aboard for Kronos City

The last week has been incredibly busy with 3 new books to get to press, and a trip to Birmingham to launch the first ever comics/quilting crossover (more on that later).

But we are not the only ones working hard. The first chapter of Kronos City (and much of the second) is now complete and in celebration of that fact we have put the first 16 pages up as a free ebook preview.

Writer: Andrew Croskery
Pencils: Alex Willmore
Colours: Lauren Anne Sharp
Letters: Jim Campbell

And here is what they have to say about seeing it all come together as a book for the first time:

Andrew says:

"I’ve really been enjoying writing Kronos City. It started off as one short story inspired by a throwaway comment from my housemate and then snowballed into a big story as it absorbed a couple of other ideas and characters and it’s been great being able to bounce ideas around the Kronos City team and have it all come together.

Alex, Lauren and Jim are doing a great job at the art and lettering. That first page is awe-inspiring and they’ve really made the characters and the city itself come alive.

My scripts can be pretty lengthy as my mind starts to spew details into the scene descriptions, and Alex and Lauren are amazing at capturing all the little background touches. There are some scenes coming up that I’m really exited to see how they come across on paper, particularly when the city gets hit by a time storm, and the poor wee pigeons get turned into skeletons and eggs.

Seeing the final coloured lettered pages has been truly staggering, with Lauren’s colours adding a great sense of atmosphere and Jim’s European style lettering fits really well with the art. And there’s a real buzz telling people I’m writing a graphic novel, so thank you Insomnia for that. This has just upped the excitement quotient by a large degree!!"

Alex says:

"Working on Andrew's script has been great fun so far! The world Andrew has created is surely an exciting and original one. When Lauren and I first read the script we were blown away by the diverse and original world of Kronos City and it's bizarre residents. Andrew's scripts are so insanely detailed that sometimes trying too fit everything into a frame can seem daunting but once that's been achieved it becomes apparent that all these small details make the city and characters really come alive!

Kronos City is the first graphic novel Lauren and I have worked on and it's been a real learning experience, I'm continually picking up on little ways to improve as I go along. It's also really useful that Lauren and I share a house as it makes the whole process a lot quicker and easier than if I had to send off my inked pages. Which is nice. Working on Kronos City is a real joy! Despite working on a number of other illustration jobs it's always Kronos City that I'm excited to drop everything and get stuck into! Cheers Insomnia!"

Lauren says:

"My favourite thing about Kronos City has to be the water. Working digitally makes life so much easier, especially with the 'edit-undo' function. However there's something so free and spontaneous about working traditionally in watercolour, so when it comes to the scenes viewed in the Kronos Water, it's fab. And luckily for me there is more of that to come!

I love being a colourist! Even when I find my role being compared to the activities of 3 year olds (sigh). Every day I see Alex painstakingly studying the correct angles and figures to get everything perfect. Colouring is such a relaxing thing for me. So thanks Insomnia for giving me a stress free job that I actually enjoy!"


Bad Rain Hits Birmingham

This weekend saw the unveiling of Bad Rain, the immense "double page bedspread" from Cancertown by the award winning maverick quilter and textile artist Ferret.



The finished piece is 90" by 70" (that is about 15 times the size of the original art, and half as long as me again!) so to see it for real was nothing short of incredible. People's mouth's were literally dropping open as they came around the corner in the gallery where it was hanging.

It makes the Badmouths at the front of the piece actual size, which is somehow very upsetting!

Seeing the scene done in fabric, scale aside, adds other interesting dimensions to the art. The tension of the thread against the different fabrics, and the fact that it is hanging up, cause slight ripples and fluctuations in the surface, which in turn cast different little shadows depending on the angle of viewing. This, combined with actual physical texture, really brings out the nasty, mutable, "everything's alive" quality of the Cancertown locations.

The reactions of the quilters at the show (The Festival of Quilts - think of it as the San Diego Comic Con equivalent for textile artists) were incredibly positive. We really had no idea how this kind of thing would be received by the traditional quilting world. It was not only the handful of existing comics readers who happened to be there who were into the work, either, and we found ourselves discussing magic realist horror noir with fascinated elderly ladies who had never read a comic (although they might now!) as much as the younger textile and fashion students who were around.

As always the fascinating conversations you find yourself in at art based event were wonderful, but I did particularly enjoy getting chatting to an American visitor about "needle based art" and the really quite short distance between textile art and tattooing (prompted by the fact that Ferret had some pieces done on leather and skins and also a huge quilted piece of the dragon from her own tattoo).

The Forbidden Planet blog has already suggested a Mega City One piece, and Tank Girl was also proposed by a visitor to the show. Ferret is keen on doing more comics based work, so keep an eye on her blog. If you're an artist or publisher interested in working with her, drop me a line and I can put you in touch.

