Comix Influx Blog: Comica Comiket

I went to the Comica Comiket at the ICA on Sunday. Although a little cramped and warm, it was great to see so many good comics from the UK. Highlights included new books from We Are Words and Pictures, Jimi Gherkin’s Alternative Press, with their anthology, Publish You. Bryan Talbot was in attendance, and has been doing many talks at this year’s ComICA. This is the latest in a long line of great small press festivals in the UK this year – The UK Web and Mini Comics Thing, London Underground Comics, Caption… and that’s not counting the larger festivals with a small press presence. That’s quite a healthy small press scene!

As well as a lot of great UK-based comics, Danish comics were represented by Aben Maler, and their publisher Steffen P. Maarup, who was selling the fantastic anthology of Danish Comics – From Wonderland With Love: Danish Comics in the Third Millennium. The book is translated into English and co-published by Aben Maler and Fantagraphics. It’s a beautiful book, with some great comics in there.

Steffen also had some of the other books that Aben Maler put out, in their 676 range of comics. These are small, short but very professionally produced comics similar to the Patte De Mouche collection from L’Association (Date proved to be very popular). Those which aren’t wordless have a translation tucked inside the main cover.

As you’d expect, I got talking to Steffen about Comix Influx and what we do. Gratifyingly, he already knew of the site and said that he’d read the translation of Dominique Goblet’s Faire semblant c’est mentir using the Comix Influx translation. Which was very nice.