Al Davison’s latest graphic novel is available for the first time at BICS this weekend. Previews at Davison’s Facebook. It does look rather lovely though…. and here’s the trailer to show you exactly what I mean.

(Alternative direct You Tube link)

This weekend it’s the big annual British International Comics Show in Birmingham on 16-17th October. A host of big names will be there, and there’s always the possibility you may miss some of the marvellous stuff at smaller tables. Which is where we come in…..

(Jason Cobley‘s Bulldog makes a triumphant return in Bulldog Clips #1, with a host of new short stories – details at his blog. And there’s also the second volume of The Best Of Bulldog (review of Vol 1 here). He’ll be at BICS sharing a table with Neill Cameron….)

(…. and speaking of Neill Cameron, he’ll have copies of Mo-Bot High available weeks before it’s official release – I’ve read it and it’s quite breathtakingly good.)

(David Wynne’s rather interesting looking Particle Fiction gets it’s first collection courtesy of Orang Utan Comics)

(Survival Stories from Sleepless Pheonix – the anthology originally planned from Insomnia Publications – will be coming out from it’s creators at BICS)

(Paul Rainey brings B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S. Volume 2 to Birmingham – review of Vol 1 here)

(Andrew Cheverton and Tim Keable’s excellent West: Distance #2)

(Graham Pearce is debuting his first Sgt Mike Battle collection at the show. “280 pages of freedom-loving fun for around £12.”)

(Steve Tanner at Timebomb is launching London Calling by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page)

(Rob Davis doesn’t have any new books or comics but he will be taking original art for sale and will have a selection of lovely looking prints, posters and postcards – loving the Doctor Who poster!)

(And sharing a table with Rob will be Warwick Jackson Cadwell, who’s promising his “deep sea diving samurai” comic Kani will be ready for Birmingham along with posters and art from his Gungle book, coming in 2011 from Blank Slate)

(Fall Of The Wolfmen from Andy Bloor and Accent UK gets a big event premiere at BICS)

(Matthew Craig has three new comics for BICS – the latest Bostin Heroes featuring the black country heroes, the completely revised and redone Trixie Biker Vs The Time Wastrel wherein “The Pixie-Powered Petrolhead” faces a middle-aged scientist looking to turn back time. Finally there’s a similarly rejigged Tryhard and Tearaway, the amazing adventures of two Welsh schoolboys.)

Happening this weekend – The British International Comics Show – 16th and 17th October at Birmingham’s Think Tank (directions and full details at the BICS site).

The guest list looks finalised, the events schedule looks packed and everything looks like it’s a go for BICS 2010. I’m not going to go through all the guests – there’s a full list here – but some of the notables include Charles Vess, Bryan Hitch, Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Yanick Paquette, Paul Cornell, Jock and many, many more:

But more than the guest list, take time to have a good look through the exhibitors list. Lots and lots of interesting comics people in there as well, from all sorts of backgrounds.

And, for the first time at their home town gig, the wonderful Nostalgia & Comics will finally be having their own exhibitor table at the show. We’re taking comics and graphic novels galore, loads of good deals – do stop by and say hello! (And you’ll notice how I still us “we” to talk about Nostalgia? 4 years out of it and still feel like I work there!)

The fun all starts on Friday 15th October when comic people galore will descend on Oceana to drink and talk comics. The two day event itself starts on Saturday 16th with a returning favourite event as co-organiser James Hodgkins plays host to “Comic Artists Flip Out” where the likes of Alan Davis and Staz Johnson will be live drawing and the resulting A2 masterpieces given to lucky members of the audience. And straight after that is what may well be one of the big, big draws of the weekend, as superstar marvel artist Bryan Hitch (The Ultimates) sits down for an hours conversation. The other big, big event has to be 11am on Sunday when Charles Vess has his own In Conversation event. Vess also has a strictly limited edition of 100 copies, exclusive to BICS 2010 of his adaptation of Peter Pan.

The one disappointment is that Tommy Lee Edwards, co-creator of Turf, can’t make it this year. But BICS is still promising something interesting to do with Turf; “Plans are underway to host a very special Turf event at BICS, even though Tommy Lee Edwards won’t be there in person, we still hope to bring you something a little special, with a surprise guest or two.” Could one of those surprise guests be Jonathan Ross, writer of Turf?

