Tonight is the launch of Birmingham Zine Festival 2011 with two events!

 

6/8 Kafe Launch Exhibition

@ Six Eight Kafé 6/8
Come along and see a selection of artwork from some of our zine fair exhibitors: Bunny Bissoux, Carla Smith, Dina Kelberman, Gareth Courage, Harriet Shephard, Lizz Lunney and Roxie Collins.

Launch takes place at 5pm – 7pm on Friday 8th July.

Gareth Courage Exhibition

Friday 8th – Friday 22nd July 2011 (free entry)
@ We Are Birmingham Kings Parade,
‘From The Ashes Of Industry We Rise…’ is an exhibition of graphics and illustration developed by Gareth Courage for the independent record and publishing label, First Fold. A zine will be published to coincide with the event, featuring visual work from all the artists involved with the label as well as a flexidisc of short audio pieces.

Launch takes place at 6pm – 8pm on Friday 8th July.

We will be adding photos to the flickr if you can’t make it along. And see you at the fair tomorrow!

Dan Berry claims to teach comics at several schools in Wales (wherever that is) and actually enjoy drawing (the weirdo). What is known is that his comics about cooking, text messages, and foppish dandys (dandies?) are funny and well drawn, while his use of Twitter to involve his fans directly in his comics is a great idea.

You can find his website at www.thingsbydan.co.uk and he’s on twitter as .

1. What do you think ghosts actually are?

I think that if children’s television has taught us anything, it is that ghosts are extortionists, speculative property developers or over-friendly uncles. Often all three. You have to be careful though; if you get bitten by a ghost, you may turn into a ghost. If you see a ghost, you roll up a newspaper and bop it hard on the nose with a firm authoritative “NO”. If you catch a particularly naughty ghost with soiled sheets, you rub his nose in it right away. It is the only way that they’ll learn.

Very well so far, although I’m having some trouble with my fictional Australian sous-chef, Peter Leamington but otherwise quite well!

 

My next recipe will be a touch more ambitious.

3. What is your favourite thing?

Moomin-meat, obviously!

4. You got blocked for spamming on Twitter a while ago. When was the last time you did something this terrible?

I refer you to my previous answers.

5. What sort of things will you have available at the Birmingham Zine Festival?

I’ll have some copies of Onion Soup, probably a couple of Paper Sciences, some moshpit prints, some copies of Lasagne, and Silky Wilson I shouldn’t doubt too.

Much as I’m sure we’d all love to picture me as a well-groomed and
pampered pup, I think it’s fair to say I’m a bit of a mongrel at
heart. Probably the love child of a best of breed who had a tryst with
some stray street dog. That’d be me.

I guess it depends if each jigsaw piece on my arm counts as a tattoo,
in which case I’ve got more than fifty, but I think it’s easier to
count it in terms of how many hours I’ve had done. Oh, in which case,
it’s more than fifty, too, which is sort of pleasingly symmetrical,
isn’t it?

I’d probably change both guilt and mainstream politics, if those were
the rules. Steamroller over both of them. I’m sure the world would be
much better off without them. Oh, damn it, that’s two things. Hmph,
well, I’m not going to feel guilty about breaking your rules if that’s
the case, am I? Ha!

I… I think I do, sometimes, but not always. They mostly involve
being haunted by the memory of Lizz Lunney running around my flat
singing “Every Loser Wins” out of all of the windows until the people
at the bus stop outside started throwing things. Or up. Or crying. Oh,
hang on, that was a dream, and it was brilliant.

Oh, I just used an Oxford comma. Can we pretend this is a spoken
interview and you transcribed it, so then this becomes a really odd
thing I just said?

My gift? I’d want a puppy! Hmm, or do you mean mutant power gift. Oh.
Bum. Presents. The mutant power of presents (without them taking up
space or having a carbon footprint or any of those guilt-inducing
things). Ooh, or the ability to have people near me get the
non-alcoholic drink they really need appear as soon as they need it.

Might be a tiny bit inconvenient sometimes. A cavalcade of Dr Pepper
falling out of the sky over a busy road junction when I go under it in
the tube. Ah well. No guilt, just presents.

Adam Cadwell has been making and self publishing comics for the last 5 years. His work includes Blood Blokes, The Everyday, The King of Things and contributions to two volumes of the UK anthology Solipsistic Pop. http://www.adamcadwell.com/

If your life was a chord would you be a minor or a major?

Well, my life isn’t over yet! Not to sound too philosophical but life is made up of many chords, mostly minor but every now again we may strike a major chord that people remember, hopefully because it was awesome and fun and not because it was loud and offensive.

What is the last thing you googled to find an image of?

Oh jeez, Noseybonk! Jamie Smart mentioned him/it in a comic about the 80′s. It’s horrifying. I’m glad I never witnessed such a creature when I was growing up in the 80′s, the Moomins were bad enough.

You see an old lady drop £100 on the floor as she leaves the cash point. Do you a) Go to the funfair and spend it? or b) Go to HMV and spend it on DVDs?

Funfair, obviously! Rollercoasters, Big Dippers, Waltzers, Bumper Cars, Candy Floss, Hot Dogs! I don’t buy many DVDs nowadays, I couldn’t spend a whole £100 on them. I’ve got to the stage where I’m not too bothered to own the physical object unless it’s one of my very favourite things (He-man, Jim Carrey films) I’d rather download them and then maybe keep them on my Mac if they’re good.

You, Marc and Kayla are stranded on a desert island but luckily you remembered to pack a small escape raft- trouble is there is only room for two on the raft, who do you choose to save- Kayla or Marc?

Ha, you’ve tried to force me into making a tough decision, but if I were on a desert island with Kayla and Marc I would feel no need to escape!

What song are you thinking of right now? How about now? And now?

Forbidden Fruit by Nina Simone. Now? The same? Now?Hurdy Gurdy Man by Donovan? Now? Erm…