Thursday, May 31, 2001Posted by Pete Gary Northfield writes: I recently picked up a mini- comic by Ron Rege Jr. Inside he printed some of his pages using a single colour of red instead of black. He mentions in the "Comic Artists Guide to Reproduction" , which he produced along with Brian Ralph and Jordan Crane, that some copiers can copy in a toner other than black (usually in red, green or blue). He lists this under the sub heading of 'index colours'. I've asked around a couple of printers and copy shops in London with no joy and I was wondering if anybody had come across such a beast in London ( or anywhere) as I'd really like to have a go on one.I've been around the block when it comes to photocopiers but I haven't seen one of these since the late 80s and even then it was pretty old. It's a bit like a colour inkjet printer with different toner cartridges for the colours and you switch between them. To do a two colour copy you have to feed the paper through once more. Jeremy Dennis did some similar effects in the mid 90s but I haven't seen it done in this country for a good five years. Paul Schroeder adds: y'need to keep yer eye's open m'boy. 4:01 PM | Wednesday, May 30, 2001Posted by Pete Cool news from Ed Hillyer (aka iLYA) For the last year or so, I've been busy creating an animated comic strip for BBC Online. It's called JEAN GENII and the first series of nine episodes is about to launch. You can preview the first episodes of JEAN GENII here: Trailer, Episode 1, Episode 2Get in there! 3:42 PM | Posted by Pete Potentially useful resource for those of you wishing to follow "best newcomer" award winner Frazer Irving into the rent-paying world of pro-comics - a guide to showing your portfolio at conventions by ex Marvel UK editor John Freeman. 1:30 PM | Posted by Pete You might have noticed that BugPowder has been down since Monday. Not sure exactly why - could be they didn't register the payment, could be a glitch. Whatever, if you sent me an email on from Mnday to Wednesday, the chances are I didn't get it, so please send it again. Perfect bloomin' timing after handing out the URL to loads of people over the weekend... 1:19 PM | Monday, May 28, 2001Posted by Pete
Safe in your hands A lot happened in Bristol this weekend at the Comics 2001 festival. I'm going to concentrate on specific bits and particular ideas over the next few weeks so this is a brief over-view. To be honest, I went to Bristol with great trepidation. I was running a table with Andy Luke (of TRS2) and at the last minute it looked like Andy wouldn't be there. I'd been becoming more and more aware that I didn't have a clue what was going on in the UK small press comics scene these days and a nagging feeling that I didn't actually want to be one of the few people right at the middle, a position I was lucky to hold a few years back. But I'd made a commitment to run a table and therefore I would see it through. So I loaded up the backpack with a meagre selection of books and zines and caught the early train to Bristol. A couple of days earlier Andy had confirmed that he would be there and I'd put out a call for help to which the Goodman brothers from Pulp Fiction had offered their assistance. Kev Sutherland, the frighteningly enthusiastic organiser of Comics 2001 had volunteered me to sell the limited edition charity decks of cards so I knew there'd be plenty of traffic and publicity for the table, and Andy (who does know what the fuck is going on) had spread the word that we would sell people's books for them. So it probably wasn't going to be as bad as I thought. At the very least I'd be able to get away for the Eddie Campbell talk. You guys took my breath away. At one stage I was coming back to the table and stopped to observe. Everything was fine. People were running the table, people were buying stuff, people were chatting, people were swapping comics, sharing information, networking. All I had done was provide a space. In the past at these things I've been a bit of a control freak, making sure my baby was not being ruined by people who, while they had the best intentions, didn't know exactly how I worked. This reflects more on me than anyone else, but this year I felt able to let go. And it felt good. There is a vibrant scene in the UK small press. There are loads of people doing stuff, a lot of it of high quality, and they're all very keen. There were lots of happy faces at Bristol. No-one was down. This seemed to go across the whole comics scene but I particularly noticed it in the small press. I'm confident enough to say that a new era has begun. The seeds of a new scene are ever present. All that needs to be done is bring it all together and having talks to numerous people about this over the weekend it shouldn't be too hard as long as we spread the load. Look out for more optimistic ramblings soon! 4:35 PM | Friday, May 25, 2001Posted by Pete It's the night before Comics 2001 in Bristol and if you're coming along with your wares you'll more than likely be collating and stapling like a mean bugger. This is just a quick reminder that there will be a BugPowder table (in the Marriott hotel) and while there will be stuff to buy from it, it's main purpose is to promote small press comics. Now, while I volunteered for this job (or Kev Sutherland bullied me into it, I forget which) and have roped Andy Luke of TRS2 into the fold, the fact remains that I'm pretty out of touch with the current small press scene as it is today. My heyday was 1995 which gets further away by the year... So, point is, if you're going and you publish your own comic, you are more than welcome to come and help on the table for an hour or so. This will enable me to have a piss, but will also enable you to preach the Good Word to all and sundry. And then maybe, just maybe, you'll find you kinda enjoy pushing SP to the masses and you'd like to do more, taking the heat off Andy a bit and allow me to retire to the Small Press Home For Those Who Don't Quite Know What The Kids Are Up To. There's a beer in it for you, and access to the Norwegian's party is pretty much assured, should you so desire. And did I mention the BugPowder table is responsible for selling the charity decks of cards? Maximum traffic guarenteed! 