Welcome to Irish SciFi News Newsletter #23

Hello, and welcome to Irish SciFi News newsletter #23, which is a special Irish comics edition. I found that a lot of the news I’d accumulated in the past while was comics-related, so I decided I’d send it all out together and hold back everything else for a week or two. After that, I’ll hopefully round off the year with a brief overview of what happened in Ireland in 2004, as well as a look forward to what’s coming next year. Or at least that's the plan!

So, without any further ado, lets get to it…

Dublin Comic & Toy Convention

I’ve heard from Emmett Taylor that he is holding a second comic mart, after the success of his initial event on the 14th of August. Emmett says, "As always admission is FREE and not only that, the first 100 in the door will get a free goodie bag! Top comic pros were kind enough to send me some neato prizes to give away at the convention for the Irish comic fans." He adds,

The convention is taking two rooms on the first floor of Wynn’s Hotel on Abbey Street in Dublin, and, for the first time, also has a special comics guest, in the person of Liam Sharp, who has worked on Possessed, Spawn: The Dark Ages, Hulk, Death's Head II, Vampirella, and Firestorm, amongst others. Liam will be on hand all day to sign and draw sketches. As an added attraction, there will be models dressed in superhero costumes, so if you want your photograph taken with Spider-man, this is your chance!

There is a website with up-to-date information about the event at www.comet-comics.com, and Emmett also has a site for his own artwork at www.emmetttaylor.com .

Update 11/01/2005... More in update at bottom of page

Crow Corner Comics to Reopen

Saturday the 18th is good news for Irish comics’ fans for another reason, too. I ran into Liam Webster in Temple Bar, and he tells me that his secondhand comics shop, which he insists has no name but is known to all and sundry as Crow Corner Comics, is to finally reopen this weekend, tying in nicely with the above-mentioned comic convention. The shop has been closed since August, as the landlord wished to add windows to the ground floor shop the Liam occupies, and also wished to add a further floor to the building itself. An original tentative completion date of "around the end of October or the beginning of November" has come and gone, but Liam is finally hoping to throw his doors open to the public again next Saturday.

Rad Comics

If you were at Octocon or P-CON, you probably met David O’Brien, a quietly spoken, dark haired young man in his teenage years. He may even have sold you a copy of his comic, DARRK/LIGHT, published by his own comics company, RAD Comics, in a black and white, A5 format. If you don’t have a copy of this, and you should, as it’s remarkably good, you can now buy copies of DARRK/LIGHT #1 in The 3rd Place on Crow Street for the sum of E2. David has also set up a website for himself, although it’s a little light on graphics at the moment, as he doesn’t currently have a scanner. You can see the site at www.radcomics.bravehost.com . I predict great things for David, DARRK/LIGHT, and RAD Comics…

Sancho's Last Case

Sancho #1, Sancho’s Last Case, is the first comic from Wicklow-based comic company 20,000 Leagues. It is written by Ian Whelan and drawn and co-scripted by Alan Nolan. And it’s very good indeed. Alan Nolan told me, "We aim to produce a comic every quarter, the next in line being The Early House by myself and Derek O'Connor, a 20 page story with a couple of backup strips, one featuring Sancho (written by Ian and set in Dublin) and the other by different creators. We also have a sci-fi book planned for the new year, hopefully May in time for the Bristol Comic Expo." He continued, "We launched at the London Comic Con and got a good bit of attention and a couple of good reviews. It's currently being appraised by Diamond Distributors with a view to being picked up for the Previews mag, so it's all systems go!"

So what’s it about? "José Maria Garcia, AKA Sancho, ex-paranormal investigator and ex-exorcist, is called out of retirement by the mysterious and gruesome death of his former mentor Father Don Cagliore. Sancho is a unique project, written, drawn, produced, and printed entirely within Ireland." It’s available at Forbidden Planet, Third Place, Sub-City Dublin, and from their website. Like I said, it’s good stuff, so go buy one, already! If all else fails, you’ll be able to see them at the comics’ convention in Wynn’s Hotel on December the 18th.

