Thought Bubble (also known as the Yorkshire Comic Art Festival) is an annual

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

art festival An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, dance, film, fine art, literature, poetry and isn't solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lite ...

and

comic book convention A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at con ...

held in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. Established in 2007, Thought Bubble has been credited as being the UK's largest comics convention. The

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

festival's chosen charity is

Barnardo's Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each year running around 900 local services, aimed at helping these same group ...

. Thought Bubble takes place for a week in November each year (in conjunction with the

Leeds International Film Festival The Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF) is the largest film festival in England outside London. Founded in 1987, it is held in November at various venues throughout Leeds, West Yorkshire. In 2015, the festival welcomed over 40,000 visitor ...

), taking place all over

, and culminates in a two-day convention in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

. A dance party is usually held on the Saturday night before the festival's final day.Murray, Matthew
"Thought Bubble 2010,"
''The Beat'' (Nov. 29, 2010). Thought Bubble is held in the spirit of European conventions like the

Angoulême International Comics Festival The Angoulême International Comics Festival (french: Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lu ...

. As such, it is focused on the art and literature of the comics form, and only minimally on related pop-culture expression and merchandising.Freeman, Sarah
"Bubble rap: How comic books changed our lives: Struggling to read as a child, Lisa Wood found escape through comic books. Now an artist, she tells Sarah Freeman about the Thought Bubble festival which is devoted to comic art,"
''

The Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

'' (16 November 2014). In addition to the exhibitor tables, Thought Bubble features art exhibits, animation screenings, panel discussions, workshops, and a costume parade. As founded by

Tula Lotay Tula Lotay is the pen name of Lisa Wood, an English comic book artist. She is known for illustrating '' Supreme: Blue Rose'', written by Warren Ellis for Image Comics, and for founding the Thought Bubble Festival, the UK's largest comics convent ...

, one of the festival's central aims is to celebrate female comics creators. Each year, the main image for that year's festival is illustrated by a woman. Lotay said, "Moving forward we’re going to keep this theme alive and expand it to include other diverse groups within the industry. I can't wait to see the next set of wonderful images." Beginning in 2011, the ''Thought Bubble Anthology'', an annual collection of original comics, was released in conjunction with the festival. From 2012 to 2016, the

British Comic Awards The British Comic Awards (BCA) were a set of British awards for achievement in comic books. Winners were selected by a judging committee; the awards were given out on an annual basis from 2012 to 2016 for comics made by United Kingdom creators publ ...

were presented at Thought Bubble.

History

In 2007,

, who grew up in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, founded Thought Bubble to promote comic books to the general public, especially children with reading difficulties. Her efforts were sponsored by the local comics and board games retailer Travelling Man, where Lotay worked as her day job. The first Thought Bubble was held in November 2007 as a one-day event in the basement of

Leeds Town Hall Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow (formerly Park Lane), Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built be ...

. The 2008 convention, held at Savile's Hall,

Leeds Dock Leeds Dock (formerly New Dock and previously Clarence Dock) is a mixed development with retail, office and leisure presence by the River Aire in central Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has a large residential population in waterside apartm ...

, was followed by an after-party at the Alea Casino. In 2010, the Northern Sequential Art Competition was held in conjunction with the festival; the first ''Thought Bubble Anthology'' featured comics by the winners, and expanded to include works from featured comics professionals.Overland, Kat
"Thought Bubble Anthology,"
WomenWriteAboutComics.com (November 23, 2015). (The art competition was later branded as the Thought Bubble Comic Art Competition.) ''Thought Bubble Anthology'' #1, published by

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

, debuted in 2011, and issues came out annually through 2015. Issues #1-5 were collected in trade paperback form and published as the ''Thought Bubble Anthology Collection'' (136 pages, Image Comics, 2016, ). All proceeds from the ''Thought Bubble Anthology'' went to the children's charity

.Johnston, Rich
"Thought Bubble Anthology 2017 Features Jason Aaron, Jen Bartel, Cecil Castellucci, Brandon Graham, Jody Houser, Jason Latour, Emi Lenox, Simon Roy, Marley Zarcone (VISUAL UPDATE),"
''Bleeding Cool'' (July 20, 2017). The 2011 festival sponsored a

graphic medicine Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture, ...

forum, "Visualizing the Stigma of Illness." In 2013, festival founder Lotay was given the

Bob Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer. He was best known for his work on the '' Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows '' ...

