How many days till CAPTION? Not many is the answer. Details are now emerging regarding Fridays Pre-Caption Drinks, and the schedule for the weekend.

Paul Rainey writes "The final episode of There's No Time Like The Present is now available. Part 13 is the super-sized (well, a little bit longer than usual) conclusion to the long comic strip, or 'graphic novel', I started work on in September 2004. Because of its length, part 13 costs £3.25, but if you order from me using the Paypal button on my website, that price includes post and packing to the UK."

There's No Time Like The Present is one of the finest comics created in the UK in the past decade. I do not exaggerate. The final part isn't, obviously, the best place to jump in, but all the previous parts are available from Paul's online shop. Go on, you won't regret it.

Just a reminder, CAPTION celebrates Mad Science at the end of this month - Get yourself down to Oxford for the weekend of 31st July.

Summer Edition 2010

Date: Saturday, July 24, 2010
Time: 11:00am - 7:00pm
Location: Filmbase, Templebar, Dublin 2

We are really pleased to announce that the Summer Edition, the Artists’ Book, Comic and Zine Fair, is returning for 2010 on Saturday 24th July !

Once again, a unique mix of artists book practitioners, independent comic artists and zine-makers from all over Ireland and the UK will be coming to Filmbase, Temple Bar, in the heart of Dublin city to celebrate and showcase their work to the public.

Exhibitor space at the event is open to anyone involved in creating and/or publishing artists books, comics or zines. Keep an eye on our website over the coming week as we announce further details on how to book your spot.
http://www.editionbookarts.com/

Chrissie Harper has been updating her 'strip-blog' Club Comicana, which you might describe as 'H.P. Lovecraft' meets 'Friends' meets 'American Splendor'. Go read!

Cerebus.TV are starting a "Small Press Comics Focus" feature, and they are looking for submissions for future episodes. Email indie@exoss.net for details. You can see a promo for the first one HERE. The 'pilot' has been put together by the guys at Cerebus.tv and features the minicomics of Dan Fish (Hey, that's ME). It appears as part of Episode 30, which streams online starting Friday 18th June and 24/7 all week long.

attention northerners! the bradford zine fayre is taking place next sunday, the 20th june at the Impressions Gallery, Centenary Square, Bradford, featuring:
* Zine Stalls (email if you'd like to book a space, stalls are free)
* Individual zine table, where they'll sell your zine for you and then at the end you can collect your money and any left over zines. You don't need to book for this, just turn up and give them your zine.
* Workshops on zine related stuff and beyond! (if you want to do a workshop or team up with someone on something, please email bradfordzines@hotmail.co.uk)
* Northern Indymedia Online Zine Library. Upload your zines to the library with our scanner and laptops and have a nosey. Help will be on hand if you need it. And we'll be using 100% free software!
* Draw your own imaginary map of Bradford - group doodling fun!
* Bar selling alcoholic and not so alcoholic drinks

the event continues in the eveining at the 1in12 Club, Albion Street for;

* Food in the cafe on the top floor (which also houses the largest anarchist library in the UK. And a zine library of course!)
* Entertainment on the gig floor featuring music from Violet Violet, Lost From Atlas, Numm Tongues, The Flaps, plus Fanny Accordion and Heavy D.
* Cheap drinks thanks to the 1in12's excellent 'no rip off' policy.
(the event at the 1in12 is open to members and guests)

confirmed so far:

Marching Stars Zine Distro
- Aspire Mag
- Recycled Crafts
- Radical Routes InfoStall
- Jeez Louise Zine Distro
- Memo and the fine city friends
- Other Asias
- Mrs Sew and Sew selling some fine crafts
- Ultrahorse/Constipated Rhythms
- On t'Road Zine
- Banal Pig Comics
- Reet! Comic

- Kerb Crawled? Workshop (we'll make a whole zine at the workshop hopefully!)
- Running a Zine Distro Workshop with Lizzy from Marching Stars
- Bradford Zines Worksho/Talk - How did we get here? Where are we gonna go next?

that email again; bradfordzines@hotmail.co.uk

http://www.pointvillagecomicfestival.com/

The Point Village Comic Festival is on this Saturday (12th June) in Dublin. More details on the website.

Some pics from the Expo, featuring lots from the Comics Village (courtesy Sean Azzopardi).

Jon Scrivens had a bit of bad luck at the weekend when his bag was stolen - losing his overnight stuff, and more importantly, his Macbook. If you have any information, let him know. You can also make a donation (in return for a sketch), or buy one of his books to help out - see his website for details.

The MCM London Expo has been and gone now - Here are some of my highlights:

The DFC had a large presence - You can buy a full set of all 43 issues for under half-price, plus there are the new collected editions - If they do well, it could mean a (welcome) return for the comic.

The Failboat Press 2000ad Fanzine was several shades of awesome - Contributor Warwick Johnson Cadwell previewed some stunning upcoming work.

Tony Lee and Dan Boultwood's upcoming projects look great - a Sherlock Holmes spinoff, and Anthony Horowitz horror adaptations.

Paul Fryer has a new copy of Rockfall, and he's working on a 3rd issue, experimenting with a new art style (it looks great)

My Cardboard Life deserves it's continuing success - You will believe a cardboard can cry...

