Comica#Comica Comiket

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."{{cite news|title=London’s COMICA festival celebrates 20 years in March with event series: COMICA's month-long series of talks will feature Posy Simmonds, Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, Dave McKean, and more|first=Dean |last=Simons|date=Feb 8, 2023|work=The Beat|url=https://www.comicsbeat.com/londons-comica-festival-celebrates-20-years-in-march-with-event-series/}} 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."{{cite web|url=http://www.comicafestival.com/index.php/festival/program04/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012032835/http://www.comicafestival.com/index.php/festival/program04/|archive-date=Oct 12, 2011|work=Comica: London International Comics Festival|title=COMICA FESTIVAL 2004}} The festival also took place in June over a period of nine days.

There was no festival held in 2005, with the only Comica event being an October panel at the ICA on emerging international graphic novelists, with Jessica Abel, Matt Madden, Igort, Paul Wright, Killoffer, and Junko Mizuno participating.{{cite journal|first=Dominique |last=Le Duc|title=COMICA: Misfit Lit - October 26th, 2005 - ICA, London|journal=Belphégor|volume=5|number=1|url=https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/52445/05_01_leduc_comica_en_cont.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|via=Dalhousie University}}

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 and the Comica Graphic Short Story Prize (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.{{cite news|last=Brown |first=Mark |date=November 3, 2009 |title=Pow! Comic-strip heroes fight against corruption |work=The Guardian |access-date= November 3, 2009|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/nov/02/comic-book-corruption}}{{cite web|last=Badham |first=Matt |title=Comica Festival 2009: London Is Bubbling Over With Comics!|work=Forbidden Planet International Blog |date=October 30, 2009|via=PaulGravett.com|url=http://paulgravett.com/articles/article/comica_festival_2009|access-date=July 25, 2022}}

In 2010, Comica became independent, disassociating from the ICA and registering as a nonprofit organization. That same, year Gravett established the Comica Social Club Meet-Up, "a monthly meetup for people interested in comics, manga and graphic novels."{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/comica.socialclub.open/?ref=share&paipv=0&eav=AfYipr4gPppkDtO7T_lgchCkthPN9E8DQ3-SzZfOR3GLohLrfgVF2GXLkmr9pxLza6k&_rdr|title=About|work=Comica Social Club|publisher=Facebook}}

Gravett produced the 2012 Comica with Megan Donnolley and Peter Stanbury.

The 2013 Comica Festival took place October 23–November 16, but prior Comica events that year attracted such guests as Jaime Hernandez, Rutu Modan, Brian Bolland, and Frazer Irving.

The final Comica Festival took place from mid-October to mid-November 2014. Earlier in the year 2014, in August, Comica produced a weekend series of events at the British Library that featured a Comiket as well as "Comica Conversations" with guests like Emmanuel Guibert, Alys Jones, Ian Williams, Jade Sarson, and the CBLDF's Charles Brownstein." These were centered around the exhibition (on view 2 May – 19 August) "Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK" at the British Library. Curated by John Harris Dunning and Gravett, exhibition events included Bryan and Mary Talbot; Neil Gaiman with Tori Amos; Woodrow Phoenix; Dave McKean, Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis on superheroes; Melinda Gebbie; Alejandro Jodorowsky; Pat Mills, Dave Gibbons and Frazer Irving on 2000 AD; Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton plus those involved in the ‘Oz Trial’; Posy Simmonds and Steve Bell; and Bryan Lee O’Malley.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/press-releases/2014/may/comics-unmasked-the-uks-biggest-comic-book-exhibition-opens-at-the-british-library|title=Comics Unmasked, the UK's biggest comic book exhibition, opens at the British Library|last=British Library|date=1 May 2014|website=British Library|access-date=11 April 2016|archive-date=22 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422104411/http://www.bl.uk/press-releases/2014/may/comics-unmasked-the-uks-biggest-comic-book-exhibition-opens-at-the-british-library|url-status=dead}}

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.{{cite web|title=COMICA FESTIVAL – PABLO: Julie Birmant and Clément Oubrerie in conversation with Paul Gravett|url=https://theaoi.com/2015/04/07/comica-festival-pablo/|website=Association of Illustrators|date=Apr 7, 2015}} Similarly, in mid-May 2016, Gravett put on a "Comica London Weekender" at London's House of Illustration. This event included a Comica Comiket.{{cite news|title=Comica Comiket Back in May|first=JOHN |last=FREEMAN |date=Mar 21, 2016|work=DownTheTubes.net|url=https://downthetubes.net/comica-comiket-back-in-may/|author-link=John Freeman (editor)}}

After Comica went defunct, the Comica Social Club Meet-Up became affiliated with the London Comic Mart.{{cite news|title=British and Irish Comic Conventions and Signings|first=JOHN |last=FREEMAN |date= Oct 23, 2018|work=DownTheTubes.net|url=https://downthetubes.net/uk-and-irish-comic-conventions-rolling-list/|quote=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.}}

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.

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."{{cite web|url=http://www.comicafestival.com/index.php/prize|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811010905/http://www.comicafestival.com/index.php/prize|title=GRAPHIC SHORT STORY PRIZE|archive-date=Aug 11, 2011|work=Comica: London International Comics Festival|date=2011}} 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.

