SM Comic Zone

Latest Comic Guest Announcement - LEE TOWNSEND Artist: 2000 AD Attending Saturday & Sunday PROBABLY best-known for his contributions to such 2000 AD strips as Bison,Synammon and Breathing Space, Lee Townsend began his comics career in 2000 providing inks to the last three issues of Gary Frank’s Image/Top Cow six-parter, Kin. The artist, who had a brief stint working in animation for Dreamworks and Disney, has since provided finishes for a variety of titles, Judge Dredd Megazine, Marvel Heroes, Marvel Rampage, Transformers: Armada and Panini UK’s Spider-Manamong them. The inker of Avatar Press’s Crossed: Wish You were Here between 2012 and 2014, Townsend also contributed to Spider-Man Annual 2015 for Panini and made a fleeting 2015 return to 2000 AD’s companion title, Judge Dredd Megazine after more than a decade. Following that Townsend illustrated a 10-issue run on The Official Ben 10 Magazinefor Egmont. These days, however, he spends most of his time producing storyboards for advertising and character designs for the Cartoon Network.

Latest Comic Guest Announcement - Nigel Parkinson Attending: Saturday Only DENNIS the Menace has featured heavily in Nigel Parkinson's output since 1999, when he became one of the main artists drawing DC Thomson's archetypal badly behaved schoolboy in the pages of The Beano. Since 2012, when he also took over the comic's Minnie the Minx series, he has been the sole artist on the strip but, in a career dating back to 1980 he has illustrated stories of many other characters. For DC Thomson alone he has worked on Beaginnings, which featured the misadventures of Dennis's sister, Bea and The Bash Street Kids in The Beano, where he made his debut in 1997, 15 years after he first contributed to its companion title, The Dandy. For that comic Parkinson has drawn Owen Goal, Cuddles and Dimples, Puss'n'Boots, Marvo the Wonder Chicken and Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land while also revamping Lord Snooty. The artist – whose art also graced the pages of such other DC Thomson weeklies asNutty, Beezer, Bunty and Tracy – began his career in 1980. Over the next 20 years he contributed to a wide variety of comics. For Fleetway he worked on Scouse Mouse Comics and Whizzer and Chips as well as on its Gerry Anderson titles,Thunderbirds the Comic, Stingray, Joe 90 and Space Precinct. His extensive credits also include two BBC titles – Beeb, for which he producedGrange Hill, and Fast Forward, for which he drew Baywatch – and IPC's Ace Ventura, Pet Detective.

Latest Comic Guest Announcement - NIKA NARTOVA Colourist: The Beano Attending: Saturday Only ALTHOUGH she colours a variety of stories in The Beano, Nika Nartova is best known for working alongside Nigel Parkinson. She has been colouring the artist's strips not only for The Beano but also for The Dandy and other comics since 2005.

Designer: Sex; Gødland OVER the past four years, Sonia Harris has collaborated constantly with Joe Casey. She has worked on all the writer's creator-owned projects since 2013, primarily as a designer but also producing logos and lettering as well as making other contributions to the look of his comics. At Image her credits include Butcher Baker, the Righteous Maker, The Bounce, Officer Downe, Sex,Gødland, Nixon's Pals and Valhalla Mad as well as Grim Leaper, an Image/Shadowline mini not written by Casey. Beyond Image, she has worked on Casey's Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers at Dynamite as wellBallistic (another non-Casey title) for Black Mask Studios. More recently Harris has been working with the writer to develop projects – Crunch Time and The Winternational among them – for Stela, a new digital comics platform.