BICS has long established itself now as one of the premier comic shows of the year, attracting a very nice range of guests and exhibitors. I shall be there all weekend as usual, having a great time, just like I do every year. Do come and say hello.

Every year the show, run rather magnificently by James Hodgkins and Shane Chebsey, seems to get bigger, with more and more international and homegrown guests.

This year they have some genuine comics superstars in Bryan Hitch, Yanick Pacquette, Peter Gross, Tommy Lee Edwards, Charles Vess and many more. But BICS has always been about the great mix of artists, writers and comic fans with something for everyone no matter what flavour of comics you prefer.

BICS has recently announced the 2010 events lineup and there’s a wide range of interesting things happening across the weekend; from artists like Bryan Hitch and Charles Vess discussing their work to the sillier end of things with items like “Have I Got Comic News For You“, it’s a mixed and varied lineup with something to appeal to pretty much everyone attending. And if that’s not enough, there’s also I imagine the prospect of seeing Jonathan Ross at some point – he’s the writer of Tommy Lee Edwards’ Turf and the artists talk does include the mysterious phrase “With surprise guests, (maybe)“.

The one slight problem with last years show was the Friday Launch Party, which for reasons beyond the organiser’s control turned out to be less than we’ve come to expect. This year Shane and James are promising a return to the great night’s drinking and comics chat that we’ve become used to with a new venue (Oceana nightclub – just a minutes walk from our very own Nostalgia & Comics). All guests, exhibitors and early pre registered attendees get free entry to the launch party and like they say in their press release “What better way for fans to start their weekend of comics heaven, than mingling with their favourite comic creators?” For mingling, you may want to replace getting outrageously drunk.

More guests and more events will be announced nearer the dates. For updates and to order your tickets, see the BICS website.

(Charles Vess at San Diego Comic-Con 2004, via Geek Speek)

Yes, I realise it’s a little late. I meant to put something up last month when it was announced. Bad me. But anyway, news from the British International Comics Show, happening in Birmingham October 16th and 17th. The wonderful Charles Vess is making a very rare UK appearance and will no doubt be signing and appearing on panels throughout the weekend.

And whilst we’re on the subject of Vess, I assume most people are aware of his collaboration with Neil Gaiman on Instructions, “a fantastical new picture book about the rules to follow and how to get around if you happen to find yourself travelling in a fairytale world.” The video gives you all of Gaiman’s words but only a few of Vess’ gorgeous illustrations;

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWRvqO1MjIs

And one other bit of BICS speculation. Given that Tommy Lee Edwards is currently doing a signing tour supporting his new comic Turf written by Jonathan Ross and Edwards is coming over in October to Birmingham for BICS; I reckon an appearance by Ross is a pretty good bet.

News this week that another Comic Con is scheduled for 2010. Shane Chebsey and James Hodgkins are bringing another weekend of comics to Birmingham with the British International Comic Show (BICS) 2010.

The event takes place over the weekend of16th-17th October at the Think Tank, Millenium Point, Birmingham.

Very little going on at the official BICS website yet, but confirmed guests at this stage include: Vertigo’s “The Unwritten” team; Mike Carey, Peter Gross and Yuko Shimizu, Vertigo editor Pornsak Picheshote, Turkish creator Mahmud A Asrar,  Jonathan Ross’ collaborator on the “Turf” comic series Tommy Lee Edwards. And then there are all the UK based comic folks who will be there including Alan Davis, Charlie Adlard, Hunt Emerson, Sean Phillips, Jock and Steve Yeowell to name but a few.

More nearer the time.

“This year the guest list includes the complete creative team from Vertigo’s runaway success “Unwritten” including award winning illustrator Yuko Shimizu, writer Mike Carey and penciller Peter Gross. There will also be a special appearance by Artist Jimmy Broxton as visitors have the chance to take part in an exclusive “Unwritten” panel at the show. Vertigo editor Pornsak Picheshote will also be at hand conducting portfolio reviews and taking part in events.

Other big names flying in from across the world include Turkish creator Mahmud A Asrar and American Superstar Tommy Lee Edwards who’s work can be seen in the new Jonathan Ross penned series “Turf” .”

A large number of the UK comics creators will be there too of course, including Duncan Fegredo (Hellboy), Alan Davis (X-Men), Charlie Adlard (Walking Dead) and Sean Phillips (Criminal) to name but a few – I’m sure that list will grow considerably in the next few months.

