Well my bus and train journey into London added half an hour and a metric tonne of frustration to the journey.

So when I arrived promptly at the ICA I was underwhelmed with the initial turn out.  At this point the other Comica festival goers varied from the chronically hip (chin strap beard and Sandinista scarf) to the suburban family.

Just as I was beginning to think the most exciting event of the day would be a toddler tripping up a pensioner the place was inundated with fans.

The usual groups of art students began to congregate, trying to decide amongst themselves whether comics where cool or infantile.  Though I’m sure they would not deign to use the word.  No it was graphic novels, sequential art or pictorial narratives never the dreaded C word.

Fortunately amongst the horde of pseudo intellectuals there were still plenty of comic fans.

The most amusing point for me was observing three journalists warily eyeing each other across the cafe scribbling in a furious showdown of notes.

The heart of the event was the Comiket small press fair.  It was a real privilege to see so much promising new talent in one small space.

One of the first things to catch my eye was Richy Chandlers Tempo Lush stand.  I was drawn to his Mini comic box set.  Ten mini comics folded into a bear shaped box.  They really present a broad example of what Richy is capable of producing, wry well observed and sometimes cruel humour with a good dash of weirdness thrown in.  They get you hooked and draw you to Delicate Axiom and Bunch.

Pretension and pseudo intellectualism draw the eye and I was prepared to mock Semiotic Cohesion thinking it was some overblown reference to literary criticism.  Not so, said Tom McNally the author, it is instead an obscure Transformers quote.  To be honest I should have guessed from the Lurid covers depicting The rise of the great god shark.  Tom works with a number of South African artists and they’ve been working on Semiotic cohesion for the last five years.  It’s absolutely fun and completely bonkers a great combination in my book.  If your interested in the title Tom assures me that they will be launching a web comic from the 1^st of December.  Check it out and then buy the paper copy.  Nothing quite compares with holding a piece of art.

Martin Eden’s fun take on the superhero genre piqued my curiosity.  Spandex is the story of a band of gay superheroes in Brighton.  It’s funny and a great take on the bloated genre of capes and cowls.  It’s worth buying for the centre spread Attack of the 50 Ft Lesbian.

In a completely different vein I have found myself absolutely converted to Willy MJ’s Eekeemoo and I will be writing a detailed review upon it when I’ve finished reading it.  Though I can sum up what I’ve read so far as dynamic, fantastic and poignant.

In addition to all of the solo artists it was great to see some brilliant comics’ collectives.  I had agreat conversation with Matthew Sheret from we are words + pictures.  His passion and evangelism for the form are great.  I wish them every success with the educational project they are working on as it will get some much deserved recognition for comics.

One of my best buys was the Solipsistic Pop anthology.  It looks absolutely amazing and that before you even open the cover.  The quality of the writing and the artistic talent here is truly amazing.  It covers a range of genres and styles that all cover the theme broken.  My highest recommendation for this book is that it kept me awake and reading after a mammoth journey on crappy public transport.  If you consider yourself a fan of British comics buy a copy today.

All of that goodness jammed into one small theatre space makes you realise that small press deserves to flourish.

Next time I’ll be talking about the Getting Graphic talk with Bryan Talbot and the Observer-Jonathan Cape-Comica prize awards.  Tune in same bat time, same bat channel.

Well I’ve had an Odyssey of epic proportions on London’s wonderful public transit system and I’m knackered so I’ll post my views on the days events tomorrow.

Have you got your program for the Comica festival yet.  If not get it from the site.  There’s some excellent events lined up from the 5th to 26th November in London.  So if you can get into the capital I’d recommend checking it out.

I’ll be going along to the ICA Nash rooms on Sunday 8th November to the following events: Comica Comiket, Getting Graphic: Starting Out in Graphic Novels, God of Manga and Anime: Osamu Tezuka and Comic Art Propaganda: Ctrl.Alt.Shift Panel.
Comica Comiket is an opportunity to meet, greet and buy comics at this fair from dozens of solo storytellers and group collectives that have taken the plunge and self published.
Getting Graphic involves Bryan Talbot, Julian Hanshaw and Simone Lia, in conversation with The Observer’s Rachel Cooke. If you want to know how do you develop a graphic novel? What comes first, words or images? How do you get published? Then this would be a great event for you.

This will be followed by the presentation of the winners of The Observer/Jonathan Cape/Comica Graphic Short Story prize.

Later in the day, anime expert Helen McCarthy, celebrates Osamu Tezuka’s extraordinary career through rare photos, archive clips and manga material, and looks at his continuing influence.
Finally Ctrl.Alt.Shift. have sponsored a discussion about the history, uses and efficacy of putting political messages into cartoon and comic strip form. Fredrik Strömberg, author of Comic Art Propaganda, hosts with Pat Mills, Asia Alfasi and the cartoonist Polyp joining him on the panel.
I’ll also be going to the The Superhuman Condition talk at the ICA straight after work on monday 16th November to catch Cameron Stewart (Seaguy), Karl Kerschl (Teen Titans) and Ramon Lopez (NYX) sharing their passion for the superhero genre.

