Nobrow is up in Canada this weekend for TCAF, and we have plenty in store for our neighbors to the north! Hosted at the Toronto Reference Library, TCAF is one of the biggest events for showcasing the latest and greatest in comics and graphic novels.

Here’s a handy guide to the panels and presentations we’ll be at this weekend:

Saturday May 10, 10am – 11am at Marriott 100 (High Park 2&3) – Comics Editing
Nobrow’s cofounder and creative director Alex Spiro will be joining Calista Brill (First Second), Scott Dunbier (IDW), James Lucas Jones (Oni Press), and Casandra Pelham (Scholastic/Graphix) in a discussion with Brigid Alverson (Comic Book Resources) about the role of contemporary comics editors.

Saturday May 10, 1:30pm – 2:30pm at TCAF Kids’ Day @ St. Paul’s on Bloor – How to Draw Hilda!
Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist Luke Pearson will be hosting a special presentation where he will teach you how to draw the famous Hilda, star of the latest book in the Hildafolk series, Hilda and the Black Hound, debuting this weekend at TCAF!

Sunday May 11, 11:15am – 12:15pm at The Pilot Tavern – The New Small Press
Nobrow’s Tucker Stone will be speaking with a pack of notable small-press underdogs from Koyama Press, Secret Acres, and Uncivilized Books about all the nitty-gritty details behind the glamorous life of small press publishing.

Nobrow will be at Tables 178-179 all weekend, so please stop by and say hello to our special guests Luke Pearson (Hildafolk series) and Jesse Moynihan (Forming series)!

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To celebrate the launch of Nobrow’s new children’s imprint Flying Eye Books, we are delighted to be teaming up with Foyles to bring you the Flying Eye Season at Foyles. We will be hosting an exhibition and a series of workshops aimed at budding graphic artists at the flagship branch on Charing Cross Road throughout April t

o introduce you to our new imprint, our talented artists and our beautiful new books. In the exclusive exhibition for the Gallery at Foyles, we will be showing illustrations from our new publications as well as a offering a rare chance to see developmental and work in progress drawings from many of the artists involved in Flying Eye’s up and coming releases.

If you would like to read more, or buy tickets to any of the fun workshops and events, please visit the Foyles website now. If you would like to read more about Flying Eye please visit the dedicated new website or to get up to date notifications of current events, follow us on twitter.

Well it’s here… prepare for a world of Awesome Robots invading cities across the world as we launch the first title in our brand spanking new children’s list. ‘Welcome to your Awesome Robot’ by Viviane Schwarz will be released this month on the Flying Eye Books website and is available to order for your shop (if you have one) through our UK distributors Bounce Sales and Marketing.

This fantastic new title is a manual and a story book rolled into one for kids and their parents or carers. It’s jam packed with everything you might need to know about building your own Awesome Robots. We will be launching a blog site soon to showcase the awesome robots you can all come up with so watch this space! In the mean time, enjoy the gallery of beautiful photos on the online shop here and keep an eye on FlyingEyeBooks.com for the launch of the new website this Thursday! We’re brimming with glee and we hope you are too, get ready for the best kids books you have ever seen! ;)

Prepare for your jaw to drop to your toes… Hilda and the Bird Parade is almost here, and well there’s no other way of describing it than saying it is awesome, not as a skater might say awesome, but as in “it will and does inspire awe.” If the breathtaking artwork weren’t enough to completely enrapture you, the story is among the best I have read in a very long time – and I’m not just saying that as the publisher of the book, it just is. The good news is that if you’re principled enough to buy it directly from the publisher you will be rewarded, we have hand printed, yes hand printed, a handful of bookplates for the early birds in five colours downstairs and the brilliant news is that there are still some left! So hurry on down to the webshop and don’t miss out, you think they’ll still be there in a week? Don’t count on it! ;)

Also we wanted you all to know that the exhibition of Luke’s original artwork from the book *as well as the book itself!* will be on at Foyles for another week, so don’t miss your opportunity to see it and if you want a sneaky peek of the beautiful hardback book that too, by heading on down to Foyles on Charing Cross Road.

Also launched today, the beautiful latest edition of Nobrow, Issue 7: A Brave New World, with work from the likes of Jillian Tamaki, Tom Gauld, Angie Wang, Anders Nilsen, Eda Akaltun, Sam Vanallemeersch, Joost Swarte and many more… get yours now while the posters still last!

We have a bumper crop of books coming out this month from Nobrow Press, the latest of which is the beautiful, educational, and expertly designed High Times: A History of Aviation by Golden Cosmos. To see more visit our webshop for the new Nobrow Magazine, No Man’s Land and loads more amazing new releases!

It’s time to get excited as the first East London Comics and Arts Festival kick’s off this weekend on Sunday the 17th of June (9.30am-9pm at The Village Underground). Be prepared for an awesome day of workshops, high profile talks, portfolio surgeries, shopping, refreshments, food and if that wasn’t enough, a FREE 2 ACT CONCERT! Read more here and make sure you come to ELCAF, everyone will be there!