The website can be found at www.20000-Leagues.com

Millar & Hitch Signing at the 3rd Place

John Hendrick of The 3rd Place comic- and toy-shop on Dublin’s Crow Street tells me that he has comics’ writer Mark Millar and comics’ artist Bryan Hitch doing a signing event in his shop on Saturday the 29th of January 2005. Millar & Hitch have between them written and drawn a number of extremely popular recent comics projects, such as The Authority, JLA: Heaven’s Ladder, The Ultimates, Ultimate X-Men, Wolverine, and much else. More details will be available shortly from the 3rd Place mailing list. If you’re interested in receiving John’s weekly mail outs, where he lists the comics coming in that week, send him a mail at the3rdplace at o2 dot ie, and ask to put your name on the list.

What: Signing event
Who: Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch
Where: The 3rd Place, Crow Street, Dublin 2
When: Saturday 29th January 2005
Contact: Phone 01-6336965 or email the3rdplace at o2 dot ie
Website: no website yet…

Update 11/01/2005... More in update at bottom of page

Alan Moore on BBC Radio 4

Although this obviously has nothing whatsoever to do with Irish comics, any of you who are fans of the work of Alan Moore might be interested to know that he is taking part in a six-part series of interviews being broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from the end of this month. The series, called Chain Reaction, has a Well-Known Public Figure interview another WKPF. After that, WKPF #2 interviews a WKPF of their choice, and so on.

So, starting at 6.30 pm on Thursday the 30th of December 2004, Jenny Éclair interviews Jimmy Carr, Jimmy Carr interviews Johnny Vegas, Johnny Vegas interviews Stewart Lee, Stewart Lee interviews Alan Moore, Alan Moore interviews Brian Eno, and Brian Eno interviews someone else. As I’m a fan of Jimmy Carr, Alan Moore and Brian Eno, that sounds like just the thing for me! You can read all about it in this article from The Alien Online

Yes, the "certain Dublin-based TAO contributor" he’s referring to is actually me…

And that’s about my lot for now!

Except for this addendum (11 January 2005)

Before I write up the various things I have to hand for Irish SciFi News newsletter #24, here’s a few more bits of comic-related stuff that have come my way…

The Third Place

First of all, the comics signing in The Third Place that I mentioned last time around is now to be used as a fund raiser for tsunami relief. All the details are as before, that is to say comics’ writer Mark Millar and comics’ artist Bryan Hitch doing a signing event The Third Place on Saturday the 29th of January 2005. Now, however, John Hendrick, who owns the shop, will be asking people is they would make a donation of one euro for every signature they get.

John also tells that there are further events planned, with a Very Big Name Indeed (VBNI) lined up for a signing in June (I know who it is, but I’m sworn to secrecy. But, yes, it’s definitely a VBNI…). He’s also just about ready to launch the shop’s website. Watch this space…

While I’m mentioning The Third Place, I should also tell you that they are having a January sale between the 12th and 16th of January. Everything is 50% off. So, I think a little judicious shopping on my behalf is called for…

Dublin Toy and Comic Convention

Emmett Taylor tells me that the response to the last of his fairs, in December, was very strong and very positive, and that there is another one planned for sometime in April. No set date yet, but certainly this seems to be the place for a lot of the comics people in Ireland to get together, and I saw Alan Nolan of Wicklow-based comic company 20,000 Leagues deep in conversation with David O’Brien of RAD Comics. For my money, these are the two guys most likely to make it big in comics that we have in Ireland at the moment, and you can quote me on that! Emmett, who is no slouch in the comics creating department himself, is also working on a new project, but refuses to be drawn on the subject, except to say that it will hopefully be ready for the next fair…

SubCity News

Robert Curley of SubCity is also running a comics event in the near future. However, details are still a little sketchy. He has comics’ artists Sean Phillips and Duncan Fegredo appearing at a comics mart in the Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2, just opposite the SubCity shop itself, on Saturday the 19th of February, although there is a possibility that this date may be brought forward. Also, as far as I know, there is no cover charge, but again this is subject to confirmation.

This event is to be followed by a larger, two-day event on Saturday and Sunday the 25th and 26th of June. Again, details are sketchy, but this also promises a Very Big Name Indeed, but this time I have no idea who the VBNI in question is… More details and clarification on all this as I get them.

And that’s about it. Soon now, you’ll get IrSFNews NL #24, which will have lots of *other* news, which has absolutely nothing to do with comics!

Best wishes,
Pádraig Ó Méalóid
Irish SciFi News