The British International Comics Show took place in Birmingham over the weekend. And the show was a great success. Lots of fun, loads of great comics folks there and more attendees than ever according to one of the organisers James Hodgkins. My thanks to James and Shane Chebsy for organising the whole thing and inviting me along. Time for a few weeks off for both gents and then they can start thinking about next year!

But before the success of the Show itself came the traditional launch party. Previous years this had been held in Bennetts, an impressively large pub in the city centre with lots of space for comic folks to mingle and network plus the chance to let various folks impress us with their musical abilities with a selection of live comic bands.

But this year saw the venue changed to Bar Panama, off Birmingham’s Broad Street (later described by special guest Howard Chaykin as having “the sluttiest, trampiest women” he’d ever seen – which, for Mr Chaykin is surely some feat!). It was the sort of place you might have found yourself when you were 16 and could only get served in the very worst places in town. People arrived, looking forward to a nice, booozy night and were presented with a badly lit, cramped room with a badly stocked bottle bar and immediately wondered what the hell they were in for all weekend. (But it did get better). Downstairs at Bar Panama was no better; as we soon found out when we tried to escape to a bar that actually had draught beer. Twenty or so comic folks at one end of the room trying to have a nice chat and a DJ blasting out Drum & Bass across the empty room seemingly determined to make it as difficult as possible to hear the person next to you screaming into your ear. After an hour or so of this there was a mass exodus as comicdom spread to anywhere else they could find to drink. And drink they did as Twitter can show us…..

Andy Diggle: The BICS launch party is a f***ing nightmare. We’ve bailed – where’s everyone else heading?

Adam Cadwell: Back from BICS. Knackered. Had fun meeting new folk, chatting, drawing sharks and drinkin til 4am with Ben McCool. Our MCC table kicked ass.

Andy Diggle (again): Stayed up til 6am drinking with @benmccool. Still DUNK.

Paul Cornell summed up the whole farrago best: Stayed out talking comics: great. But missed @andydiggle in other pub. Next year: official pub sort out please.

(Just some of the folks out on launch party night who didn’t actually stay at the launch party. And I’m not really slandering anyone by saying they’re a touch worse for wear am I? L to R: Stephen Mooney, Jacintha O’Reilly-Mooney, Ben McCool, Declan Shalvey, Michael Wright, William Sliney. Borrowed with thanks from Stephen Tierney’s Facebook album.)

And you’ll notice a common thread in those tweets – one Mr Ben McCool, with whom I spent many fun years working at Nostalgia & Comics in Birmingham before he took his wonderful ideas and his incredible personality over to New York to seek fame & fortune (and completely unexpectedly, future marital bliss with one Heidi McDonald.) Ben is soon to grace comic shelves all over the world with his new book from Image; Choker, with art from the wonderful Mr Ben Templesmith. Meanwhile, Heidi was following Future Mr Beat’s progress with some interest. McCool later surfaced sometime on Sunday, wearing the look of a man who’d probably had more pints in two nights than minutes of sleep. And he wasn’t the only one. Comic folks sure know how to drink. Personally I left the drinking relatively early, with the idea that I’d actually be able to see on Saturday morning.

(Impressive, shiny, futuristic and, given this is the back entrance, rather built the wrong way – Millennium Point, location of the 2009 British International Comics Show.)

So Saturday morning I head over to the impressively aluminium Millennium Point and played the famous elevator game to get up to the Comic Show. Like last year they’d organised it with two rooms; the smaller Creator Suite and the larger Exhibition Hall. It was noticeable this year that there were less exhibitor tables, particularly in the main exhibition hall, but this was actually a good thing, with wider aisles and considerably less heat than previous years leading to a much more enjoyable experience. The exhibitors I spoke to all seemed to agree it was a very good show indeed, with many of them talking about having a great weekend sales wise.

(BICS 2009: less exhibitors on the main floor = more space to move and a much cooler and comfortable atmosphere for all involved. From all the report it also meant great sales on both days.)

Saturday was a work day, taking myself round the tables and saying hi to folks (okay, hardly real work I’ll grant you). This means I didn’t get to see any of the panels. Which, after hearing the reports, was a real shame. The “Comic Artists Flip Out” panel with James Hodgkins, Alan Davis, Staz Johnson, Mark Buckingham and more was extremely well received. Likewise the “70 Years Of Marvel Comics” with a nice mix of old school doom and gloom and new boy positivity (or so I hear). The one thing I have learnt this year is that whenever you get the chance to go to a panel featuring a longtime comics pro known for his great anecdotes and cutting sense of humour, you should really go along. I didn’t get to see Howard Chaykin’s panel, but based on the feedback, I really wish I had.

