Publishers of Graphic Novels and Fine Comics since 1998.
A few Sundays back we went to ELCAF, as you already know. To try and spice up our stall, and inject a little fun into the day, we set up a postcard competition, giving comics fans the chance to win Posy Simmonds’Mrs Weber’s Omnibusthat’s published later this year.
We had a fantastic response with well over fifty entries, and are happy to say that this, by Andrew Segal, is definitely the best. And very, very funny.
Well done, Andy, we’ll be in touch.
An Isabel Greenberg original! (Yes, I have stolen it to keep on my desk.)
This one was done by our mate Joff Winterhart. More from him on the way.
Well we had a brilliant innings at ELCAF on Sunday. We arrived, yawning, at 9am, ready to set up. There was already a huge gang of people eagerly waiting to get in, which was heartening! Once we were priced up they let the masses in, and we kicked off in style with our postcard competition. (More on that over the coming days.) It wasn’t long before a few friends dropped by, starting off with S. J. Harris. We chatted internet and the dictionary.com word of the day (‘agnate’, in case you were wondering), before he went off to peruse other tables.
Then came Hannah Berry, who popped round the back of our table to sign some books. The fun thing about getting your book signed by a graphic novelist is the fact that you get a special drawing just for you, as well as a signature! After that, along came Joff Winterhart (whose graphic novel is just about to published). If people were jam doughnuts and fun was actually jam, Joff would be the best jam doughnut out there. Boy, is he a hoot! He pulled in plenty of folk for our postcard competition, and made a good prop for us to flaunt our upcoming Graphic Short Story Prize 2012. (More on that soon, too.)
Moving through the throng, we spotted Paul Gravett, who was wearing an amazing blazer which featured a pattern of unidentifiable birds. (We decided they were grebes.) We chatted to him for a while - what a guy. He sure knows his comics. (The jam tart made some interesting comments too, about how many superheroes are tragic characters, and can be foiled by their nemesis… sorry.) Simone Lia then emerged after her talk and did a good job of bothering Tom Gauld while he was signing books for Gosh, who were at the table next to us. Tom and Simone soon went off for a drink, leaving Hannah and Joff getting up to all sorts of mischief. We too were busy selling books and dishing out jam tarts to keep them in check.
And after her own talk, Karrie Fransman came by to say hi, brightening up the stall with her fancy top. It must have put the weather in a summery mood as it brought the sun out, which was nice! Good on yer, gal. As it was quietening down, we popped over to Isabel Greenberg’s stall (who had been opposite us all day) and pored over her wonderful creations. We had said hi already but she was all on her own and had to stick to her stall quite a bit. Sterling effort! Most exhibitors were in pairs, at least, and there she is trooping it alone.
After all that, we had a beer and went home, KNACKERED. But what a great way to spend a Sunday. Here’s to ELCAF 2012, and hopefully ELCAF 2013!
Well, folks, we’re absolutely wiped. ELCAF was a lot of fun yesterday, and good to see so many people turn out. Approximately 3,000 people joined the comics carousel and picked up some great books, prints, posters and shirts. Ray Bradbury would be proud to see so many appreciators of printed matter.
Anyway, we’re so knackered we can barely stay awake, let alone find something for the blog today, so here’s a bit from our new friend Tom Gauld. He signed some books at the Gosh table and had Hannah Berry in his employ as bodyguard.
(Source: myjetpack)
If you’ve ever had the words ‘It is now safe to turn off your computer’ branded onto your retina in orange type, or listened to the sound of a modem having a touchtone war with the telephone exchange and your ISP, then you’re probably no stranger to the work of S. J. Harris, a.k.a. Spimcoot. He was Captain Cartoon over at h2g2 from 2001–2003, which was a sort of Douglas-Adams-inspired proto-Wikipedia run by the BBC. His Paper Cuts cartoons, in that Hitchhiker’s mantra, attempted to illustrate life, the universe and everything. We think he did rather well.
S-Dot’s currently working on Eustace – which also featured on h2g2 – for us right now, but here’s a sneak peek of one of the characters. This drawing is titled ‘Mrs Perichief Concocts’. He’ll be dropping by our table at ELCAF on Sunday, so do say hello.
Posy Simmonds is probably the doyenne of UK comics. In October we’re publishing the collected strips ofPosy, her strips that ran in theGuardianin the 80s. It’s a 488-page tome, racy and radical.
Can’t wait that long? We’re going to have some sneak previews down at ELCAF this weekend. And if that satiates you, well, there’s more: we’re giving you the chance to win a signed copy of Mrs Weber’s Omnibus! Yup, just come down to our stall on Sunday to find out how. More info at the ELCAF website.
Stationery supplies for this weekend…
At Cape, we’re very excited to be exhibiting at ELCAF this Sunday and as such, are plotting ideas for our table. All we can tell you now is that there will be sweets… Surely that’s enough reason to come see us and maybe even buy a book or two?!
We’re honoured to be involved in the first ever East London Comic Arts Festival, run by the guys at Nobrow. The line-up already hosts the cream of British comics talent, publishers and distros and you can bet there’s more on the way. More info at www.elcaf.co.uk, but here’s a wee blurb to whet your appetite.
ELCAF is officially cemented in the social calendar, everyone keep the 17th of June free it is going to be a comics and arts festival like no other, trust us! With McBess as the artist in residence; live drawing relay races from Luke Pearson, Jack Teagle, Kyle Platts, and many more; a process talk by the unbelievable award winning talent that is BLEXBOLEX, chaired by the man at the crossroads himself Paul Gravett; 600 second interviews from Avoid the Future; a kids workshop organised by Anorak; Screenings by Nexus; panel discussions with Karrie Fransman, Darryl Cunningham and Simone Lia; stalls from the very best comics publishers, including Jonathan Cape, SelfMadeHero, Blank Slate, Nobrow (of course!), Knockabout, Landfill Editions, Solopsistic Pop, WAWAP, the list goes on…; AND!!! a ticketed concert featuring the Dead Pirates, the Vuvuvultures and a special guest running from 8 ’til late, there is honestly nothing to top it! We are working hard to put an official program online next week, but in the mean time spread the word, make sure you and everyone you know comes! This is the start of something beautiful, don’t miss it!
The very first East London Comics and Arts Festival launches on 17 June with a curated day of talks, screenings, live-drawing events and the best spread of creative pop-ups in London! They’re accepting applications to take part over at the website. All comics artists, illustrators, graphic novelists, zinesters, self-pubbers and other assorted creatives should get involved!
