SAFARI festival FORTNIGHT!
Breakdown Press’s Safari festival is coming on August 27th and at broken Frontier we’re focusing on this essential celebration of new waves in contemporary comics and art with our usual annual barrage of Safari-related reviews and features. If you miss any of our coverage over the next two weeks then rest assured that we will be linking to it all in one place here so you can be prepared for all the fantastic creative talent on offer on the big day.
Don’t forget to follow Safari festival on Twitter here as well to get regular updates on everything festival-related…
Events
Introducing Safari festival August 27th
This year’s Safari festival includes Simon Hanselmann, Joan Cornellà, Laura Callaghan, Anna Haifisch and Fantagraphics on the line-up as well a number of oft-featured broken Frontier talents/micropublishers including Simon Moreton, Retrofit Comics, One beat Zines, Comic book slumber Party, Donya Todd, Jack Teagle, kuš! and 2016 broken Frontier ‘Six small press Creators to Watch‘ artist Brigid Deacon.
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Decadence Comics exhibition launch night August 25th, Joan Cornellà Signing and Safari Pre-Party at Gosh! August 26th
The Safari festival run-up begins in style!
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Gosh! Comics and broken Frontier drink and draw August 23rd featuring Decadence Comics
Our collaborative monthly Drink and draw evening with our chums from Gosh! Comics has a Safari festival flavour this month. Decadence Comics creators Lando, Stathis Tsemberlidis and Emix Regulus will be on hand with Myriad’s Jade Sarson (For the love of God, Marie!) for another of our popular evenings of sketching, imbibing and comics community.
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Reviews
Mox Nox by Joan Cornellà (Fantagraphics)
“Joan Cornellà has created something undeniably and unsettlingly original in these pages. few comics will make you feel quite so good about being made to feel quite so uncomfortable as Mox Nox…”
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Alien Beings by Laura Ķeniņš (mini kuš!) #42
“A layered and thoughtful comic about the logic of kids, their attempts to draw meaning from reality, and how we frame memory to suit the narratives of our choosing.”
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Summerland by Paloma Dawkins (Retrofit Comics)
“Undeniably beautiful, strangely melodic and, in its own quiet way, rather life-affirming,Summerland is a stunning celebration of the vitality of the colourist’s art.”
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Parsley girl Carrots by Matthew Swan (Avery hill Publishing)
” This latest foray into the frenetic realm of Parsley girl with all its glorious incongruity and contradiction underlines just how deserving Matthew Swan is of far greater attention.”
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It’s Not What You thought It would Be by Lizzy Stewart
“Lizzy Stewart is fast proving herself to be one of the most vital practitioners of slice-of-life material in current UK small press comics.”
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One and the Dawn of everything by Ed Cheverton (Otto Press)
“A gorgeously freeform interpretation of the genesis of reality that seems determined to manipulate every last iota of the singular potential of panel-to-panel storytelling.”
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Green Graves by Liam Cobb
“Powerful and intense, green Graves should be on every Safari festival punter’s “must-buy” lists on Saturday.”
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BadTwin presents Krent Able & Julian Hanshaw by Krent Able and Julian Hanshaw
“With such a limited number of copies on offer, BadTwin presents Krent Able & Julian Hanshaw recaptures an era of indie underground comix in both its visual style and its potential hard-to-find collectability.”
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Decadence #11
“Challenging, provocative and experimental, if you didn’t buy Decadence #11 at one of the pre-festival events then make sure you grab a copy on the day. otherwise the social humiliation of posting a Decadence-free image of your Safari stash on Twitter on Saturday night will be just far too great to bear…”
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Features
Interview: Simon Moreton (Smoo Comics, minor Leagues)
“I think I intuitively knew that my comics aren’t for everyone and I’m fine with that. Defiant, almost.”
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Interview: Ally Russell (Killer Klowns from outer Space)
“I’ve also always been drawn to films where children and teenagers find themselves suddenly burdened with the very adult responsibility of saving the world. This is probably because I was a such a serious and existentially fraught child.”
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Interview: Babak Ganjei
“I don’t write comics to brag about all the sports cars I own. It’s not the most effective artform for that.”
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Staff picks Safari Special
Our weekly staff picks have a Safari flavour this week with a number of festival debuts innull