The award came to be known as the Observer/Cape/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize; it is currently called the Observer/Faber Graphic Short Story Prize.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/series/observer-graphic-short-story-prize|title=Observer/Faber graphic short story prize|work=The Guardian}}

• 2007 Catherine Brighton, "Away In A Manger"
• 2008 Julian Hanshaw, "Sand Dunes and Sonic Booms"{{cite web|title=2008 Graphic Short Story Prize|url=http://www.comicafestival.com/prize/detail/2008_competition|website=www.comicafestival.com|date=4 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826031944/http://www.comicafestival.com/prize/detail/2008_competition|archive-date=Aug 26, 2016}}
• 2009 Vivien McDermid, "Paint"{{cite news|title=Review: Every picture tells a story|first=Rachel |last=Cooke|work=The Guardian|date=31 Oct 2009|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/nov/01/cape-graphic-short-story-competition}}
• 2010 Stephen Collins, "In Room 208"
• 2011 Isabel Greenberg, "Love in a Very Cold Climate"{{cite news|title=The Observer/Cape Graphic Short Story Prize 2011|first=Rachel |last=Cooke|date=5 Nov 2011 |work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/nov/06/observer-graphic-short-story-prize-greenberg}}
• 2012 Corban Wilkin, "But I Can't"{{cite web|url=http://www.vintage-books.co.uk/Graphicshortstoryprize/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228033033/http://www.vintage-books.co.uk/Graphicshortstoryprize/|archive-date=Feb 28, 2014|title=Graphic Short Story Prize|work=Vintage Books|date=2013}}
• 2013 Emily Haworth-Booth, "Colonic"{{cite news|department=Interview|title=Emily Haworth-Booth: 'Colonic irrigation wasn't quite as awful as I've made out'|first=Rachel |last=Cooke|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/26/emily-haworth-booth-observer-graphic-story-prize|author-link=Rachel Cooke}}
• 2014 Alexis Deacon, "The River"{{cite news|title=The Jonathan Cape/Observer/Comica graphic short story prize 2015 – enter now!|first=Lisa |last=O'Kelly|date=26 May 2015 |work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/26/jonathan-cape-observer-graphic-short-story-prize-2015}}
• 2015 Richard Woods, "The Giants of Football"{{cite news|date=25 Oct 2015|department=Observer/Faber graphic short story prize: Comics and graphic novels|title=The Giants of Football by Richard Woods – comic|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2015/oct/25/the-giants-of-football-by-richard-woods-comic|work=The Guardian}}{{cite news|title=Richard Woods: a Wellsian war of the World Cup|first=Rachel|last=Cooke|date=25 Oct 2015 |work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/25/giants-of-football-richard-woods-observer-cape-comica-graphic-story-competition}}
• 2016 Matthew Dooley, "Colin Turnbull: A Tall Story"{{cite news|title=Milkman’s tall story is cream of the crop|first=Rachel|last=Cooke|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/06/observer-jonathan-cape-comica-graphic-short-story-2016-winner-runner-up|work=The Guardian|date=6 Nov 2016}}
• 2017 Tor Freeman, "If You’re So Wise, How Come You’re Dead"{{cite news|title=Graphic short story: If You’re So Wise, How Come You’re Dead|work=The Guardian|date= 5 Nov 2017|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2017/nov/05/graphic-short-story-if-youre-so-wise-how-come-youre-dead}}
• 2018 Edith Pritchett, "An Artistic Odyssey"{{cite news|title=‘Perhaps it’s a confessional’: the winner of the Cape/Observer/Comica graphic short story prize 2018|date=4 Nov 2018|first=Rachel|last=Cooke|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/04/edith-pritchett-an-artistic-odyssey-jonathan-cape-observer-comica-graphic-short-story-prize-2018|work=The Guardian}}
• 2019 Edo Brenes, "Memories of Limón"{{cite web|title=Edo Brenes Wins the 2019 Observer/Cape/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize|first=James |last=Dowling | date=November 17, 2019|work=Multiversity Comics|url=http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news/edo-brenes-observer-cape-award}}
• 2020 Paul Rainey, "Similar to But Not Here"{{cite news|title=‘You need to look outside your own window’: the winner of our graphic short story prize 2020|first=Rachel|last=Cooke|work=The Guardian|date=29 Nov 2020|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/29/you-need-to-look-outside-your-own-window-the-winner-of-our-graphic-short-story-prize-2020}}
• 2021 Astrid Goldsmith, "A Funeral in Freiburg"{{cite news|title=Astrid Goldsmith’s A FUNERAL IN FREIBERG wins Cape/Observer/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize 2021: Goldsmith's recollection of her family's trauma while negotiating the bureaucracy of her grandmother's funeral unanimously beat the competition in this year's prize|first=Dean |last=Simons |work=The Beat| date=Feb 2, 2022|url=https://www.comicsbeat.com/astrid-goldsmiths-a-funeral-in-freiberg-wins-cape-observer-comica-graphic-short-story-prize-2021}}
• 2022 Rebecca K. Jones, "Midnight Feast"{{cite news|title=Rebecca K Jones has been announced as winner of this year’s Observer/Faber graphic short story prize 2022|first= JOHN |last=FREEMAN |author-link=John Freeman (editor) |date=Nov 21, 2022|work=DownTheTubes.net|url=https://downthetubes.net/rebecca-k-jones-has-been-announced-as-winner-of-this-years-observer-faber-graphic-short-story-prize-2022}}
• 2023 Anna Readman, "Dancing Queen"{{cite news|title=Anna Readman’s DANCING QUEEN wins Observer/Faber Graphic Short Story Prize 2023: Candy Gourlay’s 'Safe Passage' named as runner up of the esteemed annual competition|work=The Beat|first=Dean |last=Simons |date=Nov 7, 2023|url=https://www.comicsbeat.com/anna-readmans-dancing-queen-wins-observer-faber-graphic-short-story-prize-2023/}}

