On the website of a recent comic con in Lancashire, the big draws were: a puppeteer who worked on Star Wars and The Dark Crystal; an actor who was in Space: 1999 and played the Stormtrooper in Star Wars who said: “These aren’t the droids we’re looking for”; a child actor who appeared in Game of Thrones. Oh, and Knight Rider’s car was there, as was The Simpsons school bus and Luke Skywalker’s Land Speeder. There was a gaming area. All of which, I hasten to add, sounds absolutely brilliant to a geek like me. And yet … this was a comic con, right? What became of the comics?
I find myself annoyed by the ever-growing number of comic cons that don’t seem to be about comics at all. The five comic creators named on the aforementioned con’s website were tucked away at the bottom: two from the Beano, one at Marvel, a Jack Kirby expert and the fifth who was more a fantasy illustrator than a comics artist. Again, all great – but isn’t it a bit disingenuous to continue to call these events comic cons?
We can probably blame San Diego for all this. The godfather of comic cons began life in 1970 and was then entirely devoted to comics, thus earning its name. Actually, it was called the Golden State Comic Minicon back then. But over the years it has morphed into a glossy, media-led event where we get first looks at huge movies and TV companies announce new series. It’s very possible now to spend a day at San Diego Comic Con without getting so much as a sniff of an actual comic.
The myriad events around the world that use “comic con” as a term for “loads of cool geeky stuff and autographs at a tenner a time from some guy who once made some coffee for the cast of the Tomorrow People” are really just taking their lead from San Diego – and why wouldn’t they? It works for them, it works for the people who go there and get to sit in an old Ford Cortina pimped to look like Zebra Three from Starsky and Hutch.
It’s at times like this I thank Galactus above for Thought Bubble, a Leeds-based festival, now in it’s 11th year that will devote this coming weekend fully to comics. Yes, you’ll see the odd Ghostbuster or Terminator cosplayer, but Thought Bubble – along with the Lakes international comic art festival, which takes over Kendal next month – is one of the few events that not only focuses on, but joyously celebrates the form.
And they don’t stint on guests. Heading in from the US this year is Gerard Way, former frontman of alternative rock band My Chemical Romance and current curator of DC comics’ Young Animal imprint, who now writes Doom Patrol. He’s backed up by a veritable who’s who of international comic talent: Brian K Vaughan, Sara Pichelli, Jody Houser, Hannah Berry, Becky Cloonan, Paul Cornell, Andy Diggle, Duncan Fegredo … Suffice to say, if you’re into comics of any kind, there’ll be someone you’d like at Thought Bubble this year.
Thought Bubble is the brainchild of Lisa Wood, an artist of some renown under the pen name Tula Lotay, who decided a decade ago to create the kind of event she’d like to attend – one focused on artists, writers and readers.
“I always think it’s really bizarre that you have all these events around the country called comic cons when they really don’t have much to do with comics,” says Wood. “People do enjoy them, and that’s great. But … I want to see writers and artists, I want to see the creators that help the medium flourish. We’ve always wanted to celebrate comics in their purest form.”
This year, the biggest test for Lotay’s “pure and simple” ethos will be Way, with his hinterland in music. But as Wood says, his presence has the potential to draw newcomers to comics: “He’ll pull in a whole new audience for us … But if these people come, and maybe pick up the comics he’s involved in, then perhaps investigate others as a result, that’s what we’re all about – bringing along the next generation of comics readers, to help the medium survive and thrive.”
All without a 10-quid-a-go Batmobile in sight.
