BRITISH COMICS NOW! If you followed all our pre-TCAF coverage then you’ll know the drill by now but let’s recap on what the British Comics Now programme is all about for those arriving at the party late…
As mentioned at Broken Frontier earlier this year six British/UK-based comic creators attended this year’s Toronto Comic Art Festival (TCAF) as part of the British Comics Now initiative from the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (LICAF), and funded by Arts Council England, The Adlard Foundation and The British Council. Prior to their trip to Toronto we interviewed all six of the selected artists (Martin Simpson, Isabel Greenberg, B. Mure, Bex Ollerton, Clio Isadora and Jason Chuang) at BF and you can remind yourselves of those chats all in one place here.
As a follow-up today at BF we caught up with some of that number to find out about their TCAF experiences. Their thoughts are below as they talk about memorable interactions, the scope of the festival and discoveries they made there. Spoiler warning: the exhibitor snack room appears to be the star of the weekend…
Martin Simpson and Isabel Greenberg
ANDY OLIVER: What were your impressions of TCAF in terms of scope, curation and ethos? How did it compare to UK events in those regards?
MARTIN SIMPSON: I loved it! It was super friendly and all inclusive. There is such a positive vibe there… it’s very inspiring! I think TCAF definitely leans more towards the ‘literary and ‘zine’ end of the indie scene… even more so than Thought Bubble does I would say… and it’s nothing much like an MCM event at all… it’s very unique really.
BEX OLLERTON: I guess our most similar event would be Thought Bubble. Both events have a really strong focus on creator-owned comics, small artists, small press and indie darlings. Thought Bubble is perhaps a little bit larger with its three halls completely packed with amazing artists, and my impression of TBubs is that it has a really strong focus on UK talent, whereas I think TCAF has a huge roster of international artists, with big draws from the UK, US, and France alongside Canada. There’s something about TCAF that feels a little more punk than what we’re used to in the UK, and I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but if you’ve been, hopefully you know what I mean. Where else would you find a pillow fight tournament at a book signing?
CLIO ISADORA: I think it’s great that TCAF is held in a public library and is free to attend, as it feels more welcoming/inclusive and appropriate for a comics event.
B. MURE: Ohh it was amazing! Just the scale of the event and range in terms of exhibitors was awesome to see and the fact it is in the public reference library (so of course it’s free as people were still using the library!) gives the whole thing a really great feel. I feel like the only comparable British event I’ve attended is Thought Bubble in terms of range of artists and size, but obviously it is ticketed as the Harrogate Convention Space is not public in the same way. Comics in libraries just makes sense and it would be really cool to see more of that (though I imagine tough to do!)
ISABEL GREENBERG: TCAF was a really fantastic experience, and a festival unlike anything we really have in the UK. Comparable UK-sized events like Thought Bubble or MCM tend to be heavily weighted to merch and prints, and it was exciting to be at a festival that prioritised books and zines.
JASON CHUANG: I was really impressed by the amount of people turned up at the event, the space on the ground floor was well planned, I was very happy with the location of our allocated tables, however on the 1st and 2nd floor where the stalls are near the bookshelves, the walkways were a bit narrow and it gets quite congested in those areas. It would be great if there was a way to improve that.
Bex Ollerton (centre) and Jason Chuang (right)
AO: In terms of best practice what elements of TCAF would you like to see more of at British events?
BEX OLLERTON: The snack room! TCAF had a room tucked away from attendees where exhibitors could go for free tea, coffee, bottled water and an abundance of snacks. In 2022 when I first exhibited there, they gave us each a 6 pack of Liquid Death (canned water) which was very much appreciated. I would love to see more care taken by UK shows to ensure that their exhibitors are well-fed and watered throughout the day. I remember feeling very taken care of by LICAF in its last year at the Clocktower, when volunteers would bring fruit and drinks, but in general it’s something I’d like to see a lot more of, though I understand that this is probably not within budget for most shows.
CLIO ISADORA: A free snack room for exhibitors! This was a great place to decompress and grab some free coffee, bottled water and fruit.
B. MURE: The diversity of featured artists, artists tabling and panelists (both in terms of the individual and the sort of work they’re making). I think still too often in the UK comics scene there are a lot of events not doing enough on that front.
