This year was a really fun trip.

I had decided beforehand to try and have a more rounded festival experience and combine time behind our author table with attending talks and exhibitions. With that in mind I only travelled to the con with a bunch of mini – comics, which traditionally do sell well. This year the crew consisted of myself, Francesca Cassavetti, Sally Anne Hickman and Oliver Lambden. We have retired the Bastards name and went along as Azfab.

We met Stephen Betts, Ellen Lindner, Gary Northfield And Lauren O’Farell at Eurostar, and then travelled first leg with Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury. In Lille we met the Nobrow crew and Martin Steenton who I was sharing a Tumblr blog that was initiated by Dan Berry.

Straight of the train and to the tent we set up the table and met our neighbours Tom and Chris from AdHouse books. Then off to the house for a night of food and wine (well, when in France…). Thursday was creators meet and greet, so a relaxed day. I went to the Spiegelman exhibition that was split over two sites, the Castro building and the museum. It was great. I actually got the random chance to speak to him, congratulated him on his exhibition. I managed to remain conversational and not gush or ask to have a photo taken with him or give him comics. Later there was an evening of parties; the stand out was at La Maison des Auteurs, which always exhibits excellent work.

Friday was a busier day but took the time out to go to the Eddie Campbell talk. On returning to the table it was obvious that my comics were not going to sell in any great number. So I decided to just relax and enjoy the event. I took a bunch of mini comics round for review, had an accidental  ‘folio review with l’association who liked my drawings. That was an amazingly good feeling.

(pics all by Sean and taken from his Flickr)

Saturday was madness – so many people. This was Francesca’s day as she sold loads. There was no Chris Ware, and the Charles Burns talk was full when we got there. I also got to meet Wim (our very own Continental Correspondent – Joe), which was nice. The Raw talk was held in a cupboard-sized room, so that was a blow-out as well.

Sunday was a more sedate day and this was Sally’s day. I took another look round the Spiegelman exhibition and almost got knocked over by the man himself, a huge media scrum and, apparently, President Sarkozy. It was insane. I just love the whole craziness of this type of large-scale event. It’s like living in a cartoon village, with NO spandex heroes – bliss! After I tried to get into the Fred exhibition but there was just no chance, it was rammed.

If I have a complaint at all, it is that the programming with the venues seemed perhaps a bit lopsided. Overall though my Angoulême 2012 experience was really good. I still feel restricted by language when dealing with publishers, so it’s back to French classes for me. I always return from this festival full of inspiration. It’s such an amazing experience and if any cartoonist is serious about the medium then they have to visit.

Simple.

FPI would like to thank Sean for his time and report – you can follow more of Sean’s work on his own site here and as we mentioned yesterday he has already uploaded a pile of photographs from this year’s festival onto Flickr. Stay tuned for more on this year’s festival from Wim shortly.

Good chum of the blog Sean Azzopardi was again at the Angoulême comics festival in France and he’s posted up a whole bunch of photographs so those of us who couldn’t go can at least have a glimpse of some of what it looked like:

By Sean Azzopardi

Sean Azzopardi ends the year with a comic very similar to the much enjoyed Nine Months Of Beige in July; another comic sitting somewhere between his longer, formal works and his sketchbook comics. There are dreamlike full pages of multiple imagery, sans panels, and we flow through the pages as Azzopardi flows through the events he details, starting off with a low energy trip to hospital convinced the medication he’s on for his psoriasis is the cause.

So in short order we see a mix of imagery and mood; hospital clinics, observations, comic making, comic printing, mood darkening, frustrations, self-absorbtion, guilt over self-absorbtion, flatmate tales, wedding trips…. all leading to a simple observational mood, a relaxed bit of comic storytelling despite his initial fear and shock at coming out of hospital with even more tablets….

Like so much of Azzopardi’s recent work I’ve seen, this is a simple, relaxed, open style; in tone, in form, in art, in words. It’s partly a purging of his emotions, partly an excellent trip through his life – and it’s just the sort of autobiographical storytelling I really enjoy.

And perhaps fittingly it all ends with Azzopardi relaxing; satisfied, perhaps only briefly, but satisfied nonetheless with his life – a life where he feels dominated too much by illness, the work of his 8 tablet dream. But this ends not about the down, but about the acceptance, working around the troubles and simply accepting, enjoying what he / we can.

Alongside the storytelling, Azzopardi’s art is full of simple delights. I’ve talked before about the simple stuff he does really well. These works have many subtly different styles, and they all look good. In fact, to end on, how about these two pages – with tight comic work in the first couple of panels opening up to that lovely relaxed moment in art and story on the train. And on that second page we get some of Azzopardi’s landscapes, which I love, and a delightful centre panel of contrasts – the tight foreground and looser background work really effective.