We had copies of the book with us to show the origin of Bad Rain and not only did sales go into double figures, but 2 visitors had even seen Cy was going to be there and had brought along their own copies to be signed - which was not really what we expected at a quilting convention!

At dinner on the Saturday night I found myself sitting next to an incredible lady by the name of Jennie Bowker. Now, not being familar with the names of quilters I did not know that this was as if I was sitting next to the Alan Moore of this medium! In addition to doing great and very thought provoking work in fabrics, she is an amazing photographer, and, as it turns out a reader of graphic novels - so we had a great time talking about the power of comics and the expansion of the art form. She also taught me a great psychological experiment to do with drawing a cartoon face :)

Ferret will be updating her blog over the coming days with other work that was on display at the show including her dragon, the amazing Phoenix Rising and the nude portraits for which she very well known.

We are hoping to be able to get Bad Rain on show at BICS - watch this space.

Crawford Coutts Under The Spotlight

This week Crawford was interviewed by Bob Heske for his column Indie Creator on Invest Comics.

Find out about the past, the future and what comics he thinks would save us in the face of an alien invasion.

Sharing The Love

A message from Barry Nugent of The Geek Syndicate

Geek Syndicate meets Jonathan Ross!

In this special episode join Dave and Barry as they chat with celebrity geek and comics fan Jonathan Ross.

During the interview Jonathan tells the lads where his love for all things geek ,especially comics, started. He also reveals why he would never own a comics shop again.

Jonathan explains why is unable to attend comic conventions as much as he would like.

There's some talk about the adaptation of Mark Millar's Kick Ass that Jonathan's wife, Jane, is working on as well his view on comic to film adaptations.

Jonathan has his feet firmly placed in the Marvel comics camp. He explains why and shares some of his favourite creations. He also tells a very interesting story about his encounter with Steve Dikto.

The guys discuss with Jonathan why he decided to write his own comic. He reveals the title and gives us a few details on the project.

Enjoy!

So now I have lots of emails to read having been away for 4 days - and I know one of them contains the music files for the CD for the special edition of Buskers. More on that next time.

Until next week

Buskers: The Graphic Novel

Popquiz, hotshots: What do the artists Mos Def, Kevin Spacey, Damon Albarn, Ian Brown, Sean Michael Wilson and Michiru Morikawa have in common with Insomnia Publications?

A: All of the above are involved in some way in with Jeymes Samuel's BUSKERS project, some with the comic, some with the music, some with the independent film.


BUSKERS is an offbeat tale set in contemporary London with an array of odd but realistic characters. The comic book is based closely on a screenplay written by singer and writer JEYMES SAMUEL (who might be tired of being refered to as the brother of the singer SEAL, but just so those not familiar can get an idea) .


It's written by Sean Michael Wilson, who we profiled when we announced the recent signing of his book, Conway, and is illustrated by Michiru Morikawa, an incredibly talented Japanese artist who won the International Manga and Anime Festival Award a few years back.

“Yet you get into a full blown fight over Joni Mitchell and I have to just suck it up. I mean, what is it with you and Joni Mitchell? As soon as Gary’s face heals he’ll be looking for me, because of you and Joni Mitchell. I had to do a pick up from Terry Ryan because of you and Joni fucking Mitchell.” - CABBAGE

I just loved the dialogue from the very first balloon.

Jeymes is currently working on the film version of BUSKERS and the different versions will complement each other.

He says:

"I was a comic geek since I’ve been able to read so it was an absolute necessity for me to have a graphic novel of BUSKERS whether I was making a film or not.

I liaised with Mike Lake (the founder of Forbidden Planet comic stores), who then introduced me to the the cult pen-man Sean Michael Wilson, who in turn brought on the IMAF Award winning Manga artist Michiru Morikawa. Thus began the creation of BUSKERS: The MANGA graphic novel."

You can find out more about the film version, and its soundtrack, on the Buskers Movie Blog.

This is how Jeymes summarises the story:

"Timothy Book is considered a big success amongst his peers – a high ranking job in banking, plush city apartment and trophy girlfriend to top it off. He’s on top of the world – until he crashes back down to earth with an almighty bang!

After underhand dealings at work lead to a police escort off the premises and a botched suicide attempt on the Thames, he turns up on the doorstep of ex best friend Cabbage, a streetwise busker who Timothy fell out with many years ago.

Cabbage inhabits the exciting underbelly of London’s colourful busking scene and Timothy is introduced to a side of life that he has never experienced. As he tries to claw his way back to his previous self he becomes embroiled in Cabbage’s eventful and often dangerous lifestyle and begins to fall for the lovely Variniana – Cabbage’s beautiful girlfriend.

