comic battle

Press release

Aooleu (which in Romanian means, roughly, “Oh my gosh!”) is a monthly hand-drawn newspaper showcasing the work of young cartoonists, designers and illustrators from Romania. Romania?!? Exactly. The comics scene in Romania isn’t well known, or particularly developed, but there’s a whole pool of talent out there waiting to be discovered. This is what Aooleu aims to do: open up a platform for young artists and promote them abroad. __Aooleu is produced by Hardcomics, Romania’s first (and only) independent comics publishers, with seven publications under their belt to date. Aooleu is distributed all over America and Europe in more than 26 locations__. Thanks to generous support from the Romanian Cultural Institute, it’s sent out to all these places entirely for free. Come along, pick up a few free copies of Aooleu, issues 1-3, and enjoy the, erm, “highly collectable” and “limited edition” Hard Comics back catalogue.

The programme: Friday 8th August Aooleu presentation 19:30

Three members of the Aooleu team, plus two Romanian artists, will be putting in an appearance at Das Edelweiss, 1-3 Gorlitzerstr, Berlin. They’ll be talking about the scene in Romania, presenting Aooleu, plus explaining a bit about Hardcomics and the story behind it. The team will also be DJing in their own inimitable manner and doing a spot of hi-impact synchronized breakdancing (erm, maybe not).

Saturday 9th August Aooleu workshop 16:00

After the fun and excitement of Friday night, the Aooleu team will be doing a comics workshop. If you fancy getting some of your work in Aooleu, turn up and pen your own submission. The team will also be using their hard-nosed journalistic skills to pen their reports on the Berlin trip. Get scribbling... And for more / less please visit www.aooleu.ro

AOOLEU is generously funded by the Romanian Cultural Institute’s CANTEMIR PROJECT programme 2008.