In just its second year the Festival features an increasingly stellar
line up of comics creators and designers encompassing a wide range of
genres, including international guests such as artist
Becky Cloonan (who, along with her many independently-created works, was the first female artist to draw the main
Batman title for DC Comics), digital comics guru
Scott McCloud, top comics writer
Gail Simone,
Junko Mizuno, the award-winning
Wilfried Lupano and
Jeremie Moreau (creators of the acclaimed graphic novel
The Hartlepool Monkey),
Bone creator
Jeff Smith and Dutch cartoonist
Joost Swarte – plus a host of home-grown British artists, writers and illustrators.
Just a few of the many creators in this year’s line-up are the legendary
Watchmen co-creator, artist
Dave Gibbons,
Sunday Times-featured artist
Nick Abadzis,
Walking Dead artist
Charlie Adlard,
Doctor Who artists
Mark Buckingham and
Mike Collins, 2014 Eisner award nominee creator Rob Davis, Marvel Comics artist
Gary Erskine, top designer
Rian Hughes,
2000AD and
Batman artist
Jock, leading independent artist
Sean Phlllips,
The Beano and
VIZ artist
Lew Stringer and many top independent comic creators, such as
Luther Arkwright and
Grandville creator
Bryan Talbot and
Vampire Academy artist
Emma Vieceli.
(For further information on creator's works, visit the Festival's web site -
www.comicartfestival.com).
The Festival features more than 50 carefully-produced events with often
unusual combinations of guests, unusual presentations and new formats.
It includes films and live draws alongside workshops and master classes
including a whole programme dedicated to children and teenagers. Themes
and strands include Konichewa Japan, Vive la France!, Lost in Space, The
Great War in Comics and Just for Laughs?
Plus, the Festival offers a huge, free,
Comic Marketplace
in Kendal’s Clock Tower, crammed with publisher stands, creators
offering art and sketches – and, of course, there will be plenty of
comics for sale. (Full details of the family zone and Comics Clock Tower
plus full exhibitions programme and more will be released in May and
June, but look out for creators such as Isabel Greenberg, writer Ian
Edginton, Great Beast publisher Adam Cadwell among many others).
There’ll also be a pop-up Forbidden Planet for the weekend.
With a firm eye on developing new comic talent there are also plenty of workshops for aspiring comic creators to sign up for.
“The first festival ran like a well-oiled machine, with many people
stating that it seemed like a long-established event,” enthuses Festival
guest and founding patron Bryan Talbot. “If you only go to one comic
event this year, this is the one that's unmissable.”
“The organisers are building on last year's resounding success to make
this year's festival outstanding,” added fellow patron Mary Talbot.
“There's another stunning array of guests and exhibitions, events and
competitions - so there's sure to be something for everyone. Like last
year, only even better!”
"One of the most popular questions after our first festival in 2013 was
how would we be able to match its breadth, scale and quality,” says
Festival Director Julie Tait. “We hope this year's programme (with a few
surprises still to come) will answer that question.
“We are delighted to have an increased number of international creators
and to have broadened the genres too. Meanwhile we have listened to
feedback and have extended the range of the family zone and have made
the Comics Clocktower free to the public. And we can assure you that
Kendal will be even more of a comic art town for the weekend"
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