Latest Comic Guest Announcement - Joe Casey Creator: Ben 10; Generation X Writer: Sex; Gødland; Cable; Wildcats; Deathlok; Adventures of Superman; Uncanny X-Men; Automatic Kafka; X-Men: Children of the Atom; Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes; Fantastic Four: First Family TODAY Joe Casey is known for his work in TV animation, particularly as part of Man of Action Studios, which created Ben 10 and Generation Rex for Cartoon Network as well as Marvel's Big Hero Six, which formed the basis of the 2014 Disney animated movie of the same name. Along with his studio partners – Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau and Steven T Seagle – he has also served as producer/story editor on many other shows, among them Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man and Marvel's Avengers Assemble for Disney XD. Even though the writer is now very much involved with TV, he still finds time to pursue the career in comics that he began in 1998 with The Harvest King, a Caliber Comics three-parter, Very soon after that he was approached by Marvel for which he scripted the last two issues of the three-part Wolverine: Days of Future Past moving almost immediately to the title that would establish him as a writer to watch. Casey's 20-issue run on Cable took him into 1999. Along the way he wrote the occasional fill-in, the Wolverine: Black Rio one-shot and a seven-issue stint on Incredible Hulk. He also unveiled his first creator-owned project,Hellcop (a 1998 four-parter) under Image's Avalon Studios imprint. As his time on Cable was drawing to a close, the writer also began producing the occasional story for DC while continuing his work for the House of Ideas. Post-Cable, he relaunched Deathlok, writing all 11 issues of the 1999 series at the same time authoring the Wild Times: Gen13 one-shot and all nine issues of Mr Majestic for DC's WildStorm imprint. Along with those came 1999's Cable/Wolverine and Juggernaut one-shots for Marvel for which he also wrote the X-Men: Children of the Atom six-parter. In addition he picked up Wildcats. He scripted 24 issues of that DC/WildStorm series, relaunching it in 2002 as Wildcats Version 3.0 and authoring all 24 issues of the new incarnation. He also wrote 2000's Wildcats: Ladytron one-shot. In 2001 he added Adventures of Superman and shortly after Uncanny X-Men to his list of credits. While he scripted 33 issues of the DC title before exiting it in 2004, he stayed on the Marvel series only for a 16-issue run that terminated in 2002, the same year he wrote the first six issues of KISS for Dark Horse. While much of his output up to the point was for "mainstream" comics, Casey's stories offered more than traditional superhero fare and his innovative approach came more and more to the fore as he embarked on a series of projects that broke with tradition or, in some cases, were increasingly experimental or, at the very least, incorporated innovative storytelling techniques. First came the nine issues of 2002's Automatic Kafka, which he authored for DC/WildStorm's Eye of the Storm line with The Milkman Murders – a Dark Horse four-parter – coming along the following year as did Codeflesh, which was serialised two years earlier across the five issues of Image's Double Image and the three of Double Take, where the comic continued at Funk-o-Tron. The Intimates – launched in 2005 by DC/WildStorm – was next. A 12-issue series, it premiered at the same time as Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, an eight-issue companion of sorts to the writer's earlier X-Men: Children of the Atom. Casey – who'd previously authored two 2003 one-shots in The X-Men in: Life Lessons, (a benefit book to aid young burns victims) and Batman: Tenses as well as the four-issues of 2004's Infantry for Devil's Due Publishing – returned for an eight-part sequel, the simply titled Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes II, two years later. Shortly after debuting the first Earth's Mightiest Heroes mini Casey relaunched G.I. Joe, writing the first 18 issues of the Devil's Due comic. At the same time he premiered Gødland at Image. Running 36 issues until 2012, this creator-owned title was both a homage to and a revival of what was dubbed the "Cosmic Superhero Epic" of the 1970s given a modern twist by the writer. Before 2005 was out, Casey had also produced Full Moon Fever, an AiT/Planet Lar graphic novel. while 2006 brought Marvel's six-issue Iron Man: Inevitable as well as Fantastic Four: First Family (a six-parter in the same vein as the writer's Children of the Atom and Earth's Mightiest Heroes miniseries), The Black Plague – a BOOM! Studios one-shot – and another AiT/Planet Lar graphic novel, Rock Bottom. Casey launched the aforementioned Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes II in 2007. Gødland was his only ongoing project but before the year was out he embarked on the six issues of Iron Man: Enter the Mandarinadding a relaunch of Youngblood to his workload as 2008 dawned. He wrote the first eight issues of that Image series (which ended with #9) before authoring another creator-owned graphic novel in Nixon's Pals. Published by Image that was followed immediately by a return to Marvel for the six issues of The Last Defenders and by another creator-owned series – Charlatan's Ball, an Image six-parter. Although the writer ended the year with the premiere of Dynamite's Death-Defying Devil four-parter, it wasn't until late in 2009 that Casey began any further new projects. Another Dynamite four-parter Project Superpowers: Meet the Bad Guys premiered at the same time as Marvel's Dark Reign: Zodiac three-parter and Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance, a six-issue DC series. Casey authored four issues of Superman/Batman for DC in 2010 alongside four Iron Man 2 tie-ins for Marvel: the Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Black Widow, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D one-shots and the three-part Public Identity. The same year he also wrote the six issues of Marvel's Avengers: The Origin as well as Officer Downe, a creator-owned one-shot for Image. The following year, with Gødland down to its last three issues (which appeared sporadically during 2011-12), Casey launched yet another creator-owned project at Image. Running to eight issues, Butcher Baker, the Righteous Maker also ended in 2012 as did Marvel's six-issue Vengeance. That debuted in 2011 as did Doc Bizarre, M.D., an Image graphic novel. Casey, who also embarked on a 10-issue run on Haunt, for Image's Todd McFarlane Productions imprint in 2011, added only Rock Bottom (another Image graphic novel) to his credits in 2012 but upped his output the following year with two more Image titles in the provocatively titled Sex (which is still running today) and The Bounce, which concluded in 2014 after 14 issues. In addition he wrote all nine issues of Catalyst Comix – which Dark Horse premiered in 2013 – and the six of Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers, launched by Dynamite the following year. Since then the writer – who co-created the animated D.I.S.C.O. Destroyer with Scott Mosier and Jim Mahfood for MTV's Liquid Television in 2013 –.has concentrated on Sex although he did debut two more titles in 2015. First up was the five issues of Miami Vice Remix for Lion Forge Comics (an IDW imprint) with Image's Valhalla Mad four-parter following close behind. Casey's TV schedule may put a stop to him being as prolific a comics writer as he once was but he continues to make significant and inventive contributions to the medium.

