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THE BLOG AT THE CROSSROADS
Pencil It! : Free Manga & Graphic Novel Evening
Posted: March 22, 2011
PENCIL IT! is an innovative season of events, workshops, exhibitions and films across London Libraries in Westminster, Pimlico & Marylebone making the world of comics accessible to all. It all kicks off this coming Friday, March 25th, when the prestigious Westminster Reference Library, just off Leicester Square in central London, kindly invite me to join Ilya, author of Manga Shakespeare King Lear and The Manga Drawing Kit and editor of the three volumes of The Mammoth Book of Best New Manga, for PENCIL IT!, an exciting evening to discuss and celebrate comics, manga and graphic novels, how to read them, how to make them, how to enjoy them. Ilya and I will be presenting from 7pm to 9pm. They are also offering a workshop on drawing and illustration techniques by manga-inspired artists Tom Pearce and Declan Talbert from 5pm to 6.30pm. The whole shebang is totally free, they even provide you with materials, but due to demand you will need to book a place. Simply email Rossella Black on: rblack1[at]westminster.gov.uk or ring her on 020 7641 5250. Go on, book up right now and I’ll see you there!
French Passions: Posy Simmonds on Flaubert
Posted: March 21, 2011
Every month, between January and June 2011, a British writer is invited to talk about their favourite French author at the Institut Français as part of their French Passions season. In March it’s the turn of cartoonist Posy Simmonds. From the novel Madame Bovary to the graphic novel Gemma Bovery, Posy shares her passion for Flaubert. More…
Where: Institut Francais, South Kensington, London
When: Thursday, 24 March - from 7pm
This Week’s Article: Jean Van Hamme
Posted: March 20, 2011
For more than four decades, Van Hamme has been the writing mastermind behind several of the most popular bande dessinée or French-language comics, from Viking fantasy in Thorgal to high-finance action in Largo Winch and even stirring new investigations by those throughly British retro detectives Blake and Mortimer. In that time, his series have sold a staggering 33 million copies worldwide in 25 languages. Van Hamme has become a millionaire by totally transforming the Belgian comics industry. He has proved that graphic novels can become mainstream, mass-market best-sellers by combining page-turning genre storylines with dynamic, accessible graphics of the highest calibre. And nowhere is his genius at gripping narratives, compelling characterisation and complex, unpredictable plotting better demonstrated than in his 19-volume conspiracy thriller entitled simply XIII. Read the full article here…
This Week’s Article: Javier Mariscal
Posted: March 13, 2011
From devising Cobi, the mascot dog of the Barcelona Olympics, to conceiving his 2005 sculpture Crash!, an oversize reproduction of a seemingly exploding 1959 Chevrolet Impala, Javier Mariscal is a multifaceted, uninhibited force of natural creativity. This Spanish phenomenon is somehow able to dance in the high-pressure orbits of graphics, architecture, design, furniture, movies and art without ever losing his playful exuberance. He’s not so much in his second childhood as still enjoying his first. His next film project and exhibition, after last year’s acclaimed animated movie Chico & Rita, reunite him with his talismanic cartoon critters Los Garriris. Read the full article here…
Mattotti & McKean: Just A Few Tickets Remaining…
Posted: March 10, 2011
Just a few tickets are still available for the Comica Conversation on Saturday 12 March between Lorenzo Mattotti and Dave McKean.
The above images are taken form Mattotti’s new book The Raven, an extraordinary collaboration with Lou Reed, which reinterprets the stories of Edgar Allan Poe. Also available from Fantagraphics Books is Stigmata, which Mattotti has executed in a mad, expressionistic swirl of black lines. Available in May from Fantagraphics is Dave McKean’s new work Celluloid, in which he forges into new territory with this unique work of erotica.
Don’t miss this opportunity to witness a unique encounter between two of the world’s greatest contemporary visionaries from 6pm to 7.30pm, followed by book signings, at Goldsmiths University in South-East London. Book your tickets now.
Baby’s In Black
Posted: March 8, 2011
It is my pleasure to be introducing Arne Bellstorf at the above event to celebrate the launch of his masterful Baby’s In Black on Wednesday 16 March. This is a free event, but space is limited so please RVSP by 11 March. More details…
This Week’s Article: Milo Manara
Posted: March 6, 2011
The Italian artist and author Milo Manara is one of the world’s greatest illustrators of sensuous females in comics. He has built up a long, prestigious career creating literary and erotic graphic novels of his own, as well as collaborating with superstar scriptwriters, from film director Federico Fellini to Sandman scribe Neil Gaiman. This year, the English-speaking public will be able to discover nine of Manara’s masterpieces as Dark Horse Comics instigate a line of newly translated editions. Last November, I was lucky enough to meet Manara at the first Rio de Janeiro Comic Con in Brazil, where he was guest of honour and spotlighted artist in an impressive if slightly toned-down exhibition of his originals. Read the full article here…
Next Comic Festival: Manuele Fior
Posted: March 3, 2011
I’m looking forward to flying to Linz, Austria for the 3rd edition of the forward-looking NextComic Festival this weekend, where, among other things, I will be interviewing precociously gifted Italian graphic novelist Manuele Fior, who won Best Book of the Year at the Angoulême International Comics Festival with Cinq milles kilomètres par seconde (5,000 kilometres per second) published by Atrabile, Geneva, Switzerland. He’s also adapted Mademoiselle Else from the novel by Alfred Schnitzler. Hope to see some of you there!
This Week’s Article: Previews For April 2011
Posted: February 27, 2011
Alan Moore, Gilbert Hernandez and Jim Woodring are just three of the creators with new books out in April 2011. In the latest installment of my PG Previews series I highlight all the must-have books due to be released in April 2011. Read the full article here…
Comica Conversation: Mattotti And McKean
Posted: February 22, 2011
On Saturday March 12th, mesmerising Italian maestro Lorenzo Mattotti makes a rare visit to London to discuss his career in comics and beyond, including his latest graphic novel Stigmata, translated by Fantagraphics, and his collaborations, from his animated terrors in the movie Fear(s) of the Dark to illustrating Lou Reed’s concept album The Raven. Joining Mattotti in this Comica Conversation will be his friend and fellow artist Dave McKean, famed for his multi-media solo projects, most recently the erotic graphic novel Celluloid, and his works with Neil Gaiman notably on The Sandman. Don’t miss this opportunity to witness a unique encounter between two of the world’s greatest contemporary visionaries from 6pm to 7.30pm followed by book signings at Goldsmiths University in South-East London. Tickets are a snip at just £3 and bookable online now. More details…
Big, big thanks are due to the London Comic & Small Press Expo being held all day Saturday for providing the brilliant venue. And this special event would also not be possible without the support of the Falmouth University Open Illustration Forum taking place on Friday March 11th, which has brought Lorenzo Mattotti over and also invited John Vernon Lord, Orly Orbach and George Hardie for what promises to be a fascinating day of exchanging ideas and which I will be chairing.
