200701250311For the 27th consecutive year, we are missing the Angoulême comics fest, but luckily many folks are on the scene and blogging. Bart Beatty is over at The Comics Reporter with his usual examplary reportage:

One of the lead stories in the Charente Libre this morning was an interview with the director of Casterman. He says that 2007 is make or break time for the festival in this city. All of the publishers were unhappy with last year and revenues being down. Now that it is clear that the festival can never return to its old location in the center of the old town, the publishers demanded a central site where they would all be together. They have received this, but the drawback is that it is far from downtown. I walked it this morning and it took 40 minutes, although that was hampered by the snow and ice.


Much more on icy conditions, food problems, gossip, issues and so on in the link. Bart is posting each day we believe so keep checking back.

Meanwhile a blog called metabunker has also sprung up up, also blogging the big Euro activities, stopping off in Paris for the Herge exhibit.

Since it’s Tintin-creator Hergé’s centennial this year, the rights holders at Moulinsart have organized a large retrospective showing of works from his whole career in collaboration with Paris Beaubourg (that’s the Pompidou Centre to anyone not on the team). The show takes up a large part of the basement area that opens to the main hall, as well as the catwalk behind it. We get a little of everything Totor, the boy scout, and Quick and Flupke, the street urchins, to illustration and publicity work and, of course a large selection of original pages spanning the almost 60 year-long career, as well as sketches other drawn and written preparatory work (no models!)


[LInk via Dirk.]

Andi Watson has also headed out; French-speakers may enjoy Le BD Blog.

1 COMMENT

  1. If the town of Angoulême won’t play ball then the Festival doesn’t have to stay there. I’m sure there are many many equally picturesque french towns that would be overjoyed to have all their hotels, bars and public spaces filled to bursting in late January.