Comica, the London International Comics Festival, was a comics festival held in London. Organized by Paul Gravett, the festival generally took place over a number of weeks. In the beginning, the festival's main venue was London's Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA);[1] thus the name, "ComICA".[2]
Comica | |
---|---|
Status | Defunct |
Genre | Comics |
Frequency | Annual |
Venue | Institute of Contemporary Arts (2003–2009) |
Location(s) | London |
Country | U.K. |
Inaugurated | June 2003 |
Founder | Paul Gravett and John Harris Dunning |
Most recent | 2014 |
Filing status | Nonprofit |
People | "Team Comica": Gravett, Megan Donnolley, Peter Stanbury |
Website | www |
Comica was held in the spirit of European conventions like the Angoulême International Comics Festival. As such, it was focused on the art and literature of the comics form, and only minimally on related pop-culture expression and merchandising. Comica featured panel discussions, graphic novel release signings, workshops, art exhibits, and film screenings, as well as a one-day small press fair (called Comica Comiket). British and North American comics were the main focus, but each festival highlighted work from other countries, including France, Japan, Korea, Italy, and comics from Eastern Europe.
Another recurring feature of Comica was the awarding of the Comica Graphic Short Story Prize, sponsored by The Observer newspaper, initially in association with publisher Jonathan Cape.
In addition to the festival itself, Comica occasionally produced other comics-related events during the year.[3][4]
History
editAs described in the comics news site The Beat, "Comica debuted in 2003 as a collaboration between comics expert Paul Gravett, and curator, co-conspirator, and comics-writer John Harris Dunning for the Institute of Contemporary Arts."[5] The first Comica Festival was held in late June and early July 2003, taking place over a period of ten days.
The theme of the 2004 festival was "Confessions & Convictions," "highlighting the trend towards autobiography and political commentary prevalent in the comics medium."[6] The festival also took place in June over a period of nine days.
There was no festival held in 2005, with the only Comica event being an October panel at the ICA on emerging international graphic novelists, with Jessica Abel, Matt Madden, Igort, Paul Wright, Killoffer, and Junko Mizuno participating.[7]
The Comica Festival returned in 2006, moving to October and taking place over a period of three weeks. (From that point forward, the Comica festival always took place in the fall, usually in October or November.)
2007 saw the introduction of the Comica Comiket Small Press Fair[8] and the Comica Graphic Short Story Prize[9] (which continued to be awarded after Comica's demise).
The 2009 Comica partnered with Ctrl.Alt.Shift, and produced Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption, a comics anthology edited by Gravett, featuring short stories looking at examples of corruption in the real world. It included contributions by comics creators like Pat Mills, Bryan Talbot, Dave McKean, Woodrow Phoenix, Peter Kuper, Dylan Horrocks, and Dan Goldman. An exhibition was held at London's Lazarides Gallery to mark the launch; the exhibition included examples of misguided previous attempts to produce worthy comic books.[10][11]
In 2010, Comica became independent, disassociating from the ICA and registering as a nonprofit organization.[12] That same, year Gravett established the Comica Social Club Meet-Up, "a monthly meetup for people interested in comics, manga and graphic novels."[13]
Gravett produced the 2012 Comica with Megan Donnolley and Peter Stanbury.[12]
The 2013 Comica Festival took place October 23–November 16, but prior Comica events that year attracted such guests as Jaime Hernandez, Rutu Modan, Brian Bolland, and Frazer Irving.[14]
The final Comica Festival took place from mid-October to mid-November 2014. Earlier in the year 2014, in August, Comica produced a weekend series of events at the British Library that featured a Comiket as well as "Comica Conversations" with guests like Emmanuel Guibert, Alys Jones, Ian Williams, Jade Sarson, and the CBLDF's Charles Brownstein."[4] These were centered around the exhibition (on view 2 May – 19 August) "Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK" at the British Library. Cuurated by John Harris Dunning and Gravett, exhibition events included Bryan and Mary Talbot; Neil Gaiman with Tori Amos; Woodrow Phoenix; Dave McKean, Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis on superheroes; Melinda Gebbie; Alejandro Jodorowsky; Pat Mills, Dave Gibbons and Frazer Irving on 2000 AD; Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton plus those involved in the ‘Oz Trial’; Posy Simmonds and Steve Bell; and Bryan Lee O’Malley.[15]
