Debra Boyask was a friend and cartoonist in the New Zealand and British indy comics scenes and passed away on Tuesday at far too young an age. She contributed to the NZ anthology Funtime Comics and Factor Fiction in the UK, and in both places she performed the organising role in the Midwinter Comics Retreats: events which cemented those friendship-as-family bonds. Debra was a Caption festival regular for many years, also a weaver, a teacher, a blogger, a cook and mostly a friend: amusing, curious, direct and inspiring.

via Dylan Horrocks here's a wonderful interview between Debs and Jason Brice, hosted on the NZ comics wiki, and a few pieces of her work are up on the Factor Fiction website. I'm sure there will be more to come.

Panel Nine write to say, "We're delighted to be releasing a deluxe iPad version of Terry Wiley's VerityFair, bursting at the seams with extras, including a delightful audio commentary by the author on almost every page. And for the first two weeks we have a special introductory offer of just $4.99 / £2.99." The deluxe edition will be out on Friday.

Charles Cutting has launched an Indiegogo campaign to publish a full-colour anthology by three artists on three intriguing tales. Sketches, original art and advertisements are on offer along with a likely smart product. This month only at Black Cloud's Indiegogo page.

I recently discovered Stan Martin has a page on the Zum website. Terrible Sunrise was one of the great self-published brit-comics of the mid to late 90s, chronicling the outbreak of the Great War, and other tales from the war based on diligent research.

I suspect these are no longer available to buy through Zum. Fortunately, there are about 14 pages there in e-form (Clicking the images to the right), as well as an introduction by Stan. [Link]

Sticking with Ireland, Anto Dillon of the long-running Loserdom zine has announced that date of the hugely popular Independents Day: Dublin, Sunday 23rd June. Recommended.

Trinity College Dublin is hosting a lecture as part of Irish comic book month featuring Robert Curley, Robert Carey, Ciaran Marcantonio, Darrin O'Toole and Declan Shalvey.

The event is on Thursday March 14th from 7:15pm. You can find out more about the various speakers at thefreebirdswing podcast or by visiting the facebook .event

For a brief time, Department of the Peculiar #1 is available for free on Comicsy. The creatives are UK SP stalwarts, Bugpowder favourites Rol Hirst and Rob Wells, so, y'know do.

A brief piece on Folk Radio UK about Daniel Johnston's soundtrack to Space Ducks.

The FPI weblog continues to shine with a series of focus on creator-chosen comics selections spotlighting choices by Steve Tillotson, Graham Johnson, Rob Jackson, Lucy Knisley and Luke Pearson, to name but a few. Comics gold - spread the link: http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/.

Karen Rubins is running workshops for 8-12 year olds in London for CityRead 2013. From 19th-22nd February she'll be at Chipping Barnet Library with a Making Manga class for 12-18yr olds. Cost is £24
and bookings must be made through the Futureversity website.

Also, the West Dean College Comics and Graphic Novels Short Course, running from 7 – 9 June 2013. Located in "an unspoiled country manor house set in beautiful gardens and parkland. Topiary! Mosaics! Stuffed animals! Surrealist objects! It is a truly unique location, and a great experience just staying there."
More details here.

From out of the past Ben Oakes says "I've put some of my small press comics online". And he's right.

The 2012 Belfast Comics Fayre is happening on December 9th at Haymarket Arcade, organised by Avalon Arts. Guests include Paddy Brown, Paddy Lynch, Gar Shanley and Lightning Strike Comics and you can find out more about what they've been up to on DownTheTubes.

The run up to the American election is an animated webcomic on The Guardian site.

Caption 2012 is fast approaching! Here's the itinery, direct from the Captionites to your face!

Guests include: Hannah Berry, Richy K. Chandler, Jade Sarson, David O’Connell, Al Davison, Hunt Emerson, Patrice Aggs, Robin Etherington, Woodrow Phoenix, Darryl Cunningham and Nicola Streeten.

Saturday 18 August

Doors open 10 a.m. Bar open from 10 for coffee, 12 for drinks.

12:00. PANEL: Good, Clean, Knockabout Fun! Publisher Tony Bennett joins artists Hunt Emerson ('Lady Chatterly's lover'), Krent Able (' Big Book Of Mischief') and Brick ('Depresso') to talk about 32 years of the controversial British comics company. 

13:30. WORKSHOP with Al Davison. ‘The Alchemist's Easel: a rough guide to drawing the unconscious’

14:30. PANEL: Shedding Light on the Dark Art of Editing Comics. Woodrow Phoenix ('Nelson'), Corinne Pearlman (Myriad), John Anderson (Soaring Penquin) and Hannah Berry (First Fictions judge) discuss editing and commissioning comics and graphic novels.