Below is the programming for the Comic Zone FRIDAY 12:00 JUDGE MINTY: SCREENING: A fan film featuring an aging Judge who decides to retire. As required by the Law, he must take the Long Walk out into the Cursed Earth. Directed by Steven Sterlacchini, the film stars Edmund Dehn as the titular lawmaker. We thank 2000 AD publishers, Rebellion for permission to show this movie. (27 minutes) 1:00 THE FUTURE OF COMICBOOK MOVIES: A panel of guests offer their thoughts on the way ahead for superhero films. Will boom turn to bust? Will TV supplant the big screen? Will producers stop mining the source material for stories? 2:00 ANGELS AND GHOSTS: SCREENING: Based on a true story, documentary filmmaker Sara Keaney discusses her animated film exploring the potent themes of mental health and family bonds. (15 minutes) 3:00 MARK VERHEIDEN: The writer and producer talks about his work on such TV shows as Smallville, Battlestar Galactica and Heroes as well as the more recent Falling Skies, Constantine and Daredevil. He’ll also discuss The Mask, Timecop and his other big screen outings. 4:00 SURGEON X: Joined by writer Sara Kenney and artist John Watkiss, former Vertigo chief Karen Berger unveils her first project since leaving the DC mature readers imprint in 2013. Coming from Image later this year, the series is set in a near future London that has been ravaged by an antibiotic apocalypse. 5:00 TODD NAUCK: Today he primarily concentrates on producing covers but the artist is equally well known for his work on Young Justice, Teen Titans Go! and various Spider-Man titles. A fan favourite, he discusses these and his many other credits. SATURDAY 11:00 ARIEL OLIVETTI: The Argentinian artist famed for his covers looks back over his 20-year plus career that includes stints on Cable, Punisher War Journal, Venom: Space Knight, JLA/Haven and Superman and Batman vs Aliens and Predator among his many credits. 12:00 STEVE ENGLEHART: The writer who pretty much invented the mega-crossover, revived the fortunes of Captain America, reinvented Batman and brought a new approach to Doctor Strange discusses a career that includes lauded runs on Avengers, Green Lantern, Silver Surfer, Justice League of America and many more. 1:00 STORYBOARDING GAME OF THRONES: Now working on Season 7 of the hugely popular TV series, artist Will Simpson takes goes behind the scenes to reveal the ups and downs of storyboarding the hit show’s first six seasons. 2:00 JUDGE MINTY: SCREENING: A fan film featuring an aging Judge who decides to retire. As required by the Law, he must take the Long Walk out into the Cursed Earth. Directed by Steven Sterlacchini, the film stars Edmund Dehn as the titular lawmaker. We thank 2000 AD publishers, Rebellion for permission to show this movie. (27 minutes) 3:00 STRONTIUM DREDD: Celebrated for their creation of Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog for 2000 AD, John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra talk about not only their collaborations on the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic but also their other work, whether together or separately. 4:00 VERTIGO: THE KAREN BERGER YEARS: The founder of Vertigo, Karen Berger led the DC mature readers imprint to great heights from 1993 until 2013. Joining her to discuss those two decades and her impact on the industry are Jamie Delano, Andy Diggle, Peter Hogan, Dave McKean and more. 5:00 DAVE MCKEAN: The ground-breaking artist whose innovative work on Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, Black Orchid and Violent Cases ushered in a new era of comicbook storytelling discusses his work including his acclaimed covers for such Vertigo titles as The Sandman, Hellblazer, The Dreaming, Black Orchid and Death: The High Cost of Living as well as his multi-media projects outside of comics. SUNDAY 11:00 MARK VERHEIDEN: The writer responsible for bringing Aliens to comics reveals how he adapted the deadly movie xenomorphs into a long-lasting and successful franchise. He also talks about how he then worked the same magic on Predator while also discussing The American, Stalkers and his other comicbook credits. 12:00 COVERING COMICS: DC’s former design director, Richard Bruning leads Rian Hughes, Dave Johnson and Dave McKean in a discussion focussing on the importance of covers, what goes into their creation and what constitutes a great cover. 1:00 TIM TRUMAN: An artist and writer who stormed out of the independent comics movement of the early 1980s to carve his own niche, Truman looks back over a career that includes Grimjack, Scout, Hawkworld, Jonah Hex, Star Wars and Conan. 2:00 DAVE JOHNSON: Learn more about the career of the artist whose covers for 100 Bullets, Deadpool; Punisher; Spaceman; Coffin Hill; Lucifer and many other titles have garnered him a huge following as he take a look back. 3:00 KAREN BERGER AND DAVE GIBBONS: IN CONVERSATION: Appointed Britain’s Comics Laureate in 2014, Dave Gibbons, whose numerous credits include Watchmen, Secret Service, The Originals, 2000 AD, Give me Liberty, Just Imagine Stan Lee with Dave Gibbons Creating Green Lantern, will be joining Karen Berger – Vertigo’s acclaimed former editor-in-chief – on stage for what is likely to be an entertaining and informative chat. NB: This is a ticketed event. The first 100 people attending this talk will be eligible for the Dave Gibbons signing follows. Tickets will be available from the Comic Zone information booth from 2:00pm. 4:00 DAVE GIBBONS SIGNING: SEE ABOVE NB: Due to high demand, each person will only be able to get one item signed. 5:00 JUDGE MINTY: SCREENING: A fan film featuring an aging Judge who decides to retire. As required by the Law, he must take the Long Walk out into the Cursed Earth. Directed by Steven Sterlacchini, the film stars Edmund Dehn as the titular lawmaker. We thank 2000 AD publishers, Rebellion for permission to show this movie. (27 minutes)

