Paper Jam's comic picks of 2016

We asked everyone at our final meeting of 2016 to think of comics they'd read this year that they'd enjoyed. This is the collated list of what they came up with (in no particular order):

Fables
Spider Gwen
Paper Girls
Hellblazer
Glass Scientists
AskFriskAndCompany
The Flash: 'Forever Evil'
Captain Britain
Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine
Sex Criminals
Jerusalem (Guy Delisle)
The Sixth Gun
Archie versus Predator
Poison Ivy: 'Cycle of Life and Death'
X-Men: Apocalypse: The Twelve
Corpse Talk (vol.2)
Lost Tales (Adam Murphy)
anything by Gipi
Mooncop
Fate Loves The Fearless (Jess Taylor)
Black Dog

All top stuff worth checking out.

We've got a load of stuff lined up for the new year - including several events and the publication our new all-ages anthology. See you in 2017!

Paper Jam at York GeekFest

This Saturday the Paper Jam Comics Collective will be at York GeekFest. How cool is that?

You'll find us in the Exhibition Centre at the University of York. Table 9 - Saturday only.

We'll have our latest anthologies and a few good rare finds from our archives, including the now very limited and thematic Halloween and that. Wooo.

But, you're reading this on Sunday or a date even further in the future? Well, you can get our comics sent to you in the post. We've now got an online shop, all our currently in print comics are available there. This is truly the digital age of delivering paper comics to your door. Yes.

The Paperjammening No.2

Did you know it's Small Press Day on 9th July? Well, it is! What is it? Basically a good excuse for comic shops to run events highlighting small press comic creators.

This seemed like an ideal time to run an event something like The Paperjammening micro con we ran in November. So that's what we're doing. It's imaginatively titled The Paperjammening No.2.

10.30am-4.30pm, Saturday 9th July, downstairs at Travelling Man Newcastle, free.

Come and meet a load of talented yet approachable artists! Join in with daft drawing games / art jams! Party party party (in a small press comics kind of way)! Support DIY comics!


UPDATE:
So who's gonna be downstairs at The Paperjammening No.2 at Travelling Man Newcastle on Small Press Day, Saturday 9th of July, with awesome comics and art for you? THESE WONDERFUL PEOPLE:

Britt Coxon
Britt makes paper cut art, greetings cards, web stuff, photos. Sometimes even comics. Likes collaborative drawing activities and will most def be taking part in these. More info about Britt Coxon here.










Emma Catan
Emma is a writer, gamer and RPG geek, who makes various crafted items and jewellery. Using seed beads and hama beads to create pixel art-based celebrations of geek culture. More info about Emma Catan here.









En Gingerboom
Non-binary queer storyteller with an interest in philosophical and societal issues. Draws aliens, humans, more aliens, space ships, animals, some more aliens, obnoxiously British locations, and other good stuff. Recently I also drew some vampires. Or one vampire specifically. My sci-fi comic Twenty Thirty Three, and my vampire comic Rel El will be available on the day! More info about En Gingerboom here.

Emily Rose Lambert

Emily is a full time greetings card designer based in Newcastle. Along with weaving, needle felting and occasional blogging, she mostly spends her free time making comics which often feature elements of folklore, mythology, nature and pattern. She is one-third of the Big Brown Eyes Collective (formed with her sisters) who create collaborative comics and zines. Her work can be found in various anthologies and she has been named as one of '6 small press creators to watch in 2016' by Broken Frontier. More info about Emily Rose Lambert here, here and here.

Oscillating Brow

Draws rather small comics like the Tales of Extraordinariness series (crime-solving vigilantes, TVs with moustaches, dance battles in space, heartache, demonic cake-baking, etc) and The Device. Will also be official representative for Alexi Conman & Terry Wiley's The Sloper Gradient (or: the story of the world's first sequential art superstar and a potted history of the birth of comics), and Analogue Press' music-themed Radio On anthologies (the second of which, Mr Brow contributed to). More info about Oscillating Brow here.

Al Summerscales
All the way from Shakey Wakey, Al is here to sell small comics about sad, dramatic people doing mundane things and other comics that try their best to break the Comedy Barrier. Likes long walks on the beach, fluffy hamsters, and losing at video games. All purchases come with a *FREE* handwritten note with my email address on. More info about Al Summerscales here.

Paul Thompson
Paul writes, draws, edits and provides designs for a number of anthologies as well as occasionally producing his own comic Tales of the Hollow Earth. He was most recently seen curating and an exhibition and book of monsters called Invisible Beasts. More info about Paul Thompson here.