Also, was really amazed and thrilled to see so many people in masks. It’s so important to embrace that as part of a truly inclusive event.
ISABEL GREENBERG: I would like to see more publishers represented at comic events promoting their artists, more focus on the actual comics and less on stickers/keyrings etc.
Clio Isadora and B. Mure
AO: What were your most memorable interactions with attendees? What feedback on your practice has stayed with you?
MARTIN SIMPSON: I met so many amazing people! Too many memorable interactions to list. It was great tabling next to Isabel Greenberg… she was a lot of fun! I had a great long conversation with Darcy Van Poelgeest (he’s someone who has always been very positive about my work on social media… so it was amazing to get to finally meet him). I also had a lot of fun hanging around with Josh Hicks and Will Humberstone too. All the British Comics Now delegates were brilliant… and so friendly… so many great conversations with all of them. They have exposed me to a lot of very different types of artwork and writing. I feel as if my horizons have been very much expanded.
BEX OLLERTON: Oh, geez, a few things! The most memorable was probably the person who brought me an entire box of very fancy looking doughnuts that were delicious! I’d met them at TCAF ‘22 and they were so lovely both times. Another experience was when I was chatting to the friend of a person who was such a big fan of my work that they were too nervous/overwhelmed to say hi, I signed their book and wrote a note in it for them, that was very sweet and cool. I also enjoyed talking to a few people who work in education, since one of my goals with SENSORY: Life on the Spectrum is for it to reach universities and schools. I love when people who can use the anthology as a tool are enthusiastic about it! There were a lot of very sweet fans who didn’t realise I’d be there, and were very excited about it which was super sweet!
CLIO ISADORA: I met someone who also grew up in the North East of England, but who now lives in Canada, we exchanged Geordie slang and reminisced about regional foods, which was fun. I got reoccurring positive feedback on the colouring of my work, which is great that it had an initial visual impact when displayed as a range.
B.MURE: So many! A friend I went on a residency with 8 years ago came to my table which was the nicest surprise! Generally it was just really great to talk to people, whether they’d been following my work a few years or just happened upon the table. Also nice to big up the work of the other artists on the table, finish my time slot and get to tell them ‘this person bought a print of yours and they really loved it!’
But I think the most memorable interaction was with a dude who said he moved to Toronto from England 8 years ago and still missed Gregg’s. The sausage roll endures.
While I can’t remember specific feedback, I definitely just felt like more things are possible.
ISABEL GREENBERG: It was great to be able to go and talk to the publishers at their tables. In the UK only small press publishers would have a presence at a comic event and it was really inspiring to see mainstream publishers respecting the event and medium and being there. I also met a few creators at signings like Jilian Tamaki which was very exciting indeed!
JASON CHUANG: That my work felt personal to them, that there is an element of the unexpected, a hook in almost all of my work. Clio and Isabel were very helpful in sharing their experiences getting published and how to approach a publisher, what events and competitions to look out for.
AO: Do you feel you have built a potential expanded audience through being a part of British Comics now? Was the experience a beneficial one for you?
MARTIN SIMPSON: Hopefully yes. There definitely seemed like there was very little awareness from TCAF attendees as to what is happening on the UK comics scene (and probably vice versa I would say). So I think initiatives like ‘British Comics Now’ will be invaluable to getting comics from over here more attention over there.
BEX OLLERTON: Yes, this was absolutely a beneficial experience for me! In very tangible terms, I feel that I was able to expand my audience there through running pre-orders for Lavender Clouds (coming this Summer!) and through giving out free zines to promote my upcoming Kickstarter for Nyaegling. Both campaigns were very successful and people expressed a lot of interest, signing up for preorders and also for the pre-launch Kickstarter page. Attendees seemed very interested in not only my work, but also the work of my fellow exhibitors at the table. Everyone seemed to do very well during the weekend, and I’m really proud of all of them!
Being a part of the British Comics Now stall was kind of a unique convention experience for me in terms of making connections and expanding my audience. One of my big regrets with conventions is that I never usually have time to leave my table for very long, and I miss out on meeting other artists and making connections and networking. But because we only had around 2.5 hours each at the table per day, I had a lot of downtime which I was able to fully take advantage of. I was able to go around and say hi to people, deepen connections I’ve made online, find new connections (I kind of hate talking like this, haha, by “networking” and “making connections” I really just mean “chatting to people and making friends”) and just generally immerse myself in the comics community. It’s been awesome!
