Broken Frontier

Time for your Indie injection. The annual London Web and Mini Comics Thing is a Small Press convention featuring an assortment of weird and wonderful tales from the underground scene.

On Saturday 22nd March in the Great Hall of Queen Mary University, London, I attended the Web and Mini Comics Thing, a convention consisting of Independent creators, Small Press and a collection of comics writers and artists from around the world. To my mind this is the only UK convention dedicated entirely to the Indie scene; there is not a mainstream superhero in sight, unless they are being viciously ridiculed in the pages of a web or mini-comic.

On my way into town, riding the train towards Mile End and flicking through a copy of Previews, I was mentally marking interesting books for my ideal wish-list; Harbinger: The Beginning, Blade of the Immortal TPB, Creepy Archives and new EC collections, most stuff by Brian Wood, Anna Mercury... the list was huge and in relation to my funds, massively unrealistic. However, my attention was drawn once again to the sheer quantity of repetition pumped out from the big two. I counted 14 new titles featuring Superman from DC next month…14!! He still graced the cover of Action Comics, as if the last 70 years had not passed. I think the Dark Knight had a similar exposure.

Now, let me make something clear. I don’t hate Superman, or Batman, or super-heroes in general, but I am really struggling to understand how these global icons, these once fresh symbols of excitement and entertainment, can still dominate such a vast section of the market in 2008.

If this sounds like a rant, that’s probably because it is. You can blame the riot-inducing effects of Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down (whose brilliant albums I have been re-exploring recently), for any anti-establishment sentiments expressed in this article.

There is a reason for this tirade on conformity, a coherent link to accentuate my point and capture the essence of the event - stepping into the average-sized hall and glancing around the tables was like being blasted with a flame thrower and chucked in the Arctic Ocean. The professional level of art on display, the diversity of genres, titles and formats reminded me of the power of the comic medium, the intrinsic passion of independent creators as purveyors of art and content that has the power to reach into the mind, stimulating and exciting our imagination with new concepts that are far removed from the clichéd comics that hit the shelves every month.

Most of the exhibitors had self-published, fronted the cash to get the material printed and probably just about broken-even to cover their expenses, but that is irrelevant. Profit-hunting kills creativity, we’ve all seen it happen and events like this shoot bullets into the face of franchises and crossover events. I’m not saying that all the titles on display were 100% original, but the event represents the subterranean creativity that bubbles under the surface of the mainstream dominated market and after being immersed in the pages of Previews it was like stepping into another dimension.

It’s not about making money, it’s an opportunity for creators to promote their independent work, spreading the word about mini-comics or strips that have been lurking on the web in serial form and expanding a fan base. Hell, if you can make a few quid in the process then that’s a bonus.

I attended the Thing in 2006, and upon my return I made two observations: (1) The event is growing, both in exhibitors and visitors and (2) The quality is improving. Titles that started as student side-projects have bloomed into interesting collections, demonstrating a progression in artistic style, quality and production. And when it comes to value for money, you can’t go wrong: £5-6 for good-sized books, that come with high recommendations from the likes of Scott McCloud and Regie Rigby, prove that it is possible to pick up a bag of cool stuff without re-mortgaging the house.

There are over one hundred tables at the show; posters, CDs, pamphlets, bookmarks, postcards and badges are dished out, and punters choose to invest in some stuff that speaks to them from a selection of comics and characters that are fresh, not regurgitated. The quality may vary from amateur to professional but the passion is evident on almost every table.

Personal picks that I recommend you check out would be:

Hope for The Future (Simon Perrins and various): A wildly inventive, clever and laugh-out-loud tale of slackers, adventure, magic and mayhem. Bursting with pop-culture references, consistently great art, great cover…a gem of a series.

IRAQ (Sean Michael Wilson and Lee O ‘Connor): Beautiful and intelligent meditative tale of one man’s return home to a war-torn country and his struggle to understand the political corruptions at work and the impact on people’s lives. Again clear and detailed line work by a fantastic artist complete with stunning cover art make this a beautiful little package.

Tales From The Flat (Laurence Powell and Oliver Lambden): Four dudes share a flat, smoking and drinking. Hi-jinks of the best variety.

Eleventh Hour (Various): Rising stars of the independent comic scene Orang Utan Comics’ highly praised anthology, soon to be available in collector’s edition. A company to watch out for, and Ian Sharman is a great guy.

Crack (Ed Hicks): Sketchy line art blends with beautiful colour rendering to produce a crazy and humorous comic documenting a day in the life of a guy who shares a house with some very strange characters.

Tozo (David O’Connell): This had sold out by the time I got back to it, but it looked amazing. Imagine Herge creating a science-fiction comic, and from what I saw it looked impressive. Wish I’d bagged a copy.

Tozzer/Peckerwood (Rob Dunlop and Peter Lumby): Insane parody of all things geek, taking swipes at all aspects of modern Americana and pop culture. Action, laughs, invisible lap dancers…

Octopus Pie (Meredith Gran): Again, this sold out before I could get hold of one, but it looked impressive, a witty American comedy book with great reviews. This is available online and I have already checked out a few episodes…it lives up to the hype.

Events like this are important and in my mind not common enough. I admit to reading tons of mainstream stuff especially if people like Bendis, Brubaker or writers like Grant Morrison are attached, and my vast collection of X-titles serves as a constant reminder that however many times I quit, I always return for a guilty read, just to check up on my favorite bunch of mutants. However the Marvel/DC domination has weaved a destructive blanket that smothers new ideas and talent when they should be exposed to thrive in golden daylight.

So I will be buying Ellis’s Astonishing X-Men when it comes out and I’ll always keep and eye on our favourite Supes especially if quality creators are behind the stories. But when I think about the current state of the industry and the potential of the format, I like to think the readership is changing - albeit very, very slowly, with more interest in unconventional and original material. Events like the Thing are a chance for the Small-Press to fight back. Maybe the dawn of the Indie Comic is upon us. Maybe this is the next era, when fans and collectors look away from the woes of Clark Kent’s love life or Wolverine’s shady past and seek out a fresh corner of the market. Or maybe I’ll just go and check how Batman’s war on crime is going…