Heidelberg Comics Days

A weekend of workshops, presentations, exhibitions and film.

Today:

14:00–16:00 Uhr

Comics and Animation Workshop

Helen Piercy

 

Learn how to make your own fantastic film using the tools of scriptwriting, storyboarding, cut out puppets, drawn animation and stop-motion.

Helen Piercy is a London based animator and illustrator whose work as a moving image director spans digital, 2D, stop-frame animation and live-action. Her great passion for comics and filmmaking led her to set up Helen Animate Workshops, teaching young people of all ages and abilities illustration and animation skills. Her first book, Animation Studio, (Trick Film Werkstatt) has been translated into six different languages and is now available worldwide. Her clients include the World Wildlife Fund, BBC Radio One, London Fashion Week, Sky Arts and Sadler’s Wells Theatre.

For more information visit Helen’s Website.

 

 

15:00–16:00 Uhr

Presentation: Behind The Mask

Josh Elder

Josh Elder discusses his work in the comic and video game industry and how he uses comics to teach through his nonprofit organization Reading With Pictures. The presentation will conclude with an audience Q & A session.

Josh Elder is an award-winning American graphic novelist (Mail Order Ninja, Adventures of Superman, Comics That Make Kids Smarter) and founder of the nonprofit literacy organization Reading With Pictures. He is the current “Comics Ambassador” for the US State Department. Josh first learned to read, and more importantly, to love reading – from comics.

For more information take a look at his website.

 

 

17:00–18:00 Uhr

Adapting Joyce, Shakespeare and Cummings to the Language of Comics

Robert Berry

Robert Berry will give us some insights into how the rhythms and beats of a comic book page can unveil some of the mysteries of poetry and complex works of fiction. He’ll show examples of his own work as well as present us with some of the other great comics out there that look at hard at the language of cartooning.

Robert Berry is the cartoonist and originator of Ulysses “seen”, a tablet-based graphic novel adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulysses. His work in the development of that project led to the creation of a unique platform for educational comics and the establishing of his own digital publishing company Throwaway Horse.

Trained as a painter at Detroit’s Wayne State University he began making comics in 2005 and has worked for DC Comics as well as Seven Stories in their “Graphic Canon” editions. His illustrations for James Joyce’s The Dead were published in 2014 by Stoney Road Press and the James Joyce Centre in Dublin. His work has been seen in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Dublin and Trieste.

 

 

19:00–20:00 Uhr

From Hellboy to German Romantic fantasy stories

Steam Noir

Join award winning illustrator Felix Mertikat and writer Verena Klinke as they present the different stages in the development of Steam Noir. This comic series is the first step into a fantastic new world that is unparalleled in the landscape of steam-punk literature and culture. Dark, rich in atmosphere and with an original subtle poetry, it perfectly depicts the mix of motley pulp entertainment in the best tradition of Hellboy and the intense fantasy stories of German Romantic author E.T.A. Hoffmann. A Q & A session will follow the presentation.

The Rolling Stone Magazine called Felix Mertikat the most promising German comic artist in years. As a talented painter and illustrator as well, he decided to focus on doing comics after the success of his acclaimed debut graphic novel Jakob. He knew, he had to move on to a much more epic scale: the birth of Steam Noir. He is already developing a brand new comic series, which is scheduled to be published in 2015.

After school Verena Klinke started to study German literature but soon colleagues encouraged her to focus on her literary writing talent. While developing and refining her talent she was accepted into Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, but ongoing job offers and her own stories made her quit the renown academy. Her experiences as comic co-editor led her to Steam Noir, a project she considers her most complex and fascinating work.