I also wanted to note just how much of a pleasure it was to get to know the British Comics Now organisers and artists. Everyone there was such a riot, and everyone was so cool and kind at all times. I really hope I can hang out with everyone again someday!
CLIO ISADORA: New people saw and bought my work which is great! I was also able to meet people IRL who have supported my work from when my first book came out with Avery Hill.
B. MURE: Definitely, it was tough and stressful at times (the neuro-friendly room by The Retreat Project totally saved me one day) but overall really good. I wouldn’t have been able to take the monetary risk of attending without British Comics Now and definitely feel like it’s something that’s possible to do in the future.
ISABEL GREENBERG: Unfortunately, as there was not a lot of promotion specific to each artist (e.g. we weren’t individually promoted by TCAF itself) audiences were not really aware we were there outside of the British comics umbrella. Despite that, I had some really interesting conversations, and I think with more advance warning it might have been possible to pre-plan a bit more in terms of meeting creators/publishers. I understand this all came together quite quickly and we were the first group though!
The experience was very positive overall, and I think any artist given the opportunity would be excited and gain a lot. It is very rare to be able to visit a festival abroad and it is a valuable experience.
JASON CHUANG: The most valuable things I got out of the trip was meeting the other five delegation team members, getting to know them and their work, also meeting new people at the venue. I was a bit disappointed that there weren’t so many publishers there but more independent artists, as I printed out some A4 sheets with examples of my work and contact, wanting to approach some people about my new graphic novel idea. But I guess that’s something I couldn’t have foreseen.
AO: What were your discoveries at TCAF? Whose work caught your attention? Who should we be exploring further?
BEX OLLERTON: OK I have a couple of people I’d really like to shine the spotlight on here!
Firstly, Jade Zhang (below) who goes by yellghoul online! Their work is so good, I really fell in love with their line art straight away. Their stuff manages to be both poppy in a graphic kind of way while also super delicate, it’s just absolutely delicious. Check out their book, I’m Stuck in Retrograde.
Secondly, someone who caught my eye immediately was Kate Dee (below), whose erotic horror, Preying Mantis, excited me immediately upon seeing it. I’m always on the lookout for horror comics, especially those that have themes of sexual assault or the rage of women… that kind of thing… so straight away I knew I had to go over and talk to her and buy her comics!!! This kind of comic is also very similar to my own WIP, so I love seeing how other artists tackle these themes and how they frame their stories. This is someone who absolutely should have more eyes on her work, please please please check it out! I feel so strongly about it… I remember showing it to people at after-show drinks on Saturday night…
I met Xiaoxiao Li (below) at the TCAF pre-convention mixer as a seemingly similar shy person in the corner and we ended up chatting. I found them at the show the next day and their work really blew me away as a fan of emotional autobio comics. The work that stood out to me the most was their comic about going through a suicide camp. You can read a bunch of it over on their Instagram but I really recommend checking Xiao’s stuff out.
Lastly but not leastly, I’d like to draw people’s attention to Prongles (below). Fans of D&D and/or adventure comics will enjoy their webcomic, Ingress Adventuring Company. Their table caught my eye immediately because of how appealing and cute their characters are, but also I’m just a sucker for nice line art and kind of edgy looking stuff, ha. They had this fantastic print of a character with bloodied arms growing from their back and I was like, “yes.”
CLIO ISADORA: There were loads of amazing comics and I bought quite a mix of things. For me the stand out work I bought were some funny comics by Eli Brandwein and Caroline Cash’s Silver Sprocket comics.
B. MURE: Kit Anderson (also of Avery Hill!) pointed me to Paradise Systems tabling next to her, who do soooooo many amazing books. Definitely keeping an eye on what they put out and going to order some more when I can!
Also picked up some great work by Teo Suzuki of Epic Wayne Press (who also have a lot of great stuff!) and my partner picked up The King of Cats Is Dead by Emil O’Melia, which is just gorgeous. Really looking forward to seeing more.
ISABEL GREENBERG: I was most inspried by seeing so many people focussing their work on comics and sequential books rather than, as I said, stickers and products. It felt like the festival really championed this.
Interviews by Andy Oliver
