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Tomorrow Is Small Press Day In Comic Shops Across The UK And Ireland – Where's Your Local? #SmallPressDay

Published Fri, 08 Jul 2016 05:52:32 -0500

Last updated Thu, 15 Sep 2016 07:04:14 -0500

Well, this is pretty brilliant. And it's happening in comic book stores all across the UK and Ireland tomorrow. Consider it a comic book antidote to Brexit.

The aim of Small Press Day is to spotlight the possibilities of small press publishing and to bring its practitioners to the far wider audience they deserve. At its heart it's an elegantly simple idea that involves minimal organisation for everyone involved but will ultimately be hugely rewarding for shops, creators and the small press community.

Shops and venues of all kinds will take part by holding in-store signings with small press creators. Froma dedicated small space in a store for a few hours in the afternoon or an all-day event with a number of creators in residency signing their published works in hourly time-slots, everyone is doing something different.

The important thing is that we have a day where shops, creators and customers can meet, engage with each other, have fun, and see what great work is being produced by the next generation of UK comic and zine creators.

Is there a store near you taking part? Look, even the Forbidden Planets are joining in… and my London has everything from Raygun to Forbidden Planet to Orbital to Gosh – it's a shame Eggs Milk And Butter has gone, this would be their Christmas… but now I also have an excuse to go top Housmans!

Scotland

Forbidden Planet Glasgow

Come to the CCA from 1pm to 5pm and meet loads of amazing independent comics and zine creators! More info here

@ CCA Glasgow, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JD

Waterstones Glasgow

Small Press Party! Creators, signings, food, drink, and all small press titles reduced on the day! From 2pm – 3pm. More info here

@174-176 Argyle Street, Glasgow G2 8BT

Ireland

Forbidden Planet Dublin proudly presents:

Paul Bolger, Jason Browne, Sarah Bowie, Cormac Hughes, John Cullen, Kinga Korska, Ciaran Marcantonio, Rob Curley, and many more. Come discover for yourself just why so many small press aficionados consider this to be the Golden Age of self and micropublishing in the UK & Ireland! From 10.30am – 6pm. More info here

@ Filmbase, Curved St, Dublin 2, Ireland

England

North East

Travelling Man Newcastle

The Paper Jam Comics Collective in association with Travelling Man Newcastle and The Canny Comic Con invite you to The Paperjammening No 2: 'The Grand Small Press Day Freakout Bonanza Boogaloo'. Meet unruly small press comic creators! Check out their wondrous comics and art! Join in with daft drawing games! It'll be fun. You should come along. From 10.30am – 4.30pm. More info here

@ 43 Grainger Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5JE

North West

Travelling Man Manchester

Proud to present a selection of the best small press talent from in and around Manchester as part of the SPD 2016 celebrations! Come and join in from 10am till 5pm. More info here

@ Central Hall, 4/5 Central Buildings, Oldham Street, Manchester M1 1JQ

The Comic Book Store

Signings in store with Futurequake Press from 11am – 3pm. More info here

@ 70 Chestergate, Macclesfield, SK11 6DY

Yorkshire

Destination Venus

Come and peruse a range of small press and independent comics as Destination Venus formally launch "Independent Territory" – a section dedicated to the creators who make their comics themselves. Also meet self-publishing legend Terry Willey, co-creator of the magnificent "Sleaze Castle" and the creator of "Surreal School Stories" and "Verity Fair". More info here

@ Westminster Arcade, Parliament Street, Harrogate HG1 2RN

Travelling Man Leeds

Robert Luckett of Regular Show OGN will be instore to launch the second part of his small press series Bum Storm. Plus an amazing bunch of Leeds based creators will be swinging by to drop off new stuff. From 10.30am – 5pm.

@ 32 Central Road, Leeds LS1 6DE

Midlands

The Astral Gypsy

Celebrate SPD instore with special guests Angus Medford, Russell Hillman, and Jonny Pearson! More info here

@ Unit 2E Fargo Village, Far Gosford Street, Coventry CV1 5ED

Nostalgia & Comics

Celebrating SPD with signings from three amazing small press creators on the hour every hour from 11am – 3pm!

The fantastic line up includes Cory Brathwaite, Steven D Quirke, Joe Krawec from 11am; Steve Tanner from 12pm; Charlotte B, Lucy E, Tony Cooper from 1pm; and Dave Evans, Fayita Bennett, Joe Krawec from 2pm. More TBA soon. More info here

@ 14-16 Smallbrook Queensway, Birmingham B5 4EN

Forbidden Planet Leicester

Come on down to the shop from midday to meet some of the top talent in the Midlands. Small press artists who'll be in store include Anna Claydon, Drew Sumner, Patrick Scattergood, Verity Hall, Sally Jane Thompson, Jade Sarson, Paul Kemble, Laura Watton- Davis, Ryuuza, Emily Brady, and Emmeline Dobson.

