Science Fiction Ratatouille

Thanks to the lovely people over at Movies.ie, we have two pairs of tickets for the preview screening of Iron Man movie to give away. The screening will be held at Cineworld Cinemas, Parnell Street, Dublin 1 on Wednesday the 30th of April, so this is going to be a very fast competition!

So, to be in with a chance to win tickets, just tell us in which year did the character of Iron Man first appear in comics: was it 1953, 1963, or 1973? Send answers, along with your land address, marked Iron Man Competition, to pomealoid[at]yahoo[dot]com, and the first two answers out of the hat on the evening of Thursday 24th April will get tickets sent to them, courtesy of Movies.ie. That’s in two days, so get to it!

You can also enter another competition to win tickets on the Movies.ie website, here. All you have to do is sign up to the site.

The second 2D – Northern Ireland Comics Festival takes place on Thursday 5th, Friday 6th, and Saturday 7th of June 2008 in the Verbal Arts Centre and Sandinos Bar in Derry, Northern Ireland.

Events will include Signings, Sketching Sessions, Workshops, Panels, Dealers, Portfolio Reviews, and an Art Exhibition. Entry to all events is FREE. Not only that, but tables for Creators, Dealers, and Publishers are also supplied free, although there is a limited supply, and it will be allocated on a first come – first served basis.

Guests so far confirmed for the event include:
Charlie Adlard, Bob Byrne, Shane Chebsey, Rufus Dayglo, David Hine, Laura Howell, Ilya, Garry Leach, Alan Martin, Stephen Mooney, Nick Roche, and Stephen Thompson.

More information about all aspects of the Festival can be got form the Festival organiser, David Campbell. Email: david[at]2dfestival[dot]com

Chapters bookshop on Parnell Street, Dublin 1, have organised a signing event on Friday 28 March with three of the authors who will be attending this year’s P-CON SF Convention, which takes place that weekend in the Central Hotel in Exchequer Street, Dublin 2.

The authors signing include C.E. Murphy, the convention’s Guest of Honour; Juliet E McKenna; and Oisín McGann. The signing will take place from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, after which all parties involved will be going over to the Central Hotel for the official launch of P-CON at 8.00pm.

Bob Byrne, the man behind MBLEH! and The Shiznit, not to mention 2000AD’s Bob Byrne’s Twisted Tales, has finally finished his magnum opus, the 160-page graphic novel Mr Amperduke, which he will be officially launching on Thursday 14th February at 8pm in the Bernard Shaw in Portobello, on the outskirts of Dublin City. Further information about Mr Amperduke, along with directions to get to the launch, can all be found here.

There’s an invitation to the launch here:

If you can’t make it to the launch, you can still buy the book through Bob’s site, here.

The Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle is hosting a Manga & Anime Weekend at the beginning of February.

The schedule is as follows:

6pm: Screening of Naussica of the Valley of Wind (Over 16s)
Screening supported by Tiger Beer

11am: Screening of Astro Boy

2pm: Well known UK comics expert and Manga specialist Paul Gravett will present an illustrated talk on the popularity of this medium.

3.30pm: Demonstration with Manga artist. Details to be confirmed

11am: Screening of Paprika (91 mins) 16 +

1.30pm: Surreal Art of Anime, talk by Paul Watts

3pm: Screening of Angel’s Egg (80 mins) 16+

Please note that booking is essential for each event. To book, contact Education Services by telephone at 4070750 or by emailing educationservices[at]cbl[dot]ie.

Some forthcoming events on the SF calendar for 2008, both locally and further afield:

Event: Orbital (Eastercon 2007)
Date: 21-24 March
GoHs: Neil Gaiman, Tanith Lee, China Miéville, Charles Stross
Location: Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Heathrow, London, UK

Event: P-CON V
Date: 29-30 March
GoH: C E Murphy
Location: Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2, Ireland

Event: Denvention 3, the 66th Worldcon
Date: 6-10 August
GoH: Lois McMaster Bujold
Location: Denver, Colorado, USA

Event: Discworld Convention 2008
Date: 22-25 August
GoH: Terry Pratchett
Location: Hilton Metropole Hotel, Birmingham, England

Event: Mecon 11 (Incorporating Unicon 22)
Date: 29-31 August
GoH: TBA
Location: Queen’s University Students’ Union Building, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Event: Octocon
Date: 18-19 October
GoH: TBA
Location: Royal Dublin Hotel, O’Connell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland

Event: Dublin City Comic Con
Date: November
GoH: TBA
Location: TBA

I’ve started listing the remainder of David Stewart’s hardback books – excluding the ones I’m auctioning at Eastercon in March – on my account on eBay which is called, unsurprisingly, Slovobooks. The books of his I’m selling are:

THE WARRIOR’S TALE Cole & Bunch
YEARS IN THE MAKING L Sprague de Camp
LEARNING THE WORLD Ken MacLeod
THE INVISIBLE COUNTRY Paul J McAuley
OTHERNESS David Brin
ENDER’S SHADOW Orson Scott Card
THE TIME-LAPSED MAN Eric Brown
EYE AMONG THE BLIND Robert Holdstock
EARTHWIND Robert Holdstock
CARPE JUGULUM Terry Pratchett

The proceeds from these book are going towards the David Stewart Research Fund, which is sponsoring a particular project related to Oesophogela Cancer, which David died of in october 2006.

I have about another 200 hardback books belonging to David to sell, so I’ll be putting them up in lots on eBay until I have cleared them all.

Please feel free to direct as many people as you can to these listings, and do consider bidding on one of them if you can.

The other books listed are my own, although you shouldn’t allow this to stop you from bidding on one of those also, if you so choose…

Again, the books I’m selling are listed here

Well-known British comics artist David Lloyd, artist on V for Vendetta, amongst much else, is doing a four-date signing tour of Ireland at the end of November, where he will be promoting his latest book, Kickback.

The four appearances are:

Tuesday, 27th November: Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2, 7.30pm. A short talk followed by Q&A and signing.

Wednesday, 28th November: Chapters Bookstore, Ivy Exchange, Parnell Street, Dublin 1, 4.00pm -7.00pm. In-store signing.

Thursday, 29th November: Róisín Dubh, Dominick Street, Galway, 8.00pm. A short talk followed by Q&A and signing.

Saturday, 1st December: Other Realms, Paul Street Shopping Centre, Cork, 12.00pm – 3.00pm. In-store signing.

Please feel free to spread the news anywhere it will be seen!

Story by PÓM