Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Jul 21, 2014 19:16:58 GMT -6
robot6.comicbookresources.com/2014/07/comics-a-m-police-accused-of-pre-sdcc-homeless-crackdown/
Almost 3,000 people came to Glasgow Comic Con to see Gail Simone, Erik Larsen and a host of Scottish creators; organizer Marc Boyle said the growth of the show, which is four years old, reflects the growth of comics culture in Scotland.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/scotland-blog/2014/jul/10/comic-con-organisers-hail-surge-of-scottish-talent
Comic con organisers hail surge of Scottish talent
Glasgow comic creators sweep the board at awards as thousands attend annual comic book festival.
Thousands of comic book fans have gathered to celebrate the fourth annual Glasgow Comic Con.
The event, which attracted almost 3,000 people, took place at the city's Centre for Contemporary Arts and gave fans the opportunity to meet international comic creators including Batgirl and Wonder Woman writer Gail Simone and Erik Larsen, a writer and artist who worked on Superman, Spider-Man and the Punisher before co-founding publishing company Image Comics.
Organisers Black Hearted Press said the event's success showed a growing interest in comics in Scotland. Director Mark Boyle said:
Comics culture is absolutely growing in Scotland, and you can see that in how the event has expanded over the years. We've gone from using the Rennie Mackintosh building at the Glasgow School of Art to today where we're using three different venues including the Art School and the CCA and holding other events in the run-up to the convention itself.
This year we've had around 65 artists and writers from around the world. It's our biggest event to date in terms of both attendance and special guests.
I think there's an entire generation returning to comics because of things like the Avengers films and The Walking Dead TV series. People find these characters and stories in mainstream, accessible places and it brings people back to the original comics.
He added that recent years had seen more Scottish creators making and publishing comics.
There's been a massive explosion of creativity in Scotland over the last few years. More and more Scottish artists and writers are getting their stuff out there.
As a publisher, that's really encouraging and we hope that the convention is something that supports creators and lets them see that there's a lot of interest in their work.
The convention played host to the Scottish Independent Comic Book Alliance (Sicba) awards, which invited readers to vote for the best Scottish comic of the year.
Dungeon Fun, a fantasy adventure comic by the Glaswegian creative team of writer Colin Bell and artist Neil Slorance, swept the board winning the awards for best comic book, best writer, best artist and best cover.
Mr Bell said he'd been pleased by the reception the book had had so far.
Dungeon fun is an all-ages absurdist comedy fantasy romp about a young girl who's raised in a moat by trolls, comes across a sword and sets off on an adventure.
The first issue has been really well received. We're launching the second issue today and we're hoping people like it as much as the first one.
He added that the community spirit among Scottish comics creators was fostering creativity and encouraging newcomers to the field.
If you look at the other nominations for the Sicba awards there's an incredibly diverse range of titles. There's stuff for all ages, there are superheroes, there's horror, there's slice-of-life autobiography.
And while that's a cross-section, it's by no means a full representation of what's going on in Scottish comics at the minute. I think as a scene we're incredibly supportive of each other. Every year I come to Glasgow Comic Con and every year there are more and more people making their own comics. I think that's a result of how welcoming the scene is.
Among these new Scottish titles is Team Girl Comic, a collaborative publication which aims to showcase new female talent.
Founder Gill Hatcher said she'd decided to start the project after noticing a lack of women at comic events.
I had been making my own comics in Glasgow for a while, mainly just little photocopied booklets that I'd been selling in Hillhead library for a pound, that kind of thing. The scene was really different back then from what it is now. It was much smaller and a wee bit of a boys' club. I would be selling my stuff at comic marts and when I looked around it seemed like I was the only woman.
The stuff I was making was about wildlife and the main characters were teenage girls, and it just didn't fit in with everything else that was being sold around me at the time.
I thought it'd be quite fun to do a wee anthology with some other women who were doing comics. At the time I didn't really think there were any, so the first issue was a strange amalgamation of stories by friends and family, but just by doing that and getting one issue out there, the word got out. All of a sudden there were all these women from Glasgow and around Scotland who wanted to contribute stories.
She added that the comic had received stronger support than she had expected.
The reaction has been surprisingly good. We've just launched our tenth issue, it's got about thirty contributors.
I thought it would be something that I'd do with my pals in Glasgow and we'd maybe do one or two issues. But it's evolved organically and it's turned out that there is a demand for it. We've sold a few hundred of each issue - enough that each one funds the next.
Scotland has produced a number of high-profile comics creators including Kick-Ass writer Mark Millar and Grant Morrison, who has written issues of Batman, Superman, X-Men and Fantastic Four as well as his own series The Invisibles.
