Sarah McIntyre has a fair few pictures of the event…lots more at her post: Drawing Parade sounds, and looks great,  …. here’s Sarah’s Philippa Rice photo, doing a great My Cardboard Life / FF collage mash-up:

And another from Sarah… the main hall:

Can you spot a problem with that picture? All I can see is the complete lack of space for exhibitors and punters alike.

And then I read John Allison’s report on it, where he brings up the aisles, the space, and the problem of the two roomed venue; one room busy, one deathly quiet it seems:

“Firstly I’d like to thank the organisers and staff, who were helpful all day. The drawing parade was fascinating to watch and I was well looked after throughout.”

“But I cannot ignore the elephant in the room: the hall was near-impossible to traverse. Three people could not pass down the aisles simultaneously, so it was very dificult for people to browse your work comfortably most of the time. Exhibitors on the central aisles were crammed in back to back with almost no room for manoeuver, and it was hard to stand up and engage with people face to face because there was inevitably a chair in your way, buckling you at the knees.”

And then I got around to reading the report by Dan Berry, who also brings up the aisle thing, the problems with having a main and second (far, far quieter) hall, and goes one further… with a comprehensive set of very reasonable suggestions for improvements…

“I’ve had some thoughts on how to make comics shows better for exhibitors. Happy exhibitors make for better shows I think.

1. Aisle space. There’s nothing worse than having people’s bags or jackets inadvertently knocking your precious comics onto the floor or having your table blocked by people just trying to get past. Here’s what organisers need to do; in setup, get the three huskiest members of the team to stand face to face with big camping rucksacks on and then try to squeeze past between the tables. Can’t do it? Not enough aisle space.

2. Exhibitor space. Same as above really, but with chairs in the equation too. Some kind of left-luggage or cloakroom would be ideal.

3. Timings. Having time at the start before visitors arrive to look through what everyone else has on display would be great. It’s not essential, but if it is a particularly well attended show, this may be the only chance people get to see other people’s work. Trying to get everyone in and set up can be a challenge, but trying to get all the visitors out as well as getting all the exhibitors and their tables packed away at the same time is horrible. Giving exhibitors an extra half hour at the end to pack up without having someone trying to buy something from you or having someone hurry you along to fold down your table would be great.

4. Hospitality. It would be worth considering having some kind of organised drinks-run system. At the moment, if you want a hot drink, you have to abandon your table and fight through the crowds to bring back a half-spilled lukewarm drink. Using a portion of the profits from selling tables to pay someone to fetch refreshments for exhibitors would result in an awful lot of goodwill.”

And then I see co-organiser of Comiket Paul Gravett has commented on both of these posts:

“Hello and thanks for everyone’s valuable feedback here. Megan, Peter and I are glad most people had a great Comiket last Saturday but we do understand there were problems with the downstairs room for some exhibitors. SOOO we have offered to either refund those exhibitors affected in full or offer them the same equivalent table space at our next Comiket in November at no cost and guaranteed to be in The Great Hall. We hope this will go some way towards apologising and compensating for this disappointment. We had hoped that the programme of interviews and signings and regular announcements would draw more of the public to the extra rooms, but this did not work out. We’re listening to your suggestions and learning lessons, as we try to develop Comiket further. We’ll be making some important changes to Comiket in November, more news to follow shortly. Comica: Putting Comics First! Cheers, Paul”

Congratulations to Paul and Comica for acting so swiftly. Hopefully Comiket November will be better than ever, and these problems ironed out.

Comics peeps in that London – Comiket tomorrow from 11am to 6pm, admission free: top indy comics, living drawing and more, a perfect day out no matter the weather, if you’re in town give ‘em some love.

Coming in April; the now twice a year Comica Comiket….

“Following the huge success of last November’s Comica Comiket in the spectacular Great Hall at the Bishopsgate Institute near Liverpool Street station in London, we’re organising a brand new Comica Comiket for the Spring, a one-day comics and art fair – bigger and better than ever, offering the best of British creators, publishers, small presses, graphic artists and suppliers under one roof, and admission is free from 11am to 6pm. Throughout the day, John Allison, Darryl Cunningham, Tom Gauld, Simone Lia, Maarten Vande Wiele and Andi Watson are among the top artists who will be taking part on stage in the Comica Drawing Parade, with their live artworks and demos projected on a giant screen.”

