Angoulême: Redux

The Festival de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême has come and gone and it was like nothing I could have ever imagined. 

While I came into it with little to no expectations, nothing could have truly prepared me for what I was about to experience. 

I love domestic comic conventions, and look forward to each and every one I go to. It is always a pleasure to see a massive gathering of fans and creators expressing their passion for comics. They are something special.

But Angoulême is a whole different world. This is what it’s like when a whole town embraces an art form; not relegated to a convention center far removed from the workaday happenings of the rest of society, but melded into the very infrastructure of a city. Angoulême practically radiates with a love for BD and comics and the people who make them. 

I walked along side of the Marche Des Auteurs, which ambled its way along Rue Herge up to the city hall. After the tragedies surrounding Charlie Hebdo, the indominable spirit of the the culture of BD in France was a sight to behold. At the zenith of the march I broke off to observe, and stood utterly surrounded by a sea of people, the happiness of the town was palpable. It was impossible to stand there and not feel like I was someplace truly special. 

I can only dream of a time when an American comics festival will feel so integrated into the identity of a town, where the two would be inseparable and you couldn’t call upon one without mentioning the other. Until that day I will always have Angoulême. 

Au revoir.