Plus comics workshops at Cocoa Amore run by Jay Eales and Seline Lock and a Drink and Draw at the Globe from 5.30pm! More info here

@ 23 Silver Street, Leicester, LE1 5EU

Retro Rebel

Signings in store from 10am – 5pm with writer Nick Goode and illustrator Harry Hughes, the creators of Snow: The Dawn. More info here

@ 208 Birmingham Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 0AX

Forbidden Planet Wolverhampton

A mini small press convention with some great local independent comic creators – including Laura Howell, Tony McGee, and Ryan Taylor – in store selling their comics and merchandise. FP Wolves will also be hosting a 'how to draw comics' workshop through the day. From 10am – 3pm. More info here

@ 23 Victoria Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 3NP

East

Dark Side Comics

Summer Party in conjunction with Small Press Day! With comics artists Jack Lawrence and Sio Doodles, plus superheroes instore, (perfect for excellent selfies,) a raffle to win amazing geeky prizes, exclusive on-the-day-ONLY deals on stock, and so much more including free comics!! More info here

@ 47 Viaduct Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1TS

London

Raygun East

Signing instore from 12pm – 2pm with Owen Michael Johnson. Join us and get your hands on an exclusive Raygun Comics Print by Owen (with a small purchase). More info here

@ 70 Clapton Square, London E5 8HE

Forbidden Planet London Megastore

Celebrating SPD with signings and giveaways from Edie OP and Owen D Pomery, two super talented artists who will be instore signing Reads, Maleficum, and Between the Billboards – small press titles published by Avery Hill Publishing. From 4pm – 5pm. More info here

@179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR

Gosh! Comics

Hosting a stack of signings and events with local small press publishers and collectives from 12-7pm. The impressive line-up starts with Decadence Comics and Backwards Burd from 12pm; Save Our Souls from 1pm; Dirty Rotten Comics from 2pm; Fancy Butcher Press from 3pm; One Beat Zines from 4pm; and Avery Hill Publishing from 6pm.

During the day Gosh! will also be producing their own comic in collaboration with their neighbours over at Orbital Comics. Artists in both stores will be working on the comic across the event, with the pages going between the shops and by the end of the day they will have a entire comic ready to be printed up and handed out for free in both shops. More info here

@ 1 Berwick Street, London W1F 0DR

Orbital Comics

Multiple signings with awesome creators, a 'make your own comic' workshop with Matt Boyce from 1.30pm, and other events taking place all day long.

The signing sessions will start at midday and run all day, with different creators every hour, and an insane amount of great new comics to be discovered – the list includes Alessandra Criseo, Cristian Ortiz, John Riordan & Dan Cox from 12pm; Sean Azzopardi, Cliodhna Ztoical, Jenika Ioffreda, Sammy Borras, Sina Sparrow from 1pm; Hamish Steele, Paul Shinn, Claude TC, Craig Conlan, Adam-James Foulkes & Lynne Triplett from 2pm; Andy Poyadgi, Matt Boyce, Robin Barnard, Verity Glass, Dan White from 3pm; Matt Gibbs & Chris Wildgoose, Matt Fitch & Chris Baker from 4pm; and Andy Oliver with many of Broken Frontier's Six Creators to Watch from this and last year including Rozi Hathaway, Emma Raby, Kim Clements, and Jey Levang from 5pm.

And if that wasn't enough, Orbital will also be producing a comic on the day in collaboration with their neighbours at Gosh! More info here

@ 8 Great Newport Street, London WC2H 7JA

Housmans Bookshop

Hosting the Festival of the Perzine – a celebration of personal writing zines as part of Small Press Day. Zine writers can turn up between 10am and 12pm to sell their perzines upfront to the shop. The zine festival runs from 12pm -6pm. Bring zines, bring friends, make it social. More info here

@ 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DX

South East

Dead Universe Comics

Hosting a slew of talented UK small press creators including Phil Buckenham, Jon Scrivens, Brett Uren, Lee Killeen, and David Leach – who'll be in attendance with their books, artwork, prints, and a selection of other great stuff. From 10am – 5pm. More info here

@ Bourbon Street, Friars Square Shopping Centre, Aylesbury HP20 2PZ

Dave's Comics

Sketching and signings from 10am with amazing small press artists including Jenny Clements, and Anaseed Man – and David Gedge, Terry De Castro and Lee Thacker (Tales from the Wedding Present) who will be instore from noon till 2pm!

@ 5 Sydney Street, Brighton and Hove, BN1 4EN

South West

Frog Bros Comics And Books

Hosting independent comic book creators – conducting signings and selling amazing creations! From 12.30pm to 1.10pm signing session with Andrew Pawley; from 1.10pm to 1.50pm Michael Melim; 1.50pm to 2.30pm Liam Frettingham, Jay Frettingham, and Dave Jones; 2.30pm to 3.10pm Mike Garley; and from 3.10pm to 4pm Shaun Dobie.

And then from 4pm, join us for a coffee roundtable as the creators chat about the comics industry at Caffee Point (opposite Frog Bros). More info here

@ 7 Royal Arcade, Boscombe, BH1 4BT

Dorset Youth Association

DIY Zine Making Workshop from 2pm – 4pm. Celebrate Small Press Day by finding out what zines (zeens) are and how to make them. Bring your ideas and any old magazines, newspapers or artwork you wish to use and go home with your very own zine by the end of the day. More info here

@ Lubbecke Way, Dorchester DT1 1QL

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