Timothy falls deeper into the busking scene and is forced to re-evaluate his former existence, friendships and relationships while embarking on an eventful journey back to the real Timothy Book." Buskers the comic will be launched at BICS 2009 in Birmingham, UK where we will have a very special edition of the book (signed and limited to 100 copies), including a "Buskers Demo CD", with previews of a number of songs from the incredible soundtrack by The Bullitts.

If you cannot get to the show this year there will a number of books set aside for pre-order by paypal. You will need to email me at nichola[at]insomniapublications.com for details. Also if you want to be sure of getting your hands on one at the show, you can reserve your copy for pick up on the day.

The creators will be on the Insomnia stand at various points throughout the weekend, watch this space for more details as the event approaches.

Sean is a special guest of the show and will also be speaking on a panel showcasing his AX: Alternative Manga work for the godfather of indie publishers, Top Shelf.

New Signings

• Babble by Lee Robson and Bryan Coyle
  
  "Carrie Hartnoll is a working class English girl stuck in a life going nowhere fast, but after a chance meeting with her old university professor she heads to America to start a new job as part of his research team.
  
  The team works to resurrect the mythical language of Babel - a language, Curtis theorises, that can be understood by any human being - and use it as the basis for the world's first universal translator.
  
  In this tale of dead languages and deadly secrets it’s not what you say, but how you say it that counts. "
  
  Lee and Bryan have worked together before, with work appearing in the Accent UK anthologies and Futurequake
  

• Sun Moon by Matt Gibbs
  
  Not about to let Matt slip away now he has completed the frankly wonderful Ion Monger's Daughter script we have signed him up to a second project, Sun Moon.
  
  "One ageing, one eternally young, two lovers must overcome the growing gulf, as their differing social classes remain locked in an endless cycle of oppression.
  
  Exploring love, devotion and duty, SUN MOON is the story of star and time crossed lovers, set against a backdrop of environmental disaster and segregation. One of the underclass, Leto is the son of a cryogenic engineer and destined to follow in his father's footsteps. A member of the ruling elite, Selene is a young and gifted scientist and one of Leto's cryogenically frozen charges. As the years pass they fall in love, against the conventions of their segregated society and the counsel of their friends and peers.
  
  For Leto their affair is a few brief days grabbed every few years, for Selene it is the passage of weeks, watching him grow from a boy to a man much older than her. As the years move on Leto becomes a dissident, rebelling against the injustice and oppression of their society, forcing Selene to choose between him and all that she has known."
  
  Matt says:
  
  "I’m really excited and grateful that Insomnia has signed Sun Moon. I’ve been kicking around the idea in one form or another since before The Ionmonger’s Daughter and the opportunity to realise it now, as a graphic novel, is fantastic.
  
  It is great keeping Sun Moon in the family, so to speak. Working with Larry and Insomnia on The Ionmonger’s Daughter so far has been a delight. Chatting with people on Twitter, reading people’s blogs, it is obvious everyone who is part of Insomnia is doing work they love, and it shows in the atmosphere and attitude of all involved.”
  

• A big welcome to letterer Jim Campbell who will be joining the Kronos City team, for starters. Jim also works with Classical Comics on their range of graphic novel adaptations of classic literature, and for Zenescope's Grimm Fairy Tales.
  
  Jim's sensitivity to the art in devising his lettering styles is exquisite, and I'm incredibly pleased to have him on board.
  

Rachel Robbins: Sidhe-Wolf Of the North!

Proving that not only is she a great writer, but a bit of secret artist on the side here is what Rachel "Sidhe" Robbins has been up to instead of writing her script:


Rachel says:

"This piece --titled "In the Dark"-- features a blindfolded Brigid O'Connor, Queen of the Bean Sidhe.

The story is an amalgamation of mixed mythology, twisted history, and borrowed genres.

Our book is a celebration of collaboration and the marriage of contraries and this piece is an expression of exactly that: darkness juxtaposed with light, Celtic paganism, gothic mentality - multi layered in both themes and media"

Combining various elements from both creators: Kevin's modified drawings, Rachel's painting/collaging, Sharpie (!), various paper textures, random glossy clippings, etc. the collage truly reflects the nature of Sidhe I: The Howl and is a perfect expression of the minds of two creators truly working as one.

The knot is a letter taken from the Book of Kells. Rachel is offering a free copy of "In the Dark" to the first Redeye reader who can translate! Go to the new Sidhe facebook group for full details.

I've been talking with Kev Crossley and Rachel about some incredible ideas for the presentation in this book - you've been warned!

Insomnia On The Road

• Cancertown Signing and Comics Workshop in Waterstones, Newport, Isle of Wight. As well as a signing with Cy Dethan we're going to do a bit of a comic workshop, open pitch session and portfolio reviews. Anyone who's interested will be able to take a look "behind the curtain" and see how the whole process works
  
  In other Cancertown news I was pleasantly surprised to find, on a random visit earlier this week that the free ebook preview of the complete chapter one has now had over 100,000 views.
  
