Comic fans and creators will converge on Sunderland this weekend (28th May), as Wonderlands returns. The UK Graphic Novel Expo, named as a nod to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll, takes place in Sunderland University’s CitySpace building between 10am and 6pm on Saturday.
Wonderlands hopes to inspire the next generation of artists and writers. A team of students from Sunderland University will exhibit their work alongside some of the greats of the genre including Doug Braithwaite who has drawn just about every major character in both the Marvel and DC Universe; writer of X-Men, Daredevil, Batman and Green Lantern David Hine, and multi award-winning Steve Bell, principal editorial cartoonist for The Guardian newspaper since the mid 1990s and who has had 28 books published across the world.
Students exhibiting at Wonderlands include Bryony Ryan, 23, Megan Watts, 21, Christopher Patterson, 23, Emma Walker, 22, Nicole Thompson-Ross, 21, Gary Nicholson, 50, Madeleine Munro, 22, Jennifer Hawkins, 22, Geidre Balcytyte, 22, Laura McBride, 22.
Bryony said:
The chance to speak with and learn from the greats of the game is an opportunity not to be missed, but to be able to display our work alongside these established artists and writers is amazing. Some of us will be selling our works and some just taking the opportunity see it next door to the work of some of our graphic novel heroes.
Wonderlands, now in its second year, is curated by the Bryan Talbot, creator of Alice in Sunderland and Detective Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard, a badger with the deductive abilities of Sherlock Holmes. He said:
The work delivered by these students has every right to be showcased alongside the masters of the genre. Wonderlands isn’t just about exhibiting amazing work or hearing the thoughts of those who have been there, wrote it and designed the T-shirt; it’s about exciting people so that they explore graphic novels, it’s about opening people’s minds to new work and it’s about inspiring those who will be the next standard bearer for the art.
I can’t say enough good things about the work of this talented bunch. In fact, it’s inspiring to me to see how much talent is coming through – the future of graphic novels is in safe hands…although the futures featured in the books they produce may not be!
The students and big name illustrators, writers and cartoonists are just some of the 30-plus creatives who will attend the graphic novel event, many of whom will be speaking about their works and the genre, staging workshops and hoping to inspire the next generation of graphic artists.
Bryan, who has written and drawn comics and graphic novels for over 30 years, said: “For Wonderlands to draw so much talent from the world of comics and graphic novels is incredible, but clearly demonstrates how much industry noise our first event created last year.”
Other guests include Darryl Cunningham (Science Tales, Supercrash), Woodrow Phoenix (Rumblestrip), Jeff Anderson (Graphic Bible, Transfomers), Metaphrog (The Red Shoes), comics historians Paul Gravett and Mel Gibson, Una (Becoming Unbecoming), and Mary Talbot (The Red Virgin and Vision of Utopia).
The event is free, and includes a talk from Sha Nazir and Laurence Grove from Glasgow University on ‘The Glasgow Looking Glass’, which is regarded as the first mass produced comic book that was published with illustrations. A screening of “Futureshock: The Story of 2000AD” will also be shown at the event.
Wonderlands is a must for lovers of literature, art and creativity – come along and support this incredible event and make sure it becomes a standout on the cultural calendar.
The event takes place between 10am and 6pm on Saturday, May 28. For more information and the full line-up of events, visit www.wonderlands.org.uk