A delight. And based on those two pages, I think I can safely say that if Azzopardi’s next comic was simple a train journey, with Azzopardi thinking as he looks out the train windows, I’d be so very happy with that.

FPI: Can you pick three comics/webcomics/graphic novels which you especially enjoyed over the last twelve months and tell us why you singled them out?

Sean: The Accidental Salad – Joe Decie. Wonderful line and wash drawing. Warm story telling that has a unique voice.

(a scene from The Accidental Salad by and (c) Joe Decie, published by Blank Slate Books’ Chalk Marks imprint)

The Lengths – Howard Hardiman.  An interesting story about a scene that is different to the comic norm. Also a very free and raw way of approaching the material. Atmospheric.

(a scene from issue 3 of The Lengths by Howard Hardiman)

Cassanova – Fraction and Ba. I love this comic and so far this current run continues to melt my mind. More !

(fashionable superspy fun in Casanova by Fraction and Ba)

FPI: Can you pick three books which you especially enjoyed over the last twelve months and tell us why you singled them out?

Sean: Again I failed to read new material!

Books of blood – Clive Barker was a welcome re-visit. Surprised at how political the sub text is, guess it’s a product of writing during the Thatcher years, now applies to the current political dogma.

Reasons to be Cheerful – The life and works of Barney Bubbles. – Inspiring work and biography about an amazing and influential designer.

FPI: Can you pick three TV shows and/or movies which you especially enjoyed  over the last twelve months and tell us why you singled them out?

Sean: The Killing  was  a gripping show that really engaged over it’s extensive run of episodes.

Black Swan – a simply wonderfully made film. MAD and CRAZY images.

FPI: How did 2011 go for you as a creator? Are you happy with the way you got your work out this year?

Sean: 2011 went very well, probably my best year. I received my first  page payment (Phonogram) and was finally published (Necessary Monsters), so those comic ‘firsts’ are out the way. It was also a productive year; the Ed trade was released, three new mini comics, work in Paper Science, and illustrations in various publications.

(a light-hearted moment of jolly fun in Necessary Monsters by and (c) Sean Azzopardi and Daniel Merlin Goodbrey)

I curated two exhibitions and attended far too many conventions. Highlights were Angouleme, TCAF and Malta (see here for Sean’s guest post reporting on the Malta comic con, his report on the Flashback exhibition he curated and the We Are Words + Pictures show he organised – Joe).

A new development was taking on a studio space. So yes a really busy and fulfilling year.

FPI: What can we look forward to from you in 2012?

Sean: I’m not sure. I have decided to take a year out, maybe longer. Apart from away trips, I will not be exhibiting at conventions next year. I have been doing so for ten years and it is time for a break. The studio is going to be my creative home for next year. I want to explore some new ideas inspired by the wonderful different work that I‘ve seen recently.

FPI: Anyone you think is a name we should be watching out for next year?

Sean: I think it would be interesting to see Sarah Gordon working with comics scripts. She is a good colourist and fine illustrator, so it would be exciting to see these skills combined in a comic.

(American Victorian, illustration by and (c) Sarah Gordon)

Malta Comic con 2011 was my third trip to Malta, and I think it was the best con so far.

This year I was travelling on the back of a long run of conventions and events. The previous weekend had been Leeds Thought Bubble.

I had five new comics from the previous year which shows me how busy I’ve been. The journey was a relaxed one, I met Kate Brown, Emma Vieceli and Sonja Leong in the Heathrow departure lounge, which was a lovely start to the journey.

What I like about away trips is the steady accumulations of friends old and new throughout the visit. We were collected by Chris Muscat and taken to the hotel. A quick check in and then we were whisked of to the venue to show new folk were they would be exhibiting. This turned into a table setting up session, and a general meet and greet. Micheal Quinton made a little speech welcoming us all and introducing the Malta crew and other exhibitors. It was quite nice actually, really set up the weekend, and reinforced the feeling that everyone was welcome and there to take part.

This was followed by food and then I bailed out early with Steve Tanner and Suzanne .

Snoozy snooze led to the next day and I had breakfast with Tim Perkins, one of the originals from the first trip and then it was time to go. In reception I met Gary Erskine and Thomas Gosselin from France, also Chris, Poppy and Marios from Cyprus. Others include David Lloyd, Michael Golden, Renee Witterstaetter (on a related note, Renee has posted an interview with Michael from the Malta con on her blog here) and John Haward.

(photos by and (c) Sean Azzopardi, borrowed from his Flickr)

We arrived at the venue and one of the big changes from previous years was opening up two floors. Also there was separate rooms for shops and gaming. I really like this venue, it would great to have it in London -  plenty of different spaces to exhibit and also rooms for the panels and the always excellent cafe.

Anyway the day started slowly, but I was confident that it was going to be a good sales day and slowly the stock started to move. By the end of the day I had sold most of my stuff. In fact I sold out completely by about 2.30 on the Sunday afternoon. This year had a lot more comics on display from local artists. This included Pilot, an impressive anthology of Maltese comics creators.

