The Highlands International Comic Expo

THE FIRST EVENT of its kind in the Highlands, Hi-Ex! will bring a host of comic artists and exhibitors to the area in an exciting two day programme of screenings, talks, interviews, panel discussions, workshops and an exhibition of original comic art. GEORGINA COBURN spoke to organisers Vicky Stonebridge and Richmond Clements.

GEORGINA COBURN: I wanted to ask you both about the status of Comic Art and the sense in which it has a global fan base. There also seems to be an online network of comic artists that presents no barrier to participation from more remote locations like the Highlands.

VICKY STONEBRIDGE: For over two decades I was the only comic fan I knew, so when the internet became available it changed everything, from my isolated wee cottage in a west coast glen, the world of comics and everything else opened up and became something I could participate in. In just a few years the boundaries have stretched from a few miles to the whole world. It’s fantastic that we can live in remote rural areas and yet work with like-minded people no matter where they are. Online communities, forums and social networking are fantastic tools; however they are no substitute for a real 3D get together, this is when the real connections are forged and creative alliances cemented.

RICHMOND CLEMENTS: I’m part of the editorial team on FutureQuake Press and we couldn’t function as an outfit without the internet! We have artists and writers from all over the world – as far away as Australia and Malaysia – who contribute to our titles. They send us their work through email, the comics are assembled on computer and sold through our website, as well as at conventions like Hi-Ex. Indeed, the three of us who run the comics all live at different ends of the country, so the internet is vital to keep us in touch.

GC: How did the two day festival come about and how do you see it in relation to the global scene?

VS: We had often joked about having a convention or comic festival up here to save us having to travel so far south, but I don’t think we ever actually thought it would happen or that we would be organising it! It came about by a chance conversation with Judith Aitken from Eden Court. We suggested we could invite a writer or artist or two up, but when we put feelers out, there was a huge positive response and tremendous goodwill towards the project.

Things have snowballed exponentially from there. We see it as filling a large gap in the north of the UK & Scotland. A wealth of world class comic talent has emerged from Scotland and yet there is no major Scottish comics’ event. We would hope this could become an annual event and fit in with the calendar of the other UK conventions, we’re very grateful for the support & advice we’ve received from the established event organisers.

RC: Yeah, Mike Allwood in particular, who runs the largest comic event in the country, The Bristol Comic Expo, has been brilliant in offering advice and support. There are two big comic events during the year – Bristol and Birmingham. So our hope would be that we fill the space in the calendar and become a regular slot on the comic diary.

GC: Recent big budget films such as the Spiderman series, Frank Miller’s graphic novels “300” and “Sin City” and the television series “Heroes” have raised the general profile of comic art in recent times with high production values, technical skill and artistry richly evident in the visuals on screen. Do you think this has helped raise awareness or acceptance of the work of comic artists?

RC: I think it’s kind of divided into two categories. You’ve got huge franchises like Spider-man, Superman, X-Men and Batman – characters that everyone has heard of. Then you have other movies, 300, Sin City, V for Vendetta, A History of Violence, Men in Black and so on- these are movies I think most folk would be surprised to find out are based on comics. And these are the important ones to me.

With Batman and what have you, people who don’t read comics will probably already have decided not to read them. The second group though, might just piqué the interest of the public and make them pick up the book on which the movie is based.

Heroes is an interesting one. It’s a great show, I really enjoy it, but as a comic fan, it’s hard to enjoy it for what it is. What I mean by that is the non-comic fan can watch it and just get caught up in it, whereas the comic fan will watch it and recognise the places where it has, let’s say ‘borrowed’ heavily. Anyone who has read Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal masterpiece Watchmen (held to be the greatest comic story ever) will see more than a dash of it in Heroes. That’s not to say Heroes is not splendid entertainment- it is, and if you’re going to lift from something, you might as well lift it from the best! It’s also worth noting that the comic art that appears in the show is done by renowned comic artist Tim Sale – you should check his work out.

GC: What is it about the form that appeals to you as an artist? What are its unique qualities?

VS: I have to confess that the artist in me tolerates flimsy plots and clichéd characters as long as the artwork is great. When we read a book it evokes images, we imagine the scenes, in comic art we are drawn into seeing someone else’s imaginings but its no less rich for all that. I love its honesty and accessibility, to me each of those boxes is a thing of beauty, deft lines, clever colours and yet even better it’s actually telling us a story, often one we’ve followed for years with archetypal characters who are much part of the zeitgeist as any film or TV character.

Comics can be glossed over, glanced through or pored over in layers of detail, we are moved along and propelled through the pages by a set of rules; where the speech bubbles are placed, by the perspective and border angles, by close ups and splash pages, the comic demands an interaction between reader and creator which a framed canvas in a gallery may not.

I love that comics are essentially pulp fiction, they are contemporary, relevant, humorous, and need not be taken as seriously as we take ourselves. I can spend days worrying about a few pencil lines on a page, once it’s in print the reader may well skim read and bin it, or they may laugh, cry and remember it for years.