Later in the day Bryan Talbot held the UK Grandville book launch (as recently reviewed here) and the day ended with David Lloyd and Steve Merchant launching their very promising looking Comics Classroom project followed by the annual humiliation that is the Cosplay Competition – I hear Tony Lee was on form this year. He’s a bad, bad man.

Sunday was more of the same, a relaxed day for everyone, but exhibitors still reported a good, steady stream of fans and buyers stopping by. I took time out to visit a few panels and rest my aching feet at this stage. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see Sarah McIntyre interview the very special guest from Japan Michuri Morikawa, but from all the word around the net, it was a brilliant panel, as reported by Matthew Badham at Down The Tubes:

On Sunday morning, I made a point of sauntering along to see Sarah McIntyre interview manga artist Michiru Morikawa , which was just amazing. Part of this was down to Sarah, who was a great interviewer, and Michiru, who was interesting, humble and very charming…. Add to this a surprise cameo appearance and impromptu discussion of Michiru’s new graphic novel, Buskers by Jeymes Samuel, the man whose screenplay it was adapted from, and you’ve got one of my personal highlights of the whole weekend.

Or, like Sarah herself says: “Something very cool happened in the middle of her talk; she was saying she was sad she hadn’t been able to meet any of her co-creators, other than via e-mail, and suddenly one of them, Jeymes Samuel, said something like, ‘Hey, I’m here!’, and there was a big happy first meeting! Jeymes was able to talk about the film being made, and made Michiru glow with his effusive praise of her work. That was fun!”

(In what was meant to be the moment of the con – Morikawa meets Jeymes Samuel, the author of the screenplay she adapted Buskers from and whom she had previously never met. Borrowed from Sarah McIntyre’s blog.)

The panels I did get to see on Sunday were very entertaining indeed; Comics Insider with Tim Pilcher in the chair was a far too short look at all aspects of the industry – we could have carried on for at least another hour throwing ideas back and forth I think.  The Garry Leach: Covered panel was inspiring, with Leach creating a marvellous cover from scratch in front of the audiences eyes. And then we had the final panel, with James Hodgkins chairing a special comics version of the popular BBC quiz show -  Have I Got Comics News For You was a riotous, chaotic and downright silly end to BICS 2009, with Hodgkins taking the Angus Deyton role with all the professionalism of a man frazzled with weeks of non-stop prep for the weekend. Sadly, not prep for the final quiz, but that just made it funnier when it all went wrong. The teams consisted of Tim Pilcher, Staz Johnson, Tony Lee, Michael Wright and Mark farmer, but none of them could match the great Howard Chaykin who was on wonderful form again – making me really, really regret not seeing him on the Saturday. For example:

“As long as John Bryne is still alive it makes me only the second most despised man in comics” Howard Chaykin, BICS 2009.

And with that, BICS 2009 closed it’s doors. This years show was the best yet. Before the event there had been murmurings of displeasure over table prices, and talk of boycotts, but I have to say it was an excellent weekend, where everyone; public, retailers and creators, seemed to be having a great time. Numbers were up on last year, the whole venue seemed more open and comfortable and everyone seemed to have a rather wonderful time.

Thanks go to Shane Chebsey  and James Hodgkins for masterminding the whole thing but we mustn’t forget the small army of volunteers behind the scenes who try their best to keep everything running smoothly. This year, bar the little cock up over the launch party, everything went incredibly well.

BICS 2009 was a huge success. We shall all be looking forward to this time next year and BICS 2010.

More BICS stuff from the FPI Blog
Comic Show Part 2 (pics and stuff!),
BICS Links.

Richard Bruton.

I like Harker, the crime comic by Roger Gibson and Vince Danks. To see how much you merely have to trawl the FPI archive – start here. Well, this weekend at the British International Comics Show Vince Danks and Roger Gibson will be selling their hearts out, with (hopefully) issue 8 of Harker and copies of the first collection – The Book Of Solomon for purchase.

But whilst I mention them, did you also know that Gibson has now written up annotations for ever issue so far and they’re all up on the Harker&Critchley blog?

Or what about the completely free download of issue zero of Harker?

Harker – quite brilliant stuff. Give them your money.