Festival Guide

You can also find out about the awesome line-up of events for LICAF 2024 in our What's on pages!

And you can keep up-to-date with the latest festival news and events highlights by signing up to our e-news!

Many thanks to all our incredible guests, supporters and sponsors, and also to Gigi Cavenago, who created this year's awesome Festival art!

Sean Phillips

Since drawing SleeperHellblazerBatmanX-MenMarvel Zombies, and Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, Sean has concentrated on creator-owned books with Ed Brubaker including Criminal, soon to be a television series on Amazon Prime, Kill Or Be KilledIncognitoFataleThe Fade OutPulpNight Fever,  Where The Body Was and the Recklessseries.

He lives in the Lake District in the UK, where he is currently drawing the next Brubaker/Phillips book.

Viz

Born in 1965 to simple coal mining folk, Simon Thorp attended grammar school in Pontefract, winning the Rev. JJ Christie Prize for the most outstanding boy in the first year. He went on to spend 3 years studying fine art at a world famous and prestigious university, the name of which escapes him. He sold his first cartoon to Punch in 1983, and his last cartoon to the same magazine at the same moment. He has a wife and three children, the names of whom escape him.

Mary Talbot

Mary M. Talbot is an academic turned graphic novelist. Her first graphic novel, Dotter of her Father’s Eyes (with Bryan Talbot), won the 2012 Costa Biography Award. Her books also include Armed With Madness: The Surreal Leonora Carrington, and Rain, both with Bryan Talbot, the latter a rallying cry to protect the planet. 

Bryan and Mary Talbot are both founding patrons of The Lakes International Comic Art Festival.

Bryan Talbot

Born in 1952, multiple award-winning artist and writer Bryan Talbot has worked on underground comics, science fiction and superhero stories such as work for 2000AD and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. Bryan was awarded a Doctorate in Arts and another in Letters and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Volunteers

Are you passionate about comics and comic art and enjoy being part of something big? We need people who are:

●      Passionate about events and comics and want to get involved in something exciting in Bowness-on-Windermere

●      Free for at least two full shifts across three different days from 26th to 28th September 2025

●      Able to work well in a team and on their own

●      Driven to help make the Lakes International Comic Art Festival one of the best audience experiences in the UK

Charlie Adlard

Charlie has been a “veteran” of the comic industry for over 25 years. He’s spent the majority of his time since 2003 working on The Walking Dead, which finished in 2019, and has received many industry awards for his work on the series culminating in winning the Sergio Aragonés International Award for Excellence in Comic Art in 2019. 

Checkout

Our ticket sales are processed by our host venue The Brewery Arts Centre. The Brewery Arts Centre box office software is powered by Spektrix, which has been built with security in mind. All digital access to the Spektrix system takes place through encrypted SSL connections.

Basket

Our ticket sales are processed by our host venue The Brewery Arts Centre. The Brewery Arts Centre box office software is powered by Spektrix, which has been built with security in mind. All digital access to the Spektrix system takes place through encrypted SSL connections.

Support

We are a not-for-profit festival and your enthusiasm and support makes all the difference. There are lots of ways you can support us. Every ticket purchased, every donation made and every piece of merchandise sold adds up to make the festival a reality.

If you would like to support the Festival with a donation or sponsorship please contact our Festival Director, Julie Tait, at julieATcomicartfestival.com