Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: Angoulême, bd, Comics, france

Diogo Bercito In Angoulême As The Party Winds Down…

Published Mon, 31 Jan 2011 07:58:24 -0600

Last updated Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:37:34 -0600

Diogo Bercito (reporter for Folha de S.Paulo, www.folha.com.br, Brazil's leading newspaper) writes for Bleeding Cool

For us who stayed in Angoulême after the closing ceremony, it was possible to see the city changing just before our eyes, as if it was telling us — 'OK, enough of comic books for this year, see you guys around in 2012.'

Many artists, including part of our gang, left the city during Sunday morning. Others went away in the afternoon and night trains. While me, Xavier and David were having dinner, the crew of the restaurant started to change tables and chairs so that the place would go back to its regular display of furniture.

I know this can sound as a blasphemy for someone who is reporting about the french-belgium market, but it was as Angoulême was a Transformer changing into its calm shape. And I felt as I was myself just inside its engines, seeing that happen from inside (which is, I must say, a sad vision).

It's my second year visiting the festival, and it surprised me again in lots and lots and lots of ways. The first one was seeing how many different comics they have in France. Someone who has never seen the bande désinees section in a Fnac bookshop does not have an idea of the size of the difference between US market (and Brazilian market as well, since I came from there) and the European one.

Another thing that stroke me again was realizing, once more, how amazing is to simply hang out with comic book authors. While I wasn't interviewing people (Baru, Moebius, Charlie Adlard, Riyoko Ikeda), I had a great time talking to nice and friendly artists. So friendly that I call them friends. Once more I had the honour of sharing meals and drinks with people such as Tim Fish, Abby Denson, Xavier Lancel, Jose Villarrubia etc. And it turns out that, as always, it serves better for me to understand comics than if I was interviewing them formally.

I'm not a comic book author. I did study drawing, but I never had the necessary talent for making a comic book. Which was kind of sad, since yesterday, when I was by myself after everyone had left the city, the thing I most wanted was to draw a comic book about Angoulême and about how it changes itself and other selves because of art.

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