Thought Bubble 2010!

As you might have heard The Paper Jam Comics Collective had a rather large amount of representation at Thought Bubble this year. I was there to document the madness, sell comics and have fun.

New on sale from our gang were such titles as Tales of the Hollow Earth 2, Sugar Glider, Food for the Dead (fondly nicknamed Project Z), Verity Fair 2, Big Bang 2, Hermit, Show and Tell, Not Mushroom for Thought (that's mine), Mutual Slump 2 and our long awaited and hopefully soon to be much celebrated brand new anthology History... And That!

I have to say a huge thanks to everyone who came to see us, bought our comic or just stopped by for a chat, it was an awesome day! Also thanks to James and Alex for single handedly manning the table for a few hours while I was swept away by the flow of the crowd. 

It was a tiring day to say the least but much fun was had by all, including young Dylan here, who was an absolute star at what I believe is his very first convention. Well done.

I have also just been reminded that the before and after parties were some of the best I've ever been to. It was great to finally put the face to the online names of Matt and Kelly, among others. And one thing I have learned to be true from the Thought Bubble after con disco is that geeks sure can dance. So much fun.

Paperwork...

And now a word of wisdom about the danger of shoving over unmarked boxes:

A quick catch-up!

Not long after the launch of Made in Newcastle (mentioned in the previous blog post) I was involved in a  Paper Jam Comics Collective anthology called Art... and that. This anthology had the theme of art (surprisingly) and was put together with the wonderful encouragement and aid of Empty Shop.

We launched this anthology on the day of the "What are you like?" exhibition preview at the DLI, in Durham. It was an excellent event and the gang were in great company with Empty Shop, Salford Zine Library and Set of Drawers to name a few.

We were a bit pleased with ourselves to say the least.

The exhibition was brilliant and I loved seeing all those comics and zines gathered in the one place, Salford Zine Library you are a magical travelling wonder.

As expected, a room full of creative, drawing types when presented with a chalk board will play their own special form of Pictionary. One where nobody gets the answer right easily but the pictures look great. Here we see a certain Mr Waugh attempting to depict the word "download". He might not live that one down.


What's Next? 


History... and that! Another wonderful Paper Jam Comics Collective anthology. I am thrilled to say that you will be able to buy this from us at Thought Bubble this very weekend!

I have two pages in this anthology, one about foxes. Foxes that glow.

And my very own 24 Hour Comic Day contribution Not Mushroom for Thought! Again, you can buy this from me at Thought Bubble where the Paper Jam Comics Collective will be representing Newcastle in FORCE. We have four tables between us and we are ready to roll.

So, what is this 24 Hour Comic Day? How did it go? If you want to check out how I got on and what the rest of the PJCC gang got up to we kept a blog for the event, which we aim to update every 24 Hour Comic Day with more sleep deprived comic goodness.

And that pretty much brings me up to date... I attended BICS as one of the masses and bought comics and talked to friends, old and new. It was cool... but the big news still remains:

I will be at Thought Bubble this weekend and I will be selling comics! 

Made in Newcastle

The opening...

Made in Newcastle, an Empty Shop Project baby that we found out about from the lovely Craft Mafia people at the Sunderland Friendship Festival (see last post). The aim is to bring together a community of local crafters, makers and artists into a space where they can display, sell and help others. It's an excellent opportunity that I have been very lucky to be a part of. The Paper Jam Comics Collective have our comics and stock and ready for the lovely customers to buy.

Many of the gang were present for the opening and much glorious fun was had by all, as can be seen in the photos below.

Oh yes, as you can see here, we had a doodle wall, it was amazing!

The things we've done...

Made in Newcastle has provided a home for over 30 creatives in the North East, helping them in all kinds of ways, this is a photo of the shop a few days after opening, it has changed a lot since then, it's hard to believe it was only a few months ago.

The end...

In some ways this blog post is bad timing. We have just recently received news that we will need to leave 22 Nun Street (our current home), as is the nature of Empty Shops, they get filled. We have until the 10th of October to make the most out of what we have in our current home! If you haven't been along to say hi yet, please do, and purchase some of our wonderful crafty items.

The beginning...

As is the nature of enthusiastic creatives, you can't keep them down for long. Like a phoenix from the flames we shall rise from the ashes (metaphorically, we don't want to be done for arson) of 22 Nun Street with a new name, a new home and a wonderful new outlook on life! The group of strong minded individuals who have met through this project refuse to see it stop so easily, we will continue until the mythic day when there are no longer any empty shops left in the whole of Newcastle city centre!

To that effect, this is where you can help! If you, my lovely blog readers have any contacts at the council, any help you can offer with funding sources and applications or any well wishes, please pass them on. Made in Newcastle started as a community project and whatever it may be in the future it will continue to be for the community, for people to contribute to and benefit from. We welcome any help, whether it be that you have a premises you want us to fill or a spare sack of money lying around that you wish to donate.

Wish us luck!

Sunderland Friendship Festival!

Yet again it took me too long to post about things I've done.

So, the Sunderland Friendship Festival was awesome.

Paper Jam had a table! It was awesome. There were lots of kites and friendship things happening. We were fortunate to be sharing the tent with such wonderful people as the Newcastle Craft Mafia (who offered us a wonderful opportunity, to be part of Made in Newcastle, more about that next post), Red Squirrel Press and many others that I fail to remember, including some local curry sauces which were delicious.

This is one of my favourite shots from the day, not only were there the professional kites, the huge showy ones but also a great amount of hand made kites, most made on site inside one of the crafty tents. Everyone was having such a great time!

Behind the Paper Jam table we were visited by faces old and new and it was great to see some of the younger people getting really interested in reading our comics. The free sweets had nothing to do with it!

One of the highlights of the weekend was the Always Drinking marching band who started their sets within the music tent and then drifted out into the field. They performed some extremely fun versions of modern tunes that tended to bring a smile to everyone's face.