Humanitarian Award at the

Eisner Awards The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

ceremony, held at the

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

. The 2013 festival featured the Thought Bubble Comic Art Competition; comics by the winners — Simon Gurr, Ulises Lopez, Ross Mackintosh, Lizzy Mikietyn, Zoom Rockman, and Charlotte Tuffrey — were featured in the ''Thought Bubble Anthology'' #4.Johnston, Rich
"Two Tim Sale Pages From The Thought Bubble Anthology 2014 From Image Comics,"
''Bleeding Cool'' (October 24, 2014). The 2013 festival featured 450 exhibitors; the

presentation was hosted by Adam Cadwell and David Monteith. In 2014, the festival invited its first overseas guests, including

Natasha Allegri Natasha Allegri (born June 18, 1986) is an American animation creator, writer, storyboard artist, storyboard revisionist, and comic book artist. She is the creator of Cartoon Hangover's and Frederator Studios ''Bee and PuppyCat'', and is also n ...

Emily Carroll Emily Carroll (born 1983) is a comics author from Ontario, Canada. Carroll started making comics in 2010, and her horror webcomic ''His Face All Red'' went viral around Halloween of 2010. Since then, Carroll has published two books of her own wor ...

Becky Cloonan Becky Cloonan (born 23 June) is an American comic book creator, known for work published by Tokyopop and Vertigo. In 2012 she became the first female artist to draw the main '' Batman'' title for DC Comics.Beck, Laura (February 8, 2013)"Meet the F ...

Danielle Corsetto ''Girls With Slingshots'' is a completed webcomic series by Danielle Corsetto that premiered on September 29, 2004. The series follows several friends as they deal with life events like unemployment, marriage, and their sexuality. Corsetto self-pu ...

Adam Hughes Adam Hughes (born May 5, 1967) is an American comics artist and illustrator best known to American comic book readers for his renderings of pinup-style female characters, and his cover work on titles such as ''Wonder Woman'' and ''Catwoman''. H ...

Jeff Lemire Jeff Lemire (; born March 21, 1976) is a Canadian comic book writer, artist, and television producer. He is the author of critically acclaimed titles including the '' Essex County Trilogy'', '' Sweet Tooth'', and '' The Nobody''. His written work ...

Scott Snyder Scott Snyder is an American author. He is known for his 2006 short story collection ''Voodoo Heart'', and his comic book writing, including ''American Vampire'', ''Detective Comics'', ''Batman (comic book)#The New 52, Batman'', ''Wytches (comics) ...

, Allison Sohn, and

Jillian Tamaki Jillian Tamaki (born April 17, 1980) is a Canadian American illustrator and comic artist known for her work in ''The New York Times'' and ''The New Yorker'' in addition to the graphic novels ''Boundless'', as well as ''Skim (comics), Skim'' and ' ...

. The 2017 festival featured the exhibition ''"Heretics"'', folk-horror art based on the 2017 ''44FLOOD'' series created by P. M. Buchan, Martin Simmonds, and series editor Kasra Ghanbari. In 2019, the convention itself moved from Leeds to

; the move mostly came about due to space constraints in Leeds.Beard, Alexander
"Thought Bubble Comic Art Festival: Harrogate to become home of 'UK's biggest comics festival': A major comic art festival which has called Leeds home for 12 years has revealed it will now be held at the Harrogate Convention Centre,"
''Harrogate Advertiser'' (22nd February 2019).Johnston, Rich
"From One Side Of Thought Bubble Comic Con 2021 To The Other,"
''Bleeding Cool'' (November 13, 2021). The 2020 festival was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

; it returned to in-person status in November 2021. In 2022, festival founder Tula Lotay announced she was stepping down as festival director of Thought Bubble, to concentrate on her art career and family. Taking over as new festival director was Nabil Homsi, owner of the comics and board game retailer Travelling Man.Lomax, Claire
"Ilkley comic artist Tula Lotay steps down from Thought Bubble convention,"
''The Telegraph and Argus'' (3 Feb. 2022).

''Thought Bubble Anthology''

Convention locations and dates

This list documents the dates of the Thought Bubble convention, which is preceded by a festival in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

In popular media

The festival's dance floor was memorialized in

Kieron Gillen Kieron Michael Gillen (; born 30 September 1975) is a British comic book writer and former video game and music journalist. In comics, Gillen is known for ''Phonogram'' and ''The Wicked + The Divine'', both co-created with artist Jamie McKelvie ...

and Jules Scheele's "The Oral History of the Thought Bubble Dancefloor," published in the anthology ''Pros and (Comic) Cons'' (Dark Horse, 2019, ).

References

Citations

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thought Bubble Festival 2007 establishments in England Arts festivals in England British fan conventions Comics conventions Cultural festivals in the United Kingdom Festivals in Yorkshire Recurring events established in 2007