  Visit our ebook page on our website to see what other previews we have for you.
  
  

• Half Term Seminar: What Makes A Comic with Alasdair Duncan
  
  On Tuesday 21st of July writer Alasdair Duncan will be holding an Insomnia workshop in Colchester Central Library from noon onwards.
  
  Topics covered will include what is a comic; where you find comics; how do comics differ from prose and paintings ans illustrated texts. Practical sections will explore using a familiar sequence of events to look at scripting, layout, artwork and types of panel progression.
  
  It will all be very much hands on, with with lots of examples and exercises.
  
  The workshops will run approximately one every 8 weeks, with the students having produced a book by the end of the course that will be published with the help of the library.
  

The Oxfam Comics Event sounds like it was a great day for all involved. Here is the piece from the Evening News that appreared the night before the event (click on image to read full size version):



Crawford writes:

"I arrived at the McDonald Road Library with banner, table and previews in hand and my glamorous assistants - my girlfriend, Audrey and my good friend, Matt. We were the first to arrive and met up with Jamie, one of the organizers from Oxfam who had very kindly arranged for Insomnia to come along and be a part of the Edinburgh event. While Jamie was busy setting up all the stock from the Oxfam shops, including some Akira, Ghost in the Shell, 2000AD, Nightmare on Elm Street, and a copy of Insomnia’s Cages (which was purchased later in the day) John McShane, Publisher of the Bogie Man (amongst many other things), former owner of A1 Comics in Glasgow and the panel chairman for the event arrived.

Soon after, Ferg Handley (Commando, Spiderman) and our very own Insomniac Stevie White (MILK) appeared. Stevie had brought along some of the original pages from MILK to put on display.

I was introduced to Barbara Bryan who’s producing a graphic novel on Human Trafficking which sounds very interesting, and Ben Morgan (Zoo Keeper) arrived later on, along with Callum Carr, who is contributing to the next layer zero and currently talking to us about some longer projects.

On the first panel, talking about “Comics in Scotland: Scottish Comic Creators” were John McShane, David Bishop, Ferg Handley, Stevie White and myself. This was a light-hearted discussion about how we’d all become interested in comics, our backgrounds, and our inspirations.

At the first interval I spoke briefly with David Robertson (Carnoustie Library) and Jeremy Briggs (Down the Tubes). Before the next panel I gave a short presentation on Burke and Hare, showing the eight pages which are currently available to view on MyEbook and two exclusive pages which have never been seen before. The second panel was a discussion about “The Up’s and Downs of Small Press Publishing”. This time David Bishop took to the audience and we were joined by Bad Press and Wasted’s Fraser Campbell for an insightful look at Small Press from screen to print and distribution.

I spoke with Lyndsey Hutcheson, who’s producing a piece for the Burke and Hare Gallery in the book, briefly at the second interval and Fraser about his work on Wasted. Meanwhile, Stevie spoke with visitors about MILK and was able to show off some of the incredible artwork he’d brought along. The last session of the day was “Inspirational Scotland: Why do so many comic folk come from Scotland?” with the original 5 members, David and John brought up interesting discussions about 2000AD and Ferg spoke about his work on Spiderman in Edinburgh and much about his work on Commando and using locations in the highlands of Scotland.

Concluding the comics fest we headed along to Pearces Bar (on Elm Row) for a good bit of “after-party networking”. Amidst the consumption of numerous pints there were thoughts and suggestions bouncing around of a monthly meeting with the Edinburgh local creators. If any of the folk that were there are reading this, please get in touch with me and we’ll see what we can arrange!

It was fantastic to be a part of the Oxfam Comics Fest, and I hope all the visitors found the topics interesting… we’re already discussing what to do for next year!

My thanks to Stevie for coming along and braving an audience, and to Jamie and Andy, from Oxfam for inviting us and for putting together a superb event."

And Finally...

The Geek Syndicate are running a competition to celebrate the DVD and Blu-ray release of Watchmen on July 27.

Paramount Home Entertainment and Empire have teamed up to offer you the chance to meet Dave Gibbons and also have him draw your favourite Watchmen character!

More details on the Geek syndicate website - but quick though, it closes on 23rd July.

Bryan Talbot was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Arts last week by the University of Sunderland. This is the first time such an award has been given to a comic book artist.

Bryan says:

"This doctorate, a first in the UK for work in the comics medium, is an indication of the growing recognition of the graphic novel as a respectable vehicle for entertainment, education and communication and the medium itself as a legitimate art form. There's still a lot of prejudice and preconceived notions of what comics are but we're getting there."

Congratulations to Bryan, and well deserved. He's been blazing the trail for all of us for decades, and he's still as far out in front as ever.

Read the full story and see a picture here.

See, it's not all happening at San Diego.