So it seems that despite what people in comics-land believe, London Underground Comics really is at the forefront of the British comics scene when it comes to the outside world.
At 4pm on Tuesday 29th of April, the popular radio 4 show about language ‘Word of Mouth’ broadcasts an interview with Oli Smith, Alex Fitch (of resonance FM) and David Baillie that was recorded in Camden as part of a special episode about the language of comics.
you can listen to it on the radio, online here,or if you miss it, on the BBC’s ‘listen again’ service.
Turn up at the Camden Lock Market between ten and six, buy shit-loads of comics, chill with everyone in the pub. Any questions?
Exhibitors (must read):
Please turn up to the Camden Lock Market between half nine an ten o’clock, the venue is joined to the side of the market hall, which is opposite the burned side of camden between the lock bridge and the railway bridge. (If you get lost feel free to call me on 07907 576 992)
We will be providing table cloths so no worried there, we reccomend you bring around THREE different comics to avoid overcrowding of stuff on the tables and maybe ten copies of each if you are feeling lucky. Please bring £5 to give to me when you arrive before I put you on your table.
If you want to bring a fold out stool, it might come in handy…
THE AREA WE HAVE IS NOT BIG. I doubt it will fit all fifty exhibitors at one time, let alone customers,
the aim of the themed tables is so that each group can manage their own stall, set up a price list in the morning and I recommend centralising your finances like LUC does during the day (I’m happy to show you how we do it), making a tally of sales and splitting it up at the end. This way you can run the stall in pairs to avoid overcrowding, the idea of this event is SOCIAL so sit outside in the seating areas, go for a pint or a coffee and generally chat and enjoy yourselves Please respect this ethos and don’t insist on only selling your own comics, or bringing a library of stock.
During the day I’ll be handing round a No Barcodes sketchbook that i would appreciate if everyone could do a quick something in because at six o’clock we will auction it off as a souvenir, the money going towards the deposit for the next con-venue.
After the market closes at six I presume we’ll all be already settled into the Lack 17 tavern as it is next door to the venue so we can party like it’s all our birthdays.
Below is the final table layout, feel free to comment (or name those two tables) and please check out your fellow table-buddies’ sites and say hi!
London Underground Comics announces: No Barcodes 31st May 2008
As part of London Underground Comic’s campaign of bringing comics back to the underground by making small press cheap, cheerful and accessible, we are proud to announce our first mini-con: No Barcodes, the first of two events planned over the summer.
An indoor area of Camden Lock Market has been set aside for us and we plan to fill it with at least six or seven stalls. The whole event will work exactly as the stall does with groups of people on different tables splitting the £30 rent between them equally- the rest is theirs. The whole event will cost no more than £7 per person exhibiting, and the more people come the cheaper it will be.
We are looking for groups of people to man essentially themed tables, for example a web comics table, a caption table for oxford creators and, say, an autobiography table etc. Each table will be given a sketchbook at the beginning of the day to hopefully fill and at closing time each table’s book will be auctioned off to help pay for LUC’s expenses in printing banners, posters, fliers etc. any profit will be put towards the next mini-con.
Depending on how many creators wish to exhibit we also plan to put aside a separate table for visitors to sketch, as well as a rotating ‘featured artist’ who can charge for portraits.
The hall is situated in the heart of Camden amongst an indoor and outdoor market with a steady flow of tourists passing through. I’m sure I don’t need to state that entry to No Barcodes will be free. This means that not only will there be plenty of room in the outdoor seating area to catch up with fellow creators, but we will also be selling to the comics-virgin tourists of Camden who will be wondering what the event is all about. I’m not even going to touch on the quantities of food and alcohol outlets around the area, most providing discounts for stall-mannees.
Also, if you are lucky, once the market closes at six, we should have an entire pub laid on near Mornington Crescent tube station to host the after-con drinks.
LUC needs you:
We want small press creators of any sort to get in touch with us via the facebook group or by emailing camdencomics@hotmail.co.uk telling us that they wish to take part.
Bring your comics, a tablecloth and any kind of merchandise or posters you wish. LUC has some banners and posters but we want to display your work.
The market opens at ten so if you could arrive in the area before then to set up we would appreciate it.
The point of the event is an excuse to bring comic creators from around the country together to socialise and sell comics to an unsaturated market without huge expense. So most of all, we want you to have a good time and bring your mates!
Two recent items onResonance Fm . Andy Luke is interviewed, And Oliver Lambden gets involved in some roving reporting. London Undergound Comics would also like to say a thanks to Alex for his support.
Due to the effects of the previous evenings jolly in Hoxton, i was confined to my bed for the early part of the day. This meant i missed out on the prestige of being interviewed by Radio 4. Thankfully Oli was there to take the strain, along with David, Oliver, Dan and Alex Fitch, who was taking a break from broadcasting the comic love.
Turning up in the afternoon, I brought bad weather, terror to the the customers, and general chaos to the the fragile eco-structure of the table. Sales continued to flourish despite this, Francesca showed up with her son, who despite enduring a barrage of foul mouthed comic discussion, produced some fine portraits that put some of us to shame.
And as another day closed I mused on the unique situation that is the stall, it is like an idea generator, i always feel charged and creative at the end.
Yay for my comic buddies
Thanks to Tanya for hosting an excellent evening in her bookshop, and thanks to everyone who turned up.
Many drinks were consumed and a good time was had by all! Clicky, clicky to have a look at the day in photo’s.
Bookartbookshop, an independent book distributor will be hosting an exhibition of
comics from the Camden Comics Stall. Regular titles such as Modern Monstrosity,
Summer Ball, Tongue of the Dead, Monkeys might Puke, Ninja Bunny, Twelve Hour Shift will be displayed along with the vast talents of the ever changing table stock.
Opening night and private view will be April 11th 2008 around 6ish, and the show will run until the 25th.
Camden, grey cold, raining, thin crowds. A film crew, a rock chick, new work revealed, a comics’ jam scuppered. A visit to the pub, a happy journey home.
Please respect this ethos and don’t insist on only selling your own comics, or bringing a library of stock.
