After the success of STGCC 2011 comes a new event (with the return of another event) on the Singapore Comics Calendar – Comics Xchange 2011, taking place on Oct 1 and 2 at the Goodman Arts Centre. Referring to themselves as “The FAB culture of Comics – from the Fun, to the Art, to the Biz”, Comics Xchange (CXC) will attempt to bring a different dimension of the comic industry to the forefront, focusing on the creation, publication and distribution of comics in the local context.
The brainchild of Lilian Wu (Aspiring Mangaka & Writers Club), the project turned into reality with the help of 24 Hours Comics Day organiser JF Koh (Singaporecomics.com). Since then they have assembled a strong crew of local speakers including writers, artists and guests from various industries to help guide the next generation of comics creators in Singapore.
The speakers are part of a seminar titled “Let’s Talk Comics & Business”. The seminar costs $70 (%56 for early bird discount) per day, or $110 for a 2 day package, and features various talks about the industry. Highlights include Joyce Chng’s (Wolf at the Door) advice on approaching a publisher, Aravind Menon’s (Salvation Sam) word on writing good comics, Otto Fong (Sir Fong’s Adventures in Science) on self publication, Dave Chua and Koh Hong Teng (Gone Case) with their take on adapting prose into comics and Benjamin Ang on how to get hired by Marvel. Troy Chin (The Resident Tourist) is listed as a speaker, however, he isn’t currently listed in the schedule. Nonetheless, the sheer number of quality speakers in the event should make the $110 worth the while, and if you’re an artist, the portfolio review at the end is going to be icing on the cake for you. CXC also features character creation and writing workshops, which cost $88 and are run by the Association of Comic Artists.
On top of that, there’s going to be a bazaar featuring tables for content creators and booths for retailers to sell their wares. While the current booth lineup remains unknown, I quite expect to see a similar, if not larger, turnout compared to that of STGCC. At any rate, the dimensions of the booths have been released for interested parties – and if you yourself are interest, you’d do well to give this a shot.
Finally – 24 Hour Comics Day is going to be held in conjunction with CXC on Saturday. More details are forthcoming, but this promises to be a very fun event especially for those who are just itching to get into comics. With no pressure to actually finish anything, 24 Hour Comics Day in 2010 was truly and enjoyable time shared by all who were there, and while entry is free for this event, don’t forget that last year they were limited to 30 contestants, so if you’re interested you should sign up really soon.
So for those asking for a convention with a larger local flavour, and think you have one right here. What’s got you excited so far?