If you’ve a taste for the strange and you’d like to be in a comic you should look no further than The Uncle Hans-Peter party were the audience will be asked to don masks and participate in a ‘live’ comic strip and collectively assume the persona of Uncle Hans-Peter.  Lederhosen are optional.

I’d love to check out the Black Powers talk about black representation in comics on the final day of the exhibition at Swiss Cottage Library on the 6th November, but any more comicfest and my wife will kill me.  See you there or be a fully rounded human being whose grown out of comics (Dullards!).

Doc Monster is David Flora of Ghost Zero fame’s latest offering on Zuda.  In the creators own words ‘it’s 1954.  Communists are everywhere, and UFOs fill the night skies. Our government asks super-scientist DOC MONSTER to help, but can he discover what’s behind the UFOs in time to save the world?’

I have to say my first response was Doc what? The title immediately conjured up images of Doc Savage and rather cheesy pulp overtones.  However, we are instead presented with a rather grim setting with unlikeable anti-heros.    This isn’t even in the same galaxy as Norman Rockwell, so if you expect the eponymous hero to act like his lookalike Clark Kent you’re in for a shock.  From the first Flora presents a character that is strange, unsettling and threatening.  We are, like the Doc’s FBI handler Agent Clay, left feeling creeped out and unsure as whether this guy is really a hero.

Flora has created an interesting and dynamic opening to a series that draws the reader in.  Having the aliens attack at a Drive-in movie is inspired.  In spite of this nod to its B Movie roots,  the art and writing are of a high quality and this is all A list material.

Will Doc Monster triump against the Martian Menace, tune in next time.

Creators Tony Trov and Johnny Zito are best known for their epic, zombie comic; The Black Cherry Bombshells.   They’ve returned to Zuda with their latest offering about vampires.

I know what you’re thinking; not another vampire comic!  But this title has just enough mystery as suggested by the title to intrigue, as it follows Maddie, a new student at LaMorte Home for Lost Girls. The orphanage is run by a strict order of Catholic Nuns. They offer sanctuary and salvation to young women afflicted with vampirism.  We can only hope that this doesn’t mean we’ll be in for angst by the barrow load.

If that fails to grab you then Christine Larsen’s excellent art will be enough to suck you in.  Each panel broods with menace and atmosphere.  To quote Tony Trov from the press release, “Christine is amazing.  She draws the creepiest vampires and the cutest, black cats.  There’s a cinematic flow to her story telling that captures you.”

The title went live on the 13th of October and it was a pleasant birthday treat for me.  There’s not a great deal of material as yet but what I have seen has been impressive.  This is a title I will watch with interest and I sincerely hope that Trov and Zito avoid the cliché and take this opportunity to create something memorable.

If you’re a long term fan of Kimmo Lemmeti’s post apocalyptic vision you can breath a sigh of relief.  Blastwave is back. For those of you that have followed Kimmo’s domain problems, the original domain is gone for good following a ridiculous hike in prices but have no fear blastwave is here.

I’ve just finished reading through my advanced copy of High Moon.  It’s superb.  Nothing beats holding a comic in your hands, as you turn from page to page without having to wait for a slow connection or fearing that the net will go down before you finish reading.  I’ve converted five of my friends to High Moon allready  (they devoured the book in nothing flat and vowed to buy their own copies) who previously had ignored my enthusiasm because they couldn’t face clicking through the pages.  Well what do you get for $15?  Everything you’ve read before in all its glory.  Ellis’ artwork is even more spectacular in the palm of your hand; the computer screen just doesn’t do it justice.  The relief for me as a fan of the title on the web is that they’ve changed nothing,  the layouts are exctly the same.  Often its tempting to rework things to fit the traditional comic format but the landscape 6″x9″ format allows the creative team to be true to the original.  This is one of my essential buys of 2009.

Eric Vedder’s Aardehn follows the exploits of Demon-hunter Celeste Dragoric.  The art is truly stunning and is one of the best looking black and white titles I’ve seen in some time.  Vedder occasionally experiments with coloured pages early on in the series but I think the black and white pallet gives the series greater tension.  Aardehn wears its manga inspiration with pride and the dynamism of the art gives the sense that the page will burst into motion at any time.  The fights scenes in particular are superbly paced balancing perfectly between tension and action.  They are both bloody and stylised.   Vedder also creeps out the reader with a sense of body horror thats just shy of Cronenberg.  The sight of Kuu, Celeste’s demon bursting from her midriff is unsettling.  The demon’s in this title are a queasy mix of Lovecraftian and manga horrors.  Be warned tentacles and teeth abound.  As i warned above this comic is NSFW as there is occasional female nudity.  I personally feel it is not really necessary nad there is only one occasion where I feel it could be justified by the plot.  This is an interesting title and I’ll be keeping an eye on it.

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Well did you all join Aaron Diaz in freaking out innocent passersby by shouting “welcome to  the world of tomorrow” in an odd voice.  If not shame on you.

HIGH MOON, David Gallaher’s critically acclaimed werewolf western series, is set to hit bookstores and comic shops on September 30.  I am awaiting my advanced copy and once I get my grubby mits on it I will be post a review.