Can it really be September now at Broken Frontier Towers? I somehow seem to be keeping up with these beginning-of-the-month round-ups and previews of activity from us here at BF. And, even more surprisingly, no one has publicly mocked the ‘Andytorial’ name for them as yet. Except for me, of course. The busiest time of the year is upon us with the UK’s Autumn festival season imminent (more on that below) so let’s jump straight into what we were up to last month and anticipate the coming month at BF too…
The Six to Watch at Caption 2025
We have already posted our report on the Caption: Rebirth festival here at BF but our August trip to Oxford also acted as a prelude to our run of event attendance over the next few months with Zinezilla, LICAF, Goblin Market, Thought Bubble and potentially others all marked down on our calendars. Caption was wonderful for the opportunity it gave for Six to Watch artists to make a public appearance and talk about their work. Well done to Cara Brown, Mike Armstrong, Dominique Duong, Shane Melisse and Zen K. for smashing it at Caption and being so eloquent in their thoughts and observations.
This Month’s Gosh/BF Drink & Draw and Gosh!Fest
The end of August saw another extremely successful Gosh Comics and Broken Frontier Drink and Draw at the Royal George in Soho. Our guest artists included Kiera Won, Leo Fox and artist-in-residence Mark Stafford, with drawing themes on The Myriad Demons of the Supermarket, Bunnies and Your Favourite Scene from a Movie Drawn Entirely from Memory putting our attendees through their paces.
This month’s D&D was an intro to Gosh’s Small Presstival on Saturday August 30th where around 9 Six to Watch creators were part of the line-up of 50-ish signing artists (including Peony Gent, below). Gosh was heaving for the couple of hours I was there, underlining just how vibrant our small press scene is. Two great events with a self-publishing theme!
BF at the Lakes
I’ll be at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival again this year and I’m delighted to say I will be hosting one of the talks, getting to chat with the legendary Shelly Bond about her time at Vertigo, Black Crown and more; her current venture Off Register Press; and her illustrious career in comics. Shelly has been a big supporter of BF’s work in recent years so this is a particular privilege for me.
Also for you Lakes attendees if you want to chat with me about anything BF-related there’s more chance of me finding the time in Bowness-on-Windermere than there is at Thought Bubble where I have 500 or so tables to get round! Take that opportunity if you need.
Thought Bubble Submissions
Yep, yet another reminder about our Thought Bubble Month 2025! It’s never too early to submit comics for review and with last year’s astonishing effort hitting 52 articles at BF we are keen to match or beat that this year. We’re working with our pals at TB who will also be liaising with you and there will be something up our end in the next few days to signal our offer for this year’s coverage. The quicker you get things to us the more you increase the odds of getting some much sought after space on BF.
When next we meet in one of these pieces Thought Bubble Month at BF will be just two or three weeks away. See you then…
Article by Andy Oliver