10:24 AM | Thursday, May 24, 2001Posted by Pete Can't believe this hasn't been linked to before... The Comics International Small Press reviews are all archived on their site. 11:02 AM | Sunday, May 20, 2001Posted by Pete What do you do when you've sold out of your comic and can't justify doing a reprint, even though people still want to read it? Jordan Crane has an answer. Make the whole book available as a PDF file. You can now enjoy the whole of Non #3 (64 pages of glorious joy) in the comfort of your own Acrobat reader. Non #1 is coming soon in the same format. I'm thinking of building up a similar archive here so if you've got an out of print small press comic that was well recieved at the time, get in touch and we'll get it scanned up. 12:27 PM | Thursday, May 17, 2001Posted by Pete Ninth Art is a diamond find (tip of the hat to lmg) - a comics journalism site "for the discerning reader" that avoids the historical pitfalls of The Comics Journal. It's early days but I really like the feel of the site and it ties in with a lot of angles I've been thinking about regarding comics. For the unaware, the title comes from the French who have always had a much more mature appreciation of comics that the English speaking world. Here's hoping... 4:13 PM | Tuesday, May 15, 2001Posted by mooncat Obscure corner of the web & a new contributor the the UK small press: Is 2:07 PM | Monday, May 14, 2001Posted by Pete
Ffrap is a 30 page comic by Malcy Duff, rejigged for the web in a huge 1.3 meg strip. It's worth the wait, trust me. The whole Gallery has also been rejigged in a minimalist style. 3:26 PM | Saturday, May 12, 2001Posted by Pete It looks like Factsheet 5 the legendary monster zine review mag, is coming back this summer after a two year "break" according to this interview with the new owner, who just happens to be "a 22 year old marketing student with no knowledge of zines". "I was finishing up a class on direct marketing and wanted to go into that type of business. As I was exploring my options I turned to the internet. There amongst a search engine was Factsheet5.com for sale. Time was ticking, got some money together , gave Seth a call and now the rest is and will be History!"Hmm... 1:43 PM | Posted by Pete
1:24 PM | Posted by Pete Classic Comic Archives - archived strips from Gasoline Alley, Krazy Kat, Terry and the Pirates, Popeye, and more. Top stuff, especially the first two (IMHO, although all are great). (via on your head) 1:19 PM | Tuesday, May 08, 2001Posted by Pete Reviving the spirit of UKCAC! In a pub! Greetings, True Believers, from Jennifer Cole & Martin Hand! 2:15 PM | Posted by mooncat Nice learny stuff for all wood beez out there who wanna dabble in colour here. 1:39 AM | Posted by SiG Re: PROtocol. There IS something to replace the SSI newsletter - the CCG newsletter! The Society of Strip Illustrators changed its name to the Comics Creators Guild in 1992 to reflect the fact that it promotes the interests of all creators working in the field, not just artists. The Guild "is open to any and all interested parties who can show an awareness and dedication to our medium, and not only those who are currently making a living from comics". Apart from the monthly newsletter there are meetings every month in London and Brighton, with other regional meets planned. 1:24 AM | Monday, May 07, 2001Posted by mooncat
New Website for UK comics creator types! Matt and I work on a number of projects together, and enjoy regular chats on the phone even when we’re not. It was during one of these conversations that I bemoaned the fact that the comics community had fragmented, and that no-one seemed to know what anyone else was up to. “It’s a shame”, I said to him, “that there’s nothing to take the place of the old SSI newsletters, or the creator profiles that used to run at the front of Arkensword”. Matt agreed and suggested there was a niche for such a publication, aimed primarily at the creative community. And as he couldn’t think of anyone else stupid enough to try pulling it all together he suggested I give it a go – and thus PROtocol was born! There was some laffs in the old SSI/CCG on what accredited someone to being a comics "professional". Nice to see such potential again ;) 1:07 PM | Sunday, May 06, 2001Posted by Pete Explaination required, because it might go on a while. I'm taking a break from the site for a bit for various reasons but mainly to get a bit of perspective. The main page can still be updated by the other contributors but my personal blog will stay quiet. Hold tight! Back soon! 4:30 PM | |
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