Tickets can be purchased from the University's online store.

The focus of the 2010 Comics Day will be on how comics are created, with artists and writers discussing their creative process. The Comics Day talks are designed to appeal to everyone with an interest in comics, and will be accessible to the general public, comics fans of all ages, and those with a scholarly interest in the medium. The conference fee is £10 for the whole day, which includes refreshments. There is a £5 concession for children under 13. For more information contact Chris Murray (c.murrary@dundee.ac.uk), or consult the Dundee Literary Festival webpage: www.literarydundee.co.uk.

All timings are provisional

• 11.00am -Opening of Conference
• 11.05am - Nana Li, Workshop on Creating Manga
• 12.00noon - Break for Lunch
• 1.00pm - Rian Hughes
• 1.30pm - Alan Davis
• 2.00pm - Questions
• 2.15pm - Break / Book signing
• 3.00pm - Opening of Exhibition / Talk on Bill Ritchie
• 4.30pm - Questions
• 4.15pm - Break
• 5.00pm - Dez Skinn
• 5.30pm - Questions
• 6.00pm - Pat Mills
• 6.30pm - Questions
• 7.00pm - Concluding remarks

Dundee is one of the great powerhouses of comics production, not just in the UK, but internationally. The publisher DC Thomson is at the heart of the city, with its long running comics, The Beano and The Dandy, and a host of beloved characters, including Dennis the Menace, Desperate Dan, the Bash Street Kids, and hundreds more.

Since 2007 the University of Dundee has hosted an annual comics conference organised by Dr Chris Murray, a researcher in comics, and lecturer at the University of Dundee’s English Department. The Dundee Comics Day is part of the Dundee Literary Festival and is a celebration of comics, seeking to expand appreciation of the medium. It features a mix of comics writers, artists, editors and scholars, discussing various aspects of comics. In recent years themes have included the history of British comics, and how comics represent time. Past Comics Days have included talks from such prominent figures as Warren Ellis (Planetary, Transmetropolitan), Bryan Talbot (The Adventures of Luthor Arkwright, Alice in Sunderland). Alan Grant (Judge Dredd, Batman), Hunt Emerson (Little Plum, Ratz), Metaphrog (Strange Weather Lately, Louis), Keith Robson (Starblazer), Iilya (Mammoth Book of Best New Manga), Emma Vieceli (Manga Shakespeare), comics editors Morris Heggie, Bill McLoughlin (both DC Thomson), and David Bishop (2000AD). It has also featured contributions from leading comics scholars and historians such as Roger Sabin, Paul Gravett, Julia Round, Billy Grove, Mel Gibson, Peter Hughes Jachimiak, and Ian Hague. The Comics Days also sometimes include workshops on comics from leading professionals. The Comics Days are always accompanied by exhibitions of comics artwork. In recent years these have featured the work of Hunt Emerson, have provided retrospectives on Starblazer, and have celebrated the 70th birthday of The Beano. The 2010 exhibition will focus on the career of late DC Thomson artist Bill Ritchie (The Beezer, Baby Crockett).