Although no Comica Festival was held in 2015, Comica co-sponsored an event at the Institut Français on April 15, 2015: Julie Birmant and Clément Oubrerie in conversation with Paul Gravett.[16] Similarly, in mid-May 2016, Gravett put on a "Comica London Weekender" at London's House of Illustration. This event included a Comica Comiket.[17]
After Comica went defunct, the Comica Social Club Meet-Up became affiliated with the London Comic Mart.[18]
In March 2023, the Comica brand was revived as a monthlong series of creator discussions at London's Century Club. Participating cartoonists included Posy Simmonds, Dave McKean, Brian Bolland, and Dave Gibbons.[5]
Graphic Short Story Prize
editThe Comica Graphic Short Story Prize was created in 2007 "with the aim of celebrating the art of the graphic novel and to offer a platform for the graphic novelists of the future to emerge."[9] The prize comes with a £1,000 award. The winner is determined by a panel of judges; along with the winner, a runner-up is also announced. A number of prize winners have gone on to have graphic novels published by Jonathan Cape.[12]
The award came to be known as the Observer/Cape/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize;[19] it is currently called the Observer/Faber Graphic Short Story Prize.[20]
List of winners
edit- 2007 Catherine Brighton, "Away In A Manger"
- 2008 Julian Hanshaw, "Sand Dunes and Sonic Booms"[21]
- 2009 Vivien McDermid, "Paint"[22]
- 2010 Stephen Collins, "In Room 208"
- 2011 Isabel Greenberg, "Love in a Very Cold Climate"[23]
- 2012 Corban Wilkin, "But I Can't"[24]
- 2013 Emily Haworth-Booth, "Colonic"[19]
- 2014 Alexis Deacon, "The River"[25]
- 2015 Richard Woods, "The Giants of Football"[26][27]
- 2016 Matthew Dooley, "Colin Turnbull: A Tall Story"[28]
- 2017 Tor Freeman, "If You’re So Wise, How Come You’re Dead"[29]
- 2018 Edith Pritchett, "An Artistic Odyssey"[30]
- 2019 Edo Brenes, "Memories of Limón"[31]
- 2020 Paul Rainey, "Similar to But Not Here"[32]
- 2021 Astrid Goldsmith, "A Funeral in Freiburg"[33]
- 2022 Rebecca K. Jones, "Midnight Feast"[34]
- 2023 Anna Readman, "Dancing Queen"[35]
Comica Comiket
editComica Comiket was a one-day marketplace convention held during the Comica festival, highlighting British small-press comics and minicomics.[8] (Early in his career, Gravett had run the Fast Fiction booth at the bimonthly Westminster Comics Mart in London. This may have been an inspiration for Comica Comiket, as may have been the long-running Comiket doujinshi convention in Tokyo, Japan.)[citation needed]
The first Comica Comiket: Small Press Fair was held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts on 4 Nov 2007.[8] The 2008 Comica Comiket was co-sponsored by London Underground Comics.[36] The 2009 event was co-sponsored by Alternative Press, We Are Words+Pictures, and Nobrow Press.[1]
The 2010 Comica Comiket was held in conjunction with the National Collectors Marketplace at the Royal National Hotel, Russell Square.[37] The 2010 event saw the introduction of the "Drawing Parade," organized by Peter Stanbury, in which cartoonists made original drawings projected on a large screen.[12] This became a regular feature of Comica Comiket.
In 2013, two Comica Comikets were held, once in the spring[38][39] and then in the fall during the festival itself. (Although the plan was for future Comikets to be held twice a year, this plan never came to fruition.)
In 2014, a mid-August Comica Comiket was held at the British Library. Exhibitors included Jade Sarson, Gareth Brookes, Hannah Berry, Amber Hsu, Cristian Ortiz, Knockabout Comics, Soaring Penguin, and The Dessinators.[40] The scheduled festival Comica Comiket for November 1, 2014 — to be held at Central Saint Martins — was postponed at a late date and rescheduled for Spring 2015.[41] Instead, a "CanalCon/Comica Comiket" was held September 20, 2015, on the Floating Cinema barge, Granary Square, Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design — exhibitors included Rebellion Publishing, SelfMadeHero, Knockabout Comics, First Second Books, Soaring Penguin, Centrala Books, Escape Books; guests included Dave Gibbons.[42] (By this time, the Comica festival itself had gone defunct.)
In 2016, two final Comica Comikets were held: one in the spring and one in the fall. The spring 2016 event — "Comica Comiket: The Independent Comics Market" — was held in London's House of Illustration as part of the "Comica London Weekender"; the Drawing Parade was touted as the "Cavalcade of Celebrity Cartoonists".[17] The fall — and final — Comica Comiket was for the first time held outside of London, in Surrey, at The Lightbox in Woking.[43] Exhibitors included Nick Hayes, Jessica Martin, and Gary Northfield.[44]
Comiket dates and locations
editComica festival dates
editSee also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d Freeman, John (Oct 30, 2009). "Matters of Convention: ComICA". DownTheTubes.net.
- ^ a b Johnston, Rich (November 8, 2009). "ComICA – 'Dark We Were And Golden Eyed' Panel Report". Bleeding Cool.
- ^ White, Matt (Mar 24, 2014). "Upcoming Comics Events: March 24, 2014". Publishers Weekly.
