Newcastle Mini Comic 2012 Review

The 2012 Mini Comic event was an amazing success. Despite me making a mistake with the dates it was part of World Mini Comics day in May.

The day began with Paul Thompson's and Ingi Jensson's presentations about all things comicy and Icelandic. Both were brilliant, I learnt absolutely loads to use with my own work. Paul spoke eloquently about all aspects of comic storytelling and making visual jokes work. Ingi gave a powerful presentation about style and the ups and downs of his comic career. We also learnt alot about Iceland and Ingi's cool uncle.

The comics making event was great. We had a constant stream of people of all ages attending wihich totally nearly 70 overall. The pace was relentless and everyone had a great time. Loads of great comics were made.

It was great to speak to all of the various folk who attended and help them get started. Everyone was full of enthusiasm for comics and cartoons. It was particularly good to speak to Kris, a gifted cartoonist, who wants to get into comics after retiring. The Awesome Comic Machine award should go the Ruth aged 11, who spent the whole event relentlessly drawing amazing comics without moving, pausing or flagging.

There was great works byPaperjammers Matt Gan and Lydia Wysocki. Ingi did a great one too, but I'll have to pick up a copy next week so I don't know its name. Britt Coxon's were amazing too. It is now a tradition that Paul never finishes his work during the event.

It was amazing to see Nigel Auchterlounie and his mini comic The Adventures of Whinnie the Dog. There was also a great comic by Peter Coulthard titled the Scarecrow, there was loads of great comics made by unknown makers one titled A Trip to the Shops was a particular hit. The photo shows most of them that I picked up, but I know I didn't get them all.

As part of the workshop we will be sending samples of them over to Mike. He was able to attend the morning but hopped on a plane to Malta, so the comics will reach him in the next few days. He's doing a reciprocal zine which he's promising to send back to us.

I couldn't have managed the event without the help from a number or folks, especially Britt and Paul for doing the photocopier duties. Also, Sophie and Judith were both brilliant as well.

As usual the Newcastle City Library were great and the success of the event was due to the helpfulness of all the staff involved, particularly Pauline and Patrick.

Many of the attendees were keen to hear about future events, which got us thinking.  You'll have to wait and see for now.

Comics Wisdom at Mini Comic Making in Newcastle

Here's Paul's and Ingi's presentations at the Comics Wisdom event.

Paul Thompson
Comics: words + pictures where space = time

... ... Local comics guru Paul Thompson leads you through a journey of how comics convey a story. With his wit and boundless enthusiasm he answers why comics are different to film and prose, where this is good and where it's not. Why comics are the most accessible medium for conveying complex ideas quickly (flight safety instructions are comics).
And it's about how the words and pictures interact, how space equals time and why backgrounds are drawn realistic and foregrounds minimally.
Contains great ideas for anyone who reads or creates comics.

Ingi Jensson
Embracing our own originality and the dangers involved!!

Join Iceland’s coolest cartoonist, Ingi Jennson and hear his harrowing tale of how he burned-up, rose out of the ashes, found his mojo, uncovered his personal style in the process via mystical ways. But first and foremost; what he learned from his journey to the edge and back.
Ingi will talk about his development as a comic maker, looking back at 14 years of drawing for a living, from Holland to Iceland to Holland to England.

Spaces for these are limited so book with Newcastle City Library (0191 277 4100) to make sure you're there.

Newcastle Mini Comics 2012 Poster

Here's the poster for this year's Mini Comics Making Event at Newcastle Central Library on April 21st.

Come along and make a comic, it'll be awesome.

Newcastle Mini Comic Event 2012

After the success of last year's event, plans are now underway to run another for Mini Comics in 2012. This time the venue will be Newcastle Central Library. The date planned is 21st April between 1 and 5pm and will be held in Bewick Hall which is the large room where the fantastic Canny Comic Con took place.

It'll be an afternoon of mini comic making fun for all ages and abilities. As with all mini comic events, the plan is for everyone to leave with a finished comic they have created.

In addition to the workshop there will be a number of presentations beforehand. These will be from local comics creators and will talk about aspects of comics and visual story telling. They will contain something to help comic creators everywhere. The line up is not quite finalised but will posted here when finalised.

This event is planned to coincide roughly with World Mini Comics Day. But I'm not sure when it is this year, so decided to go ahead anyway.

More details will follow soon.

Make Mini Comics at the Canny Comic Con

The Canny Comic Con is rapidly approaching. It's a little festival of comics to be held in Newcastle Central Library on 10th December.

I will be running a Mini Comic and Zine workshop maybe with Mike D.

Come along and have a go.

Here's the blurb:

Starting at 11.30 and running into early afternoon there will be workshops open to all. These will be aimed at comic makers of all ages and focusing on the diy aspect of comics.

There will be workshops about making Mini-Comics and Zines. These will cover creating quick and amazing comics covering a range of subjects and using any materials you can find.

No experience is necessary, the aim is fun and drawing ability is not essential.

These are real hands sessions and the aim is for participants to leave with something they’ve made.

Mini Comics

Here's an almost definitive list on Mini Comics created at the Mini Comics Event. They were all great. They ranged from the awesomely artisitc to the darkly disturbing.

There's a couple not on this photo, only because we didn't have copies.

Here's the list of titles (in no particular order)

On the Metro                                          

I go by Many Names

Untitled War

The Man who Flew Away

Unlikely Friends

A Whale in the Sea

The Land of Legs

Ingi's Newspaper Day

Ha

Untitled Lead

The Portal

Attack of the 50 Foot Metaphor

Super Mouse

Spaceship vs Spaceship Captain

A Brief Treatise on the Penguin

Ice Cream Wrestler

The Shape Dilemma

Title Page Attention Grabber

Marvel Heroes and Batman

Not shown here are Why Me? Lost Dog, Paul T's and Andy W's unfinished works.

Mini Comics Day

Today we participated in the first Mini-Comics day at the Star and Shadow cinema. It was an excellent event arranged by Mike D. Lots of Paperjam Comics Members turned up along with a loads of non-Paperjammers. It was great that lots of kids attended and also that the adults also joined in with the comic making fun. The were loads of excellent works created and printed, it was also fantastic to chat on with people about comics and creative pursuits in general.

We've got loads of the printed comics which well probably swap with other particpants around the World.

It was fantastic to see Ingi, Terry, Andy, Daniel and Lily, Paul and Britt. Some of these folks didn't quite finish of their comics but the works looked great and we're all looking forward to seeing the finished articles.

Also a big thanks to everyone who helped out and tidied up at the end, we couldn't have managed without you.