Comic Art Festival Publications

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival has published a number of comic titles as part of its programme, including, most recently, a limited edition of Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash, the Coelifer Atlas in aid of the charity OCD Action and Carrot to the Stars, an English language edition of La carotte aux étoiles by Riff Reb’s.

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival has published a number of comic titles as part of a developing publishing program.

Our most recent titles are Coelifer Atlas, this year's special 24 Hour Marathon Comic project featuring a stellar line up of talent, which aims to raise awareness of the medical condition Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and has already raised £1000 for the charity OCD Action; and Carrot to the Stars, an English language edition of La carotte aux étoiles by Riff Reb’s.

Coelifer Atlas

Coelifer Atlas was written by Alex Paknadel and Dan Watters, and drawn by Dan Berry (editor), Craig Thompson, Charlie Adlard, Emma Vieceli, Petteri Tikannen, Bruce Mutard, Nick Brokenshire, Bryan Talbot, Ken Niimura, Joe Decie, Mike Medaglia and Jacob Phillips, offering an exciting mix of styles of art for this challenging charity project.

Between them, they produced the comic on 13-14th October during the Festival weekend in Kendal, which was then printed and launched in the Comics Clock Tower.

All profits from the sale of this special comic will go to OCD Action, alongside a percentage from other merchandise.

Carrot to the Stars

"Carrot to the Stars is a cautionary, all-ages fable, it has an elegant and eloquent simplicity, and a fearful symmetry whose missing element will haunt me for decades," enthuses Festival patron and Page 45 owner Stephen L. Holland. "Except that, as drawn by Riff, it isn't entirely missing, and therein lies the power of its punch.

"The cautionary aspect is emphatically not about dreaming - how tragic would that be? - nor about invention or industriousness. This isn't some sort of awful, prohibitive, Daedalus and Icarus yarn."

Instead, says Stephen, it says positively that "Aspiration should be encouraged. Not even the sky is your limit.

"Instead, the cautionary note lies in entrusting your dreams to those with less beneficent interests than your own. It is about the perversion of dreams, and it boasts a specific, all too awful pertinence to our wider world today, and indeed throughout the ages with one particular instance in mind."

• The Coelifer Atlas comic is available for online order from Nottingham-based comic shop Page 45

• Carrot the Stars is also available now from Page 45 here