Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: Bettys, harrogate, richard starkings, thought bubble

Richard Starkings Draws Bettys Of Harrogate For Thought Bubble

Bettys Café Tea Rooms is an institution of Harrogate. And now it is a print by Richard Starkings for Though Bubble Comic Con.

Published Sun, 12 Nov 2023 08:01:07 -0600

by Rich Johnston

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Article Summary

Richard Starkings creates a Bettys Café Tea Rooms print for Thought Bubble.
Bettys, Harrogate's famed tea room, now immortalized in artwork.
Artwork featuring beloved Bettys available for sale at Comic Con.
Thought Bubble Comic Con hosts myriad talent, including Starkings.

Bettys Café Tea Rooms is an institution of Harrogate. Taylors of Harrogate was originally a family tea and coffee merchant company that served Yorkshire Tea and Taylors of Harrogate Coffee from Tea Kiosks in the Yorkshire towns of Harrogate and Ilkley. And Bettys in Harrogate is their natural successor, opened by Frederick Belmont, a Swiss confectioner and expanded to open more tea rooms, including branches in Bradford, Leeds, and York. Today, there are five Bettys tea rooms, each comprising a shop as well as a café. As Bettys is the place to come, with views down across Harrogate, and the last time I went, a pianist who used to play with the Beatles in their earliest of days.

Any visitor to the town is obligated to Betty's at least once, for their breakfasts or their tea-and-scone combinations. But at Thought Bubble Comic Con this year, Richard Starkings of Elephantmen and Comicraft fame has produced a print of Betty's. Selling at his table for a mere £20, alongside Elephantmen, Ask For Mercy and more, including Parliament Of Rooks by Abigail Jill Harding, which you will first have read about on Bleeding Cool, announced this time last year, but only getting reported on in January.

Richard Starkings has done Bettys of Harrogate proud. I don't know if he is expecting a freebie from Betty's. But since their festive arrangements and offerings are up, I'd be inclined to think they should hand him a complimentary mince pie before the weekend is out… they generally cost as much as those prints would, anyway.

Thought Bubble, is taking place this weekend at the Harrogate Convention Centre on the 11th and 12th of November, from 10am-6pm. Bleeding Cool will be there… as well as the following guests: Jason Aaron, Dapo Adeola, Charlie Adlard, John Allison, Natalie Andrewson, Juni Ba, Kristyna Baczynski, Brandt & Stein, Nick Brokenshire, Abby Bulmer, Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad, Paul Cornell, CROM, Andy Diggle, D'Israeli, Ian Edginton, Tom Eglington, Al Ewing, The Etherington Brothers, Matt Ferguson, Kieron Gillen, Sarah Graley, Isabel Greenberg, Lewis Hancox, Abz J Harding, Luke Healy, Scott Hoffman, Kev Hopgood, Jock, Arielle Jovellanos, Kim-Joy, Shazleen Khan, Marc Laming, Roger Langridge, John Lees, Jeff Lemire, Isaac Lenkiewicz, Sonia Leong, Brian Level, Tula Lotay, Dave McCaig, John McCrea, Mick McMahon, Lize Meddings, Leah Moore, Anna Morozova, Alex Norris, Molly Knox Ostertag, Guillermo Ortego, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Alex Paknadel, Jacob Phillips, Sean Phillips, John Reppion, Patric Reynolds, Alison Sampson, Jules Scheele, Brian Schirmer, Martin Simmonds, Martin Simpson, Rachael Smith, Richard Starkings, Hamish Steele, ND Stevenson, Rachael Stott, Lucy Sullivan, Babs Tarr, Zoe Thorogood, Ram V, Judith Vanistendael, VER, John Wagner, Christian Ward, Neil Watson-Slorance, Caspar Wijngaard, Chrissy Williams, Rob Williams and Steve Yeowell.

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