Comic creator Frank Quitely is heading to Belgium next week, for a special event at the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée in Brussels, to talk about his career with Professor Laurence Grove.
In tandem with the exhibition, ODYSSEY, on the origins of Blake and Mortimer, dedicated to the album The U Ray by Edgar P. Jacobs, the The Belgian Comic Strip Center – Museum offers the opportunity to meet Frank Quitely on Friday 26th May 2023, the Scottish comic artist behind major hits including Batman, New X-Men, All-Star Superman, Jupiter’s Legacy, or Ambassadors, his new series created with writer Mark Millar.
The world-renowned artist will return to his influences, including the ‘ligne claire’. But he’ll also talk about his iconoclastic and ironic approach to comics, whose genre he has helped to renew.
Recognised globally for his unique talent, Frank will also look back on his career prior to becoming a comic book author in reference to Jacob’s first life as an opera singer.
In the company of Professor Laurence Grove of the University of Glasgow, curator of various exhibitions devoted to the art of Frank Quitely, the two Glaswegians will discuss, in English the astonishing fascination that Glasgow and more generally Scotland (home of Professor Philip Mortimer) have exerted for many decades on Franco-Belgian Comics.
The meeting (in English) will be moderated by Éric Dubois, curator of the exhibition ODYSSEY. A signing session of the catalogue of the ODYSSEY exhibition will follow the conference.
ODYSSEY is an exhibition that places the heritage work of Blake and Mortimer in its aesthetic, cultural and historical context with the purpose to be (re)discovered by the public in all its facets. Six themes run throughout the exhibition: Under the auspices of the Gods, A Modern Homer, The world, a theatre, The Ray of Death, Terra Incognita and The Eternal Return.
• Blake, Mortimer & Frank Quitely – Evening conference with Professor Laurence Grove 6.30pm Friday 26th May 2023 The Belgian Comic Strip Center – Museum Brussels, Rue des Sables 20, 1000 Brussels | Reservations are highly recommended; registrations can be made on this form | Tickets: 5€ (does not include the catalogue of the ODDYSEY exhibition) | Entrance is free for comic artists and students of comic art | Web: comicscenter.net/en | Facebook Event Page
• There’s much more information about the ODYSSEY exhibition, which runs until 1st October 2023, here
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Art and Illustration, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds, US Comics
Comics Abroad: A Visit to the Cartoon Art Museum, San Francisco 
Free Neal Adams Memorial Webinars announced, tracing his legacy