RSVP on facebook and earn a chance to win a free Nobrow goodie bag! Please don’t RSVP unless you intend to come, you have to be there to pick up your prize if you are lucky enough to win it!

Above: cover work for Nobrow 7: Brave New World by Sam Vanallemeersch (left) and Eda Akaltun (right)

You’ve all been waiting, well the pre-order for Nobrow 7 is finally available! If you make yours now, you could be lucky enough to get a free A2 poster by either Sam Vanallemeersch or Eda Akaltun, be quick though because there are only 300 to give away!

Featuring 128 pages of full spot colour artwork with over 60 pages of Comics from the leading talents in the field from all over the world as well as 60 pages of the best in contemporary illustration!

45 Creative visionaries take on the theme to produce cutting edge comics and illustration in this fantastic large format anthology that has taken the illustration and comcis world by storm. With contributions from a group of artists that reads like the guest-list of an illustration/comics super-festival: Joost Swarte (Is That All There Is?, Fantagraphics), Tom Gauld (Goliath, D&Q), Jillian Tamaki (Indoor Voice, Drawn & Quarterly), Luke Pearson (Hilda and the Midnight Giant, Nobrow), Anders Nilsen (Big Questions, D&Q), Joseph Lambert (Winner of Ignatz award categories for ‘Outstanding Anthology or Collection’ and ‘Outstanding Artist’ awards for I Will Bite You), Ethan Rilly, Eda Akaltun, Andrew Rae, Rob Bailey, Henry McCauseland, Domitille Collardey, Michael DeForge, and many, many more, Nobrow 7 will exceed your expectations beyond measure.

Tantalising isn’t it? Well if you want to see precisely who these guys are, you’ll have to make sure you make it to the opening of Felt Mistress and Jonathan Edwards’ show at Nobrow gallery this Thursday at 6pm. There, FM will be displaying her latest slew of colourful and expertly crafted characters, including the glamorous Hester Flent and the stylish Anton Tretcher, and a whole bunch of meter long beetles… All the cool felt folk will be there, will you?

Hey! Who’s this Guy? by Felt Mistress and Jonathan Edwards opens at Nobrow Shop and Gallery, 62 Great Eastern Street, on Thursday the 18th of May, PV 6pm-9.30pm, RSVP if you haven’t already!

You’ve been waiting with bated breath I’m sure, well the wait isn’t for much longer because on the 17th of June, at ELCAF, we’ll not only be launching Nobrow 7: Brave New World, but also Blexbolex’s much anticipated graphic novel, 3 years in the making! Not enough, you say? Well, we would be loath to disappoint, so we are also releasing the second and final installment of FIGHT! by Jack Teagle, who will be signing and drawing in your fresh copies of the book at the comics fair. That’s three releases on one day! Don’t tell us you’re appetite hasn’t been whetted…  Nobrow 7: Brave New World Pre-order launches next monday, each will come with one of two beautiful free A2 posters, there’s a limited number so make sure you get your pre-orders in early! watch this space!

ELCAF is officially cemented in the social calendar, everyone keep the 17th of June free it is going to be a comics and arts festival like no other, trust us! With McBess as the artist in residence; live drawing relay races from Luke Pearson, Jack Teagle, Kyle Platts, and many more; a process talk by the unbelievable award winning talent that is BLEXBOLEX, chaired by the man at the crossroads himself Paul Gravett; 600 second interviews from Avoid the Future; a kids workshop organised by Anorak Magazine; Screenings by Nexus; panel discussions with Karrie Fransman, Darryl Cunningham and Simone Lia; stalls from the very best comics publishers, including Jonathan Cape, SelfMadeHero, Blank Slate, Nobrow (of course!), Knockabout, Landfill Editions, Solopsistic Pop, WAWAP, the list goes on…; AND!!! a ticketed concert featuring the Dead Pirates, the Vuvuvultures and a special guest running from 8 ’til late, there is honestly nothing to top it! We are working hard to put an official program online next week, but in the mean time spread the word, make sure you and everyone you know comes! This is the start of something beautiful, don’t miss it!!!!!!!!

The legendary Jean-Louis Mourier of the bestselling French graphic novel series Trolls De Troy will be teaming up with our own legendary talent Luke Pearson in a troll drawing frenzy live on stage at the French institute in South Kensington on Saturday 26 May 2012, at 14:00! You can (and should) buy your tickets to see two of the best comics draftsmen both sides of the channel flex their artistic muscles on stage. There will also be a host of other events on at the BD & Comics Passion festival at the institute including a writing workshop with Luke, another drawathon featuring Guy Delisle and Tom Gauld, a screening of the very latest screen adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s work ‘Chicken with Plums’ and a book signing with David B!

Book your tickets to the events early there’s only limited space and trust us, you won’t want to miss what they have on offer. Check out a full listing of events and purchase tickets on the BD & Comics Passion website. The BD & Comics Passion festival runs from May 24th-27th at the French Institute, 17 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2DT (Tube: South Kensington)