Hey again!
I made it! After a blizzard, an hour and 45 minute delay, a set of crying twins in front of me, and a… well I must say lovely 3 hour train ride. I arrived in Angoulême.
On Angoulême
Angoulême is small town in the southwest of France, just about 300 miles from Paris. Since the 1300s the town has been connected to the paper-making and print industry, which naturally lead to it becoming The Cité internationale de la Bande Dessinée et de l’Image.
On Bandes Dessinées
So… comics in France (and Belgium and other French speaking countries) are a bit different. Here they are referred to as Bandes Dessinées (or BD) which literally translates to Drawn Bands, and are thought of as the “ninth art.” The subject matter is just as varied as you will find in American comics, but tend to focus more on slice-of-life style narratives and far less on the capes-and-tights which are so prevalent in the US. What separates BD from American-style comics is the readership, while the comics community in the US has been swiftly growing and changing recently, BD have, for a long time, been one of the most popular forms of entertainment among Franco-Belgian companies. A while ago comiXology entered the world of BD with the launch of comixology.fr.
On Angoulême International Comics Festival
What first struck me upon arrival in Angoulême was, well really the rain… and lots of it. All day. At every other comic convention I’ve ever been to I don’t even think I could ever even tell if it was raining unless a bunch of damp cosplayers walked up to our booth, but here at Angoulême its a bit different. The convention is set up as an assortment of pavilions spread out throughout the town. Each pavilion has a theme, some more vague than others, such as the Monde Des Bulles (World of Bubbles) which houses some of the industry’s major publishers like Panini, Delcourt, Glenat, and Casterman, or Little Asia which features art and culture exhibits of Asian Origins. The end result of this set up is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. Comics and castles, what more can a boy ask for?
At the Nouveau Monde (New World) which is akin to Bethesda’s SPX I ran into friend of the show and brilliant creator Simon Hanselmann (girlmountain). The French version of his Megahex stuff looks amazing.
More to come soon. Hopefully with less rain and less jetlag.
girlmountain, creator of Megahex, is gracing the comiXology office with his presence & free cherry coke.
