Angoulême 2.

Phew. I'm back from Angoulême 2009 in France. I promised myself i'd actually put something on paper about what I did this year, so I'm going to focus on some specific moments that I enjoyed.First of all was "la gréve". The entirety of the french train staff went on strike in protest of Sarkozy and...well I lost track. (more on him later) But anyway, I ended up making a mad dash to Paris in order to make a connection. I missed this- and spent most of Thursday killing time on the Canal Saint-Martin near Gare d'lest. It was lovely. The sun was shining, the air was crisp and the sky was blue. I felt all my feelings of rage at the french rail system just melt away as soon as I arrived. Paris truly is wonderful.

So I made it to Angoulême. Or rather, I made it to the bar in Angoulême, in enough time to be able to catch up with the rest of the English speakers. Almost.
I'm quite concerned about the number of times I mention alcohol in my daily speech, actually. I really don't drink that much. Except at Angouleme.The convention itself is comprised of a number of tents, each holding more stalls than you'd see at any UK con, and all of them selling comics. I keep having to check myself when I call it a con. It's not- it's a book fair, closer to Bologna than San Diego.

I spent a great deal of time in the "Manga Building". (Note; not "tent", not "area", building.)
I got a chance to see Range Murata do an entire coloured drawing on a Cintiq, and Junko Kawakami- who didn't know how to use photoshop. Hilarious. Also the legendary Hiroshi Hirata was signing books in full traditional dress, with a caligraphy brush. This was a performance in itself!

Finally, there was the afterparty. I didn't realise, but there's a party thrown in the chandelier-lit town hall, with a dj and a free bar. The best bit of all was that the only people allowed in had to be carrying "auteur" badges. So artists and writers only. It was all going swimmingly until someone jumped up the wall, tore down a glass framed photo of Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, smashed the glass, tore the print into shreds and threw them all into the air. All this was to riotous applause. I thought a revolution was about to break out. I wished I had a phrygian cap or a tricoloure. Ellen Lindner and Sara Varon looked like they were about to start burning things.

Then Security arrived and we all got thrown out.
Best way to end a party ever. XD

Shoutouts to:

Nick Abadzis
Edmund Bagwell
Joelle
Charlie Orr
Stephen Betts
Simon Fraser
Rian Hughes
Tim Pilcher
Charlie Adlard
Sean Phillips
Yishan Li
Ellen Lindner
Sara Varon


~John~

Also, According to various sources, it is the largest comic book convention in the western world. O_o