16:30. PANEL: Myriad Editions. Myriad commissioning editor Corinne Pearlman discusses the output of the company alongside Woodrow Phoenix ('Rumble Strip'), Darryl Cunningham ('Science Tales'), Nicola Streeten ('Billy, Me & You') and Gareth Brookes ('The Black Project'). 

21:00. QUIZ by Tony Hitchman, ‘Dangerous when wet!’

Doors close 23:00

Sunday 19 August

Doors open 10 a.m. Bar open from 10 for coffee, 12 for drinks.

11.00. BOOK GROUP: Comic Gosh!p Book Club (escaping from London) discuss Maus (Art Spiegelman) & My Cardboard Life (Philippa Rice). Try to (re)read one or both of these before the informal discussion in the bar, so you can join in! 

12:30. PANEL: Playing in Someone Else’s Sandbox. Cartoonists discuss the benefits of working on creator owned vs. pre-existing characters, featuring Richy Chandler ('Wallace & Grommit' in The Sun) , David Baillie (via video! - Russian 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'), Charles Cutting (' The Dream Quest of Randolph Carter') and Robin Etherington ('The Phoenix' / 'Transformers').

14.00. PANEL: The Phoenix - A Gallimaufry of Graphical Goodness. Daniel Hartwell (writer, ‘Pirates of the Pangaea’), Neill Cameron (artist, ‘Pirates of the Pangaea’), Adam Murphy (‘Corpse Talk’), Robin Etherington (writer, ‘Long Gone Don’), Patrice Aggs ('Blimpville')

15.30. PANEL: America is not the Only Fruit. Manga influenced (and Manga Jiman shortlisted) small press creators Rebecca Burgess, Sarah Burgess, Jade Sarson and Joe Morgan discuss looking outside Anglo-American comics for inspiration with David O'Connell (Tozo, the public servant).

Doors Close 17:00

18th / 19th August 2012, East Oxford Community Centre, Cowley, Oxford OX4 1DD (Near to St. Clements 'Oxford Tube' stop)
More info at www.caption.org 
The website includes info on how to order the limited edition T-Shirt designed by Sarah MacIntyre, which you can pre-order and pick up at Caption. Also, exclusively available at the event is the Caption 2012 programme featuring a brand new jam comic - 'How I spent my summer holiday' - by Hannah Berry, Richy K. Chandler, Brick and more...

The MKomix Milton Keynes Comics Fair is tonight, from 6 until 9 at the MK Gallery in Central Milton Keynes. With all these exhibitors and this spectacular sounding exhibition, it looks like it will be a lot of fun.

Bob Byrne's clamnuts.com gets a streamlined incarnation.

Irish cartoonist Phil Barrett is interviewed by Liam Geraghty on The Comic Cast - about Where's Larry and his comics work.

Phil is also one of the cartoonists corralled by Paddy Lynch into the anthology Stray Lines - give the book a kickstart, why don't you?

Competitions galore over at ICN! Up for grabs: original artwork by PJ Holden, Stephen Mooney and Nick Roche; and a virtual hamper of PDFs from Irish Independent Comics Creators. Check it out!

Rob Jackson's first go at a cover for his comic 'Jackson Family Stories' adds colour and chop to the already-choppy panel 'We Sailed Toward The Desolate Solway Firth' (see a few posts down). Love it.

"Ztoical's Global Comic Adventure 2013: 12 months from now I am going on an adventure! I am taking 4 months off to just travel and hopefully see some amazing places, catch up with some great friends, meet some new amazing people and create some fantastic art, but I need some help!

"In a nutshell, I'm going to visit a lot of countries next year and I'd like to meet comic book artists/illustrators/creatives along the way."

Cliodhna Lyons elucidates at Ztoical Dot Com.

The Irish Comic News site is a year old next week. No bouncy castle, but Tommie Kelly has other amusements planned...

Northern Ireland's major comics festival 2d, is just over a week away. Ciaran Flanagan has been running preparatory podcasts for the event over at his blog, The Freebirds Wing.

ICN carry news that Bryan and Mary Talbot are to appear at the Dublin Writer's Festival the following weekend, June 9th. Details here

There's a new Jesus and Mo strip up; What has the moon ever done for us?