As part of the Comica Festival, Award-winning cartoonist Ben Katchor will be presenting his strips and discussing his work with singer-songwriter and frequent collaborator Peter Blegvad at on Wednesday, March 26th at 6:15 p.m. in the 3rd Floor Gallery at Foyles Flasghip Bookshop in London, United Kingdom.
- ^ a b c Oliver, Andy (October 6, 2014). "Comica Festival Announces its 2014 Line-Up – An Amazing Month of Programming Features Tardi, Junko Mizuno, Emily Carroll, Carol Swain and More!". Broken Frontier.
- ^ a b Simons, Dean (Feb 8, 2023). "London's COMICA festival celebrates 20 years in March with event series: COMICA's month-long series of talks will feature Posy Simmonds, Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, Dave McKean, and more". The Beat.
- ^ a b "COMICA FESTIVAL 2004". Comica: London International Comics Festival. Archived from the original on Oct 12, 2011.
- ^ Le Duc, Dominique. "COMICA: Misfit Lit - October 26th, 2005 - ICA, London" (PDF). Belphégor. 5 (1) – via Dalhousie University.
- ^ a b c d "Comica 07: Enter a World of Your Own". ICA. 2007.
- ^ a b "GRAPHIC SHORT STORY PRIZE". Comica: London International Comics Festival. 2011. Archived from the original on Aug 11, 2011.
- ^ Brown, Mark (November 3, 2009). "Pow! Comic-strip heroes fight against corruption". The Guardian. Retrieved November 3, 2009.
- ^ Badham, Matt (October 30, 2009). "Comica Festival 2009: London Is Bubbling Over With Comics!". Forbidden Planet International Blog. Retrieved July 25, 2022 – via PaulGravett.com.
- ^ a b c d e Gravett, Paul (October 28, 2012). "Comica Festival 2012: Putting Comics First!". Paul Gravett: Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga.
- ^ "About". Comica Social Club. Facebook.
- ^ a b Oliver, Andy (October 23, 2013). "Comics Culture in London: Comica Festival 2013 Kicks off Today!". Broken Frontier.
- ^ British Library (1 May 2014). "Comics Unmasked, the UK's biggest comic book exhibition, opens at the British Library". British Library. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ "COMICA FESTIVAL – PABLO: Julie Birmant and Clément Oubrerie in conversation with Paul Gravett". Association of Illustrators. Apr 7, 2015.
- ^ a b FREEMAN, JOHN (Mar 21, 2016). "Comica Comiket Back in May". DownTheTubes.net.
- ^ FREEMAN, JOHN (Oct 23, 2018). "British and Irish Comic Conventions and Signings". DownTheTubes.net.
The Comica Social Club Meet-Up takes place at the Mart. Drinks, comics chat and chips are underway during the afternoon and continues from 4.00pm onwards till around 6.00pm or so.
- ^ a b Cooke, Rachel. "Emily Haworth-Booth: 'Colonic irrigation wasn't quite as awful as I've made out'". Interview. The Guardian.
- ^ "Observer/Faber graphic short story prize". The Guardian.
- ^ "2008 Graphic Short Story Prize". www.comicafestival.com. 4 December 2008. Archived from the original on Aug 26, 2016.
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (31 Oct 2009). "Review: Every picture tells a story". The Guardian.
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (5 Nov 2011). "The Observer/Cape Graphic Short Story Prize 2011". The Guardian.
- ^ "Graphic Short Story Prize". Vintage Books. 2013. Archived from the original on Feb 28, 2014.
- ^ O'Kelly, Lisa (26 May 2015). "The Jonathan Cape/Observer/Comica graphic short story prize 2015 – enter now!". The Guardian.
- ^ "The Giants of Football by Richard Woods – comic". Observer/Faber graphic short story prize: Comics and graphic novels. The Guardian. 25 Oct 2015.
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (25 Oct 2015). "Richard Woods: a Wellsian war of the World Cup". The Guardian.
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (6 Nov 2016). "Milkman's tall story is cream of the crop". The Guardian.
- ^ "Graphic short story: If You're So Wise, How Come You're Dead". The Guardian. 5 Nov 2017.
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (4 Nov 2018). "'Perhaps it's a confessional': the winner of the Cape/Observer/Comica graphic short story prize 2018". The Guardian.
- ^ Dowling, James (November 17, 2019). "Edo Brenes Wins the 2019 Observer/Cape/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize". Multiversity Comics.
- ^ Cooke, Rachel (29 Nov 2020). "'You need to look outside your own window': the winner of our graphic short story prize 2020". The Guardian.
- ^ Simons, Dean (Feb 2, 2022). "Astrid Goldsmith's A FUNERAL IN FREIBERG wins Cape/Observer/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize 2021: Goldsmith's recollection of her family's trauma while negotiating the bureaucracy of her grandmother's funeral unanimously beat the competition in this year's prize". The Beat.