And the comic drawing parade is just the tip of the iceberg! For a start there’s pretty much the who’s who of UK comics publishing exhibiting: Accent UK, Blank Slate Books, Cinebook, Jonathan Cape, Knockabout, Myriad Editions, Nobrow, SelfMadeHero.

On top of that there’s a host of artists going to be exhibiting; to many to mention here, but many familiar names from the FPI blog. The full list and more details from the Comica Comiket site.

Paul Gravett reminds us that Comica has a corker of an event coming up this month – the excellent Craig Thompson (who created one of my favourite comics works, Blankets) is in town to promote Habibi and will be giving an illustrated talk, then talking about his work with Marcel Theroux, to be followed by a book signing and sketching session organised the the good folks at Gosh. The event is in the Saint Albans Centre, Leigh Place, Baldwin Gardens, London (closest tube stations: Farringdon, Chancery Lane and Holborn) on Mondy January 23rd at 7pm. Space is limited and since Craig doesn’t get over here too often they’re expecting it to be pretty popular so you’d be best to book now; more details on Paul G’s site. I’m hoping for those of us nowhere near London that perhaps that man with the wandering microphone, Alex Fitch, will be there recording it…

In London tomorrow? You could do far worse than heading to the Comica Comiket.

Guests include Roger Langridge, Luke Pearson, Warren Pleece, James Jarvis, Savage Pencil, Eyeball, Frederik Peeters and Brecht Evens, and what are the odds that the great and the good of UK Comics (or at least London Comics) will be in attendance, along with several Brit companies: Accent, Blank Slate, DFC Library, Jonathan Cape, Knockabout, Myriad Editions, and Nobrow.

Full details at the Comica website.

London peeps, a must-have for your comics diary this month, a lovely part of the larger Comica festival – Comiket, in the Great Hall at the Bishopsgate Institute on Saturday 12th November. The guest list includes Roger Langridge, Luke Pearson, Warren Pleece, James Jarvis, Savage Pencil, Eyeball, Frederik Peeters and Brecht Evens, while the list of those who will be attending includes a veritable who’s who of British Indy comics such as Accent UK, Sean Azzopardi, Dan Berry, the Blank Slate Books posse will be there, the DFC Library crew too, Jonathan Cape, Howard Hardiman, Lizz Lunney, Knockabout Comics, Myriad Editions, Phillipa Rice, david O’Connell, Nobrow, Doug Noble, We Are Words + Pictures, Solipsistic Pop, Kevin Sutherland, Katie Greene and many more. Phew.

And on the subject of Comiket, the Comica site has posted up this video shot by Steve Poulacheris of last year’s Comiket Drawing Parade, featuring the likes of Charlie Adlard, Gary Nothfield, Paul Duffield and more drawing and being interviewed – we’re told a second part is in the works featuring Ellen Lindner, Hunt Emerson and more.

And I just have to post this lovely image up again – Isaac Lenkiewicz’s fabulous-looking poster for this year’s Comica, isn’t it brilliant?

This year’s Comica includes the now customary bevvy of wonderful comics events, including the one and only Warren Ellis in conversation, Laydeez Do Comics will be joining up with Comica to bring guests from the USA, Canada and Germany, Swiss comics creator Frederik Peeters (Sandcastle), launch parties for The Strumpet, Nobrow’s Klaus and Solipsistic Pop 4, talks, lectures, the Graphic Short Story Prize award and so much more – as we say in the trade, check the site for full details.

The Comica poster from Nobrow, art by Isaac Lenkiewicz.

This year’s Comica festival takes place across November with the usual impressive line-up of events, conversations and launches. This year’s festival is in association with Nobrow Press, who have several events, exhibitions and launches across the month. And they’ve also contributed rather an attractive (and very Nobrow styled) poster, with art by Isaac Lenkiewicz.

Much more at the Comica website, but here’s just a little of what’s going on….

The premiere of the Warren Ellis documentary Captured Ghosts, exhibition from Berlin based Biograftiktion collective, Nobrow launch parties for Nobrow 6 and Richard Short’s Klaus.

More Comica conversations – Laydeez Do Comics, Paul Gravett on superheroes, Nicole Rousmaniere discussing Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure.

The Observer/Cape Graphic Short Story Prize announced.

The return of the Comica Comiket, the alternative comics fair taking place this year on the 12th November.

BD Passion, a coming together of the best of Brit and European comics, all this weekend at the Institut Français in London, some seriously must-see writers and artists – if you’re in town then take advantage of it.