Ripped off our tweet-feed,

Marc Ellerby's CHLOE NOONAN: MONSTER HUNTER - Digital Omnibus is now available. 136 pages in full colour for £2.99

John 'Lester' Freeman sends along the results of a questionnaire asking what primary school kids want in comics and magazines.

And a reminder that Brick put out a call for Graphic Memoirs: From Distress to Recovery and it looks a very worthwhile project with some sensible people at the helm.

I'll be talking about Absence and digital media this coming Monday at The Waterfront Hall, Belfast.

Phil Hampton's The Comic Academy may appear gimmicky, but I've been finding his for sale collections of interviews and content analysis with creators worth a while. There's also a bunch of free pdf reports which should hopefully keep folk thinking about the business side of things.

Paddy Lynch has recently completed Big Jim for O'Brien Press. Previews of the story of Trade Unionist and Easter Rising leader Jim Larkin appear on his blog, along with a new video about the Irish independent music/punk/DIY scene that has influenced him over the years.

http://twitter.com/#!/BugpowderComics is a Twitter feed about comics and stuff.

Uproar Comics are releasing this;

Story of Amelia Earhart tells the story of Earhart’s early years and the lead up to her unplanned touch down at Gallagher’s Field in Derry 80 years ago following her solo transatlantic crossing. A Day in May written and drawn by Campbell focuses on Earhart's 24 hour stay there, and is prose, pen and ink illustrations gleaned from first-hand account and reminiscenes from local people. Joe Campbell's artwork is nothing short of solid and delightful. I recommend you keep an eye out for this one when it becomes available to buy next week. Probably here.

If you can't wait, here's some preview.

Jimi Gherkin announces this year's Alternative Press Festival on 4th & 5th August, "with exhibitions planned for Orbital Comics, Gosh! London and TEN (yes, TEN!) venues in the weeks leading up to the main fair at London's Conway Hall. At the main Fair, we'll have three rooms filled with exhibitors from all over the world showing comix, zines, book arts, screen printing and self published art work. We are programming workshops, talks, a spoken word festival-within-the-festival and lots more, so stay tuned for more!"

Via Matt and the Twitter feed of Kieron Gillen:

Poem comic by Tom Humberstone.

Chrissy Williams' thoughts on poems and comics.

From ICN: The Holy Numbers webcomic and website has just launched. It’s the new comic from ICN Dictator Tommie Kelly set in an alternative modern day Ireland where a New Age Spiritual Movement is quickly becoming the most popular religion in the country. A spiritual themed comic that blends political intrigue with the modern New Thought Movement, it centres around a man named Ravensdale.

The Holy Numbers asks the question: What if there is magic in this world?

Follow the father of 911 Truth as he travels in time through American history, faces vaccination and innoculation, resists the attempts of big media to hypnotise his kids and join him. See him advertise water filters and gold seeds, fight enemies foreign and domestic. Witness his trip with David Icke, George Noory, Jim Tucker and Gerald Celente as they cross seven continents.

Hold The Phones, It's Alex Jones! is a new comic by Andy Luke, Professor Octagon, Geoffrey D. Wessel, Benjamin STone, Bisson and Sean Duffield.
It's on sale here and you can also read the preview.

Bob Byrne recently returned to webcomics with Lando In The House - a trademark serving of his retro sweet and sour funniness.

Mike Weller's Songs Our Teacher's Learn Us (pdf) is and of itself itself and many a link too (including brain-melt Songs Of The Data Stream). Feel a song coming on at the back of the bus and go with it.

Meanwhile over in Ireland,

Independent Zine Fair at the Dublin Food Co-Op, this Sunday (22nd), 12-5pm.

An academic conference, Grant Morrison and the Superhero Renaissance, 14-15 September 2012, Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin. Abstracts due by month's end.

An extended interview with Patrick Brown on Cattle Raid, webcomics and stuff over at Shirley-Anne McMillan's blog

Elida Maiques has news of the launch of the Romantic Mayhem Pocketbook, Upstairs at ANSEO, 18 Candem Street Lower, Dublin on Saturday April 14th at 7pm - "Come and see, read, talk, drink with us."

For further details on Romantic Mayhem! check the website.

Tony Hitchman (who you may know from his vast array of small press work or possibly from his wonderful talks / quizzes at Caption) has released an educational book about comics:

Using Comic Art

Gosh. That would be a Malcy Duff comic with a name like that.

Well, I made it. I published sixteen new comics in six weeks. I doubt that's a record, given thirteen were 1-2 pages long and one was a webprint. An achievement, though also wise are the words of Sean Azzopardi, 'Don't work too hard. Work is a pain.' You can view most of these comics at http://newszoom.org

But if you've only time for one, Phil Barrett takes the prize. Check out his St. Patrick's Day scene from forthcoming graphic novel, "Where's Larry?"