- ^ FREEMAN, JOHN (Nov 21, 2022). "Rebecca K Jones has been announced as winner of this year's Observer/Faber graphic short story prize 2022". DownTheTubes.net.
- ^ Simons, Dean (Nov 7, 2023). "Anna Readman's DANCING QUEEN wins Observer/Faber Graphic Short Story Prize 2023: Candy Gourlay's 'Safe Passage' named as runner up of the esteemed annual competition". The Beat.
- ^ a b FREEMAN, JOHN (Oct 7, 2008). "ComICA 2008 Line-Up Unveiled". DownTheTubes.net.
- ^ a b c Murray, Matthew (Nov 4, 2010). "To Do this weekend: Comica London International Comics Festival". The Beat.
- ^ a b Oliver, Andy (Apr 23, 2013). "Comica Festival Comiket April 2013 - A Punter's Perspective". News & Reports. Broken Frontier blog. Archived from the original on Dec 6, 2013.
- ^ FREEMAN, JOHN (Mar 18, 2013). "London's Comiket is back – bigger and bolder than ever!". DownTheTubes.net.
- ^ Oliver, Andy (August 18, 2014). "Comica Festival Weekend, August 2014: When Comiket and Comica Conversations Came to the British Library". Broken Frontier.
- ^ Oliver, Andy (October 27, 2014). "This Weekend's Comica Comiket Postponed Until Spring 2015 – A Full Statement from the Comica Festival Team Here". Broken Frontier.
- ^ Gravett, Paul (September 17, 2015). "Dave Gibbons Guests at CanalCon Sunday September 20th!". Paul Gravett: Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga.
- ^ FREEMAN, JOHN (Oct 7, 2016). "Cor! By Gum! It's a Comiket loads of comic creators – in Woking... Tomorrow!". DownTheTubes.net.
- ^ a b "HIGHLIGHTS! Celebrity Cartoonists In The Fabulous Drawing Parade". Comiket.comica.london. Archived from the original on Apr 30, 2017. Retrieved Apr 30, 2017.
- ^ Oliver, Andy (Nov 17, 2011). "Comiket Capers". Broken Frontier. Archived from the original on Oct 23, 2013.
- ^ Gravett, Paul (November 9, 2012). "Bechdel, Talbot, Dillon & More at Drawing Parade!". The Blog at the Crossroads.
- ^ fone, dan (April 26, 2012). "comiket + pop-up festival: comics for all ages!". Sarah McIntyre.
- ^ "COMICA : INDEPENDANT COMIC FAIR & DEMO'S : KINGS CROSS : SAT 20TH APRIL". Creative Bus Stop. Apr 19, 2013.
- ^ "Comica Comiket Fall 2013". ComicaFestival.com. Archived from the original on Mar 27, 2014.
- ^ Gravett, Paul (August 3, 2014). "Who's Taking Part in The Drawing Parade Saturday August 16th?". The Blog at the Crossroads.
- ^ Gravett, Paul (September 17, 2015). "Dave Gibbons Guests at CanalCon Sunday September 20th!". Paul Gravett: Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga.
- ^ Graves, Timothy (Apr 17, 2015). "Comics fair in London this Saturday 21st!". University of Sussex.
- ^ Oliver, Andy (May 12, 2016). "Rozi Hathaway Joins Comica Comiket Drawing Parade Line-Up – Watch Our Small Press Yearbook Creator in Action on Saturday". Broken Frontier.
- ^ Millidge, Gary Spencer (June 22, 2004). "THE RETURN OF THE LONDON CON: One: ComICA! 2003". Millidge.com.
- ^ Oliver, Andy (October 14, 2014). "'Comics Are Truly International and Transnational' – A Guide to Comica Festival 2014 from Paul Gravett, the Man at the Crossroads". Broken Frontier.
- ^ Le Duc, Dominique. "COMICA: Confessions & Convictions, June 5th - June 13th 2004" (PDF). Belphégor. 4 (1). University of Brighton – via Dalhousie University.
- ^ Kean, Danuta (October 24, 2003). "Graphic reading". The Bookseller. p. 22.
- ^ Greenwood, Phoebe (8 June 2004). "Stars and Strips". The Times.
- ^ "2006 Festival Programme / Other Events / Reviews". Paul Gravett on Comics and Graphic Novels. Archived from the original on Apr 2, 2008.
- ^ "Comica 2008: 14 Nov 2008 – 30 Nov 2008". ICA. 2008.
- ^ MacDonald, Heidi (Nov 2, 2011). "To do: November — Comica". The Beat.
- ^ Oliver, Andy (October 20, 2014). "Comica@BrokenFrontier – Catch Up Daily with all Our Comica Festival 2014 Coverage Here!". Broken Frontier.