Lakes Festival: Viz Unmasked!

VIZ UnMasked - or, "It's not all over until the fat lady sings..."

The ever-irreverent VIZ team are promoting their Lakes Festival exhibition plans with this satirical take on the British Library's recent Comics UnMasked poster by Jamie Hewlett. Image: Graham Dury/Simon Thorp

Kendal, UK, 18th August 2014:  Hot on the heels of the British Library's "Comics UnMasked" exhibition comes the Lakes International Comic Art Festival's very own homage to art and anarchy in the UK - "VIZ Unmasked". VIZ Unmasked will, amongst other things, reveal the dark art of how a VIZ comic is made through a fully interactive, animatronic, state-of-the-art museum experience. "It's been a long-held ambition by the VIZ team to create and present this unique installation," notes Festival Director Julie Tait, "and they are delighted that LICAF has enabled this dream to be realised. "I suggested they could do a spoof poster of Comics Unmasked," Julie says of the tongue-in-cheek promotional image from Graham Dury and Simon Thorp. "They went for it – I just hope Comics UnMasked's co-curator Paul Gravett and artist Jamie Hewlett appreciate it!" The exhibition will form a major part of a new, and still emerging,"Pop Up" Fringe over the Festival weekend (17th - 19th October 2014), aiming to reinforce its distinctiveness and respond the creative ideas of its supporters and collaborators. VIZ have also lent their name to this year's special Comic Festival beer inspired by their long-running Biffa Bacon, the label art drawn by Graham Dury and Simon Thorp. The beer will be on sale during the Festival weekend at select outlets, including the Brewery Arts Centre, Castle Green, Wetherspoons, Ruskins and still-to-be-revealed venue for the "Pop Up Fringe".

Tickets for all the events at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (17th - 19th October) are on sale now. For the full guest list, details of events and exhibitions and bookings visit: www.comicartfestival.com

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About the 2014 Lakes International Comic Art Festival

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival (17th – 19th October 2014) is a new kind of comic art event in the UK. Modelled on a European-style festival it aims to take over the market town of Kendal, on the edge of the Lake District, with comic art presenting the widest range of genres. Events include a 24 Hour Comic Marathon, children’s comic workshops, talks, signings, Great War in Comics art exhibition and a Comics Fair.

The huge line up of guests at this year's Lakes International Comic Art Festival include the acclaimed comics creator and newspaper strip artist Nick Abadzis (author of Laika); Walking Dead artist Charlie Adlard; Storm Dogs and UNITY artist Doug Braithwaite; Fables and Sandman artist Mark Buckingham; The Mire and Wolves creator Becky Cloonan; Alec and From Hell artist Eddie Campbell; veteran publisher Dez Skinn; Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons; digital comics pioneer Scott McCloud; Japanese artist Junko Mizuno; Drowntown co-creator Robbie Morrison; leading US comics writer Gail Simone; the creator of the multi-award winning Bone Jeff Smith; and Grandville and Luther Arkwright author Bryan Talbot, one of the Festival's patrons alongside Sean Phillips and Mary Talbot and Emma Vieceli, will also join other comic creators for Kendal's second comics extravaganza. • Visit the Festival web site for the full guest list announced so far

24 Hour Comic Marathon

The 24 Hour Comic Marathon creative team is: Dan Berry, Marathon curator and producer; Kristyna Baczynski (NME), Warwick Johnson Cadwell (Tank Girl), Joe Decie (The Accidental Salad) Sarah McIntyre (Oliver and the Seawigs, shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards 2014), Fumio Obata (author of the graphic novel Just So Happens) and Jack Teagle. • For more information about the 24 Hour Comic Marathon visit: www.comicartfestival.com/competitions

Festival Sponsors and Benefactors

The Patrons of the Festival are comic creators Sean Phillips, Bryan Talbot, Mary Talbot and Emma Vieceli.

The Festival is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, with funding from South Lakeland District Council and Kendal Town Council working in partnership with the Brewery Arts Centre and Kendal College.

Commercial sponsors include the Westmorland Shopping Centre, SEQUENTIAL and Knockabout.