Back to Saturday – I was interviewed by Chris on general convention themes. I also took part in a panel on comics and the inter web, this was hosted by The Orbital crew, Taylor and Chris. It was a fun panel. Not sure if I had anything of interest to offer, but the audience seemed to enjoy it. Later I was interviewed at my table by the same dynamic duo.

Saturday night was party time in the hotel roof bar and I hung out with Urban Artists, the cool mural folks, until 3am. Sunday was a more sedate day, and once I had sold out of stock I went and hung out with the people upstairs. I looked at the murals and did a bit of table sitting. I then sat outside overlooking Valletta harbour and watching the sun set while finishing a sketch commission. I know, difficult life …

We wound up on the Sunday said goodbye to people and went back the hotel. A bunch of us went for a meal which was nice, and I finished the night in the Bar with the Orbital gang and Thomas. The next day was glorious weather and it was a tour round the war museum and the Inquisitor’s palace. This was followed by the farewell meal lots of cheery/ sad goodbyes.

My final day was spent with my new friends Thomas, Chris and Marios, then Emma and Kate and Tim and John, then it was time for London.

Touchdown.

Many thanks to the organisers for inviting me and being excellent hosts  – thank you to Joseph Bugeja, Chris Le Galle, Mark Ellul, Fabio Agius, Samantha Abela, Chris Muscat and Tamara Fenech.

In conclusion this was the best of the three events I’ve been to in Malta; the organisation was good and the audience had grown on the previous years, I’m pleased to report. The exciting part was to see the growth of the artists from previous years. Having an annual convention has given an impetus to being creative and it’s showing in the enthusiasm and development of the comics. I would urge anyone thinking of attending this friendly convention next year to do so. The next stage is for more audience to travel abroad to attend and support it. It’s comics in winter with sunshine.

Do it – you’ll have a great time.

Many thanks to Sean for taking the time to share his thoughts on the Malta trip; you can follow Sean via his site here and there are more pics from his Malta trip to enjoy on his Flickr stream with pics from the con here and some nice images of Malta itself here.

Two weeks ago Flashback records hosted an exhibition organised by myself in partnership with We are Words and Pictures. The theme was music related  comics and so naturally a record shop was a good venue to exhibit the artwork in.  Not a typical gallery space – the general agreement was to fit the work around the merchandise. The consideration for a commercial venue is that it is a shop and has to continue to function as such, so the art display has to work around this, not getting in the way but hopefully enhancing the normal experience customers have in the store. I have been keen to use venues in my locality for various reasons; the practical side is transportation, but also to raise the profile of comics. Last year Rufus Dayglo held an exhibition in the local Oxfam shop, so there was a precedent.

The exhibitors I curated (including Adam Cadwell, John Cei Douglas, Julia Scheele, Jamie Mckelvie, Francesca Cassavetti, Marc Ellerby, Kristyna Baczynski, Tom Humberstone and more, plus some from myself) were all positive in the response and it was fairly straight forward organising the delivery of work. What really helped was the support from Flashback. They helped with promotion and printing and made sure that the opening night was a really good party. I felt that a bottle of champagne is always a good way to start the evening and it wound up around 3am. It helps having a pub opposite the shop. Talking to shop owner Mark, he was pleasantly surprised at the amount of people attending and felt that it had given the shop some exposure. This was a positive, a win for both parties.

(photos from Sean’s Flickr, click to see the larger versions, by and (c) Sean Azzopardi)

There was good feedback about the work on display and sales were made. Getting involved locally is something I urge all cartoonist to participate in. Sure it takes up time but it can be a really affirming experience. I realise that there is an attitude that comics shouldn’t be in frames or exhibited, the natural environment is between a cover.  This exhibition and the previous one (Bookartsbookshop) have made me realise there is work to be done informing and educating people about this wonderful medium. By going public outside of our regular grazing pastures we’ve hopefully reached out to new readers, but to expand on this it’s something that has to become  a constant. There has been a few years interest and growth for comics, but there is no reason for complacency and assumption that it’s ‘happened’. As creatives and consumers we have to keep pushing and promoting .

Thanks to Sean for taking the time to share a first hand account of the exhibtion with us – the photos here are all by Sean and you can see more in a set on his Flickr page here.

Good chum of the blog Sean Azzopardi drops us a line to let us know that the very funky We Are Words + Pictures crew are planning a new exhibition and it sounds oh so damned cool: comics inspired by music. Among those with work on display will be Adam Cadwell, John Cei Douglas, Julia Scheele, Jamie McKelvie, Francesca Cassavetti, Marc Ellerby, Kristyna Baczynski, Tom Humberstone and Sean himself; I am informed, however,  that this exhibition will not include the many volumes of artwork Sean has drawn over the years as part of his ongoing obsession with Rod, Jane & Freddy. The show kicks off on September 23rd at top Indie music store Flashback Records, 144 Crouch Hill, London, check the WAWAP blog for more.

