Black Books this Sunday

Sunday 16 March is Black Books, the regular book fair at the Black Box. Starts at 12 lasts til 5, as usual. Andy and I will be there manning our stall as ever, and we will, post office willing, have a restock from Paddy Lynch, including his brand new comic Last Bus #2! He launched it at a big party in Dublin a couple of weeks ago - here's the graphic for it, which is the only online represantation of the book I've been able to find:

Paddy's a tremendous talent - I named his comic In the Aquarium one of the two best Irish comics of 2009 on Paul Gravett's blog. He has a marvellously loose, agitated line and his comics are contemporary character pieces for the most part, often quite dark, always very perceptive. He's also one half (with his partner Katie Blackwood) of micropublisher Cardboard Press, and one third, with Katie and fellow Black Panel stalwart Phil Barrett, of small press/artist's book promotion thing Edition Book Arts.

And speaking of Phil Barrett, Andy's done an interview with him over at his regular "Comicking" blog at Alltern8. Have a read and maybe find out why his books sell so well at The Black Panel!

We'll also have a special free preview issue of Róisín Dubh, a forthcoming horror comic set in 19th-century Ireland written by Rob Curley and Maura McHugh and drawn by Stephen Daly, which looks gorgeous:

Coming soon...

There should be a piece in the Irish Times on Saturday about the comics scene in Ireland - I did a brief interview with the writer about The Black Panel and the Irish Comics wiki during the week.

The first weekend in June is the 2D Festival ("tuppence" as I like to call it, because I'm that old) in Derry-stroke-Londonderry. Free entry, lots of talented people attending, and a fun, family-friendly atmosphere - easily the most welcoming comics show I've ever been to. Guests that I'm excited about, according to the Facebook Group, include Pat Mills (Pat Mills!) and Colin MacNeill from 2000AD, and Emma Vieceli, who did "Violet" in The DFC.

Weekend after that is the Point Village Comics Festival in Dublin, a big market with loads of talented people shilling their wares, and presumably workshops and panel discussions and the usual kind of thing. Hilary Lawler of Longstone Comics is organising it and she's cool, so it'll be great.

And, at some unspecified point in the next few months, when it's finished... The Cattle Raid of Cooley issue 3!