Andrew Waugh

Scottish illustrator and cartoonist. Selling copies of his science humour book A Bunch Of Amateurs and kids' horror anthology Die! BOO! Die!, as well as his Little Portrait cult movie prints. More info about Andrew Waugh here.

James Wilkinson

I'll be selling zines full of flash fiction, real life stories from diverse people, dada poetry, and ponderings on the nature of love. More info about James Wilkinson here.

Other Paper Jam Comics Collective creators will be dropping in at various points too.

All day, there'll be art jams and collaborative drawing games running (and we want ALL of you, whether you draw like Rembrandt or can just about manage stick figures, to get stuck in).

And of course PJCC anthologies will be available for sale, including the latest: Making ...And That, with special deals and suchlike.

   

    

Wonderlands 2016

Paper Jam Comics Collective will be at Wonderlands - 'the UK Graphic Novel Expo' in Sunderland this Saturday, 28th May, 10am-6pm (two minutes walk from 'University' metro station).

Wonderlands is a comic event really focused on the sequential art medium and the application of it in publishing (eschewing merch, cosplay, etc), with loads of great talks and workshops. Oh yeah, and it's totally FREE.


PJCC will be selling our very fine comics (including our most recent Making ...And That) at very reasonable prices (including bumper discounts on some of our older titles, while stocks last). Plus, er, hey, Sunderland locals - buy a copy of our Newcastle ...And That anthology and we might deface it for you to your preferred specifications!

Maker Faire 2016

Way back in the past Paper Jam Comics collective attended the first Maker Faire at the Centre for Life. Many years, and comics, later we returned to make some comics, have some fun and launch our new anthology, Making... and that.

Over the weekend we made a lot of mini comics with the wonderful visitors to the Maker Faire. We managed to keep a few to scan in and share with the internet (soon) but most were just so good the makers of these comics had to take them home. Hopefully there are hundreds of mini comics going through photocopiers this week ready to be shared with friends and family. 

    

Along with the mini comics there was the GIANT COMIC. A collaborative jam comic that sometimes went a bit odd but does end cheerfully. 

  

Favourite themes of the weekend included pigs, cheese, cats, robots and hats. We also took the opportunity to stick some speech bubbles about the place. 

Thanks Maker Faire! We had an awesome time. 

      

Ready to Launch

Our shiny new anthology, Making ... and that, arrived on Monday. It's got comics by Al Summerscales, Oscillating Brow, Britt Coxon, Brett Halliwell, Michael Duckett, Jamie Wilkinson, Cuttlefish, Paul Thompson, Sigmund Reimann, Anton Brand and Terry Wiley. It's proper exciting, we have photographic proof.

 

This anthology will be available for the very first time at the Maker Faire this weekend at the Centre for Life. The Maker Faire is a celebration of makers who make things, to get into the spirit of things we thought we'd have a go of making our own display for the comics.

It might need a little tidying up but it looks smart with the comics in it. Cardboard speech bubbles next.



So, where can you find us at the Maker Faire? We're in zone D, which is up the stairs, overlooking the Life Cafe. Come and learn how to make a mini comic and add to our giant Maker Comic!

The Maker Faire runs from 10-6 on Saturday the 23rd and 10-5 Sunday the 24th April in the Centre for Life, it's always full of amazing, fun and interesting things. Highly recommended by the Paper Jam Comics Collective.

Maker Faire, Making and that.

We're going to the Maker Faire!
We'll be making mini comics and giant comics and probably some monsters too because monsters are fun.

This is a grand excuse for another anthology, working title: Making and that.

If you've been to one of our meetings then you should draw a comic for it. The theme is making things. This can be instructional, fictional, daft, about your making a thing, how to make a thing, about your failure to make a thing, etc... as wide an interpretation as our usual anthologies.

One rule: no "How to make the comics" - or else everyone would do that. Your comic can be about your own personal trials and journey while making comics, it can be about how to draw something specific, it can be about making muffins using comics making principles. A comic entirely about making comics will get a bit repetitive.

Two rule: let's make this anthology all ages.

The comic will be printed A5 size. Up to two pages per a person, if you collaborate you get to combine page numbers for mighty comics.

Our anthologies are primarily for our members, to be a member come to our meetings.

Deadline is 1st April. Comics can be sent to paperjamcc@gmail.com or handed over to Britt on paper.

We'll be talking about this at our next Paper Jam meeting which is the 10th March, or for a more informal chat you can find folks at the Mile Castle on the 25th Feb.