The award winning Yuri Kore premiered new work at the expo

Stunning work from Van Nim.

Gorgeous print editions of Zarina Liew's Le Mime.

Sarah McIntyre & Gary Northfield continue to generate applause-worthy stuff.

Richard 'Elephantmen' Starkings is a gent.

In business unrelated to Small Press Comics, Paul Cornell's new TV show PULSE looks good (available now on iPlayer), the new Ultramarines movie looks impressive, and Kieron Gillen like bacon sandwiches.
Did you know the local bar does £3 cocktails during Happy Hour (5 till 7pm)? You do now.

All the people I haven't mentioned were awesome too.

Among other things, Dan Merlin Goodbrey will be selling the first 100 Planets minicomic at the MCM Expo this weekend - Featuring not-yet-published strips! So if you buy one, it'll be a bit like visiting the future. A bit.

'Comics Village' line up is looking good for the MCM Expo:

THIS MORNING the nation’s comic-book shops will open their doors and invite customers to view treasures from one of Ireland’s overlooked cultural industries. Today is Free Irish Comic Book Day, an annual event that offers punters a chance to take home free samples of locally produced work...

Irish small press covered by The Irish Times.

Matter creator Philip Barrett is interviewed by Andy Luke at Altern8.

For a reduced price of €4.00, download issue 38 of Albedo One at http://www.albedo1.com/html/albedo_pdf_download.html.

This issue's fiction is headed up by an evocative fantasy by the estimable Bruce McAlister, with further distinctive contributions by Aaron Polson, Priya Sharma, Matthew F. Perry and Martin Belderson. These stories range widely across the genres of SF, fantasy and horror. The issue also features a fine, surreal horror, from Allison Francisco, which was placed third in the Aeon Award 2008 contest.

The issue also features an in-depth interview with a true legend of SF, Jim Gunn, as well as book reviews from our regular columnists Juliet E. McKenna and David Conyers, with further contributions from Peter Loftus, John Kenny and Peter McClean. The fine cover art this issue comes courtesy of U.S. artist Jacob Probelski.

29-30 May 2010 sees the arrival of 'Europe’s answer to the San Diego Comic Con', the London MCM Expo @ Excel Centre, London.

Of interest to bugpowder readers will be the Comic Village section, with loads of creators lined up, including the likes of :

SelfMadeHero, Matthew Craig, My Cardboard Life, Gronk Comics, Paul Duffield, Marc Ellerby, Gary Northfield, Jamie McKelvie, PlanetRuskin, Fahr Sindrams, Daniel Merlin Goodbury, Chris Bottoms, Sonia Leong, Lee Townsend, Tony Lee, Jon Scrivens, Sarah McIntyre, Melody Lee, Gary Erskine, Oliver Lambden, Sean Azzopardi, Dan Boultwood, Phillip Spence, Sarah Burgess, Jake Harold, Hannah Saunders, Rachel Saunders, David Wynne, Ian Sharman, Holly Rose, John Charles, time bomb comics, Cobalt Cafe, David Goodman, Tempo Lush, Rich Johnston, Lizz Lunney, Murky Depths, Paul Fryer, FetishMan, Richard Starkings, and more, from both small press and 'big' press. Theres also lots of tv and film guests, and people dressed up as stuff.

Kids aged 10 and under get in for free. Bigger kids have to pay.

To find out about the London MCM Expo, visit www.londonexpo.com.

The City of Abacus, a new comic by singer-songwriter VV Brown, film-maker David Allain, and artist Emma Price launches this coming Thursday with an exhibition at The Book Club in London's swinging Shoreditch.

There's not a great deal on the website bar a countdown and I confess to being a little wary of this kind of "hey, wow, look at me" launch, however Paul Gravett featured it at ComICA and he's not a man who gets caught up in hype. The exhibition runs from May 7th until the 29th.

Roisin Dubh from Atomic Diner.

Psychiatric Tales: Out At Last

Darryl Cunningham writes:
At long last my graphic novel Psychiatric Tales has been published.



Psychiatric Tales is a book that attempts to demythologise mental illness. Forget what you've seen in movies or on TV. This book shows what the experience of mental illness actually is for both patients and the staff who treat them.

Media representations of people who suffer mental illness tend to be appalling. We live in an age where racism and sexism is considered unacceptable. Yet the mentally ill are still considered fair game for ridicule and are subject to the worst kind of prejudice. I had an e-mail recently from a young man who intended to buy two copies of the book when it came out. One for his mother, and one for his step-father. He wanted to show his family that the bipolar disorder he'd been diagnosed with, was a real illness, and that he needed their understanding not hostility.

We still live in a world, sadly, where depression is seen as weakness of character, and psychosis (such as hearing voices) is considered proof of dangerousness. Even the psychiatric nursing profession itself suffers prejudice. I've worked with many general nurses who considered psychiatric nurses not to be real nurses at all.

I'm hoping that Psychiatric Tales will be a real stigma-busting book. An empowering book for those who suffer the illnesses described, and a insight into a much-misunderstood world, for those who know little of the subject.

