This blog began in 1997 as a single news page called Nucelus. In 2005, during a long wait to move into a new house, I decided to learn some php and MySQL and write my own blogging system, which became inkyBlog and which now powers this, my own Webbledegook blog.
Thank you to my brother, Murray Ewing, for help with some of the more challenging aspects!
I'd actually been invited to two other shows this weekend - the Munich Comics Festival, by my German publisher, Salleck, and the Bulles de Mantes La Jolie in Paris, by BD Must - but Copenhagen beat them to it. It's nice to be wanted, and I wish I could have somehow managed all three!
But I'd wanted to attend the Copenhagen event, which is held every two years, for a while now, after hearing positive reports from Colin Mathieson and Dave West of Accent UK, who both thought my book would find an appreciative audience there. When Danish publisher Tellerup added my book to their list late last year, the possibility of attending became a reality - and for that I must thank my champion at Tellerup, Michael Larsen, the Danish Arts Foundation, and Copenhagen Comics themselves.
I'm not a big fan of flying, but - though I'm not religious - there were about 20 or more members of the Salvation Army brass band on my flight, so I knew I'd be okay! Michael met me at the airport and we took the train into Copenhagen, hopped on a bus to my hotel (Hotel Sct. Thomas in Frederiksberg, right next door, it turned out, to Copenhagen's Salvation Army HQ) where I checked in and freshened up, and then we took the bus back into the city where we met the rest of the Tellerup team for dinner, at A Hereford Beefstouw, right next to the famous Tivoli Gardens.
The Tellerup team consisted of Michael, Thomas Schrøder and his wife Lise, Harald and Louise Tellerup, Valdemar Tellerup and one other chap, whose name didn't quite reach my ears (sorry!) [Edit: it was Steen]. They are a wonderful bunch and I feel very pleased indeed to have my work published by them.
After dinner Michael and I took a bus to Nyhavn - the 17th-century harbour that was once home to Hans Christian Andersen. Michael is an excellent tour-guide and he provided tea and good conversation, especially with his interesting insights into acting - something we've both been involved in.
The bus journey back led to a little adventure - Michael got off before me and I remained on board with a man who seemed insistent on informing me about (I think) his savings, the Danish tax rate, and the government (there's to be a general election this month). Whether it was due to this or my own lack of awareness, I wasn't sure which stop to get off at, so I took a chance and then used my 'intuition' to walk in what I thought was the right direction. My intuition was as good as random chance (unsurprisingly) and I soon realised I was going the wrong way. But purely by chance I had come out with a city map in my back pocket, and purely by chance I decided to examine it just as I was about to walk off the edge of it. A 20-minute walk got me back safely to the hotel!
I was staying in the same hotel as Colin and Dave of Accent UK and so I was able to meet them for breakfast the next day. Making up the rest of the Accent UK team were West Noir artist Gary Crutchley, and Colin's son Scott, and all four were terrific company all weekend, starting with breakfast each day.
Day one of the festival was hugely enjoyable - I was busy signing and sketching for most of the day and I met a ton of marvellous comic creators and readers. From my last German trip it was lovely to reacquaint myself with Tatiana Goldberg, also published by Tellerup and whose fantastic book, Anima, was shortlisted for a Ping Award (the winners were to be announced that evening); also Frank Madsen, Sussi Bech and Ingo Milton. I was also delighted to meet (all too briefly) Lars Jakobsen, creator of the fantastic Mortensen books - which Colin had turned me onto a couple of years previously.
At midday I was part of a panel discussion about drawing kids' comics, chaired by Michael Andersen and alongside comics superstars Luke Pearson and Thomas Wellmann. It was interesting that none of us had intentionally created a comic for children, we'd all made comics as something we, ourselves, wanted to read. Being comics for children had more to do with marketing, though all-ages content and clear storytelling were certainly aspects that perhaps made our books more widely accessible - not, we agreed, exclusively for a young demographic, but for a mainstream, even non-comic reading, truly all-ages audience.
Another friendly face present in Copenhagen Comics that weekend was Clíodhna Lyons, who was literally flying the flag for Irish comics, as well as her own gorgeous work. I'd last seen Clíodhna at Angoulême, so even though she only lives 30 miles away from me, we only seem to get to say hello when in mainland Europe. Along with the Accent UK guys and a number of friendly Danes, she was excellent company all weekend - and I owe her a drink in return for the enormous orange juice she treated me to at Cafe Obelix that evening.
The second day of the festival was another good one, perhaps a little slower than the Saturday, but I was still busy enough signing to keep me from clock-watching, with enough space this time to allow me to stretch my legs and have a wander around the Danish comics scene, which, I'm pleased to report, is friendly, full and fascinating.
One nice thing that Tellerup had organised was an exclusive Rainbow Orchid poster, free to anyone who bought the book at the festival. It was a big one - 70 x 100cm - and a common sight was to see people carrying them around in their special Tellerup poster boxes. I'd drawn this in spare moments during a very busy period of work, but was pleased to see that it had come out all right!
I was very pleased to make the acquaintance of another talented Dane, Thomas Friis Pedersen (who uses the pen-name Thop), creator of Flix & Flax and Zombie Kravlenisser (as well as The Great Zardini, which really gave me a good chuckle) and is another Tellerup author. And it was good to meet Árni Beck Gunnarsson too, for whom Thomas and I collaborated on a little jam sketch!
Sunday evening saw a lovely dinner at The London Pub on Godthåbsvej with Clíodhna, Accent UK, and Søren Pedersen, founder of the famous Fantask comics shop, and his wife Vibeke. As with every evening, much conversation was had, including subjects as diverse as Japanese film, potatoes, the Gay Gordons, and, of course, comics.
On Monday morning it was time to return home. A slightly earlier breakfast, again with the magnificent company of the Accent UK team (Colin was torn between a Danish pastry and accompanying me to the station, luckily reason prevailed ... the Danish), before I said my goodbyes and walked off to Copenhagen Central for a train to the airport. Despite a slightly delayed flight I was home by 3pm, and I even managed to summon up the energy to get myself to that night's karate training.
So, did I enjoy my first visit to Denmark? Most certainly. Would I go again? Absolutely. The Danish comics scene was enormously welcoming and I had a terrific time. Huge thanks to Tellerup, especially Michael Larsen who made the whole thing happen, to the Danish Arts Foundation for help with funding, and - by no means least - to Steffen Rayburn-Maarup and the Copenhagen Comics team for having me as a guest. I feel very lucky and honoured that I got the chance to go.
12