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A COMICA REVIEW BY:

THE NEW STATESMAN


The following article appeared in the New Statesman on 23 October 2006 and was written by Sam Alexandroni who attended the 24 Hour Comic event at the ICA.

On 6 October, some of the UK’s sharpest cartoonists gathered at the Institute Of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London for a unique test of creativity and endurance: a 24-hour comic marathon, during which each artist was challenged to create a spontaneous 24-page story.

Among the participants were David Simonds representing the New Statesman, Steven Appleby, the crew from Le Gun magazine, Matilda Tristram from Bad Idea magazine and four or five Japanese manga artists.

While some of the participants opted for tales of rapacious landlords, sci-fi adventure or, in the case of Steven Appleby, a story about a mind-reading evangelical murderer, our David embraced the big picture. “I’m charting the history of evolution from the Big Bang to George Bush,” he said, explaining: “It begins and ends in darkness.”

The event, which was part of a season at the ICA celebrating comic art, took place simultaneously in 58 locations across 17 countries, with participants from as far afield as Indonesia, Serbia and Brazil, who contributed by blog on www.24hourcomics.com.

Six hours in, David was bearing up well: “Just got to keep going,” he told me between brisk pen strokes. “If I get RCI - repetitive comic injury - I shall send the bill to the New Statesman.”

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Reviews

"...i left the ica full of encouragement and positivity."
Maartje Schalkx

"British preconceptions of graphic novels are changing as exhibitions such as Comica expose the challenging work out there."
Design Week

"I was about to fall off my chair from overstimulation."
Sarah McIntyre

"....plenty of food for thought in terms of fresh reading material ideas..."
Euan Gillespie

"The ICA treats comics the way they should be: as contemporary art."
Sci Fi London

"Comica normally comes up with some great talks and panels, but this was particularly memorable..."
Comix Influx

"PHEW! I just met Matt Groening!"
Jim Medway

"When the event was over the audience was left wanting more."
Liban Diriye

"Britain's leading comic event..."
The Wall Street Journal

"...one of the most interesting and high quality celebrations of comics the country has ever seen."
Ninthart