Buy it here from Forbidden Planet

If heroes, villains and giant drunken robots are your thing, Short Sharp Shocks #1 - by Ger Hankey - might be for you.

Swarm is a magazine on the internet, wherein articles about art - and places that exist to go to - feature alongside articles about getting by in the world, ways of talking to people, comics, mystical practices, sexual difficulties, inappropriate behaviour, goblins, wizards, clothes, nostalgia, mechanical marvels and many other fantastic whimsies and trifles.

If you know about any of these things or simply feel a primeval urge to contribute to Swarm, read the premiere issue and get in touch.

Reading about comics with some good pictures: interviews with Ralph Kidson, Leonard Rifas (Barefoot Gen, Feet First Comics) and reviews of works by Scroobius Pip, Lara Phillips (The Ministry) and CAAT and a stripblogger drawing 366 panels a year and a reviewer going through 365 a year.

Oh and some grand signs and portents from the Irish comics scene.

HOME’BAKED: LITERARY ARTZINES IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET - Mike Weller describes recent individualized and collective little press publications produced on shoe-string budgets (pdf).

The site of Him & Her's Smuggling Vacation has the latest details on the drugs trial the comic has been embroiled in; and news of follow-up book Him & Her's Day Of The Deal.

(Smuggling Vacation reviewed at TRS2.)

War - The Human Cost

There are still about two weeks left to get a comic that contains Spain Rodriguez, an album containing Michael Franti and the Spearheads, and donate to Campaign Against Arms Trade. Donations are required for printing costs. See Paper Tiger Comix and IndieGoGo.

The Alternative Press Half Hour series starts next week on Resonance 104.4fm

Starting next Tuesday and continuing for six weeks, the Alternative Press Half Hour is a weekly dispatch from the world of DIY culture, reporting on Britain’s hidden cottage industry of self produced, self distributed art. Everything from Zines, Comics and Music to Art, Poetry and Fashion are covered, the show aims to expose the work of little known creators and to encourage newcomers to get involved.

20/4/10 Gareth Brookes reports from the Alternative Press Fair, where he talks to Panel Border’s Alex Fitch and comic artist Paul Ashley Brown. Peter Lally talks to Brighton Zine Symposium organiser Emma Jane Falconer. Plus music from Shug and Trent Miller .

Download previous APF shows here : http://alternativepress.org.uk/

Alternative Press Half Hour/ Tuesdays 10.30pm / 104.4fm
http://resonancefm.com/listen

Artist's Book Fair at Gallery North

Time: June 26, 2010 all day
Location: Gallery North, Squires Building

Event Description:
Gallery North Artist's Book Fair
University of Northumbria, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
NE1 8ST, England.
Open to all artists working with book arts, small press publishing, comic artists, printmakers and zines.
A programme of events including talks, demonstrations and exhibition of contemporary Artist's Books at Newcastle's Literary & Philosophical Society. Situated in the centre of Newcastle, Gallery North invites national and international Artist's Book Makers to the region to sell and promote their work directly to the public.
For more information contact theresa.easton@northumbria.ac.uk

The Eagle Awards (I already have my suspicions about the winners), and a new episode of everyone's favourite web-based comic, Carter's Column.

Zarina Liew's webcomic Le Mime starts today - Here's a handy instruction for reading it!:

Pat Mills, "the Godfather of British Comics" will be talking about his graphic novel series "Requiem" and signing copies at WATERSTONE'S DUBLIN, DAWSON ST on Thursday, 15 April 2010, 6:30PM - 8:00PM.

An illeistic Tommie Kelly writes:

"Looks like things over at Road Crew are speeding up. Not only has Tommie Kelly got his new Book collection NOTHING'S SHOCKING up for Pre-order from today but you can also pre-order Issue Two of the New Bi-monthly Road Crew comic FOR SALE! The Pre-orders are open for one week only and in this time you can get a host of free bonus's including Ecomics, Music downloads, free miniposters and all books/comics come signed. Not One to be missed, especially as the VERY SPECIAL EDITION of Nothing's Shocking will only be available in this one week window. It contains ten extra pages, a variant cover and a nice big inked sketch from the author. You can get more details at http://www.roadcrewcomic.com"

P.R.E.S.S. Event
10th April 2010

A celebration of small press publishing, showcasing books, poetry, zines , comic books, artists books and prints.

http://pressukinfo.blogspot.com/2010/02/press-event-april-10th.html

Its going to be a busy Saturday - Orbital comics is holding a Murky Depths signing with the talented Luke Cooper on 27 March.

Two events happening in London next week - I'll be at both!

The UK Web & Mini Comix Thing returns - This will be the seventh year!

A couple of hundred yards away, Schmurgen Con 4 opens it doors at 4pm till late, and will incorporate an awards ceremony!

From Gareth Brookes :

The next Alternative Press Hour will be on Thursday the 18th March at 8pm on Resonance FM. It's the second of three shows documenting our adventures at the Angouleme International Comics Festival and features Stripburger from Slovenia, Chilli con Carne from Portugal and Robert Crumb!

It will be available to listen to shortly after broadcast at www.alternativepress.org.uk along with the last two shows.