Thought bubble hijinks

Thought bubble kicked off over the last week, and a load of great things occurred thanks to it, Starting with a talk in the college by Mike Mignola:

Couldn't believe it when I was told that Mignola would be visiting, a real comic heavyweight, famous for his own creation too, i knew I wouldn't miss the visit. One of the biggest points Mignola would concentrate on is creating things that you love to maintain your interest, rather than making what you think you should be making. I do feel this is a very important lesson, but perhaps that he takes it a little too far, saying that he created a comic world that would lack thinks that he wouldn't enjoy drawing, such as cars and female characters. I feel this takes thing's a bit too far, shying away from a challenge isn't exactly a handy thing for progression, but its his particular taste and output that has given us his beloved works, so its certainly worked for him. Speaking of his "style", its interesting how nonchalant he is on the subject, advising to let your own naturally progress rather than to try and force it. A good bit of guidance.

The next day there was a signing of John Wagner, I literally knew nothing about him other than he had something to do with making a comic called Judge Dredd: America. Its a comic I heard was really good, but  didn't really know anything about it upon the signing so wasn't well equipped for questioning. Such a shame really, I found the flyer for the event the morning of the signing and really didn't have time to research. Regardless, he was a super nice guy, and its a pretty nifty comic. Especially with the artwork, artist Colin Macneill has an excellent eye for colour in the sections he has been allowed to do so, using bold complementary colours to paint his scenes. Something that I will for sure reference and analyse in my cop essay.

Now this one nearly blew my god damned mind, Kim Jung Gi would be present for thought bubble and would be doing a live drawing, where he illustrates full scenes, straight down with ink, no loose sketching to begin. Its a crazy process, especially considering the quality of the outcomes and how well he plays with perspective, and range of subjects he draws. It was super interesting to see him do it in person, and to return every so often to see the organic progression





Probably one of the more significant things to happen during the event, I bought a comic I was aware of but hadn't really looked in to, both the artist and writer were at the stall and were lovely, signed the book and everything. Later when looking at the book, i noticed that the book was published by Image comics. This company has a solid output, with a lot of great comics under its belt. This coloured me super intrigued, as the two guys were clearly British with their comic under this american heavyweight publisher. So I ran back to ask how this came to be, and they simply explained that they were scoped out two years prior at thought bubble. If this isn't a kick up the arse to get some work ready for a stall at the next years thought bubble, I don't know what is! Exactly what I needed to hear to get me going.





                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       



A final note, my favourite thing I picked up at the event, Uzimaki by Junji Ito, I am head over heels for this weird little creature. Its a Japanese horror manga that isn't scared to be goofy, and because of this oozes with personality, Im currently half way through it and cant wait to get back to it.