Comica Comiket was a one-day marketplace convention held during the Comica festival, highlighting British small-press comics and minicomics. (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 Comiket doujinshi convention in Tokyo, Japan.){{cn|date=April 2024}}

The first Comica Comiket: Small Press Fair was held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts on 4 Nov 2007. The 2008 Comica Comiket was co-sponsored by London Underground Comics. The 2009 event was co-sponsored by Alternative Press, We Are Words+Pictures, and Nobrow Press.

The 2010 Comica Comiket was held in conjunction with the National Collectors Marketplace at the Royal National Hotel, Russell Square. 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. This became a regular feature of Comica Comiket.

In 2013, two Comica Comikets were held, once in the spring{{cite news|title=Comica Festival Comiket April 2013 - A Punter's Perspective|first=Andy |last=Oliver |date= Apr 23, 2013|department=News & Reports |work=Broken Frontier blog|url=http://old.brokenfrontier.com/blog/p/detail/comica-festival-comiket-april-2013-a-punters-perspective|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206184703/http://old.brokenfrontier.com/blog/p/detail/comica-festival-comiket-april-2013-a-punters-perspective|archive-date=Dec 6, 2013}}{{cite news|title=London’s Comiket is back – bigger and bolder than ever!|first=JOHN |last=FREEMAN |date=Mar 18, 2013 |author-link=John Freeman (editor)|work=DownTheTubes.net|url=https://downthetubes.net/londons-comiket-is-back-bigger-and-bolder-than-ever/}} 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 2014, a mid-August Comica Comiket was held at the British Library. Exhibitors included Jade Sarson, Gareth Brookes, Hannah Berry, Amber Hsu, Cristian Ortiz, Knockabout Comics, Soaring Penguin, and The Dessinators.{{cite web|title=Comica Festival Weekend, August 2014: When Comiket and Comica Conversations Came to the British Library |first=Andy |last=Oliver |date=August 18, 2014|url=https://www.brokenfrontier.com/comica-festival-weekend-august-2014-when-comiket-and-comica-conversations-came-to-the-british-library/|work=Broken Frontier}} The scheduled festival Comica Comiket for November 1, 2014 — to be held at Central Saint Martins — was postponed at a late date and rescheduled for Spring 2015.{{cite news|title=This Weekend’s Comica Comiket Postponed Until Spring 2015 – A Full Statement from the Comica Festival Team Here |first=Andy |last=Oliver|date= October 27, 2014|work=Broken Frontier| url=https://www.brokenfrontier.com/weekends-comica-comiket-postponed-spring-2015-full-statement-comica-festival-team/}} Instead, a "CanalCon/Comica Comiket" was held September 20, 2015, on the Floating Cinema barge, Granary Square, Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design — exhibitors included Rebellion Publishing, SelfMadeHero, Knockabout Comics, First Second Books, Soaring Penguin, Centrala Books, Escape Books; guests included Dave Gibbons.{{cite web|title=Dave Gibbons Guests at CanalCon Sunday September 20th!|date=September 17, 2015|first=Paul|last=Gravett|url=http://paulgravett.com/site/pg_blog_post/dave_gibbons_guests_at_canalcon_sunday_september_20th|work=Paul Gravett: Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga}} (By this time, the Comica festival itself had gone defunct.)

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". The fall — and final — Comica Comiket was for the first time held outside of London, in Surrey, at The Lightbox in Woking.{{cite news|title= Cor! By Gum! It’s a Comiket loads of comic creators – in Woking... Tomorrow!|first=JOHN |last=FREEMAN |date= Oct 7, 2016|author-link=John Freeman (editor)|work=DownTheTubes.net| url=https://downthetubes.net/cor-by-gum-its-a-comiket-loads-of-comic-creators-in-woking-tomorrow/}} Exhibitors included Nick Hayes, Jessica Martin, and Gary Northfield.

• Angoulême International Comics Festival
• Comiket
• International Comic Arts Forum
• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.facebook.com/comicalondon/ Comica London Facebook page]

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Category:2003 establishments in the United Kingdom

Category:Academic conferences

Category:Comics conventions

Category:Conferences in the United Kingdom

Category:Recurring events established in 2003