Thanks to our guests, we have been able to expand to a full three days of portfolio reviews this year. Each session is an hour long. Artists wishing to have their work critiqued should pick up a ticket from the Comic Zone information booth, which is adjacent to the room set aside for the portfolio reviews. FRIDAY 11 Takeshi Miyazawa & Todd Nauck 12 David Baldeon & Lee Ferguson 1 Kyle Hotz & Will Simpson 2 Carlos Ezquerra & Georges Jeanty 3 Karen Berger & Richard Bruning 4 Vanesa Del Rey & Dave Johnson 5 David Lloyd & Ariel Olivetti Saturday 11 Carlos Ezquerra & Dave Ross 12 Georges Jeanty & Todd Nauck 1 Karen Berger & Richard Bruning 2 David Baldeon & Vanesa Del Rey 3 Dave Johnson & Will Simpson 4 Lee Ferguson & Takeshi Miyazawa 5 David Lloyd & Ariel Olivetti Sunday 11 David Lloyd & Dave Ross 12 Karen Berger & Richard Bruning 1 Lee Ferguson & Georges Jeanty 2 David Baldeon & Will Simpson 3 Kyle Hotz & David Lloyd 4 Carlos Ezquerra & Dave Johnson 5 Ariel Olivetti & Vanesa Del Rey

Due to unforseen circumstances Lew is no longer able to attend. We hope to have him at a show in the future.

