End-of-year events roundup

There's a slew of events coming up til the end of the year.

• On Wednesday 24 November Felix M. Larkin will be giving a lecture on "No Uncertain Voice – the Shemus Cartoons in the Civil War period in Ireland" at St Malachy's Old Boys Association, 442 Antrim Road, from 8.30pm. £5 in, in aid of Glenveagh Special School. Shemus, alias Ernest Forbes, was political cartoonist for the Dublin paper the Freeman's Journal in the early 1920s. Here's one of his cartoons of Carson:

• Next Monday, 29 November, the Coffee House Art Club meet at the Taphouse Bar on Botanic Avenue. Ann describes it as "a social evening, just time that can be spent in the same location as others working on our own personal projects, catch up on chat and exchange tips or techniques." Open to "writers, artists, filmmakers, musicians and any others interested", from 7.30pm.
• Thursday 2 December, being the first Thursday of the month, is the latest Comics Creators Pub Meet. We've been meeting in the Garrick Bar on Chichester Street since the dawn of time, but in recent months concerns have been expressed about the space available, so we're considering other venues. Will keep you posted. Join the Belfast Comics Creators Facebook Group or send me your email address to be kept up to date.
• The following Sunday, 5 December, is the Christmas Black Market at the Black Box on Hill Street from 12 to 5pm. The Black Panel will be there, selling the finest selection of independent comics from all over Ireland, north and south, among stalls selling paintings, records, home made soft toys, jewellery and many other creative ventures. Oh, and buns.
• Monday 6 December is the Coffee House Art Club Drink and Draw at The Grand Central (formerly Castro's, even formerly Roast) coffee shop at the corner of Royal Avenue and North Street from 7.30pm. Clothed life models.
• Finally (for now at least), Black Books returns for Christmas at the Black Box on Sunday 19 December, 12-5pm. Described as "a cacophony of stalls manned by book-sellers, zine writers and literary enthusiasts and an afternoon of word-based entertainment, Black Books is a revival and a celebration of the multiplicities of language and printed word. Stalls will include new and secondhand books, zines, rare books & antiquities, comicbooks, magazines, papers and children’s literature." The Black Panel will be there.

Fionnuala's Irish History on Tales of the...

For those of you who missed Fionnuala Doran's very funny 24 Hour Comic Ireland: A History (Condensed) when she ran it on her own site, here it is again on Tales of the... Watch out for the Van Morrison cameo.

Glenn and Ann's 24 Hour Comic - Shmoo

Slightly belatedly ('pologies - haven't been well), here's the latest 24 Hour Comic from last month's event to go online - Shmoo, written by Glenn Davidson and drawn by Ann Harrison!

Coffee House Drink and Draw

The Coffee House Art Club's Drink and Draw is back, on Monday 15 November, from 7.30pm, at Castro's Coffee House on the corner of Royal Avenue and North Street. Only £3 entry. Jude and James will be our models - here's some examples of the drawings done last month. Google map below.


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Manga Night at Forbidden Planet

The Belfast Branch of Forbidden Planet International are holding a Manga Night, with quizzes, a cosplay competition, and money-off offers, at 6pm on Monday 22 November.

The Cattle Raid of Cooley makes 100 episodes!

This morning The Cattle Raid of Cooley, my serialised webcomic adaptation of the ancient Irish epic, reached a significant milestone - 100 episodes!


For those of you who don't know the story, the kingdom of Connacht, led by king Ailill and queen Medb, stages an invasion of Ulster, and all that stands in their way is a teenage rookie border guard called Cú Chulainn. He's a prodigy, and despite his small stature, in skill he has always been head and shoulders above his contemporaries in Ulster's youth corps - but he's never been tested against men. Among them, men he loves, including Fergus, former king of Ulster in exile in Connacht, and Cú Chulainn's former foster-father. He's issued a challenge of single combat, hoping to hold up the army's progress until his king can gather his army.

It's a story of war, coming of age and divided loyalties set in the pre-Christian Iron Age. The story is the centrepiece of a group of tales known as the Ulster Cycle, the oldest Irish legendary tradition and probably the oldest European legendary tradition outside Greece and Rome, which has been referred to as a "window on the Iron Age". The hero, Cú Chulainn, was the inspiration for 2000AD's Sláine.

November events roundup

White rabbits, white rabbits, white rabbits. Events of interest in November that I'm aware of:

• All through this month and next, as Andy alerted us on Friday, The Unkindest Cut, an exhibition of political cartoons at the Linenhall Library.
• The Coffee House Art Club meets tomorrow, Tuesday 2 November, in the Kitchen Bar, Victoria Square, from 7.30pm.
• Thursday 4 November: the monthly Belfast comics creators pub meet at the Garrick Bar, Chichester Street, from 9pm.
• Sunday 7 November: Black Market at the Black Box, Hill Street, 12-5pm. The Black Panel small press comics stall will have a scaled down presence this month, because
• I'll be at Independents Day, a DIY zine/record/comic fair at the Dublin Food Co-Op at Newmarket Square, Dublin, 12-5pm.
• Monday 15 November: the Coffee House Art Club's second Drink & Draw at Castro's Coffee House on the junction of Royal Avenue and North Street. Live models, byob. Here's some sample drawings from the first one.

If you know of any others, drop me a line.