Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: graphic novels, hope road, london, moomins, paul gravett, things to do, things to do in london, tove jansson

Things To Do In London If You Like Comics for January 2023

London

Published Thu, 05 Jan 2023 05:57:10 -0600

by Rich Johnston

Last updated Thu, 31 Aug 2023 13:24:48 -0500

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The new edition of Things To Do In London If You Like Comics for January 2023, with comic reading clubs, Paul Gravett talking about Tove Jansson, the launch of the Hope Road comic book and the mysterious Troopers.

Thursday, 5th of January

Troopers from 7pm. Those who know, know.

Tuesday, 10th of January

Comic and Graphic Novel Readers Club, 7-9pm, Prince of Wales, Drury Lane, Covent Garden

Monsters is rendered in Barry Windsor-Smith's impeccable pen-and-ink technique, the visual storytelling, with its sensitivity to gesture and composition, the most sophisticated of the artist's career. There are passages of heartbreaking tenderness, of excruciating pain, of redemption and sacrifice, and devastating violence. Monsters is surely one of the most intense graphic novels ever drawn.

Wednesday, 11th of January

Reads at Gosh Comics, Gosh Comics, Berwick Street, Soho 7pm.

It might be 2023, but this month's book is one of Gosh's Best of 2022. Lizzy Stewart's ALISON is a fictional account of the life of Alison Porter, an artist who upends her life in Dorset to pursue matters of art and the heart in 70s London. In this thoughtful work Stewart blends elements of diary like prose, scrapbook and comic narrative in a compelling decades spanning character study of a woman struggling for independence and fulfilment. As always the book is available from of our friends at Gosh with the discount code READSJAN23. We'll be meeting at 19:00 at Gosh Comics on Berwick Street. Bring your books, your bants and your comic loving besties! See less
London

Sunday, 15th of January

AniManJapan (Anime, Manga and Japanese Culture), TCR Bar, Tottenham Court Road, Noho, 1.30-3.30 pm, Free.

If you love manga then please join us for our weekly manga meetups, where we basically just sit, chat and read manga! We will not focus on one specific book/comic like a typical book club. In this meetup, you can BYOM (bring your own manga) or read one from the selection we will bring. See this as an opportunity to discover, recommend or simply enjoy Japanese comics with like-minded people! Note: if you have any manga you would like us to try and bring, please mention them in the comments! Also please bring refreshments before attending the event as the Waterstones bar is now closed.

Wednesday, 18th of January

Tove Jansson – Moomins and more with Paul Gravett, Century Club, Shaftesbury Avenue, Soho, 6.30-8.30pm. £12.

There are few artists more talented in making the mundane magical than Tove Jansson, the Finnish writer and illustrator who created the Moomins, a forest dwelling family of hippo-like trolls who are loved the world over. Their evocative, philosophical fantasies speak to all ages, most recently in the continuing CGI-animated TV series 'Moominvalley'. In Finland, she has become a national treasure with an official flag day on her birthday (August 9th) to celebrate Finnish arts and letters. In this talk, comic historian Paul Gravett will explore Jansson's multiple careers, ranging from painting and murals to picture books and literature. Illustration was also a lifelong passion, and this visual lecture includes rare and unseen artworks, including her brazen anti-Fascist cartoons during WWII and her daily 'Moomin' newspaper strips in the London Evening News. Gravett will also investigate how Tove became a queer icon and how her love for women inspired the characters of her artwork. Paul Gravett is a London-based writer, historian, curator and lecturer, specialising in international comics art. His latest book, 'Tove Jansson' (Thames & Hudson, 2022), offers fresh details and insights about her life and work, with a focus on her illustrations. It has been published in October 2022 in English, German, Italian, Japanese and Korean, with Chinese, Finnish and Swedish editions to follow in Spring 2023.

Saturday, 21st of January

Premiere of comic book Hope Road. The Yellow, Huphry Repton Lane, Harrow. Noon – 7pm. Free.

SNAKES & LADDERS EXHIBITION. Unique Community invite the local community to see all the work created by young people throughout 2021-22. Featuring:
Screening of Amber House & Hope Road, the original musicals created by BYT Actor's Studio that were performed at WAC Arts earlier this year
The unveiling of the "Hope Road" Comic Book
Premier of animations developed by Backstage Crew in collaboration with Cosmic Monocle
Behind the scenes exclusives of how everything was made processes

Saturday 28th of January

Ben Aaronovitch signing Rivers Of London: Volume 10: Deadly Ever After Forbidden Planet, Shaftesbury Avenue, Covent Garden, 28th January 2022, 1-2pm.

CSI meets Harry Potter in this graphic novel from Ben Aaronovitch – writer of the bestselling Rivers of London supernatural police procedural crime novel series, Andrew Cartmel author of The Vinyl Detective and Celeste Bronfman. Illustrations from a mysterious book of fairy tales drawn in the late 1800s are coming to life in the 21st Century and causing havoc. The illustrations were originally painted by a Victorian artist called Jeter Day who disappeared one night in an enchanted forest when he was spirited away by tree nymphs never to be seen again… Now, with the enchantment accidentally broken by Olympia and Chelsea, daughters of the river goddess Mama Thames, Jeter, twisted by his time spent with the nymphs, has returned to our world bitter and resentful. It is a world he neither recognises nor likes. All he wants is his life returned to him and woe betide any man who stands in his way. With Peter and Nightingale busy on another case, it falls to sisters Olympia and Chelsea with the help of the Foxes to stop Jeter and save the day.

Sunday, 29th of January

AniManJapan (Anime, Manga and Japanese Culture), TCR Bar, Tottenham Court Road, Noho, 1.30-3.30 pm, Free.

Tuesday, 31st of January

Onsite (Hybrid) – Pop Art and the Swinging Sixties, Guildhall Library, Aldermanbury, 2-3pm.

Pop Art was a figurative, realist, brightly-coloured response to the modern world of consumerism, youth culture and the mass media in Britain and the USA. Inspired by popular and commercial culture, Pop artists were fascinated by their own modern era – the post-war world of advertising, Hollywood films, pop music, comics and the cult of celebrity. Join Val Woodgate, Arts Society Lecturer to learn more. For access to this lecture at Guildhall Library, enter the Guildhall complex by the West Wing entrance on the corner of Aldermanbury and Gresham Street.

Ongoing Exhibitions

SKINT: Cost of Living Creations with W. Heath Robinson, from 1st December to 26th February 2023. The Cartoon Museum, Wells Street, Noho.

This Exhibition is a WORK EVENT! until April 16th 2023, The Cartoon Museum, Wells Street, Noho.
Since taking office, Boris has been THE MOST cartooned politician in the history of our country. To celebrate – or mourn that fact depending on where you fall – The Cartoon Museum has collected a diverse selection of political cartoons detailing the different phases of his career and the wider societal impact on Britain over the last four years. From the 2019 Election to Brexit to Covid (and Partygate) to Ukraine and finally his early exit from office. The nation's favourite newspaper cartoonists have provided excellent work the Museum is excited to add to their collection. But a public call-out was also made to try and contact some of the more marginalised voices in cartoon and comic art. No matter the race, orientation or political affiliation, cartoonists of all creeds have had LOTS to say about Boris – good and bad – these last few years and The Cartoon Museum wants to show it all.

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