New comic from Malcy Duff, it's called:

http://g8uhmm,kl;p[km0pollllllll;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;j88888888888888888888888888888888loooooooooooooo/'{?{?

28 pages,
£4 (plus P+P)

Visit http://www.missingtwinnews.blogspot.com/ for details

The Rotherham Zine Library interviews Bolton-based scribbler Rob Jackson.

The Polish edition of New British Comics Issue 3 is now available to read online:

http://issuu.com/polygobooks/docs/nbc3_pl

On Friday 2nd March at Gosh Comics in Soho, London. 7pm - 9pm.

Lee Kennedy is dreaming about celebrities of the classic ages again, and that always goes well.

Mini-comics creators Darren Worrow and Gary Parkin have recently released e-books, 'The Hargreaves Code', and, 'Phone Monkey The Secret Diary Of A Frustrated Call Centre Worker', respectively.

This post sponsored by NewsZoom.org, which mixes comics art and journalism. Check out our recent coverage of ACTA, the Occupy Belfast bank seizure and much more.

Andy Luke here. I've a comics against the clock exhibition launching in Belfast's Royal Avenue (109-113) tonight at 5pm, and running for six weeks. It's all really rather good and you should follow me on twitter @andrewluke for that reason. Image linked...

I'll be turning the day's news into comics - NewsZoom!

Based on a talk given by Michael (Space Opera) Weller in 2009 to the Research Institute in Media, Art and Design at the University of Bedfordshire, The Making Of Slow Fiction (PDF) is an essay which explores the small press comics scene and the author's singular foothold in it.

Issues 1 and 2 of Rob Jackson's It's A Man's Life In The Ice Cream Business are now available to purchase at his site.

Though certainly not without story-telling guile, Rob Jackson is a cartoonist who reliably works a lack of inventive telling to his advantage when producing stories with absurd complications. Here, however - where the autobiographical subject matter is the relatively mundane business of food-selling at rural markets - the 'this happened, then this happened' approach is not so complementary, and edges the pamphlets toward pedestrian diary-comics territory.

Vitally though, It's A Man's Life In The Ice Cream Business is charming, folksy stuff, and leaves you not just with a hankering for black peas and whinberry-flavoured ice cream, but with a piqued curiosity about the heritage of Jackson's livelihood, too. There's a satisfying sense that Jackson - who at one juncture loses then regains his soup confidence - is preserving more than just memories and the odd recipe.

The Eagle Awards are open for nominations until the end of the month, were you can vote for Jack Kirby as Best Newcomer Artist, and some fitting choices too.Voting begins on 15 February, and the winners are live streamed at the MCM London Comic Con, Excel Centre, 25-27 May. That's sure to be imaginative.

Brian John Mitchell writes to tell us about a new website, Silber Media, a site blending music (some free downloads), read-able comics and web-zines...The store includes his mini-comic collaborations with the likes of Eric Shonborn and Dave Sim.

Rebecca McCarthy asks if we can mention "a self contained one shot comic, mixing romance and superhero genres with hopefully a bit of a twist". AER is drawn by Chris Pullen, 24 pages of b&w A4 and available from IndieManga for £3.50. Rebecca also is looking for good homes for review copies so if you do that, drop her a line. Here's the link.

These BugSlugs brought to you by Andrew Luke; creating a bit of a stir in Belfast. A twice weekly comic sheet, Newszoom, is a live adaptation of the day's news to comics form, updated Tuesdays and Thursdays. It exists as part of In Time, an exhibition of my 24 hour comics which are really good. In Time runs from 2nd February to 15th March from the Arts and Disability Forum, Royal Avenue, Opps. Central Library Belfast. And today I'm promoting the docufilm I made on the Belfast comics scene.

The Invisible Artist from Northern Visions/NvTv on Vimeo.

(Background notes on my LJ)

New mini issue of the comic Monstrum Horrendum now available to read for free online here.

Craig Thompson Talks With Marcel Theroux
Later this month, the American graphic novelist Craig Thompson is in London to promote Habibi, one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of 2011, seven years in the making and published in Britain by Faber & Faber. Craig has kindly agreed to do one ‘live’ speaking engagement for Comica Festival. For this UK exclusive event on Monday January 23rd, Craig will give his illustrated talk and presentation about the ‘making of’ this remarkable book, giving rare insights into his research and process.