Posted in: Comics | Tagged: comic con, doctor who, paris, yanick paquette

The Paris Comic Con That Happened Last Weekend

Thomas Allard writes for Bleeding Cool from Paris Comic Con.

Another Comic-con took place last week. Obviously you didn't hear much about it, considering the one that just finished in San Diego. The fact that it takes place in France probably doesn't help either. But its future definitely looks promising. This Comic-con is a 30-minute-tube trip from Paris at the Villepinte Exhibition Center. Only 4 years old, it is a joint venture with the much more popular Japan Expo that's been going on for 14 years and had an attendance of almost 200,000 last year. The Comic-Con part is at least 4 times smaller and much less packed but it doesn't mean that it is deprived of anything interesting. Last year, Steven Moffat was there for a master class, a conference and a signing. This year, we got Caroline Skinner, Chris Chibnall, Toby Hanes and Murray Gold. And next year… well more on that later.

Unfortunately, the "Comic Book" part of the event is very small. For those who complain that comic-cons such as San Diego aren't about comics anymore, you should see here; Subtitled "The Geek Culture Festival", most of the con's space was taken by videogames and TV series. Among them, some One Tree Hill and MTV's Teen Wolf panels… Webseries are also huge here; they seem to be where most of the creativity takes place as French TV is notoriously bad.

Two shows that were showcased at comic con make the exception. The first has been off air for a few years, waiting to be adapted as a cinematic trilogy: Kaamelott features the quest of King Arthur and his good for nothing knights who are searching for the Grail. While it probably will make you think immediately of the Monty Python film, it gradually went from a comedy show to an epic. And the public followed. Here is what I could find about it in English. Keep in mind the translation destroys a lot of the nuances in the dialogues.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwM750zoRkg[/youtube]

Bref, is the other French TV show that took the spotlight. Another short form series, it deals, this time, with the uneventful life of a 30-year-old man. And when you're a 30 something in France, geek references abound:

As I said, the Comic part of the Comic con is really minimal. According to publishers, there are only about 5000 Comic fans in France. However, just like in the US, the market seems to be expanding these days.

One of the biggest booths at the Comic-Con/Japan Expo was Ankama's. Ankama started as a video game company, creating Dofus, a flash MMORPG. Success came, and also growth. They have expanded their universe through games, animated series (Wakfu, that enjoys quite a success on 4chan) and comic books. They also publish art books, translate comic books such as Jamie Hewlett's Tank Girl or DC's First Wave line of comics featuring The Spirit and Doc Savage. It's a company run by fans and it shows.

While the other companies used their booth mostly to sell their books and organise a few signings and small events, Ankama really impressed with what they did: servers to play new versions of their game, some sort of Dofus space where they reproduced the world of their game in real size. It really felt like a lot of thought went into it. They were the only one getting close to the level of presence publishers have in the US and it seemed like a success. Other publishers should definitely take notes.

There were also small exhibitions throughout the con, including mangas such as Naruto, Saint Seiya (that debuted exclusively models of upcoming figures) or dedicated to artists such as Naoki Urasawa(Monster, Pluto, 20th Century Boys, …). Others featuring Kaamelot, Le Scorpion, and Murena were the rare reminders of the presence of French comic books at the con.

The first panel I attended was the Batman panel. Organised by French Comic book magazine Comic Box, it featured Yannick Paquette and Tony Daniel.

Paquette was speaking in French. Answering a question from the moderators, he explained that he was much more of a writer kind of guy than a character kind of guy but that Swamp Thing was one of the most interesting characters to draw, regardless of the writer even though he did enjoy working with Snyder.

Daniel is much more of a "Fanboy" (not in a derogative way) and is a big fan of Batman's. If he's leaving Batman, it's because he needs to catch a break, wants to do something else and also to stop writing for a bit as it is very tasking. He talked quickly about his upcoming Justice League stint and mentioned something big for next year.

Since Daniel and Paquette worked with Grant Morrison on Batman and Batman Inc. respectively, they talked about the writer's style, explaining that it was very paradoxical. It was at the same time very detailed but sometimes leaving passages very vague that they would have to interpret. He would then come back and finish writing the dialogues once it was drawn; unearthing links between things they hadn't seen as they drew. Both explained that they often had the impression of reading a different comic once the finished product was out.

This was followed by the Doctor Who panel. Despite not featuring Steven Moffat like last year it attracted a huge crowd. On panel were executive producer Caroline Skinner, composer Murray Gold, writer Chris Chibnall (42, The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood) and director Toby Haynes (The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang, A Christmas Carol, The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, Sherlock's Reichenbach's Fall).

Murray Gold spoke French very well, which was much appreciated

The first part was dedicated to the process of creating a Doctor Who series and episode. What they go through. How it alternates between Moffat offering pitches or writers pitching to Moffat and Skinner. Chris Chibnall detailed the process talking about season 7: Chris Chibnall is writing two episodes of the new Doctor Who. One that came out of Moffat where he basically told him the title and Chibnall said "Yes!" Obviously, they wouldn't reveal the title but After San Diego, it seems that anecdote referred to Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. He pitched the other. Moffat explained it had to be about Amy and Rory and he pitched an idea. It's, according to Caroline Skinner, one of the best pitches she and Moffat have seen, and they are really excited about that episode.

The western episode that has been glimpsed at in the trailer will not feature any old monsters, only new ones.

As for the final Amy and Rory episode that takes place in New York, it has already been mentioned it will feature the Weeping Angels and it will be "terrifying".

They mentioned the creation of The Silence and how they were thinking about Edward Munch's Scream. I feel very ashamed because despite being very obvious, it never occurred to me until they mentioned it.

Come question time, quite a few were very French centric:

Asked to cheers if a new episode would be shot in France, the team mentioned City of the Dead and how it would be very hard to top that, adding they had no plans at the moment.

Answering a fan question, they mentioned they were hoping to organise Doctor Who concerts throughout Europe and beyond, which was met with much applause.

Finally, when asked if actors would come to Comic-con next year, Caroline Skinner's answer left little doubt in the minds of the audience that they were indeed planning something.

Following the end of the Doctor Who panel came the "Draw Battle" between Mahmud Asrar and Yannick Paquette. The room was almost empty but quickly filled with people hoping to attend the following panel about a webseries.

Paquette was a real showman, making the scene very lively, talking a lot, making the crowd cheer and laugh. They asked Ivan Reis and Tony Daniel to come on stage and formed teams.

The first thing they set out to do was "Hulk". While The Paquette-Daniel team went with a very straight and powerful rendition of the Hulk, the Asnar-Reis team set out on a tangent and decided to go crazy and drawing Green Lantern as the Mona Lisa.

As there was some time left, they went on a much quicker piece, on a "Wolverine" theme. This time, Asnar and Reis did do Wolverine… eating angrily at a Croissant, while Paquette and Daniel did a wonderful Wonder Woman, back to the audience and showing her muscles. Unfortunately, Daniel left a felt-tip pen mark on Diana's bottom. After Paquette made a joke that is not fit to be printed, even on Bleeding Cool, they quickly drew a hand mark on the spot.

Those really made you want to see more artistic team-ups in proper comics because the results were astonishing.

And after a long walk around all the small alleys, my Sunday at Paris Comic Con ended, leaving me eager to attend next year with a bigger commitment. Where else could you experience such wonders?

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