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 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
As 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.
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]
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
The 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]
Comica 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 Comiketdoujinshi 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 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]
^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.
^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.