The organisers of Glasgow Comic Con are planning a similar event in September in Stirling.
Almost 3,000 people came to Glasgow Comic Con to see Gail Simone, Erik Larsen and a host of Scottish creators; organizer Marc Boyle said the growth of the show, which is four years old, reflects the growth of comics culture in Scotland.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/scotland-blog/2014/jul/10/comic-con-organisers-hail-surge-of-scottish-talent
Comic con organisers hail surge of Scottish talent
Glasgow comic creators sweep the board at awards as thousands attend annual comic book festival.
Thousands of comic book fans have gathered to celebrate the fourth annual Glasgow Comic Con.
The event, which attracted almost 3,000 people, took place at the city's Centre for Contemporary Arts and gave fans the opportunity to meet international comic creators including Batgirl and Wonder Woman writer Gail Simone and Erik Larsen, a writer and artist who worked on Superman, Spider-Man and the Punisher before co-founding publishing company Image Comics.
Organisers Black Hearted Press said the event's success showed a growing interest in comics in Scotland. Director Mark Boyle said:
Comics culture is absolutely growing in Scotland, and you can see that in how the event has expanded over the years. We've gone from using the Rennie Mackintosh building at the Glasgow School of Art to today where we're using three different venues including the Art School and the CCA and holding other events in the run-up to the convention itself.
This year we've had around 65 artists and writers from around the world. It's our biggest event to date in terms of both attendance and special guests.
I think there's an entire generation returning to comics because of things like the Avengers films and The Walking Dead TV series. People find these characters and stories in mainstream, accessible places and it brings people back to the original comics.
He added that recent years had seen more Scottish creators making and publishing comics.
There's been a massive explosion of creativity in Scotland over the last few years. More and more Scottish artists and writers are getting their stuff out there.
As a publisher, that's really encouraging and we hope that the convention is something that supports creators and lets them see that there's a lot of interest in their work.
The convention played host to the Scottish Independent Comic Book Alliance (Sicba) awards, which invited readers to vote for the best Scottish comic of the year.
Dungeon Fun, a fantasy adventure comic by the Glaswegian creative team of writer Colin Bell and artist Neil Slorance, swept the board winning the awards for best comic book, best writer, best artist and best cover.
Mr Bell said he'd been pleased by the reception the book had had so far.
Dungeon fun is an all-ages absurdist comedy fantasy romp about a young girl who's raised in a moat by trolls, comes across a sword and sets off on an adventure.
The first issue has been really well received. We're launching the second issue today and we're hoping people like it as much as the first one.
He added that the community spirit among Scottish comics creators was fostering creativity and encouraging newcomers to the field.
If you look at the other nominations for the Sicba awards there's an incredibly diverse range of titles. There's stuff for all ages, there are superheroes, there's horror, there's slice-of-life autobiography.
And while that's a cross-section, it's by no means a full representation of what's going on in Scottish comics at the minute. I think as a scene we're incredibly supportive of each other. Every year I come to Glasgow Comic Con and every year there are more and more people making their own comics. I think that's a result of how welcoming the scene is.
Among these new Scottish titles is Team Girl Comic, a collaborative publication which aims to showcase new female talent.
Founder Gill Hatcher said she'd decided to start the project after noticing a lack of women at comic events.
I had been making my own comics in Glasgow for a while, mainly just little photocopied booklets that I'd been selling in Hillhead library for a pound, that kind of thing. The scene was really different back then from what it is now. It was much smaller and a wee bit of a boys' club. I would be selling my stuff at comic marts and when I looked around it seemed like I was the only woman.
The stuff I was making was about wildlife and the main characters were teenage girls, and it just didn't fit in with everything else that was being sold around me at the time.
I thought it'd be quite fun to do a wee anthology with some other women who were doing comics. At the time I didn't really think there were any, so the first issue was a strange amalgamation of stories by friends and family, but just by doing that and getting one issue out there, the word got out. All of a sudden there were all these women from Glasgow and around Scotland who wanted to contribute stories.
She added that the comic had received stronger support than she had expected.
The reaction has been surprisingly good. We've just launched our tenth issue, it's got about thirty contributors.
I thought it would be something that I'd do with my pals in Glasgow and we'd maybe do one or two issues. But it's evolved organically and it's turned out that there is a demand for it. We've sold a few hundred of each issue - enough that each one funds the next.
Scotland has produced a number of high-profile comics creators including Kick-Ass writer Mark Millar and Grant Morrison, who has written issues of Batman, Superman, X-Men and Fantastic Four as well as his own series The Invisibles.
The organisers of Glasgow Comic Con are planning a similar event in September in Stirling.