Due to unforseen circumstances Rich is no longer able to attend. We hope to have him at a show in the future

This year’s London Film and Comic Con Magazine is an 84-pager packed with features. Showcased are such guests as Famke Janssen, Dolph Lundgren, Mads Mikkelsen, Ron Perlman and Jeremy Renner as well as on the WWE Hall of Fame stars in attendance. Also included are articles on the Assassin’s Creed, Star Trek Beyond, Fantastic Creatures and Where to Find Them and Suicide Squad movies, DC superheroes on TV and board games. It also contains histories of Godzilla on the big screen and Star Wars video games. From 8:00:am to 11:00AM, the £5 magazine will be on sale to those queuing. Inside it will be available on the door and at the various information booths around the venue.

2000 AD publisher Rebellion has kindly given permission for the Judge Minty movie to be screened at this year’s London Film and Comic Con. The authorised fan film (which runs 27 minutes) is set in Mega City One, the futuristic setting created by John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. It focuses on Minty, an aging Judge who decides to retire. As required by the Law, he must take the Long Walk out into the Cursed Earth, a wasteland teeming with mutants, savage gangs and beasts where anarchy holds sway. Directed by Steven Sterlacchini, the film stars Edmund Dehn as the titular lawmaker. Screening will be on the Comic Zone stage at noon on Friday, 2:00pm on Saturday and 5:00pm on Sunday. Entrance is free. As a bonus Rebellion has authorised an exclusive first look at Strontium Dog, a film by the same team and featuring another of 2000 AD’s stars created by Wagne5r and Ezquerra. The 30 second teaser can be viewed at the end of each Judge Minty screening and on other occasions throughout the weekend.

A vast array of costumes, guns and props from 2012s Dredd movie will be on display at London Film and Comic Con. Hosted in the Comic Zone across all three days, the Andy Mansion Collection features the screen-used Lawmaster motorbike ridden by Karl Urban and full Judges costumes. Attendees can get themselves photographed with the Lawmaster at any time during the shows opening hours for £5. Dredd co-creators John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra will also make themselves available for a £10 photoshoot that includes Dredds iconic bike. Update 29/07 - **Please note attendees will be photographed next to the bike and not on it**

Latest Comic Guest Announcement - Will Simpson Storyboard artist: Game of Thrones Attending: Saturday & Sunday FOUR years after contributing to the first three issues of Ximoc – a comiczine launched in 1980 by fans in his native Belfast – Will Simpson began his professional career, drawing Big Ben for Warrior. Work for 2000 AD, Toxic and a variety of Marvel UK titles swiftly followed until, in 1991, he was approached by DC/Vertigo to work on Hellblazer. Three years later, after a diversion to draw 1993’s Alien: Rogue four-parter for Dark Horse, he illustrated the first of three Vamps miniseries [1994, 1996 and 1998] for that DC mature readers imprint. As the millennium headed towards its end, Simpson – whose association with 2000 AD concluded in 2001 – began winding down his comics work and turning his focus towards the movie industry. The Game of Thrones storyboard artist since 2011, his screen credits also include Reign of Fire [2002], City of Ember [2008] and Your Highness [2011].

Latest Comic Guest Announcement - Chris Geary Attending: Friday, Saturday & Sunday Writer/artist: International Aces; Aces Weekly IN 2010, after three years contributing to such British small press titles as FutureQuake and Zarjaz, Chris Geary embarked on International Aces. An ambitious four-volume graphic novel series recounting the true stories of the top pilots of World War I, it was released in 2013 as was Commitment, a graphic novel/guide to risk management that he co-authored and drew. Geary is also a regular contributor to the digital comics art magazine Aces Weekly.

Sadly Mike is no longer able to attend London Film and Comic Con 2016. We hope to have him at a show in the future.