Saville’s Hall 21/11

Geeks of Leeds, rejoice! As part of the Leeds International Film Festival, Thought Bubble is back to celebrate the wildly diverse world of sequential art. Expect a combination of film screenings, writing and drawing workshops, and talks from industry professionals. Climaxing with the huge Comic Book Convention on Saturday 21st, the weekend looks set to be an explosion of art, film and fandom.

Thought Bubble promotes graphic novels and related media as important cultural art forms in the face of the traditional mainstream view of comics as ‘low art’. The event also caters for all levels of fandom, be it long-time comic aficionados or people who don’t know Superman from Scott Pilgrim. Don’t expect any of it to be dumbed down mass-market ‘selling out’, however – in addition to the introductory general talks and events, there’s set to be a lot of high level academic discussion on the cultural relevance of sequential art, and any cosplayers get into the convention for half price. (You know who you are.)           

Every imaginable subgenre of graphic novels will be covered as well. Beginning the festival is a screening of the hauntingly beautiful anime Angel’s Egg, a film not shown in Europe for over 20 years. Industry giants Marvel will be holding their own events, helping budding cartoonists build career-starting portfolios. Smaller names, such as counter-culture small press cartoonist Dr Simpo, will also be hosting their own workshops, providing a broad spectrum of views on the state of such a diverse medium. Thought by some to be the best comic con in the world, it should prove a real blast.

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