BICS, 9-10 October 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The 2010 British International Comic Show has come and gone (and with it, our annual pilgrimage to the wilds of Birmingham).
Although it is always great to see the Big Names - this year, the biggest were Charlie Adlard and Jonathan Ross - the real beauty of BICS is getting to meet the Names That Aren't Big Yet. There's a brilliant culture of talented, hard-working writers and artists, doing fantastic work.
Here are five of our favorites...
Fetishman: I'm pretty sure we wax poetic about the rude inkings of Doctor Geof after every major con, but he continues to outdo himself. Prints, magazines, buttons, medallions... there's a little bit of fetish for everyone. He combines genius with a terrifying work ethic: at every con he mentions his next Big Project and then, much to our surprise, it always seems to come about.
Rob Davis: Holy cow. Rob Davis didn't show up until the Sunday, and his work actually stopped us in our tracks. He creates absolutely stunning retro designs - both his own work and existing pop culture icons. Check out his amazing Doctor Who posters (off the back of some work he did for the BBC). He's currently at work creating an illustrated adaptation of Don Quixote - the full 500 pages. We saw some early sketches and they were astounding.
Abigail Ryder: Ryder and her creative partner, Dave Bulmer, have an impressive resume between them. Their upcoming project, Imaginary Gumbo, looks like the best yet. Gumbo is an inherited imaginary friend - a giant robot-monster-armored-knight-beastie that still manages to be absolutely adorable. Ryder has just posted her convention sketches on her blog - including the best Emma Frost ever.
Jess Bradley: Bradley's character designs are the perfect kitsch. Her creations are witty, huggable and undeniably charming. You'll never see a cuter Zombie Captain America, or view a more adorable rainbow-pooping unicorn. Bradley's critters (original characters and pop culture pastiches) decorate posters, greeting cards, buttons and prints. (We bought a stack of prints and a poster of the cutest Dagon EVER. Poor Lovecraft is probably spinning in his grave.)
Andi Watson: Both an artist and a writer, Watson has teamed up with some of the best in the industry (see Paris with Simon Gane) and created his own work. Slow News Day is still the best starting point for his work, but now Watson also has a collection of art books as well. His work is touching, personal and emotive - perfect examples of how comic books can express more than just men in tights.
And, one to grow on...
Man of Glass by Martin Flink. Last year, Accent UK brought us Whatever Happened to the World's Fastest Man? by Dave West and Marleen Lowe, which rightfully earned an Eagle win. The amazing Man of Glass should do the same again (well, except for the Danish authorship, so who knows what that means to the distressingly fickle Eagle requirements). A brief, beautiful look at an elderly man's life story. Few words combine with many evocative images to make a stirring narrative.
Our apologies to the many other brilliant people that we met over the weekend. As always, BICS was a showcase of amazing talent.