GC: Art forms that are perhaps seen as “fantasy” or “escapism” can tell us a huge amount about human beings in the real world and the social fabric of the time. Do you think that Comic Art is undervalued as an art form in this respect? To what degree is it “just good fun”?

VS: Of course it’s ‘just good fun’, it’s entertainment, it’s escapism. But then so was Shakespeare in his day, just because something has populist appeal or is entertaining doesn’t preclude it from high-brow credentials. Comics have had a bad press for a long time, being seen as for ‘geeks’, or ‘just for kids’, which is an unwarranted prejudice. In Europe graphic novels sit in normal people’s bookshelves without a trace of embarrassment, yet comic fans are sneered at in the UK. Ask any young comic fan about what their college or school teacher thinks of comic art to gauge this undervaluation. My own daughter was told “that it wasn’t real art” by her art teacher. I disagree, but then all art is subjective, it doesn’t make it any less ‘art’ though.

RC: Honestly? I think saying ‘undervalued’ is understating it. At best it’s ignored and at worst treated with contempt. With a lot of art, there is more emphasis on being different or shocking, which results in work that comes over as pretentious and alienating. Whereas with comic art the opposite is true – if the work is not accessible and understandable it does not work, and this apparently simple act of storytelling is something a lot of artists find difficult.

In the comic world you find loads of artists who constantly and consistently push the boundaries of the medium and produce some astonishingly deep and challenging work. Look at the output of someone like Dave McKean, Bill Sienkiewicz or even Simon Bisley and tell me it’s not ‘real’ art! I wonder if the same folk saying modern comic art is not ‘art’ would say the same about E.H. Shepherd or George Cruikshank?

GC: Can you tell me a bit about the education programme in the lead up to the event?

VS: From the outset it’s been important to us that Hi Ex was a family event and that the emphasis is on inclusion. Growing up in the Highlands it’s easy to gain a sense that everything happens out there somewhere else, we want to give children and young people a chance to meet successful creative people and to realise that living here need not be a barrier to their own potential.

I led two taster sessions at Eden Court in November in ‘How to draw comic strips’, these were attended by very talented and enthusiastic young people, I got a real sense of how isolated they can feel as comic fans. As well as the workshops on the expo weekend, we have arranged with the help and support of The Highland Council and Scottish Arts Council for Kev F Sutherland of the Beano to do four outreach workshops in making comics at Kirkhill & Balloch primary schools. With Kev’s inimitable style I’m sure this will be a fantastic opportunity for the children involved.

GC: I understand there will also be an exhibition in Blink Space at Eden Court for the Expo, what will the content be?

VS: This contains a small part of our own collection of original comic art. We’ve collected these over the years, some have been gifts, and some bought or haggled mercilessly off the artists at events like Hi-Ex. We tried to select a range of styles and pieces by artists who will be appearing at Hi-Ex. I get such a thrill from owning a page from a great story or one of my art heroes. They are a source of inspiration which never tires.

RC: A few of the pages on display are by artists who will be at the event, so it’ll be an ideal opportunity for any fans or aspiring artists to ask them about it. If I had to single out a couple of pieces (if you can single out two things..!), they’d be Bryan Talbot’s glorious Hieronymus Bosch riff on his page from ‘You are Torquemada’ and a page from the strip ‘Strontium Dog’, by Carlos Ezquerra. Ezquerra’s importance and influence as an artist cannot be overestimated. His skill is second to none, just come and have a look at the exquisite penmanship on the page. He was also a pioneer of the now common practice of colouring comic art with a computer. But he’s probably best known for being the co-creator and designer of the most famous British comic character ever: Judge Dredd.

GC: Are there specific topics or themes up for discussion as part of the Expo?

RC: Yeah, there will be a wide range of discussion topics during the weekend. Comics cover a huge range of subjects and age ranges, so it’s important to try and touch base with as many of them as we can. So we’ve discussion panels on Manga, on superheroes, on whether comic art is art or not (it is!) and many other things. There are also a number of workshops, both for children and adults, on drawing comics as well as what I’m sure will be a fascinating workshop on script writing with Michael Carroll and comic legend Alan Grant.

GC: How can people with a general or more specific interest become involved over the weekend?

VS: It’s a great way to get an introduction into the comics community, come and see what it’s all about. For those who already know what they like we have tried to represent a whole range of genres from Manga to the Beano. We hope the talks and discussion panels will be stimulating and informative, the fancy dress will be a whole lot of fun, watching the artists sketch is fascinating, there’s the chance to browse and buy a whole range of goodies from the trade stands, plenty of opportunity to talk to the professionals, including the sessions in how to pitch to comics and the portfolio review where budding artists can get some pointers.

HI-EX! runs at Eden Court Theatre on 2-3 February 2008.

© Georgina Coburn, 2008

Links

• HI-EX!
• Eden Court Theatre
• Children First
• FutureQuake Press