The Thought Bubble Comic Art Festival has always been a very inclusive event, with innovations like the ‘Rainbow Road’ map highlighting all the LGBTQ+ creators in attendance (which is extremely helpful as the event has over 100 creators). It appears that 2024 will continue this tradition of inclusivity, as the organisers have announced a couple of events featuring queer creators that will take place before the main convention.
Firstly there will be an evening with writer/artist Theo Parish, creator of Homebody. They will talk about the book with Jack Fallows, whose past works include the Axolotl series of diary comics and the accompanying prose zine The Unstraight A.
Homebody talks about Theo’s journey towards getting comfortable with their body, and Alice Oseman, the best-selling author of the Heartstopper series, has described it as, “An uplifting, hopeful, empowering memoir that celebrates self-discovery and self-love.”
The event is at 5:15pm on Tuesday, November 12, in The Sanderson Room in Leeds Central Library. It is free but ticketed. You can book your spot here.
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The next night at the same venue, there will be a comic panel entitled My Illustrated Life – An Autobio. It will feature a discussion on autobiographical comics featuring creators known for this kind of work.
The panel includes Sam Orchard, creator of Rooster Tails, the diary of a New Zealand trans guy that has been going since 2010; Jennie Gyllblad, Swedish-born and UK-based traditional illustrator and ‘comicatrix’, who regularly draws live on Twitch; and Bex Ollerton aka Schnumn, whose regular series Lavender Clouds delves into her life as a neurodivergent freelance artist and discusses mental health. The panel will be hosted by local indie publisher and librarian Harry-Anne Bentley.
Once again the event is free but ticketed. You can reserve a seat here.
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If you do go to check out these events, you should also pay a visit to Leeds Central Library’s amazing collection of queer graphic novels and comics, donated by the local comic shop Travelling Man. Leeds Central Library is fully accessible with a lift to all floors.
The main Thought Bubble comic convention will take place on November 16 and 17, and feature over 100 comic-creating guests from all over the world. As always, there will be a bunch of queer creators including Luke Healy, Tini Howard, Jamila Rowser and James Tynion IV. You can pick up tickets here.
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