The week before Christmas saw a flurry of activity from the Hi-Ex PR elves.

There was a nice article on BBC on-line news for the highlands featuring Tanya’s lovely poster artwork.

Then a lovely piece on the Forbidden Planet international blog.

and also a mention in the Inverness Courier Friday 23rd December.

Hi-Ex organiser Richmond was interviewed for the annual Forbidden Planet blogs ‘Best of the Year’ series. Many of the lovely comic he mentions will be available at Hi-Ex 2012 and also some of the creators!

The Guardian had an interesting interview with some comic ladies who team Hi-Ex know well and have worked with. It mentions the ‘Bayou Arcana’ project that Hi-Ex’s Vicky is also working on. If you can only make it to one other comic event other that Hi-Ex this year we recommend Thought bubble in Leeds! The debate about equality of gender opportunity in the …

1^st annual British Comic Awards announced

Nomination recommendations are now welcomed; award presentation ceremony takes place 17^th November 2012 as part of the Thought Bubble Comics Art Festival

The British Comic Awards are an exciting new initiative, running in conjunction with 2012’s Thought Bubble Festival and Leeds Book Awards, and represent an annual celebration of the best stories told by writers and illustrators over the past twelve months. Nomination recommendations are now welcomed from the public, comic creators, and comic publishers, and this year’s award presentation ceremony will take place at the Thought Bubble Convention on November 17^th.

The BCAs serve to recognise and reward the finest examples of creativity, ingenuity, skill, and originality in illustrated storytelling produced over the last twelve months. The awards don’t distinguish between printed work and digital, or between published and self-published work; their only criteria is that the creator(s) and …

One of the world’s most successful comics writers, Grant Morrison, heads the stellar line-up of top industry talent appearing at this year’s Dundee Comics Day.

The annual event, part of the Dundee Literary Festival, takes place on Sunday, 28^th October and this year’s programme, entitled ‘Invisible Symmetries: The Comics of Grant Morrison’, celebrates the work of the Glasgow-born writer.

It will be preceded by two special events in the run-up to Comics Day – a screening of the documentary ‘Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods’ at Dundee Contemporary Arts on Friday 26^th, and a two-hour workshop on creating comics using Manga Studio on Saturday 27^th. This workshop will be delivered by Dave Gibbons, the co-creator of Watchmen and one of the world’s most respected comics artists.

Grant Morrison began his career at the famous Dundee publishers DC Thomson before going on to work for Marvel and …

On Saturday 27th October Dundee University welcomes a very special guest. Dave Gibbons, one of the most famous comics artists in the world, and best known as the co-creator of Watchmen, the ground-breaking graphic novel written by Alan Moore and drawn by Gibbons.

Gibbons will deliver a talk on the theme of Creating Comics, and will discuss his own methods for producing comic art, and in particular, his use of Manga Studio, which he will demonstrate. He will also lead a workshop on this theme, which anyone can participate in, but would be particularly useful for anyone who has ever considered creating a comic.

Dr Chris Murray, lecturer in Comics Studies at theSchoolofHumanitiesand Director of the Scottish Centre for Comics Studies said “it is a tremendous honour for us to host a workshop with Dave Gibbons. He is a hugely talented and influential figure”. He added, “to have Dave …