Comix Influx Blog: BICS!
I went to the excellent British International Comics Show in Birmingham this weekend. I was on a panel with Olivier Cadic of Cinebook, moderated by Paul Gravett, called Found In Translation. We were the first panel on, and with everyone finding their seats a little late and, ahem, a technical glitch or two we were slightly late starting. Still, it was well attended for all that, and did, I thought, go well.
Olivier and Paul discussed the huge range of comics that Cinebook have put out over the last few years, and their plans for the future. Their extensive back catalogue (which you can see here) includes such classic books as Lucky Luke, Blake and Mortimer, Goscinny and Tabary’s Iznogoud and Thorgal, as well as new hit French books like Largo Winch, Alderbaran and IR$. They are shortly to start producing the complete run – 19 books! – of the hugely successful thriller XIII, on an impressive bimonthly schedule.
Paul then turned to me to ask about Comix Influx, how it came about and the philosophy behind it. I explained that it was really about people who love foreign-language comics, and want to share their efforts so that other interested readers may benefit from them. As such, the emphasis is on “just-good-enough” translations (although there have been many excellent translations appearing on the site). I also mentioned the Comix Influx iPhone app, which should be available very soon, Apple willing. (Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned technical difficulties I had to rely on screen-grabs rather than a live demo – ah, well next time). We only had time for the briefest overview, but it was good to introduce a new audience to Comix Influx.
Paul also mentioned several other exciting European books coming out in English. In particular Logicomix from Greece looks really ambitious and interesting (check out the New York Time’s review) and Lou! by Julien Neel, which Paul recommended very highly. Finally, I’m over the moon that Fantagraphics are publishing Tardi’s back catalogue, starting with West Coast Blues (Le petit bleu de la Côte Ouest) and You Are There (Ici même). There have a been a few efforts to publish Tardi in English before, but for inexplicable reasons they have never yet taken off in the way that I’d expect. Hopefully the time is now ripe for Tardi.
After the panel I had a chance to enjoy the rest of the show. I was fascinated by Bryan Talbot’s talk about the influences on and references in his new book Grandville, which I had earlier bought and had signed, and then enjoyed on the train home (more on Grandville in a future post). Talbot is an excellent presenter and really knows his subject extremely well; I urge you to catch his presentation at next month’s ComICA festival if you can.
Unfortunately I was not able to stay for the Sunday, so missed Sarah McIntyre’s interview of Manga artist and illustrator Michiru Morikawa, but I did see her on her table, launching her new children’s book, Morris The Mankiest Monster, surrounded by children gleefully creating disgusting monsters of their own.
One quick word about the venue, the Think Tank in Birmingham – part Science Museum, part exhibition centre – is a great place for a comics festival. It was airy enough to not suffer the claustrophobia that often attends comics festivals, and it was nice to walk between bits of the festival through the scientific exhibits. The auditorium in particular was terrific. And the festival itself drew a large and diverse crowd of happy and friendly people. Congratulations to Shane Chebsey for organising a great festival – The British International Comics Show was a fantastic and satisfying blend of high- and low-brows.