By Douglas Noble and Sean Azzopardi

“Bricks are built from history
And history is built in blood.
That’s all that families are – blood that endures for a little while.”

Dark. Very dark.

And very, very good.

Like Kieron Gillen says: “A nasty cackle of a book I recommend you order.”

I’ve talked of both Noble and Azzopardi before, reviewed comics by both of them, including their first collaboration Sightings Of Wallace Sendek. Which was frankly brilliant, a complicated mystery, there for the reader to unpick, but still, once the work was done, mysterious, it’s meanings and secrets unsure.

Built Of Blood And Bricks is similarly mysterious, just as I’ve come to expect from anything Noble puts his pen to. Occasionally they fail me, occasionally I’ll finish one and be confused, maybe even nonplussed, the mystery too tightly packed, my understanding of it just not good enough to satisfy. But when it’s right, when they work, oh, they’re just incredibly good.

Azzopardi’s artwork is equally impressive. He shifts around, never really settling on a style for too long, testing, reaching, for both himself and his readers. The development I’ve seen him show, just in the few years I’ve been looking at his books is really impressive.

(The opening page of Built Of Blood And Bricks. It sets the scene so well, and a simple retelling of a childhood accident becomes immediately creepy.)

And then together, Noble and Azzopardi seem to just gel. Built Of Blood And Bricks is a near perfect atmospheric piece of suburban horror, although there’s really not that much horror explicit in it, not when you really think about what you’ve just read. So much of the perceived horror comes from Azzopardi’s art, and specifically that chilling, nightmarish face.

And as you read through, the imagery works it’s way into you, and Noble’s atmospheric dialogue evokes a horror, a darkness, the deeper meanings you read into the narrator’s words, the pieces of the puzzle – everything just fits perfectly. Noble’s words build and build into something truly chilling, as the symbiosis of words and imagery takes root in your mind and you start looking for the meaning, for the horror that’s never explicitly expressed.

There’s little I really want to tell you of the actual plot of Built Of Blood And Bricks. It’s something I’d rather you discovered for yourself. Lets just say it’s a first person recounting of family history, as we’re introduced on that first page to the solitary occupant of the familial home, a man who hasn’t “gone more than fourteen feet from the front door in twenty years“.

He tells us of many things; his mother, his father, his Uncle, the accident on his sixth birthday, the possible cause, the possible reasons…. so many possibles in here, and Noble and Azzopardi build them up, creating a tense, nervous monologue where the uncertainty is delicious, and the darkness that both Noble and Azzopardi build into the work is pitch perfect.

(Put most of that page into one of Azzopardi’s sketchbook comics and you have a peaceful meditation on suburban surroundings, lyrical, poetic. Then Noble adds in that final panel of the narrator’s nightmarish face and it’s twisted completely.)

Just the art accompanying this review should tell you enough of the story, and give you some idea of the range of methods and styles Azzopardi is utilising in here. There’s so much going on, so many different techniques – straight pencil lines all the way through to collage and photo manipulation. But there’s never a feeling of too much, everything fits quite perfectly in context.

You may know this already, having read the piece Douglas and Sean contributed to the blog, but just in case you missed it, the comic is a remix project – with Azzopardi sending over images to Noble from old sketchbooks, and Noble remixing, reordering and then creating a narrative for them. Or, as Sean puts it in the piece; ‘ Here you are Douglas, 20 images and make us a comic.’

That sounds so simple, but in tying it all together Noble uses Azzopardi’s art, and the narrative implicit within the artwork, to create a great comic.

Built Of Blood And Bricks is available from Douglas Noble’s Strip For Me website and there’s a chat with Noble and Azzopardi here on the FPI blog.

During the day there was a communal table area, a cafe service, cakes and booze, cells with installations, and an outdoor stage for song, poetry and theatre. I had a really good time working my way through a plate of brownies and being interviewed in the cells by Mike Leader. Sadly I missed the Derek the Sheep play, but I’m told  it was well received. For me this event was a chance to be a punter and hang out with people – it was refreshing to chat to people whom normally I would spend about 30 seconds shouting at over a con table. Along with the Comica monthly meet-ups the social aspect is a great chance for a closer discussion of each other’s work and interests, away from the black hole of the internet.

(all pics by and (c) Sean, taken from his Flickr)

Finally I dug deep and brought two comics from the communal table:  The Accidental Salad by Joe Decie and Diary Comic by Sally Anne Hickman. So a lovely day and a welcome new addition to the comics event calendar.

Thanks to Sean for the pics and report; you can follow Sean via his own site here and his most recent work, Nine Months of Beige, was reviewed by Richard here on the blog.